The best county magistrate

Early the next morning, the streets and alleys of Qingshui County were filled with notices announcing that a public trial would be held in three days.

The people rushed to tell each other, and Yang Xuanchen, the magistrate of Qingshui County, suddenly became a topic of conversation after dinner.

After the Qian Mansion in the north of the city received the news, the roaring sounds of officials Qian were heard, followed by the painful moans of the maids.

At the same time, at the entrance of Liujia Village, children were circling the carriage, and the brave ones even reached out and touched the horse's butt.

Yang Xuanchen, on the other hand, squatted on the roadside and vomited while Xiaolian kept patting his back to help him breathe.

"This broken road, broken carriage, ugh..."

A fat little man with a tough head and a tough brain came to them.

"Are you here to poop?"

"Why don't you take off your pants..."

These words almost shocked Yang Xuanchen to death. He resisted the urge to slap someone and took out a maltose candy from his arms.

"Little fat man, do you want some candy?"

When the little fat man saw that there was candy to eat, he smiled happily and said, "I think so!"

"Now, here you go, but you can't eat this candy for free. Can you help me call your village chief?"

"No problem, just wait!"

After a while, a dark-skinned man followed Xiaopang to the entrance of the village.

"I am Liu Si, and my father is the village chief of Liujia Village. My father is not in good health and can't walk. It's the same with me."

Yang Xuanchen looked Liu Si up and down.

He looks tall and thick, and looks quite loyal and honest.

"Ah...it's like this. I'm here for the first time, and I want to take a look around and walk around."

"I don't know..."

Liu Si curled his lips, almost writing the word "unhappy" on his face.

"This Qingshui County, especially our Liujia Village, is poor among the poor and has nothing to see."

After that, he wanted to turn around and leave, but the person in front of him was the county magistrate, and he didn't dare to really leave.

Zhang Biao tugged on Liu Si's clothes and persuaded: "Si'er, I am a good official. It's easy to walk around. What don't you like? Hurry up!"

Yang Xuanchen took out some copper coins from his pocket and handed them to Liu Si.

"Liu Si, I won't let you work for nothing. How about I allow you five cents for a walk around?"

When he saw that he had the money, Liu Si was so happy that he invited them to visit Liujia Village.

At Yang Xuanchen's request, the group first strolled around the long stretch of beach, and then went to a high ground in the village.

Here, you can not only see the endless ocean, but also have an overview of the entire Liujia Village.

Looking at Yang Xuanchen who was full of excitement, Liu Si spoke, "Master, what's wrong with you? Is there any problem?"

Yang Xuanchen shook his head and took a deep breath, "Liu Si, how does Liujia Village support itself now?"

"Is it still possible to catch fish with a net?"

“But the road is really hard to navigate, and the fish can’t be sold, so it’s almost impossible to open the pot.”

The more Liu Si said, the more helpless he felt, looking at Yang Xuanchen with hope.

He hoped that the county magistrate could come up with ideas to save Liujia Village.

"Liu Si, have you ever tried to make salt from sea water? Sea salt is..."

Yang Xuanchen was interrupted by Liu Si midway through his words.

"Sir, don't be ridiculous. We have tried using seawater to make salt, but sea salt is poisonous and will kill people..."

Before he finished speaking, the tall Liu Si knelt down on the ground with a bang.

"Master, do you have a way to make salt?"

So he banged his head a few more times.

"If there is salt in Liujia Village, then everyone will no longer have to starve... ugh... there will be help!"

Yang Xuanchen looked at Liu Si kneeling on the ground. While admiring his careful observation, he couldn't help but feel a sadness in his heart.

Along the way, the dilapidation and poverty of Liujia Village were deeply imprinted in his heart.

Liujiacun needs a way to make money.

He sighed deeply, then slowly squatted down and put his hand on Liu Si's shoulder.

"Liu Si, get up. I will do my best."

After saying that, Yang Xuanchen paced back and forth with his brows furrowed, trying hard to search for memories of investigating an ancient salt factory in his previous life.

Subsequently.

He looked at the location of the beach and asked, "Liu Si, where is the highest tide here?"

Liu Si was a little confused. He pointed to a row of rocks on the shore, "Master, we're almost there."

"Okay! I'll go there and wait for you now."

"Go and call a few more young and strong men, remember! Each person brings a hoe, a utensil to hold water, and some more hay, it will be of great use."

After Yang Xuanchen finished speaking, he took Xiaolian and rushed to the reef.

After a while, Liu Si led more than 20 dark-skinned young men to Yang Xuanchen.

"Master, all the people in the village who can work are here."

Then, he turned to the young men and shouted: "Quick greetings to the master, the person in front of you is the new county magistrate."

Yang Xuanchen waved his hand and said with a smile, "Fellow folks, what we are going to do next is unprecedented."

"Don't ask too much, let's try to finish today's work before dark!"

Then, he shouted to Liu Si: "Liu Si, divide the people into three groups."

"The first group, dig the soil under my feet. We don't want any sand on the surface, just a foot of salt mud below."

"The second group, step back twenty steps from the reef and dig a pit one and a half feet larger, preferably one acre of land."

"For the third group, dig another deep pit behind the second group, about three feet deep, and dig an area of ​​one acre. Remember to tamp the bottom and connect it to the first pit."

"Without further delay, take action quickly!"

Under Yang Xuanchen's order, everyone worked hard to dig the ground and dig holes.

The sun at the beach was still very strong, making Yang Xuanchen feel dizzy.

The bones in this body are too weak. It seems that I need to find an opportunity to exercise properly.

Yang Xuanchen weighed the dug out salt mud and tasted it with his tongue. It was wet and salty.

After everyone dug the hole, the second order followed.

"Now divide into two groups. One group will transport salt mud into the first pit, and the second group will flatten them with bare feet. The tighter the tread, the better."

After that, Yang Xuanchen rolled up his sleeves, took off his shoes and socks, jumped into the second pit, and spread the hay on the ground with the hay Xiaolian handed him.

Zhang Biao and Wei Junzhi were stunned and quickly started working with Yang Xuanchen.

His move made everyone look stunned. The villagers did not expect that the county magistrate would also take action.

“Folks, the county magistrate has already taken action, let’s try harder!”

Under Liu Si's instructions, everyone worked faster and faster.

Seeing more and more salt mud being compacted, Yang Xuanchen issued a third order.

"Now, go find some big rocks and pile them up at the connection between the first pit and the second pit."

Half an hour later, Yang Xuanchen looked up at the sun high in the sky.

Well, there's still enough time.

"Everyone, work harder, let's go get the sea water and pour it into the first pit."

This time, Yang Xuanchen took the lead, holding a bucket of seawater and slowly pouring it into the pit.

As the sea water overflows the salt mud, it slowly flows towards the second pit through the gaps between the stones.

"Then fill the water, then pour it. We will stop when the sea water in the second pit is half a foot deep."

When all the work was completed, the beach was already crowded with curious villagers.

They enthusiastically handed over cold water for everyone to drink.

Liu Si leaned into Yang Xuanchen's ear and asked: "Master, can I ask now what on earth is going on?"

Yang Xuanchen wiped the sweat from his forehead and laughed.

"Don't worry, wait a moment, the sun is so strong today, I guess it will be almost the same in the evening."

Then, he drew a picture on the ground of a stick and a thin wooden board connected, and turned to order Liu Si.

"Let's take a rest. Later you can find some people who know carpentry and make some rakes according to the pattern."

"Oh, by the way, I also need a mallet, the finest fishing net and gauze."

After Liu Si brought a few rakes, Yang Xuanchen instructed the villagers to level the seawater in the second pit to speed up its evaporation.

In the evening, the seawater in the second pit has almost evaporated, and the hay at the bottom is covered with salt blocks of different sizes.

Yang Xuanchen took a lot of salt blocks, spread them on the fishing net, and beat them carefully with a mallet.

After a while, some large particles in the salt block were filtered out.

"Liu Si, bring me another bucket of water."

After the water was in place, Yang Xuanchen dissolved the crushed coarse salt in the water.

She folded several layers of gauze and spread it on another empty bucket. Then she asked Xiaolian to tighten the gauze, lift the bucket full of salt water and slowly pour it into the filter.

Yang Xuanchen glanced at the confused Liu Si and shouted loudly: "Liu Si, which stove has a fire? Take me there quickly!"