Just as Jiang Zhi was about to ask, Xiang Dejin, as if guessing her concerns, continued, "Magistrate Zhang said that this medicine is my aunt's prescription. Although the medicinal materials are not expensive, the process is complicated."
"You will make the medicine, and the county government will sell it. Offering small profits to benefit the people is also a virtuous act."
Because the medicinal materials used were not rare, and Xiang Dejin and the others had seen them before, they were indeed readily available everywhere, so Jiang Zhi did not have any worries about "possessing a treasure."
But these words, these words...
Jiang Zhi calmed down. The banner that Magistrate Zhang had promised to give to the Prince of Zhou was still nowhere to be found. Now he was talking about "selling medicine." Was he just making empty promises and taking advantage of her?
However, as long as there are enough benefits, Jiang Zhi, as a good young man who has received higher moral education, will still put the interests of the masses first and is willing to give it a try.
Xiang Dejin came specifically to ask for medicine as an intermediary for Magistrate Zhang, so these words must have been at Magistrate Zhang's behest.
“We visited villages and towns around the county seat and found that there was a lack of medical care and medicine. People had no choice but to endure the pain when they were sick, especially now that it is winter and there are too many people catching colds and coughing.”
Although clinics and pharmacies often provide medicine and porridge, these require the person to be present, making them ineffective in remote mountainous areas.
Magistrate Zhang hoped that these inexpensive, high-quality, and easy-to-carry medicines could be delivered to villages so that people would suffer less from illness and injury, and the population could increase.
However, this was only Magistrate Zhang's personal suggestion.
The refugees have not yet settled down, and the county government's warehouses are empty. There is still plenty of time; it's just a matter for Jiang Zhi to consider.
Jiang Zhi promised to think about it carefully.
Ba County is indeed sparsely populated. Xu Family Village previously had only a little over two hundred people, and now this disturbance has further reduced its population.
Population is the primary productive force; without people, nothing can be accomplished. Preserving human life is the first priority, and Zhang Zheng truly wants to serve the people.
Magistrate Zhang's meaning was clearly conveyed.
As soon as the two arrived at Xiaoman's house, they heard Old Li gesticulating wildly as he recounted how the wild boar had scared people to the point of madness.
"Oh dear, you guys don't know, those two were lying on the ground pretending to be dead..."
Inside the house, Li Laoshi warmed himself by the fire while vividly recounting the scene of Xu Changshou and the others returning home.
"Peppa tore the two men's clothes to shreds, they were covered in mud, and even their faces were covered in footprints, with a large bruise."
Oh dear! After the physician Xu gave them acupuncture, they woke up shouting that wild animals were eating people! Wild animals were eating people!
Look, several days have passed, and those two are still lying there saying they feel weak all over and can't get up.
Now, people are afraid to go out at night to urinate, and when they go up the mountain to pick green fruit, they can only go in groups nearby, for fear of encountering a wild boar demon that wants to strip people of their clothes.
Xiaoman, Xu Errui, Chunfeng, Qiaoyun, and the others burst into laughter upon hearing this.
Xiaoman said, "Peppa Pig is so smart!"
The little wild boar, also lying down to warm itself by the fire: Mmmm!
Beside them, Grandpa Xiaoman and Grandma Xiaoman were looking down at two unusually shaped earthenware bowls, which turned out to be two jar lids.
Xiaoman said, "I'll split some bamboo strips and weave a drying cage for you in a bit, so you won't keep complaining about your cold hands and feet when you sleep."
Xiaoman smiled and said, "After decades of use, the drying basket you made is still the most convenient."
Baking basket
Seeing his wife so happy, Xiaoman's face relaxed as well.
The elderly are all afraid of the cold. Originally, we were planning to build a kang (heated brick bed), but Xiaoman's grandparents are used to the soft straw mat and not to the hard kang. In addition, the temperature in the mountains is low, and their feet are cold even in the middle of the night.
In the past, the elderly would bring a hand warmer into their beds, but when they went up the mountain in a hurry, no one brought this heating device.
Xiaoman's grandparents didn't want to make their grandson go down the mountain over such a small matter, so they didn't mention it.
Li Laoshi was the clever one. He saw that the villagers were using braziers to keep warm and warm themselves, which saved firewood and charcoal. So he pulled up two jar lids, which turned out to be exactly what Xiaomanye wanted.
Seeing that Aunt Jiang and Xiang Dejin had taken the medicine and were about to go down the mountain to return to the county government, Li Laoshi also wanted to go with them.
Grandpa Xiaoman casually remarked, "Honestly, remember to come for the reunion dinner on the 30th."
Li Laoshi was stunned for a moment, as if he had heard something strange. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "Grandpa, what did you just say... I... I didn't hear you clearly!"
Grandpa Xiaoman repeated once more: "Remember to come up for dinner on New Year's Eve!"
Li Laoshi's lips trembled slightly, his eyebrows twitched, and he raised his hand to rub his nose, tentatively replying, "Grandpa, then I'm really here, okay?"
This was the first time someone had invited him to a New Year's Eve dinner.
Although he has brothers and relatives in his hometown, everyone looks down on him for being idle and not doing any proper work. When they see him, they either scold him or avoid him, and they will never let him into their homes for a meal.
When his parents were alive, he could at least get a meal from them, but after they passed away, no one took him in anymore. During the Lunar New Year, when every family was reunited, he was all alone.
Seeing that Li Laoshi still looked incredulous, Xiaoman said, "You're all alone, and there probably isn't much good food for you in the clinic. Come and join us for New Year's Eve celebrations."
Li Laoshi then came to his senses, blinked, and replied repeatedly, "Okay, okay!"
The two descended the mountain, and Xiaoman had to accompany them for a while, otherwise Peiqi would have chased after them to bump into them.
After everyone left, Xiaoman said to Jiangzhi, "Errui's mother, Li Laoshi just said that Zhang Juntou is going to arrange for people to turn the land. Should we send Xiaoman and Errui down to take a look tomorrow?"
The two families' homesteads are in the village, and the medical tent is currently occupied, so there's no need to worry about it being taken away by others.
Land is a different story. The difference between top-quality and low-quality land is too great, even if the area of land you get is the same.
Moreover, once a piece of land is identified as unclaimed, it must be taken over by the government.
Letting the land lie fallow for a year is already the limit; if another season is missed, it would be unacceptable for Xiaomanye, an old farmer who has spent his whole life growing grain.
Jiang Zhi thought the same way; the land on the mountain couldn't be lost, and the land in the village even more so.
You can grow either grains or medicinal herbs on any land you have.
“Alright, Lord Chang Geng, I will take the land deed and go down the mountain with Xiao Man and Er Rui tomorrow.”
Besides turning the soil, Jiang Zhi also wanted to see Zhang Juntou and ask him what he thought of the county government.
He didn't get his own banner, and he didn't get the reward for killing "bandits" in exchange for green fruit.
There's also the pill production that Magistrate Zhang asked Xiang Dejin to mention, but it's still undecided. Jiang Zhi also wants to meet with Commander Zhang first before discussing it with Master Xiaoman.
With only five days until the Lunar New Year, the two families hadn't originally planned to go down the mountain to meet with the Xu family, but now, for the sake of seeds and land, they decided to make the trip anyway.
As for whether she would encounter Xu Changshou's family on her way down the mountain and get into trouble, Jiang Zhi didn't care. She was a villain, so she was immune to all poisons.
Xiaoman smirked, "I dare to beat him up on the mountain, and I dare to beat him up in the village too."
He was just hoping someone would provoke him; he'd been cooped up in the mountains for so long.
This time, Grandpa Xiaoman didn't remind Xiaoman not to cause trouble as he usually did.
With those people in the village, getting land won't be so easy.
Even a clay figure has a temper; one must be tough when necessary. Now is the time to divide the land; weakness will lead to being bullied.
Fortunately, Jiang Zhi and the others came down the mountain in time, and sure enough, the land had been coveted by someone.
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