Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

After the twenty-five people left, Ao Chen addressed the other clerks, "I have a major announcement!"

"Our Lord is about to take His Majesty on a tour of Taoyuan County! Therefore, the following arrangements have been made!"

"Team One! First, go to the county to find some good-looking children to prepare to welcome His Majesty and our Lord out of the city. The details have already been given by our Lord and are on this piece of paper."

After speaking, Ao Chen handed the letter in his hand to the captain of Team One.

"Second, all the government officials in the county office are not allowed to mention the various departments within the county. We are a privately established department! We can't let His Majesty know, so everyone needs to be careful what they say!"

"Third, and this is the most important point, from now on, all the latest glass products in Taoyuan County must disappear from the market! All the mirrors in inns and brothels must be replaced with the old, mottled glass mirrors."

"All indoor glass products must also be put away by the people, and they are not allowed to be displayed!"

"All buildings that have been fitted with glass windows must have them removed and replaced with paper windows. If they cannot be removed, smash them immediately! Tell them that this is an order from our Lord, and they will be compensated afterward, or given a tax reduction."

"And also..."

"In short! All novel and unique products in the county are not allowed to appear on the market recently! The people are also not allowed to discuss them!"

"That's basically it. Hmm... does anyone know what toothpaste is?"

The group of clerks below shook their heads, indicating they had never heard of it.

Suddenly, someone hesitated and said, "I seem to have heard our Lord mention it... it should be tooth powder for brushing teeth... I can't remember clearly!"

Ao Chen nodded, that should be it.

Although our Lord usually speaks concisely, he always comes up with words that others don't understand.

This 'toothpaste' is obviously used on teeth, so it should be tooth powder!

"Good! From today onwards, all the people must put away their tooth powder! Use salt or brush dry, brush however you want! Just don't use tooth powder. Our Lord said his toothpaste cannot be seen by others! Do you all understand!"

"Understood!!"

...............

The next day,

The carriage convoy heading from the capital to Taoyuan County set off in a grand manner.

Emperor Jing and Fang Zheng rode together in one carriage, followed by the carriages of other officials.

Emperor Jing said with a smile, "It's been a while since I've been to Taoyuan County, and I miss it a little. I wonder if there's anything new in Taoyuan County now."

Fang Zheng said, "The county often writes letters to me. There aren't any new things, but there are many new dishes. Your Majesty can try them."

"When we arrive in the county, we'll rest for the night, and the next day I'll take Your Majesty to the fields to see the Prosperous Sweet Potatoes."

Emperor Jing sighed, "Fang Qing, if these Prosperous Sweet Potatoes are truly as you say, then you will be the greatest contributor to my Jing Kingdom. I hope everything is as you say."

Fang Zheng smiled and said nothing.

If he were an ancient person, he probably wouldn't believe that there was a crop in this world that could produce a thousand catties per mu... after all, it sounds too fantastical. But this beautiful dream is about to come true!

The convoy moved forward slowly.

But the road was really difficult to travel. The carriages creaked and groaned, and many of the older ministers began to complain after only half the journey.

Helpless, they could only slow down.

Fang Zheng wanted to find an opportunity to sneak into the princess's carriage and chat, but he was worried that the princess's small body couldn't withstand such a road.

However, Li Yuanzhao was glaring at him, so he didn't dare to move.

The marching speed of ancient times depended on the slowest ox cart or carriage. The long-term bumps also required rest, so a day's journey was at most only forty kilometers.

The speed of a purely motorized unit would be much faster. During the Three Kingdoms period, there was a saying circulating in Xiahou Yuan's army: "The military commander Xiahou Yuan travels five hundred li in three days and a thousand li in six days." Converting it into kilometers, it works out to about 70 kilometers of marching per day.

Emperor Jing's convoy was obviously not going to be faster than marching...

They set off early in the morning, and by the afternoon the carriages were still traveling on gravel and dirt roads. Most of the old ministers were already unable to bear it and were fertilizing the roadside along the carriage windows.

Fortunately, in the second half of the journey, they saw the asphalt road built by Taoyuan County.

The speed of the carriages began to pick up, and the horses were also much more relaxed, able to gallop freely.

Although the asphalt road was particularly amazing in the eyes of the ancients, no one had the energy to pay attention to it anymore, only wanting to collapse in the carriage and rest for a while.

Finally, at sunset, the group arrived in Taoyuan County.

As soon as they got out of the carriage, except for Emperor Jing and others who had been to Taoyuan County, all the officials were stunned.

This is a county!?

The tall city walls, the strict guards, and the people gathered at the city gate, all dressed in bright clothes, and the children lined up in two rows, dressed very festively.

Immediately, the officials' gazes towards Fang Zheng changed.

How rich must this county be! To be able to make it like this!

Such a city hidden in a remote corner! No wonder His Majesty favored Fang Zheng so much, like his own son.

Which emperor wouldn't like such achievements!

How did he do it? It's really ghostly!

Emperor Jing was also in a happy mood as soon as he got out of the carriage. Taoyuan County had both the prosperity of a city and the beauty of natural scenery... If the road wasn't so bad, he would have liked to come often.

"Your Majesty, please enter the city. The people of Taoyuan County have been looking forward to seeing you day and night."

Emperor Jing laughed and took the lead towards the city gate.

The two rows of children sang the song "Only His Majesty is Good in the World".

The innocent voices made Emperor Jing feel both novel and happy, while the officials cursed inwardly.

Fang Zheng has really reached a new level of bootlicking, I'm not convinced....

Suddenly, another team of children appeared from behind the people at the city gate, holding bouquets of flowers and running happily to Emperor Jing.

Then they prostrated themselves on the ground and said in a naive voice, "Greetings, Emperor Majesty."

Upon seeing this, Emperor Jing quickly said, "Children, get up quickly! Why are you all lying on the ground?"

After speaking, he also picked up a little fat boy at the head and brushed off the dirt on his body.

The little fat boy blinked his big eyes and quickly kissed Emperor Jing.

Emperor Jing touched his face and giggled foolishly.

"Child, what's your name?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, my name is Zhang Aiguo. I grew up listening to the county magistrate tell stories about you. Today, when I heard that you were coming, I prepared a gift for you!"

The little fat boy's adorable appearance also aroused the liking of the officials, and they all showed smiles when they saw this heartwarming scene.

"What is the gift? Let me see it quickly!" Emperor Jing had seen countless treasures, but at this moment, he actually felt a sense of anticipation.

People who give treasures all have ulterior motives, but what thoughts could such a young child have?

The little boy took out a wrinkled piece of paper from his arms, unfolded it, and held it up to Emperor Jing.

Emperor Jing smiled when he saw it. It was just some simple graffiti, with two stick figures in the middle, one big and one small. The small one was holding a stick, the ground was painted with grass and a pile of meaningless circles, and the sky was the sun...

Emperor Jing asked curiously, "What does this mean?"

The little fat boy pointed with his chubby little hand, pointing to the small stick figure and said, "This is our county magistrate."

Then he pointed to the big stick figure and said, "This is Your Majesty."

"Then what do the circles below mean?"

"Your Majesty is surrounded by bad people. Our county magistrate used his sword to chop off their heads to protect Your Majesty!"

The faces of the officials turned green, and they all glared at Fang Zheng.

You're even using such young children! Are you even human!

Fang Zheng didn't care, sneering in his heart. Every action was carefully designed by me, just be jealous!