After traveling through time, I was raised by a little brat

After leaving Yang Laosi's house, Tang Wenshu headed towards the village chief's house. However, to his surprise, before he even reached the door, he saw a young figure standing there waiting. This surprised Tang Wenshu, as he typically imagined a village chief to be an old man with a white beard.

"Sir, our Yangjia Village is short of water and manpower, and we have also suffered from an insect plague this year, resulting in a very poor harvest." The young man immediately came forward when he saw Tang Wenshu and said with a somewhat worried tone.

Tang Wenshu couldn't help but feel a hint of doubt, but she didn't show it. Instead, she smiled and nodded, indicating that she understood the situation. At this time, the yamen runner beside her hurriedly introduced Tang Wenshu: "Sir, this is the village chief of Yangjia Village. He is a scholar, and his family has been the village chief for nine generations. Originally, his father would have continued to serve as village chief this year, but who would have thought that he would die from the insect plague. So now he will take over."

After hearing the yamen runner's words, Tang Wenshu suddenly understood. So that's why the village chief is so young. He has already passed the imperial examination and returned to the village to serve as the village chief. This young man must be upright and responsible. Then, the yamen runner introduced the scholar-like village chief, "This is the new county magistrate!"

Upon hearing this, the village chief hurried forward and respectfully performed the scholar's salute to Tang Wenshu, bowing deeply. Although he didn't kneel, his gesture was remarkably solemn and polite. After all, according to the rules of the State of Zhao, scholars didn't need to kneel when meeting officials; they only needed to salute.

"Hello, Mr. County Magistrate!" The village chief's voice was low and sincere, making people feel his respect for Tang Wenshu. He was not disrespectful because of Tang Wenshu's age.

"Since you are a scholar, then tell me what you think." Tang Wenshu looked at him with interest and asked.

The village chief Yang Hongtao was silent for a moment, and then slowly said: "The insect plagues this year are mainly mulberry locusts and sticky locusts." Tang Wenshu was secretly shocked. She only knew that locust plagues were common in ancient times, but she had never heard of mulberry locusts and sticky locusts.

The village chief continued, "This year we tried turning the soil to combat the insect infestation. While it was somewhat effective, it required a lot of labor every day, and the crops couldn't withstand such frequent turning."

Tang Wenshu frowned, knowing this approach couldn't last. She felt helpless when she heard about the rice being grown in paddy fields. The insects were devouring the rice, and there was nothing they could do to stop the disaster.

"The harvest of the first-season rice is only 50% of the previous one, so we can only pin our hopes on the second-season rice." Yang Hongtao stood on the edge of the field, looking at the rice fields in the distance, his eyes full of worry and helplessness.

"Although I'm a scholar, I participate in rice planting and harvesting every year, so I'm not completely unfamiliar with farming." Yang Hongtao was silent for a moment, then said in a heavy voice, "Zhao State experiences a locust plague every eight years on average. According to the timeline, it should be next year. This is what my father told me before he died: I must protect the villagers of Yang Village."

Yang Hongtao sighed and continued, "This matter is too serious. Once word gets out, it will surely cause panic among the villagers. Furthermore, I haven't found an effective way to deal with the locust plague yet, so I haven't dared to speak up. County Magistrate, do you have a solution to the locust plague? Please, please save the people of Liu County!"

Hearing this, Tang Wenshu's expression became very solemn. He confirmed again, "Are you sure it's really a locust plague?"

"Well, the insect eggs dug out by Yang Laosi are definitely not wrong." Yang Hongtao nodded and answered in a firm tone.

"Okay, I understand. We need to go to a few more villages to check the situation." Tang Wenshu said. Since locust eggs were found in Yang Village, they could not ignore it.

"Does anyone in your village raise chickens and ducks? I know it's hard to hatch them this season, but tell him to hatch as many chicks and ducks as possible and go to the fields to catch insect eggs to eat." Tang Wenshu went on to say that Yang Village's biggest problem is irrigation, so they need to build canals to bring water to the fields. "If locusts pass through, nothing will grow. They can burn them or flood them."

The most famous dish is the grilled locusts, which are crunchy and quite delicious. Once you get over the nausea, locusts are really tasty and high in protein. Tang Wenshu thought that these villagers may not have eaten locusts before and don't know how delicious they are.

"Your village can build a canal if you can organize the manpower. Of course, this is just a suggestion. If you want to do it, you can come to Liu County to pass on the message, and the county will send people to provide guidance." Tang Wenshu explained patiently.

Yang Hongtao hesitated after hearing this. After all, not every official was honest and upright. He was worried that the people who came would just eat, drink and have fun instead of doing their jobs. He hesitated and said, "This..."

Tang Wenshu said directly, "I've already notified the higher-ups. Our county plans to recruit some talented individuals from the public to help build the canal. After all, there are many places like your village that lack water."

After hearing this, Village Chief Yang felt relieved and a smile appeared on his face. However, he soon thought of another problem and said with some concern: "Sir, although I know that chickens and ducks can prevent pests, I have never let them go to the fields before. What if they destroy all the crops? Wouldn't that be more harm than good?"

Tang Wenshu smiled and patiently explained, "Don't worry, Village Chief Yang. You can try releasing a few chickens and ducks into the fields first. Then observe carefully, and you'll find that they only eat the pests and their eggs, and won't harm the crops at all."

Village Chief Yang nodded doubtfully, then patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, sir. I'll have someone keep an eye on it and see if it's really as you said. If it's true, we'll have to hatch more chickens and ducks in the future!"

Tang Wenshu looked at Village Chief Yang, smiled and nodded, then turned to leave. At this moment, Village Chief Yang suddenly called her over, scratched his head a little embarrassedly, and said, "Sir, I'm going to ask, besides helping us solve the water problem, do you have anything else to do this time?"

Tang Wenshu stopped, turned around, smiled and said, "I just want to know about the situation in the village. By the way, I would like to ask you, as the village chief, if you have any opinions or suggestions on the governance of our Liu County?" What Tang Wenshu did not say was that they came to collect taxes. In fact, Village Chief Yang should know this well.

"I wouldn't dare offer suggestions, but the positions of magistrate and county magistrate in Liu County have been vacant for a long time, and I imagine there are a lot of old cases piling up," said Village Chief Yang. "These cases might be a breakthrough. If we can solve them, we might even receive the attention and praise of the court."

He paused, then added, "Of course, this is just my humble opinion. Please consider it."

After hearing this, Tang Wenshu felt something in his heart.

She knew that what Village Chief Yang said made sense, but how easy was it to solve these old cases? Moreover, there were too many interests involved, and the slightest mistake would cause trouble.

However, she nodded and said she would consider the suggestion. Village Chief Yang also hoped to use Tang Wenshu's power to change the current situation in Liu County. After all, the development of Liu County was related to the livelihood of every villager, and he could not sit idly by.