met free Chapter 180 I'll set an example for you first!
Chapter 180 I'll set an example for you first!
Magistrate Yang looked at the table he had created and felt very satisfied, giving himself a thumbs up.
The first thing to consider is the population size of Ningyang County.
In the first year of the Hongwu reign, when Magistrate Yang first took over Ningyang County, there were 501 households, and a total of 2,106 people living inside and outside the city.
By the end of the first year of Hongwu, including the people who had moved from nearby counties and prefectures, as well as newborn babies, Ningyang County had 563 households, with a total of 2,550 people inside and outside the city.
If we include all the wounded and disabled soldiers like Bo Wu, who were sent over by Chang Yuchun and Xu Da, the population of Ningyang County would surge to over 2,700, approaching the 2,800 mark.
Meanwhile, the amount of farmland in Ningyang County has also increased in tandem, from a few thousand mu when Magistrate Yang first took over Ningyang County to more than 60,000 mu now, a tenfold increase.
Other miscellaneous data, such as the number of workshops and shops, and the income of the people, also showed a crazy increase. Anyone who saw this would have to praise Magistrate Yang for his effective governance.
Of course, the number of more than 2,500 people is still too few for a county, and the amount of farmland is also meager. The number of workshops and shops is indeed impressive compared to the surrounding prefectures and counties of Ningyang County, but it is far from enough compared to some prefectures and counties in Jiangnan. Ningyang County still has a lot of room for improvement.
Then, Magistrate Yang filled in the population column on the dimension table as follows: Hongwu 2nd year, 3,100; Hongwu 3rd year, 3,800; Hongwu 4th year, 4,500; Hongwu 5th year, 4,900.
The number increases by about 700 people every year. This number is not too exaggerated compared to the current population of Ningyang County, and it is not very difficult to complete. In particular, Zhu Chongba, that old man, will also carry out the Hongwu Great Migration. Maybe in a year it will surge to 10,000 or 20,000 people.
The same applies to the number of acres. In the first year of Hongwu's reign, there were 60,000 acres. So, wouldn't it be normal to add 80,000 acres in the third year of Hongwu's reign? It would also seem quite normal to add 100,000 acres in the third year of Hongwu's reign.
Ideally, another 40,000 mu of wasteland should be reclaimed in the second year of Hongwu's reign. At that time, I would report 20,000 mu, and save the remaining 20,000 mu for the third year of Hongwu's reign. In any case, I must leave room for slacking off and never set myself a bunch of unachievable tasks.
Well, now it depends on whether the officials in the imperial court know what's good for them. If they do, they'll stay in Ningyang County and laze around, keeping to themselves. If they don't, then we'll come up with something like "chicken farts" and "Magistrate Yang's Index" to crush them.
If all else fails, expose the old port pacification commission and the spice business—those bastards fooled Old Deng into being illiterate, tricked him into establishing a bunch of non-conquerable countries, and even set up a completely fabricated maritime ban system. Then we'll overturn them all at once, and then trick Old Chang and Old Xu into going to sea to plunder money, cutting them off completely!
Barely managing to pull his thoughts back from wandering off into the unknown, Magistrate Yang turned his attention back to the "culture" category on the dimension table.
Ningyang County is such a tiny county that it shouldn't be associated with any culture. Things like compiling the "Hongwu Dictionary" and "Hongwu Zhengyun" have absolutely nothing to do with Ningyang County. The only thing Ningyang County can do is printing.
As for literacy campaigns and how many scholars can be trained... by the second year of Hongwu's reign, there was basically no hope. If the literacy rate of the people under his rule could reach 500 characters per person, that would be considered a great blessing. It was impossible to produce even one scholar at the level of Xiucai (a lower-level scholar), and perhaps a few dozen at the level of Tongsheng (a lower-level scholar).
Then, Magistrate Yang filled in the culture column with: "In the second year of Hongwu, the average person was literate... In the fourth year of Hongwu, the average person was literate with 800 characters, and the illiteracy rate dropped to 40-50%... In the fifth year of Hongwu... Before the third year of Hongwu, there was one paper mill and one printing mill."
It still leaves plenty of room for slacking off and doing nothing.
Tsk tsk, I personally demonstrated to you what it means to make a plan and what it means to leave room for slacking off and doing nothing. Where can you find someone as kind as me?
After praising himself once again, Magistrate Yang strolled out of the study and onto the recliner in the courtyard.
Alright, there are only two more days until the New Year. I'll set off for two days first, so that all the officials in the court can have a good New Year in peace.
The thought of the New Year made Magistrate Yang somewhat unhappy.
When his mother-in-law left, she took both of his young wives with her. It was already the 27th of the lunar year, and he was left alone in the Ningyang County government office to celebrate the New Year. How utterly desolate...
Furthermore, Ningyang County is ultimately too poor; even if you wanted to get some fireworks or firecrackers, there's nothing to sell.
Do you expect me to personally handle the gunpowder?
The problem is, I don't know how to make fireworks either. The only thing I know is one part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, three parts charcoal, and a little sugar. This stuff has absolutely nothing to do with fireworks!
The more he thought about it, the more his head ached. Magistrate Yang simply shook his head to banish all these messy thoughts from his mind and began to think about how to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. At the same time, he was also thinking about where to get a few geese after the New Year.
Despite their apparent indifference, Magistrate Yang never placed all his hopes on Chen Zhong and Liu Yang.
……
While Magistrate Yang was lounging around in the back office of Ningyang County, Chen Zhong, Liu Yang, the Secretary of the Court of Imperial Clan Affairs, and the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Rites had already rushed to Fengyang and headed straight for Liu Jizu's house.
Upon meeting Liu Jizu, Chen Zhong went straight to the point and explained his purpose: "We have come to Fengyang to ask you, Lord Liu, to go to the capital after the spring to act as a marriage envoy on behalf of Magistrate Yang of Ningyang County to propose marriage to the two adopted daughters of the Empress and the Empress."
Since Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, although Liu Jizu has not yet been granted a title, his status in Fengyang has risen dramatically. Not only does the magistrate of Fengyang County fawn over Liu Jizu, but even Liu De, a landlord from Liu Jizu's own family who was originally much wealthier than Liu Jizu's, has now completely submitted to him, fearing that he might be eliminated by Emperor Zhu one day.
Now, this damned eunuch has inexplicably come here and asked me to act as a marriage envoy for a county magistrate who is thousands of miles away and whom I have never even heard of.
Moreover, they were acting on behalf of a county magistrate to ask for the marriage of two of Zhu Chongba's adopted daughters.
Good heavens, is it me, Liu Jizu, who has a problem with my ears, or is this dead eunuch in front of me out of his mind?
Or perhaps that magistrate was really something extraordinary that Chongba insisted on marrying his two adopted daughters to him?
Liu Jizu opened his slightly cloudy old eyes and looked at Chen Zhong, asking, "Is what you mean, Elder Chen, is that I, Liu, should ask His Majesty's two adopted daughters on behalf of a county magistrate?"
Seeing Chen Zhong nod, Liu Jizu laughed and said, "Good, good, then I, Liu, will make a trip to the capital to serve as the marriage envoy."