Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 199 It's Good To Be Rich
He pointed his finger in front of his face and said, "The river embankment has collapsed in such a large part and flooded a large area of ​​farmland. How can you say there is no loss?"

Hearing this, the honest-faced man immediately replied: "You don't know something. Wind disasters are beyond human control. Every time there is a wind disaster, the losses are huge. If it's just like this, it's nothing."

When the official heard this, he immediately echoed: "Since the Prince Consort came, no one has died in the storm, and all the houses are safe and sound. Only occasionally they are damaged by trees. The loss of some farmland is nothing, just us." After planting and rescue, although the harvest is affected, the impact is not big. Besides, the county government will also distribute money to subsidize the victims according to the disaster situation after the disaster. Therefore, our losses in Xiangshan County are not big!"

After hearing this, Le Shaofeng couldn't help but exclaimed: "The county government provides money to subsidize the victims? It seems that it is good to have money!"

After hearing this, the other officials also exclaimed in surprise.

When encountering such a disaster, the advantages of having money in the local area are reflected. You can handle it yourself and people will feel at ease.

In comparison, Guangzhou was already clamoring for disaster relief from the court.And dead people, homes were flooded, and houses collapsed, everywhere.

Can't compare!
Li Shanchang heard those officials marveling one by one, and he laughed and said: "So that's it. It seems that the prince-in-law really knows how to manage the place, so I am relieved!"

This old and cunning guy is really good at acting. He wanted to find out many problems about the prince-in-law at once, but seeing that the limelight was not suitable, he immediately changed his words to praise him, as if the previous questioning was indeed out of public interest.

There was no need to look at this place any more, so the group continued towards the county seat.Not long after, I saw a village.

When Li Shanchang saw it, he suggested going to the village to have a look.

As you can see from the outside, the village is not only full of concrete houses, but even the roads in the village are all cement roads.

A few days after the typhoon disaster, there are basically no traces of the typhoon disaster in the village. Only the piles of trees at the entrance of the village and the tree pits left in the village can still tell that the typhoon disaster has occurred.

Some officials were surprised and asked the local villagers: "Why did you deal with the storm so quickly?"

"My lord, it was all arranged in advance by the son-in-law. Our village belongs to the village supported by the previous hundred households. After the disaster happened, the soldiers of the hundred households immediately dispatched to help us with the disaster. In addition, our villagers themselves, It was done in a little over a day!”

After hearing this, Le Shaofeng turned to look at Li Shanchang, and said with admiration: "It seems that the son-in-law is really well-organized, even the army is arranged, so the efficiency of disaster relief is indeed very high!"

The army is commanded and its efficiency is much higher than that of ordinary civilians.

The other officials listened and praised again. Li Shanchang looked at them and couldn't help but praise: "Not bad, not bad!"

After looking at two places, he was no longer interested in looking anymore.Because he probably knows that other places are probably similar to this. He can't see anything, but just listens to others praising the prince-in-law.

So, the group went straight to Xiangshan County.

As a result, these people were shocked when they saw Xiangshan County.

Wherever you look, Xiangshan County without city walls stretches for an unknown amount of time.

Is this the county seat?Let's catch up with the thousand-year-old city of Guangzhou!
Moreover, when comparing the city of Guangzhou with this, one word comes to mind: old and shabby!
The city in front of you is full of brand new concrete houses and the roads are all cement roads. The whole city gives people the feeling of a big city full of vitality!

In the outer part, you can still see many houses being built, which is a lively scene.

Le Shaofeng saw it and said in disbelief: "Old Song told me how big Xiangshan County was along the way, but I still didn't believe it. Now that I can see it with my own eyes, it's even bigger than what Old Song said. I can see that in Lao After Song left, the expansion of Xiangshan County has never stopped, it’s unbelievable, unbelievable!”

When other officials heard this, they immediately agreed.

"That's right, I also heard Lao Song praising him along the way, but I didn't expect him to be even more outrageous than Lao Song. It's really eye-opening!"

"Old Song is still recuperating in Guangzhou. If he were here, he would probably be surprised!"

"That's for sure. This is it. Everyone will praise it when they see it. No wonder His Majesty said that the consort cannot leave Xiangshan County!"

"..."

"That's right, that's right!" Li Shanchang heard that they were all praising him, and he followed suit. Then he changed the topic and said, "But when there are many people and troubles, there are also many unruly people. If the government doesn't do anything, it will still be the common people who suffer. Your Majesty asked us to come and take a look at Xiangshan County, but we can’t just be dazzled by the superficial prosperity of Xiangshan County. We must look carefully and only then can we truthfully report to Your Majesty the real situation in Xiangshan County when we return to the capital one day!"

"What the Grand Master said makes sense!" Le Shaofeng nodded after hearing this, "It's difficult to manage a large number of people, and it's easy to breed chaos. Let's go back and conduct a private visit incognito, and then we'll know the true situation in Xiangshan County!"

They are all experienced and qualified officials. After hearing what Li Shanchang said, they felt that it made sense.

Those who wanted the prince-in-law to be well followed and said, "If there is really a problem, we can also remind the prince-in-law to pay attention."

In this way, while communicating, they continued towards Xiangshan County and entered the city.

The soldiers who escorted them knew where the Xiangshan County Post Station was, and escorted them directly to the post station, and then returned to Guangzhou City.

After they settled down at the post station, they still didn't see the prince consort. Li Shanchang became a little unhappy and immediately asked Yi Cheng: "Where is your Xiangshan County magistrate? Why is he missing?"

"My lord, the prince-in-law is not in the city and has gone to Tangjiacun to check on the disaster situation."

After Li Shanchang heard this, his heart suddenly moved, and he quickly asked: "Didn't you say that the damage caused by the disaster in your Xiangshan County was not great? Why did the prince-in-law go to check the damage in person?"

"Your Excellency, you don't know. Tangjia Village is close to the sea. Usually, many people in the village go out to sea to make a living by fishing. This time, two ships did not come back from the storm. They were probably in distress. Therefore, the Prince Consort went to take a look. ”

Li Shanchang felt happy after hearing this, but on the surface he remained calm and just confirmed lightly: "People are dead? How many people are dead?"

"Sir, about four people from two families died. Anyway, they never came back. It's up to God to go fishing. If you're not careful, you won't be able to come back. This kind of thing can happen every day, a little bit. It’s not unusual! Thanks to the arrival of the son-in-law, many people have other jobs, even if they go fishing, they don’t work hard, and there are fewer dead people!”

After hearing this, Li Shanchang's tone became colder and he said: "It's not that big if four people are dead? These are two families, how will they live in the future?"

"So, the prince-in-law went to see the situation. Anyway, with the prince-in-law here, they will definitely be able to live. In fact, the two of them worked too hard. They just wanted to catch more fish to make money, so they went to sea regardless of the wind and waves! The prince-in-law had an explanation. It’s okay, they don’t listen because they want to make money, so what can they do?” Li Shanchang felt that the people in Xiangshan were somewhat unable to communicate, and everyone was trying to defend their consort, the county magistrate.

Maybe it's because of identity sensitivity.

So Li Shanchang made a decision and said to the group of officials: "The prince-in-law is busy and has not had time to come over yet. In this case, we cannot be idle and complete the tasks assigned by His Majesty as soon as possible. You can rest at the post station first. When I go out for a walk in casual clothes, I should be able to see the real Xiangshan County!"

He was leading the team, and he said from the beginning that he would complete the tasks assigned by the emperor as soon as possible, so it was impossible for other officials to really rest at the inn.

Seeing that they were also going out, Li Shanchang said to them: "In that case, let's meet and discuss our respective situations during dinner!"

As a result, when these officials arrived in Xiangshan County, they didn't even take a break. They changed into plain clothes one after another, and went out together with their close colleagues to observe the people's conditions in Xiangshan County.

........................

Zhang Yifan, who was busy with things in Tangjia Village, returned to the county office and heard that everyone from the capital had arrived, so he said to Fang Xiaoru who was following him: "Let's go and meet them together. When we get back, you will accompany them. Be their guide.”

Less than half a month after Fang Xiaoru arrived in Xiangshan County, he was shocked by the changes in Xiangshan County. Following Zhang Yifan, he saw that Xiangshan County was really developing every day.In any case, I did learn a lot about the situation in Xiangshan County.

Now he is more suitable than anyone else to be a guide.

As a result, after Zhang Yifan took Fang Xiaoru to the inn, he found that everyone had gone out and the trip was empty.

So, he left Fang Xiaoru waiting here and went back.

However, when it was time for dinner, Fang Xiaoru waited lonely again, and no one came back.

He had to find Yi Cheng to confirm: "Did they really agree to come back for dinner?"

"That's what the Grand Master ordered. I don't dare to lie!"

Fang Xiaoru had no choice but to continue to wait.

It wasn't until it was getting dark that I saw these imperial officials coming back one by one.

Fang Xiaoru greeted them at the door. Every time he greeted someone, he heard a lot of compliments.

"Xiangshan County is so prosperous, and even though it is a remote place, it has already caught up with the capital!"

"The people here are really hospitable, even more enthusiastic than those in the capital. If you don't know, you may think we are their acquaintances!"

"It's really eye-opening. The fish floss is so cheap here! And the sugar, I thought the store marked the price wrong!"

"Hey, if the grand master hadn't told us to come over for dinner, I would have done it outside. That street is full of fragrance!"

"..."

Li Shanchang also came back late. Similarly, the situation in Xiangshan County far exceeded his expectations. The prosperity here is the kind of vibrant prosperity.

Even though he avoided the main road, he didn't find anything he expected.He wanted to find areas where poor people gathered, but was told that they were rental houses built by the Xiangshan County government, and the tenants were all foreigners working in Xiangshan County.

Both men and women are looking for work. There is no indifference or indifference seen elsewhere. Everyone seems to be happy and motivated.

Looking around, looking around, everywhere I went, I saw something new, and before I knew it, it became dark.

What also left Li Shanchang helpless was that he and his entourage were lost.Finally, we hired a carriage and returned to the inn.

After returning to the inn, he knew that the consort had come and had left Song Lian's disciple Fang Xiaoru here to receive him.He also said that the prince-in-law would treat him to a treat at noon tomorrow and have dinner at Xiangshanju.

No, Fang Xiaoru, who was sitting with him, also introduced to them: "Xiangshanju is the most famous restaurant in Xiangshan County. Many of the delicacies made by the princess can be eaten at Xiangshanju. My lords, you are in for a treat tomorrow. Moreover, recently Xiangshanju also offers storytelling, which is very exciting, so you might as well give it a listen!”

Le Shaofeng is a person who loves food. He invented a delicious food called Suhu Pai.When he heard that the princess had cooked a lot of delicacies, he immediately asked: "Is there any delicacy that is really delicious?"

The Princess brand is definitely shocking to ordinary people.However, for people like Le Shaofeng, what the so-called princess does, there won't be much bonus.That's why he asked this question.

After hearing this, Fang Xiaoru smiled and replied: "The princess cooks a lot of delicious food, which is not available in the capital. For some of them, the prince-in-law came up with the idea, and then the princess actually made it. Although whether it tastes good or not depends on each person, but Ordinary people now want to go to Xiangshanju for dinner, and if they go a little late, they have to queue for at least half an hour before they can get in."

Upon hearing this, Le Shaofeng was immediately overjoyed and said: "So, you really need to taste the delicacies of Xiangshanju!"

In fact, it was not so popular before, but after the launch of storytelling, it became so popular after a period of word-of-mouth.

At this time, because Fang Xiaoru was there, Li Shanchang couldn't say anything, so he just listened to his colleagues praising what they saw and heard in Xiangshan County.

After dinner, Fang Xiaoru went back. When a group of them were enjoying the shade in the yard, he asked the question he had wanted to ask for a long time: "There are no outsiders now. You have been out for a long time. Do you think there is anything that needs to be improved in Xiangshan County?" Yes, you might as well talk about it, we can remind him tomorrow when we meet the prince-in-law!"

This word is mentioned for the benefit of the son-in-law.However, Li Shanchang was disappointed in the end. These colleagues looked at each other and finally shook their heads.

Among them, Le Shaofeng's words are the most representative: "Grand Master, half a day is too short, and you can't visit many places. You still have to wait a few more days to understand more, and maybe you will find some shortcomings. But even if there are shortcomings, then It must be true that the flaws are not concealed, everything in Xiangshan County, no wonder His Royal Highness is full of praises when he goes back!"

After hearing this, Li Shanchang smiled and agreed on the surface, but in his heart he was furious and didn't believe it. How could he not find the problem?Keep looking tomorrow!
　Ask for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)