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

Another day passed, and each village brought the designated patrol team list to the county government office and handed it over to Shen Zheng.

Shen Zheng looked at the handwriting on these lists. Although the handwriting was immature, it was quite charming. It must have been written by scholars from each village.

She was a little surprised. If the county students had calligraphy works by famous calligraphers to study, they would be able to make further progress.

She looked through each list carefully. Each village had a patrol team of ninety people, but the number of people guarding the checkpoints was different.

Because the number of checkpoints in each village is different, one checkpoint is enough for some villages, while some villages need to set up three checkpoints.

But the same thing is that each level is manned by three checkpoint guards who take turns every day.

The list also specifically notes whether the cardholder is currently studying or has studied before.

Zhang Lizheng saw Shen Zheng looking at his list of names from Qingyuan Village and reported:

"Sir, the only people in Qingyuan Village who have studied are He Mingcheng and another scholar. The other guards can only recognize a few words."

Shen Zheng nodded. It was actually very good to have someone who had studied.

She put the list down and asked several village heads, "What's the feedback from the county school?"

She guessed it must be pretty good, as evidenced by the handwriting on the list.

The village heads all smiled, and Head Zhou said with some pride: "Sir, there is no scholar in the village who is unwilling to come to our county school to study!"

Several village heads responded.

"Isn't it? Our county school doesn't require them to pay tuition fees. This is a blessing that can only be earned in several lifetimes!"

"That's right! Those people in our village came to knock on the door and ask questions in the middle of the night! I didn't even get a good night's sleep!"

Li Zheng Zhang shuddered when he thought of the gifts given by the mother and son of the He family that day.

He couldn't help but think that this kind of thing should not only happen in his Qingyuan Village, and he didn't know whether these people accepted it against their conscience!

The next moment Zhou Lizheng mentioned this matter.

"You guys are all fine. The parents of the scholar named Dong in our village brought me several pounds of pork! Oh my God, I was so scared that I didn't even let them in!"

When the village heads heard this, they all started talking.

One family sent cloth, another family sent fine grain, and some even sent silver directly!

Shen Zheng interrupted them when she heard this.

Although she trusted several village heads today, there were some things that needed to be made clear from the beginning.

They may be able to keep their original intentions in the face of temporary petty gains, but as the county gets better and better and the village head gains more power, can they still maintain the same attitude as today?

She looked at the village heads earnestly and said solemnly:

"Regarding the villagers' gift-giving, I believe you today, but our county needs to develop. If this continues for a long time, will there be people who are blinded by greed and lose their bottom line?"

Several village heads shook their heads and immediately wanted to refute, saying that they had never had such an idea!

Shen Zheng did not give them a chance to speak, she continued:

"I am here with you today not to analyze people's hearts. No one can predict what will happen in the future, but I will only say this once."

The village heads nodded, waiting for her next words.

Shen Zheng glanced at them and spoke slowly:

"From now on, whether you are working for the county or the village, remember: don't stretch out your hands, don't open your mouth."

"If you dare to take bribes, the county government will know about it and punish you severely, bringing disaster to your family and clansmen!"

Shen Zheng paused after she finished speaking, and then thought that if the water is too clear, there will be no fish.

Being a village head cannot be without any privileges, otherwise why would someone become a village head?

She went on to say, "You can legitimately use your rights as village chief in certain matters, but for this one, I hope you can stick to your original intention."

Several village heads immediately nodded like chicks pecking at rice!

They dare to take bribes? If adults treat them like this, they must be crazy!

They all replied, "Don't worry, sir. We will stick to our original intentions and do everything for the development of the county!"

Shen Zheng nodded, believing that one must give a good result after a good beating.

She said, "I know that in the past, you all didn't have monthly wages, but now the county is busy and complicated, so it's inevitable that you will have to work harder than usual."

The village heads’ eyes lit up when they heard this!

Sir, what you said, could it be that...

Shen Zheng looked at them with the corners of her mouth secretly raised and she chuckled in her heart.

She continued, "So yesterday I discussed with Xu Zhubu and decided that from now on, all of you village heads will be assigned to work in the county government. Your monthly salary will be temporarily set at one tael of silver, and your festival rewards will be the same as those of the county government staff."

The Great Zhou Dynasty had long stipulated that whether it was a county government or a prefectural government office, rewards should be given to employees during festivals.

Most government offices would directly reward people with silver, rice, or cloth.

There was no such saying in Tongan County before, for no other reason than that it was too poor.

The county government had never thought about this matter, and the detectives knew how poor the county government was, so they didn't even ask about it.

Tongan County is far away from the emperor, and the government office will not specifically investigate the matter.

Over time, the county government lost this rule.

But now that she has come to Tongan County, she must pick up these rules.

I can’t tell you how happy she must have been in her previous life when she received the holiday benefits given by the company.

Several village heads were stunned by this sudden good fortune.

So now they are officially working for the county government and getting monthly wages, right?

Zhang Lizheng was a little frightened. Whose family was taking public money?

He stuttered a little: "Sir...sir, can we really get the monthly salary?"

Shen Zheng smiled and said to them: "I have seen everything you have done in the past. Whether it was digging canals in the county or collecting food coupons, you were always at the forefront."

The village heads felt a little embarrassed by her praise, but they were secretly happy in their hearts.

Adults think so highly of them!

"And what you all did was not just to cooperate with the county government. You also put your heart into handling the decisions and disputes in the village on a daily basis."

After hearing this, the village heads could no longer suppress their smiles and simply grinned.

Shen Zheng also had a smile on her face, and she continued:

"I have told you all in the past that Tong'an County has never belonged to me, Shen Zheng, alone. We must move forward hand in hand in the future, so of course you can receive this monthly salary!"

Upon hearing this, the village heads did not refuse and stood up to thank Shen Zheng.

They thought to themselves that since the adults appreciated them so much, they would have to work harder in the future!

Shen Zheng raised her hand and asked them to sit down and said:

"By now, the news about our rice should have spread. Go back today and make arrangements. Begin strict precautions. Send someone to report immediately if anything unusual happens. Every seven days, copy the information of the people registered at the checkpoints and submit it to the county government."