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

There were many horse-drawn carriages from the Caoyun Division, but there were actually not many people, only five.

The person in the front was about thirty years old, of medium height, thin, and had a pair of very bright eyes.

"I am Wang Ruqian, the governor of the Ministry of Transport, and I am honored to meet you, Mr. Shen."

His attitude was extremely respectful, even though his rank was the same as Shen Zheng's, both of them were seventh-rank court officials.

Shen Zheng knew that if Wei Que had not given instructions in advance, then Yu Shizhang had just given the other party another "warning".

"Master Wang, there is no need to be so polite." Shen Zheng replied, "I will trouble you, Master Wang, with the construction of the wharf in Tong'an County in the future."

"It's not a bother." Wang Ruqian exchanged a few words with her in an official tone: "This is the duty of my Canal Transport Department. I have heard of Lord Shen and Tong'an County under your jurisdiction for a long time, but I have never had the opportunity to meet them. This time Lord Wei can send me here, which is really an honor for me."

"Master Wang, please come this way. I'm sorry to trouble you all to stay at the official inn in the county for the past few days. If there is any inadequacy in our hospitality, I hope you will forgive me."

They came to Tongan County to help them with their work, and Shen Zheng didn't mind saying a few nice words to them.

She was an amateur in dock building, so she had to treat these experts well - a smiling face makes things easier.

Shen Zheng brought them to a makeshift shed in the cloth workshop and sat them down, while Qiu Yang poured tea for them in a serious manner.

After Wang Ruqian sat down, he kept looking around. When he saw the small kiln next to him, he remembered what Wei Que had said before and asked curiously, "Master Shen, this kiln..."

"What are you talking about?" Shen Zheng stood up and walked towards the earthen kiln.

In the past few days, when villagers and constables traveled between the village and the stone mountain, they would bring back some limestone, so the fire in the earthen kiln basically never went out, and there were also some limestones placed on the ground next to it.

Shen Zheng picked up a piece of calcined limestone and said, "This is quicklime, which has a wide range of uses. Stone powder can prevent moisture, and Lord Wei also brought some with him when he went west this time."

As soon as these words were spoken, not only Wang Ruqian, but also several other people from the Grain Transport Bureau came over.

"Sir Shen, may I take a look?" Wang Ruqian asked.

"Lord Wang, please do as you please." Shen Zheng said the same old thing: "But this quicklime powder cannot be exposed to water casually. People will get burned if they come into contact with it."

After hearing this, they became even more curious and formed a circle around the earthen kiln, exclaiming in amazement.

After a moment, Wang Ruqian raised his head while holding the limestone. His expression was much more sincere than when he was speaking in an official tone just now. "Sir Shen, can you give me some of this calcined limestone? Oh no! Sell some to me! How much silver do you want? Just name your price!"

Although he was from the Caoyunsi, his duties were different from those of the deputy governor Wei Que. He was mainly responsible for the ground affairs of the Caoyunsi - surveying the topography and geology, building docks and warehouses, etc.

Although the items in ground warehouses do not need to be protected from moisture every day like those on ships, as long as there are warehouses, some attention should be paid to moisture-proofing.

Food or objects that are well protected from moisture can have their shelf life extended. In other words, they can be sold at a better price.

Therefore, moisture-proof is also a vital part for them.

But Shen Zheng certainly would not accept their money. She smiled and said, "If we are talking about buying and selling items, we must know the value of the items before we can bargain for a reasonable price."

She raised her hand and ordered Qiu Yang to pack a few pieces of limestone. "Master Wang, take these limestones back and try them out first. If they work well, you can come to Tongan County to find me again."

It’s not that Shen Zheng is generous, but it’s Wang Ruqian’s first time here, so it’s really difficult for her to negotiate the price of a few stones. Also...she needs to discuss the price of limestone with Shen Xingjian before making a decision.

Limestone raw materials are naturally available, unlike cloth mills or printing mills - they have clear positioning from raw materials to sales channels.

The biggest expense in calcining limestone is labor costs and the firewood burned in the kiln. Firewood is actually quite precious in this era, because the speed at which trees grow and wither is far slower than the speed at which trees are cut down and burned.

"Thank you, Lord Shen. I will respectfully obey your order." Although it was just a few stones, Wang Ruqian was very pleased with her behavior.

"Speaking of this..." Shen Zheng smiled at him, and said, "I just happen to have something I want to ask Lord Wang."

Wang Ruqian was still looking over the limestone in his hand, and said without raising his head, "Master Shen, please feel free to speak."

Shen Zheng squatted down and picked up a piece of uncalcined limestone, then walked to his side and said, "Because the county needs to calcine limestone, I want to build a larger kiln in the county, right here in Xiahe Village."

"Oh?" Wang Ruqian raised his head and looked around.

This large area of ​​land is indeed suitable for building various places.

Shen Zheng continued, "But before I reached an agreement with Lord Wei that day, I had never thought of building a dock here, so I was surprised and had to re-plan the location. I would like to ask Lord Wang... for more advice."

Wang Ruqian understood what she meant. He walked out of the shed and began to look at the area carefully.

"Don't worry, Lord Shen. The river in front of us is wide. Except for the largest inland cargo ships of the Canal Transport Bureau, other ships can dock here without any problem. I will lead people to plan for the county and roughly mark the boundaries of the dock."

"As for the rest of the places..." Wang Ruqian unknowingly took on a task for himself: "I will mark out the best places to build a warehouse for you. As for the cloth workshop and the earthen kiln, you can keep a little distance between them, maybe..."

He looked at the intersection in the distance where villagers were entering and leaving: "I think it is quite appropriate to build the kiln over there, what do you think?"

Shen Zheng looked at the place he pointed to, and then walked west, which was the forest that Shen Zheng and Liang Fu passed through that day.

The forest is good! Shen Zheng thought, there is a lot of firewood in the forest! It can withstand burning!

"I also think that place is good." Shen Zheng smiled, "But we must also take precautions against fires, and not get too close to the woods. How about this, Lord Wang, Lord Liang from the Ministry of Works is in the county now, how about you two discuss the site selection?"

She secretly apologized in her heart: I'm sorry, Lord Liang, when people are needed, they are not enough!

Wang Ruqian was stunned. "Master Liang Fuliang?"

"It is Liang Fu, Lord Liang." Shen Zheng was afraid that he would not respond, so she hurriedly asked him: "Do you think it is feasible? Alas - to be honest, it is because I am not very knowledgeable. Unlike you, Lord Wang and Lord Liang, you can easily plan these places. If I had your ability... Alas! It is the time and the fate!"

Qiu Yang, who was standing nearby, was shocked and secretly cast a distressed look at Wang Ruqian.

here we go again! here we go again!

Lord Shen's unique skill of praising and killing!