Qingxian County is located in a remote area, poor and backward, and the people are in poverty. It is completely incomparable with the wealthy places in the south of the Yangtze River. Yan Qing was indeed sent away because he offended someone.
Among the people who proposed marriage to him, after being rejected, they felt that he was ungrateful, so they interfered and sent him here. Among the Jinshi in the same batch, only his position was the worst.
Yan Qing felt that it didn't matter which county magistrate he served, but these poor and backward places needed him more. But he couldn't be framed like this, so he gave the other party a small reply before coming.
In the past few years in the capital, he has not been idle, and has secretly established an intelligence network. Since you are going to enter the officialdom, you must be absolutely prepared. In feudal society, human life was as cheap as grass. Even if you were a first-class official, there was always the possibility of confiscating your family and exterminating your family.
Rather than begging for favors at the hands of others and following the rules set by others, it is better to be the one who makes the rules.
He wants complete control over his own destiny.
Of course, this does not mean that he is going to rebel. Now is the peaceful time. Although the court has many problems, they are not fatal. The Liang Dynasty is now at its most prosperous period. If he provokes a war for no reason, only the people will suffer, so he will not do this.
It's just to find some convenience for yourself while the general environment remains unchanged.
The chess pieces he buried in the capital have been laid out and they just need to ferment slowly. So there is no need to worry over there for the time being. Now that we have arrived in Qing County, we must first take care of Qing County.
Qing County belongs to the southern region, with a hot climate, mountains and water, and little cultivated land. Therefore, the people in the county are very poor.
When Yan Qing first came, he spent a few days rectifying the administration of the county government. He dealt with the arrogant and local gangsters vigorously and resolutely, and in turn gave them a swagger, letting them know that he was not to be trifled with. Then the next work will begin.
He spent another month visiting local people, investigating water quality, soil, climate environment, etc., and then gradually developed a development direction in his mind.
First of all, the mountainous areas must be used, but not to cultivate terraced fields. Deforestation to cultivate farmland is too harmful to the environment. If he introduces this method, other regions will follow the same example, but they do not know how to protect the environment and excessively destroy forests. It would be bad if it were turned into terraced fields instead.
He plans to convert part of the mountain forest into a fruit forest.
The climate conditions here are very suitable for growing fruits, such as bayberry, loquat, lychee, citrus, apple, peach, etc.
When fruits are grown, they can be made into wine, preserved fruits, dried fruits, and even canned fruits, which are a good source of income for the people.
Of course, this is a long-term development path. It is definitely not feasible to ask people to plant fruit trees when they do not have enough food to eat or clothing to keep warm.
So at this time, a high-yielding crop is needed to fill the people's stomachs first.
There are many high-yield crops in later generations, including potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn, and they are all available in other dimensions. But potatoes and sweet potatoes require rhizome cultivation, and it will take a long time to popularize them. It may take at least three or four years to be popularized throughout the county.
In this way, even after his term of office has passed, he may not be able to promote it, which is too slow.
So he thought of pumpkins.
Pumpkin is perfect.
First of all, it is grown from seeds, and the grown fruits can be kept as seeds for rapid promotion.
Secondly, it doesn’t pick places. It can be planted in both north and south, even without fertile land. It can grow anywhere in the fields, roadside ditches, and anywhere.
The most important thing is that it has a high yield per mu, and in future generations it can reach a gratifying yield of 10,000 kilograms per mu. The production level and conditions in ancient times were not as good as those in modern times, but even if it was only one-third of the output of later generations, it would still be more than three thousand kilograms! No matter how bad it is, one-tenth can always be achieved, right
In ancient times, when the average grain yield per mu was one to two hundred kilograms, a crop yielding one thousand kilograms per mu appeared. What does this mean
It means miracle.
Moreover, the taste of pumpkin is not bad. The old ones can be eaten as rice, the young ones can be eaten as vegetables, and even the leaves can be eaten. The whole body is a treasure.
And it can be grown twice a year in the south. It can be planted in spring and autumn.
Therefore, it is necessary to promote this pumpkin.
So, a month after Yan Qing took office, a strange weed grew in the back garden of the county government office. Never seen it before, but it suddenly appeared.
The county magistrate felt strange, so he took care of it himself.
After a while, the weed grew up and produced several round fruits.
The fruit is getting bigger day by day, like a stone, growing big, heavy and round. It was cyan at first, and then slowly turned into golden color.
There are more than a dozen such fruits on one seedling. It seems quite rare.
Magistrate Song personally picked one. After breaking it open, he found that there was also yellow flesh and seeds inside. Then cut off a little bit and feed it to the chickens, ducks and dogs. They are fine after eating it.
Then the county magistrate himself tasted it, and it didn't taste very good.
"Maybe you can cook it before eating it?"
After cooking, it tastes surprisingly delicious! It is sweet, soft and glutinous, has a very special taste, and is also filling.
This discovery made everyone ecstatic!
This is a new food discovered!
Everyone named it Golden Melon.
Then Magistrate Song took the initiative and took out some of the golden melon seeds and planted them in batches to experiment with its planting methods and yield.
The result is very gratifying. The yield of golden melon has reached 1,300 kilograms per mu! This is still the result of them not being familiar with planting methods and trying to experiment while planting. If you master the method completely and handle it carefully in the future, it is possible to produce two thousand kilograms per mu!
For a moment, everyone involved in this matter was ecstatic.
Yan Qing also pretended to be very happy, and then calmly wrote an entire memorial about Rainbow Fart. The general idea is that because the emperor was benevolent, diligent and caring for the people, he was moved by heaven and earth. Therefore, during his succession, he sent down such unnatural crops to keep the people fed. This is God's commendation to him, it is auspicious, and it is a political achievement that will last forever.
Then he attached a part of the golden melon and sent it to the capital.
The memorial was sent to the capital, and the emperor was delighted when he saw it.
He is old and has not made much achievements during his reign. Because when he took over, it was already a peaceful and prosperous time, with good government and people, and all internal and external troubles were solved by his grandfather and father. There was little opportunity for him to realize his ambitions.
As a result, at this time, a crop with a thousand catties per mu appeared, especially the county magistrate who was very eloquent. He said that this was his contribution and a blessing from God because he was benevolent and caring for the people.
So the emperor was so happy that he followed Yan Qing's flattery to put gold on his face and publicized the golden melon.
Although the original intention was to promote his own achievements, it did play a positive role in promoting pumpkins.
Then Yan Qing's goal will be achieved.
He had a good grasp of the old emperor's lifeline, and that's why he flattered him so affectionately.
The emperor also wanted to reward him with a promotion, but Yan Qing declined. He said that Qing County was a place where auspiciousness came, and he must help the emperor manage it well before leaving.
It's not time to go back now. It will be just right when his three-year term is over.
The emperor readily agreed to his proposal and gave him many things as a reward.
In October, Miao Guihua gave birth to a boy, and both mother and child were safe. Yan Qing named his younger brother Yan Lin.
Yan Qing was usually very busy, so it was rare that he took advantage of this happy event to finally find time to spend time with them.
"Brother, are you free? I want to tell you something."
Yan Qing smiled and said, "You said something, and you did it so solemnly. If you have anything, you can come to me at any time."
"I'm afraid of disturbing your official duties." Yan Shu hesitated for a moment, but finally made up her mind and said to Yan Qing, "Brother, I want to set up a school to teach those children how to read."
As Yan Qing said, the most indispensable thing in ancient times was orphans. After Yan Qing came to Qingxian County, he saw many beggars on the street, so he set up a Yuan Tang to take in those homeless children.
Yan Shu also often ran to help.
"Brother, you said that reading can make people wise. So I want to teach them how to read and write, so that they can have another way of life in the future." Yan Shu said very uneasily.
She felt that her proposal was too unorthodox, because in this era there were no serious women showing off. Especially since she has been designated as the imperial concubine, I'm afraid there will be more constraints.
But she really wants to do something for those children, and she really wants to do something she likes, instead of being trapped in the backyard all her life, living a meaningless life with her husband as her first priority.
When she was feeling uneasy, she heard her brother chuckle, "Just do it if you want to. It's a good idea and very meaningful. I support you!"
Yan Shu's eyes suddenly lit up.