Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Try?

Shen Zheng was stunned and asked directly: "Try what?"

Yu Zhengqing chuckled and asked her, "Have you ever been to the fields to harvest rice?"

Shen Zheng suddenly realized, "My Lord, do you want everyone to go to the fields to harvest?"

Yu Zhengqing nodded. Before, each family in the village only had that little rice field. Seeing how enthusiastic they were, if they were asked to divide up some of their land for the county officials to try their hand, they would probably not be willing to do so. So he had no choice but to lead everyone to this farm.

He continued to ask Shen Zheng: "You probably haven't been to the ground either, right?"

Shen Zheng nodded. As for harvesting rice, she had never tried it in her entire life. But she still didn't understand why Yu Zhengqing wanted everyone to work in the fields.

"Sir, I don't understand..."

"I don't understand why we have to let you go to the fields?" Yu Zhengqing chuckled.

"Among those county officials, except Yin Wencai, which one really knows how hard it is to get food? Take Tongan County for example. Before you plant rice, you first dug ditches to let water in, right?"

"After digging the canal, we need to raise the seedlings and transplant them. After the seedlings have reached the heading stage, we need to apply fertilizer. After the rice is ripe, we can harvest it today. Am I right?"

Shen Zheng nodded. She certainly knew the hardships involved, but the sweetness of the harvest along the way had long since overshadowed the difficulties at the beginning. People seemed to be like this. After getting something, they would gradually forget the hardships they had experienced.

Seeing that she remained silent, Yu Zhengqing continued, "You want to sell the grain seeds collected by the Tong'an County Government to local governments. I have no objection to you setting a high price. After all, this high price will not last for one or two years. But today I want to let them know what it feels like to be a farmer."

Only then did Shen Zheng truly understand Yu Zhengqing's intention.

Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans. Farmers seem to be ranked second, but in fact they are the lowest class and anyone can step on them. Even those officials and wealthy businessmen who eat the food grown by farmers still look down on farmers in private. Except for Yin Wencai, the county magistrates who came today may not be much better.

Now that her high-yield rice has emerged in Tongan County, it will inevitably change the established situation.

If the state wants to stabilize the status of farmers while increasing grain production, it can only do so, as it did in her previous era, where the state provides subsidies to farmers or even allows large households to contract land for farming.

In this way, farmers can earn income without having to work in the fields, and have the opportunity to get involved in other industries and broaden their horizons.

But now, she and Yu Zhengqing are respectively a county magistrate and a prefectural official. It is too difficult to change the situation in the entire Great Zhou. They can only start with the officials of Liuyang Prefecture.

Shen Zheng sighed softly, "Who knows that every grain of rice on the plate is the result of hard work."

Yu Zhengqing turned to look at Shen Zheng and praised, "Good poem! Easy to understand, concise and to the point!"

Shen Zheng was a little embarrassed and didn't dare to look at Yu Zhengqing. She just said, "I saw this incomplete poem in an ancient book..."

Yu Zhengqing glanced at her with disdain: "I thought you could speak poetry."

Shen Zheng thought to herself that she didn't have that ability, and just when she was feeling awkward, the carriage stopped.

After getting off the carriage, the county magistrates were once again shocked by the scenery before them. The rice fields on the farm were much larger than those in the village.

They thought they came to the farm purely for sightseeing, but who knew that soon after they got off the carriage, Yu Zhengqing ordered someone to give each of them a sickle.

County officials: "......"

They looked at the sickles in their hands and couldn't help but touch their faces.

Could it be that they were possessed by other bodies on the way here, and now they are no longer county officials, but farmers?

They have studied hard for many years just to stay away from farmland, but now, the prefect wants them to go to the fields to harvest with the farmers?

Some smart people guessed Yu Zhengqing's intention and immediately rolled up their sleeves and went to the fields. This was a great opportunity to show off in front of the prefect.

......

Although Shen Zheng was the host, she was also somewhat conventional, so Yu Zhengqing allocated her a piece of rice field.

The rice field is not big, estimated to be only two acres, and her task is to complete the harvest before sunset.

At first, Shen Zheng looked at this small piece of rice field with full confidence. She thought she could finish the work in less than half a day. But who knew that more than an hour had passed and she had only harvested one-third of the rice.

She stood up, twisted her waist, and wiped the sweat with her sleeve.

Working in the fields under the scorching sun is much more tiring than I imagined.

She had to bend down every time she cut a stalk of rice. After doing this a dozen times, her waist became very sore. Every time she straightened her waist, she felt an indescribable pain.

After harvesting the rice, you should also pay attention to the rice stubbles left behind. If you are not careful, you will easily be tripped by the rice stubbles.

Moreover, she had not thought about going to the fields today. Instead, she wore a wide-sleeved robe to entertain guests. When she was cutting rice, her sleeves were rolled up and fell down again, which was very annoying.

Shen Zheng originally wanted to cut off his sleeves, but hesitated when he raised the sickle.

She actually didn't have two nice clothes. This dress was bought after high school. If it was damaged, she would have to wear the official robe every day from now on...

In desperation, she pulled off two stems and leaves and tied the sleeves around her forearms.

Without the hindrance of her sleeves, Shen Zheng cut the rice much faster, but her arms also lost the protection of the sleeves and were soon covered with faint red marks.

Shen Zheng sighed lightly. In fact, even she had never truly understood the poem "Who knows that the food on the plate is the result of hard work?"

When food was scarce and mechanized farming was underdeveloped, the farmers' sufferings could not be empathized by reading this poem.

Their efforts and rewards are really not proportional.

Shen Zheng stood up and looked at the other fields, only to see that the county magistrates looked more bitter and resentful than each other. In fact, several of them were not as fast as her and had only harvested a quarter of the rice.

On the contrary, the tenants on the farm did not look miserable at all. They were even talking and laughing while harvesting rice, their faces full of joy of the harvest.

Judging from their appearance, they might still be talking about the county magistrate...

The joys and sorrows of people are not the same...

Just as Shen Zheng was working hard and felt that he had found the knack of harvesting rice, he heard rustling footsteps beside him.

She turned around and saw Xu Zhubu and Zhao Xiu holding sickles. They gestured to her to keep quiet, bent down and walked towards her quietly.

Shen Zheng was stunned and looked at the two rice fields next to her. She saw that the rice in those two fields had been harvested and was neatly stacked at the edge of the field.

She could understand that Zhao Xiu was quick, after all, he often worked in the fields, but Xu Zhubu was a scholar, so how could he be so quick?

Shen Zheng asked Zhao Xiu in a low voice: "Have you gone to help Xu Zhubu harvest rice first?"

Xu Zhubu chuckled and said, "Couldn't I have cut it myself?"

Zhao Xiu felt a little aggrieved and replied in a low voice: "I will definitely help you first. I came here right after I finished cutting the grass. How can I help Master Zhubu first?"

Shen Zheng waved at them, "I know you're fine. You can take a rest after you finish cutting. I can do it myself. This is the task given by Master Yu. The other masters are working. It's not good for you to help me."