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

The sun was rising gradually. Liang Fulai came to the rest room and took a walk. Seeing Shen Zheng was still talking with Xu Zhubu, he went to the kiln room on his own.

Now, Liang Fu has grown into a fledgling and can stand on his own!

Xu Zhubu greeted Liang Fu and saw that Shen Zheng was curious, so he deliberately kept it a secret: "This clerk, do you know him, sir?"

"Know him?" Shen Zheng raised her eyebrows slightly.

When it comes to "people I know", there are very few people to choose from.

"Yan Qiao?" she asked.

Xu Zhubu chuckled and nodded, "It's her. On the day the cloth shop opened, it was she and Mo Qingwan who selected clothes for the officials' families. Mo Qingwan said that she was smart and not shy, and her mind worked quickly, so she was a good candidate."

"I see." Shen Zheng nodded in understanding. "Besides, she can read, so she can indeed be trained well. But you have to tell Mo Qingwan and Wang Guangjin not to set their sights on other shop assistants just because they have a suitable good seedling. Those who can be selected to be shop assistants are all seedlings in our county, and we still have to rely on them to support the county's business in the future."

Xu Zhubu carefully wrote it down and said, "I saved it, please rest assured, sir."

After finishing the business, Shen Zheng's gossipy heart began to burn.

"I heard that you are acquainted with Mr. Zhou Xuezheng from the prefectural school?"

Xu Zhubu paused and chuckled, "Yes, Zhou Xuezheng is my mentor. But... who did you hear that from, sir?"

Apart from the bookstore owner, there should be no one from Tongan County in the provincial school that day, right?

"Don't worry about it." Shen Zheng also began to keep the secret: "Anyway, I have great magical powers and I know which way the grass at the entrance of the prefectural school is. But you hid it well enough. We have been working together for a year now, right? No one in the county government knows that you, Xu Yunyan, are actually Zhou Xuezheng's disciple."

Yu Zhengqing said that if he had known that Xu Yunyan was involved, he would not have bothered to go to Zhou Hanjiang in the rain that day.

In the end, after all the hard work, I caught a cold and it hasn't gotten better in a few days. It's really a torture.

On the other hand, that old man Zhou Hanjiang.

When people saw Xu Yunyan, they found him to have a rosy complexion and full of energy.

Xu Zhubu stood up and confessed, "I didn't mean to hide it from you. But before I came to Tong'an County... I contradicted you, so I haven't had any contact with you in the past year. I don't even know if you still recognize me as your disciple, so... I concealed it."

Shen Zheng became more interested when she heard this, and quickly asked him to sit down, "You are such a gentle person, how dare you contradict your mentor? Tell me quickly, you can eat as many raisins as you want."

She opened the glass jar of "Joe's Brand" filled with raisins and motioned to Xu Zhubu to take some and eat.

A trace of helplessness flashed across Xu Zhubu's face. He did not take the raisins, but slowly told the story of the past.

The more Shen Zheng listened, the more surprised she became. She felt like she had just met the other person for the first day.

"So..." She tilted her head slightly and looked at Xu Zhubu carefully, "You could have started from a higher point, but because you and Lord Liu had different ambitions, you chose to stay in Liuyang Mansion?"

Cruel person.

Shen Zheng's evaluation of Xu Zhubu rose to a higher level.

They all say that the wedding night is the time when one’s name is on the list of successful candidates.

How many people in this world can resist the temptation of "promotion"? If Xu Zhubu chose to follow Lord Liu, he might have passed the examination and become a county magistrate by now.

"I think it's a pity that you don't continue to take the exam." Shen Zheng said, "I'm not blackmailing you morally, but you have ambitions, knowledge, ability, and want to do practical things for the people. So why can't you try harder, stand at a higher level, and seek benefits for more people?"

Xu Zhubu was silent for a moment, then raised his head and said, "Your Excellency also knows that I was promoted to the position of Zhubu by a replacement official."

Shen Zheng nodded.

To be appointed as an official is equivalent to not being selected through the formal imperial examination, nor being appointed by the imperial court.

To put it nicely, they are minor clerks selected by local prefectural and county officials. Such minor clerks must at least have some achievements and talents to be considered acceptable.

If it is a poorer place, such as the previous Tongan County...

You can build good relationships with local officials and make some arrangements, and it will be done, but this is risky.

To put it another way, it sounds unpleasant...

It was as if the imperial court had forgotten about this county, and the documents for filling official posts could not be sent up, and the documents for appointing officials could not be sent down, but the local county really needed a chief clerk, so they could only find a solution on their own.

Different from the "inclusion of officials from outside the government" mentioned in the fifth exploration, those who were "appointed as officials" could only be local minor officials, and they did not have the benefit of "returning to the capital for promotion and formal appointment after the expiration of their term".

To put it another way - if Xu Zhubu does not work hard and continue to take exams, he can only be a minor Zhubu for the rest of his life, and he may even be squeezed out by the next "relative" and not even be able to be a Zhubu.

"Then what do you think?" Shen Zheng asked him, "I will be leaving in less than two years. Will you continue to stay in the county?"

It was unknown what Xu Zhubu was thinking. He was silent for a long time before he looked up.

He made a decision: "As you said, I will... continue to take the test."

He was a little unsure about his own heart and didn't know what to do next, so while he was in a "cold war" with Zhou Xuezhen, he chose to hide in Tongan County.

But during the more than one year that he had served as the chief clerk of Tongan County, he seemed to have slowly figured out what he wanted.

As he thought about it, his dark pupils gradually showed reluctance to leave Tongan County: "If you leave, my lord, and I leave too, do you think... Tongan County will still be the same Tongan County?"

Shen Zheng had thought about this question before.

She suppressed her worries and joked, "Then you should wish us good luck in our careers and that we have some power in the future. This way... our people won't be bullied."

On the contrary, she would appoint whoever she liked to be the county magistrate of Tongan County, to ensure that the people of Tongan lived a comfortable life.

"Besides..." Shen Zheng thought for a moment, "Who knows, after we leave, Tongan County may not fall into the hands of others. His Majesty may not agree to this."

A better approach would be to let one person "act as" the county magistrate, but the actual jurisdiction and decision-making power would be in her or Your Majesty's hands.

Thinking of this, Shen Zheng felt much more relieved and patted Xu Zhubu on the shoulder, "Try hard on the exam, Xiao Xu. Maybe many years later, we can meet again in the Golden Palace."

Xu Zhubu looked at the hand on his shoulder and asked hesitantly, "Xiao...Xu?"

If I remember correctly, he should be slightly taller than her, right?

As the two were laughing, the tall and strong figure of Wei Que squeezed in, "Is Lord Shen busy? Oh, Xu Zhubu is here too, talking about business? I'll be waiting for you outside, call me when you're done."