For several days, Gu Yunji was on the way to various villages and towns to buy artichokes, and he was often so busy that he forgot to eat.

The seeds originally reserved by the government were planted with 6,000 catties, and the villagers of Zhangjia Village gave 5,000 catties, plus what Gu Yunji bought these days, the total number of zeros and zeros added up to more than 18,000 catties, which was already a large amount, much better than Gu Yunji expected.

Now it is a second promotion, the purpose is to check and fill in the gaps, and those villages that have completed the potato planting task well at the beginning basically do not care, mainly those that have not been completed well, especially the villages that have hardly planted artichokes, have become the focus of Gu Yunji's current work.

Perhaps it was because we saw the results of planting potatoes in other villages, or because the grain production had decreased, making it easier for people to try new food crops, and the promotion this time was generally much smoother than the last time.

Of course, there will still be individual stubborn people who refuse to plant artichoke for various reasons, and there is no time to plant crops in the fields during the busy farming season...... Wait a minute. However, Gu Yunji would not rely on them this time, seeing that the drought was beginning to show that time was pressing, he insisted on taking the servants to the house of the elders one by one, and watched them plant the artichoke before stopping.

However, the scope of Xuzhou Mansion is large, and Gu Yunji can't take care of every village in a short period of time, and some of the more remote locations are handed over to the local county officials to manage. So just like last year, the officials and officials of the entire Xuzhou Mansion were busy, running around in the sun every day, tired and sweaty, and their legs were sore.

was supposed to sit in the yamen to rest and chill, but now they have to endure hardships everywhere for the sake of the artichoke, the officials naturally have complaints in their hearts, but when they saw that Gu Yunji was also too busy to touch the ground, and the suffering was no less than theirs, their hearts were much more balanced.

Not only that, sometimes when the officials returned to the yamen after their errands, they could also get the cold mung bean soup prepared by Gu Yunji, as well as some medicines to relieve the heat, and they felt even more ironed. Although it is not a valuable thing, this thoughtfulness is rare, and for a while, Gu Yunji's image in the hearts of the low-level officials has improved a lot, and almost no one complains that he is sending people at will on a hot day.

Recently, Gu Yunji has been busy, and his lower duty is often not punctual, and sometimes he is still outside when it is late and he has not come back. Xu Shuhua didn't go to the mansion to pick him up, but only prepared hot water for meals at home, so that he could go home at any time to wash up and eat a hot meal.

At dusk that day, Gu Yunji once again dragged his tired body back to the mansion, ready to go home after handing over official duties, but saw Yan Zhengqian waiting at the door.

Yan Zhengqian seemed to have been waiting for a long time, and when he saw Gu Yunji, he pulled the corners of his mouth, and said with a smile: "Lord Gu is really a busy man, I have been waiting here for a long time before you come back." ”

Yan Zhengqian will be transferred in one year, so as long as there is no chaos in Xuzhou Mansion, he will try to ignore things as much as possible on weekdays, and leave all official affairs to the people below. If there is any trouble, it is basically Chen Xunzhou who comes to fight with Gu Yunji, and it is rare to see Yan Zhengqian's figure in the mansion.

Yan Zhengqian took the initiative to come to him today, thinking that there was something important, Gu Yunji hurriedly stepped forward to salute: "Let Lord Yan wait for a long time." Lord Yan is here, but what important things do you have to order? ”

Yan Zhengqian didn't answer, but looked him up and down, and his eyes fell on Gu Yunji's mud-covered trousers and shoes: "What is Master Gu doing?" Not only did he not wear an official uniform, but he also got mud all over his body. ”

Gu Yunji looked down at the hem of his trousers and said with a smile: "I took a few officials to stare at those potatoes that grow in the middle, and some of them don't know the essentials and can't get started, so I have to demonstrate it myself, so I stained my clothes." ”

"Grow artichokes?"

Yan Zhengqian snorted from his nose and sneered: "God hasn't rained for nearly two months, what has happened in the fields, Lord Gu doesn't want to resist the drought, but he still has the heart to plant artichokes?" ”

Gu Yunji's smile slowly rose: "Lord Yan, what do you mean by this?" Why do you say that I don't seem to be doing my job? The potatoes are high and full, and I asked the people to plant the potatoes in order to ensure their grain harvest and keep a backhand. Even if the crops in the field die of drought, the people will always have a bite to eat, so that they will not starve to death. ”

When Yan Zhengqian heard this, his eyebrows were raised, and his voice suddenly became fierce: "The first thing to resist the drought is to keep the crops in the fields, and try not to reduce the yield or reduce the yield as much as possible!" Instead of thinking about keeping your hands behind all day long, what kind of Rausch potatoes to plant! ”

After saying this, Yan Zhengqian softened his voice slightly: "Master Gu, you used to plant artichokes, I won't stop you, I'm thinking about young people, there is no harm in trying new ideas, but you have to recognize the situation!" What's going on right now? The crops in the field are dying, the situation is urgent, as the general judge of my house, you should put your mind on the right path, and don't worry about your artichoke! ”

Yan Zhengqian relied on his official position and age older than Gu Yunji, his posture was high, and his words were preaching, Gu Yunji was displeased when he heard it, and his face sank little by little.

Yan Zhengqian was still chattering: "For today's plan, we must quickly build canals to divert water and irrigate the fields." I originally wanted to find two people to go with me outside the city to inspect and inspect the major irrigation canals today, but when I went to the government office, there was no one in the government. ”

Gu Yunji listened to it for a long time, and finally heard the point, and smiled sarcastically: "Speaking of which, isn't Lord Yan angry that there is no one for you to send?" In this case, if you are pressed for time, don't bother Lord Yan, just tell me the location of those canals, and I'll bring someone over to check them now. ”

Yan Zhengqian was said to think about it, and his face was ugly: "It's getting late now, Lord Gu himself is willing to check that no one cares about you, but don't tire these servants, everyone has a family and a mouth, mother-in-law and children are looking forward to going home, and Lord Gu must be considerate and considerate of his subordinates." ”

Gu Yunji said with a smile: "Didn't Lord Yan just say that the drought is urgent, and the first priority is to ensure irrigation?" If it's that urgent, not to mention that it's only dusk, there's nothing to go in the middle of the night. If you don't inspect the canals because you are worried about the fatigue of the servants, will you be doing nothing? ”

"What's more, it's very simple to be considerate of your subordinates, you can have both, and you can check the officials of the canal with me later, calculate the tolerance for them, and give them an extra business trip allowance."

Speaking of this, Gu Yunji added: "Of course, this part of the extra allowance comes from my own private property, and I won't use the treasury, Lord Yan can rest assured." ”

Several officials who followed behind Gu Yunji drank a lot of mung bean soup from him these days, and saw him "take the lead", rushing to the front line of promoting potatoes, and they had already followed willingly, and said one after another:

"Don't say anything about allowances or not, as long as Lord Gu speaks, we will follow without complaints. Besides, inspecting the irrigation canal is a big deal, even if it is not for Lord Gu, but also for the people of Xuzhou Prefecture, which is my duty. ”

Hearing these words, Yan Zhengqian's face became even more ugly.