Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 33 Treating women like men, and men like livestock

As the magistrate of Ningyang County, Yang Shaofeng had many things to consider, such as how to ensure spring planting, how to help the people earn money, how to deal with possible droughts, and even what to do after autumn and into winter.

However, the people of Ningyang County have a very simple idea.

Tilling the land, weeding, and digging irrigation ditches.

Now that the county magistrate has allocated land to everyone, giving them hope for the future, everyone must strive for a better life and never return to the days of hunger and hardship, nor should they bring shame upon the magistrate.

Then, the people of Ningyang County risked their lives.

Weeding and tilling the land?

In addition, the stronger women and slightly older children picked up sickles to cut weeds, while the younger but capable children carried the cut weeds to the edge of the field. Then the elderly sorted the weeds, and the thinner women bundled them up.

Young men under forty picked up shovels and hoes to continue turning the soil, while men over forty chopped firewood during the day and lit bonfires at night to dig irrigation ditches by the light of the fire, never stopping until late at night.

The county yamen runners, along with some strong women and teenagers, would drive oxcarts to the Guang River next to the county town early every morning to fetch water. They would then transport buckets of water back and pour them into the irrigation canals dug the night before.

Even the young widows in the widow village worked tirelessly day and night to make and steam buns, delivering pot after pot of thin-skinned, generously filled wild vegetable buns to the fields.

Faced with the potential threat of drought, Ningyang County is now focusing on using women like men and men like livestock, using livestock to the point of exhaustion as long as they don't die.

The only person in the entire Ningyang County who could be considered to have a relatively leisurely life was probably Magistrate Yang Shaofeng, because the people of Ningyang County would never allow Magistrate Yang to work in the fields.

According to the locals of Ningyang County, "This little bit of work is nothing. The master just needs to stay in the field and watch over things. If we let the master work in the fields, we would never be able to show our faces in public again."

Of course, Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, was not truly idle.

Although the people of Ningyang County were diligently cultivating the land and weeding, the problem was that the imperial court and Yanzhou Prefecture would send over a lot of messy official business from time to time. In addition, the breeding farms and livestock farms that Magistrate Yang had set up himself also had a lot of messy problems that Magistrate Yang had to deal with personally.

Besides, the people of every village and community were busy with their own affairs, and Magistrate Yang Shaofeng also needed to go out of the city from time to time.

Magistrate Yang doesn't need to do any work, but he needs to keep making inspections so that the people of Ningyang County know that the Ningyang County government, led by Magistrate Yang Shaofeng, and the Ming Dynasty behind them will always care about the people's livelihood and will not ignore the people's lives like the government during the Yuan Dynasty.

In short, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng was extremely busy every day.

Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, had even considered giving up completely more than once—everyone was a transmigrator, so why could other transmigrators live a life of luxury and even go to brothels to flirt with young ladies, while he, the magistrate, was burdened with mundane affairs?

But there was no way around it. Whenever he saw the busy and enthusiastic people greeting him with respect and warmth, Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate who wanted to completely give up, would have a change of heart and continue living a life like an animal.

Sometimes, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng would hate himself for having so much conscience and for being so addicted to the calls of "Master".

With a slight sigh, Yang Shaofeng, the county magistrate who had been staying in Jia Yilu for more than half an hour, got up and had Lame Wu call over Zhang Liuqi, the head of Jia Yilu.

"Have people set up a few stoves and a few large buckets on the edge of the field. They should boil the water, pour it into the buckets, let it cool, and then let people drink it. People are no longer allowed to drink raw water directly."

Yang Shaofeng directly instructed, "In addition, everyone must wash their hands before eating. We can't let them go to get steamed buns right after they come out of the fields."

Zhang Liuqi, the head of Jia Yi Village, blinked and nodded in agreement: "Yes, I've got it all."

Seeing Zhang Liuqi agree so readily, but with a slightly perfunctory expression on his face, Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but frown slightly: "Don't take this lightly—it is said that a major disaster is easily followed by a major epidemic. If there is no major drought after spring, that's fine. But if a drought occurs, drinking cool or warm water and washing your hands frequently can prevent a major epidemic. This is a matter of life and death, and we must not be careless."

Upon hearing that there might be a major epidemic, Zhang Liuqi was immediately startled and hurriedly shouted, "Yes, sir, I'll remember. From now on, boil the water and let it cool before letting them drink it. Make sure they wash their hands before eating. Anyone who fails to do so will be beaten to death!"

Yang Shaofeng nodded and led the lame Wu away from Jia Yilu's land, heading towards Liu Miao Village's land.

By the time Magistrate Yang and Lame Wu had finished touring all the land in the three villages and four neighborhoods west of Ningyang County and returned to the county town, it was nearly evening.

He ran to the young widows' steamed bun shop and ordered a basket of buns. Magistrate Yang took a few big bites, then ate the buns with egg drop soup before sighing, "When the hell will this ever end?"

Limpy Wu was slurping his egg drop soup and didn't answer Yang Shaofeng's question. Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, hadn't expected Limpy Wu to answer his question either.

In truth, Yang Shaofeng knew in his heart that this kind of messed-up life had no end in sight, unless God would actually send rain according to the seasons.

But who can control fate?

So, today I went to see the three communities and four villages in the west of the city, and tomorrow I will go to see the two communities and four villages in the north of the city. The day after tomorrow I will go to see the ones in the east of the city.

Only after finishing the steamed buns did Yang Shaofeng temporarily put aside these chaotic thoughts in his mind. He looked at Limpy Wu and said, "Brother Limpy Wu, I'll have to trouble you to take a few men to Yanzhou Prefecture later to see if you can gather a batch of ducks, big and small."

Upon hearing Yang Shaofeng's request, Limpy Five was stunned.

No, is Ningyang County now preparing for a potential drought?

Do ducks need water?

Lame Wu hesitated and asked, "Your Excellency, it's not difficult to gather ducks from the prefecture now, but the people in the county are busy turning over the soil and digging ditches. If I gather another batch of ducks, will I need to allocate manpower to guard them?"

Yang Shaofeng shook his head slightly and sighed, "I can't worry about that now—what if, I mean what if, after the drought comes a locust plague, that would be truly deadly."

"I'm having you gather some ducks, just in case."