Be a small county magistrate in ancient times

mediocrity!

For someone who dares to speak like this at such a young age, the people behind it are not even as good as the Xiao family.

"You are still young, so I am really worried about leaving the palace." The emperor said, "If you are really interested in water conservancy, you can start with peripheral things. When you are free, you can go to the Ministry of Works."

"Father," the third prince pleaded: "Masters often say that reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles. Although I am still good at water conservancy..."

The emperor interrupted him again, "The affairs of the court are no joke. If you don't understand, then don't do anything."

The third prince secretly looked at the emperor's expression, but in the end his request failed.

The emperor thought about the people behind the third prince, and then thought about the prince and the Xiao family. If the Xiao family was willing to be more peaceful, there would be no need to drag the third prince out and cause so many troubles.

People's desire for power will only grow stronger.

The third prince is like this, and the Xiao family is like this too.

Even though the Xiao family has long stood high among the nobles, they are still not satisfied and want to control the prince.

The emperor couldn't keep it, but he had to keep it temporarily.

After going through these things in his mind, and then thinking about Meng Changqing's letter, the emperor decided to ignore it and just pretend that he didn't see it. You, Meng Changqing, have been struggling in the capital for many years, couldn't you get these things by your own means?
You, the head of a county, have to come to the imperial court to ask for this little thing?
Meng Changqing waited until the fifth day of May.

After getting up early to exercise that day, she stood in the corner of the back office and watched Liang Jiujiu directing Cai to build a chicken pen.

A few days ago, Meng Changqing saw someone raising chickens in Luojia Village. Thinking that he had not eaten chicken for a long time and could only eat two eggs occasionally, he simply asked Bafang to go to Yangmen County to buy some chickens.

Now that the weather is getting warmer, snakes, insects, rats, and ants have all come out of their holes, and wild grasses and vegetables have emerged one after another. It is a suitable time for breeding.

Bafang brought back more than a dozen baskets of chickens and stood in the open space next to the Yamen. Many of them were resold. Some were bought by Luojia Village with money, and some were exchanged for work points by the group.

Now there are more than [-] chickens left, temporarily raised in the earthen house where Meng Changqing lived before.

"Master, are you looking at the chicken or the chicken coop?" Bafang came over and, like Meng Changqing, put his hands on the side and watched.

"Chickens," Meng Changqing said, "I don't know how long it will take for them to grow up and lay eggs."

Liang Jiujiu chased the people away, "If you don't want to help, you might as well go elsewhere."

Just then Wen called them to have breakfast.

In Wen's house, breakfast has been put on the table, the usual porridge and cakes, plus fresh shepherd's purse scrambled eggs.

Mancang sat at the table, holding a piece of cake in each hand, taking a big mouthful and chewing hard.

"Sit down." Wen handed the chopsticks to Meng Changqing and Bafang, "Is there any reply from Beijing?"

Meng Changqing shook his head, "There's no news at all. I'm afraid my letter won't reach the imperial court. Even if it does, I'll just pretend I haven't seen it."

Wen asked, "Has the Royal Forest Army received the letter?"

"I haven't seen them do anything."

Wen nodded, "If the emperor really wanted to abandon you, the Imperial Guards should have received news of the withdrawal long ago, but now that they have not taken any action, it is likely that the emperor does not want to help you with what you asked for.

You are testing him, why can’t he test you? "

"What I think is that I can't hide it from my mother at all." Meng Changqing said.

"Since the emperor has given you the power, he will not take it back hastily." Wen said, "The trust between the emperor and his ministers is not just about the emperor trusting his ministers, but the ministers should also trust the emperor."

"Thank you, mother, for your teaching." Meng Changqing ate breakfast quickly. If he didn't eat, there would be no food in the bowl. Seeing that Meng Changqing had almost eaten, Wen continued to ask: "Bafang told me that you plan to go to various counties to collect some livestock and let the people of Beishan County raise them?"

Bafang lowered his head, pretending that he was not there.

"Yes." Meng Changqing said: "Just pointing to the harvest in the field, it is inevitable that I feel unsure. There are many weeds now, and Beishan County currently has few people and few people, so people who are more diligent can raise some grass-eating things. live."

Wen Shi nodded, but then said: "Even if you don't do this, they will raise some livestock once they have spare time.

But now, few people in the county have free time. Although the rice has been planted, the beans have not yet been planted. The people have to continue clearing wasteland. In addition to working in the fields, they are also busy building houses for themselves. .

If you add the work of raising livestock, it will be too tiring. "

"Mother, I don't think they are afraid of being tired, they are just afraid that the days will be endless hardships." Meng Changqing promised: "They are just like chickens. I bought them from other counties and sold them to them. I only made a little profit from them. Hard work pay.”

"You are a man of means." Wen said, "As for the potato seeds, if the emperor can't get it done, I'll think of other ways."

Meng Changqing nodded, "I plan to inquire in the nearest state capital."

Just as Wen was about to ask Meng Changqing if he still wanted to drink porridge, he suddenly heard the sound of a suona outside the county government office.

"What's the sound?" Bafang finally found the reason, "Madam, Master, let me go out and take a look."

"Mom, I'm full. I'll go out and take a look too."

Seeing Wenshi nod, Meng Changqing stood up and left.

She was a little behind Bafang. As soon as she reached the gate of the county government office, she saw Bafang come back dancing happily, "Master, we are getting married again." His words were very informal, "Do you know how old the groom is?"

"How big?"

"Guess!"

Meng Changqing only put down her expression and glanced at him, Bafang himself quickly said: "She looks only twelve or thirteen years old at most, but the bride looks a few years older than the groom."

Meng Changqing saw that the house where the wedding was being held was not far from the Yamen, so he simply walked over to watch the excitement.

The people who had gathered at the door to watch the excitement gave way when they saw Meng Changqing approaching.

When Wang Lamei saw that her daughter-in-law was getting married, even the county magistrate came to the door, and she felt proud. She immediately pushed aside the others and pulled Meng Changqing to sit down at home. She also served wedding tea and asked the bride who had just passed the door to greet her.

Meng Changqing took the teacup from those rough hands and asked the owner of those hands, "Where are you from before? How old are you this year?"

The bride was very cautious and did not dare to look at Meng Changqing or reply in front of everyone.

"She is from Weishan County. She is fifteen years old this year. She is just three years older than my Zhuzi." Wang Lamei said happily: "As the saying goes, a female junior holds a gold brick. She is the right age for my Zhuzi."

Meng Changqing responded with a smile, and his eyes fell back on the bride. Her new dress had thick stitches, and the color of the fabric was different. Only the outermost dress was new, and the collar of the inner dress was frayed.

Meng Changqing couldn't say a word of congratulations to her.

She had some understanding of the situation in Wang Lamei's family. Her husband had passed away a few years ago, and she lived with a son by herself. She usually had a very strong personality and loved to take advantage.

If she falls into Wang Lamei's hands, she will most likely not have a good life.

Meng Changqing looked at Wang Lamei, "Congratulations, you have found such a beautiful daughter-in-law." She took out a small bunch of copper coins from her sleeve pocket and handed it to Wang Lamei, "I can't drink your wedding tea in vain."

Wang Lamei's eyebrows almost stretched out. She grabbed the copper coins and thanked her repeatedly. (End of chapter)