Yang Haiyan had only been to two county towns. In the original owner's memory, she had never been to any other place except the capital. Of course, compared with the capital, no county town anywhere else was as prosperous as the capital. So the Huanshui County and Bianguan County towns that Yang Haiyan had been to were also incomparable to the county town of Yunxiang County.
Yunxiang County was poor and backward, and could not develop in all aspects. Therefore, people who once had some economic foundation, such as wealthy businessmen or people from the county town with some family background, would move away from Yunxiang County. If the development of a county town lags behind, how can the towns and villages develop? After all, the county town can drive the towns and villages.
At present, Yunxiang County gave Yang Haiyan the feeling that it was the town over there. No wonder the general's mansion was a little shabby. The things in the palace that did not meet the five official grades were demolished, restructured, and moved away, leaving only the empty palace, so it was shabby. The palace was like this, and the shops in the county town were also old. Perhaps the only thing that was still okay was that it had not collapsed like the city wall.
Yang Haiyan has already bought land, including land for the military camp and land for the general's mansion. These lands were selected by Niu Da. In fact, the land here is much cheaper than the land at the border.
At the border, the best land costs 15 taels of silver, the middle land costs 6 taels of silver, and the worst land costs 4 taels of silver. But here, the best land costs only 6 taels of silver, the middle land costs only 4 taels of silver, and the worst land costs only 2 taels of silver. Because there are few rich people and the people of status have moved away, the poor families have nowhere to sell their produce, so the land is cheap.
However, this place with cheap land also has an advantage, that is, the issue of taxation. Because the land is cheap, the people have more land, and with more land, there is more food left after paying taxes. With more food, everyone can have enough to eat.
To sum up the situation in Yunxiang County, it is really poor because there is no money. But the people are still in high spirits because they can eat enough.
Logically speaking, since the land is cheap and there is a lot of harvest left, their conditions can be good. But if they take the goods to other counties to sell, the round-trip fare is also expensive. So the people of Yunxiang County give people the impression that they are satisfied with the land and accustomed to the current life. When they can solve the problem of food and clothing, poverty is not so important.
What can you do in such a poor place? Open a shop? Like at the border? I guess there won't even be anyone buying snacks.
Grow crops and sell them
Don't think about it.
Therefore, for the people in Yunxiang County, what matters most right now is how to make them make money, rather than how to make Yang Haiyan make money herself.
And let the people of Yunxiang County make money, and when they have money, Yang Haiyan will also make money.
There is only one way for them to make money, which is to use the land for good, and they have no shortage of land. Soon, Yang Haiyan had an idea in his mind. It is not difficult for modern people to make money by using the land. After thinking it over, Yang Haiyan went to visit the few shops in the county that were still doing business.
Qin Fang was waiting at the gate of the county town. When he heard that Captain Lu had arranged for the soldiers to go and fetch his wife, he did not go back. However, when the soldiers came back, his wife did not come. All his expectations and surprises were in vain.
The soldier had no idea what Qin Fang was thinking, so he said respectfully, "General, my wife has not returned home since she left here."
When Qin Fang heard this, he hummed expressionlessly.
The soldier was startled when he heard the reply. What had he done wrong? Why did the general sound unhappy
Before the soldier could think about it, Qin Fang said, "Go get busy."
Soldier: “Yes.”
The group of people led by Qin Fang did not need to set up tents, because the group led by Yang Haiyan had already set up enough tents. After they arrived, they moved in directly.
Qin Fang inspected the area and found that it was much better than the campsite in the wild. Everyone was in good spirits and he felt relieved. "Captain Lu," he called Captain Lu who had arrived first.
Captain Lu hurried over and asked, "General?"
Qin Fang pointed at the collapsed city wall over there and asked: "This city wall has collapsed, why doesn't the county magistrate repair it?" He did not interfere in ordinary affairs of Yunxiang County, but as a general guarding the city, this city wall would be his responsibility in the future, so he had to take care of it.
Captain Lu said, "I asked the county magistrate, and he said that the matter is a bit complicated and he will tell you when you arrive. He also said that he needs your help. But I also asked the people and found out that the collapse of the county wall is related to the mountain in the southeast."
Oh? Qin Fang looked to the southeast. The mountain was very close to the county town. It would only take about 25 minutes to ride there. There were very few mountains so close to the county town. "What does that mountain have to do with you?"
Captain Lu explained, and he also found it incredible: "Renzhou was originally the territory of King Liang, and your general's mansion is now renovated from the original King Liang's mansion. It is said that King Liang built his mansion in the barren Yunxiang County because of this mountain. King Liang likes hunting, and there are many prey in the mountains. But King Liang was worried that the people would also go hunting and kill his prey, so he made a rule that the people of Renzhou were not allowed to go hunting on that mountain. Therefore, the mountain has a name, Beast Mountain. Because King Liang could not hunt so many prey by himself, there were more and more prey on the mountain, so it was called Beast Mountain."
Qin Fang knew some things about King Liang, Yang Haiyan had mentioned it to him. Later in Huanshui County, he spent some time with Du Ke and found that although Lord Du looked serious, he was a good official. So he also asked Lord Du about the way of being an official and the affairs of Yunxiang County. However, he didn't know about the matter of Beast Mountain, and Lord Du had never mentioned it to him, so Lord Du must not know about it.
Qin Fang said: "Go on."
Captain Lu: "Yes. The local people said that there are more and more prey in the Beast Mountain. Although King Liang died and this place was handed over to the court, the court has never said anything about the matter of the Beast Mountain, so the local people dare not go to the Beast Mountain to hunt. Therefore, the result of too much prey in the Beast Mountain is that... every winter, when the prey has nothing to eat, they will go down the mountain and cholera the local people. There are no local people at the foot of the Beast Mountain anymore. The local people have all moved away."
Qin Fang frowned: "You mean, the collapse of the county wall was caused by the prey on the Beast Mountain? A mere beast, no matter how ferocious it is, can it be so powerful?"
Captain Lu also didn't believe it, but said: "The common people saw it with their own eyes, how can it be false? If it was just one or two common people who said it, I wouldn't believe it either, but every common people said so, and they all said they saw it with their own eyes."
If that was the case, why didn't the county magistrate of Yunxiang County report it to the court? Qin Fang looked at the city wall and fell into deep thought.
County Office
The yamen runner would go on duty outside the county town every day, to observe the situation of the surrendered barbarians and to see if there was anything they could help with. However, he did not expect to meet General Qin returning today. So, the yamen runner immediately returned to the county government and told County Magistrate Yang about this.
County Magistrate Yang said in surprise: "General Qin is back? I see, you can go down now." General Qin just came back today, so he must go back to the general's mansion. Besides, he must be tired after traveling for days. Even if he wants to visit him, it will be tomorrow.
With an idea in mind, County Magistrate Yang went to the backyard of the county government office.
When Magistrate Yang arrived at the gate of Mrs. Yang's courtyard, he was informed that Mrs. Yang was entertaining guests. He said, "I will go back to the study. When it is too empty, come back and tell me."
Maid: "Yes."
As soon as County Magistrate Yang left, the maid came up to her and said, "Madam, the master is back. He knows you are entertaining guests, so he has gone back to the study. He said he will come over when you are free in a few days." It was obvious from these words that County Magistrate Yang wanted to see Madam Yang for something.
Seeing this, the guest said tactfully, "Since Mrs. Yang has something to do, I will take my leave first."
Mrs. Yang said, "Then I won't see you off."
After the guests left, Mrs. Yang went to the study to find County Magistrate Yang: "Master."
County Magistrate Yang was practicing calligraphy. When he saw Madam Yang come in, he asked, "Has the guest left?"
Mrs. Yang: "Leave, it's Mrs. Shang, who came to matchmake for Shunqing." Yang Shunqing, the younger brother of County Magistrate Yang, is twenty-five this year. After the Yang family got into trouble, County Magistrate Yang was transferred to Yunxiang County. He is the eldest son, and his parents and brothers followed him. But Yang Shunqing's wife was unwilling to come, because Yunxiang County is not only far away, but also poor. So, Yang Shunqing and his wife divorced.
Today, Mrs. Shang came to propose marriage for her niece.
When County Magistrate Yang heard this, he couldn't help but feel a little moved: "Let's talk about this matter with Shunqing some other day. It's been two years, and it's not a solution for him to do this. After all, the child is still young."
Mrs. Yang said, "Master, don't worry. I know what's going on. By the way, did the master come to me for something important?"
County Magistrate Yang said, "Yes, today the servant at the city gate reported that General Qin has returned. I thought we should go to the general's mansion to pay him a visit tomorrow."
Mrs. Yang said, "I know what's going on. I've made all the arrangements."
County Magistrate Yang was discussing what gifts to prepare for the General's Mansion tomorrow. As the hostess of the General's Mansion, Yang Haiyan didn't know that the male owner had returned.
She walked around the county town and then returned to the mansion. As soon as she returned to the general's mansion, Uncle Hong, the gatekeeper, said, "Hello, Madam. Madam, you are finally back. My man went to look for you, but did he bump into you?"
Yang Haiyan was surprised: "I haven't met her before. Aunt Hong came to find me? Is there something going on at home?" Yunxiang County is not big, but it is not small either. It is indeed not certain that you can find someone even if you go looking for him specifically.
Uncle Hong smiled and said, "Big news, big news, the master is back."
When Yang Haiyan heard this, she couldn't help but smile: "You're finally back." Saying that, she quickly walked into the door.
Uncle Hong said quickly, "The master is back, but he is still outside the city. He has not returned to the general's mansion. Only Nanny Lian and the others have returned to the general's mansion."
Yang Haiyan stopped and asked, "Hasn't she come back yet? How long has Aunt Lian been back?"
Uncle Hong said, "It's been more than half an hour."
Yang Haiyan was stunned. It had been more than half an hour. Why hadn't Qin Fang returned yet? "Then I'll go outside the city and take a look."