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

The old man nodded, and with the help of the scholar, he walked to the first notice.

He first reached out and touched the first notice, then slowly spoke:

"This year, under the leadership of County Magistrate Shen Zheng, Tong'an County of Liuyang Prefecture has planted high-yield rice throughout the county. The autumn harvest has already begun, and the average yield per mu in the county is...more than 1,200 kilograms."

Before he could finish his words, this piece of news was enough to cause an uproar among the people.

"One thousand two hundred catties?! Didn't they say that the yield per mu would be one thousand catties? How come during the autumn harvest, there were two hundred catties more for nothing?"

"No way, 1,200 kilograms, is that really what one acre of land can grow? That would be so spectacular!"

"Of course not. This is an order from the emperor, a notice from the Minister of Revenue himself. How can it be false? What good is there in lying to you?"

"I really want to see it with my own eyes... Do you think we can get the good stuff?"

"The old man hasn't finished speaking yet, stop talking! Listen to the rest!"

The old man chuckled, coughed twice, and raised his voice:

"Because the magistrate Shen of Tongan County sold all the rice seeds in the county government to the surrounding government offices at a low price, and ordered the people to sell their rice seeds to grain shops except for those they kept, so..."

"hiss--"

The people looked at each other in disbelief and asked:

"So, the rice seeds have already flowed into the market? We can't say for sure... we can also grow 1,200 kilograms of rice per mu?!"

The old man stroked his beard, not daring to make a firm statement, but just said:

"Because County Magistrate Shen donated all the grain seeds, if my prediction is correct, it will only take a few years for the entire country of Great Zhou to plant rice."

The people were excited, but they didn't expect that there would be good things waiting for them next.

"Because Tongan County has grown high-yield rice, Lord Shen has donated all the rice seeds. Therefore, Your Majesty has ordered that the entire Great Zhou Kingdom welcome the advent of high-yield rice and reduce this year's grain tax by 20%!"

“Twenty percent!!”

The people screamed in surprise and their faces turned red with joy.

"The grain tax was reduced by 20% all at once!"

"When was the last time the grain tax was reduced by 20%? If I remember correctly, it was the Empress Dowager's 60th birthday! And that time it was only reduced by 10%!"

"Yes! That's right. The last time was when the current emperor ascended the throne! That time, the price was reduced by 20%!"

The people were delighted and pointed their spears at the man on the ground:

"It's all your fault! If you hadn't been making a fuss, we wouldn't have known about this good thing until now!"

"Yes! Did those girls offend you? You can't read, so you don't let other girls read? You are such a mean person! You can't stand others doing well!"

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, the old man wanted to leave the crowd, but after thinking about it, he couldn't help but say a few more words.

Just as he was about to speak, he couldn't help coughing several times, which scared the scholar next to him so much that he quickly helped him back.

"Cough cough, cough cough——"

"Everyone, are you willing to listen to what I have to say?"

He brought good news to everyone, and everyone was willing to listen to him.

"Old man, what do you say? We are listening."

The old man took two breaths, took two steps forward and said, "Everyone, since you call me 'old gentleman', I would like to ask you to say a few words."

"I am not an official, nor a talented person, and I don't have any talent for managing the world. In the final analysis, I am just an old teacher in a corner of the capital, relying on my knowledge of some words and the fact that I have made some students."

At this time, someone in the crowd recognized him.

"This old gentleman... I remember now, he is the old teacher of the private school in the western suburbs! His last name is... Deng! Yes, he is Mr. Deng!"

If you only mention the Xijiao Private School, others may not know it. If you mention the teacher with the surname Deng, others may not know it either.

But if we talk about Mr. Deng from the Western Suburbs Private School, many people present have heard of his name.

He said he was not an official, which was true.

In the capital city, where one could become an official just by walking a few steps, Master Deng was indeed not ranked high in terms of official rank, as he was just a juren.

But the fact that he was a juren didn't mean he only had the talent of a juren - he just didn't want to serve as an official in the court.

After he passed the imperial examination, he did not take part in the spring examination, but as he said, "settled down in a corner", and his way of "settling down"... was to open a small private school.

"I remember now, the Western Suburbs Private School! The Western Suburbs Private School that accepted female students! It caused a lot of commotion before!"

"Now that you mention it, I seem to remember it. Many years ago, I heard that there was a scholar with great talent in the western suburbs. He did not participate in the Spring Examination, nor did he serve as an official in the court. Instead, he returned home and opened a private school. Because he had real knowledge, the reputation of the private school became more and more famous. There were even young masters from official families who came to study at his house!"

"Now that you mention it, I think I know something. A few years ago, when the idea of ​​opening up the imperial examinations was first proposed, I remember that the scholars and writers at that time were in an uproar, and they were cursing someone."

"Scold Master Deng?"

"Yes. But I'm not a scholar. What did those scholars say at the time? I can't remember clearly, but Master Deng's private school was almost closed down, and some of his disciples even 'betrayed their master' in public, saying they didn't recognize him as their teacher."

"How could there be such an ungrateful person? Don't those scholars always say 'once a teacher, always a father'?"

"He's narrow-minded. I heard that Mr. Deng first proposed the idea of ​​equal education for both men and women, but no one supported him. They even said he was something... a heretic, I guess?"

"You all know what happened next. When the imperial examinations were widely held, Master Deng almost immediately and openly recruited female students. I heard that some of his disciples and other scholars scolded him for a long time, but he still insisted on being himself."

The emperor, who was hiding among the people, listened with one ear and with the other, and pieced together a rough outline of Master Deng's life story.

He waved his folding fan, took two steps into the crowd, pulled the sleeve of the last person who spoke, and asked him:

"So how is the private school in the western suburbs doing now?"

When the man heard someone asking him a question, he turned around and was about to answer. But when he turned around and saw the emperor's appearance clearly, his mouth trembled.

"Of course...it's getting better and better. After all, it's the will of the current government to hold the imperial examination, who dares to oppose it openly? And Master Deng has real talent and knowledge. I heard that there are more and more female students in the private school in the western suburbs..."

After he said that, he pinched himself secretly.

What's going on! This damn oppressive feeling!

When Eunuch Hong saw that the emperor got the answer he wanted, he hurried forward to protect him.

"Master, there are too many people here. Let's listen from the back."

He escorted the emperor back to the back of the crowd and could not help but add: "If you have anything to ask, just send me, please don't..."