Chapter 355: Wife is the Best

Zhulan moved the candlesticks closer. Zhou Shuren brought back a detailed map of the area near Lizhou City. Zhulan looked at the rivers first. People's lives cannot be separated from water. She was more concerned about water sources, especially when there was a drought.

Zhulan looked carefully and found that the water source in Lizhou City was not abundant. There was only one tributary. "You want to dig a pond?"

Forget about reservoirs, as the project workload is too huge, and there is no cement to build dams. If the technology is not up to standard, disasters may easily occur. Pools and ponds are more stable.

Zhou Shuren pointed at a few places with his fingertips. "Smart, I looked at the distribution of counties and towns in Lizhou. It's not difficult to dig some ponds. I'm just afraid of natural disasters after the war, so this is a way to prevent disasters before they happen. If there are no natural disasters, these ponds can be contracted out to raise fish, which can also generate some income. If there is a drought, it can also alleviate the situation."

Zhulan was worried when she heard this. There had been no droughts in recent years. She was really afraid of droughts. This was not like modern times where we can artificially make rains and use technology to adjust water. In ancient times, people relied on God. "Pooh, pooh, good things work but bad things don't."

Zhou Shuren smiled, "Good spirit."

Zhulan felt more at ease and continued to look at the map. "You still want to build a road, right?"

Zhou Shuren nodded. "You have experienced how difficult the road was along the way. We have enough manpower now. We can use manpower to exchange for food and build Lizhou at the same time, killing two birds with one stone."

Zhulan frowned, "The labor force is large, so we need to eat a lot. The two remaining batches of food are not enough. We have to save these food to last for several months."

Zhou Shuren took the map and said, "So half of the settlement is food and half is silver. It won't work if the people don't have some silver in their hands. With silver in their hands, they can set up their household items, and the markets everywhere can slowly recover. Only when the people have demand can they attract merchants, and the whole Lizhou can slowly recover its vitality."

Zhu Lan thought about the money in Zhou Shuren's hand, "Do the Tongzhi and Tongpan agree? Lizhou will be managed by the three of you."

Zhou Shuren smiled, "Today I have brought money and the power given by the emperor. Plus, they really have no other options. I hope they will entrust everything to me. They won't have any objections."

Zhulan said, "That's good."

As for the intrigues that would follow after overcoming the difficulties, she was not worried about Zhou Shuren at all. She would be lucky if he didn't scheme against anyone.

Zhulan lay down and thought for a while, then turned her body and said, "In fact, the government can buy some chicks for farmers to take, and each household can take a few, and then pay the money for the chicks with the eggs after the chickens lay eggs. There are also piglets that can be taken for adoption. If there are really no pigs to feed, you can withdraw the coarse grain for pigs from the government in advance, and pay the pigs and grain after the pigs are out of the pen. Of course, the farmers who can take them must be of good character, and some lazy people can forget about it. When taking them, they must sign a guarantee. Except for force majeure, they will be responsible for other situations."

Zhou Shuren's eyes lit up. "This is a good idea. Farmers will have extra income and can pay back the government. The government will also have extra money to do other things."

Zhulan smiled and said, "I want to buy apple trees, don't I? You can also buy some good-tasting trees and collect apples from every household, one or two apples from each household. When the apples are harvested, you can sell them to some fruit vendors, which can also be extra income."

Zhou Shuren raised his eyebrows, "I think you want to turn Lizhou City into an apple town!"

Zhulan smiled and said, "Yes, there are many apples in Chuanzhou, but there is no famous name. Once Lizhou City becomes the hometown of apples, many fruit merchants will come here in the future, and it can also boost the local economy. How great is that, right?"

Zhou Shuren kissed Zhulan on the forehead, "You have helped me a lot."

He knows how to govern and slowly solve the current problems. As for generating income for farmers, he still needs to rely on Zhulan to come up with more solutions. To put it bluntly, the Mengju people he brought with him can only help him with political affairs, and he still needs Zhulan to manage the economy.

Zhulan narrowed her eyes, "I haven't asked you yet. I remember you said that the Zhizhou and Tongzhi of Zhilizhou have the same power, and the Tongzhi of Zhilizhou is as senior as the prefect. Now the Tongzhi of Lizhou City lives behind the government office. Did you say anything else when you came?"

Zhou Shuren, "With the emperor's attention and Wu Chun's relationship, the Tongzhi naturally said so. When I was leaving, he told me that he could move out, but I refused. I said that I had already bought a house, and his rank was higher than mine. Although the rights were the same regardless of rank, he came here before me, so it was not reasonable for him to move out."

Zhu Lan curled her lips and said, "If you didn't have the right to use money on the road, and if you didn't have Wu Chun as your nephew, Chen Chen, the Tongzhi, would never have mentioned this."

Zhou Shuren smiled, "Yes, they were so worried when they knew the new governor was a new runner-up. Now they feel relieved to see me. After all, the emperor is really powerful. To be frank, Chen Chen is also the one who restrains me."

Zhu Lan stretched her waist and said, "Fortunately, there is no regulation in this dynasty that prohibits officials from buying houses and property in their posts. Although I am only allowed to buy one house, no more than four shops, and no more than 200 acres of land, I am already very satisfied."

Although there are many shady operations that can credit the property of a shop or land to followers, relatives, etc., and there are many such practices in Pingzhou City, Zhulan does not intend to do so. She would rather invest in other cities.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren chatted for a while. This time they were both sleepy. Zhulan fell asleep first in a daze. Zhou Shuren went over what Zhulan said in his mind again, and made sure he would not forget it before he hugged Zhulan to sleep.

The next morning, Zhulan slept on the warm kang. She hadn't slept so comfortably for a long time. She opened her eyes and saw Zhou Shuren was dressed. "Why did you get up so early?"

Zhou Shuren really didn't feel comfortable going to work. He was used to sleeping until he woke up naturally. He yawned and said, "There are many things waiting for me at the government office. Yesterday, many people were waiting at the gate of the government office to receive food. I have to go to the government office now."

Zhulan put on her shoes and went downstairs, "You're not going to have breakfast?"

She didn't even need to guess to know that he must have been too busy to eat today. Did he go hungry all day? Zhou Shuren was already old, and his body couldn't be tortured like this.

Zhou Shuren actually got up a little late. If he had gotten up earlier, he would have been able to have breakfast, but he would not tell Zhulan that he did not get up. "I will skip breakfast. At lunch time, I will kill a chicken and cook a few dishes to send to the government office. It can also be regarded as a meal for me to treat the Tongzhi and a few others."

Zhulan put on her clothes and went out, "Don't skip breakfast. There are still a few cornmeal buns left from yesterday. I'll cut some sausages for you to eat in the carriage."

As she spoke, Zhulan went out. Xinghua was lighting a fire in the kitchen. Zhulan picked up two cornmeal buns and a sausage, picked them up, and returned to the yard to give them to Zhou Shuren, "Be sure to eat breakfast."

Zhou Shuren felt warm inside, as his wife still loved him the most. "I will definitely eat it all."

After Zhulan sent Zhou Shuren away and washed up, breakfast was ready. They ate too cleanly yesterday's meal, so they had rice porridge with pancakes for breakfast, and there was not a single egg in the house. Li cut some sausages and cabbage and cooked them into soup.

After breakfast, the Yang family rested for a night and felt a little more refreshed. Zhulan took Xuehan to personally send her parents to Wuchun's house.

Wuchun's house with three courtyards was indeed very large as he wrote in the letter. Because Zhulan had a lot of things to do, after seeing that her parents were settled, Zhulan took her daughter home.

Without the Yang family members in the Zhou family, the whole house felt particularly empty, with no one walking around.

Zhulan was silent. She still needed to buy more servants. She said to Xuehan, "Go call your eldest brother and ask him to go to the pawnbroker to find a pawnbroker."

Xue Han, "Mom, aren't you going there yourself?"

Zhulan tapped the tip of the girl's nose and said, "Silly girl, your mother is an official's wife now. Your status has changed. It's not good for you to go to the dental clinic yourself. Go and ask your elder brother to come."

(End of this chapter)