dognovel Chapter 222 This bastard wants to order us around again!
Chapter 222 This bastard wants to order us around again!
In order to improve the soil and water conditions in Ningyang County and provide shade for the people during their summer work, Magistrate Yang decided to launch a large-scale tree-planting campaign in the spring of the third year of the Hongwu reign.
Yes, we could establish a Tree Planting Day and require the students at the Confucius Temple to plant trees. This would also be in response to the call for all-round development in morality, intelligence, physical fitness, aesthetics, and labor.
No one stipulated that students of the Ming Dynasty were not required to respond to the call, nor did anyone stipulate that students of the Ming Dynasty could refrain from planting trees.
Ordinary people, besides students, can't be idle either.
For example, right now, the people of Ningyang County have to continue to struggle with the farm work in the fields.
Farmers have to do all sorts of miscellaneous farm work, such as clearing ditches and draining water, hoeing and mounding soil, pruning cotton plants, irrigating the land, planting scallions, and protecting livestock from the heat.
Everyone wishes they could make one day feel like two.
First, the villagers had to plant bean sprouts and other vegetables and green onions in the small vegetable plots they had cleared around their homes and the two acres of vegetable plots allocated to them. The first thing they did every morning before breakfast was to tend to the plots, either by weeding or by checking for pests and diseases.
After breakfast, the people would take their hoes and go to the fields. Today they would hoe the soil and mound it up, and tomorrow they would prune the cotton plants.
After finishing all the farm work in the fields, the next step is to irrigate the land.
Once the ground has dried a little, tasks like weeding and mounding soil should be repeated to prevent weeds and crops from competing for soil fertility and affecting the harvest.
This kind of labor, which lasts from sunrise to sunset every day, will continue until after the autumn harvest. Then, a whole bunch of messy workshops and construction sites set up by Magistrate Yang, such as honeycomb briquette workshops, cement kilns, and brick kilns, will be set up and continue until the land is completely frozen. Only after all the land that is not planted with winter wheat is plowed and harrowed again will things finally come to a complete stop.
The people were busy, and Magistrate Yang Shaofeng was also constantly occupied. Every day, he was either leading his yamen runners to measure the distances between each other with officials from other prefectures and counties, or he went to inspect the eight communities and sixteen neighborhoods of Ningyang County.
Of course there is also good news.
For example, Xu Da has already led his troops to attack Qingyang, and it is expected that Shaanxi will be recovered before August. It is expected that the strategic intention of the first Northern Expedition will be achieved before the end of the year, which means that the iron smelting workshop in Ningyang County may begin to be prepared for construction by the end of the year.
For example, the Ningyang County paper mill, which began preparations in the winter of the first year of the Hongwu reign and started construction in the spring of the second year of the Hongwu reign, finally produced its first batch of paper at the end of the summer solstice of the second year of the Hongwu reign. Moreover, it successfully produced white paper for writing and printing, as well as toilet paper for solving the problem of anal problems.
To be honest, the quality of this batch of paper certainly did not meet Magistrate Yang's expectations.
First of all, the white paper produced was not very absorbent. It was more like waiting for the ink to evaporate than drying it. It was not suitable for writing calligraphy at all, but only for printing. Magistrate Yang's original dream of taking the opportunity to create a Ningyang Xuan paper brand was shattered before it even began.
Secondly, the toilet paper is yellowish in color, not soft or strong enough, and can easily tear if you're not careful. It's far inferior to Qingfeng, Vinda, and Xinxiangyin toilet paper, not to mention even compared to those no-name brands from small workshops.
However, for Magistrate Yang, being able to produce paper suitable for printing meant that Ningyang County could open another bookstore to print books, so that each student in the Confucian Temple could have a book, and he would have a trump card to attack scholars and local gentry at any time; being able to produce toilet paper meant that he could solve his anal problem and would no longer need to use toilet sticks or clods of earth.
Magistrate Yang held a few pages of newly printed white paper and examined them several times. Then he put them aside and solemnly bowed to the two master craftsmen, Zhu Dalang, who was in charge of papermaking, and Chen Choulu, who was in charge of woodblock printing, saying, "Thank you for your hard work, master craftsmen."
Immediately afterwards, Magistrate Yang sent someone to the county treasury to withdraw twenty strings of paper money. He gave ten strings to each of Zhu Dalang and Chen Choulu, and told them that they could exchange them for silver or use the paper money as silver.
As long as we can keep Zhu Dalang and Chen Chou in Ningyang County, it's worth spending more money.
Having made up his mind, Magistrate Yang first arranged for the two men to continue organizing the papermaking and printing workshops. Then, he rushed back to the county government office and began writing a memorial to Zhu Chongba, pleading poverty. The implication was that the papermaking and printing workshops in Ningyang County were just starting out and could not function without the guidance of the two master craftsmen, Zhu Dalang and Chen Choulu. If Emperor Zhu insisted on transferring the two men back to the capital, the papermaking and printing workshops in Ningyang County would have to shut down, and the students in the Ningyang County school would not be able to get their books and would have to study with their blackboards. Could Emperor Zhu bear to see the children suffer?
The main idea is, "Since we're already here, why not let them stay a little longer?"
……
"We can't just send craftsmen to Ningyang County anymore."
Emperor Zhu Chongba rubbed his forehead, his face full of worry, and said to Zhu Biao, "This guy is like a mythical creature, easy to send craftsmen to Ningyang County, but difficult to ask for them back."
Zhu Biao said expressionlessly, "Actually, after my last trip to Ningyang County, I had already given up hope that Zhu Dalang and Chen Choulu would come back."
Emperor Zhu sighed slightly, but Zhu Biao continued, "There's one more thing. You've already agreed to send craftsmen to Ningyang County to set up ironworks. Judging from the speed of Uncle Xu's attack on Shaanxi, it's estimated that you'll be sending craftsmen and blacksmiths to Ningyang County by the end of the year."
Upon hearing Zhu Biao's words, the Emperor Zhu's worried expression deepened even further.
This thing is a damn Pixiu!
It's a Pixiu that's not easy to mess with!
Emperor Zhu Chongba felt that if he insisted on sending Zhu Dalang and Chen Choulu back, Yang Dianfeng would certainly not dare to stop him, but that scoundrel might come up with other ways to torment him.
For example, another memorial was submitted along with the one pleading poverty and begging for help.
"I respectfully request Your Majesty to designate the teaching materials for the schools."
The contents of this memorial were very simple. The implication was that Ningyang County was preparing to print textbooks for the students in the school and "requested" Emperor Zhu Chongba to specify which books and contents could be used as teaching materials.
Although it was called an invitation, in Emperor Zhu Chongba's eyes it was no different from a "request" or "command." In any case, this task had to be done, and it could only be done by him, Zhu Chongba, and Zhu Biao together. The Ministry of Rites' opinion was at most for reference.
"Damn it, that bastard wants to order us around again!"