Hexi County is not a very large county. It is adjacent to Yanmen Pass and can be said to be the back of Yanmen Pass. The county is surrounded by mountains, rivers and many flat fields. Because of this, Hexi has always been an important town. To go through Hexi and go deeper into Daliang territory, you have to pass through a dangerous canyon. This canyon was also a strategic location in the past. In recent years, due to the garrison at Yanmen Pass, some bandits and outlaws in the area have disappeared. The journey from Hexi to Ganzhou, which belongs to Hexi, has become much safer.
Because of the mountainous terrain and the unstable environment, agriculture is not very developed. As a result, the people who rely on the weather for their livelihood do not live a good life, and in some places, they cannot even solve the most basic problem of food and clothing.
After several days of field research, Xu Rao's heart grew heavier and heavier. Due to the inconvenient transportation, the grain produced in the fields could not even sustain a year's food and clothing after paying taxes. There were no valuable cash crops. It was truly a long and arduous road to help the people live a good life.
Xu Rao was constantly worried about the development plan of Hexi County. Zhang Zhaoci took Xu Zhi to read books and write lesson plans every day, and then went to the General's Mansion to teach every five days. The family of three, plus Granny Lu, could only get together at dinner time in the evening to talk about the progress of their respective affairs and then talk about the big and small matters at home.
Xu Rao and Zhang Zhaoci share the same belief: a career is important, but a family is even more so, especially in raising children. They feel it's crucial to fulfill their responsibilities as parents. Although Xu Di is young, he's an adult at heart. Whatever he does in the future, Xu Rao and Zhang Zhaoci can only support him from behind. Their philosophy is that their child's future holds limitless possibilities. As parents, they can only encourage and help, but not interfere too much. After all, who knows if their interference might change their child's future?
The couple believed that Xu Zhi should be raised in a state of abundance, not only materially but also spiritually. Material wealth would prevent Xu Zhi from focusing too much on money in the future, while spiritual wealth would prevent her from easily succumbing to material temptations. As a girl, the worst thing is to be too vain. How can one avoid vanity? One must be strong in spirit.
Because Xu Zhi is still young, she is only taught a few simple characters. Recently, Granny Lu has been making arrangements for Xu Zhi's formal education. It's not just about academics; there are many other things to learn, such as etiquette, needlework, and of course, reading and writing. What other children learn, her child should learn too. It's not about making her stand out from the crowd, since girls don't have to take the imperial examinations. But learning these things well will enrich her soul. Zhang Zhaoci still remembers a saying: When you feel like you have nothing to do, either read a book or exercise. Reading can enrich your soul, and exercising can make you more self-disciplined. When you do one of these two things, you will know what you need to do.
Summer was almost over, and not only was Xu Rao on edge, but Zhang Zhaoci was also on edge.
This summer on the grasslands has been blessed with favorable weather, and the cattle and sheep are said to be thriving. When Xu Rao returned and told Zhang Zhaoci about this, he also expressed his hope that they could have a good year. However, Zhang Zhaoci did not dare to be careless. The family dug two cellars, one for storing valuables and the other for storing vegetables. Zhang Zhaoci then tidied up the cellar for storing grain.
The most common grain is oats, which are very nutritious, but they are troublesome to process. Wheat flour is much easier to make and tastes better.
Zhang Zhaoci had the idea of planting winter wheat here, and she really wanted to give it a try.
After sharing his ideas with the heir of the Marquis of Jingbei, the heir helped him find seeds within the pass and invited a farmer who was very good at growing crops. He also found a piece of land between the General's Mansion and Hexi County, and then had people prepare the land for trial planting.
This is one of the advantages now: if you want to do something, you don't need to do it yourself; you just need to express your ideas, and someone will do it for you. Zhang Zhaoci felt that this was the only convenience that the evil old society had given him.
Everyone was busy, and Xu Zhi often wondered if she was too useless. She always stayed quietly on the sidelines when the people around her were busy, and even when she wanted to participate, she would be stopped.
Xu Zhi gradually fell silent. Zhang Zhaoci noticed that her beloved daughter had been speaking less and becoming more serious in the past few days. Children's psychological issues are a point that parents should pay close attention to. As a doctor and a highly educated person, Zhang Zhaoci felt that the most important thing was for Xu Zhi's mother to take good care of her child's psychological problems. Therefore, Zhang Zhaoci found an afternoon when the sunlight was not very bright and had a conversation with Xu Zhi.
The little girl sat quietly on the kang (a heated brick bed) by the window. On the kang table were several sheets of paper with words written by the little girl, varying in size and thickness, some even smudged into a mess. Zhang Zhaoci looked at her somewhat sad daughter and asked carefully, "Xiao Jiu, your mother sees you're unhappy. What happened?"
Seeing her mother's cautious face, Xu Zhi felt a little embarrassed and said, "Mother, do you think Xiao Jiu is very useless? He can't do anything and can't do anything well."
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