Zhulan moved the candlesticks closer. Zhou Shuren brought back a detailed map of the area around Lizhou City. Zhulan first looked at the rivers. People’s lives were inseparable from water. She was more concerned about the water source, especially when there was a drought.

Zhulan looked carefully. Lizhou City’s water source was not abundant. There was only one tributary supporting it. “You want to dig ponds?”

Forget about reservoirs. The workload was too large. Moreover, there was no cement to build dams. If the technology were not up to standard, it would easily cause disasters. Pools and ponds were safer.

Zhou Shuren pointed at a few places, “Smart, I’ve looked at the distribution of counties and towns in Lizhou, it’s not difficult to dig some ponds, I’m just afraid of natural disasters after the war, this is a precautionary measure, if there are no natural disasters, these ponds can be contracted out to raise fish, which is also some income, and it can also alleviate the situation if there is a drought.”

Zhulan’s heart was in her throat when she heard this. There had been no drought in recent years, but she was really afraid of drought; this was not modern times, where one could make artificial rain and use technology to adjust water. In ancient times, it all depended on God: “Bah, bah, good things work but bad things don’t.”Bah, bah, the good omens never worked, only the bad ones do.”

Zhou Shuren laughed and said, “The good ones worked.”

Zhulan felt a little more at ease and continued to look at the map, “You still want to build a road, right?”

Zhou Shuren nodded, “You’ve experienced how difficult the road was along the way. It just so happens that we have enough manpower now. We can exchange manpower for food and build Lizhou at the same time, killing two birds with one stone.”

Zhulan frowned, “Thank you. The larger the momentum, the more food there is. The two batches of food left are not enough. We have to save and eat these for several months.”

Zhou Shuren took the map, “So we have to settle the accounts with half food and half silver. The people can’t do without silver. With silver, they can buy household expenses, and the markets in various places will slowly recover. Only when the people have demand can they attract merchants, and the entire Lizhou can slowly regain its vitality.”

Zhulan thought about the silver in Zhou Shuren’s hand, “Do the Tongzhi and Tongpan agree? Lizhou is managed by the three of you.”

Zhou Shuren smiled, “Today I have brought silver and the power given by the Emperor. Plus, they really have no other choice. I hope they will entrust everything to me. They won’t have any objections.”

Zhulan said, “That’s good.”

As for the intrigues after overcoming the difficulties, she was not worried about Zhou Shuren at all. It was a blessing that he didn’t scheme against people.

Zhulan lay down and thought for a while, then turned on her side and said: “Actually, the yamen could buy some chicks for the farmers to collect—each household receiving a few. When the hens laid eggs, the farmers could repay the cost of the chicks with the eggs. Piglets could also be distributed first for them to raise; if they truly had no feed, they could draw coarse grain in advance from the yamen to raise the pigs. Once the pigs were ready for market, the farmers would repay the cost of the piglets and the grain. Of course, only farmers of good character should be allowed to receive them; those who were lazy and gluttonous should not. When collecting them, they must also sign a guarantee. Except for unavoidable circumstances, in all other cases they would be held responsible.”

Zhou Shuren’s eyes lit up, “This is a good idea. Farmers will have extra income and can pay back the government office. The government will also have extra money to do other things.”

Zhulan smiled, “Don’t I want to buy apple trees? You can also buy some. When the fruit trees with good taste come back, I’ll collect them from door to door, giving each family one or two apples. When the apples are harvested, I can sell them to some fruit merchants, which is also extra income.”

Zhou Shuren raised an eyebrow, “I see you want to build Lizhou City into the Apple Town!”

Zhulan smiled and said, “Yes, Chuanzhou may have plenty of apples, but it doesn’t have a resounding name. Once Lizhou City becomes known as the ‘Land of Apples,’ many fruit merchants will be attracted by its reputation. It could also stimulate some of the local economy—how wonderful to achieve so much in one move?”

Zhou Shuren kissed Zhulan’s forehead, “You’ve helped me a lot.”

He knew how to govern and slowly solve the current problems. As for generating income for farmers, he still had to rely on Zhulan to find more ways. To put it bluntly, the Meng Juren he brought with him could only help him with political affairs, and he still needed Zhulan’s financial support.

Zhulan squinted her eyes. “I haven’t asked you yet. I remember you saying that the Zhizhou and Tongzhi of Zhili Prefecture have the same rights, and that the Tongzhi of Zhili Prefecture has the same rank as the prefect. Now that the Tongzhi of Lizhou City is living in the government office, did you say anything else when you came?”

Zhou Shuren, “With the Emperor’s attention and Wuchun’s relationship, the Tongzhi naturally said so. Before I left, he suggested that he move out, but I refused. I said that I had already bought a house, and his rank was higher than mine. Although the same power is not determined by rank, he came here before me, so it is not reasonable for him to move out.”

Zhulan curled her lips and said, “If you didn’t have the authority to spend silver on the road, and if you didn’t have your qīzhí Wu Chun, Tongzhi Chen Chen would never have brought this up at all.”

Zhou Shuren laughed and said, “Yes, they were so worried knowing that the new zhīzhōu was a newly minted bǎngyǎn. Now that they have seen me, they feel reassured. In the end, it is still His Majesty who is truly astute—when it comes down to it, Chen Chen is also someone meant to keep me in check.”

Zhulan stretched her waist, “Fortunately, there is no regulation in this dynasty that prohibits transferred officials from buying houses and property in their place of posting. Although they are only allowed to buy one house, no more than four shops, and no more than two hundred acres of land, I am already very satisfied.”

Although there were many underhanded ways—such as registering shops or farmland under the names of attendants, relatives, and the like, which was quite common in Pingzhou City—Zhulan did not plan to do so. She would rather go invest in another prefectural city.

Zhulan and Zhou Shuren chatted for a while, and this time, both of them were sleepy. Zhulan fell asleep first in a daze. Zhou Shuren went over what Zhulan said in his mind again and made sure he would not forget it before hugging Zhulan to sleep.

The next morning, Zhulan slept on the warm kang, and she hadn’t slept so comfortably in a long time. She opened her eyes, and Zhou Shuren was already dressed. “Why did you get up so early?”

Zhou Shuren was really not used to the feeling of going to work. He was used to sleeping until he woke up naturally at home. He yawned and said, “There are a lot of things waiting for me in the yamen. Yesterday, many people were waiting to receive food at the yamen gate. I have to go to the yamen now.”

Zhulan put on her shoes and went to work. “You don’t want to have breakfast?”

She didn’t need to guess to know that he must have no time to eat because he was going to be busy today. Was he going to starve all day? Zhou Shuren was so old that his body couldn’t be tossed like this.

Actually, Zhou Shuren got up a little late. If he had gotten up earlier, he would have been able to have breakfast, but he would not tell Zhulan that he did not get up on time. “I won’t have breakfast. For lunch, kill a chicken and make a few dishes to send to the yamen. It can be regarded as a meal for the Tongzhi and others.”

Zhulan went out with her clothes draped over her. “Don’t skip breakfast. There are still a few cornmeal buns left from yesterday. I’ll cut a sausage for you to eat in the carriage.”

With that, Zhulan went out. Xinghua was making a fire in the kitchen. Zhulan took two cornmeal buns and a sausage, wrapped them up, and returned to the yard to stuff them into Zhou Shuren’s hands. “Be sure to eat breakfast.”

Zhou Shuren felt warm in his heart. His wife loved him the most. “I will definitely eat it all.”

After Zhulan sent Zhou Shuren away to wash up, breakfast was ready. They ate too much of the food yesterday. They had rice porridge and flatbread for breakfast. There was not a single egg in the house. Li Shi cut some sausage and made a soup with cabbage.

After breakfast, the Yang family felt rested after a good night’s sleep and regained their spirits. Zhulan took Xuehan to personally send her parents to Wuchun’s house.

Wuchun’s house had three courtyards and was indeed as big as written in his letter. Because Zhulan had a lot of things to do, after seeing that her parents were settled, Zhulan took her daughter home.

Without the Yang family members in the Zhou family, the whole house was particularly empty.

Zhulan was silent. She still had to buy more servants. She said to Xuehan, “Go and call your eldest brother and ask him to go to the yáháng to find a yárén.”

Xuehan, “Mom, aren’t you going in person?”

Zhulan tapped her daughter on the nose and said, “Silly girl, your mother is now the wife of an official—my status has changed, so it wouldn’t be proper to go to the yáháng myself. Go and call your eldest brother instead.”

(end of this chapter)

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