After traveling through time, she still led the villagers to make money as a county magistrate

……

Gu Niannian flipped through the Qingshan County annals. "Qingshan County has a total of six townships, namely Taoyuan Township, Yong'an Township, Taiping Township, Qingshui Township, and Shouxin Township. Taoyuan Township has six villages with a total of 500 households and about 1,000 people. Yong'an Township has five villages with a total of 450 households and about 900 people. Taiping Township also has five villages with a total of 400 households and about 850 people. Shouxin Township has roughly the same population as Yong'an Township. Qingshui Township is the most populous of the six townships, with a total of seven villages and about 1,100 people.

Gu Niannian looked at all the names of the villages and found that only Qingshui Township was inconsistent in style. She asked Zhang Da, "Why is this name inconsistent with the others?"

Zhang Da, "The township is named after the Qingshui River, a long river that flows through the township."

"Sir, please don't underestimate this Qingshui River. It can be said to be the mother river of the villagers. In ancient times, building houses was all about location. It was best to be close to the mountains or near the water to ensure basic survival. This Qingshui River can be said to have nurtured generations of people in Qingshui Township."

Gu Niannian immediately thought of the name of Qingshan County: "Is this county named after Qingshan?"

Unexpectedly, she guessed it right. Zhang Da nodded and said, "That's right. This Qingshan is in our southeast direction. Of course, there is more than one mountain here, but this Qingshan is the highest and largest of all the mountains.

That’s why it’s named Qingshan County. This place is not just dirt mountains, but also has mountains connected to mountains, gorges and mountain ranges. These mountains have limestone, but you can’t underestimate this limestone. The use of lime after it is chiseled out is very great…”

Gu Niannian continued, "Lime can be used in construction, disinfection, decoration, alchemy, warfare, medicine, printing and dyeing, papermaking, shipbuilding and other industries. It has a wide range of uses."

Zhang Da was a little surprised, "Your Excellency is right..."

Gu Niannian pondered, "Qingshan County has such a treasure, so it should be quite wealthy. How come..."

Zhang Da nodded, "Most of Qingshan County's money and taxes come from here..."

Gu Niannian was even more confused. "Logically speaking, since there's a coal mine in the county, the people there should be living well. Why doesn't it look like there's a mine?"

Zhang Da was hesitating whether to speak up and how to say it when Li Jing interrupted him, "The lime mine belongs to the government, and all the proceeds from the mine must be turned over. The court can't handle so many things now, so it has to subcontract them out. Usually, some powerful local people take on the contract, and they then hire local people to mine the lime..."

"The government only collects the required amount, and any excess goes to Baotou... The court does not interfere."

Gu Niannian was a little angry after hearing this. "How can those Baotou not exploit the people in this situation?"

Zhang Da nodded: "That's right, but this matter is indeed difficult for the government to handle. After all, it is the will of the higher-ups. Not only can we not control it, but if the government wants to do its job and collect taxes smoothly, it still has to maintain good relations with those gentry, otherwise it will be difficult to move forward..."

Gu Niannian, "A powerful dragon cannot defeat a local snake"

Li Jing: "But for them, although the income from lime mining is not much, at least they can earn some money and not starve to death."

Gu Niannian thought, "In this era of low production and complicated taxes and corvee labor, for the common people, just to keep themselves well fed and not starve to death is already exhausting all their strength."

He then asked, "What industries and crops are being grown in each township?"

Zhang Da, "As far as I know, rice is the most cultivated, followed by sugarcane."

Gu Niannian, "How many years do you produce per year?"

Zhang Da scratched his head and asked, "Aren't these crops harvested once a year? How can they produce more in a year?"

Gu Niannian kept it a secret, "Not necessarily"

……

Second day

The village head and others arrived at the county government office. They had already known that a new young county magistrate had arrived in Qingshan County, and they had been prepared to meet him and report on the situation in the countryside.

In the past, when the county magistrate came first, he would ask the village heads to come and meet him first so that everyone could get to know each other. But this time, they waited and waited, and it was already a month before the notice came down.

Everyone was wondering, "Is this new county magistrate too young to understand the rules?"

The various villages, finally gathered together, were full of discussion. The general questions were about the harvest and whether taxes could be collected.

After Gu Niannian came out, the discussion stopped abruptly. Everyone looked at her with questioning expressions, "This is the new county magistrate. This... this is too young. I'm afraid her hair hasn't even grown out yet!"

Li Jing, who followed in, saw their surprised expressions and reminded them in a loud voice, "This is our new Qingshan County Magistrate Gu."

The village head of Qingshui Township was the first to react, standing up and saying, "Xu Liang from Qingshui Township has met with County Magistrate Gu."

The people from the last five townships responded and introduced themselves.

Gu Niannian looked at them one by one and said, "I have just taken office and have been dealing with many cases in the past few days. I am a little late to see you. Please forgive me."

Xu Liang said, "Your Excellency is too serious. The case cannot be delayed. Your Excellency is also doing this for the people. How can you blame me?"

Gu Niannian said, "As a county magistrate, I am here to benefit the people. You are all my elders in terms of age and know more than me. I hope you can teach me more in the future."

How could the village heads dare to teach the county magistrate? They all shook their heads and said, "I don't dare, I don't dare. You are young and promising, and you are knowledgeable. How can we, who are half buried in the earth, teach you?"

Gu Niannian's position in the 21st century is similar to that of a village head in ancient times, so she knows best what the village heads are thinking: "The county magistrate says his thing, and they do their thing. As long as taxes are collected on time and in full, the two of them don't interfere with each other. After all, the county magistrate may come and go, but the village head remains forever."

It's not surprising that the village heads think this way. Judging from the generations of county magistrates they have come into contact with, what they want are political achievements that can lead to promotion, and the most basic of which is tax revenue, that is, the data submitted to the government must look good.

Gu Niannian said this to narrow the distance between the two sides. As a public servant of the people, of course, the first thing is not to be separated from the masses, but to rely on the masses, come from the masses, and go to the masses.

Then, according to the procedure, each village head introduced the production and tax situation of his township and village one by one.

Gu Niannian looked at Xu Liang and said, "I will go to Qingshui Township tomorrow to investigate. Village Chief Xu, is that possible?"

Xu Liang wiped the sweat from his brow and nodded quickly, "It's feasible, of course it's feasible."

Seeing his expression, Gu Niannian knew what he was worried about and began to comfort him, "Don't worry, you don't have to bother preparing anything. I am looking at the real situation of the people, and I will not blame you no matter what the result is."

Xu Liang also found it strange. How could the magistrate summon them and have them go to the village the next day? In the past, they were given several days to prepare. During these days, the magistrate's visit and the words he would say were all planned in advance. The magistrate's visit was just a formality. This was the first time a young woman had ridden in a sedan chair.

Everyone was confused when they heard this. What was going on?

Gu Niannian: "Everyone, don't overthink it. I just want to do something for the people. I went to the village just to get to the bottom of the matter. Only by understanding the crux of the problem can we prescribe the right remedy."

……

After the village chiefs returned

Gu Niannian sighed deeply: "They still don't believe me"

Li Jing, "Dripping water wears away a stone over a long period of time"

Gu Niannian, "Yes! Changing a person's mindset is the most difficult thing."

"It's getting late, you should go back too. I have to go back too."