Chapter 2869 Going to the Countryside (Part 3)
After leaving the village, County Lieutenant Dong reminded him, "Master Bai, the sun is about to set. Let's go back to the city."
Bai Shan shook his head. "Let's go to the next village. I remember the next one is Zhaojiagou. We can stay in Zhaojiagou tonight."
County Magistrate Dong: "...Sir, Zhaojiagou is very remote. If we go there now, we won't arrive until dark."
"That's why we need to stay here because it's so remote," Bai Shan said, "otherwise we'll have to go to Zhaojiagou again tomorrow, which would take up a lot of time."
He looked at County Lieutenant Dong suspiciously, "County Lieutenant Dong, you didn't forget to bring a change of clothes, did you? I told you before that this trip would take about three days."
County Magistrate Dong: "...Sir, I am in no hurry to wash up."
Isn’t it normal for a grown man not to wash for three or four days?
The road to Zhaojiagou was difficult to travel, and it was almost dark, so the group quickened their pace.
When they finally climbed over a hill and saw a village, it was completely dark and only the moonlight illuminated their way forward.
The people in the village had already gone to bed, and few could afford to light a lamp at this time, so when it got dark, there was no other light source except the stars and the moon in the sky.
They rode into the village in the dark. County Captain Dong knew that they could not keep a low profile at this time, otherwise they might be mistaken for bandits and killed. Therefore, he started shouting as soon as he arrived at the village entrance.
It woke up the whole village.
The village chief brought the young men with lit torches and when they arrived at the village entrance, they saw a group of officials in official uniforms standing on the edge of the field, leading horses.
The two horses in front only kicked their legs in the firelight, and it was obvious that they were well-trained horses.
Generally, only officials could afford such good horses. The village chief breathed a sigh of relief. Although he didn't know why the officials came here so late at night, they were still better than bandits.
Well, just a little better.
The village chief came forward with a hunched back and asked flatteringly, "Sir, why are you here so late at night? Have you eaten yet? I'll have someone kill some chickens and sheep right away."
County Magistrate Dong asked unhappily, "Do you have sheep in your village?"
The village chief smiled ingratiatingly and said, "We don't have any sheep, but we do have pigs. However, the pork smells fishy, and I'm afraid the officials won't be able to get used to it."
County Magistrate Dong: "Are you worried that we won't be used to it, or are you reluctant to eat it?"
Seeing the village chief's head almost touching his knees, Bai Shan couldn't help but frown and said to County Lieutenant Dong, "Alright, don't scare him."
He turned to the village chief and said, "I'm the new county magistrate, and I'm here on an inspection tour. It's already late when I arrive at your village, so I'm staying here tonight. Can anyone in the village find a room that's spacious enough to give us a rest?"
He added, "There's no need to kill chickens or sheep. Just boil a pot of water for us. We brought some dry food with us."
"How can we let the adults eat dry food..." The village chief turned around and was about to order the villagers to kill chickens, but Bai Shan stopped him and said, "It's getting late, it's too late to kill chickens and cook now. We are a little tired, so we will go to bed after eating the dry food."
The village chief then stopped asking people to kill chickens.
He invited Bai Shan and the others to live in his house. Of course, his house could not accommodate so many people, so he made room in the neighbor's house next door for Dong Xianwei and the others to live in.
After eating some dry food with boiled water, Bai Shan, who was tired, pulled the village chief aside to talk under the moonlight, "Have you planted the rice seeds in your village?"
After a meal of boiled water and dry food, the panic on the village chief's face was much less. He also realized that the young official was very kind, although he didn't understand why an official would be so kind to him, a common citizen.
Manbao washed his face and hands, and after standing outside for a while, he felt mosquitoes flying around. He couldn't stand it anymore, so he went back to his room and got out two packets of medicine. He asked Bai Shan and the others to put one packet beside him, and took the other packet to the yard and lit a fire, which burned slowly. The mosquitoes that were circling around the horse slowly flew away or fell to the ground with a plop, unable to move.
The horse, which had been restless all the time, gradually calmed down and finally stopped standing still.
In the early morning, Bai Shan and Zhou Man woke up at daybreak. After washing up, they stood in the yard of the village chief's house and looked around. The green mountains were lush and misty. It really looked like a good place, but the village was surrounded by three mountains, making the road difficult to travel.
Bai Shan stretched his muscles and said, "It looks quite similar to Qili Village."
Manbao asked, "What about the soil quality? Do the crops they grow there have a high yield?"
The situation in Zhaojiagou is even worse than that in Qili Village.
At least Qili Village has a road that can accommodate horse-drawn carriages. Although the road is a bit bumpy, at least ox carts and donkey carts can enter and exit, and goods can be delivered to the county town, so some extra money can be earned.
But Zhaojiagou is not only farther away from the county town, but the road is also more difficult to travel. It would be difficult to get out even with a cart.
Bai Shan said, "I asked about it last night, and the yield is just average. After breakfast, I'm going to check on the village fields with the village chief. Are you coming?"
Manbao looked up at the mountain. When they just arrived at Zhaojiagou yesterday, Keke reported that there were five kinds of plants that they had not included.
She said, "Go ahead, I'll talk to the villagers..."
By the way, go up the mountain to dig some herbs or something.
Bai Shan nodded and stopped the village chief who was about to kill the chicken with a knife, urging him, "The chickens will lay eggs when the weather warms up, so let's keep them. Let's have breakfast and go check on the fields."
Manbao asked the village chief's wife to organize the smart and efficient men, women, young and old in the village, and took them up the mountain while introducing them to the medical department.
However, they could not understand Mandarin very well, and Manbao could not understand the dialect they spoke, so he could only bring two yamen runners to act as translators.
Although Zhaojiagou is remote, its remoteness has its advantages. The herbs on the mountain are more numerous and better than those outside.
Manbao originally just wanted to teach them some herbs that can cool down, detoxify and prevent heatstroke, but he didn't expect to see many other herbs in the mountains.
She couldn't even pretend that she couldn't see it.
So the introduction meeting at the Medical Bureau quickly turned into, "This is Pueraria root, it's pungent and cool, it can relieve exterior symptoms, and it can also treat pain in the waist, legs, and joints. Remember what it looks like. After digging it out and drying it, you can send it to the county town to exchange for money. You can give it to the Medical Bureau, or you can send it to Baicaotang or Renhetang. The doctors will prepare it themselves..."
"This is Platycodon grandiflorum. It's a great thing. I didn't expect you to have so much of it on your mountain. Write it down, write it down. It can cure sore throats..."
"This medicine is commonly used. It's easy to get by both adults and children. In severe cases, it can cause fever. Platycodon grandiflorum is not cheap. I'll teach you how to pick it. After you pick it, dry it, and send it to the county town to exchange for money."
Not only Zhou Man was very enthusiastic about exchanging money, but the villagers were too. So everyone stared at them with wide eyes, trying hard to remember what they looked like.
Manbao also taught them how to save seeds for medicinal herbs, saying, "In a good place, you should save seeds for medicinal herbs. It's like saving eggs to hatch. If you eat all the eggs, you won't have any chickens to raise next year. The same goes for medicinal herbs. If you want to keep this profitable business going for a long time, you have to save seeds for them..."
See you at 6pm
(End of this chapter)
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