Raising chickens and pigs and digging for wild vegetables, the county magistrate's promotion wa

Chapter 62 Magistrate Yang's Grand Plan and the Ready-Made Injustice

Wang Qiong smiled and said, "Such a large lake is big enough to raise fish, and it can indeed raise quite a lot of fish. But if there are too many fish, they will need to be fed. May I ask Magistrate Yang, does your lake have any aquatic plants or the like?"

"I checked beforehand, and there's hardly any aquatic plant from the bottom to the edge of the lake. It would take who knows how long for the aquatic plants to grow on their own. Until then, does Magistrate Yang intend to let the fish go hungry?"

"Moreover, after the lake is filled with water, it will inevitably be yellow and dirty at first, and any fish that are put in will die. It will take at least ten days to half a month for the lake water to become clear."

Hearing Wang Qiong's concerns, Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "Of course I didn't plant any aquatic plants. However, there is plenty of chicken manure in the chicken farm. After fermentation, it can be used to feed the fish. Moreover, I also plan to plant some reeds and lotus roots by the lake. Not only can the fish eat these things, but the stems and leaves of the reeds and lotus roots can also be used to make paper."

"Moreover, Lord Wang can rest assured that I did not intend to raise fish from the beginning."

"My idea is to wait until the water clears up and the drought is over before starting to raise fish."

As a qualified angler, although Yang Shaofeng may not have caught many fish, he knows very well what fish like to eat and their favorite living environment, including the water depth that different species of fish prefer.

More importantly, it would be a waste to use such a large artificial lake solely for drought prevention, and even adding fish farming would still be a waste of resources.

According to the plan of Magistrate Yang Shaofeng, after the drought is over, people will be asked to plant some reeds and lotus roots by the lake. In the future, they will be able to use the stems and leaves of the reeds and lotus roots to make paper.

This is also the point that Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, values ​​most.

Paper, especially toilet paper.

Damn it, just because paper is such a rare commodity, even Magistrate Yang Shaofeng had to use toilet sticks to solve the problem.

Anyone who frequently uses toilet sticks knows that those lousy things can easily cause bleeding in the anus. Magistrate Yang Shaofeng has lost count of how many times he has bled in the anus because of using toilet sticks, and he's been itching to build a paper mill for a long time.

Moreover, the papermaking was not just for toilet paper, but also for another scheme by Magistrate Yang Shaofeng.

As is well known, the early Ming Dynasty was in dire need of officials, or rather, people who were literate.

For example, in Ningyang County, only one magistrate, Yang Shaofeng, was literate, and there was no one to help with many things.

To solve this problem, we first need a large number of literate people. To cultivate a large number of literate people, we need schools, enough books and teaching materials, and enough paper for students to practice writing.

So here's the question: where's the paper?

It wasn't that the Ming Dynasty didn't have paper, but the paper that could be used to print books was a rare commodity, and its price was simply unaffordable for ordinary people. The books printed from it were even more beyond the reach of ordinary families.

Otherwise, Zhu Biao would not have suggested bestowing a set of the Four Books and Five Classics upon Yang Shaofeng.

Therefore, when Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, first conceived of digging an artificial lake, he had already thought of using it to grow reeds and lotus roots, and then using the stems and leaves of the reeds and lotus roots to make paper.

Or rather, Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, had a rather complicated plan.

The first step is to find a way to set up a paper mill, and the paper produced should be divided into two types: toilet paper and printing paper.

The second step is to set up a printing workshop to print books.

The third step was to establish schools. The paper from the paper mill was printed into books by the printing workshop, and the county government would purchase them for use in the schools. These schools were further divided into community schools at the kindergarten and primary school levels, and county schools at the middle school level.

The fourth step was to bring the students trained at the county school to work as servants in the county government, so that Magistrate Yang could easily coast through his days.

These four steps need to be planned on an annual basis.

But it doesn't matter. Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, is still young and has plenty of time to slowly advance this four-step plan. Moreover, there is a ready-made traitor right next to him that he can use. As long as the last step of the plan is not told to him, and only the first three steps are mentioned under the guise of promoting the teachings of the sages, Wang Qiong, a bookworm who has become pedantic from studying too much, will definitely help wholeheartedly. He might even take the initiative to ask Old Zhu and Little Zhu for help.

As Magistrate Yang had predicted, after hearing Magistrate Yang Shaofeng's description of the first three steps of the plan, Wang Qiong, the wronged son, immediately declared: "After autumn, as long as Magistrate Yang writes a letter, I will find a way to find two papermaking craftsmen for you from the capital!"

The two chatted and laughed, and soon arrived at the artificial lake in Liumiao Village.

Seeing the turbid river water flowing into the lake, even if it only wets a small part of the lake bottom, Yang Shaofeng, the magistrate, felt extremely happy.

“Once Daming Lake is filled with water,” Yang Shaofeng said with a smile, “there won’t be a complete crop failure in the autumn, and this drought will no longer be fatal. Perhaps it can even save His Majesty and the court some grain?”

However, to Yang Shaofeng's utter surprise, Wang Qiong, with his thick eyebrows and large eyes, said meaningfully at this moment: "Magistrate Yang, have you ever heard the saying that only the squeaky wheel gets the grease?"

Yang Shaofeng was slightly taken aback, then tentatively asked, "What does Wang Sheren mean?"

Wang Qiong chuckled and said, "I didn't say anything, I just asked if Magistrate Yang had heard of such a saying."

Yang Shaofeng immediately understood what was going on.

If you consider Wang Qiong a great victim, wouldn't Wang Qiong also consider the national treasury a great victim?

In any case, the drought in Ningyang County was obvious. However, with the artificial lake, even if the imperial court refused to allocate relief grain, the people of Ningyang County could still get through it. But if the imperial court allocated relief grain, the people of Ningyang County would not have to suffer.

The money saved by whether or not to endure the hardship will not belong to Yang Shaofeng, nor to Emperor Zhu Chongba and the young Vice Emperor Zhu, and certainly not to Wang Qiong.

So why should we save money and food for the national treasury?

You should know that when ordinary people have no food, they won't resent the national treasury; they'll only blame Magistrate Yang Shaofeng for failing to get food from the imperial court.

Having figured out the key point and understood Wang Qiong's desire to befriend him, Magistrate Yang Shaofeng smiled and said, "Brother Wang, you haven't been to the North before, have you?"

Wang Qiong smiled and said, "I have been living in Jiangnan for a long time and have never been to the North."

Yang Shaofeng laughed and said, "In that case, Brother Wang might as well stay in Ningyang County for a few more days. You can see how the young men of Ningyang County are digging artificial lakes. The artificial lake in Liumiao Village is just the first one. Next, we will dig the artificial lake in the east of the city. By the way, Brother Wang can also see more about the daily life of the people in the north. You can tell His Majesty and the Crown Prince about it when you go back."