Chapter ~ 07
There Are Refugees Coming
The crowd quickly scattered, leaving only the cursing man standing in front of the bulletin board.
The two constables, their faces filled with anger, drew the iron rulers from their waists and pointed them straight at him.
“Publicly slandering an official of the imperial courtātwenty strokes!”
The man was instantly dumbfounded. His knees went weak and he dropped to the ground.
“L-Lord… my lord, this humble one misspoke! This humble one slaps his own mouth!”
With that, he raised both hands and began slapping himself left and right, delivering more than a dozen loud smacks to his own face.
The two constables had not actually intended to drag the man inside and have him beaten.
Seeing how the man had already swollen his own cheeks red and puffy after just a few slaps, they decided not to press the matter further.
“Magistrate Shen is a good official. Since this is your first offense, we’ll let it slide. But if I hear you slandering Magistrate Shen again, we’ll settle both old and new scores at onceāforty strokes!”
The man was immediately overcome with gratitude and loudly acknowledged his thanks, then scrambled to his feet and fled.
“And all of you!”
The two constables turned to face the onlookers.
“The Wang family case was judged fairly by Magistrate Shen. No more reckless gossipādo you hear me!”
For ordinary commoners, the words of constables carried great authority. Everyone quickly responded in the affirmative.
The two constables turned and walked back toward the county office. One of them suddenly remembered something.
He turned back and said to the scholar: “Read the other notice to them properly. The Magistrate always has you in mindāyou should know gratitude!”
After the two constables left, the crowd once again surged around the bulletin board.
They asked the scholar: “That constable just said the Magistrate has us in mind. What’s written on the other notice? Is the county office going to hand out silver?”
The scholar carefully examined the recruitment notice.
After reading it, a smile spread across his face: “It is indeed good news.”
The illiterate people around him grew anxious, scratching their heads and ears. “What is it? Hurry up and tell us!”
“Magistrate Shen is recruiting labor to build irrigation canals for the entire county. Only five hundred people will be hired. Three meals a day will be provided, with forty wen in wages per day, paid daily.”
A huge commotion instantly erupted among the crowd.
Although the daily wage for laborers in the county ranged between forty and fifty wen, there were never that many jobs available!
During the slack farming seasons, everyone wanted to find work, but demand far outstripped supply.
This time the county office was hiring five hundred people at onceāhow much silver would that cost!
No, they had to hurry home and bring their families to sign up!
The crowd scattered in all directions. Some went straight to the county office to register.
At this point, most people did not yet understand how much benefit the completion of the canals would bring to the entire county. All they knew was that the canal project meant full meals and silver in their pockets.
Meanwhile, Assistant Registrar Xu knocked on Shen Zheng’s door.
The county residents were simply too enthusiastic. He had only posted the recruitment notice a short while ago, and already dozens of people had come to sign up.
When Shen Zheng opened the door, he said directly: “Magistrate, the recruitment notice has received an excellent response. A large number of people are already coming to register.”
Upon hearing this, Shen Zheng slapped her thigh.
The wages were still too high!
But words spoken were like water spilledāit was too late to go back on it now.
She could only say: “Come, let’s discuss this. We need to prioritize which types of people to hire first.”
Once they reached the study, Shen Zheng spoke first.
“Those families with only one able-bodied man who have elderly parents and young children to supportāput them in Category One.”
Assistant Registrar Xu continued: “Those with very little farmland and barely enough to eatāCategory One as well.”
Shen Zheng nodded: “Those with many children in the householdāalso Category One.”
Assistant Registrar Xu picked up his brush and noted them down one by one.
Shen Zheng suddenly thought of something and added: “Qualified women may also apply.”
Assistant Registrar Xu nodded and made a note.
Shen Zheng looked at him and nodded to herself.
She said: “I’ll leave the screening process to you, Registrar Xu.”
Just then, a constable came to report that Wang Guangjin was leading a large convoy of carts toward the county office.
A look of delight appeared on Shen Zheng’s faceāhis efficiency matched his mother’s!
She hurried to the county office’s main gate.
As soon as she reached the gate, she saw Wang Guangjin and his convoy. Surrounding residents were watching and whispering among themselves.
Wang Guangjin clasped his hands toward Shen Zheng: “Magistrate, all the grain from the Wang family granary is here. The total is two hundred and ten *shi*.”
Shen Zheng returned the gesture: “Thank you.”
Then she raised her voice and addressed the surrounding residents: “During the canal-digging project, the workers’ meals will first be covered by Young Master Wang on behalf of the county office!”
“Excellent!”
The surrounding residents cheered. Their previous disapproval of Wang Guangjin’s punishment being commuted by ransom silver seemed to fade.
To ordinary folks, nothing mattered more than hot meals and copper coins.
Shen Zheng ordered the constables to summon Assistant Registrar Xu to register the grain in the accounts, then lead everyone in moving the grain into the county office’s granary.
Wang Guangjin was about to join the others in moving the grain when Shen Zheng called him back.
“Young Master Wang, please come with me.”
Shen Zheng led Wang Guangjin to the study, then went to her bedroom and brought out the rice seeds.
Seeing the large cloth sack Shen Zheng was dragging, Wang Guangjin realized what was inside.
He quickly stepped forward and helped Shen Zheng carry the sack into the study.
Shen Zheng opened the mouth of the sack, grabbed a handful of seeds, and handed them to Wang Guangjin.
The moment he took the seeds in his hands, Wang Guangjin was stunned. Having grown up in a landlord’s household, he had seen plenty of grain, but he had never seen rice kernels so golden and plump.
He carefully examined the tiny seeds in his palm.
“Magistrate, what variety is this? This humble one has never seen anything like it.”
Shen Zheng could hardly say it was high-quality hybrid rice.
She could only vaguely claim that it was a new variety cultivated by her foster father back in her hometown, and that it had never been planted on a large scale before.
“Do you know how to sprout and raise seedlings?” Shen Zheng asked.
“Do you mean scattering the seeds in a nursery field and transplanting them after they sprout?” Wang Guangjin replied.
Shen Zheng shook her head. It seemed this method of sprouting and raising seedlings did not yet exist.
“First, soak the rice in water overnight. Then take them out, wrap them in a damp cloth, and place them near a charcoal fire to encourage sprouting. Once they sprout, they can be scattered into the nursery field.”
Wang Guangjin had never heard of such a method, but after some thought, he could roughly understand the reasoning.
Rice was essentially a semi-aquatic plant. If the Magistrate said so, it must be right!
Seeing that Wang Guangjin only had a vague understanding, Shen Zheng took out paper and brush and wrote down the detailed steps for him.
“First, take a small amount of rice and follow these steps to try sprouting them.”
“Yes, Magistrate!”
Shen Zheng looked at the large sack of rice seedsāit should be enough to raise seedlings for planting over a hundred *mu* of land. She would keep the rest in her room for now.
“This should be enough. It’s now March, which is exactly the right time for raising seedlings. If you run into any problems, come to me anytime.”
Wang Guangjin nodded, then hoisted the sack of seeds onto his shoulder and hurried off impatiently.
Over the next ten-odd days, the recruitment drive proceeded in full swing.
Wang Guangjin also made gradual progress with sprouting the seedlings. After Shen Zheng had gone to check on them twice, she felt confident enough to leave it in his hands.
Just after lunch that day, Shen Zheng was reviewing the final list of five hundred selected workers with Assistant Registrar Xu when a constable rushed in to report.
“Magistrate, the villagers of Huaihua Village are fighting with refugees! You must come quickly!”
Shen Zheng shot to her feet, her face filled with shock.
“Refugees? Where did they come from?”
In Shen Zheng’s memory, during her time in the capital, she had never seen refugees.
The imperial capital absolutely forbade refugees from entering. If any refugee sneaked in and was discovered, execution was the penalty.
This situation was not uncommon in large cities. Some refugees would do anything to survive.
Over thirty years ago, during the Great Zhou dynasty, there had been an incident where refugees massacred entire villages. The incident had shaken the court and terrified the populace. Even the mere mention of refugees made people turn pale.
“They snuck in from the south of the county. The villagers of Huai hua Village discovered the refugees and notified the village head. The one who came to report is the village head’s grandson. The boy said that when he left, both sides were still facing off. By now, they must have already come to blows!”
