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

When Shen Zheng and Yu Zhengqing arrived at the meeting room, a group of county magistrates had been waiting for a long time.

When they saw the two people coming in, their eyes lit up.

After working all day yesterday, it was finally time to get down to business today! They immediately felt that the aches and pains in their bodies were much relieved.

Everyone stood up respectfully and called out, "Master Yu, Master Shen."

After Yu Zhengqing sat down, he chuckled and asked, "Are you all okay?"

The county magistrates laughed dryly and said, "We have made many mistakes in governing the county in the past. If you hadn't taken us to the fields, we would have neglected the feelings of the farmers in the county."

Yu Zhengqing didn't want to tell the truth from the falsehood in their words, and only said: "Going down to the countryside is also entering the world. Officials should not only see the prosperity above, but also the suffering below."

Shen Zheng didn't know how the other county magistrate felt when he heard this, but she felt that Yu Zhengqing's words were quite similar to "Come from the masses, go to the masses," but even more profound.

When she raised her eyes, she met Yin Wencai's gaze. They both nodded slightly and turned their heads away.

Although they are old enough to be grandparents and grandchildren, they developed a sense of mutual appreciation after yesterday's night talk.

Yin Wencai didn't sleep the whole night. His chest was beating "boom boom boom" all night long and he couldn't cover it.

He had never felt so clearly that he was living in this world and in this officialdom.

Shen Zheng's appearance finally made him dare to speak out loudly: In the past few decades, Yin has never done anything wrong!

He is finally no longer the one walking this road alone.

Yu Zhengqing sat in the main seat, Shen Zheng sat in the first seat at the side, and no one sat opposite her. This was the county magistrates expressing their opinions.

"Talk to them." Yu Zhengqing said to Shen Zheng.

Upon hearing this, all the county magistrates sat up straight and looked forward to it.

Shen Zheng had calculated the accounts before coming. She took the account book out of her sleeve and handed it to Zhu Kongjia beside her.

"This account records the total cost of growing this high-yield rice in Tongan County over the past few months. Your Excellencies, please take a look."

The county magistrates all changed their expressions when they heard this. Even Zhu Kongjia's hands stiffened for a moment when he took the account book.

What does Lord Shen mean by this? Is he asking them to pay for all her expenses in Tong'an County over the past few months?

They had all inquired about the situation before they came, and they knew that Tong'an County had invested a lot in growing this high-yield rice.

The wages and food of the workers during the period of ditch repair and canal digging alone are a considerable expense, and they also heard that after the rice seeds were planted in Tongan County, each village set up a patrol team, which also received wages!

If you count all these things one by one, it would cost at least several thousand taels of silver. Even if they share it among several counties, it would still be a large amount.

What's more, Tongan County doesn't only sell rice seeds to them. If they are asked to pay the expenses, wouldn't that be bullying?

But now that Lord Yu is there to keep Lord Shen in check, even if they are dissatisfied they dare not say it out loud, but their expressions are not so pleasant.

If Lord Shen really asked for too much, they would have no choice but to pay the money. But they didn't know whether the money would go into Lord Shen's pocket or...

The county magistrates glanced at Yu Zhengqing secretly.

Yu Zhengqing found it funny when he saw their different expressions. People with unclean hearts would see everything as unclean.

He said to Shen Zheng, "Don't breathe too hard when you speak. You scared the masters."

"It's me who can't speak." Shen Zheng cooperated.

She met Yin Wencai last night and unconsciously had some opinions about these people.

Although they could not be called corrupt officials who exploited the people, with the example of Yin Wencai, Shen Zheng always felt that something was missing when she looked at them. That was why she thought of teasing them and seeing them panic, which was quite interesting.

Seeing them secretly heaving a sigh of relief, Shen Zheng chuckled and said, "I have no intention of asking you gentlemen to bear the expenses of Tongan County. Now that you gentlemen have personally harvested the rice, I believe you have a rough idea of ​​the yield per mu of rice."

"So I brought this account book to you all, just to tell you that this rice seed has a high yield per acre and a high cost, so the price will be higher than the ordinary rice seeds on the market."

The county magistrates were completely relieved. If it was just the high price of rice seeds, they would have been prepared for it long ago.

Zhu Kongjia rolled his eyes and said, "Sir Shen, the rice seeds on the market cannot be compared with your rice seeds. The price is high, but I don't know...how much silver do you want to sell it for per kilogram?"

Upon hearing this, the other county magistrates nodded in agreement. They came to Tongan County just to see the rice fields with their own eyes and to test the opinions of Lord Shen.

Shen Zheng looked at the account book in Zhu Kongjia's hand and said, "You should take a look at it, lest you think I am asking for too much."

Zhu Kongjia smiled awkwardly: "How could it be."

But he still slowly opened the account book in his hand. He was actually curious about how much silver Tongan County had spent.

The account book recorded all the expenses invested in Tongan County from the digging of the canal to the autumn harvest, no matter how big or small. He looked at it one by one, and seeing that there was nothing wrong, he handed the account book to the person behind him.

After everyone had looked at the account book, Shen Zheng began to talk about business.

"I'm sure you all have a general idea of ​​the capital invested by Tong'an County. I have promised Master Yu before that the rice seeds from local governments will be sold by Tong'an County Office at a price lower than the price at grain shops. I will also give you a lowdown. This year, only one grain shop in Tong'an County sells this rice seed, and the lowest price is one tael of silver per catty."

All the county magistrates were shocked when they heard this.

One ounce of silver per pound of rice seeds! That's a sky-high price!

The price of rice seeds on the market today ranges from 40 to 80 wen per catty, depending on the yield per mu. Only rice seeds with excellent taste and a high yield per mu can be sold for around 100 wen.

The price of this high-yield rice seed is more than ten times that of ordinary rice seed!

After they thought about it carefully, they felt that the price of one or two taels of silver was very reasonable.

Today, the per-acre yield of this high-yield rice should be more than five times that of ordinary rice. This year is also the first year that the rice seeds have been produced, so rare things are valuable.

In another two years, when every household in Da Zhou has planted this kind of rice, the previous rice seeds will inevitably be eliminated, and the price of this rice seeds will steadily fall until it reaches the current price of ordinary rice seeds.

Therefore, it is normal that the price of rice seeds is high in the first year.

They couldn't help but wonder in their hearts, if they sold one catty of silver to others, what about them?

Seeing their curious faces, Shen Zheng took out a piece of paper and said, "Before I came here, I roughly calculated with Lord Yu that the county government can collect about 70,000 kilograms of rice seeds this year."

Seventy thousand pounds?

The county magistrates quickly calculated the account in their minds.