Chapter 113
Chapter 113
“We’re finally here.”
Era, Xiao Huang.
An Dahai, Wu Renhao.
Three people and a cow came from Zhennan City and finally set foot in Ning'an Prefecture on June 27, the 39th year of Huayuan.
The topography of Ning'an Prefecture is indeed different from that of other places.
Like Zhennan Pass and the natural barriers of the mountains.
But after passing Zhennan Pass, the terrain of Ning'an Prefecture becomes more than twice as flat.
Of course, the terrain here is flat, which is different from the Central Plains, but the mountains are less undulating.
Looking from afar, there are still green mountains and clear waters.
From further away, folk songs seemed to be heard. This was the more ancient language of the area. The singing was loud and moving, wandering among the mountains, rivers and streams.
Such ethereal singing almost blends into the beautiful scenery before your eyes.
"It's been said that after passing Zhennan Pass, the scenery is different, and it's true."
"What is that?"
There seem to be a lot of people halfway up the mountain?
Ji Yuan looked into the distance and said with a smile, "It's the terraced fields."
Terraced fields?
The terrain of Jianmeng Mansion is flat. Although there are mountains, they are not much different from small mounds compared to here.
The fields over there are naturally large tracts of flat land. Even if someone were to farm on the mountain, there would be really no space.
This is the first time I have seen such a large area of fields on the mountainside.
Ji Yuan suddenly felt that ancient knowledge seemed to be attacking his brain.
Ji Yuan said: "If you look further up, you can still see residential buildings."
Residential houses?!
At first glance, it was indeed the case!
This Ning'an Prefecture is indeed different!
According to the opinions of people in Central Plains, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and even Guangdong, Guangxi and Beijing.
The fields should be level, right on the ground.
The houses near the fields are close to each other, forming villages.
This place is different.
All people live along the mountains.
The highest point of the mountain is rock, and the lower part collects and stores most of the rainwater, which flows down and forms a forest.
The forest is actually located higher up in the mountains.
Further down are villages where people live. This is the real halfway point of the mountain. Of course, these mountains are flatter than other mountains and more suitable for human habitation.
Further down the mountain are terraced fields, the wisdom of the locals dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period.
Since there was no flat ground, they cultivated terraces on the gently sloping hillsides.
However, whether in the Spring and Autumn Period or in later ancient times, the population pressure was not great.
Apart from avoiding war, taxes, or someone committing a crime, few people would choose these places on their own initiative.
The main reason for moving here in the past hundred years is that the population is increasing and the living space for the people is getting smaller.
So these terraces became more and more prosperous.
Wu Renhao was shocked, and An Dahai was even more puzzled: "They are growing rice? Rice needs a lot of water. How can they carry it up from the foot of the mountain? How much manpower will it take?"
Ji Yuan pointed to the mountain and said, “It was led down from the mountain.”
"A lot of rain falls here during the rainy season, and the mountains receive some of it. If we don't handle it properly, it will cause floods."
"The arable terraces can perfectly divert water, which can reduce sudden floods and provide drinking water for irrigation."
"This is definitely the crystallization of human wisdom."
Ji Yuan praised it highly, but was also curious about the development of the local terraced fields and whether there was a systematic method like in later generations.
The shocked looks of Ji Yuan and his three companions made the local officials who came to greet them want to laugh. They said directly: "You are from the inner circle, don't you know that our situation is very normal?"
After saying that, the other party looked around.
Who is the person in charge of Ning'an Prefecture's warehouse?
The leader, although tall, is a pretty boy.
On the left and right, one is so tall that people call him a strong man, and the other is short, plain-looking, and even has a very honest look in his eyes.
The key point is that these three people don’t look very old.
Ji Yuan took the initiative to present his identity certificate and documents of his arrival.
Wu Renhao also handed over his own pass. As Ji Yuan's bodyguard, he naturally also had a pass from the Ministry of Personnel.
An Dahai?
Ji Yuan said directly: "This is my good friend, who is good at treating livestock, especially cattle and sheep."
Cattle and sheep?!
ox! ?
Only then did they see the ox cart behind the three of them.
The ox pulling the cart was exceptionally strong and looked very smart.
Good, it’s good that you can treat cows.
The Laman people like cows!
When they took Ji Yuan and others to the main city of Ning'an Prefecture, Ji Yuan and others discovered that there were indeed many totems made of cow horns nearby.
The construction of the terraces is ingenious, but still very tiring.
Cattle are the main labor force in the area, even more so than in other places.
So on the way back, An Dahai unexpectedly became the most popular person. Originally, he had no official position and should not have gone to the yamen, but he was still invited.
They even made an appointment on the way to check on their own cows.
An Dahai looked at Ji Yuan, and Ji Yuan naturally had no objection. This was a really good thing.
The clerk who greeted Ji Yuan rolled his eyes, and said, "Master Cangsi, please wait a moment. Our assistant has gone out and will be back soon."
This was not a lie. Ning'an Prefecture did not have a prefect as its highest official, only a local magistrate.
Tongzhi, in theory, should be the subordinate of the prefect, but now he is acting as the prefect.
In other words, this is their biggest leader, and if he were in other places, he would not go out so frequently.
However, there are too few officials in Ning'an Prefecture, and as locals, they know the situation best, so they have to do many things themselves.
The Tongzhi was indeed not in the yamen.
Ji Yuan and the others just need to wait patiently.
The clerks brought up the tea, and even people like Ji Yuan, who had never seen good tea, felt that the tea here was fragrant and delicious.
Ning'an Prefecture is much smaller than ordinary prefectures.
There are no specific counties below, basically there are villages. The villages here are naturally different from others. Some villages even have a population of tens of thousands, comparable to a small county town.
This is also caused by the special circumstances here.
After all, it has only been a few decades since it was incorporated into the Tianqi Kingdom, and many administrative units have not been clearly divided.
But the official positions in the government office are clear at a glance.
The highest rank is the prefect, who is of the fourth rank, and below him is the associate magistrate, who is of the fifth rank.
From the sixth rank Tongpan, to the seventh rank Tuiguan, to the ninth rank Zhishi.
These are considered the highest-ranking officials in the local area.
Then there are the Department of Households and the Department of Personnel. Except for the chief official of each department who is of the sixth rank, all the subordinates are clerks.
This is the normal configuration.
If the same configuration is placed in a state with good economic conditions, the space will naturally be snapped up.
Once here, it’s another matter entirely.
The ones who were actually in office were the Tongzhi, Tuiguan, and the Zhishi.
As well as the Criminal Department and the Household Department, these two are really important positions.
Other departments are completely non-existent.
The seat is empty, but no one wants to come.
It is said that the prime minister’s door is a ninth-rank official.
In a place as remote as Ning'an Prefecture, no one even a sixth-rank official is willing to come.
The conditions were difficult, and the emperor in the distance had no idea what we were doing, let alone promotions and salary increases.
So no one wanted to come.
Ji Yuan used a few words to get the information out of the clerks.
And he also discovered a strange phenomenon.
That is, when everyone looked at them, they looked at them with unfriendly intent.
There was a hint of grievance and resentment in this look.
Judging from their appearance and skin color, Ji Yuan knew that they were basically locals.
Ji Yuan took another sip of tea, and when the tea was almost tasteless, the Tongzhi who had finally returned spoke to them.
The Tongzhi took a breath and asked about the situation of the minor clerks' office. Then he said, "This year's water must be drained out in time. There was too much rainfall last year, which is likely to cause floods."
"What happened last year cannot happen again."
Then he asked, "You said, a veterinarian came?"
The welcoming clerk looked over and saw that Ji Yuan and the others had already stood up. He waited until Tongzhi finished speaking before he saluted.
After the greetings, An Dahai took the initiative to say, "Your Excellency, I am the veterinarian who followed Master Ji."
As he was talking, the Ning'an Prefecture Tongzhi had already finished reading Ji Yuan's information. The more he read, the tighter his brows furrowed. Finally, he said, "Send such a person here!"
What is such a person?
Wherever Ji Yuan goes, he is praised, and not only praised, but also welcomed.
This is the first time I've been treated like this.
The other party looked at Ji Yuan, then looked at Ji Yuan's resume, and was so angry that he almost burst into tears.
This is sheer nonsense!
The petty officials understood what was going on, but when they saw An Dahai, they had to swallow their dissatisfaction.
Ji Yuan looked at them and was determined to get to the bottom of things.
All things are difficult at the beginning, and it is always necessary to make it clear what happened.
Seeing Ji Yuan asking, the other party said unhappily: "Zhuangyuanlang, when are you going to leave?"
"In the past six months, or a year?"
"Are you just waiting to kill time? When the four years are up, you'll be transferred to another place?"
ah?
Ji Yuan frowned: "I don't think so."
The Tongzhi didn't believe it at all, and ordered the clerk: "Arrange for them to rest, and arrange for a veterinarian to come in. The government will take care of their food and accommodation."
If your skills are good enough, you will get paid.
This point was not mentioned by the colleagues, but it was the consensus of everyone.
That tall and strong one is also useful.
He is just the youngest pretty boy. What good can he do?
Go teach?
The Tongzhi curled his lips.
I really don't know what to do with these gifted people.
Three people from Ji Yuan, plus one Xiao Huang.
Everybody noticed.
Ji Yuan’s status is probably not even as good as Xiao Huang’s.
Ji Yuan and his companions were taken to live in houses near the government office. These were public houses for officials, specially used for them to rest.
Because there were many vacancies here, the three of them were assigned to a nice courtyard.
This courtyard is really nice. It seems to have been built at the same time as the government office, and the architectural style and time are similar.
Although it has been under construction for over 40 years, the house was originally well built and maintained, and it looks quite impressive.
The only difference is that the government office building looks completely different from other local houses.
Like other places, the government office is basically located in the middle of Ning'an City.
With Ning'an City as the center, there are more than 30 villages of various sizes.
It constitutes the entire Ning'an Prefecture.
Is Ning'an Prefecture a big place?
In fact, there are a lot of them, but only in Ning'anbei, where the Labei people lived back then, people gather.
In the south, especially near the Jing Kingdom, although there is a boundary marker of the Tianqi Kingdom, almost no one goes there.
Therefore, the area actually controlled by Ning'an Prefecture is only half.
There are a total of thirty-seven villages in the entire Ning'an Prefecture.
It is divided into three types: large, medium and small.
There are nine large villages in total, with a population of over 15,000 each.
There are twenty medium-sized villages with a population of over five thousand.
There are about eight small villages with about five hundred people.
There are also some very small ones, but the statistics are not comprehensive enough.
In other words, the entire Ning'an Prefecture has a population of nearly 200,000.
From this point of view, there are actually quite a lot of people.
That's not surprising.
If there is no taxation in the local area for fifty years, the population will increase.
The land here is vast and not as crowded as inside, and Ji Yuan feels that the locals seem to have a good mentality.
The three of them sat down, and An Dahai said, "They treated you like that, why are you still praising them?"
It wasn't until now that they actually sat down.
Ji Yuan Wu Renhao set out in February and now, on June 27th, he finally arrived at his destination.
They had a really hard journey.
There were hired escorts, assassinations, and the sea was also sick.
After four or five months, it finally arrived.
The servants inside were cleaning the room, and Dahai was talking behind their backs.
As he was speaking, Xiao Huang came over and started chewing grass next to Ji Yuan.
Such a strong bull made the servants who had cleaned the house envious.
After the locals left, Ji Yuan answered An Dahai’s question: “I probably know the reason.”
What is the reason?
Ji Yuan explained: "The magistrate just asked me how long I planned to stay here."
"Maybe they're afraid that I'll just slack off or run away."
In modern times, many entry-level positions do not want college students, especially those from prestigious universities, and they will basically be rejected.
If a college student applies for a simple position, the other party will probably say politely: "This is the first time someone with such a high degree has applied for a job."
You think he is praising you, but in fact: We cannot afford to support a big Buddha like you. Who knows when you will leave and whether you will use us as a stepping stone.
And in the current situation.
In the era of the first place, a top scholar who won six top prizes in a row came to the most remote Ning'an Prefecture to look after the warehouse.
It is no less than a PhD student from a top university going to a factory to work as an assembly line worker.
General Manager: Oh no, they are targeting my position.
Or, the general manager said: PhD students don’t need internship certificates, right? He doesn’t understand.
No one would think that the era would last long.
Even Prime Minister Li in the capital made him a promise.
Just live peacefully for the next few years.
Generally speaking, expatriate officials with this kind of resume and this kind of native place will have two choices.
1. Just muddle through for four years and leave as soon as possible.
Second, find an opportunity and run away!
"Ah?" An Dahai thought about it carefully and realized that this was indeed the truth.
Ji Yuan certainly didn't say anything modern, he just explained the situation seriously.
From this, I even understood why there are so many vacancies in Ning'an Prefecture.
It is obvious that there are too many officials outside.
But there are still many empty seats here.
It seems that the Ministry of Personnel did not fail to send people, but after sending people, everyone tried to find ways to escape.
In the past, when the Ministry of Personnel assigned teaching positions to Juren, they would run away or find various excuses to refuse.
If we throw them over here, they will definitely run faster.
It is normal that over time, local people begin to distrust these officials who are sent from outside.
But his resume is a bit too "gorgeous".
The more fancy it is, the less they need it here.
I guess the Tongzhi has already tacitly agreed that he is using this place as a springboard.
So we should be better to the wrestler Wu Renhao and the veterinarian Dahai.
"Okay, pack up first and then have a good rest. You will be here for a long time in the future." Ji Yuan said.
The house here has one main courtyard and two side courtyards, which is just right for the three of them to live in.
Dahai felt a little embarrassed. He had no status, so he just occupied a yard? There were three rooms in the yard, which was more spacious than the one he lived in at home.
But the servants in the yard were very warm and polite to him.
Xiao Huang is very free.
You can go wherever you want.
Ji Yuan also had a house built in the main courtyard specifically for Xiao Huang to live in.
His luggage was also put away.
In addition to the necessary clothing, there were more than a dozen large boxes.
These big boxes were extremely heavy, and they were initially transported by the escorts. After the escorts left, the Dong family's team helped to transport the goods.
Up to now, the Dong family caravan is still unloading the goods.
Ji Yuan saw off the Dong family caravan. Although leader Dong was not there, the others were very familiar to him.
Finally someone asked, "What's in this box?"
Could it be something that the top scholar usually uses?
It is possible. Maybe it is because of the bedding, clothing and utensils that you are used to?
Ji Yuan opened one directly and patted the things on the top of the box.
"Book."
Book? !
No one knew how to read, and someone asked, "Is this the book for the exam?"
Haven’t all the top scorers finished their exams?
By the way, can these books be allowed to be read by those in their family who have studied the subject?
Ji Yuan smiled: "No, it's just some miscellaneous books."
Various miscellaneous books, the kind that are hard to find elsewhere.
Cultivation of tea tree from fruit tree.
Then we will talk about how to treat various livestock and some experience with farm tools.
When the Zhou family of Jianmeng Mansion received the book list from Ji Yuan, they said directly: "You want to help us clear our inventory, right?"
These books are the hardest to sell.
For those who can read, buying this kind of book is just for entertainment.
Those who cannot read don’t even know the existence of these books, let alone their purpose.
Therefore, it has become an existence that needs to be cleared of inventory.
I discovered this when I bought a book for An Dahai before the beginning of the era.
The livestock ones are okay, but some descriptions of animals and plants are really just miscellaneous and leisure books.
Ji Yuan collected these books and asked the escorts to bring them to him.
So the escort agency at that time was not transporting empty boxes, but real books.
Ji Yuan took out a few books: "This one talks about how to grow rice, and this one talks about how to grow fruit trees."
"Thinking that even though we are in different regions, we still have something in common?"
The people from the Dong family caravan nodded and couldn't help but ask, "If you figure out a way, can you tell us? My family also grows rice."
This is no problem, Ji Yuan nodded: "Okay, our Dianzhou Prefecture has outstanding people and rich resources. It can be said to be one of the best places in Tianqi Country. There will be great things to do here."
Everyone in the Dong family caravan nodded immediately.
That’s right!
They are just that good!
Besides, Ji Zhuangyuan has said it, how could it be false?
Everyone knows the ability of Ji Zhuangyuan.
I heard that after he finished his lecture at the clan school, the students there went crazy studying.
Some of them also had children studying at the Dong family school. The children were in different states. When they mentioned Ji Zhuangyuan, they all burst into tears.
He said that he, the weak bird, must fly first.
This made everyone laugh and cry.
Is the effect of Ji Zhuangyuan’s class so obvious?
As he was speaking, Wu Renhao lifted a box by himself. The box that required four people to move was lifted up by him with his bare hands. His strength was amazing.
Then look at An Dahai who is already reading a book.
Why do veterinarians also read books?
An Dahai also said to Ji Yuan: "I haven't bought this book either. It's not very well written and some of the content is outdated. Let me revise it first."
Will he change?
Oh my god.
What on earth are these three people in front of me doing here?
Number one scholar.
Lux.
veterinary.
I always think they are awesome.
The news here reached the Ning'an Prefecture Tongzhi.
He was still outside checking the condition of the terraced fields. It had rained a lot in the past two years and the water could never be drained away.
This year's rice is about to be harvested, and we really can't let anything go wrong.
We didn’t even understand how to provide disaster relief last year, and if production is reduced again this year, life will be very difficult.
besides.
And taxes will start to be collected next year.
He had already mentioned this matter two or three years in advance, but the village chiefs of the 37 villages below were all avoiding the issue.
If the disaster relief is not done well and the taxes cannot be paid, he doesn't know what will happen next.
The Tongzhi thought of the number one scholar who had come over.
A pretty boy might have some talent in studying, but how could he do such a thing?
Real official business and examinations are completely different things.
It’s not that he looks down on the top scholar. As a Jinshi who ranked among the top three, he certainly knows the huge gap between himself and the top scholar.
But no matter how talented they are or how fast they learn, what can they do?
Not leaving soon.
Just like these houses in the government office.
When they were first incorporated into the Tianqi Kingdom, the imperial court sent people to repair the government offices and government offices, and said that they would not charge any fees for fifty years, and also said that they would send people to teach them farming.
Indeed, someone was sent.
It has indeed been repaired.
But after the house was repaired, the officials from the court would run away if they could and would not stay at all.
The Tongzhi didn't hate the top scholar, but he was really afraid that he would leave in a few days.
This is the top scholar.
Forget it, let’s wait and see.
Let’s see what Ji Zhuangyuan will do after taking office.
He didn't expect much anyway.
There are still ten days left before the summer harvest, and this is the most important thing.
If there are no problems with the summer harvest, we can make up for the disaster relief work.
The Tongzhi's mind returned to local official duties. In his eyes, Ning'an Prefecture was still more important.
Ji Yuan and the others had finished packing and were finally able to lie down on bed and have a good sleep.
Ji Yuan has never run such a long distance in his previous life or this life.
From the capital to Dianzhou Prefecture.
In modern times, whether you take a plane, a high-speed train, or even drive there yourself, it won’t take five months!
Speaking of which, I still have to reply to everyone.
Let’s wait until he wakes up tomorrow.
The people of Jiyuan rested in Ning'an Prefecture under the jurisdiction of Dianzhou Prefecture.
The letter he wrote when he left Sichuan was finally delivered to Dr. Yin of Jianmeng Mansion.
Dr. Yin looked at the Ji Yuan painting and thought it was some kind of painting, but it turned out to be something weird.
Yin Mao also came to join in the fun: "What letter did my brother write? Has he arrived? Is Dianzhou Prefecture fun?"
Yin Mao already considers himself Ji Yuan’s elder brother, and always uses the word “my younger brother” when speaking anything.
The father and son looked at the strange drawings and really couldn't tell what they were.
It was still accompanied by instructions to let them know that this strange thing was called a steam engine.
Ji Yuan also said in the letter that this thing has great potential and can be helpful to local printing, textiles, and transportation.
But all of these are just ideas and need to be implemented slowly.
Ji Yuan never brags, but he said this, which shows that what he has on hand is really good.
But they can't understand it.
Dr. Yin and his son are both "liberal arts students" and naturally cannot understand the drawings in front of them.
However, after careful study, it seems that certain patterns can be discovered.
Looking at the content of Ji Yuan's letter, he said that this thing could be studied together with Master Gao from the Department of Mathematics of the Prefecture Academy.
It is said that Master Gao might be able to figure it out.
This is a personal matter. Let's see if Master Gao is willing to help.
Dr. Yin also felt a headache when he thought about the affairs of the provincial school.
When Ji Yuan was here, there were eight students in the mathematics department.
Now there are only three left.
Mathematics is crumbling.
Although the candidates' thoughts are understandable, the so-called auxiliary subjects are the six arts of a gentleman after all, and it is really not a good idea to give up directly.
But they alone cannot reverse the current trend. It has become normal for students to only read the Four Books and Five Classics and not even read the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Book of Rites.
Maybe Mr. Gao really does have time.
Dr. Yin knew that it was a private matter, so he made an appointment with Mr. Gao for a drink at his own time.
Mr. Gao was very depressed and said, "Don't tell me. There are only two students left in the mathematics department. If you want to suspend the class, just suspend it."
"The right instructor has come to persuade you, why are you still here?"
The right instructor comes to persuade?
Dr. Yin realized that the right instructor was going to be promoted this year, so the "evil guy" who persuaded the mathematics department to suspend classes would be the right instructor.
Dr. Yin said, "It's not about this, Master Gao, do you still remember Ji Yuan?"
Master Gao supported Xixiong, how could he not remember.
That student was not only smart, he also insisted on completing all the math courses and even bought some books for his teacher.
Don't ask him why he remembered it so clearly. The truth is that his hair needed to be replaced but he didn't have much money.
Then the simple blueprint of the steam engine was taken out.
Dr. Yin said, "Ji Yuan said that the steam from boiling water seems to have a great use. If waste water can lift the lid of a pot, can it also be used for other purposes?"
"He said that if a device could be designed to store steam properly and use it as a source of power, it could be very useful in the future."
"But this is a personal matter. I wonder if you are interested, Master Gao."
After Dr. Yin finished speaking, he saw that Master Gao had already been absorbed in the story and was even becoming more and more fascinated as he read on.
There is beauty in something that is absolutely mechanical.
The combination of mathematical applications and mechanics is even more perfect.
The idea proposed by Ji Yuan made Master Gao's hands almost tremble.
This thing is interesting, but it seems a bit simple. If it is used in a different way, perhaps the power of steam will be greater.
The blueprint drawn by Ji Yuan is considered to be very simple.
The first half is the familiar steam entering the pipe. As the steam increases, it pushes the piston in the second half to move. The piston links the lever outside, and the lever in turn drives the rotating wheel to work.
There are also some devices on it that allow it to move forward and backward with the steam.
This amount of power is enough to turn the external wheels.
This kind of motivation is enough to do a lot of things.
Ji Yuan also suggested starting the experiment with a textile machine.
It seems that the mechanical principles are clear and the methods are also outlined.
But if you really want to do it, the slightest error will cause the entire steam engine to fail.
Each of the above devices must be calculated again in order to make better use of this mechanical principle.
Master Gao was getting happier the more he looked at it, and said directly: "I have no classes anyway, and my monthly salary will not be reduced. I will play with this in the future."
"Future right instructor, please leave me alone."
Dr. Yin’s promotion documents have already come down. When the current right instructor leaves, he will be an official of the fifth rank.
Master Gao knows about this, which shows that this matter is a foregone conclusion.
Dr. Yin was helpless, but said: "You still have to come once a month."
"If more people sign up for math courses in the future, you have to come back to teach."
"Hey, who would come to learn math? This is just asking for trouble. Besides, they don't care about it at all now."
"Okay, we'll have something to play with later."
"I know, keep it a secret."
Master Gao returned home and began to study.
His yard is quite big, and there is a lot of carpentry work in it, which he does in his daily life.
But for this thing, it seems like I need to learn blacksmithing?
We do what we say and join in with our fellow students in the city.
Ji Yuan had no idea that his simple steam engine drawings had been used by everyone in Master Gao’s school.
He had rested enough at this point, so he ate some local rice and touched his stomach.
There's no way around it, the local food is really delicious.
After eating and drinking, Ji Yuan took Wu Renhao out for a walk.
Where is the sea?
The sea was asked to treat the livestock.
There are more than a dozen villages near Ning'an City, which are not too far away. The local veterinarian is not as good as Dahai, so he can be of great help if he goes there.
Dahai has been called over to help out these past two days and he never gets tired of it. He really likes this job.
Ji Yuan, Wu Renhao, and Xiao Huang.
Ji Yuan "returned to his old job" and started herding cattle.
Although he hasn't herded cattle for many years, Ji Yuan is still very experienced. Cows need to eat a variety of grasses to grow well, so they have to keep walking.
But what about the grass in Ning'an Prefecture?
Seems extra plump?
This is a really great place to raise cattle. You don’t even need any silage in the winter, at all.
Unfortunately, the development of agriculture here is relatively slow.
As long as the corresponding technology is brought in, future harvests will definitely increase rapidly.
Ji Yuan was strolling around thinking about raising cattle.
As an official in charge of the warehouse, it seems reasonable for him to keep hundreds of cows in the warehouse, right?
From June 27th when they arrived in Ning'an City, Ji Yuan and his companions rested for two days and then began to move around.
By the time he officially reported to the government office on the fifth day of July, he had already visited more than a dozen nearby villages.
Now many people in the village know that the court has sent a handsome pretty boy whose temperament is completely different from that of the locals and whose tall figure can be seen from afar.
What’s a little different is that he often carries a cow with him, as if he is herding cattle?
Apart from anything else, this cow is really strong. When the rice is harvested this year, can they let this cow help plow the fields?
Someone actually dared to ask, Ji Yuan smiled and said: "Okay, as long as it doesn't get tired."
This answer made many people excited. Ji Yuan actually asked the other party to leave the name of the village and his own name.
Just come and pick up Xiao Huang when the time comes.
The only requirement is that they cannot be tired and cannot be beaten or scolded.
The other party exclaimed and quickly gave his name.
This new official is so nice!
This information certainly could not be concealed from the Ning'an Prefecture Tongzhi. He was speechless, but he also knew that the new number one scholar was not a bad person.
Therefore, on the fifth day of July, when Ji Yuan officially took office in his official uniform, the other party's attitude became better.
This Tongzhi’s surname is Liu and he is a local.
His ancestors were even from the south of Laman, which means they were bullied by the Jing Kingdom in the south.
After it was incorporated into the Tianqi Kingdom, he was very grateful and fortunately he was able to study and even passed the imperial examination and became a top three Jinshi.
Liu Tongzhi had the opportunity to serve as an official in other places, but he stayed in his local area for more than 20 years. He hoped that he could make life better and better in the local area.
After Ji Yuan got to know Liu Tongzhi, he admired him very much.
He was already a Jinshi, and if he were outside, he would be praised by countless people. The fact that he was able to stay here for more than 20 years shows his courage.
Want to talk about local benefits?
We don’t even pay taxes locally, so how can we get any benefits?
He really wants Ning'an Prefecture to become better and better.
Because there were not many officials in the government office and the others were minor clerks, there were not so many rules when everyone met.
Ji Yuan first paid a visit to Liu Tongzhi, who was a fifth-rank official, and then to the sixth-rank officials of the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Households.
There was also a seventh-rank prosecutor and a ninth-rank governor, and they knew each of them.
After all, it is a state with a population of more than 200,000.
There are only a few serious officials.
Among them, the ninth-rank governor T had red cheeks and cloudy eyes, and one could tell at a glance that he was a drunkard. He was particularly close to Ji Yuan, and spoke not in the local dialect, but in orthodox Mandarin.
"Ji Zhuangyuan, I finally have someone I can talk to. Why are you here?" The governor said, trying to show his closeness to Ji Yuan.
Before Ji Yuan came, there were a total of five officials appointed by the imperial court in this place, four locals and one outsider.
The governor had obviously not spoken official language for a long time, and there was excitement in his eyes.
The others frowned slightly, but Liu Tongzhi was the same as before, it seemed that he had gotten used to it.
Ji Yuan smiled and said, "Ning'anzhou Banzamai."
Governor Li paused, apparently realizing that this was the local dialect.
Is Ji Yuan also from Ning'an Prefecture?
That's not right. How could this poor place, which doesn't even have a proper official school, produce a top scholar? Or is he from Dianzhou Prefecture?
The others looked over, and even the usually serious Liu Tongzhi smiled: "Ban Zha, that's what you have to say."
Liu Tongzhi's dialect was obviously more suitable, Ji Yuan smiled and repeated it, and by the second time, it was already very authentic.
Not to mention him, even Wu Renhao who was following him could recite it silently several times.
It means very good, great, and excellent.
Governor Li, who also came from outside, asked Ji Yuan why he came to such a place.
Ji Yuan didn't use too many polite words, he just said in the local dialect that this place was great.
Governor Li's face was blue and white.
What’s wrong with this top scholar!
Why is he learning the local dialect? Isn't Mandarin good enough?
Ji Yuan thought to himself, it’s not that it’s a bad thing, Mandarin makes it easier for people from all over the world to communicate.
But if you come here and are unwilling to integrate, how can the locals believe that you can do a good job?
Be it dialects or customs, as long as they are reasonable and legal, they should be respected.
Seeing that he didn't even understand such simple words, Ji Yuan knew that he didn't want to stay here at all.
But he hasn't been transferred, so he probably doesn't have any connections.
I am unhappy here, but I cannot leave, so I can only spend my days drinking.
Ji Yuan sighed and changed his official language: "It seems that Ning'an Prefecture is indeed very good these days. It is about to have a good harvest. The rice ears this year seem to be very beautiful."
Ji Yuan turned the conversation back to official business, and Liu Tongzhi nodded.
In one morning, Ji Yuan successfully integrated, and Wu Renhao, as Ji Yuan's guard, was also sent to help.
Generally speaking, officials who come here definitely don’t have any guards.
The eras are different after all, which is why Liu Tongzhi didn't want to say much about Ji Yuan at the beginning.
In addition, Ji Yuan felt that there seemed to be other things that made Lord Liu not trust him.
Hey, having a good relationship with your boss is also an important step.
After everyone went to do their work, Ji Yuan took the initiative to talk to the head of the household department.
The head of the household department was in his fifties, with a gray beard that looked quite dry and dark, but he was quite nice to Ji Yuan.
When the two returned to the Household Department, the head of the department said, "You should first familiarize yourself with the official duties here."
After that, he reminded: "By the way, although you are the head of the warehouse, we are short of people and you have to take on many tasks concurrently, understand?"
There are only so many people in the Ning'an Prefecture government office, and everyone is like this. It is impossible to keep track of everything, and the conditions simply do not allow it.
The head of the household department was afraid of scaring Ji Yuan, so he didn't dare to tell the truth.
After they become familiar with each other, they will have to do not only the household affairs but also the work of other departments.
Let’s not talk about it for now, lest we scare people away.
But who is Ji Yuan? He has read thousands and tens of thousands of documents in the Hanlin Academy, and it is not in vain.
I knew at a glance that more work needed to be done in this place, so I agreed without hesitation.
I don’t know if it was because he agreed too quickly, the head of the household department was even a little bit unconvinced.
Then another question from his subordinate made the head of the household department scratch his head. Should he answer it or not?
Ji Yuan asked, "Master Liu, do you still not believe that I will do my job well? Why? Is it because of that governor?"
Seeing that Ji Yuan was young and asked sincerely, the head of the household department whispered, "That outsider is really outrageous."
"He wanted to leave right from the start. He's been busy for seven years and can't be transferred even when his term is up. He drinks and makes trouble every day. It doesn't matter whether he's in the office or not."
But when he first came, he was also ambitious and felt that he would definitely be able to leave.
He thought that as a juren, he was already unlucky enough to become a ninth-rank governor after offending someone, and he couldn't be more unlucky.
Who knows, nothing I do will work out until now.
This is truly a "cautionary tale" for all officials from other places.
Many officials who were sent here immediately wanted to leave when they saw him.
After listening to this, Ji Yuan understood.
After all, I still feel that he is uneasy.
Never mind, this is the easiest thing to do.
Ji Yuan nodded and said nothing. He tied up his sleeves and said to his superior: "Then I will start reading the local documents and understand the specific situation of the local area first."
"I think the most important thing next is the July harvest. I will definitely read all these files before the rice is harvested so that I can understand the rules of previous years."
The head of the household department looked at the many files in front of him.
Don't brag.
There are so many things, who can see them all?
There are only seven days left until the harvest.
The head of the household department was still afraid of scaring Ji Yuan, so he gently advised: "It's okay, just do it slowly."
Ji Yuan nodded: "Okay, don't worry."
Ji Yuan was immersed in local files.
When the head of the household department walked out of here, the other three local colleagues looked at each other in bewilderment.
"Didn't you scare the new guy?"
"Well, I've already told you to let him rest for a while. He seems to be a good-natured person who is willing to work. It would be fine if he could share some of the official duties."
Even Lord Liu nodded: "During the time he has been in Ning'an Prefecture, he has been very friendly and even lent his own cattle to the people in the village. He should be able to do things properly, at least in a proper way. Don't scare him."
To put it bluntly.
All local officials have the same idea.
Give Ji Yuan less work!
Don't scare people away!
You know, there are few officials in their yamen, and each of them has to take on multiple duties, so the pressure is enormous.
It’s so hard to get someone to share the burden with us, we really can’t scare him away.
It’s a pity that they don’t know the reputation of the King of the Epoch Scroll.
Otherwise, what people are worried about is not that Ji Yuan is afraid of having too much official business, but that they are afraid of not being able to keep up with Ji Yuan's pace.
Reading files and handling official business are easy for Ji Yuan.
In less than five days, he had read all the documents from various departments.
From the preliminary visits and investigations.
Then look through the local files.
Ji Yuan's investigation of Ning'an Prefecture has basically ended.
Ji Yuan put away the documents on hand, and when he left, he even put the files of the five departments in order.
He understood most of the local situation.
What is worrying is last year’s flood disaster.
Generally speaking, the water in the terraces is brought down from the mountains.
However, if the water that is diverted down is not properly controlled, or if there is too much water on the mountain, the rice in the terraced fields will be drowned.
The same thing happened last year at this time.
So everyone is particularly nervous this year.
As for disaster relief?
The locals didn't want any disaster relief, they didn't even understand that the court was supposed to help in this situation.
They just want a good harvest this year. As long as they have a good harvest, their lives will be better.
Ji Yuan looked at the yield in kilograms per mu again.
Such good land produces more than 300 kilograms of rice per mu.
It’s really too little.
"Oh no! It's raining again in the mountains!"
"We must harvest as soon as possible! We must harvest as soon as possible!"
"The official who observed the astronomical phenomena said that it will rain heavily in five days at most, so we must harvest in advance!"
Ji Yuan was writing a plan to increase production when he heard someone shouting outside.
It was the local clerk who was familiar with the weather who discovered the abnormality, so he rushed around to tell others.
The local mountains can be divided into four seasons.
When it rains in the mountains, people below the mountain don’t even feel it, but the local rice fields are most afraid of this.
Because the water from the mountains keeps flowing down, sooner or later it will flood the rice fields that are about to be harvested.
Once there is too much rain.
Then the rice, which already has a low yield per mu this year, will be destroyed, just like last year.
This matter must be notified to all villages, and all villages must take immediate action, the sooner the better!
Lord Liu's heart was finally hanging. He was in a hurry to go out and almost fell down. "Quick, prepare the horses. Notify all the thirty-seven villages and nine additional small villages below."
Lord Liu assigned the tasks.
All the officials and clerks will set out this time.
There were so many villages to notify that the original team of four people was reduced to a team of two.
Even so, the numbers are still insufficient.
"Let me separate from Wu Renhao, so I can follow the clerk and help."
Ji Yuan said directly.
Both of them?
Will this work?
Running to the villages below is the most tiring part, as people have to lead the horses for most of the way.
Ji Yuan confirmed: "Master Liu, things cannot wait for anyone."
This sentence reminded Lord Liu.
"Okay, you two must be careful and safe."
"But then again, we should notify as many places as possible."
"This is about the food supply for the people of Ning'an Prefecture. There can be no mistakes. Do you hear me?"
Ji Yuan and Wu Renhao nodded.
They hear it, and they do it.
"Okay, let's go, come back quickly."
“This year can’t be the same as last year.”
"I really can't."
Lord Liu took a deep breath and looked like he was crying from a distance, but when you looked closer you realized that those were the wrinkles running across his face.
Ji Yuan followed a local official, and the two of them rode their horses quickly.
Ride a horse where you can, and tie the horse to a tree and walk there.
The local clerk was very anxious and would not wait for this "pretty boy" on purpose.
What he didn't expect was that the other party could actually keep up and help him carry things.
Maybe this new official is really good?
There is no time to think about all these things, let’s just quickly notify the right people of the news!
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