Become a founding empress in ancient times with the system

Sheng Changan took a deep breath. She knew that County Magistrate Wu was no ordinary person. She could tell from the quality of the people he found for her, "Where are they?" Should she follow Liu Bei's example and visit him three times to invite them?

Seeing Sheng Changan's expectant eyes, Wu Xiancheng smiled bitterly and said, "The current ruler is unkind and loyal ministers are exiled. It is estimated that only one in ten of them are still alive."

"Are you talking about Lanyang County?" Lin Chuan had heard of this place a little.

County Magistrate Wu nodded. "Yes, Lanyang is more than twice the size of Guangping. Even with the Xianbei's constant invasions, it still has a population of over 10,000. It's rumored that there's a salt mine in Lanyang. Every time the Xianbei invaded, they would offer large sums of money to ensure safety. The exiled people are probably in the salt mine."

Lanyang County, why do I seem to have heard of it somewhere? Sheng Changan was a little confused. "If that's the case, how can you say that only one in ten of them survived?"

"Your Excellency may not know that Lanyang County is also home to many wealthy families. For example, several families from Guangping County have moved there."

"They paid the money to save their lives, and then they sold the salt to others at a high price, making a lot of money. Naturally, they needed people to dig salt."

"Local people won't go unless they have no other choice, except for the exiles. They don't get paid for digging salt, but have to pay for it themselves. Many people are in poor health because of the long-term salt mining."

After hearing this, Sheng Changan had a general understanding. In this place, the only way to dig salt was probably with bare hands. After long-term contact, one might not be able to keep one's hands safe. Moreover, it might be even more difficult given the way the local government acted. However, she seemed to have never heard of a salt mine in Guangping.

"Where do we buy our salt?"

"Yes, it used to be. But later on, people no longer had enough money to buy salt, so they stopped coming here. Now they still use the salt they bought before, and they don't dare to use more."

Wang Yi also joined in, "Some people haven't eaten salt for a long time."

Sheng Changan's complexion was not very good. Without salt intake, people would get sick. This was definitely not acceptable. "Where is Lanyang County?"

"We'll probably get there after passing through three counties," County Magistrate Wu looked at Sheng Chang'an hopefully.

There are three counties, and the other two counties are at least as big as Guangping. She doesn't even have horses, only donkeys, and even the donkeys are not hers. She has no soldiers. Lanyang is so rich, and it must have enough troops. She has no money, so she can neither rob nor buy.

Sheng Changan looked at County Magistrate Wu who was looking at her with bright eyes, and felt a little guilty, mainly because she couldn't defeat anyone now.

"Of course Lan Yang has to go, but not now. Since there is no one else for the time being, you can do more work! I will definitely remember your contribution. Okay, everyone go back and have a rest!" Since I can't find anyone, I can only make empty promises.

Although County Magistrate Wu was a little disappointed, he could understand it. After all, Guangping County had just started to get back on track, so how could it have any extra money to go to Lanyang?

Sheng Changan was lying on the bed feeling somewhat disappointed. This salt issue was indeed a big problem. If only he had enough troops, he could have taken Lanyang. Speaking of which, Lanyang sounded very familiar...

Just when Sheng Changan was about to fall asleep, she suddenly opened her eyes. Lan Yang, she remembered, isn’t this where the original owner’s benefactor is?

She was rejected in the imperial examination as soon as she signed up, but it was thanks to this benefactor that she is now where she is today. In order to protect her, he even sent someone to escort her here when he himself was in danger.

She remembered hearing that they were exiled to Lanyang, and she remembered that the man's surname seemed to be Shen, but the original owner didn't know much. At that time, everyone was very secretive about this matter. She only found out from asking the person who escorted her that the person who helped her was surnamed Shen and was exiled to Lanyang. She didn't know anything else.

But no matter how much he thought about it now, he couldn't go there. He should develop himself first. Sheng Changan's eyelids slowly drooped.

This time, she finally had a good sleep and signed in. "Xiao Liu, will this sign-in reward be repeated?"

“Yes, there will be duplicate rewards to better suit current needs.”

Sheng Changan raised his eyebrows, took out the sweet potatoes and wheat and put them on the ground. This bag of sweet potatoes was just enough to last for a while.

Sheng Changan touched her belly and walked slowly to the kitchen, where a woman was busy, surrounded by many children.

The chirping sounds made Sheng Changan feel relaxed for a rare time.

"Sir, are you coming for breakfast?" Changqing ran over with a smile on his face. He hadn't seen the sir for several days.

Sheng Changan rubbed his head and said, "Yeah!"

Changqing wrinkled his nose in annoyance. "It's Changqing's fault. It should be Changqing who brought breakfast to the adults."

Sheng Changan smiled lightly and said, "It has nothing to do with Changqing. I will come and eat by myself."

The sound of their conversation also attracted the attention of the cook, who quickly brought a bowl of porridge and placed it on the kitchen table. "My lord, have breakfast."

Seeing the cook's somewhat reserved figure, Sheng Changan walked over and realized that it was sweet potato porridge, but the skin was also in it. She didn't say much but drank it all, then looked at the woman in front of her, "What's your name?"

"Sir, my name is Liu Cuihua." Liu Cuihua stirred her fingers and looked at the bowl secretly. The lord had finished eating everything, so he should be satisfied!

"This is well cooked. How did you come up with that idea?" It was not salty, but it was much better than what she had eaten before. What's more, the lack of saltiness was not the cook's problem, but her problem.

"I've tried it several times and found that this is the best way to save food and it's also easy to get full," Liu Cuihua said excitedly.

"So that's how it is. You did a great job." Even though she had never seen this sweet potato before, she was able to find a better way to eat it. It was really great.

"Thank you, sir." Liu Cuihua's eyes brightened.

Sheng Changan looked at these children. Each of them was very thin, and most of them were girls. They huddled behind Liu Cuihua and looked at her with timid eyes.

Liu Cuihua also noticed Sheng Changan's gaze and quickly pulled the children behind her, "Why don't you thank the adults quickly?"

"No need. This is my duty. Take good care of them." Seeing their frightened looks and forced greetings, she was afraid that these children had some mental illnesses. She quickly stood up and said goodbye. Before leaving, seeing Changqing's reluctant eyes, Sheng Changan could only pat his shoulder to comfort him.

The main reason was that she really didn't have much time to take care of the children. Although it was only about seven o'clock, looking at the empty county government office, she knew that they had all gone out to work. She couldn't stay here all the time. She had to go and see how Li Dashan's training was going, and also to see Lin Chuan.

"Sir," a voice interrupted Sheng Changan's thoughts.

It turned out to be County Magistrate Wu, and behind him followed a woman who must have been newly recruited. The woman bowed her head and saluted.

Sheng Changan waved his hand and said, "You've come just in time. I have a bag of sweet potatoes in my room. You can take it to the kitchen. Don't touch the other bag for now."