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

It was already 2:15 in the evening when Gu Niannian returned home. After dinner, she took out the topographic map of Qingshui Township and began to look at it. She drew some rice-growing areas with charcoal.

……

Second day

Gu Niannian sat in the carriage, the yamen runner drove the carriage, and Li Jing sat on the other side.

Zhang Da was in charge of the yamen. There was nothing he could do. Communication was inconvenient now and he couldn't call if anything happened. In case someone came to the yamen, there had to be someone here.

About half an hour later, Gu Niannian's butt was aching from the bumpy ride. She lifted the sedan chair curtain and asked, "How long until we get there?"

Li Jing, "About a quarter of an hour"

Gu Niannian looked at the road and said, "This road is really bad. It's all gravel and it's very bumpy."

Li Jing waved his whip and replied, "Hey, this road is relatively good in these villages. Horse carriages can pass through. In other villages, especially Shouxin Village, the entire road is full of cement potholes on rainy days. It is only wide enough for horses to pass through. You have to choose good weather to go to this village."

Gu Niannian recalled that in modern times, when she was first assigned to Qingshi Village, although the roads were not as bad as here, they were indeed not much better. After several years of construction of four good rural roads, every village has a cement road, which makes it more convenient for vehicles to enter and exit, and the economic benefits have also improved.

So she knew that if you want to be rich, you must first build roads.

Gu Niannian returned to the carriage and took out paper and pen. The pen was a charcoal pencil she made herself, with a finely sharpened tip. The hand holding it was wrapped with paper, so she could write at any time without grinding ink, which was convenient and practical.

The journey that was supposed to take half an hour took almost an hour, and Gu Niannian knew that she was lagging behind.

The reason was nothing else, just because she couldn't ride a horse, Gu Niannian secretly made up her mind "I must learn to ride a horse when I have time in the future"

I have to learn this! There are still so many villages I haven’t visited.

After the three of them arrived at the village entrance, they saw Xu Liang and the others sticking their heads out from a distance. After seeing them, they came over with a smile on their faces.

Li Jing, "We are here, sir."

Gu Niannian lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, held onto Li Jing's shoulders and jumped down.

In addition to Xu Liang, there was another old man leading the way. Xu Liang introduced, "This is the oldest and most elderly man in Yan Village. If I don't understand something, I can ask him."

Yan Village is a village in Qingshui Township. Generally, crops grown in a township are similar. Gu Niannian plans to first visit a typical village in each township. Then, based on the issues learned, she will conduct a detailed analysis of each problem.

If he were to walk to every village, it would probably take several months due to the poor roads and inadequate transportation. His office also had official business to deal with from time to time, so he really couldn't spare the time.

The group went to the rice fields first to check. Gu Niannian looked at the large rice field in front of her and found that the rice grains were indeed sparse.

Gu Niannian pinched a few grains with her index finger and thumb. "The yield is not high, the grains are not full, and two or three out of ten are flat."

Gu Niannian frowned slightly and turned to look at Xu Liang: "How many stones are produced per acre?"

Xu Liang: "About three dan, and that's if the weather is good and the harvest is good this year. If the weather is not so good, we can only get less than two dan per mu every year."

The old man at the side continued, "Yes, sir, after deducting the taxes from the higher-ups, we ordinary people are lucky to have enough to eat porridge. If we encounter a natural disaster, we can only tighten our belts and make ends meet."

Xu Liang snorted at the old man, "Why are you telling me this? These natural and man-made disasters are not something you can change."

Gu Niannian watched the two of them perform a duet without saying anything. She squatted down, picked up a handful of soil, put it to her nose and sniffed it, and asked, "Are there any other crops?"

Xu Liang, "We planted sugarcane, but for some reason, the sugarcane we planted wasn't sweet enough to make brown sugar, so the villagers just chewed it to quench their thirst."

Gu Niannian, "Come on, take me to see it"

Passing by Li Jing, he patted his shoulder and said, "Jing, help me fold some bundles of rice and dig some soil."

After saying that, he took out a sack like a magic trick.

Li Jing was petrified instantly, "This...what are these?" But he didn't say anything, just lifted up his robe and started working.

He and the yamen runner each held the sack and shoveled the dirt, so they worked quickly.

The group went to the sugarcane field again. Gu Niannian pulled out a piece of sugarcane, peeled the skin with her teeth, and took a bite of the flesh. "It's really not sweet, and there's not enough moisture. The sugarcane is short, only half the length of modern ones. It's unlikely to make money making brown sugar with this yield and sweetness."

Li Jinggang handed a sack of soil and rice to the yamen runner, and when he looked up, he received Gu Niannian's gaze: "Jing, dig some soil here too. You don't have to pull up the sugarcane, I just pulled out the roots myself."

Gu Niannian waved the sugarcane she had just picked

Li Jing shook his head helplessly and put on the robe he had just put down, then went down to the ground to continue throwing the mud.

These were two more sacks of soil. Fortunately, the carriage was not far away, so the two men carried the two sacks of soil directly onto the carriage.

To be honest, this was the first time Li Jing had done such a thing since he became the county magistrate.

After looking at the fields and crops, they went to visit the richest and poorest families in the area.

The richest people could only afford to have enough food and clothing and send their children to village school for a few years. No more than that. That was because the family had enough young and strong labor and enough land. This is why people in ancient times liked to have many children, and they had to be boys.

Come to think of it, how many people can be truly wealthy if they rely on farming for a living? And the truly wealthy people won't live in this place, most of them have moved to the county town to live.

Gu Niannian sighed, "Yes! No matter how many generations pass, human ideas and concepts will not change. After all, the resources in the county are always much better than those in the village."

The poor families looked even more pitiful, with thatched houses and usually one sick old man in the house.

There are either no young and strong laborers or only one, and they can't even get enough to eat, let alone get medicine to treat their illnesses. These old people who are bedridden are basically just waiting to die.

Gu Niannian recorded the situations of these people one by one and planned to go back and make a file of the poor people, which is equivalent to the modern poor households.

They had seen it all and understood it almost completely. When they were ready to go back, the sun had already set.

Gu Niannian felt scared when she thought about the pain her butt would have to endure when she went back.

On the way back, she was even more determined to learn horseback riding. Although riding a horse was a bit bumpy, it took much less time! As the saying goes, a short pain is worse than a long one! It also saved her a lot of time.

Gu Niannian fell asleep while being tossed around. When they got home, Li Jing called her a few times but she didn't respond. Thinking something had happened, he lifted the curtain and saw that she was just asleep. Li Jing was relieved.

Reaching out and gently patting Gu Nian Nian's shoulder, "Master, wake up, we're here."

The voice was so gentle that he himself didn't even notice it.

Gu Niannian opened her eyes, still half asleep and half awake, "Hmm... We're here!"

Li Jing, "We're here, go home and sleep"

Gu Niannian rubbed her eyes and patted her face, finally feeling a little more awake.

Just as she was about to jump off the carriage, she felt a pair of large hands supporting her from under her armpits, lifting her up and placing her steadily on the ground.

Gu Niannian and the others standing on the ground were still confused. "He's treating her like a child... Even if she's five years younger than him, she's not a child, is she?"

Just as Gu Niannian was about to ask something, a bundle was stuffed into her hand. Then she looked up and saw the carriage had gone away.

"Forget it, just be a child! It feels good to have someone take care of you."

Gu Nian Nian hummed "Little boy, carry your schoolbag to school" and skipped back to her own yard.

Li Jing, who was sitting in the carriage, remained silent. Seeing the awkwardness of the situation, the yamen runner Wu Bo tried to find the right words to say, "Sir, why are your ears so red?"

Li Jing, "Why are you talking so much? Get out of here and drive your car!"

"Go straight to your house," Li Jing added.

The bailiff didn't dare to say anything and obediently drove the carriage towards his home.

When I arrived at Wu Bo's house, I saw a pregnant woman standing at the door with her head sticking out.

Seeing that it was his wife, Wu Bo quickly jumped out of the car and walked up to her. "Didn't I tell you that I would be back a little later today, so you don't have to wait for me. There are too many mosquitoes outside, and it's not safe in the dark..."

Although it was a blame, I could hear a lot of worry.

Wu Bo's wife, He Hua, noticed someone else in the carriage. Although the person was dressed in casual clothes, he certainly didn't have the air of an ordinary citizen. She patted her husband and asked, "Who is this?"

Wu Bo scratched his head embarrassedly and introduced, "This is Mr. Li Jing, the county magistrate of the county government."

He Hua saw her husband's silly look and reminded him, "Master, I sent you back from such a long distance. You haven't eaten yet, right? Why don't you invite Master to come to your house for a simple meal?"

At first, Wu Bo didn't realize that the county magistrate wanted him to go home first, so he said he would go to his house first. Now, after his wife reminded him, he finally realized it and turned to look at Li Jing. "Sir, if you don't mind, you can stay for a simple meal before leaving?"

Li Jing just waved his hand and said, "My mother left some food for me at home, I won't bother you any more."

Without waiting for the two to stay

With the other hand he whipped the horse whip and drove the carriage away.

After Li Jing walked away, He Hua took her husband's arm and walked into the house, "Why haven't you ever mentioned this Lord Li?"

Wu Bo scratched his head. "I haven't spoken much with the County Magistrate. He always looks like he doesn't want to be approached by strangers. And... we, the people below him, are quite afraid of him."

He Hua, "He looks decent and not bad looking."

Wu Bo, "He is indeed a man of integrity. I haven't noticed whether he looks similar or not. We have been working together for a long time. He always has the same expression on his face. I have rarely seen him smile. So no one dares to talk to him and is always respectful. We just do what he says."

He Hua, "I just heard that my mother left some food for him. Is he not married yet?"

Wu Bo thought carefully and replied uncertainly, "Yes, I have never heard you mention that you have a wife."

"Why do you ask that?"

He Hua, "You look quite old, why haven't you gotten married yet?"

After He Hua finished asking, he finally realized, "Hey! Why am I asking you, a fool?"

"Let's go! Let's eat. I made your favorite bamboo shoots and pork stir-fry today. Aunt Li from next door made some Shaobai and sent two pounds over."

When Wu Bo heard that there were his favorite dishes and wine to drink, he didn't care what his wife said about him and went straight to the kitchen.