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

Shen Zheng was also infected by their enthusiasm. She raised her hand with a smile, then pressed it down.

She said, "Fellow villagers! Today is a big day for Tongan County. Everyone has worked hard for this day. I would like to thank you all!"

After saying that, Shen Zheng bowed to everyone. Everyone waved their hands and said it was impossible. How could a county magistrate bow to them, a peasant?

But she didn't think so in her heart. This Tong'an County had never belonged to her alone. Water can carry a boat. If she wanted to achieve real prosperity, it would be impossible for her to do it alone.

"In fact, the cost of digging the canal this time is not small for the county government. Do you know why I must dig the canal?" Shen Zheng asked everyone.

"I know! The adults want us to grow rice!" everyone answered.

In fact, when they started digging the canal, they only thought about filling their stomachs and the forty-cent wages, and did not think about what the canal would be used for after it was dug.

But when they went to collect their food coupons last month, the village head told them that the village would soon start spring planting, and each household should plant at least one acre of rice, and if there were more people in the family, they would need to plant more.

Shen Zheng looked at the vast fields in the distance and said, "Then everyone should start irrigating the fields today, and then loosen the soil. In a few days, the county government will start distributing rice seedlings to each village!"

"Great!" Everyone was very happy when they thought that there were still seedlings to be collected and only 10% of the harvest was needed to offset it.

In the following days, the farmlands in Tongan County were crowded with people, who were busy digging field ridges, irrigating fields, and plowing and loosening the soil.

The old oxen in every village are extremely tired. They cannot finish the plowing.

......

In a blink of an eye, the farmlands in the six villages and town of Tongan County were almost irrigated. Shen Zheng stayed in Wangjiazhuangzi these days to distribute seedlings to each village.

"Sir Shen, Young Master, the seedlings in Qingyuan Village have been bundled." The servant Lai Xi came to report. He had a straw hat on his head, his trouser legs rolled up high, and his clothes and trousers were covered in mud.

Every day they had to prepare enough seedlings for a village and then transport them out. There were not many people on the farm, not to mention the servant Lai Xi and the farmers on the farm, even Shen Zheng and Wang Guangjin rolled up their trousers and went to the fields to pull the seedlings.

Today's Qingyuan Village is the last village. After transporting it out, they will be successful.

Shen Zheng wiped the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand and looked up at the sky:

"Let's transport them over after we've counted the quantity. Today is a hot day, so sprinkle some water on the seedlings before we set off. When we get there, have them plant the seedlings in the paddy fields as soon as possible."

The seedlings are afraid of being exposed to the sun if they are out of water, so they have to move quickly, otherwise it would be a loss if even one seedling were to die in the sun.

After Lai Xi left, Shen Zheng looked at the seedlings still left in the nursery field and estimated that these seedlings could still be used to plant thirty to forty acres of land.

Hybrid rice has a very high heading rate, so it does not need to be planted as densely as ordinary rice.

Wang Guangjin looked at Shen Zheng looking at the seedlings and joked, "My Lord, you promised me to plant the remaining seedlings. Are you reluctant to do so now?"

After these seedlings entered the formal growth period, those experienced farmers vaguely saw the special features of these seedlings and were all guessing how much yield per mu. At this time, these seedlings were considered hot commodities in Tongan County. Shen Zheng specifically instructed the head of each village that not a single seedling should be allowed to flow out of the county.

After hearing what Wang Guangjin said, Shen Zheng smiled and said, "I don't have any land in Tongan County, so this will only be a bargain for you. However, since you helped to grow the seedlings, I will only charge you half of the profit."

Wang Guangjin didn't feel comfortable taking advantage of her, so he quickly refused: "It's only 10%! I already knew that these rice seedlings are special, and this 10% profit is all because we are taking advantage of you."

Shen Zheng thought that it was indeed a great bargain. Thirty or forty acres of rice fields could produce about 30,000 kilograms of rice. Who would believe it if she told others about it now?

She reminded him again: "I am not worried that the county residents plant less, but you plant more. After the autumn harvest, if you want to sell the grain, you can only sell it to the county government and Hu's grain store. You cannot sell it to people outside the county."

Wang Guangjin vaguely knew that she wanted to make a fortune from the rice seeds this time, and nodded seriously.

If this succeeds, then Tongan County will really be transformed.

The two chatted in the field while pulling up and planting rice seedlings, and before they knew it, it was evening.

The servant Lai Xi pushed the cart loaded with seedlings back to the farm and jogged over.

Shen Zheng saw that he looked a little abnormal, and her heart tightened: "But what happened to the seedlings?"

Lai Xi shook his head, but his frown did not relax.

"Then why are you frowning?" Wang Guangjin asked him.

Lai Xi recalled what he had just overheard on the road and said:

"On my way back just now, I met a group of sneaky people who were circling around the rice fields planted in our county. I followed them secretly, but I was a little far away and couldn't hear what they said clearly. I only heard the words new variety, yield, and try. Lord Shen, are our rice seedlings being targeted by bad guys?"

Shen Zheng also frowned. These people really came here just because they smelled the scent.

She thought of this problem when she took out the rice seeds. The large-scale digging of ditches to grow rice in the county would inevitably attract the attention of other counties.

We are not afraid of thieves stealing, but we are afraid of thieves thinking about stealing. Now the seedlings have basically been planted in the fields. Although Tongan County is not big, if those people really want to steal, they will attack Qingyuan Village today and Huaihua Village tomorrow.

She really couldn't defend against those people in Tong'an County without some effort.

After hearing Lai Xi's words, Wang Guangjin also became worried. If the seedlings were really stolen, they would suffer a huge loss.

He asked, "Sir Shen, we must have been targeted by people from other counties. Although they don't know the specific per-acre yield of this rice, they must have noticed the difference. How should we deal with it?"

Shen Zheng had already thought of a way to deal with it. She asked back, "If you were a thief, what would you be most afraid of?"

Wang Guangjin gave the answer without thinking: "Of course it's the officials."

Shen Zheng nodded.

Wang Guangjin showed a look of understanding, but then he felt something was wrong.

"Sir, do you want the county government to protect the seedlings in the fields? But the number of constables in the county government now is..." too few.

He didn't dare to say the last few words.

Shen Zheng smiled: "It's not enough to rely on the constables alone. Every village in the county must participate. The villagers will form a patrol team to guard the rice fields day and night. Once they find a suspicious person, they will report to the county government for disposal. Their wages will be paid by the county government."

If it weren't for the three thousand taels sent by the Fang family, she really wouldn't have the confidence to form a patrol team.

The next day, Shen Zheng summoned several village heads to the county government office to discuss the establishment of a patrol team.

These days, several village heads were so worried that they couldn't sleep at night. They had to go to the rice fields several times a night before they could feel at ease.