Afterwards, the village chief took him for a walk in the mountains and looked at the rice fields.
Li Yaonan pointed to a slope and asked: "Why aren't they growing rice over there?"
The village chief glanced at him, and the meaning in his eyes was obvious. He regarded him as a young master who didn't know the difference between grains. He explained: "The slope is high and there is no water for irrigation."
Li Yaonan was depressed. Although he did not know the difference between the five kinds of grains, he had never eaten pork, but he had seen a pig run. He wondered, "Why not use irrigation canals? The terrain here is good, and it should be possible to build terraces."
The village chief looked at him calmly: "What are terraced fields?"
Li Yaonan was speechless, his brows furrowed. Although he had seen terraced fields and knew the general principle, he knew nothing about farming and didn't know how to explain it in detail.
The village chief stopped talking and treated Li Yaonan as a young master who had just entered the world.
Li Yaonan thought for a moment, broke off a branch, drew a few lines on the ground, and said in simple and easy-to-understand words: "Terraces are built by piling stones and building ridges in suitable locations to form the prototype of a plot of land. At the same time, dams are used to conserve water sources. For example, this is a slope, and the terraces are built up layer by layer, and channels are dug along the paddy fields..."
The more the village chief looked, the brighter his eyes became. He was amazed. He did not expect that this young official was so capable. However, the village chief shook his head and said, "There is no water in the high places, so how can we build dams? Even if there are channels, we cannot irrigate the fields, so terraced fields are not feasible."
Li Yaonan frowned: "Where is the nearby water source?"
The village chief led him and walked slowly all the way, introducing the local customs as he walked. Many villagers came forward to greet them enthusiastically when they saw them. The girl pointed at Li Yaonan, her cheeks blushing with embarrassment, and looked over from time to time.
Although it was afternoon, there were still many girls washing clothes by the river. Some of them even sang folk songs to Li Yaonan. The anxious young man stared blankly and looked at Li Yaonan with a very unfriendly look.
The village chief had a stern face all the way, but he relaxed when he saw Li Yaonan looking straight at him. He didn't understand the rules of the officials, but he would never let anyone abuse the girls in the village.
Little did he know that Li Yaonan was now feeling lucky to have the village chief by his side, as the bold girl was simply too much to handle.
Arriving at the river, Li Yaonan looked around. It was more like a stream than a river. The water was clear and the surface was not wide, only about three meters.
Li Yaonan stepped on a few stones, observed the surrounding terrain, and walked upstream along the direction of the stream until he could see the entire village. He gestured with his hands, called the village chief, and pointed to a few small waterfalls: "If we install a water truck here and dig a few large ponds over there, do you think it is feasible to store water?"
The village chief thought for a moment and asked, "What is a waterwheel?"
Li Yaonan was speechless and suddenly felt a little discouraged. He waved his hand and said, "Forget it. Is there a carpenter in the village?"
The village chief nodded: "Yes, Ava's family has good skills. When he was young, he worked for others in the town."
"Do you have any writing materials?" Li Yaonan suddenly asked, his tone quite helpless, actually he had no hope in his heart.
The village chief thought for a while and said hesitantly, "Will waste paper work?"
Li Yaonan twitched his lips and said, "Okay, it's just waste paper. I'll draw a picture later and you can ask the carpenter to do it and try the waterwheel. If the village chief thinks it's feasible, I'll solve the road problem, but the problem of farming..."
The village chief immediately said, "If terraced fields are feasible, I will convince the villagers."
Li Yaonan nodded, and seeing that it was getting late, he immediately went back with the village chief. He had no interest in staying here for a night. It was not because there were too many mosquitoes in the mountains, nor was it that he was being too pretentious, but he really couldn't get used to living there.
After returning, Li Yaonan assigned his subordinates to collect mountain products, while he drew a blueprint and explained it to the village chief in detail, telling him how to install and use it.
After all, the village chief was born into a peasant family. After listening to Li Yaonan's explanation, he was able to draw inferences and instantly saw the benefits of the waterwheel.
Li Yaonan finally felt a little comforted. If the village chief still didn't know the answer to his questions, he felt like he would go crazy.
After the waterwheel issue was settled, Li Yaonan asked the village chief for two people, both of whom were skilled hunters.
The village chief did not ask much. Knowing that Li Yaonan offered a monthly interest of three taels of silver, he sent out two strong young men without hesitation. One of them was A Zhuzi whom they had met before. It was not until this moment that the village chief believed that the official in front of him really wanted to do something good for them.
Li Yaonan was very satisfied, and then asked: "Are there any villages nearby with difficult mountain roads? Village chief, please help me find out. If we build a road, I will pay attention to the convenience of everyone and will not just focus on building a mountain village."
The village chief felt more relieved after hearing his words, and assured: "Don't worry, sir, I will definitely get this done."
Li Yaonan nodded and warned, "By the way, remember not to let the news leak out before it's done. I don't want anyone to obstruct us."
The village chief was startled and nodded quickly: "I will definitely not tell anyone about this."
Li Yaonan nodded and smiled, "There's no need to be so nervous. If the village chief has anything to ask me, just let Azhuzi pass on the message. If the village chief of other mountain strongholds is free, please help contact them. It would be best if you can find a few more strong men. My yamen is in need of yamen runners. I'm new here and I'm unfamiliar with the place. It would be much easier to get things done if I have the guidance of a local."
The village chief automatically imagined that the official was trying his best but was blocked along the way. He immediately patted his chest and made a lot of promises.
Li Yaonan just smiled and said nothing. Although he didn't know what the village chief was thinking, this was exactly the effect he wanted. The problem he had to solve now was that he had no one available. To deal with the locals, he naturally had to use the locals. He must not underestimate the power of the mountain people.
As long as he could link the interests of the mountain people together, he would not be afraid of not being able to break the momentum of the major families.
We came with nothing in our hands and left with a full load.
Li Yaonan had a worried look on his face. He completely understood the difficulties faced by the mountain dwellers. It was not easy to carry things down the mountain. Fortunately, the village chief sent a few more people to escort him, otherwise he was afraid that he would not be able to walk back to the town all night.
The group traveled all night long. At night, they heard the howling of ghosts and wolves in the forest. Li Yaonan's tired steps suddenly became brisk. When he returned, he was nearly an hour faster than when he came. It turned out that people's potential was forced out.
After arriving at the inn, Li Yaonan had the guest rooms arranged for him. Since it was already night, the innkeeper prepared some things casually. Everyone ate and drank, then quickly washed up and went to bed.
Li Yaonan returned to his bedroom and found that he had several blisters on the soles of his feet. This was after applying medicine. Otherwise, it would be more serious. The officials on TV understand the people's sentiments, travel around, eat, drink and have fun, uphold justice, and then show off their domineering side. They are definitely all lies.
The next day, Li Yaonan treated the villagers to a big meal and bought them many gifts before sending them away in the afternoon.
When they rushed back to Tongpan Mansion, it was already evening. It was the first time for Azhuzi and Shazai to come to such an exquisite mansion. They looked around carefully along the way, fearing that they might break anything.
Li Yaonan smiled tolerantly and told them not to be nervous and to be as casual as possible, as he would arrange tasks for them in a few days.
With a nervous mood, Azhuzi and Shazai settled down in the Tongpan's mansion. They wore silk clothes, ate fragrant rice, and had meat every day. They felt like they were dreaming.
The two honest young men had great admiration for Li Yaonan.
However, Li Yaonan knew in his heart that things were not over yet. No matter how many ideas he had, if they could not be implemented, everything would be just talk.
Building roads requires money, and the Ministry of Revenue will definitely not allocate funds, so he has to find a way to make people pay for it willingly. In fact, Li Yaonan has long been eyeing several major families, but he has been delaying because he has no one available.
Li Yaonan took out the sorted map and lightly drew a stroke on Qili Village. His eyes then moved to several villages scattered around. He gave himself a month to win over all the towns and villages near Qili Village. After building the road, the first person he wanted to eliminate was the Lin County Magistrate. What was the use of such a useless person
The next day when he arrived at the yamen, Li Yaonan discussed with the prefect and wanted to get a few people to work in the yamen.
Prefect He understood clearly that Lord Li wanted to place someone in position, and he had no objection to this. Such things were common in the officialdom, and as long as it did not interfere with him, it was fine.
The Tongzhi was unwilling to do so and said unhappily, "The number of staff in the yamen is regulated, how can we add more staff at will? Master Li, don't you even know the rules?"
Li Yaonan smiled faintly, not angry: "I understand, so I will replace the person in charge."
Lord Li was choked: "The yamen runners have never made mistakes. Lord Li, I'm afraid it's inappropriate to act like this."
Li Yaonan curled his lips and said, "Since he is the Tongzhi's man, I don't have the nerve to order him around. It would be better to return him to you, my Lord."
“You....” Li Xuezhen was so angry that his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
Prefect He kept aloof from the matter as it had nothing to do with him.
Li Yaonan said nonchalantly, "I just went to the emperor to report the situation a few days ago. The situation in Yunnan is indeed not satisfactory."
Prefect He was shocked: "Why didn't I know?"
Li Yaonan smiled lightly: "This is a secret memorial, how dare I trouble the prefect."
Prefect He's face darkened, knowing that Magistrate Li had another channel.
Li Tongzhi's face was not good either. Lord Li's words were equivalent to putting him on the opposite side. He said coldly: "Lord Li came to Yuxi to take office, but he hasn't met the governor yet."
Li Yaonan frowned, not surprised by this, and said calmly: "No problem, my husband is from Jingyang Marquis Mansion, I believe the governor will give him some face."
Li Tongzhi's face turned pale. He himself relied on his wife to get to the top. Although he looked down on Li Yaonan, when faced with the prominent family in the capital, he felt admiration and jealousy at the same time. Why couldn't he marry such a good wife, even a husband would be fine.
Li Yaonan didn't mind making them feel a little fearful, so that he could do his job more easily. People say that a new official will start with three fires. He had endured it for a whole month, so of course this fire had to burn even more intensely and vigorously!
"What does Lord Li mean?" Prefect He's eyes dimmed. He knew that Lord Li would not mention the emperor for no reason.
Li Tongzhi turned his head and looked over. Even if he was dissatisfied in his heart, the Tongpan was after all the emperor's confidant and had the support of Jingyang Marquis' Mansion behind him, so he had to give him some face.
Li Yaonan smiled slightly: "I have no other requests, I just hope that you two adults will turn a blind eye when I do things." After a pause, he added: "Don't worry, you two adults, I won't go too far."
Prefect He breathed a sigh of relief. He had always been a confused man and was an expert at smoothing things over. This was not difficult for him.
Li Tongzhi thought for a moment and agreed with a smile on his face. As the saying goes, this is a different time. Li Yaonan has such a strong backer. No matter what he does, his wife is the daughter of the Yi tribe, so it will not involve him. Maybe he can even get a lot of benefits. As for the rest, who cares? Anyway, Lord Li has said that he will not go too far.
Li Yaonan knew when to stop, after all, a strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. He knew that his words could at most make them afraid but would not actually have much effect. However, this was enough!
The author has something to say: Thank you, I will continue to work hard, this is the second update. . o(n_n)o
Try to get them together tomorrow.
Persephone threw a mine. Throwing time: 2014-08-18 17:03:18
Xiwei threw a mine. Throwing time: 2014-08-18 17:30:38
Ai Daze threw a rocket launcher. Throwing time: 2014-08-18 19:58:44
Yang threw a mine. Throwing time: 2014-08-18 21:54:10
Anfen ignorantly threw a mine. Throwing time: 2014-08-18 22:08:11
Princess Nannan threw a mine. Throwing time: 2014-08-18 22:08:33