Xinbi went up against the water, first to Anlu, and then to Suizhou, abandoned the boat in Tangxiang and landed on the shore, originally thought that he was going to walk to Xinye, but he did not expect that there were a large number of coachmen on the wharf to do business, all of them were ox carts, and most of them were four-wheeled vehicles that had never been seen before, carrying people and goods, or carrying both people and goods, and the price was not high, and it only cost five hundred yuan to hire an ox cart to Huyang. If you are willing to carpool with someone, you can get another hundred cheaper.

Simbi didn't want to attract more attention, so he happily paid five hundred dollars. The old man who was driving the car was very happy, and he talked very much, almost knowing everything. Xin Bi was in the middle of the game and slowly led the topic to the economy and people's livelihood. Along the way, he saw many of these ox carts, most of them old and weak, and some women, but they all seemed to be happy, and they spoke loudly, revealing a rare spirit.

"Old man, how long have you been doing this?"

The old man tugged at his messy beard and thought about it. "It's not a long time, there are still three days to go and three months to complete."

Simbi did the math. "So, you started doing it at the end of last year?"

"Lang Jun is a scholar, right? Listen to the accent, like Yingchuan's side? ”

Simbi's heart tightened. "The old man is well-informed, can he hear this?"

"Hehe, old man, I am a new savage, our Zhao Xianting is from Yingchuan, and I heard that he is still a famous person in Yingchuan. I talked to him twice, old man, and I listened to the accent. Yingchuan is a good place, a famous person, but also a good official, there used to be a Yingchuan four chiefs, quite famous. However, our Nanyang is not bad, there are many good officials. No, some time ago, someone said that they wanted to evaluate the commander, and our Xinye Township Party discussed that we must report Zhao County to the court. ”

Xin Bi knew that Zhao Yan was the county commander in Xinye, and he came for Zhao Yan. Xinye is a famous county in Nanyang, with many household registrations and large clans, and relying on Jinhuyang, it is said to be a county order, but in fact, its importance is not weaker than that of a Taishou. He and Zhao Yan are both celebrities of the younger generation in Yingchuan, and it is inevitable that there will be some competition between them.

Hearing the old man praise Zhao Yan, Xin Bi was even more interested. The old man opened the conversation box and talked endlessly.

"If you want to talk about our Zhao County Court, that's talent. In the big battle last year, Lang Jun must have heard of it, it was the time when General Sun annihilated 20,000 Xiliang beasts, and our Zhao County Court was the first to make the contribution. No, as soon as the battle was over, he became the prefectural commander of our Xinye......"

In fact, Zhao Yan didn't do much, Sun Ce had been stationed in Xinye for a period of time, and the Xinye family was either afraid or disgusted, and fled one after another. came to the house and ran away, and the Deng family didn't run because of the relationship with Deng Zhan, but they relented, donated half of the land, and exchanged for a paper mill quota.

Some of the land ceded by the families was given to the landless peasants, and some was given to the yellow turbans who had come from Runan to cultivate, and now it was spring ploughing time, and the fields were full of busy farmers. Spring ploughing time is tight, there was no idle manpower, but Zhao Yan expected this in advance, he made a special trip to Wancheng, and asked the craftsmen of the wood school to develop a new plow, which was originally pulled by two oxen to a plow pulled by one ox, and it can also turn the soil, the efficiency is twice that of the old plow, and a lot of manpower is saved at once, and it is enough for young people to go to the ground.

The old and weak were idle, and Zhao Yan didn't let them stay at home, he used official money to buy 300 cattle and 300 four-wheeled carts, and handed them over to the loyal and reliable people for transportation. In addition to the expenses of the coachman and the oxen, the remaining income went to the government and sixty percent to the coachman. A coachman can earn four or five hundred dollars a month, and thousands of dollars a month. Although the money is not much, they are not strong laborers in the first place, and the money is purely extraneous. Over the course of a year, it will certainly not be a problem for the family to add a few new clothes, cut a few catties of meat, and maybe even put a few pieces of furniture.

The old man's eyebrows fluttered as he spoke, his wrinkled face was full of smiles, and his mouth without front teeth had never been closed. Xin Bi listened and calculated, and the more he calculated, the more frightened he became. Zhao Yan's hands and feet are really big, he roughly calculated, there are many cattle in Nanyang, the price is not high, about three or four thousand heads, but this car is a new Ying, four wheels are not only stable, but also can carry loads, less can not be less than three or four thousand, in this way, not counting the loss of vehicles and cattle, he will take more than a year to recover the cost. If you include the wear and tear of the car and cattle, it may take him three years to recoup the cost.

Is he planning to serve a full term in Shinno?

Simbi was puzzled. Originally, he just wanted to pass by Xinye quietly, and he didn't want to meet Zhao Yan, but after hearing these news, he wanted to meet Zhao Yan a little. He wanted to know why Zhao Yan would stay in Nanyang willingly, was it because Sun Ce remembered one of his first merits?

Entering the new wilderness, Simbi saw more things, and first noticed the new plough that the old man said. Everywhere in the fields can be seen ploughing the soil, indeed an ox and a plow. The ox is a healthy ox, the plough is a new plow, the plough is young and strong, and the whip is snapping. Many women were ordering beans on the roadside, planting taro in ditches, and some were planting mulberries on the highlands.

But there are very few children, and the sight of half-grown children helping or playing in the fields is very rare.

"Old man, why can't you see the child?"

"The dolls can't go down to play in the ground, they all go to study."

"All going to school?" Simbi was startled.

"Well, it's not actually a book." The old man probably realized that he was exaggerating, and hurriedly explained: "The county court invited some literate and hyphenated gentlemen to take care of the dolls, and by the way, teach them a few words, write their own names, and keep some simple accounts, so they can't be blind." By the way, our Zhao County Court said that this is called literacy. If you find a smart doll, you will have to send it to the county school and the county school in the future. ”

The old man said it very easily, but Xin Bi had palpitations. Zhao Yan: What is this for? Do you want to teach all children to read? Even if you can just write your name and keep simple accounts, this is an unimaginable virtue. Even if a gentleman can take care of forty or fifty children, how many such gentlemen does a county need? This alone can arrange the livelihood of hundreds of scholars.

The question is where does the money come from? These scholars will also have to eat.

Xin Bi had a lot of questions, eager to see Zhao Yan. It was easy to get to Xinye County, and when he entered the city, Xin Bi asked the old man to pull him directly to the county temple. After getting out of the car and paying the fare, he came to the gate of the county temple and was about to report his name, when Zhao Yan walked out of it.

"George, it's you." Zhao Yan walked like a fly, pulling Xin Bi and walking out. "Let's go, talk as we go."

Xin Bi was dragged by Zhao Yan and stumbled, his appearance was ruined, he shook off Zhao Yan's hand, and scolded with a smile: "Zhao Boran, have you followed Sun Bofu for too long and contracted a bad disease." Why are you walking in such a hurry, do you want to see the Son of Heaven? ”

Zhao Yan frowned and laughed. "I'm used to it, I'm used to it, I'm so busy every day that my feet don't touch the ground, I can't wait to have wings. Let's go, I'll take you to meet a new play, the Deng family's paper mill has made new paper, no worse than Zuo Bo paper. If you like it, bring a few hundred and I'll give it to you. ”