Qin Official

"Seven or eight years ago, when I was serving as a soldier in Jiangling, Cao Zuoshi, the governor of Ye County visited the county in April and asked me to accompany him. Only then did I realize that the official with two thousand stones traveled with great splendor. At that time, I thought that one day I would also be a Once you become a feudal official, you should feel the honor and the responsibilities you shoulder, but I didn’t expect that this day would come so quickly..."

In late May, it was estimated that the edict from Xianyang was about to arrive in Linzi, and Heifu also started his trip to the county that had been postponed for a month.

Ye Zijin arranged his clothes for him. She was used to a life of gathering less and being apart more often. She joked: "At that time, did my beloved ever think that he would become Governor Ye's good son-in-law?"

Heifu smiled and said, "I really thought about it."

Ye Zijin covered his mouth and said with a smile: "My beloved, it turned out that I had a plan in advance."

But Hei Fu pinched his wife's sharp chin: "How can you not miss the good cabbage?"

Ye blinked and asked, "What is cabbage?"

"Well, it's a type of wild cabbage. There aren't as many vegetables in the Central Plains as there are in Nanjun. I'm asking farmers to try growing them. Maybe I can eat them when I come back..."

After the couple's daily banter ended, Hei Fu said to Ye Zijin again: "I want to take Weiyang with me on this trip to the county."

Yang is the son of Heifu's eldest brother Zhong. When he first came to the Qin Dynasty, Yang was just a little kid of five or six years old. Now ten years have passed and Zhong is nearly forty, and Yang has grown into a tall sixteen-year-old boy. juvenile.

Because of the rapid growth of their family's status and wealth, Yang, who yawned early to help his mother pound rice ten years ago, was sent to school early. Now he can read and write, and even went to Yuzhang County to learn from Dongmen Bao. Good at halberd skills.

When Heifu asked his wife to come to Jiaodong, he brought his nephew with him. As the eldest grandson of their family, Heifu didn't want Weiyang to accomplish anything, so he wanted to take Weiyang with him and teach him carefully.

"A good man also needs his own family by his side."

Ye Zijin understood that Heifu's family now had a big business. For example, when it came to the sugar mill, it was inconvenient even for Chen Ping, Gong Ao and others to intervene. It had to be done by his own relatives. Their Ye family branch It is thin and cannot help the black husband. It is a good choice to train the descendants of the husband's family.

When Hei Fu put on his robe and crown and came to the gate of the county government, he saw his nephew Wei Yang, already dressed in fine clothes, armor and sword, chatting with Cao Shen. When Hei Fu came out, he immediately came to salute: "Father Zhong...junjun!"

This is Heifu's instruction. When in front of others, don't call him Zhongfu, but call him by his official name.

Heifu asked Weiyang to ride with him. Seeing his eyes were bloodshot, he said, "Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"I didn't sleep all night..." Wei Yang touched his head, feeling a little embarrassed.

Weiyang traveled eastward and saw various famous mountains and rivers, increasing his knowledge. However, he had been in Jiaodong for two months, but he could only stay in Jimo City. Now that he heard that Heifu was willing to take him to visit the county, he was very excited. , before leaving, I didn’t sleep well all night.

"I can't help myself when I think about traveling to the county with the king and seeing the legendary sea." The young man regarded this trip as a new journey.

Hei Fu smiled and said: "It's not surprising if you see him more. You might even think that he is just Yun Mengze who is several times older."

Wei Yang was surprised: "Your Majesty, have you ever seen the sea?"

Heifu smiled but didn't answer. Of course he had seen it before, and it was also the sea in Shandong. In his previous life, when he graduated from high school, he went to Qingdao to see the sea, drink draft beer, and eat prawns.

However, after two thousand years of changes, the beach where he once stood may still be submerged in the sea.

"When I have some success in running the county, I will definitely use my power for personal gain and build a sea-view house there..."

With this in mind, Heifu's huge convoy also left Jimo. He asked Chen Ping, the most trustworthy chief official, to stay behind, with Xiao He and Ku Li as assistants. Chen Ping used Chen Ping's methods to guard this three-acre land of Jimo. should be no problem.

In addition to Wei Yang, Heifu also brought along the thief Cao Youshi Cao Shen. In history, this person was only named "Xiao Gui Cao Sui" for future generations. He seemed to have no ability, but after a few months of contact, Only then did Hei Fu realize that Cao Shen had his own abilities. He was not only proficient in laws and regulations, but also had good skills. He could be brave and fearless, but he could also be careful and steady.

Heifu didn't know that in the original history, Cao Shen was famous for his military exploits. After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, when the contributions of all ministers were calculated, Cao Shen conquered two countries and one hundred and twenty-two counties. He won two kings and three ministers. , six generals, one each from Mo Ao, the county guard, the Sima, the marquis, and the censor...

In the end, Cao Shen suffered seventy wounds and had the most success in conquering the city, so he should be ranked first. However, he was forcibly suppressed by Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. He successfully gave the first meritorious service to the civil servant Xiao He through the theory of meritorious man and meritorious dog.

It seems that it is destined that from Pei County to the imperial court, Lao Cao will always be overshadowed by Lao Xiao and will be the second child for thousands of years. This guy may be aggrieved at first, but later he figured it out. Others said that he "Xiao Gui Cao" Then, he laughed it off and was very happy.

But in this era, Cao Shen made his choice one step earlier than Xiao He, so he was highly regarded by Hei Fu. The secret competition between him and Xiao He also became brothers going up the mountain, each relying on his own ability.

…

After walking a few miles, when he passed the public fields in the west of Jimo City, Heifu stopped the carriage and went down to visit the farmer disciples who were in the experimental field.

The entire public land of hundreds of acres was given to Xu Sheng and his companions for their use. Under Heifu's suggestion, it was divided into valleys dedicated to growing grains and improving farming techniques. As well as vegetable gardens for growing vegetables and improving varieties.

Compared with the last time Heifu came to inspect, there is an extra sapling on the edge of the field. This is a newly planted fruit tree...

But as the saying goes, it takes ten years for a tree to bear fruit, and it takes many years for a fruit tree to bear fruit. The same is true for grains. Jiaodong cannot compare with Jiangnan and can only be harvested once a year. Whether those intensive farming methods can increase production will only be known in the autumn.

But growing vegetables is different. The growth cycle is shorter, and different varieties can be grown throughout the year. So recently, Xu Sheng and several important disciples have focused their energy on the vegetable garden.

As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, the gardening industry in the Central Plains was very developed. There were people who specialized in cultivating vegetables and fruit trees, and they were called "old gardeners." Farmers had many talents who were proficient in this field and had taught Books about people planting trees.

"These people are the contemporary Yuan Longping, the great druid..." Heifu felt that he had found a treasure.

He was very strong when facing noble officials, but in front of farmers, he was respectful and polite, without any official authority. He also likes to show off his lower-class background. Heifu even wore shorts and asked Xu Sheng for advice on the farm...

Xu Sheng admired the governor's attitude very much, so whenever Hei Fu had any small "suggestions", he would believe them and let his disciples try them.

Hei Fu and others walked into the vegetable garden, and Xu Sheng came up with his disciples in brown to greet them. The two chatted for a while, and Xu Sheng mentioned that a month ago, Jijiu Xiao He organized disciples from his school to visit the vegetable garden, and some wealthy people Xu Sheng was really angry and funny that his former disciple actually regarded wheat seedlings as leeks.

"The four bodies are not diligent and the five grains are not separated. These are the scholars and county guards. Such people may know the language of Qin and know the officials of Qin, but once they become officials, how can they know the sufferings of the people? I feel that the officials of Qin in Guanzhong This is a good thing to do, put agriculture first in everything, and officials are not ashamed of farming. This good tradition cannot be thrown away!"

Hei Fu nodded: "Xu Gong's lesson is that in the future, every batch of public school disciples should be sent to the fields and cultivated by themselves for a few days, so that they know the hardships of eating on their plates!"

Well, by the way, the song "Compassion for the Farmers" can also be spread more widely, so that the name of Governor Heifu's compassion for the farmers will be known all over the world.

At this time, Wei Yang, who was beside Hei Fu, said, "Are there really people in this world who don't know the grain?"

He endured a lot of hardships when he was a child, worked in the fields with his parents, and accompanied his grandmother to pick fertilizer and grow vegetables, so he felt that wasn't this an innate ability that a person should have?

Xu Sheng saw that this young man had a simple face and a strong body, but he was wearing a warrior uniform and the sword on his waist was worth a hundred gold, so he smiled and said:

"Young man, looking at your clothes, you are either rich or noble, so you can tell the difference between grains?"

Wei Yang raised his head and said: "Five grains are nothing. I can even name all the vegetables in my father-in-law's vegetable garden."

Xu Sheng, however, did not feel dissatisfied and said with a smile, "Please tell me and listen."

So, the young man who always likes to express himself pointed to the green vegetables in the field and started reciting.

"This is kuicai (winter amaranth), and it is okra grown in summer and harvested in autumn. Although it has a bitter taste, it is most delicious when used as pickled vegetables."

"In the wheat fields, hyacinth is grown. The tender leaves of the hyacinth can be cooked and eaten directly, but it is already a bit old and may be difficult to chew and swallow. Therefore, most of the people who eat this food are common people and concubines, so it is also called Grass-eaters correspond to meat-eaters.”

"The celery grown by the water is not only eaten as a fresh vegetable, but also used as zu. The celery grown by the Yunmeng River in Anlu County, my southern county, is the most delicious. Dad, the celery you have here is probably not as good as it! "

Then, Wei Yang pointed out one by one the green leeks with small white flowers in neat rows, the white and green onions in the fields, and the mustard greens that had just sprouted...

"When I eat fish and clams at home, I use shallots to make sauce in the spring and mustard in the autumn." As he said this, Weiyang missed the fresh fish in Yunmengze, and he still couldn't get used to eating sea fish.

After Wei Yang finished speaking one by one, Hei Fu scolded him: "Boy, your aunt is still growing these vegetables at home. How can you not know? Why don't you back down!"

He then apologized to Xu Sheng and said, "This is my useless nephew. He just came from Nanjun. He doesn't know the etiquette. Don't blame me, Mr. Xu."

"No wonder, no wonder."

Xu Sheng liked Wei Yang, who was outspoken and honest, and sighed: "The education of the county governor's family is really good. Although they have become rich, the children have not forgotten the things they did in the fields when they were young..."

Heifu said: "What Mr. Xu said makes sense. I ask Mr. Xu and his family to stay in Jiaodong. In addition to studying intensive farming methods so that the land can produce more grains, I also want more people to be able to eat delicious vegetables."

As Wei Yang just pointed out, various vegetables have become an indispensable part of people's daily food. Not only nobles, commoners and slaves often used it to supplement food shortages. There is a saying in Jiaodong: "Unripe grain means hunger, and unripe vegetables mean glutton."

A variety of vegetables can not only adjust the simple diet structure of the people, but also improve the quality of life. Just chewing corn is difficult to swallow.

But these days, many high-yield vegetables have not yet appeared. Although onions and leeks are available, there is no garlic. Other vegetables can only be used as seasonings, and no one can bear to eat them every day.

It wasn't until Guan Zhong introduced mallow from Shanrong that it firmly established itself as the king of vegetables these days.

Heifu has been eating sunflower vegetables for the past ten years and found that it contains mucilage and tastes fat and smooth when cooked. These days, oil is rarely used in cooking. Animal fat is rare and cannot be commonly used by ordinary people. Sunflower seeds, which have their own mucilage, make up for this shortcoming very well.

And another advantage of sunflower is that it can be grown in all seasons. Those planted in summer and picked in autumn are called okra, those planted in autumn and picked in winter are called mallow, and those planted again in the first month are called spring sunflower. In ancient times, there was a lack of storage and preservation technology, so sunflower seeds had obvious advantages in this regard.

But even so, Heifu still couldn't praise the taste and yield of sunflower seeds.

The Chinese cabbage of later generations is far superior to sunflower in terms of taste, yield, cold resistance, and ease of storage. If it can be cultivated, it will be a great benefit to agriculture.

The point is, Heifu really wants to eat a meal of vegetarian stir-fried cabbage or mutton stewed cabbage...

That's why Hei Fu proposed to Xu Sheng to use wild "Chinese cabbage", the ancestor of cabbage, to cultivate Chinese cabbage, which is common in later generations. This will be the farmer's key project in the next few months!

After inspecting the vegetable garden, Hei Fu was about to leave. Xu Sheng saw that he was going to Xingxian County, so he joked:

"When I was in Guanzhong, I often heard that the county governor visited the county in April to work with the farmers and persuade the people, but he might have missed the time. It is now the middle of May, and the county governor's visit to the county is too late..."

But Heifu laughed, pointed at the vegetables in the garden and said:

"My administration is just like growing vegetables in an old garden. It can be done in any four seasons. Why bother only focusing on March and April?"

The first batch of disciples in the school have left the school, the assassination case in Chunyu County has been investigated, the gold mine in Huang County is about to be excavated, the corruption situation in each county has been found out, and the salt industry and bandits, which are the deepest problems, have also been solved. Law……

After he came to Jiaodong, he endured it for a few months. From having nothing to having a hand of cards slowly accumulated in his hand, it was time to play!

"The reason I am visiting the county is to sow vegetable seeds throughout the county so that they will sprout and grow. By autumn and winter, the gardens will be filled with edible green sunflower seeds and white rice seeds!"