GBP Chapter 247 Zhu Chong 8: Is that dog a Pixiu (a mythical creature believed to bring wealth and prosp
Chapter 247 Zhu Chong 8: Is that dog a Pixiu (a mythical creature believed to bring wealth and prosp
Wang Guangyang certainly didn't mind sending a hundred able-bodied men to Ningyang County.
Look at Magistrate Yang's reply: "Thanks to Councilor Wang's care," "I was shocked to hear of the disaster that befell the people of Jiaodong, and I am truly heartbroken," "The so-called increase in revenue and reduction of expenditure may be guided by the situation, such as converting farmland into salt fields," "Or we can use work relief to build a new city," "Although Ningyang County is poor and small, I am willing to do my part to recruit hundreds of young men to work in Ningyang County."
They have the right attitude and the right solutions.
Not only did they show me enough respect, but they also solved the most troublesome Hongzhou problem. Moreover, they provided two solutions at once. If I, the councilor, still disagreed with sending some young men to Ningyang County, wouldn't I seem too unreasonable?
But after a second thought, Wang Guangyang changed his mind.
Why send hundreds of able-bodied men there?
As the saying goes, "If you're going to do a good deed, do it to the end," and "It's easy to add flowers to brocade, but difficult to provide charcoal in the snow."
Now is the time when Ningyang County is most short of manpower. Rather than risk sending hundreds of young men to work in Ningyang County, I would rather relocate a hundred households to Ningyang County. This would be more beneficial in terms of human relationships.
As for whether the officials under my command will feel wronged... Damn it, if you can govern the prefectures and counties like Ningyang County, if you can solve these messy problems for me, would I let you suffer?
……
Ever since Wang Guangyang wrote back to Magistrate Yang again, Magistrate Yang has been eagerly anticipating the relocation of the one hundred households from Hongzhou City to Ningyang County.
Damn it, everyone in Ningyang County is in a frenzy. From 49 to 19, all the men in Ningyang County are busy. Some are busy digging yellow mud to make bricks, some are busy building houses, and even the old men over 49 are busy plowing and harrowing the fields after the autumn harvest. In short, no one is idle.
Magistrate Yang even wrote a memorial to Emperor Zhu Chongba, complaining about his misdeeds.
“Look at our Ningyang County, it’s terrible. We’re so short-handed that women are being used as men and men are being used as livestock. The livestock are being used to the point of death as long as they don’t die. You old deng, hurry up and send more people to Ningyang County, otherwise there will be no one to mine my iron mine and the iron smelting workshop will not be able to get started.”
Of course, the memorial would never contain the word "Old Deng," after all, Old Zhu was different from ordinary "Old Dengs." This old fellow was the emperor, and soon he would become Magistrate Yang's father-in-law, so he had to be treated with the respect due to him.
Even so, Magistrate Yang's memorial made Emperor Zhu laugh in anger.
"Tell me, is there any official in the world more outrageous than him?"
"That bastard said there were no scholars in Ningyang County and no teachers in the schools, so we had Biao'er go to great lengths to get him more than twenty scholars who had never heard of him before."
Zhu Chongba waved the memorial in his hand, handed it to Empress Ma, and said, "But take another look at how this scoundrel is complaining to us."
"Because of a lack of manpower, a road can take ten years to repair; because of a lack of manpower, paper mills can't produce much paper; because of a lack of manpower, we can only watch helplessly as iron ore is mined."
"Damn it, every household in Ningyang County has stored grain and surplus money, and even has a large animal to help with the farming. He doesn't mention a word about these things."
"He didn't mention a single word about the money-making businesses like mulberry and hemp cultivation, tea planting, mushroom farming, canning workshops, and fried noodle workshops. Is he afraid we'll find out how much money he has in Ningyang County?"
Emperor Zhu angrily cursed, "Tell me, is this dog a mythical creature? Does he have to bring all the good things in the world back to his Ningyang County?"
At this point, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but click his tongue and said, "But you know what, the people of Ningyang County live more comfortably than the landlords and rich people in Jiangnan. You can't find another county in the entire Ming Dynasty that is more prosperous than Ningyang County."
When Empress Ma heard Emperor Zhu say that Ningyang County was prosperous, she flipped through the memorial of Magistrate Yang complaining and asking for people, and said with a smile, "You, you, Ningyang County is so prosperous now, firstly because Magistrate Yang is indeed capable, and secondly, isn't it also thanks to you, the emperor?"
Upon hearing Empress Ma's words, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but chuckle, feeling quite pleased with himself.
In fact, Emperor Zhu understood that the prosperity of Ningyang County was due to many factors, among which the continuous delivery of cattle, horses, chickens, ducks and other livestock by himself, Biao'er, Xu Da and Chang Yuchun to Ningyang County played a significant role.
But then again, if it weren't for that scoundrel who produced those lighters, provisions, fried noodles, canned goods, and the like, and if it weren't for that scoundrel who rushed to the court to plead for relief before the drought even started, how could so many cattle and horses have been sent to Ningyang County instead of other prefectures and counties?
Therefore, even though Ningyang County was much wealthier than other prefectures and counties, and the people of Ningyang County lived more comfortably than some landlords and wealthy people in Jiangnan, Emperor Zhu did not have any particular thoughts. At most, he just felt that Magistrate Yang was too much of a troublemaker.
Just as Emperor Zhu was secretly pleased with himself, Empress Ma continued, "It is a fact that Ningyang County is short of manpower right now. It is also a fact that because of the lack of manpower, the iron mine is right in front of us but we cannot mine it. What do you plan to do?"
Emperor Zhu snorted, his neck stiff, and said, "We know it's true, so we've already written to Tiande, asking him to send a thousand Semu prisoners to Ningyang County. We want to see what tricks this bastard can play with these thousand Semu prisoners."
After a slight pause, Emperor Zhu said to Empress Ma, "By the way, sister, we want Biao'er to go to Ningyang County in person to ask that scoundrel some questions."
Empress Ma paused slightly, then asked, "Send Biao'er to Ningyang County in person? To ask about something?"
Emperor Zhu hummed in agreement and then took out another memorial from his robes. “Sister, look at this. This is a memorial written to us by Wang Guangyang.”
After handing the memorial to Empress Ma, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but snort and say, "Although this memorial was submitted by Wang Guangyang, do you think we don't know how capable he is?"
“Now that Hongzhou has suffered a disaster, Wang Guangyang has submitted a memorial proposing to develop salt fields and to implement work-for-relief programs. Do you think these are things that Wang Guangyang could come up with?”
"Moreover, Wang Guangyang even wrote us a secret letter, directly admitting that the salt field project and the work-for-relief scheme were that bastard's idea."
Empress Ma nodded and said, "That's always been Wang Guangyang's style. He reports everything and doesn't seek credit. Although he hasn't made any great achievements, he also doesn't make any mistakes."
At this point, Empress Ma frowned slightly and asked, "But what does this have to do with you sending Biao'er to Ningyang County?"