Chapter 35: Rural

After the train entered Fujian, Fujian Governor Liu Denghuan brought officials of all sizes to greet him. The reporter of the China Times took the opportunity to take a few photos. Of course, it was absolutely impossible to make the Regent and the Governors pose and wait for the exposure time. There was nothing to do if the photos were blurred, that's what it meant.

The Regent stayed in Yanping for a day and inspected several villages. Then he ordered Liu Denghuan and others to return to the Fuzhou official office. He and Bai Gui and others took a light car to Jiangle County.

Jiangle County is a mountain county. There are many iron ore in small coal mines in the territory. Crops are abundant in pumpkin, mountain beans and sweet potatoes. This year, American potatoes are planted again.

The Regent suddenly came to Jiangle. Liu Zhengren, the magistrate of Jiangle County, was caught off guard and couldn't help but complain secretly. The Regent came to Yanping with a telegram the day before he came to Yanping, and the entire Yanping Prefecture was in chaos, but there was no village in Jiangle's territory. Who knew that the Regent would have a temporary idea. When Jiangle came, he couldn't make any arrangements.

Yanping Prefecture wanted to accompany him, but the Regent encouraged him a few words and asked him to return to his office to handle the job. Therefore, only Liu Zhengren was left to accompany the local officials.

The Regent chose Guang'an Town, the first stop, when the sky arrived at Guang'an Town, it was too late, so they checked in the township office. Liu Zhengren received the regent's strict order and did not dare to reveal the regent's identity. He only said that the provincial capital specialist came to inspect. After all, the news was blocked, and the regent suddenly arrived in Fujian again. The officials of the township office never thought that this young and handsome nobleman would be the regent, but for them, the provincial capital specialist was already a top official. Didn't he see the magistrate and the county magistrate dare not breathe in front of this young nobleman?

The township office is located in the east of Guang'an Town, with only a few bungalows in a yard. There are only three officials, one township chief, one team leader, and one documentary. The Nanchao Township Office has this system. The township chief is responsible for urging grain, urging money, taxation, and handling civil disputes; the township chief is responsible for civil armed forces, is responsible for eliminating strong men, maintaining local public security, etc. The documents are responsible for publicity, review, gathering and reading newspapers, etc. If there are rural primary schools, they also have to take care of the primary school miscellaneous things.

Although a township office was established, Ye Zhao did not want the local government at this level to expand to dozens or even hundreds of people, and the tail was too big. Instead, he would try his best to streamline the institutions.

The township chief is appointed by the county official yamen and the local government avoids it. It is strictly forbidden for the township to work in the local area. At the same time, the county inspection branch and the supervision branch have the right to deal with the chin.

Huang Azhen, the head of Guang'an Township, has a name that looks like a woman, but she is really a man in his thirties. He is a dark and thin man, and is smart and capable. Seeing that the provincial capital commissioner is kind, Huang Azhen thought that it is not a loss because he came from a big place, but not like our county magistrate. He always blew his beard and stared at him, as if he was afraid that others would not know that he was the master of the main hall.

In the township office, Ye Zhao sat on a wooden chair with four legs not very neat. As for Bai Gui, Liu Zhengren and other officials, some were sitting on benches, some were sitting on broken wooden chairs, and some were sitting on a stool, while Huang Azhen sat on a grass pier, while the township captain and clerk were half squatting and half sitting on the threshold.

Thinking about the office conditions before the 1980s, Ye Zhao felt relieved. The newspaper stand in front of the window was made of brand new mahogany, and it was posted on it, with two stacks of newspapers, one was the China Times, the other was the Guangdong News, and there was also a monthly magazine.

Ye Zhao laughed at the newspaper stand and asked the document: "Do you often read newspapers to others?"

The clerk smiled and said, "The ones above asked to study are the ones who are small, who are sure to go to the village to study. There is no elementary school in Guang'an Town, and these professors and gentlemen's errands dare not be careless."

Ye Zhao nodded slightly and said, "That's hard for you."

The town's landlord Zhang Shanren accompanied by the town, and then he smiled and interrupted, "Sir, Cao Min went to Guangdong Province to contact the capital a while ago to apply for a ceremony, hoping to allocate a professor from the normal school, but it seems that the teacher's source is tight now, Cao Min can only retreat to the second best and find a scholar. This primary school will be built soon."

Ye Zhao nodded and said, "There are schools in the countryside, which is a long-term plan. There is no need to rush to achieve success. You will consider Le County to be a good job."

Liu Zhengren immediately showed joy.

Ye Zhao asked about the situation of the farmers hired in the town and the mining of coal mines and iron mines. Zhang Shanren's answer was reasonable. Liu Zhengren's heart that had been hanging over was gradually relieved.

As he spoke, Zhang Shanren smiled and said to Ye Zhao: "Sir, I heard that the adults brought their families and were in remote areas, they must be unacceptable to living in the remote area. Caomin had a few silk quilts at home, brand new. The dowry that my family had never used before. Caomin ordered someone to send it?"

Zhang Shanren originally invited the specialist and his wife to move into his house, but Ye Zhao refused. Instead, he rented a house next to the township office and gave two silver dollars to the family of three to temporarily go to the relatives and friends for two nights. How could he not be happy? He immediately vacated the house.

Thirteen and the two maids who were accompanying him called the hostess to stay, helped burn hot water to wash away all parts of the room, paste the paper window and sprinkle sandalwood, and then changed to the soft quilt and brocade mattress brought from Guangzhou, but now it has been almost done.

Ye Zhao smiled and said to Zhang Shanren: "No need, you have the heart."

Zhang Shanren had never seen the two concubines' arrangements, and his heart turned into a soul. He thought that the commissioner's wife was a little unqualified. The mountain family was dirty, could she live?

After chatting for a while, Ye Zhao yawned, and everyone hurriedly stood up to say goodbye. Bai Gui and Liu Zhengren lived in the township office. Liu Zhengren was naturally ecstatic and was thinking about how to curry favor with this popular powerful man of the dynasty.

The personal soldiers were carrying lanterns in front and Ye Zhao was behind. When they went out, they turned left and saw two guards with shiny bayonets standing in front of the fence. Ye Zhao felt a little nervous, thinking that it was very worry-free to have a matchmaker here.

For the first time in the entire Guang'an Town, kerosene lamps were lit in the house outside Zhang Shan's house. The soybean-like lights were a little dim.

In the main hall, matchmaker and Rong'er were talking to the mother and daughter of the hostess. The hostess was named Liu, who was in her thirties, but she worked hard, her dark face was full of frowns, very old, wearing a coarse cloth shirt that was barely covered, the little girl leaning against her arms was pretty, seven or eight years old, with her eyes rumbling around, and she was a little aura.

Seeing Ye Zhao come in, the matchmaker and Rong'er hurriedly got up. Ye Zhao smiled and gestured to them to sit down. Thirteen brought a sturdy sill and laid it with soft pads. Ye Zhao sat down and said with a smile: "The train is exhausted every day and night. Oh, it's because I was not considerate. If I had known this, I wouldn't have brought you here."

"No, it's pretty good." Rong'er hurriedly shook her head. She went out with her husband for the first time. She took the train and changed the carriage. She didn't close her eyes a day and a night, but she felt that it was fresh and fun.

Needless to say, the matchmaker is not only afraid of being tortured by Ye Zhao, but when will he be afraid of getting tired again?

Ye Zhao looked at Liu and saw that the little girl in her arms was peeling candy and eating it, she smiled and said, "Is this your daughter?"

Liu said: "Yes, the two brothers in front died before they could get the name."

Ye Zhao sighed, in this era, not to mention civilian families, even royal nobles, the rate of young children's death is extremely high. Although this population needs to be controlled, it is not like this. Children are prone to death. It can only be said that the medical level and nutritional and health level do not meet the standards.

After thinking about it, Ye Zhao said, "You don't have to be sad. You have to say that you can be blessed with a girl, and you don't have to tighten your waistband to save your wife's fortune for him. Moreover, your daughter is caring and knows how to care for others. If you don't support her, it's already been written. This girl, after getting married, she will no longer be a splash of water. She has the same obligation to support you like her husband. Even if she is a concubine or a concubine, she will support you."

Liu is skeptical, is there such a good thing?

Ye Zhao smiled and said, "You will know in the future that if your son-in-law doesn't care about you, just sue the Censorship Branch, and keep it for sure. Also, your township office should have a record. If you ask the village chief Huang, you will know it."

Liu knew that this gentleman was a big shot from the provincial capital and would not deceive her. But what lawsuit has this poor family fought? Then, will there be some other matters in court?

Ye Zhao seemed to know her thoughts and said, "You don't have to be confused. Most civil disputes do not need to go to the court. The township chief can mediate according to the law, but there is no trouble when going to the court. You don't have to go to the county master to complain, and go to the branch office. In the future, your village will also set up a branch court for the judicial affairs. There is no trouble or embarrassment. You must dare to sue and protect your rights."

Liu nodded repeatedly, but he didn't know what he thought.

Ye Zhao knew that this change of concept was not a matter of one day or one night. Speaking of which, even in later generations, people's change in the concept of lawsuits only began with reform and opening up.

The matchmaker smiled and said, "You are here just in time. We are discussing what she has invested in these two silver dollars with my sister-in-law in Liu's family. You have many ideas, please help me think about it."

Ye Zhao was helpless, what is a ghost idea?

Rong'er was also a little reluctant, but she got along very well with the matchmaker along the way. She was still sniffing in the matchmaker's arms on the train, which reminded her of her warm embrace when she was young. She felt more and more close to the matchmaker. So she blinked her big eyes and finally didn't say anything.

If two pieces of silver are in big cities such as Guangzhou and Fuzhou, Ye Zhao would advise him to pay in installments to buy a sewing machine, which would help people to sew and repair them with extremely high efficiency, and then they could cut ready-made clothes for sale, which is a good handicraft business.

This countryside is really not a good way to go. After thinking about it, I laughed and said, "Buy railway bonds. The interest rate is good, and it can be considered to support national construction. You can buy some of the Le County County."

Liu nodded confusedly. In fact, Ye Zhao knew that playing the piano for the cow, and for the villagers, how could he exchange the white silver for a few pieces of waste paper that he didn't know what to write to collect? Even if Zhang Shanren is a gentry who has seen the world, he would rather bury gold and silver in his backyard than take it out for any bonds.

This needs to be promoted well. The rapid development of the United States has to mention its perfect or tricky financial system, bond lending system, etc., which has attracted astronomical foreign capital. Today, China has to take a step further in introducing foreign capital, and internal financing needs to be more focused. You must know that China's current family background is more than a hundred times richer than that of the United States. If it can be truly utilized, it may not be slower than that of the United States.

Ye Zhao took a sip of tea, then clamped his fingers at Thirteen, and smiled and said, "Come on a cigarette, I'll go out and suck."

Both Matchmaker and Rong'er said, "No, it's cold outside, just open the window." Rong'er signaled, and the maid hurriedly opened the window.

When Liu saw the box of golden and exquisitely packaged cigarettes in Thirteen's hand, he couldn't help but feel a little jealous and asked Ye Zhao carefully: "Sir, can you give me one?"

Ye Zhao smiled and said, "You are smoking too?" After making a gesture, Thirteenth sent the cigarette over. Liu took it happily and said, "Yes, I smoked cigarettes, and I have never smoked such foreign cigarettes. I heard that it smells very fragrant when I smoked, like a god."

The Thirteenth Gang Ye Zhao and Liu lit a cigarette, and Liu took a greedy breath, looking intoxicated.

When smoking, he had a little bit of a chat with smokers. Liu's words opened up. Ye Zhao asked, and he knew everything. He said that his life had improved inexplicable years. There were more people working in the county town, and the things planted in the fields were sold. I didn't understand earlier. In the past few months, I sometimes went to the township documents to read newspapers. I realized that it was because of the convenient transportation in Guangdong and the rapid development of the machinery industry, which also led to the circulation of surrounding materials. But after the railway was opened, the living standards changed every year, and every family could eat rice and white flour in the future.

Liu also sighed: "I heard from the clerk that this is the regent's 9,000-year-old wise man. He beat the foreigners away, and then sent the bandits to attack the fake kings in Beijing. He wanted to help us poor people create a world of flowers."

Ye Zhao rubbed his nose and thought to himself why he had become nine thousand years old.

Liu asked curiously again: "Sir, you are from a big place. I heard that Jiu Qiansui is also a prince and grandson. He is so capable, why not become the emperor?"

Ye Zhao coughed dryly and said, "You can't talk about this randomly. Who can tell the truth about the destiny?"

The matchmaker smiled and savored the tea. Rong'er blinked her big eyes and said to herself that this could not be heard from her sister.

"How is the person in charge of Township Mayor Huang?" Ye Zhao took a breath of cigarette and asked.

Liu said without hesitation: "He is very easy-going, enthusiastic, and has no airs." It seems that Huang Azhen's errand is indeed done well.

Liu grinned again and said, "But just one thing, I don't like to follow the rules. I just said that last month, Zhang Xiaosan's wife stole a man and wanted to soak a pig cage, but he stopped him and even started arguing with Mr. Zhang. He insisted that there was no evidence, so he invited the county police officer to come and interrogated many people. He didn't catch the adulterer in the bed and then released him. This is unreasonable, don't you think?"
Chapter completed!