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◎Huangpo, terraced fields and crayfish◎
After the Mid-Autumn Festival, the southern states are no longer as hot and humid as in June and July. It is even particularly cool in the mornings and evenings when passing through some mountainous areas.
Emperor Xingwu was, after all, a founding emperor who had seen all sorts of things. Neither the Donghu's disturbances on the border nor the crown prince's illnesses could keep him angry for too long. After all, being anxious and resentful was useless. He decided to tour the south first and worry about the affairs of the capital after returning to the capital.
The emperor continued to move towards Luzhou County in Yizhou at a speed of about 100 miles a day.
The weather was cooler, and Qingyang no longer had to stay stuck in the carriage all the time. He would ride a horse for about three hours every day.
This morning the emperor left Lin County and entered the jurisdiction of Xu County.
Although the emperor would only stay overnight in such a small county, he still had to ask about the government affairs of the small county. Therefore, Emperor Xingwu would send sentries in advance to inform the magistrates of the counties he would pass through to arrive at the border of his jurisdiction early to wait for him, and then he would ask about the government affairs on the way.
The curtains of the imperial carriage were raised high, and Emperor Xingwu sat inside. Qingyang and Yang Jie, the magistrate of Xu County, rode side by side. Emperor Xingwu questioned Yang Jie for about half an hour, then handed her over to his daughter. He lowered the curtains and read inside, still able to hear the sounds outside. With little else to do on the way, Qin Bing also stayed beside his father's carriage. He led his sister ahead, observing the road conditions, while Zhang Su and Fan Huaizhong followed behind the little princess to protect the emperor.
While his father was asking about government affairs, Qingyang had already taken a thorough look at Yang Jie.
Coincidentally, this Yang Jie was actually one of the top three Jinshi in the imperial examination last spring, and was in the same class as the little princess who sneaked in to take the palace examination.
Yang Jie was only twenty-two years old this year. He was of average height and appearance. His skin was a wheat-yellow tan from constant labor. He wore the green robe of a seventh-rank county magistrate. When he first answered his father's questions, his voice trembled with nervousness, but he gradually got used to it and calmed down.
The emperor had already inquired about Xu County's government affairs over the past two years, and Qingyang didn't like asking officials questions that couldn't be verified at the moment, which would easily be perfunctory. After walking for a while, she pointed to a creek at the foot of the mountain a few steps away, about half an arm's width wide and with a shallow layer of water flowing through it, and asked, "Has it rained here recently?"
When I passed by some green mountains in Yangzhou, Fuzhou, Ganzhou, Jingzhou, Jiaozhou and Qianzhou, I often saw such small ditches at the foot of the mountains in Qingyang. When I asked the officials, some said that they came from streams and springs on the mountains, and some said that it had just rained and the accumulated water on the mountains slowly gathered down to form a small stream. After the rainy season, the stream dried up.
Yang Jie said, "Your Highness, it has not rained in this county for eleven consecutive days. However, there are many springs in the mountains, and the water flows down in a winding way, forming this stream."
Qingyang sighed, "The south is indeed rich in water. No wonder there are endless green mountains everywhere."
Qin Bing, who was standing in front, smiled and said, "I feel comfortable now, but it's really hot in the middle of summer. Hiding in the shade of trees is useless. I still prefer the north. When it rains, it rains without hesitation, and when it clears up, it's dry and sunny."
Qingyang pointed at the clear water in the stream and said, "Second brother, do you remember the counties in the southeast of Liangzhou that we passed through during our northern tour that year? Including the eastern part of Liangzhou and the western part of Jinzhou, that area is almost entirely covered with loess hills. What I mean is, if the hills there could be covered with trees like here in the south, the continuous tree roots and shrubs and weeds would stabilize the soil, making the streams that flow into the Yellow River tributaries such as the Wei River, Jing River, Luo River, and Wuding River as clear as these mountain streams when it rains. Then the Yellow River water might become as clear and sand-free as major rivers like the Yangtze River and Gan River. With less sand, the riverbed of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River will not continue to accumulate, and the Yellow River flooding can be completely eradicated."
In the car, Emperor Xingwu looked out the window and could vaguely see his little daughter's fair profile through a thin layer of gauze curtain.
As soon as County Magistrate Yang Jie finished praising the little princess's ingenious idea, Qin Bing poured a bucket of cold water on her: "That's easy to say. The dry weather and lack of rain in Liangzhou have caused the hills to be covered in yellow earth everywhere. Trees can't survive there, and over time, the mountains there have become bald. It's God who won't allow trees to grow there, and won't allow the Yellow River to flow cleanly. No matter how beautiful your idea is, it's just wishful thinking. The most effective way to control the Yellow River is to build embankments."
Qingyang: "Everything depends on human effort. If the imperial court can mobilize manpower to build a riverbank thousands of miles long, it can also make trees grow on Huangpo."
Qin Bing: "It's different. The riverbank is made of dead sand. If people keep piling it up, you can get it up to the sky. But trees need water to survive. Even if we have enough manpower and spare money to plant trees all over the loess hillsides, but the trees and grass die within a few days, wouldn't that be a waste of effort?"
Qingyang whipped his second brother's horse's butt, and the horse ran forward with its nagging master on its back.
Qin Bing laughed: "Haha, there are times when my sister can't argue with me. Okay, I'll go to the front and take a look. I won't argue with you anymore."
It’s not that Qingyang can’t argue with his second brother, but it’s useless to argue about this matter. We have to send an official to select a place to actually try it out to find out whether it is feasible.
Yang Jie didn't dare interrupt the bickering between the prince and the princess, but he could see that the little princess was upset by Prince Jing's cold words. After a moment's thought, Yang Jie said, "I've never been to Liangzhou, so I don't know what the loess slopes there are like. But my ancestral home is in Yunzhou, and my hometown is surrounded by hills. To cultivate, the local people cleared narrow strips of land on the hills, which resembled ladders, so they call them terraced fields."
Qingyang was surprised and asked, "You have terraced fields there too?"
The reason why Qingyang came up with the idea of turning the loess slopes of Liangzhou into green mountains was because she had seen some sloping fields in the south. Some were just small pieces of land reclaimed by local people to grow tea trees or vegetables, while others were entire hills that had been cultivated for generations and used as rice fields.
Qingyang thought that the people would definitely not be happy to be asked to plant weeds and trees, and the court did not have that much spare money to pay the people for this. If things went wrong, there would be the problem of white-collar workers getting paid without working. However, if the people were allowed to reclaim wasteland and plant crops, and supported by national policies such as grain seeds and agricultural tools, and tax exemptions and reductions, the people would get more food. In this way, even if it was hard work, hardworking people would be willing to do it.
Therefore, when encountering a county town with large tracts of terraced fields, Qingyang specially investigated the talents of several county governors and even county magistrates. Unfortunately, most of those terraced fields were cultivated by local people from generation to generation, not the work of current officials. At least the few officials Qingyang asked only organized the people to maintain the terraced fields, and none of them tried to encourage people from other places to cultivate new terraced fields.
The reasons for this are, firstly, that the people already have enough arable land, and reclaiming wasteland is too hard and yields little results. After all, the mountains in the south are full of old trees, and digging out tree roots is tiring. The rampant weeds in previous years have further affected crop yields. Secondly, officials do not want to waste their efforts in vain. If they fail to achieve any political achievements after three years of reclaiming wasteland, it will only benefit later officials.
For the vast majority of officials, completing the court's orders is enough to get the job done. Officials who are capable and ambitious will choose a more labor-saving and worry-free way to improve their political achievements. Only a very small number of officials who are capable, dedicated to the people and can endure hardships will not be afraid of difficulties and take on some tough tasks.
People's hearts are like this. Qingyang will not blame those officials who are mediocre but have done their job well. She just longs for talented people who can serve her.
Yang Jie didn't know what the little princess was thinking, so he just answered the question about the terraced fields in his hometown truthfully.
Qingyang then learned that Yang Jie's father was a village head. Yang Jie had been studying since he was young, but during the busy farming season he would follow his family to help on the terraced fields. Yang Jie knew all the trivial matters such as how to store and divert water in the dry season and how to drain water in the rainy season. The little princess was interested in listening, so he explained it in great detail, even mentioning a kind of wild game called red claw crayfish in the rice fields.
The little princess, who was used to eating delicacies and drinking fine wines, actually had her appetite aroused.
Yang Jie: "...We can still catch some red claw crayfish in the rice paddies now, but they're not as delicious as they are in the summer. If Your Highness doesn't mind, I'll send someone to catch them right away and serve you a dish after we return to the city in the evening."
Qingyang: "Then let's try it. I've been traveling around the South for a long time, and I only heard about this kind of game from you today."
Yang Jie couldn't help but laugh.
Zhang Su, who followed silently behind: "..."
Qingyang continued to ask about the terraced fields.
Seeing is believing. Yang Jie said, "Actually, after I took office last year, I saw that the people in this county were impoverished due to the lack of arable land. Since there was a Danshan area here that was suitable for terraced fields, I persuaded the villagers of several villages to reclaim it. However, due to a lack of manpower, I was only able to reclaim over 300 acres of land from one hilltop. However, since the rice fields yielded a harvest this year, more villagers have agreed to join me in the reclamation. I expect to have even more terraced fields next year."
Qingyang asked in surprise: "Why didn't you mention this when you asked me about it just now?"
Yang Jie said ashamedly, "It's only over 300 mu of terraced fields. I dare not take credit for it. I originally wanted to collect 1,000 mu before reporting to the court."
At this time, Emperor Xingwu in his carriage spoke: "How far is the terraced field you mentioned from here?"
Facing the emperor, Yang Jie's voice became even more respectful. He said, "Danshan is twenty miles east of the county town. It takes about fifty miles to get there."
Emperor Xingwu stopped his imperial carriage and took the Qingyang siblings, Zhang Su and a thousand cavalrymen with Yang Jie to the terraced fields. Fan Zhong and his son led two thousand cavalrymen to continue escorting Concubine Li to Xu County.
Riding at full speed, Emperor Xingwu and his entourage arrived at the top of the terraced hill that had been cultivated for at most a year in about half an hour. The hill was not high, and on the top was a reservoir. The yellow pond water reflected the blue sky in the sky and the shadows of the trees beside the pond.
Yang Jie pointed to a small village at the foot of the mountain and said, "These are all people who moved here from other places to open up wasteland and take care of the terraced fields."
The people are always like this. They move to where there are more fields, while the wealthy families with more fields naturally stay in their hometowns. After all, it is more convenient to cultivate fields on the plains.
Emperor Xingwu nodded and pointed to a few nearby hills and asked, "Are those also suitable for terraced fields?"
Yang Jie: "Yes, I have visited every hilltop, and there are probably about ten thousand mu of terraced fields in this county."
Although there are many hills, not every hill is suitable for growing crops.
The imperial court had a precedent of exempting newly reclaimed farmland from taxes for three years, but that was a later story. Furthermore, cultivating terraced fields was more difficult than clearing flat land. Emperor Xingwu immediately told Yang Jie, "The costs of building the ponds and other such expenses will be covered by the county treasury. Furthermore, for every acre of terraced land reclaimed by the people, if the yield the following year reaches the average yield of local rice fields, they will receive a reward of one penny of silver. I will also exempt these newly reclaimed terraced fields from taxes for another five years."
Yang Jie immediately expressed his gratitude on behalf of the local people.
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That night, the banquet for the emperor and his ministers featured a dish of spicy braised red crayfish.
Yang Jie personally demonstrated to the nobles how to eat red claw crayfish. Although the chefs of the post house had already prepared it carefully, the red claw crayfish still had shells and needed to be peeled.
He Yuanjing was serving the emperor and his concubine, and Qingyang did not bring Jie Yu with him. Glancing at his second brother who was just enjoying his meal across from him, Qingyang finally missed his third brother who stayed in the capital.
"If Your Highness doesn't mind, I am willing to peel shrimp for you." The future prince consort who was sitting behind the table next to Qin Bing suddenly stood up and bowed to ask for permission.
Qingyang smiled: "Then I'll have to trouble you, Third Young Master."
Zhang Su sat down next to the little princess with a normal expression.
Qingyang ordered someone to place Zhang Su's table directly next to her, and the two of them ate at the same table.
Because of the terraced fields incident, County Magistrate Yang Jie undoubtedly became one of the potential candidates in the little princess's mind, but in terms of being pleasing to the eye and being considerate and thoughtful when serving her, Zhang Su still firmly occupies the first place in the little princess's heart.
For example, Zhang Su's slender jade-like hands peeled shrimps with elegance, and Qingyang couldn't help but stare at them for a long time.
【Author’s words】
Emperor Dad: You are peeling it too slowly. Look how greedy Lin'er is.
100 little red envelopes, see you at the second update tonight!
P.S. I woke up very early this morning and suddenly thought of asking the little princess to show off again. I didn’t expect that on the way from Qianzhou (Guiyang) to Yizhou (Chengdu) in the south, we would actually pass by Luzhou with its terraced fields. What a providence!
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