After he said this, he left quickly even though he was reluctant.
After he left, Fu Zhiyu opened his mouth blankly but didn't say anything in rebuttal.
"Really..." He muttered to himself, "It's just a bad fate."
Fu Zhiyu lay in bed in a daze for a long time, unable to sleep, until he fell into a sleepy sleep in the early morning of the next day.
He got up late the next morning, and while having breakfast, he noticed that Butler Zhou looked a little strange.
"What's wrong?" Fu Zhiyu rubbed his eyes and looked at him, "Is there something wrong?"
Butler Zhou helped him arrange the dessert plates on the table and said, "I went to the dessert shop at the door this morning to buy some desserts, but the shopkeeper saw that it was me and didn't charge me. I thought he saw that I was a regular customer and didn't buy much today, so he gave it to me. Who knew he said that from now on, no one would charge for anything in the mansion. I asked him why, and he said... the master knows."
Fu Zhiyu: “…”
He did know, but at this moment, he didn't know how to explain this mess to the housekeeper. He just lowered his head and took a sip of porridge, his brows furrowed even more.
"Don't go there anymore," he said, "If mom wants to eat, ask Ming Dao to bring it along."
But it's not as convenient as bringing it along the way as it is at your doorstep.
But since the master had said so, there was no reason for the servant to disobey. Steward Zhou responded, helped him pack up, and left.
After breakfast, Fu Zhiyu went to the government office. He had too many things to discuss with Yuan Jiangxing today.
Before Fu Zhiyu's plan was implemented, the two of them discussed whether the governors of various cities should be removed. He still remembered that after the governor of Luanzhou was removed, various places still submitted petitions to him for mercy when he was angry.
"They are all very disobedient people," Fu Zhiyu said with emotion. "Even if they restrained themselves after hearing the rumors, I don't know how many benefits they received during normal times."
Fu Zhiyu did not plan to dismiss all the officials in Jiangnan based on his own preferences. He did want to do so, after all, it would be best to do the job if he replaced them all with his own people. However, the entire Jiangnan is too big, and the time left for Fu Zhiyu is too short. Yuan Jiangxing's men are all soldiers, and they are all trained in fighting skills. Everyone has their own expertise, and in this peaceful and prosperous era, few of them can be used.
The evaluation of these managers among the people is similar to that of Luanzhou's prefect Qian. They have done some bad things, but they have also done some personnel work occasionally. From the overall official level of Jilin, they are in the middle range, and it doesn't make much difference whether they are the parent officials or not.
But they are at least better than Fu Zhiyu in one aspect—they understand Jilin.
They have all been officials in Jiangnan for a long time, at least twenty years. Just based on this fact, they can still be used.
"For the time being, my uncle will send someone to keep an eye on them. I want to see who dares to fool me at this time." Fu Zhiyu casually threw the flattering memorials on the ground. "When the time is right, Jiangnan can also hold the imperial examination. I don't believe that no one can be selected.
During this period of time, I will treat it as a probation period for them. If they make achievements, they can keep their positions. If they don't meet my requirements, I don't care how long they have worked, they will all go home and farm!"
Fu Zhiyu's overall plan includes many aspects and needs to be implemented step by step. The most important step is to address the shortest link in Jiangnan - the poorest villages.
The first village Fu Zhiyu visited was Heshun, which was an ordinary village. Following Zhang Lin’s guidance, he visited some of the poorest places in Jiangnan.
There are different reasons for poverty in different places. Some are deep in the mountains and it takes two hours to walk out of the mountains. There are also some villages near rivers where the terrain is low-lying and the crops are easily flooded if it rains a little, so naturally the harvest is poor.
The problems in these villages cannot be solved simply by moving. Not to mention the question of where to move to, resources are limited everywhere currently. The original residents will not agree to move these people to. Moreover, the idea of returning to one's roots is very serious in the Jiangnan region. Unless they really can't survive, these people will not leave easily as long as there is a glimmer of hope.
"In places prone to flooding and waterlogging, in addition to building dams to prevent loss of life, we should stop growing rice and ask them to dig ponds and plant lotus roots," Fu Zhiyu said. "Villages in the mountains are suitable for growing more expensive medicinal herbs, which are small in size, expensive, and relatively easy to transport.
My uncle bought a lot of seeds for me, which can be distributed for free. We should adapt to local conditions in poor areas and not be stubborn. At least we should let them have food to eat."
Fu Zhiyu paused here and showed Yuan Jiangxing the map of Jiangnan. He had marked the poorest villages.
"Of course, switching from rice to other crops requires a running-in period. For example, medicinal herbs cannot be harvested in a short period of time. If necessary, the government can advance part of the money," Fu Zhiyu continued. "Jiangnan is lucky. There are not many shortcomings in this area. There are not many poor villages where people can't get enough food, and there are not many households in the poor villages, most of which only have dozens of households. This expense is not large for the time being. There is more important thing here-"
Fu Zhiyu turned a page and pointed to his second picture. Yuan Jiangxing took a look and saw that it was a picture of some machinery, such as a textile loom, but upon closer inspection, it seemed to be different from the common loom.
In addition to agriculture, Jiangnan also has the more important handicraft industry, which is the basis for the popularity of caravans. Jiangnan produces the best silk, embroidery, clothes, jewelry, etc.
This page is not about shortcomings, but about the interests of the majority.
Fu Zhiyu's idea is to improve farmers' efficiency by modifying farm tools, liberate more productivity, and provide ordinary families with more options for making money. At the same time, he will gradually change the current monopoly position of the four major merchants, encourage the development of small and medium-sized merchants, and increase the purchase price of grassroots handicrafts, thereby improving the current situation in Jiangnan.
The Yuan family is also among the four largest merchants, and Fu Zhiyu has no intention of favoring one over the other. He has already told Yuan Jiangwen about this.
In fact, changing the monopoly status does not mean that they will earn less money. If the entire Jiangnan region develops well, the wealthy merchants will only earn more, but the tremendous wealth that is enough to hold the entire country hostage will no longer exist.
Jiangnan cannot be held hostage by anyone's selfishness, Fu Zhiyu thought, not even himself.
These are all big aspects. It takes time to realize these ideas, and it also requires a group of people to implement them without fail. He alone cannot do it.
Fu Zhiyu just told Yuan Jiangxing that he wanted to organize the imperial examination in Jiangnan himself, and he was not just saying it as a joke.
There are not many talented people from Jiangnan among the top candidates selected for the civil and military imperial examinations in the capital. Obviously, there are many scholarly families in Jiangnan, but they cannot compete with those from the capital. In addition to regional protection, Jiangnan is too far away from the capital. Every time a scholar goes to take an exam, the exhaustion from the journey is almost like losing half his life. After arriving in the capital, they also suffer from acclimatization. Under such circumstances, it is difficult for them to display their true level to the fullest.
Jiangnan was a piece of land that had been allocated to him. According to the imperial edict, Fu Zhiyu could organize the imperial examination himself.
"Why not?" Fu Zhiyu asked, "There are so many people in Jiangnan. Is it so difficult to select excellent and useful people?"
Yuan Jiangxing flipped through the plan made by Fu Zhiyu page by page, and listened to him talk like this, with a gratified smile on his face.
"My uncle only knows how to fight and lead troops, and he doesn't understand these things. I have studied them carefully during this period, but I haven't thought about them so thoroughly and deeply," he said, "Zhiyu, you, originally..."
"Don't talk about this," Fu Zhiyu seemed to have guessed what he meant and interrupted him softly, "Nothing was originally. This is just a plan for Jiangnan. Jiangnan is a small place, and its territory is less than one-tenth of Jilin. If it were the whole Jilin, the situation would be much more complicated than here. I am already very good if I can manage Jiangnan well."
Fu Zhiyu knew that this was actually just a fictional world. He also once thought that what he saw was not real but just a game.
But there are so many people in this world who don’t know this, and try hard to live without knowing the facts. So, the so-called truth or not is not that important.
From what Fu Zhiyu saw, every person was very vivid. Could it be said that this was all fake
Finally, this is a rare free world, and this world can be changed by ourselves. Why not seize this opportunity to change it
This body will age, get sick and die. Fu Zhiyu doesn't know where he will go after leaving this world again. He is a bug, so it shouldn't be that easy for him to disappear. Maybe he will return to the main god space and live a life for which he has no time.
Before that, at least do something worth remembering and something truly meaningful, so that your rebirth will not be in vain. Stop being trapped in the quagmire of your love and my love, and do something truly useful.
However, speaking of the main god's space, Fu Zhiyu realized belatedly that the main god seemed to have not contacted him for a long time.
More than three years have passed. The last time the Lord God looked for me, he seemed to have found a way to contact me, but then he lost contact with me.
Forget it, Fu Zhiyu shook his head and continued to focus on the important matters at hand.
The Lord God is very busy, so maybe he forgot about it when he was busy. Also, the speed of time flowing in the two worlds is different, so maybe not much time has passed on the Lord God's side.
Never mind him.
Fu Zhiyu was ready, and the last thing before putting his plan into action was to submit a memorial to the capital, telling the emperor roughly his ideas and asking for his opinion.
Even if it is his back cover, the necessary procedures still need to be followed, and there should be no reason for the capital to deny it.
The memorial was sent to the capital at full speed. As Fu Zhiyu wished, Fu Yanran did not object to his idea. Instead, he allocated another sum of money to Fu Zhiyu from the national treasury.
Among the things that were sent back was a letter from Fu Yanran to his family. The reason it was called a letter was because the tone in it was not as formal as in the memorial, but was much more relaxed.
"My Royal Brother, just go for it," it said. "If you make any achievements, I will send people to learn from you. My Royal Brother, you are not allowed to hide anything."
Yuan Jiangxing had always been a little worried about Fu Zhiyu's submission of the memorial, as he was afraid that the emperor would be wary. But after reading this letter, he felt much more relieved.
"Not everyone would be dazzled by the throne," Fu Zhiyu said with emotion, "Yan Ran... is quite suitable for that position. I am also very glad that he was the emperor at that time."