The Daily Life of a Rich Peasant's Boy in the Imperial Examination

Xiao Wuzi quietly listened to the conversation between Sun Dali and Gui Ge'er, trying to find out about Mr. Sun's family background.

How could a nobody in the yamen like him have the ability to research Lord Sun's background?

However, from their daily interactions, Xiao Wuzi roughly knew what kind of person Lord Sun was.

In short, it is very down-to-earth and full of earthy flavor.

Sun Shan saw the Sun family guards bragging again, especially in front of the tablets of the Shen family's ancestors. Is this polite?

He shook his head and ordered, "Write down the things the village chief brought and return them according to the market price. Don't be greedy for a single cent from the people."

Sun Shan disdained these petty greeds. If one was to be greedy, one should be greedy on a large scale, so as to appear more impressive.

Master Zhang responded repeatedly: "Yes, sir, I have made a note of it. I will pay the money to the village chief before I leave."

Sun Shan nodded with satisfaction. There were benefits to bringing his master out. At least he could help with the accounting.

It was late at night, and everyone was well fed and satisfied. In the main room of the Shen family ancestral hall, Gui Ge'er was lighting the lamp while Sun Shan was drawing a map.

In fact, it cannot be said to be drawing, but rather adding specific details to the map that has been drawn by predecessors.

For example, since they settled in Shenxi Village today, Sun Shan marked it as Shenxi Village.

With Shenxi Village as the center, use special symbols such as "o" and "=" to mark villages, rivers, mountains, roads, etc. around it.

This will fill in the map of Yuanlu County and make it clear at a glance.

During the first inspection, Sun Shan had already started doing this job, and during the second inspection, Sun Shan continued to do it.

If I inspect it a few more times, I believe I will be able to give a clear picture of Yuanlu County.

Gui Ge'er looked at Sun Shan with admiration and said, "Brother Shan, you're amazing. From now on, when we look at the map, we'll know exactly where Shenxi Village is in Yuanlu County."

Sun Shan smiled and said, "As the governor of Yuanlu County, I must understand every aspect of it so I can better serve the people. I can't manage other counties, but Yuanlu County is under my jurisdiction. I hope the people will live better and better."

Gui Ge'er nodded hurriedly: "Brother Shan, you are a good official. I am proud of you."

Sun Shan smiled and said nothing more.

He couldn't help but feel happy as he watched the entire map become more and more specific with his additions.

After a pause, he said, "The map must be kept safe and not easily seen by others."

In fact, Sun Shan was more inclined to spread out the map so that the people of Yuanlu could know the topography of Yuanlu.

But these are "prohibited items" and can only be collected.

Gui Ge'er promised: "Brother Shan, I know, I will definitely keep it well and not let anyone see it."

After finishing describing today's terrain, Sun Shan fell asleep.

After a sleepless night, I woke up early in the morning to a clear sky and fresh air. It was another nice day.

After breakfast, I walked out of the ancestral hall and saw Village Chief Shen.

Village Chief Shen walked forward quickly with small steps and greeted: "Good morning, County Magistrate. How was your rest yesterday? If you feel unwell, why not come to my house?"

Village Chief Shen was worried all night, afraid that he would be punished if he failed to respond.

At first light, I ran to the ancestral hall to check it out. I wanted to get closer, but the magistrate's guards stood there like two statues, so I didn't dare to peek.

After waiting for a long time for the magistrate to come out, the village chief rushed forward.

Sun Shan nodded reservedly: "Very good, no need."

Hearing that everything was going well, the village chief breathed a sigh of relief.

Sun Shan said again, "Village Chief Shen, I want to go to the fields and take a look at the seedlings."

The village chief smiled slightly and said, "Master Sun, please come this way. Some of our village uses guano fertilizer, and some does not."

He looked at Sun Shan quietly and saw that he looked normal, and he breathed a sigh of relief again.

Sun Shan smiled without saying a word and followed Village Chief Shen into the fields.

Shenxi Village is neither big nor small, and is surrounded by mountains. There is not much flat land. Fortunately, the mountains are not too high, so cultivation can be carried out at the foot of the mountains.

There are also streams in the mountains that can be used for irrigation.

Through the efforts of generations of ancestors, small "terraces" were formed.

As Sun Shan walked, he asked, "Village Chief Shen, how many households in the village don't use fertilizer?"

Village Chief Shen answered truthfully: "Sir, half of the villagers have not used it."

After hearing this, Sun Shan didn't say anything.

He nodded in understanding. "It's a new thing, so it's understandable that the villagers don't believe it. Only a few people can use fertilizers. Don't be nervous, Village Chief Shen."

Seeing the village chief tremble, Sun Shan smiled secretly and immediately expressed his tolerance and kindness.

Sure enough, the village chief secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that Lord Sun was easier to talk to than he had imagined.

The village chief said cheerfully, "Sir, many villagers who didn't use guano fertilizer regretted it. They were especially envious of the sturdy seedlings we grew after using the fertilizer."

Then he asked, "Master Sun, when is the next fertilization? Will anyone come to teach us?"

Sun Shan said confidently, "When the rice buds differentiate, you'll need to fertilize again. Someone will still be here to teach you how to use it."

Village Chief Shen was happy when Sun Shan said this.

From base fertilizer to seedling fertilizer, fertilizer has been applied twice. The only thing left is ear fertilizer and grain fertilizer. Looking at the green seedlings, the village chief is in a good mood.

Sun Shan walked in the fields and saw the growing seedlings. He found that the seedlings without fertilizer were indeed much worse.

I squatted down and dug up a seedling. I carefully checked the roots. There were no rotten or dead roots, and there was no damage. It was still growing quite healthily.

He walked a few more steps and looked at the slightly shorter seedlings. Apart from malnutrition, there were no other problems, and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Village chief Shen was stunned for a moment. He was walking normally when Lord Sun suddenly squatted down and started digging up the seedlings. Everything was so natural that it was obvious that he had done it many times.

There is a rumor in the county that the magistrate can farm, and he looked like he could farm just now.

Sun Shan washed the mud off his hands, smiled, and said, "This field is growing well. There's no disease."

Then he added, "But the water in the rice fields needs to be replaced. Don't make it too shallow; just a little deeper than here will do. Now is the time for tillering and jointing, so change the water every seven days to promote branching."

Village Chief Shen nodded repeatedly: "Your Excellency is right, the water in this field is indeed a bit turbid, and it needs to be replaced with fresh water."

Led by Village Chief Shen, Sun Shan inspected one field after another, and the two exchanged farming experiences as they walked.

Village Chief Shen sighed and said, "Sir, is there any medicine that can effectively kill insects? Alas, the medicine we use is not very good. The insects won't die."

The "pesticides" at this time are generally lime and tobacco water, combined with manual capture.

And prevention is mainly through deep plowing, crop rotation, burning rice straw, etc.

Sun Shan said helplessly, "I don't have any good ideas."

Village chief Shen was very disappointed. He thought the county magistrate was an omnipotent person who could come up with a good solution for them.

After Sun Shan finished his inspection, he returned to the ancestral hall and wanted to talk to the villagers to show his "affinity".

Even if it is just a show, he has to continue doing it so that his "approachability" can be deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.