Qingyu Case: Female Minister of Dali Temple

Zhao Liangzhu was obviously well prepared. He pulled out two pages of paper from his waist, unfolded them, glanced at them, and handed them over, saying, "This is the information that the students collected after investigating various villages. Your Excellency, please take a look."

Chen Shao took it and quickly glanced at it from beginning to end. "They are all very common medicinal herbs."

Zhao Liangzhu nodded. "Although we have already said that we will hire them to grow medicinal herbs, and we will not ask them to compensate if the herbs grow badly or die, but because only a very small number of people make a living by selling medicinal herbs, most people want to make money but are unwilling to take risks rashly."

Qi Ye corrected him, "It's not that I don't want to take risks, it's that I'm not sure about things and I don't dare to make promises."

Zhao Liangzhu nodded and agreed with his opinion: "According to my opinion, we should plant these common herbs in the first two years. When they have experience, we will switch to planting more expensive herbs step by step."

"Okay." Chen Shao nodded and looked at the records on the paper again. "I think the people are quite enthusiastic about growing medicinal herbs. More than half of the people in each village are willing to try."

Zhao Liangzhu smiled, "It's not that they are enthusiastic, but that we provide free medical treatment, distribute food, return land, distribute money, exempt taxes and other people-friendly measures to win their trust and make them willing to trust us."

"Whatever the reason," Chen Shao said, "this is a good start."

While agreeing, Master Qi did not forget to remind: "Although this is a good start, we cannot let our guard down. Especially those students, I see that many of them have been praised by the people recently and have become a little proud."

Chen Shao looked outside. Even through a door, he could still hear the students' noise clearly. This was not the first time they had been so noisy. Chen Shao did not ask Chan Yi or Fu Jiu to go out and stop them. He retracted his gaze and smiled, "Among them, the oldest is only in their early twenties, which is the time when they are most energetic. The best-born ones only have a few acres of land at home. Now they are helping the people do something and getting sincere praise from the people, so they will definitely be happy. Let them be happy for a while. After a while, I'm afraid they won't be happy even if they want to."

This is another plan for them. Seeing the traces of smile between her eyebrows, Zhao Liangzhu looked out thoughtfully. Qi Ye didn't have so many thoughts. After hearing what she said, he couldn't help but praise her and said, "You are indeed diligent in your work."

Chen Shao smiled and said nothing more to them. After taking another look at the contents of the paper, he asked Zhao Liangzhu, "What are your plans next?"

"It is the summer season now, and there are not many medicinal herbs suitable for planting, but there are also quite a few. There are blue indigo root, selfheal bulb, bell flower, Achyranthes bidentata, Angelica dahurica, etc." Zhao Liangzhu talked eloquently, "The academy happens to have quite a few seeds of these medicinal herbs, and Master Xu and the ten medical students are also quite experienced in the planting and maintenance of medicinal herbs. My current plan is to have Master Xu be the general commander of the planting of medicinal herbs, and the ten medical students be responsible for going to each village to guide the people in planting. At the same time, I will select one or two smart people in each village to be responsible for the daily management."

Chen Shao pondered for a moment and said, "If it's just management, then don't look for anyone yet."

Afraid that he would think too much, Chen Shao slowed down his voice and explained, "Each village already has a village chief. If it's just management, let the village chief take care of it on a regular basis. If we find someone to take care of these, then we will have to find someone to take care of them, which will undoubtedly waste another layer of manpower. But if it's about technology, it can be considered."

Zhao Liangzhu smiled and said, "I'm talking about the technical aspects."

"That's fine." Chen Shao thought and said, "But in terms of technology, we can't just consider whether the brain is flexible, but also whether it is solid, steady, and able to take responsibility."

Zhao Liangzhu nodded.

Chen Shao returned the paper to him and suggested, "In fact, it is very simple to find such technical talents. Just go around the villages. Those who grow good crops and raise chickens, ducks, geese and the like are basically smart, steady and responsible people. In addition, you can discuss with Master Xu. After selecting such talents, you can send them to the academy and let him teach them intensively for ten days or half a month. The expenses of these ten days or half a month will be borne by Huimin Pharmacy."

Knowing that Huimin Pharmacy doesn't have much money now, Chen Shao said without waiting for Qi Ye to speak: "I will ask Quan Shuyu to send 10,000 taels of silver to the pharmacy later. This 10,000 taels of silver is the reserve fund of the pharmacy. Everything in the future, including the expenditure of medicinal materials, the training of technical personnel, etc., will be paid from this. Because Huimin Pharmacy is the first official pharmacy, how to be self-sufficient and last for a long time is still in the exploratory stage, so you don't have to be afraid of spending money, and don't be afraid of taking the wrong path. If you spend money that shouldn't be spent or take a detour, just summarize it in time and correct it at the right time."

Zhao Liangzhu was very concerned about her proposal and the way she paved the way for him, and Qi Ye was also very satisfied with her act of giving him money.

Seeing the two people's relaxed brows, Chen Shao couldn't help but smile and said, "If you two are fine, I will go and take care of other things."

"You go and do your work. We should go back as well." Master Qi stood up and said, "This medicine shop has just opened. I will always feel uneasy if I don't keep a close eye on it."

Zhao Liangzhu stood up and said, "I have to go back and discuss with Master Xu about asking him to teach the people how to grow medicinal herbs."

"Then let's go together." After sending the two out of the second hall and watching them go away, Chen Shao turned back. Listening to the students chattering about their recent trips to the village or sharing their experiences at the farm, Chen Shao slowly walked to the table and sat down. After picking up the gavel and knocking it twice, he smiled and said, "It's better to share happiness with others than to enjoy it alone. You guys have been talking about this interesting story for almost half an hour and you still can't stop. Why don't you tell me too?"

The students all became quiet with angry expressions.

Chen Shao smiled and said, "Don't be restrained. I'm not teasing you. I really want to know what you saw and heard when you visited the villages this time."

"Then I'll go first." Tao Ming stepped forward, bowed to her, and said in a loud voice, "I went to Hezi Village, Anwu Village, Changdu Village, Qiuhua Village, and Jiangze Village in the south of the county town. The nearest of these villages is thirty miles away from the county town. The Wen family also has a farm near these villages. Hezi Village, Anwu Village, and Changdu Village, like Dashu Village and Dashi Village before, have also been bullied by the Wen family farm for a long time. When I went there, the villagers learned that I had followed the adults to share grain, return land, and distribute money. They all came to ask me when the adults would come to help them. I replied that the adults were solving the problem one by one in the farms and asked them to wait for a few days. Many people cried on the spot."

Several students echoed, “The people in the villages we visited also asked these questions.”

Chen Shao nodded and signaled Tao Ming: "Continue."

Tao Ming was somewhat dissatisfied with being interrupted by those students. He glanced at them out of the corner of his eye before continuing, "Later, the students told them about growing medicinal herbs. When they heard that they were growing them for Huimin Pharmacy, they all agreed to do it."

Chen Shao nodded again.

Seeing that she didn't comment or praise him, Tao Ming concealed his disappointment and retreated. Then, another student stood up. If there is one, there will be two, and if there are two, there will be three. The students rushed to speak, but the content of their speeches was almost the same as Tao Ming's. Chen Shao didn't show it on his face, but a little disappointment flashed in his heart.

She asked them to talk about what they had seen in each village. Of course, she did not do this to hear the people flatter her, but to hear some solid survey data.

Fortunately, when she was almost unable to bear it any longer, the seventeenth student, Xu Xianmin, stood up.

Xu Xianmin said the same thing as Tao Ming and others at the beginning: "The students went to six villages, namely Nanshang Village, Rong'an Village, Shuning Village, Zihu Village, Linglong Village and Fujiang Village. Unfortunately, these villages are surrounded by not only the Wen family's farm, but also the Ren family's and Fan family's farm. Therefore, the people in these villages live better than those in Dashu Village and Dashi Village. Of course, except for the Wen family's farm, the Ren family and the Fan family have returned the land to them and distributed more than ten kilograms of grain to each family. Although the Wen family's farm has not returned their land, the people in several villages have already known about the adults distributing grain and returning land. As soon as the students arrived there, they gathered around and thanked the students. After the students explained their purpose, the people in several villages also actively agreed to grow medicinal herbs, just like the villages they had visited before."

At this point, he suddenly changed the subject, "But when I passed by the fields, especially those in Wenjiazhuangzi that have been unattended recently, I accidentally saw yellow flowered gentian, violet flowered gentian, bamboo leaf vegetable, selfheal, etc. growing in the weeds. There are too many to count. At the foot of the mountain behind Wenjiazhuangzi, there are even more dog ear, lala vine, and snow grass. I asked the people in the village, and they said these herbs are not valuable. They usually treat them as weeds, and only dig some up and take them when they are sick or injured."

After a pause and a brief consideration of what to say next, Xu Xianmin continued, "After returning from the village, when discussing medicinal herb planting with Uncle Liang Zhu, everyone generally agreed that we should start with the simplest herbs, but the students did not quite agree with this arrangement."

Listening to the discussion that gradually arose because of his words, Xu Xianmin insisted: "Students believe that these medicinal herbs can be found everywhere, and there is no need to plant them specially. As long as each family weeds, they can leave the ones on the edge of the field or the field. What's more, as long as Huimin Pharmacy is willing to pay to purchase these medicinal herbs, the people can just pick one or two in the mountains, which will be enough for the daily use of the medicine shop. Planting these easily available medicinal herbs is taking up the people's farming time and fields, which is fundamentally not equal to the value of the medicinal herbs."

"I agree with what Xu Xianmin said!" Liu Deming stepped forward and bowed to Chen Shao, saying, "I went to five villages: Dongfeng Village, Longping Village, Puhe Village, Donghe Village, and Tunqing Village. I also found a large number of medicinal herbs in the fields of these five villages. In Dongfeng Village alone, I just walked around and picked a full basket of herbs."

Sun Qi also stood up and said, "I agree with what Xu Xianmin said. The village where my family lives has always treated these ubiquitous herbs as weeds. Sometimes, they are even considered a nuisance because they were weeded yesterday and grew again today. If the villagers in each village are really allowed to plant herbs like weeds, in the long run, many people will become cunning and cunning! For example, these weeds can grow without being planted, so we can just leave the fields empty and let them grow and sell them as weeds."

Chen Shao put away his smile, glanced at the students who were talking to each other, and asked calmly, "Does anyone else have the same or different opinions?"

The students carefully observed her, but they couldn't tell what she was feeling, so they didn't dare to speak. Chen Shao waited for a while, and after making sure no one spoke, he asked, "No one is talking, right?"

As she spoke, she set her eyes on Tao Ming, who always loved to show off.

Tao Ming quickly lowered his head and avoided her sight.

"Since no one has expressed any opinions, the operation to investigate the Wen Family Manor will be led by Xu Xianmin, Liu Deming, and Sun Qi," Chen Shao said slowly. "Two teams of 22 people, one team of 21 people, you can form your own team. One stick of incense will be the deadline. If anyone does not form a team after one stick of incense, I will regard it as automatically withdrawing from this operation."

The discussion suddenly became louder.

No one expected this result, not even Xu Xianmin, Liu Deming and Sun Qi themselves. After the three of them looked at each other, they couldn't help but smile.

After a brief discussion, the other students quickly crowded towards the three people. Soon, the three were dispersed. Tao Ming was forced to get close to Sun Qi. Looking at Liu Qi's smug smile, he regretted it so much. Chen Shao had already looked at him just now, which was clearly giving him a chance, but he actually missed it! Suppressing the anger in his heart, he smiled and squeezed in front of Sun Qi, patted his shoulder and said, "Congratulations."

Sun Qi glanced at his hand on his shoulder, but he was not annoyed. He just smiled and said, "What are you congratulating me for? Aren't we all doing things for you? In fact, I should thank you. If it weren't for your recommendation, I wouldn't have been valued by you."

The smile on Tao Ming's face froze in an instant. Sun Qi laughed in his heart, lifted his hand, turned around and said to the two people next to him: "Are you sure you want to follow me? I've made it clear that if you follow me, you can't be indecisive."

Tao Ming gritted his teeth and suppressed the anger in his heart for a long time. He looked at Xu Xianmin and Liu Deming beside him, and at the last moment when the incense was about to burn out, he decisively stood in Liu Deming's team.

Liu Deming's team has 22 people, Xu Xianmin's team also has 22 people, and Sun Qi's team has 21 people.

Sun Qi looked at Tao Ming.

Tao Ming also looked at him.

Sun Qi smiled silently and didn't care.

Chen Shao sat high up and had a far view, so she could see clearly the little moves between the people, but she did not intervene to mediate. After gently knocking on the gavel to quiet everyone down, she slowly said, "The Wen family has a total of 52 manors. Eleven manors have been checked so far, and there are still 41 manors to be checked. Liu Deming and Xu Xianmin's teams will have one more person, so they will each be responsible for 14 manors. Sun Qi's team will have one less person, so they will be responsible for 13 manors. The specific manors to be responsible for will be decided by drawing lots, just like the last time you went to the village to investigate. As for how to check the manors after you go there, I see that your teams have people who have followed me to check the Wen family manors for half a month, so let's ask them. Fu Jiu, take them to draw lots."

Fu Jiu was already very familiar with drawing lots.

"Tao Ming, catch it for me." When Xu Xianmin and Sun Qi led the team to find Fu Jiu, Liu Deming stopped Tao Ming and said, "I'm going to talk to the adults."

Tao Ming nodded: "Okay, go ahead."

"Thank you." Liu Deming patted his arm and quickly caught up with Chen Shao who was about to leave. "Sir, I have something important to report."

Chen Shao glanced at the excited Fu Jiu and the students waiting to draw lots, and motioned him, "Go ahead."

"The three people who blocked the road and sued Lord Ding yesterday were instructed by the Gu and Zhu families," Liu Deming said quickly.