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

More than half a month has passed, and the summer harvest in Yuanlu County is nearing its end.

Except for two rain showers in between, the rest of the days were sunny.

Sun Shan's anxiety finally subsided.

County Magistrate Wang has been busy working alongside Sun Shan these days.

For some reason, ever since Sun Shan became his superior, the hardships he endured in just over a year were equivalent to those of five or six years. Sometimes, Magistrate Wang wished he could take off his official robes.

This lowly eighth-rank official, take it or leave it!

Of course, it was just talk; he would never actually resign from his post.

County Magistrate Wang is all talk and no action.

Sun Shan summoned Magistrate Wang and asked, "Lord Wang, how many villages are left to harvest?"

County Magistrate Wang secretly rolled his eyes. Harvesting grain was something the common people should do; they didn't need officials to supervise them.

Lord Sun was different. For more than half a month, he issued orders every day, telling them to go out and supervise the people's summer harvest.

Ugh, it's like picking your teeth with cold water—just making trouble for no reason.

After secretly despising Sun Shan, he replied with a smile, "Sir, except for a few villages in Duanlongshan Town, the harvest is complete everywhere else. Sir, don't worry, the grain will be ready to be stored in the warehouse in another day or two of drying."

Fortunately, the statistics had already been compiled, which allowed me to answer Sun Shan's question.

Sun Shan asked in confusion, "Why hasn't the summer harvest been completed in Duanlongshan Town yet?"

What other reasons are there? Isn't it because they are located in remote areas, in the mountains, in cold regions, that they mature relatively slowly?

Magistrate Wang muttered a few words and explained the reasons in detail: "Sir, firstly, Duanlongshan Town is located on a hill, so the millet ripens late. Secondly, Duanlongshan Town is the poorest place in Yuanlu County, and the farmers don't have enough sickles. They have to wait until one family has finished harvesting before the next family can harvest."

Sun Shan said to Zhang, the clerk, "Clerk, bring me the map of Yuanlu County."

Master Zhang quickly put down the documents in his hand and soon sent a map to Sun Shan.

Pointing to Duanlongshan Town, he said, "Sir, Duanlongshan Town is the farthest from the county seat, close to Mayang County, and located in the Wuling Mountains."

Sun Shan examined the area carefully and realized it was a place that had not been explored before, which explained why it was so unfamiliar to him.

Speaking of Mayang County, I am reminded of Magistrate Shen.

Oh dear, his county is right next to his own county, what a misfortune.

The only fortunate thing was that the Wuling Mountains separated them, preventing Magistrate Shen from "harassing" them.

Sun Shan then asked, "Are there many people in Duanlongshan Town who buy things on credit?"

The kind of credit they get here is naturally bird droppings fertilizer.

Master Zhang quickly pulled out the ledger, searched through the documents, and shook his head: "Sir, only one-third of the people use bird droppings as fertilizer."

At this moment, Magistrate Wang interjected: "Sir, Duanlong Mountain is a dangerous place with many seedlings. We should leave it alone. Let the people use fertilizer if they want, and not use fertilizer if they don't want to."

He then expressed his concern: "Also, sir, whether they are the Wuling barbarians of Duanlong Mountain or Han people, they are fierce and unreasonable. We don't know if we can get our bird droppings fertilizer on credit."

"Sigh, that place shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure they don't wander out, who cares if they use fertilizer or not. Duanlongshan Town is the most difficult place to manage; it's best to avoid it, whether there's a reason or not."

County Magistrate Wang meant that the people of Duanlongshan Town were of diverse backgrounds, living in large, small, and intermingled communities, with complex relationships that made them very difficult to deal with.

Bandits also frequently pass by, making it a place to abandon.

If it weren't for Sun Shan's order, County Magistrate Wang wouldn't have sent someone to Duanlongshan Town to investigate the situation.

Sun Shan shook his head and said, "Lord Wang, Duanlongshan Town is under my jurisdiction, how can I ignore it?"

County Magistrate Wang secretly rolled his eyes, about to speak.

Sun Shan spoke first: "Lord Wang, I know what you mean and I understand your concerns. Thank you for your concern."

He then added, "However, as I said before, as long as Duanlongshan Town is under my jurisdiction, I will definitely take care of it."

Since Sun Shan has already said that, what else can Magistrate Wang say?

He could only bow and say, "My lord, I understand."

Upon learning that only one town was lagging behind in the summer harvest, Sun Shan breathed a sigh of relief.

He continued, "Lord Wang, could you please give us a count of how many harvesting knives, hoes, plows, harrows, and oxen we still need?"

Magistrate Wang paused for a moment, then shook his head and replied, "Sir, these are all in short supply; the more the better. Our yamen doesn't have many to begin with, and the common people don't have many either."

Especially oxen are scarce. Most of the land is plowed by hand. Alas, oxen are so rare; if we had more, spring and summer plowing could be done much faster.

The county government only had 10 oxen, which were usually given to wealthy families to raise, and of course, the wealthy families had priority in using them.

If there are so few government offices left, then ordinary people are even fewer.

A village is lucky to have two or three cows, let alone expect them to plow the fields.

In Yuanlu County, the correct way to plow is for one person to pull the plow from the front and another person to hold the plow from the back.

When someone gets tired, they take over, continuing until the land is plowed properly.

Moreover, not to mention oxen, there aren't even enough plows to till the land, and some people can only use hoes to turn the soil.

Sun Shan was well aware of the predicament of Yuanlu County, which is why he asked County Magistrate Wang to compile the statistics.

He nodded and said, "I know all of that, Lord Wang. According to the land register, calculate how many farm tools are needed."

He paused, then added, "We should also ask the village heads and village chiefs in each area to take stock of the farm tools in their area and report them to the government office."

Magistrate Wang asked, puzzled, "Sir, what are you going to do?"

Sun Shan bluntly stated, "Of course we need to buy farm tools. How can we farm without them?"

Science and technology are the primary productive forces. Although science and technology are still in a rudimentary stage, it is still better than relying solely on human labor.

Buy more harvesting tools, hoes, plows, and oxen; farming will be much easier then.

Especially during the rush to plant and harvest, tools are even more necessary.

Magistrate Wang stared wide-eyed and asked, "Sir, the yamen has no money, how can we buy it?"

Sun Shan spread his hands and said decisively, "How could there be no money? The people's grain has been collected. First, there's the grain tax, and second, the fertilizer that was bought on credit should be paid for. So, naturally, the yamen's treasury has some money coming in."

He then added, "Once the grain tax is collected and the bills are settled, we will arrange for someone to go to Chenzhou Prefecture to make purchases as soon as possible, preferably in time for the summer planting."

Of course, all of this is Sun Shan's wonderful plan, and unexpected events may occur along the way.

For example, it's difficult to collect debts, and Chenzhou Prefecture has no oxen to sell.

Despite all the unexpected events, Sun Shan's determination to farm remained unwavering.

Everything depends on man, and man can conquer nature.

Magistrate Wang was dumbfounded. He gestured with his chin and asked, "Sir, many people have shares in the workshops, but the workshops don't receive any profits?"

I thought that now that the workshop had income, the shareholders who raised the funds would also have income.

What did Lord Sun just say? Did he mean he didn't intend to share the money, or that he wanted to embezzle it?

Sun Shan reassured him, "Of course we'll split it, but not now, we'll split it later."

As for when it will be late? Hehe, even Sun Shan doesn't know.

plow and harrow

Who plowed the land?