allonlinenovel Chapter 169 What should we say to these two, father-in-law and son-in-law?
Chapter 169 What should we say to these two, father-in-law and son-in-law?
Zhu Biao sighed slightly and said, "It's hard to find other places like Ningyang County. Besides the lack of cattle and horses, the most important thing is that no other prefecture or county has a magistrate like my brother-in-law."
The answer is actually quite obvious.
The success of Ningyang County is not replicable. Ningyang County had a small population. With the cattle and horses sent by Chang Yuchun and Xu Da, plus the rewards later bestowed by Emperor Zhu Chongba in Zhu Biao's name, each of the more than 500 households in Ningyang County could receive a cow or a horse.
However, other counties and prefectures do not have such good treatment. On average, it takes about ten households to have one ox or horse. Naturally, their farming efficiency cannot be compared with that of the people in Ningyang County, and their autumn harvest will naturally be worse.
If the yield of one mu (unit of land area) differs by ten or twenty jin (unit of weight), then ten mu could result in a difference of one or two hundred jin.
With poorer grain harvests, people naturally wouldn't dare raise chickens or ducks like the people of Ningyang County, let alone pigs.
As for how to solve the problem of the lack of cattle and horses in other prefectures and counties... Emperor Zhu Chongba said that he would have Xu Da and Chang Yuchun seize more cattle and horses, and try to make sure that in three to five years, all the people in all the prefectures and counties of the Ming Dynasty could reach the level of one cattle and horse for every five households.
As for the idea that every household in Ningyang County owned an ox or a horse, Zhu Biao, the Vice Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, said that he dared not dream of such a thing for the time being.
It took Zhu Biao quite a while to perk up again and laugh, “But it’s nothing. Ningyang County has started to develop livestock farms, right? When there are more cattle and horses in Ningyang County’s livestock farms next year, they can sell some to the neighboring prefectures and counties at low prices, and then let the officials of the neighboring prefectures and counties distribute them to the people. In this way, even if we can’t replicate another Ningyang County, we can still help the people of the nearby prefectures and counties to become rich.”
“From Ningyang County to the nearby Yanzhou, Jining and Tai’an prefectures, and from the three prefectures to the whole of Shandong, and from Shandong to the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun, if we stay calm and take it one step at a time, we can eventually make all the people rich.”
“Perhaps this process will take five, ten, or even thirty or fifty years, but my father is still young. He has plenty of time to take his time to manage it. His children and brothers will also do their best to help him with all of this.”
Zhu Lao Er immediately nodded vigorously, patted his chest and shouted, "That's right, Lao San, Lao Si, Lao Wu, and the other brothers will all help my father and eldest brother wholeheartedly, Mother, you can rest assured!"
Seeing that Zhu Lao Er had beaten him to it, Zhu Lao San's eyes darted around and he exclaimed, "And brother-in-law! Once Jin'er and Yu'er get married, brother-in-law will definitely help my father and eldest brother wholeheartedly!"
As Zhu Laosan finished speaking, the atmosphere inside the carriage suddenly became strange.
If Zhu Lao Er and Zhu Lao San didn't know the specifics, how could Empress Ma not know the specifics?
The brother-in-law that the third brother mentioned is always finding new ways to annoy the officials in the court, and he also finds new ways to annoy Emperor Zhu. How can anyone expect him to wholeheartedly help Emperor Zhu and Zhu Biao?
That doesn't seem right either. Even if Magistrate Yang was genuinely trying to help Emperor Zhu and Zhu Biao while also deliberately causing them trouble, he was still genuinely trying, so you can't say he wasn't trying.
Of course, Empress Ma felt that the matter couldn't be entirely blamed on Magistrate Yang, since even Emperor Zhu Chongba of the Ming Dynasty wasn't exactly magnanimous.
Putting aside everything else, just the fact that Emperor Zhu forced five or six officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs to accompany Empress Ma to Ningyang County was quite a feat. Officials from the Ministry of Rites were responsible for teaching Magistrate Yang the etiquette before and after the wedding, while officials from the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs were responsible for explaining the wedding process to Magistrate Yang. In addition, there was a eunuch specifically responsible for teaching Magistrate Yang royal etiquette.
Thinking about this, Empress Ma felt a headache coming on—how should she describe these two men? Like oxen and horses bound together? Scheming against each other? Hurting each other?
None of them are any good!
……
Ten days passed in a flash. After a long and arduous journey, Empress Ma's carriage finally arrived outside Ningyang County.
Compared to the capital, the city walls of Ningyang County are indeed rather inadequate in scale. For example, they are only two zhang high, the walls are made of earthen bricks instead of blue bricks, some parts of the walls have collapsed, and there are no barbicans specifically used for defense. In short, it doesn't look like a proper good county town at all.
However, the number of people coming and going at the gates of Ningyang County was even greater than that in the capital.
The people of the capital hurried about, many with a sorrowful expression on their faces. The clothes of many poor people were patched upon patched, and there was never a shortage of beggars with broken bowls inside and outside the city gates.
The people of Ningyang County, however, were calm and composed as they went about their business, chatting and laughing in twos and threes. Although their clothes were also patched, they were much cleaner than those of the poor people in the capital. There was not a single beggar to be seen at or outside the city gate.
Empress Ma was even more shocked after entering the city.
Compared to the capital, the streets of Ningyang County are not very wide, but they are clean. There are no beggars lying in the sun under the walls, nor any other messy stains.
Driven by curiosity, Empress Ma looked at Jin'er and asked, "When you and your brother came to Ningyang County last time, was Ningyang County like it is now?"
Jin'er looked around carefully and shook her head, saying, "Reporting to Mother, apart from the road that Magistrate Yang built, the area outside the city is roughly the same as when we came to Ningyang County last time. However, the city itself is not as clean as it is now. There are many items that people have carelessly discarded on both sides of the street, and the ground is quite dusty."
Empress Ma hummed in agreement, first stopping the carriage, then summoning Chang Mao, "Compared to your last visit to Ningyang County, how much has it changed?"
Chang Mao bowed and said, "Your Majesty, when my brother and I came to Ningyang County last time, we didn't pay much attention to any changes. However, there are indeed many more shops in the town than when we came the time before last."
Empress Ma nodded again, then instructed, "Let's go, let's go straight to the county government office."
Chang Mao responded and then returned to the front of the convoy, leading it towards the Ningyang County Government Office.
The closer they got to the county government office of Ningyang County, the stranger it seemed to Empress Ma became. The carriage was quite stable on the cement road outside the city, but it became bumpy after entering the city. Now, as they got closer to the county government office of Ningyang County, the bumps in the carriage became more and more severe!
Could it be that Magistrate Yang did not repair the roads within the county town, but only repaired the cement road connecting Ningyang County to Yanzhou Prefecture?