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In the Ganzhou area, there is a rather special place where many village names contain the word "xia", such as Under the Camphor Tree, Under the Jujube Tree, Under the Green Mountain, Under the Wawu House, Under the Lotus Pond, Under the Song Mountain, etc.
There are still seven or eight days until the Spring Festival of the 17th year of Chongzhen. A light snow fell in southern Jiangxi last night. The mountains and fields were very quiet in the early morning. White edelweiss hung on the branches. The round-bodied, beautiful-feathered lovebirds were jumping and singing on the branches. The fallen snowflakes were flying like pear blossoms in February.
Old Man Qin from Qingshanxia Village lives at the entrance of the village. Today the whole family got up early. Old Man Qin walked out of the wooden gate with his crutches and went to the pigpen next to him. This is a habit he has developed over the years. He always goes to check on his own livestock first thing when he gets up every morning. He will feel uneasy if he doesn't go and take a look.
His only son, Qin Dazhui, was chopping wood with a big knife in the fenced yard. His daughter Chunxi and daughter-in-law each carried a pair of wooden barrels and went to the well at the edge of the village to fetch water, chatting and laughing all the way. His wife lit a fire in the kitchen, preparing to cook sweet potatoes.
The family members were doing their own things. Old man Qin looked at his daughter-in-law's back and thought that if the family could have a big fat grandson next year, it would be perfect.
Thinking about the experience of this year, Old Man Qin couldn't help but feel a lot of emotion, because his family didn't have any fields, and the family had no rice to eat in the spring. They relied on digging some wild vegetables mixed with a little coarse grains to make a living. As soon as the summer came, Gu Xiancheng's rebels rioted again. Old Man Qin and his family fled to Ganzhou City for refuge. They thought they were afraid of starving to death on the streets this time.
Who would have thought that the situation would change so suddenly? Gu Xiancheng's rebellion was quickly put down, and the government distributed land. Old Man Qin's family received 12 acres of dry land and 8 acres of paddy fields.
The night they were allocated the land, the whole family cried all night.
Their family had been tenant farmers for the landlord for several generations, and they had always dreamed of owning their own land. Who could have expected that the dream of several generations would come true like this.
All this was because of one person, the current governor of southern Jiangxi, Qin Mu. Qin Mu's arrival changed the fate of his family. The day after the land was allocated, Old Man Qin set up a longevity tablet for Qin Mu at home. In the entire southern Jiangxi, there were countless families like his who took the initiative to set up a longevity tablet for Qin Mu.
After checking the livestock at home, Old Man Qin had just returned to the gate when the sound of horse hooves broke the tranquility of the village under the green hills. He saw 20 to 30 horsemen galloping towards the village on the path in front of the village. They were still a mile away from the village. They slowed down their horses and walked slowly.
Old man Qin stood in front of his wooden gate with a cane and looked curiously. Their village was not a main road, so there were usually many outsiders coming, not to mention dozens of people riding tall horses at a time. The villagers were alarmed and came out to check.
"Don't be afraid, fellow villager, don't be afraid. We are here just to ask. See if there are any sweet potatoes for sale in your village." The man in front dismounted from his horse twenty steps away, bowed to Old Man Qin from a distance, and said with a smile.
This man was about twenty years old, wearing a cotton-padded jacket that was neither new nor old. He looked neither luxurious nor shabby, and his warm smile was full of kindness. Most of the twenty or thirty followers behind him were armed, but they all stopped far away. Only this young man came forward with a few shopkeepers.
Old Man Tan quickly responded, "Sir, you are welcome. May I ask where you are from?"
"Excuse me, old man. We are from Ganzhou Rentong Trading Company. We were sent by our boss Xu Yingjie to buy sweet potatoes. I hope you guys will forgive me for disturbing you."
When they heard that it was from Rentong Trading Company, Old Man Qin and the villagers felt much more relieved. In addition, the young man in front of them was so polite that the villagers' vigilance was also reduced by half.
Every household in the village has harvested a lot of sweet potatoes this year. If they can really sell some, it will be good for the New Year, so Old Man Tan invited the guests to his home. While chatting with Old Man Tan, the young man checked the several jars of dried sweet potatoes in his home.
"Sir, raw sweet potatoes will rot if left for too long. When the sweet potatoes were harvested, every household followed the notice posted by the government and sliced and dried the sweet potatoes and stored them in large jars. If you want to buy raw sweet potatoes, we don't have many. Everyone has made them into dried sweet potatoes. I wonder if you would like to buy dried sweet potatoes?"
"Harvest, harvest, harvest. We are harvesting dried sweet potatoes. Like the old man said, fresh sweet potatoes rot easily. It's hard to store them if we harvest them. If they rot, we will lose money. Old man, how many people are there in your family? Will there be enough food this year?"
"That's enough, that's enough." When Old Man Qin mentioned this, the wrinkles on his face were all stretched out, and he said happily, "Sweet potatoes are good things. They have a high yield and can provide food for half a year. To be honest, you made the right choice to come to our Qingshanxia Village. The red sandy soil here produces sweet potatoes that are not only large and abundant, but also very sweet. When they are put in the pot and boiled, there is a layer of sugar underneath. My old lady is cooking sweet potatoes now. If you don't mind, let's go and have a taste."
"Okay, I'm here early, and I didn't eat anything this morning, so I'll bother you then." The young man smiled and walked back to the yard with Old Man Qin.
Today is the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, also known as the "Little New Year", a day for folks to worship the kitchen god, sweep the house, and eat kitchen candy. The Kitchen God has been staying at home since the New Year's Eve of the previous year to protect and monitor the family. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, the Kitchen God will ascend to heaven to report the good or bad deeds of the family to the Jade Emperor in heaven. The ceremony of sending off the Kitchen God is called "sending off the Kitchen God" or "saying goodbye to the Kitchen God". Based on the Kitchen God's report, the Jade Emperor will hand over the fate of the family in the new year to the Kitchen God. Therefore, for the family, the Kitchen God's report is of great interest.
Therefore, on this day, every family offers sugar melons made of malt sugar and flour to the Kitchen God, in order to sweeten his mouth and let him say more good things to the Jade Emperor when he arrives in heaven.
Old Man Qin's wife was offering cooked sweet potatoes to the Kitchen God. The young man was interested and asked, "Grandpa, how do you offer sweet potatoes to the Kitchen God?"
Old Man Qin replied, "We don't have anything else at home. The sweet potatoes we grow here are big and sweet. Once they are boiled, they are all sugar. Now every household in the village uses them to offer to the Kitchen God."
"oh."
At this time, the old man's daughter Chunxi and her sister-in-law just came back from fetching water. Farmers didn't have much to say. After the old man gave an order, his daughter Chunxi brought the cooked sweet potatoes. The young man stood up and thanked him. His gentle and elegant manner made the girl blush. She quickly glanced at him and signed her hand uncomfortably. Then she retreated.
"Farmers don't have much family education, so I hope you won't blame me for my impoliteness."
"You are too polite, old man. We came too abruptly. By the way, old man, I see that your family has a good harvest. Do other families have such a good harvest? Are these grains left over after paying taxes?"
"Yes, yes, everyone has a good harvest." Old Man Qin's smile widened. "Now is a good time. The government has halved the land tax this year. We have paid it all, thanks to the governor, Mr. Qin."
"Oh, do the county officials collect any other exorbitant taxes?"
"This year we have only collected some of the money for the grain and seeds, and nothing else. But I heard that this may not last long, and they may impose heavy taxes again next year."
"Don't worry, old man. Our boss has some friendship with the governor. I heard from him that there will be no tax increase next year. I heard that corn and peanut seeds will be distributed for free next year. Corn and peanuts can be planted in dry land without occupying paddy fields. Plant a season of corn or peanuts in the spring, and then plant sweet potatoes after the corn and peanuts are harvested in May or June. After the sweet potatoes are harvested, you can also plant a season of potatoes. The government has posted notices about these things in various towns. Didn't you hear about it, old man?"
"Is there such a thing? My legs and feet are not good. It's cold, and no one in the village has been to the town these days. I haven't heard of it. Young master, you are knowledgeable. Can you tell me, are corn and peanuts as easy to care for and as high-yielding as sweet potatoes?"
"They are almost the same, old man. This is the promotion ordered by the governor. Sir Qin is really doing good for the people. If you trust him, you can plant it next year."
"Oh, it was Lord Qin who asked me to promote it. Then I have to follow his lead. It's definitely right to listen to Lord Qin."
The young man was very pleased to hear what Old Man Qin said. He ate sweet potatoes while chatting with Old Man Qin, asking about this and that, and about all aspects of the farmers.
After chatting for half an hour, the young man said, "Grandpa, our Rentong Company has a store in the town to collect grain. We accept both rice and dried sweet potatoes. The transaction is fair and the price is reasonable. If you have time, you may bring your excess grain to the town to sell. If our store sends a car to collect it, we will deduct a little driver's fee."
"Oh, it's more economical for me to take it myself."
"Sorry for bothering you. I still have to visit other villages. Please take a seat, old man." The young man asked his follower to put down a tael of silver and was about to leave. Old man Qin refused to accept his silver. After some arguing, the young man put the silver by the door and hurriedly left.
This young man was Qin Mu. After returning to Ganzhou, he did not stay in the city to listen to reports, but took people to visit various counties and villages to understand the local administration and people's sentiments. Sima An, Tian Yimu, Wu Wangcai and others followed. Qin Mu's trip was equivalent to an on-site inspection of the results of their work over the past six months.
Therefore, whenever they entered the village, Sima An and the others would not speak if they could, and would just follow Qin Mu's questioning of the local people. When they were two or three miles out of the village, there were still two hundred cavalrymen waiting outside. They did not go in together just now because they were worried about scaring the villagers.
This time they had been out visiting for many days, and it was almost New Year. After Qin Mu reunited with everyone, he said, "Let's stop here and return to the city."
After hearing his words, even Sima An couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Although Qin Mu found many problems during his visit to various counties and villages this time, generally speaking, the big aspects were all fine and only some minor problems were found.
The customs and habits of different places are different, and the abilities of officials also vary. It is normal to have some problems. For example, in these more remote villages, the promotion of new rice has not been done well. But after returning, we can ask each county to send more people to the countryside to promote it. If there are no problems at all, it would be weird.
Qin Mu was indeed quite satisfied with this trip. He regarded southern Ganzhou as his last stronghold, and he valued it more than any other place. After personally checking it out, he smiled more on the way back to Ganzhou.
"It is not appropriate to copy the original system of the court to evaluate local officials. It will become stagnant over time. Do you have any suggestions on this?" Qin Mu suddenly asked Sima An and others while riding on his warhorse.
When Sima An heard this, he knew that Qin Mu was going to make another big move. He thought for a moment and said, "Sir, all places are in urgent need of recuperation. In my opinion, it is better to stay still than to move. It is better to continue to govern according to the old system and make adjustments in the future."
Qin Mu immediately shook his head and said, "Mr. Sima, this is wrong. It is the people who need to recuperate, not the local officials. The administrative structures of various places have just been established, so there is minimal resistance when they move. Once the various systems become rigid and a network of interests is formed between officials at all levels, it will be difficult to change course at that time.
Moreover, whenever a system is to be implemented, it is always necessary to find a few more places to pilot it first, to see what problems will arise in actual implementation, so as to make adjustments. You should think about this aspect now. After returning to the city, we will discuss a new administrative plan before New Year's Eve, and first find a few counties in southern Jiangxi and Huguang to pilot it."
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ps: It’s the 200th chapter, please vote for recommendation and monthly ticket.
.(To be continued..)
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