Chapter 162 Inspection (asking for monthly ticket)

The school in Wendeng County is not big and looks very simple.

This is understandable. After all, the imperial court did not explicitly order the establishment of an official school in the county. This school was squeezed out of the teeth by the county magistrate Feng Qing.

It is now class time and there is a crowd of people outside, standing on tiptoe and stretching their necks to look inside.

After all, Li Xiang is only a teenager and his altitude is not very high. Among this group of adults, he is like a little gazelle mixed in with a group of giraffes.

Who am I, where am I, and what is in front of me?
"Old Xue, come here." Li Xiang waved at Xue Rengui.

Xue Rengui squatted down obediently and let Li Xiang ride on him.

Standing high and looking far, Li Xiang rode on someone's neck and then realized that the school was full of people.

There was still a lot of vacant space inside, but even so, people outside the door were not allowed to enter the school to listen.

Inside was a middle-aged man wearing a dark green official robe. He had a gaunt face, but he exuded a righteous air.

According to the rules of the Tang Dynasty, officials of the third rank and above wore purple, officials of the fourth to fifth rank wore scarlet, officials of the sixth rank wore dark green, officials of the seventh rank wore light green, and officials of the eighth and ninth rank wore blue.

It seems that this person is undoubtedly the county magistrate Feng Qing.

Unlike Li Xiang's impression of an honest official from a humble family, the county magistrate's official robe had no patches and looked as colorful as if it were brand new.

Feng Qing’s teaching level is quite good, at least Li Xiang can understand what he is saying.

"Brother." At Li Xiang's signal, Duan Zan pulled over a young man in patched clothes.

The young man was disturbed and was frowning, but when he saw Duan Zan's hand on the hilt of the knife, his eyes suddenly cleared.

It has to be clear. Duan Zan has a very burly physique, and with that steel knife, anyone would be scared.

To be honest, this was just Duan Zan's subconscious action, because it really saves energy to put your hand on the knife when you carry it...

"Why are you standing at the door listening to the lecture?" Duan Zan asked curiously.

The young man glanced at him, and considering Duan Zan's physique, decided not to say anything more.

But Li Xiang could understand that look, which clearly said, "Guess why I didn't go in, don't I want to?"

"My family is poor and cannot afford the tuition." The young man sighed and said, "But the county magistrate has graciously allowed us to listen in from outside the door, which is also a favor."

"Then why don't you go in?" Duan Zan asked again.

"Thanks to the grace of Your Excellency, we are lucky to be able to attend the lecture here. It is impossible that those who have not paid the tuition will be treated the same as those who have paid the tuition," the young man replied.

What you said makes so much sense, I'm speechless.

After chatting for a few more words, Duan Zan let the young man go and continued his class.

"This County Magistrate Feng is a strange man. He would rather not have enough food than be without clothes." Li Xiang, who was riding on Xue Rengui, said happily: "He only cares about being clean and tidy for the sake of appearance. This is really..."

"Who said it wasn't?" Duan Zan also said with a smile.

After the get out of class was over, Feng Qing stayed in the classroom for a while and answered students' questions carefully.

The students did not shy away from his status as a county magistrate and asked him questions one by one. Feng Qing accepted all of them and did not think there was anything wrong with it. He carefully answered their questions.

Seeing that it was time for dinner, Feng Qing was about to leave in a hurry, but was stopped by Duan Zan.

"County Master, my son..."

"Do you want to go to school?" Feng Qing didn't wait for Duan Zan to finish. He glanced at him and said, "I see that you are from a wealthy family. If you want to go to school, you should go to the state."

"That's not the case. My son saw that the school was dilapidated and wanted to donate 100 strings of cash." Duan Zan said.

Feng Qing was about to leave, but his eyes lit up when he heard these words.

"Okay, okay, let's go to the county government office and discuss it in detail." Feng Qing said immediately.

The group followed Feng Qing, who was becoming noticeably more enthusiastic, and walked towards the county government office.

As for donating money, there is no need to go through so many twists and turns. The money was indeed sent out. Feng Qing was very happy and invited Li Xiang and others to have a simple meal at the county government office.

Fortunately, what we ate was not pickled vegetables and rolled tofu.

In order to earn the hundred strings of cash, Feng Qing personally cooked a simple meal for the group.

This dignified county lord is not arrogant - it can be said that life has smoothed out his edges.

The most important thing is, isn’t it these one hundred strings of money that were burned?

With this money, I can invite a few poor students to teach me.

"What kind of day is the county master having today? Why are you even taking out the eggs and soybean oil that you normally don't want to eat?"

Hearing the servants whispering beside him, Li Xiang looked at the plate of scrambled eggs, then at Feng Qing who was walking over with the dishes.

"This is a new trend in the capital. This soybean oil was sent by friends in the capital." Feng Qing said with a smile.

So that's how it is, Li Xiang suddenly realized.

It is not easy to eat soybean oil here.

Feng Qing had passed the Mingjing exam in those days, and although there was no such close relationship as classmates in those days, he did make a few close friends.

It is normal for friends to give each other small gifts.

The food was indeed delicious and very simple. Li Xiang felt that it was okay to skip two meals, because if he ate too much, he would definitely miss the fat meat.

After dinner, it was time to chat.

Feng Qing did not start the conversation on the spot, but asked the servant to bring hot water over, pour the hot water into the plate, and rinse the remaining oil into the bowl.

He rubbed the chopsticks carefully, picked up the bowl full of hot water, first sucked off the layer of oil on it, and then sipped it gently with a satisfied look.

Li Xiang looked at Feng Qing in astonishment. How could this man be so frugal?
He could also see that Feng Qing was really enjoying the process of drinking hot water, his Adam's apple was shaking with joy.

Seeing everyone looking at him in astonishment, Feng Qing blushed a little, put down the empty bowl in his hand, and smiled embarrassedly: "Sorry, I'm used to it."

"That's okay." Li Xiang also expressed his understanding of this frugality.

Li Xiang sat in the county government office and began to chat with Feng Qing about all sorts of things.

You wouldn't know it if you didn't tell him. Li Xiang suddenly remembered that during the Tang Dynasty, Rushan was part of Wendeng's jurisdiction.

As for Rushan, everyone who knows it knows it, and everyone knows about Rushan oysters.

After communicating with Feng Qing, Li Xiang realized that there is a way to farm oysters nowadays.

In the beginning, in Wendeng, the method of cultivating oysters was generally to insert bamboo into the sea, but after Feng Qing took office, he brought a new method of oyster cultivation to Wendeng.

According to Feng Qing, he had heard a legend in Lingnan. The legend roughly meant that a ship loaded with tiles was overturned by the waves while sailing, and the tiles fell into the sea. Later, the locals discovered that many oysters, each of them large and plump, were parasitic on the tiles.

He took this matter to heart, and when he took office, he used this method to cultivate oysters in the sea of ​​Wendeng. He placed pottery shards and stones as attachments in deep sea water. The oysters he cultivated were fatter and tenderer, and the yield was much higher than when they were cultivated with bamboo.

Li Xiang mentally recorded Feng Qing as "capable".

Duan Zan didn't like seafood. He frowned and complained, "Who would like to eat this?"

Who knew that Li Xiang said lightly: "Master Sun said this thing is aphrodisiac."

Duan Zan, who was not interested in oysters at all, suddenly widened his eyes as big as a cow's after hearing this. If you say this, then I won't be sleepy anymore.

"Is there such a saying?" Feng Qing's eyes also sparkled.

"What? County Master Feng also wants to improve his sexual performance?" Li Xiang teased.

Feng Qing's face twitched, but he kept smiling and said, "That's not the case. If we use this as a gimmick and promote it in Chang'an, I'm sure the fishermen who farm oysters will also have more income."

Finally, he said with some emotion: "It's not just oysters. Fish caught from the sea are also not easy to store. If they are sold near the sea, it's fine. But in Chang'an... they've already gone bad before they get there."

Hearing this, Xue Rengui and Duan Zan looked at each other, and a look flashed in their eyes.

This county magistrate has steps.

But this also reminded Li Xiang that the preservation technology is not very good these days.

Ok……

If you want to store the fish, you can pickle it and make it into salted fish.

It's just that salt is too expensive these days——

Eh? Expensive?
Li Xiang suddenly had an idea.

Yes, this place is close to the sea, we can dry salt!
Since the method of drying salt was invented, Shandong has had many salt fields, so there is no need to worry about whether salt can be dried in this area.

Well, this plan can be put on the agenda, so we can fish and dry salt at the same time.

While I was thinking about it, the voice of the yamen runners suddenly came from outside.

"County Master, the kelp has been put away."

"I understand." Feng Qing replied.

Li Xiang always felt that the name sounded familiar. He looked outside and found that the thing was actually kelp.

When he saw the kelp, he remembered what Li Jingren had said before.

When Li Jingren came back with a caravan some time ago, he mentioned to Li Xiang that he met many merchants from the grassland on the grassland, whose necks were swollen like angry toads.

Li Xiang certainly knew that this was a thyroid enlargement caused by iodine deficiency. The Western Regions are inland and iodine-deficient, so goiter is very common.

If this disease could be cured, the countries in the Western Regions would surely be more loyal.

Kelp, as the seaweed with the highest iodine content, is the most effective in treating goiter.

Moreover, the salt content of this thing exceeds the standard. It can be eaten as a vegetable and can also supplement iodine.

From now on, we must make all the countries in the Western Regions understand one thing: as long as you are willing to call me, Ju Tang, dad, you can make cheap kelp at will.

Since we are talking about kelp, we have to mention another magical animal - sea intestine.

Sea intestines, scientifically known as Echinops monocyrthospermum, are mainly produced in the Shandong Peninsula, and are mainly distributed in coastal mudflats or rock crevices.

The Jiaodong region, which was Dengzhou during the Zhenguan period, is the largest production area of ​​modern monocyclic spiny insects.

After this thing is dried and ground into powder, it becomes a simple MSG, which can be used in restaurants to enhance the flavor.

However, this thing is not resistant to high temperatures, so you have to wait until the food is cooked and the temperature drops a little before putting it in.

Well, it seems that the issue of seafood must be put on the agenda!

After chatting nonsense with Feng Qing for a while, Li Xiang did not reveal his identity. Seeing that it was getting dark, he took his men back to the inn.

Not only Wendeng County should be visited, but the other three counties as well.

Without investigation, you have no right to speak. You must first firmly grasp the right to speak.

After returning to the inn, Li Xiang received a letter from Quan Wanji.

After Li Xiang opened it, he looked at the words on it and read them silently in his heart.

"Wendeng County Magistrate Feng Qing, second-class; Qingyang County Magistrate Liu Dianyu, first-class; Kuoding County Magistrate Song Yuchen, first-class."

Tomorrow I will go to Qingyang County and Kuoding County to see whether the other two county magistrates are worthy of this honor.

The next day, Li Xiang got up early and took Duan Zan, Xue Rengui and others to leave Wendeng County and head towards Qingyang County.

Qingyang County and Kuoding County were both temporary county seats in the Tang Dynasty. It is hard to say where their current addresses are. In any case, they may have disappeared in the war and been lost in the long river of history.

I inspected Qingyang County and Kuoding County for two consecutive days. I can't say that these two counties are good, but they can't be said to be great either. They can only be said to be average.

There are a few minor flaws that can be picked out, but there are few outstanding political achievements.

If you ask me whether you have ever encountered a cunning servant who bullies others by taking advantage of his power, or a bully who runs rampant in the village...I haven't really encountered that.

Or perhaps it was because everyone knew that Li Xiang was out incognito, so his family warned him to be more restrained.

As for whether he deserves this honor...

If there were no Wendeng County under Feng Qing's rule for comparison, it would not be rated as excellent, but it could still be rated as second best.

If compared with Wendeng under Feng Qing's rule, let alone being second-rate, even the worst would have to be considered.

The last place to be inspected was Penglai County, the seat of Dengzhou.

As the face of Dengzhou, Penglai County is quite acceptable. Although it is not as good as Wendeng County, it is at least much better than Qingyang County and Kuoding County.

Li Xiang strolled all the way back to the Governor's Mansion.

The first thing he did when he returned to the Governor's Mansion was to see the thick pile of letters that Quan Wanji had given him.

Li Xiang was overwhelmed with problems, as there were Li Shimin, Li Chengqian, Li Mingda, and even Li Tai and Li Zhi.

There were two more letters from Chang'an, signed by Li Su.

Li Xiang first opened the letter from Princess Gaoyang, which roughly reported the restaurant's revenue, the situation of sugarcane planting in Jiangnan, and the chili peppers brought with the letter.

"Aunt really knows me." Li Xiang looked at the cluster of red chili peppers with emotion and was very happy.

After replying to other people's letters one by one, Li Xiang felt as if he had lost half his life.

It is really a headache to choose words carefully when writing a letter.

It would be fine if I was replying to one person, but the key is that there are so many...

Li Xiang just felt tired and unloved.

On the day of returning to the Governor's Mansion, local officials in Dengzhou learned the news that Prince Hengshan had returned to the city.

As the news came out, undercurrents surged.

Everyone is gearing up to fight for the position of Chief Clerk of the Governor's Office.

Facts have proved that Li Xiang's first move was very effective. After the wind was released, it rippled the whole pond of spring water.

Li Xiang spent a whole day trying to build up the expectations of the group of people before he finally decided to hold a small meeting the next day.

(Please give me a monthly ticket. I am not very good at this paragraph. It is very painful to write.)
(End of this chapter)