dognovel Chapter 712 Ningyang County Doesn't Support Idlers
Chapter 712 Ningyang County Doesn't Support Idlers
Chen Xingzu and three hundred other Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) were assigned to various villages and communities to officially begin their lives of working alongside the common people, like cattle and horses.
They had to get up and work in the fields as soon as it was light in the morning, and by the time they returned for lunch, these newly appointed scholars were already exhausted, like dogs.
Because of the hot weather, there is usually a half-hour rest period after lunch.
However, even during this half-hour break, the newly appointed cattle and horses had no way to rest.
They had to follow the so-called "Ningyang Water Conservancy Construction Team" to install water pumps for the people.
There wasn't much physical work for them to do, but they had to watch over the machine and remember the structure of the water press and the name of each component.
After the construction team installs the water pump, these newly recruited oxen and horses will go to work in the fields with the villagers until it gets dark before going back to rest.
In just three to five days, Chen Xingzu, who was a handsome young man when he came to Ningyang County, completely changed.
Because the "master" mentioned by Li Zhenming specifically instructed Lame Wu to bring people to deliver grain and wages to them, and made it clear in advance that the grain would be delivered directly to the families where they were staying in exchange for their three meals a day, and the wages would be sixty coins per day.
Want to buy clothes?
Want to use money to buy wine and meat?
Sure, Ningyang County has no shortage of shops selling clothes or meat and wine.
As long as you can do the farm work in the fields, you can freely go to the county town to spend money and enjoy yourself.
But what if you run out of money?
The answer that Limpy Five gave to Yang Shaofeng was to just let it go.
If you run out of money, you'll have to figure out a way to make a living on your own.
What's even more infuriating is that the so-called "finding their own way" doesn't mean allowing them to write home for money, but rather telling them to tough it out on their own.
Therefore, Chen Xingzu learned to eat heartily.
What the hell is this "chewing slowly"?
A person who is starving has no right to say that.
Moreover, this is what I earned by exchanging my salary, which has been reduced countless times. It would be a sin to eat even a single bite less!
As for going to the county town to buy wine, meat, and clothes?
Laugh to death.
Only a fool would go to the county town.
Instead of going to the county town, wouldn't it be better to just lie down and take a nap?
In addition, Chen Xingzu and others learned to soak their feet in hot water at night and then use needles to pop the blisters.
I learned to do farm work shirtless.
I learned to distinguish between sorghum and sweet sorghum.
She even learned to sew clothes.
Even if I hear certain jokes while working, I will no longer have any "undignified" or nonsensical thoughts.
Emperor Zhu even went to see the changes in these newly appointed scholars with great interest several times, and would say things like, "If you know how the people cultivate the land, you won't be afraid of being laughed at by the people for not understanding civil affairs," and "Whether they are officials close to the people or officials in the capital, they should all be knowledgeable about agriculture."
His words were all meant to encourage these newly appointed officials to work hard in the fields, so that they could do a good job of promoting agriculture and sericulture when they became officials in the future, and thus have a smoother career path.
At times like this, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but laugh.
It turns out that even those who passed the imperial examinations under special circumstances weren't much better than university graduates.
The newly appointed scholars, who had not yet experienced the harsh realities of society and the workplace, were easily fooled by Lao Deng and worked incredibly hard.
……
"This is a good idea."
Watching Chen Xingzu and the other scholars working hard, Emperor Zhu couldn't help but smile and say, "Officials who have truly experienced farming, even if they can't love the people like their own children, even if they want to be corrupt, they probably wouldn't harm the people, right?"
"After all, they have all experienced it firsthand and know how hard farming is."
"Hmm, now we understand why Biao'er wanted the sons of noble families to go to the farm."
Empress Ma stood beside Emperor Zhu and replied with a smile, "This method is indeed good, but it somewhat abolishes official positions."
Emperor Zhu grunted and said, "Even more officials will be dismissed later."
Seeing Empress Ma's curious expression, Emperor Zhu explained, "Didn't this scoundrel say he wanted these imperial examination graduates to work in the workshops?"
"We just found out that this bastard isn't just sending them to work in the water press workshop, but is going to visit all the workshops."
“Cement workshops, brick kilns, coal mines, iron mines, iron smelting workshops, we have to go to them one by one, and even the quarries.”
"After visiting all the workshops, these scholars who passed the imperial examinations also had to visit the various centurions under the Ningyang Thousand-Household Office."
"I spent a full three months in the Hundred Household Office alone."
"According to that bastard, Ningyang County does not support idlers, much less produce useless officials who are lazy and ignorant of farming."
As soon as Emperor Zhu finished speaking, Empress Ma immediately opened her eyes wide.
"What?"
That son-in-law of mine can't even tell the difference between wheat and jointed grass, let alone sorghum and sweet sorghum. Every spring when he's urging farmers to start farming, he just lies in the fields drinking tea. Yet he still has the nerve to say, "Ningyang County won't produce such useless officials who can't even tell the difference between the five grains."
This is truly a huge joke during the Hongwu reign.
Yang Shaofeng, who was being whispered to by Empress Ma and Emperor Zhu, was currently enjoying a cup of tea in a recliner in the backyard of the county government office. The tea was a small dragon ball that Zhu Biao had sent over.
After all, he had accepted the three hundred oxen and horses sent by Zhu Biao, which was equivalent to solving the problem for that black sesame dumpling.
Is it too much to ask him for two jin of small dragon balls?
"These are three hundred scholars who have passed the imperial examinations."
"Besides the sixteen in our Ningyang County, there are a total of two hundred and eighty-four."
"You can't say you don't have enough manpower this time, can you?"
As Yang Shaofeng sipped his tea with a smile, he said to Chen Mo, "Remember this: you must make proper arrangements for these three hundred Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations). After they come out of the Hundred Household Office, have them take care of promoting the water pump."
"Let them write the proposal."
"Let them calculate the costs."
"Keep the direction in mind."
Chen Mo held a small cup of tea in his hand, feeling conflicted about whether to drink it or not.
I shouldn't drink it, though. This is tea given to me by my master, and it's the famous Xiaolongtuan tea.
But if you drink it, you have to get all these messy, tedious things done properly.
After much deliberation, Chen Mo took a sip of the small dragon ball and tentatively asked, "Your Excellency, is it alright for us to order them around like this?"
"After all, none of those two hundred-plus Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) came from our Ningyang County."
“It’s easy to talk to the kids in our own county, but they…”
Yang Shaofeng glanced at Chen Mo and asked in return, "Are you worried that they will hold a grudge against you if they become officials in the future, or are you worried that they are unreliable?"
Chen Mo replied directly, "Of course I'm worried that they're unreliable, especially those from Jiangnan. How many of them are actually reliable?"