jdhmnovel Chapter 310 Making money is risky, why not make a name for yourself?
Chapter 310 Making money is risky, why not make a name for yourself?
The first person to report to Yang Shaofeng was the magistrate of Penglai County. After all, the Dengzhou prefectural government office had not yet been built, and Yang Shaofeng was currently using the Penglai magistrate's office as the Dengzhou prefectural government office.
As soon as Xu Jingyu arrived, Yang Shaofeng handed him the "Outline of the Five-Year Plan of Dengzhou Prefecture" that he had just compiled.
"These are the things I need to do over the next five years. Many of them involve your Penglai County. Take a look first, and then prepare a five-year plan for Penglai for me."
Upon hearing the words "Five-Year Plan," Xu Jingyu felt completely numb.
Damn it, I was already tormented by this five-year plan when I was the magistrate of Huaixi. Now that I'm the magistrate of Penglai, they want me to come up with a new five-year plan for Penglai?
Seeing Xu Jingyu's dazed expression, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but sigh. He then picked up a copy of the "Penglai County Five-Year Plan" from the table and handed it to Xu Jingyu.
"This was written by the former magistrate. If his so-called plan had been genuinely for the benefit of the people, I wouldn't have asked you to make another one."
Xu Jingyu took the "Five-Year Plan" written by the former county magistrate and read it through. He immediately felt that the former county magistrate's death was not unjust at all.
Will he lead the people under his jurisdiction to reclaim tens of thousands of acres of wasteland within five years?
This data seems normal on the surface. After all, although there are more than 3,000 people under the jurisdiction of Penglai County, there are only more than 1,000 men, and the number of young and strong is only about 600. It is normal for one young and strong person to reclaim more than three acres of wasteland per year.
The problem lies with the plowshares—if that idiot hadn't joined Xu Zheng and Qu Mingjie in reselling plowshares, the pace of land reclamation by the people could have been greatly accelerated, with a able-bodied young man being able to reclaim about ten acres of wasteland in a year.
But then Xu Jingyu thought about it again and felt that something was not right.
The former magistrate, that bastard, has already sold off all the plows. Now it's my turn to be the magistrate, but I don't have a plow in my hand either. If I were to write something, all I could do is to reclaim 10,000 mu of wasteland in five years!
Just as Xu Jingyu was inwardly complaining, Yang Shaofeng shook his head slightly and said, "I don't see anything wrong?"
Xu Jingyu thought for a long time but couldn't find anything wrong. Helpless, he could only honestly reply, "Your Excellency, I really can't see anything wrong."
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "He didn't mention anything about distributing land to the people, nor did he mention anything about how to increase the arable land area or how to increase the people's income."
"Aside from the so-called plan to reclaim 10,000 acres of wasteland in five years and the completely unrealistic plan to build bridges and roads, the rest is all blank."
After hearing Yang Shaofeng's words, Xu Jingyu immediately picked up Yang Shaofeng's "Outline of the Five-Year Plan for Dengzhou Prefecture" and began to read it.
"Cultivation planning".
"Road construction plan".
"Tree planting plan".
"Aquaculture planning".
"Mining plan".
"..."
The farming plan alone included allocating land to the people, leading them to reclaim wasteland, planting tea trees, raising silkworms, and requesting the court to allocate tools, agricultural implements, seeds, and oxen, among other things.
Looking at the road construction plan, it clearly states where the road will go from and where it will go, that the Ministry of Works should be consulted before construction can begin, when construction will start, and when it will be completed. Every detail is clearly stated.
After reading through Yang Shaofeng's "Five-Year Plan Outline" several times, Xu Jingyu couldn't help but sigh slightly. He then bowed to Yang Shaofeng and said, "After I return, I will rewrite the five-year plan. I hope that Your Excellency will not hesitate to offer your guidance."
Yang Shaofeng smiled and nodded in agreement, then turned his gaze to Zhou Jingxin, a student from Ningyang County who had come with Xu Jingyu: "You should know how I behaved back in Ningyang County, right?"
Zhou Jingxin cupped his hands in response without hesitation and said, "Yes, I dare not say that I know everything, but I do remember some."
Yang Shaofeng nodded again and instructed, "Then you should help Magistrate Xu prepare the five-year plan for Penglai County. When you do it, think about how I did it when I was in Ningyang County."
Zhou Jingxin bowed again and replied, "Yes, sir, please rest assured, I have remembered everything."
……
After returning to his office, Xu Jingyu first asked Zhou Jingxin to sit down, and then asked, "Student Zhou, what did the Prefect do when he was in Ningyang County?"
Zhou Jingxin said, "Reporting to the county magistrate, when the magistrate was in Ningyang County, the first thing he did was to have Master Limpy Wu lead a group of people to visit all the villages and have the people elect a village head. Then he had these village heads help to manage the distribution of land to the people."
"After the land was distributed, the magistrate organized the able-bodied men of Ningyang County to reclaim wasteland, while also organizing the weak to cut and collect grass, which was eventually sold to Prime Minister Xu's army as provisions. In return, these provisions were exchanged for some chickens, ducks, and farm tools."
"Then a drought struck. The magistrate gathered all the people in the county and began digging an artificial lake in the west of the city to store water for drought relief. Just then, His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince heard that the magistrate was raising grain for Prime Minister Xu and rewarded the people of Ningyang County with some seeds, farming tools and oxen. The magistrate distributed these seeds, farming tools and oxen to the people of Ningyang County and kept some for the livestock farm in the county town to raise calves."
"It was thanks to the cattle, horses, and farm tools bestowed by His Majesty and His Highness the Crown Prince, as well as the constant hard work of the Master, that Ningyang County was able to get through the drought."
"..."
Zhou Jingxin slowly recounted all of Yang Shaofeng's actions in Ningyang County.
Xu Jingyu listened and nodded, but after Zhou Jingxin finished speaking, he couldn't help but sigh and said, "Back when Prefect Yang was in Ningyang County, he still had a few yamen runners to use, but now in Penglai County, we only have you and me. Alas..."
After Xu Jingyu said that, Zhou Jingxin began to think to himself that this county magistrate must be an idiot.
You're a dignified seventh-rank county magistrate, why don't you just go to the village and let the people elect a respected village head?
As for the lack of manpower... my master didn't have many manpower back then either. Every one of those yamen runners, including the lame Fifth Master, had some kind of injury or disability. Even now, Ningyang County doesn't have many able-bodied yamen runners, but Ningyang County hasn't been unable to function properly.
However, due to his master's orders, Zhou Jingxin could only complain in his heart while bowing to Xu Jingyu and replying, "Why doesn't the county magistrate first go to each village and let the people of each village elect a village head, and then let these village heads help to preside over the land distribution?"
Seeing that Xu Jingyu was still somewhat hesitant, Zhou Jingxin simply continued, "Actually, these things are only troublesome at the beginning. Once the land is distributed and the people start farming normally, there will be far fewer problems later on."
"To be honest, Your Excellency, when my master was in Ningyang County last year, although he often went to the fields of various villages and communities, the people respected and loved him. How could they bear to let him work in the fields himself? They all insisted on stopping him."
"For the people of Ningyang County, as long as the magistrate can lie on the ground and drink tea, they feel reassured."
"That's why the magistrate is still serving as the magistrate of Ningyang. If the magistrate were to step down, I'm afraid he would receive countless umbrellas and boots from the people, and I'm also afraid that many people from Ningyang would be willing to follow the magistrate to Dengzhou."
As Zhou Jingxin finished speaking, Xu Jingyu's heart couldn't help but feel eager.
Umbrella for Ten Thousand People
Wanmin Boots.
Since making money carries the risk of losing your head, why not focus on building a reputation instead?