In the Southern Song Dynasty, I competed with Mongolia for the world

Chapter 624 School Examination
Zhao Yurui and Qi Wei were bragging on the side when suddenly Yan Li ran over and said that Lord Yan was calling them.

The two were puzzled and quickly put on their masks and came in front of Lord Yan.

Elder Yan glanced at the two casually, and without asking them to take off their masks, he asked, "Are you locals?"

"Yes." Qi Wei said quickly.

Zhao Yurui also agreed.

"Let me ask you, why don't you grow wheat here, but rapeseed?" Elder Yan said in a deep voice: "The court clearly encourages local areas to grow more grain crops."

Qi Wei thought to himself, I don’t know either: “Well, is that so—” He stuttered for a long time, and from time to time he looked at the magistrate Zheng Shiwen, but Zheng Shiwen did not dare to look at him, for fear of giving the wrong signal.

"They are all garbage." Lord Yan was furious, and no one at the scene could answer him.

What he wants is not the answer, nor is he someone who just says yes and no. What he wants is someone who dares to speak and express himself.

"Reply to the Lord." Just when he was extremely disappointed, Zhao Yurui hesitated for a long time and finally raised his hand.

Seeing Zhao Yurui talking, everyone else was shocked.

Yan Li and County Magistrate Zheng both knew Zhao Yurui. As a general of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, what do you know about farming? Stop talking nonsense.

It is not a crime to remain silent at this time. Qi Wei doesn't understand and doesn't dare to say anything. He just lets it go if he is scolded a few times.

"Yeah." Lord Yan looked at Zhao Yurui in surprise.

Zhao Yurui said loudly: "Food is the primary need of the people. Naturally, everything in the court and the local areas is mainly based on grain crops."

"When County Magistrate Zheng was in office, he also vigorously promoted the use of grain. The county began to convert cash crop sugarcane into grain fields two years ago, converting more than 10,000 acres of land. At the same time, he encouraged the people to convert mulberry trees into fields because they saw the shortage of grain production."

"Under the leadership of County Magistrate Zheng and the efforts of the people of the county, the grain area in Dinghai County has increased by more than 30,000 mu this year compared to the year before. The autumn grain output is expected to set a new record, at least 10% higher than last year."

Zhao Yurui came up and first praised County Magistrate Zheng. This made Zheng Shiwen very happy. He was so happy that he looked at Zhao Yurui many times and was very satisfied with his performance.

But where do these data come from?
Zheng Wenshi was also confused.

That’s right, Zhao Yurui is just bragging.

Anyway, he has the experience of later generations and can give the data at will, so it is impossible for Lord Yan to find someone to check it.

Sure enough, when Lord Yan heard this, his expression eased slightly.

But Zhao Yurui continued: "But the county is also concerned about some things."

"Doctors have studied that animal oil is not good for health, especially for senior leaders like the old man. It is better to eat more vegetable oil."

"So the county has specially fenced off some good farmland to grow rapeseed. Compared with lard, rapeseed oil is healthier and suitable for old leaders like the old man."

There was no such thing as animal oil being unhealthy. When Zhao Yurui said this, the whole place fell silent and everyone had an expression of disbelief.

Yan Li became anxious and said, "You can brag, but don't talk nonsense."

Isn’t this explanation too far-fetched?

Unexpectedly, after a moment of silence, Lord Yan actually nodded.

"When I was in the cabinet, I did hear that there was a study abroad that showed animal oil was not good for health."

Boom! The whole audience went wild. They didn't expect that Zhao Yurui was not talking nonsense.

The magistrate and Yan Li also had an expression of disbelief on their faces.

"Unfortunately, no one in the court cares about this matter, and the palace still mainly uses lard." Elder Yan nodded: "It's rare that there are people in your small Dinghai County who understand these things. Very good, very good."

At this point, Lord Yan shook his head and looked at Zhao Yurui: "Take off your mask."

Zhao Yurui was overjoyed and quickly took off his mask.

This is because Lord Yan wanted to recognize him.

"You're quite a young man. What's your name and which department are you from?" Lord Yan admired Zhao Yurui very much when he saw him because Zhao Yurui looked young and upright.

"My Lord, I am Zhao Yurui, the General Commander of the Imperial Guard."

"The Jinyiwei don't know anything about farming, let alone medicine?"

"It's just a hobby, a hobby." Zhao Yurui said modestly. But her expression seemed to know everything.

"Let's go, get in the car." Lord Yan suddenly waved his hand, motioning for them to get in the car.

Everyone turned around quickly.

The next stop is the bank.

Unexpectedly, Yan Li ran over immediately and asked Zhao Yurui to get in their car, because Lord Yan wanted him to sit with Lord Yan.

"Stop talking nonsense and be careful with your words." Yan Li said in a low voice.

Oh, I know, Zhao Yurui nodded.

Soon he got into the car with Lord Yan.

The car drove towards Sihai Bank. Yan Li sat in the passenger seat, while Zhao Yurui and Yan Ge Lao sat in the back.

"The Jinyiwei in various parts of the court are having a hard time now. I heard that in some places, they can't even pay their salaries." Lord Yan said.

Of course he was aware of the current shortcomings of the Yuan Dynasty court. The economy was in a very bad state, there was pressure from outside and rebellion from within, and the people were living in dire straits.

"It's not bad. Last year, my general flag had a balance of more than 4 million, and both salary and bonus were in arrears."

"What?" Lord Yan stared with his eyes wide open. Even Yan Li in front of him turned back in disbelief and glared at him secretly, saying, "Stop bragging."

"My Lord, when I was a small flag officer..." Zhao Yurui took the opportunity to show off. He first talked about how he charged fees when he was a small flag officer, and then how he managed things after he became the general flag officer.

Therefore, he was promoted from a small soldier to a general in just a few years, all based on his meritorious service.

Now his headquarters is the richest in Dinghai.

When Lord Yan heard this, his eyes lit up and he felt that Zhao Yurui was a talented person.

"What if this can be promoted nationwide?" He couldn't help but think of Feifei.

"It can't be promoted." Zhao Yurui said directly.

"Why?" Lord Yan asked curiously.

"We in Dinghai can do this for three main reasons--"

Zhao Yurui explained to him that the first and most important point was that Dinghai was a developed area and one of the most developed counties in the Yuan Dynasty. Shop owners could make money and were willing to pay. If shop owners in other places could not make money, who would be willing to pay?

The second point is that Zhao and Rui are ruthless and have the means and abilities to do what they do, which others may not be able to do.

The third point is that Zhao Yurui has the support of his superiors, and none of them are very greedy. If the superiors were very greedy and wanted to share a large amount of money, Zhao Yurui would not continue.

After listening to this, Lord Yan seemed to be thinking about something. It was true that what Zhao Yurui said made sense.

He couldn't help but glance at Zhao Yurui again: "Dinghai County's conditions are actually quite good, but the court is still not satisfied with the annual income. In your opinion, is there anything that can be improved?"

Zhao Yurui was only a Jinyiwei, not a local official. The fact that he asked this question clearly showed that he was testing Zhao Yurui.

Zhao Yurui also knew that this was a crucial moment and he had to give a good answer.

He was silent for a moment, then asked in a deep voice: "Does Lord Yan want to increase the fiscal revenue of Dinghai County, or does he want Dinghai County to become a benchmark for the Yuan Dynasty and lead the entire Yuan Dynasty?"

"what is the difference?"

"The former only requires finding ways to increase taxes and revenue, while the latter requires reform."

This was the first time that Lord Yan heard the word "reform" and he looked doubtful.

“How to reform.”

"Dinghai County can be a special zone, implementing a system different from other places in the Yuan Dynasty."

"Once it succeeds, the imperial court can follow suit and let other places learn from it."

Zhao Yurui certainly knew that the Yuan Dynasty's Dinghai could not be changed. The reason he said this was to make the Yuan Dynasty even more chaotic.

Only a chaotic Yuan Dynasty would be in his interest.

(End of this chapter)