The carriage swayed and rattled all the way to the Luzhou Garrison. Xu Di was very happy to see Zhang Shitong arrive. He took Zhang Shitong to the riverbank and then invited him to have dinner in his own tent at the garrison.
After the meal, Xu Di took Zhang Shitong for a walk in the vicinity to digest their food. Zhang Shitong said, "Lord Xu, I have come here today to ask you about the wheat harvest."
The wheat harvest is a major event. Whether there will be a good harvest and how much grain can be harvested depends on the efforts over the next half month. What the people fear most now is rain. Whether the golden wheat waves can be harvested depends on whether God will grant them a bounty. Even Xu Di is helpless at this point.
Xu Di pondered for a long time and said, "When I was in Dengzhou, during the wheat harvest season, I would take the yamen runners and wander around the villages. Wherever there was a problem that was difficult to solve, we would help to solve it. We could also take some money from the yamen's private account to help people with more land or fewer laborers in their families to harvest wheat."
Upon hearing about the latter approach, Zhang Shitong said with some difficulty, "Lord Xu, if we do this, who will we help and who will we leave out? Won't we offend someone?"
Xu Di smiled and said, "That depends on what you, the local official, think. The decision is entirely up to you. There are some hangers-on at the docks. You can go over there and invite some people over, provide them with three meals a day, and pay them a certain amount each day. I think many people would be willing to come and help with the wheat harvest."
Zhang Shitong bowed to Xu Di and said, "Hearing your words is better than reading for ten years. I never thought that things could be resolved in this way. Lord Xu, there is still much I need to learn."
Looking at the vast night sky and listening to the surging river, Xu Di said to Zhang Shitong, "As local officials who govern a region, our first priority when encountering problems is to consider the interests of the people. The solutions to many problems are actually quite flexible. The longer you serve in the local area, the more work experience you will gain, and this experience will gradually permeate your style of doing things. When you return to the capital and become a high-ranking official, you will have refined this experience into your own abilities. At that time, any problem will be easily solved. After all, there is an answer to every problem in this world, isn't there?"
Zhang Shitong listened attentively. It was very rare to have such a leader who would earnestly guide him in his work. Many people could easily advance in their careers because they knew a lot and had someone by their side to give them advice. But how many people would take many detours and, after accumulating enough experience, would be unable to advance further due to age or health reasons?
Zhang Shitong lay on the bamboo bed in the tent, feeling very excited. He kept thinking about what Xu Di had said to him that night. Xu Di said that any progress comes from hard work. Don't be afraid of hardship or fatigue. Do your job seriously, do your job well, and progress will come naturally.
Zhang Shitong began to plan in his mind whether, after returning to Miaozhou the next day, he should call up the magistrates of the counties under Miaozhou to hold a mobilization meeting, so that they would take the wheat harvest seriously, and then send several inspection teams from the prefectural government to the counties to supervise the work of these magistrates.
Zhang Shitong didn't know when he finally fell asleep. He got up early the next day and found paper and pen in his tent. He wrote down everything he had considered the night before. Xu Di, who was watching from the side, nodded in approval. Zhang Shitong was indeed the person Xu Rao had praised in front of Xu Di. The work plan he wrote was based on the methods Xu Di had told him the night before. Moreover, he had learned to apply what he had learned to other situations. He not only enriched his own methods but also extended them, making the work plan look even more perfect.
Zhang Shitong returned to Miaozhou with the work plan he had written in high spirits. That afternoon, he sent letters to the various counties, asking the county magistrates to come to the prefectural government for a meeting in two days.
The original magistrate of Yun'an County was dismissed on the spot. The current magistrate of Yun'an County was Chen Yuan, who was reassigned by the Ministry of Personnel. He was over fifty years old and had been serving as a county assistant in counties in the Jiangnan area. He was very surprised to receive the transfer order from the Ministry of Personnel, but when he saw that it was Yun'an County, he knew that he had gotten a lucky break.
Chen Yuan only had the title of Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination). He had been working as a registrar and county clerk in counties around Jiangnan since he was in his twenties. He was able to be selected this time thanks to a former superior who is now a vice minister in the Ministry of Personnel. This time, some people originally wanted the position of magistrate of Yun'an County, but because of the plague and the fact that the money used for disaster relief and river repair in Miaozhou over the years would be investigated in detail later, they dared not take action.
Even if they dared not take action, someone had to come up with an official position. Chen Yuan's superior thought of Chen Yuan. This Chen Yuan was a very serious person, but he was unlucky and lacked connections. Chen Yuan's superior's superior was troubled by this position, so Chen Yuan's superior recommended Chen Yuan to him.
After reviewing Chen Yuan's performance evaluations over the years, the Ministry of Personnel finally issued a transfer order for Chen Yuan. After receiving the order, Chen Yuan simply packed a few clothes and went to Yun'an County.
After Chen Yuan arrived in Yun'an County, he handled several matters very seriously, earning praise from his superiors and the people. These days, Chen Yuan is very happy to see the heavy ears of wheat in the fields.
Chen Yuan was somewhat surprised to receive the notice to attend a meeting in Miaozhou. The reason was simple: it was not uncommon for such notices to be sent to the prefectural government for meetings, but it was quite unusual for the county magistrate to be required to attend a meeting at the prefectural government office so close to the start of the harvest season.
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