Chapter 1600 Xin Zijuan Establishes the Foundation

Feng Ziying didn't pay much attention to Fu Shi's marriage proposal in Rongguo Mansion. This was all agreed upon in advance. There was no way that Jia She and his wife had any regrets. It was nothing more than a matter of betrothal gifts and debts. He had already authorized Fu Shi has full authority to handle it.

 Fu Shi is prudent in his work and has inextricable connections with the Rongguo Mansion. He is the best candidate to discuss family affairs.

　　The Shuntian government office that has undergone purges is refreshing. With the vigorous adjustment of the official office, execution room and prison hall, the official Song Xian also began to actively move closer to Feng Ziying, and two people in the Wutong trial started to move from neutral to Feng Ziying.

 This is the result Feng Ziying wants.

Without a stable and sound government team, he would not be able to cope with the crisis that Zhou Dynasty may face in the future. Now all the officials in the court are too optimistic about this crisis, and even think that it does not exist, but Feng Ziying does not dare to do so.

As for the people in the Shuntian Prefecture Yamen, they are not aware of this at all. Even the severe drought in the Northland they just think that it may bring some troubles caused by the refugee factors as in previous years. The proliferation of the White Lotus Sect is just like an ordinary club. The disease of ringworm and scabies was insignificant, which only added to Feng Ziying’s inner anxiety.

When he was unable to exert much influence on the court, Feng Ziying could only base himself on his own territory of Shuntian Mansion. He wanted to firmly control the situation of Shuntian Mansion. If something happened, he could use his fingers to control the Shuntian Mansion and even the states and counties under his jurisdiction. They all moved quickly and acted according to their own intentions.

Shuntian Prefecture has five prefectures and twenty-two counties. Each prefecture and county is very important, but Feng Ziying also knows that it is unrealistic for her to control so many prefectures and counties in a short period of time. In addition, she is not the prefecture governor yet, even if Wu Daonan No matter how little he does, he is nominally the governor, so he can only selectively capture some key states and counties that he considers.

For example, Tongzhou, Daxing, Wanping, Zunhua, Shunyi, and Changping are the most critical prefectures and counties, followed by Sanhe, Miyun, Zhuozhou, Fengrun, and Wuqing.

Needless to say, Daxing and Wanping are within the city. Tongzhou is the key pass for the water and land wharf of the capital. Zunhua is because of the iron factory. At the same time, Malanyu and Longjingguan are to the north. Shunyi and Changping are the northern and northwest key passes respectively.

Three rivers guard the throat of the east, Miyun is a key place in the north, Zhuozhou is an important military town in the southwest and a battleground for military strategists, Fengrun is the throat connecting Yongping Prefecture, Wuqing is close to the canal and controls the Fenghe Canal.

These places are of vital importance. A slight instability can easily affect the public sentiment in the capital, so Feng Ziying believes that she must strive to control these places, or as long as she has enough influence on these areas.

Fang Kezhuang and Feng Ziying, the governor of Tongzhou, are fellow Shandong people. After the night murder case, the relationship between the two quickly became closer. After Wu Daonan gradually let go and Feng Ziying gradually took control of the Shuntian government office, Fang Kezhuang and Feng Ziying became even closer.

Although Liu Sijie, the magistrate of Fengrun County, is from Jiangxi, he is serious about his work. Feng Ziying had dealt with him when he accepted refugees in Yongping Mansion, and they had some friendship. After Feng Ziying became the Prime Minister of Shuntian Prefecture, although Liu Sijie did not take the initiative to visit him, he After Feng Ziying went to Fengrun twice, Liu Sixue gradually became closer to Feng Ziying.

Liu Sijie didn't have the kind of aloof and arrogant temperament. At first, he subconsciously kept a distance because Feng Ziying was from the north. But now that Feng Ziying has become his immediate boss and is deliberately making friends with her, he will certainly not refuse Feng Ziying's friendship. .

The magistrates of several counties, including Yutian Magistrate Guo Zhigui, had a bad impression on Feng Ziying, and they had long wanted to make adjustments. However, it is not an easy task for the magistrates of Shuntian Prefecture to adjust. They need to coordinate well with the officials, and the officials may not necessarily Will be willing to follow your intentions.

According to Feng Ziying’s idea, in areas like the capital, it is important to have officials who can do things and bring peace to the people. Otherwise, if something happens, the local government will be helpless, which will inevitably cause shocks in the capital and affect the situation of the government.

It's a pity that this is just his wishful thinking. Countless people are watching these counties and counties in Gyeonggi, and they can only hope to get in through various ways. The struggle between the north and the south is indispensable, so there is no way he can be left alone.

In this case, only by finding suitable opportunities and making some adjustments can we make arrangements.

"Brother Yibo, please sit down." The visitor was a skinny man in his early thirties, but he was very energetic and walked with a wind. Feng Ziying greeted him to take a seat.

“Sir, that potato is really extraordinary!” His voice was loud and disproportionate to his skinny figure. He had a dark complexion, bright eyes, and spoke with a Shaanxi accent.

Feng Ziying also admired this person very much. According to historical records, this name is also a bit strange. He was from Weinan, Shaanxi, with the courtesy name Yibo. He was a Jinshi in the 33rd year of Yuanxi and was the magistrate of Dong'an County.

“What, brother Yi Bo, don’t you complain now, don’t you say that I am using my power to suppress others?” Feng Ziying laughed.

The black-faced man, Shi Jishi, sat down and said loudly: "Xiaguan apologizes to you first. It's because you are stupid. I didn't expect Master Xu to come up with such a thing that benefits the people while living in seclusion in Tianjin Wei. If this potato can be promoted on a large scale, even if the Northland encounters a severe drought in the future, it will at least be much better than before. Barren mountainous areas like ours in Shaanxi and Shanxi are especially suitable for growing this thing. This is our Shuntian Prefecture. Adults should also do their best to promote it, so that refugees will not flock to it in the future and have nothing to eat.”

"Promotion must be promoted, but there are still some difficulties and problems." Feng Ziying waved her hand, "Seedling problems, degradation problems, and taste problems, but I think these are not problems. The key is that everyone must be able to accept it. , you and I accept it, and even people around us think it is a good thing, but you are going to let all the people plant it right now. Do they believe it? Are they willing? This is only one season's harvest. Who would easily take away a year's full harvest? Do you treat this as a child’s play?”

Shi Jishi remained silent. Of course, he knew how difficult it was to get the people to accept a new thing. Moreover, the effect could not be seen in three to five days. It would take a season, and there would also be a risk of no harvest in a season. This was going to require hunger. No one would risk death easily.

Moreover, even within a county, the trust between this village and that village is very low. If you succeed in planting in one village, that village may not be able to accept it, unless they themselves have also tried successfully and let their neighbors Only when people can truly see the benefits will they have the courage to try.

 “What’s your opinion, sir?”

Shi Jishi was not willing to let this drag on. As the magistrate of Dong'an County, he knew very well that after the severe drought in the north this year, not only the entire Beizhili, but also Henan, Shandong, and Shaanxi were in poor condition. The situation in his hometown of Shaanxi was even worse. , if the promotion of this crop is delayed even one day, hundreds or even thousands more people may starve to death this winter and next spring.

"Yang Chu has an idea, that is, the prefecture and county will spend some money as encouragement, and select fifty to one hundred households and one thousand acres of land in the prefecture or county to conduct experiments, and the county will take care of the seeds. , irrigation, fertilization, weeding, etc., everything is trained and decided by the county. All the potatoes and sweet potatoes grown are given to the surrounding people to taste. In addition, each grower must find three to five households to recruit people to help participate. Planting, let them understand on the spot,..."

 This plan was finalized after discussions between Feng Ziying and Fang Kezhuang. It is now very difficult to promote potatoes and sweet potatoes, and ordinary people do not believe it at all.

It is even more impossible to get people to take the initiative to plant. We can only use carrots and sticks to force the promotion, so that people can see the effect as early as possible, let them see the planting with their own eyes, and truly realize the benefits. Only then can these people be able to plant. of positivity.

“In addition, policies must also be introduced to allow the county to purchase sweet potatoes and potatoes grown at a discount, which can be used to offset the land tax,…”

Feng Ziying's words made Shi Jishi stand up and shake his head like a rattle, "How can this be done? There is no follow-up from the Ministry of Revenue, who dares?"

 This household collects land tax, and only three types of food crops are wheat, rice, and millet, and none of the others are needed, because these three kinds are easy to store, and potatoes and sweet potatoes are not easy to preserve, and there is no way they can be collected as land tax.

“Uncle Yi, let’s talk about it. What do you think of today’s weather and the wheat harvest?” Feng Ziying’s words left Shi Jishi speechless.

"It's just a nominal statement to reassure the people." Feng Ziying said calmly: "In the next spring, people will starve to death. Where will the land tax come from? The court will definitely reduce it, and the potatoes and sweet potatoes will become life-saving things. Who cares whether you can get a discount?"

Shi Jishi sat down and didn't speak for a while, and finally asked: "Is this the case in other counties?"

"Uncle Yi, to tell you the truth, only three or five counties can do this. I am not that capable of making other counties accept it. This is not a decree of the imperial court, but it is just that you and I are worried about the severe drought in the north. It's just famine and refugees." Feng Ziying leaned on the official hat chair, "Being an official does not serve the people, but you just want to keep the black gauze hat on your head. Isn't it really pointless to be an official?"

Aroused by Feng Ziying's words, Shi Jishi also blushed, "My lord, there is no need to be so irritated. Shi agreed to this matter!"

"Okay, then I also make a promise to Uncle Yi. If no one cares about the sweet potatoes that have been collected or cannot be processed, I will keep them all!" Feng Ziying also patted her chest, "I also hope that Uncle Yi can Mobilize more people to plant in this guaranteed area. Dong'an is located between the Hun River and the Feng River. There are many saline-alkali wastelands. As long as there are people who are willing to plant, we can encourage them as much as possible..."

Shi Jishi nodded: "Xiaoguan understands that this winter and next spring will be difficult. If we don't make preparations earlier, Xianguan is worried that the refugees in Hejian Prefecture in the south will go north again. Mr. Feng, you will be under greater pressure."

 (End of this chapter)