Wang Yuanju's policy plan did not stop. The next day, he took several officials to Linwan Village and also brought in an ox.
At this time, the village chief Lin Wu was sitting on the ground, holding a branch and writing the three words "Linwan Village" crookedly. This was when he came back from the county town yesterday. He asked a literate old man for advice and asked the old man to write these three words. on his clothes.
"Well, I also know three words." Looking at the two separated trees, Lin Wu seemed quite satisfied.
At this moment, a young man ran over in a hurry: "Village chief, the county master is here!"
"Ah?" Lin Wu threw away the branch and stood up: "Go and inform the villagers quickly."
"Okay!" The young man ran away again in a panic.
Lin Wu hurriedly greeted him.
Not long after, the villagers gathered, and Wang Yuanju was led into the village by Lin Wu.
Almost all the village chiefs at the last meeting were illiterate, so the county had to send officials to help with the registration of grain borrowing.
The people around him looked at Wang Yuanju with some fear and some expectancy.
The latter glanced around and fixed his eyes on a little boy.
The boy was ragged, dirty, and skinny, but he had big eyes, looking up eagerly and curiously.
Wang Yuanju took out a piece of bread from his bag, which was the lunch he had prepared when he went to the countryside.
"Come."
The little boy didn't dare to take it, and swallowed hard while looking at the noodles.
"Take it and eat it."
Looking at the hungry children, Wang Yuanju was a little moved because he also came from a poor family.
As he spoke, he put the dough into the child's hands.
"Thank you"
The little boy is very simple and timid.
"Good boy." Wang Yuanju gently rubbed the child's head.
At this time, the child's mother also knelt down with red eyes: "Thank you so much, Lord County!"
"Okay, okay." Wang Yuanju waved his hand. At this time, Lin Wu and another young man also moved out the tables and chairs.
The table was very old, but it could be used for makeshift purposes. The clerk next to him sat down behind the desk at the signal and took out pen, ink, paper and inkstone.
“Now to borrow food, the head of each household can come out and line up to register one by one.”
Following the words, the crowd commotioned for a while, and forty-two people came out of Linwan Village and lined up. Most of them were adult men, but there were also two village women leading their children. It must be that the man in the family was gone.
The clerk unfolded a piece of official paper with vertical columns, dipped his brush in ink and began to register:
"What is your name."
"Chen Gouchen."
"How many people are in the family?"
"Five."
The clerk asked and registered: "Yes, five people can borrow 100 kilograms of grain."
"Thank you, thank you, sir! You are truly the reborn parents of Linwan Village!"
The man was overjoyed. There was no grain of rice left in his house. The villagers had been digging wild vegetables in the mountains recently. In a few days, they would probably have to eat tree bark. This food was equivalent to saving his family of five. life.
"After pressing your fingerprints here, go over there to get food."
"Yes, yes, thank you, sir." The man pressed his fingerprints as instructed and kept saying thank you.
Registering here and receiving food there, two clerks on the left and one on the right were proceeding in an orderly manner.
Based on the population of Linwan Village, 5,000 kilograms of grain were allocated, which means that one person can receive about 20 kilograms.
"Gou Sheng has received food!"
"The government really lent us food!"
Seeing that the person in front actually received a full 100 kilograms of grain, the people in the queue behind were all excited, which once again caused some small commotion.
Lin Wuda shouted: "Everyone line up for me! The county master is here! No one will mess up the order!"
Food, the villagers immediately became quiet.
Soon it was the turn of a village woman, and the clerk subconsciously asked: "Where is the man in the family?"
"The master of the house was beaten to death by the slave owner." The village woman lowered her head slightly, fearing that she would not be able to borrow food if there was no man in the family. She quickly added: "Sir, I can also farm, so I can pay back the official food."
Lin Wu said in time: "Yes, sir, Han Zhang is also a good farmer. He is an orphan and a widower. There are three people in the family."
"Yes." The clerk nodded, and after recording, he said, "Go get 60 kilograms of grain over there."
"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir." The village woman cried with joy, holding her child and bowing repeatedly.
Time passed slowly, and the matter of borrowing food came to an end.
The clerk also put down his writing brush and said to Wang Yuanju: "Sir, everything has been registered."
"Yes." Wang Yuanju responded, first looked at the official document, and then stamped it with the official seal.
Seeing Lin Wu stretching his neck with an eager and curious look on his face, Wang Yuanju smiled and said: "This is an IOU from Linwan Village. In your village, you still have to be literate, otherwise many things will be difficult to handle later."
Hearing this, Lin Wu quickly said: "Don't worry, Lord County Lord, I am already studying, and I will definitely be able to read."
"Well, that's good."
Wang Yuanju nodded, and then looked at the villagers: "Folks, the farmland in the village has been measured, and it will be distributed to you according to your household registration. This county is here today to announce something else."
"Everyone knows that the roads in the village are full of potholes and collapsed in many places, making it impossible to walk on rainy days. Therefore, the roads must be repaired."
"Furthermore, after inspection by the county, the river outside the village is silted up and must be dredged. Otherwise, there will be huge problems with irrigation in the coming year."
"In these two matters, the county government will come forward to summon villagers from each village to repair the roads in their respective villages and dredge the rivers in their respective villages."
"The same is true in Linwan Village. Adult men can come to work. According to relevant policies, workers will be provided with a lunch and 5 cents in wages per day."
Don't underestimate five cents. The current handicraft industry in the city only earns about 300 cents per month.
The county government's borrowing of food can only temporarily extend the lives of the people, but does not allow them to truly tide over the crisis.
Therefore, Wang Yuanju decided to take a three-pronged approach to county government, which not only borrowed grain, built roads, built bridges, dredged irrigation rivers, but also provided the people with the basics of survival.
There are 20,000 taels of silver left in the treasury of Xinghe County, equivalent to 6 million copper coins.
Wang Yuanju decided to spend 5 million to implement this matter.
Regardless of the fact that they are desperately spending money on the treasury now, when the dust settles, the villages under its jurisdiction will have a completely new look.
After hearing this, the villagers started talking again:
"You have to take care of lunch every day, that's for sure!"
"That's right, this is the road in the village and the river used for irrigation in the village. Even if we don't care about food, we have to repair it ourselves."
"Moreover, the county said there are still five cents of wages left."
"Your Majesty, I dare to ask, what is five cents?" Someone also boldly asked.
Wang Yuanju said: "Copper coins are the country's unified currency. In the current market, three cents can buy a pound of pure rice."
"Pure rice."
Some people couldn't help but exclaim that pure rice is different from those broken rice and brown rice.
"Doesn't that mean that not only can we have enough food every day, but we can also get nearly two kilograms of pure rice?"
"I do what I do!"
"Your Majesty the County Lord! I also want to build roads!"
The crowd was excited and crowded, raising their hands and shouting.
"Okay, okay!" Wang Yuanju said loudly: "The county will send people down to provide guidance on this matter. As for the workers, the village chiefs will be responsible."
Then he looked at Lin Wu: "You will be responsible for building roads and canals in Linwan Village. Find two more people who can cook."
"Yes! Please rest assured, Mr. County Lord, things will be done well!" Lin Wu assured him, patting his chest.
"Yes." Wang Yuanju nodded and left.
After he left, a group of villagers cheered and surrounded him.
"Lin Wu, count me as the one to build the road!"
"Village Chief, you can't be partial."
"Don't make any noise!" Lin Wuda said carelessly: "Just now, the county gentleman said that he will take care of the food and pay the wages, and this is to build the road in our own village. It must be better than other villages! Otherwise, the county will If you are not satisfied, you will no longer care about our village!"
"Let's talk about the two cooks first. They are also paid. They are Han Zhang and Wu. They are orphans and widowed. Do you have any objections?"
"Thank you, village chief!" The two village women were extremely happy.
"As for the road construction workers, how about one from each household and everyone participating?"
"No objection, no objection!"
"The village chief is fair!"
(End of chapter)
