Walking the Path of a Workaholic in Cliché Novels (QT) Chapter 85

“What’s next? Humph, when the Jin family’s boss left triumphantly, he probably didn’t expect that his death was imminent.”

“Our county magistrate got the evidence of their collusion with foreign bandits and rode into the military camp alone. He told the general that he had reported to the emperor that half of the gold and silver seized during the bandit suppression would be used as military pay and the other half would be used to settle the county. The two of them sealed off the city gates, detained the children, and killed the rebels on the spot. After that, they took people to search the houses, and then searched for the thieves.”

At this point, another person continued, “In the past, those horse thieves hid better than rats, and no one knew where they were hiding. But that day, our county magistrate got the news early, followed the route directly, and found their lair.”

“Ah, there were three to four thousand of them. The leader of the bandits looked ferocious and had a golden eagle half the height of a man, which was used to peck people’s eyes. He used a bow and arrow and could knock over a horse with one shot. He was quite good at fighting and even scared the generals who came out to suppress the bandits.”

“Huh, the county magistrate was not afraid?”

“Hey!” The merchant waved his hand proudly, making a gesture of indifference, “What’s the big deal? Our county magistrate also knows how to use a bow and arrow. He shot more than ten arrows at each other on horseback. When it was the last arrow, our county magistrate dodged his arrow and directly pulled the bow to its full length in the next step.”

“How many stones is the bow at full draw?”

“Six stones.”

“What? A six-stone bow fully drawn?” The audience gasped. A six-stone bow fully drawn was equivalent to pulling a hundred and fifty kilograms of force with one hand, and this was when there was nothing to use to support the horse. “The county magistrate is very brave.”

“My son was in the army that day. He said many people saw a pale golden figure appear immediately before the magistrate, as if the spirits of the heroes on the battlefield were attached to him.”

“The arrow shot out with a stream of light, and went straight to the leader of the bandits among the thousands of people, piercing his eye.”

As the businessman spoke, his eyes revealed longing and admiration. “Later we found out that this was the magistrate’s plan. He just wanted to lower the enemy’s guard and then send the last arrow.”

“What a good strategy.” Everyone praised. They now believed that the magistrate of Dingsha County was truly a man of both civil and military talents. He could ride a horse to kill bandits, and he could also hold the seal and govern the county.

Shoot dozens of arrows at each other, hold on until the end, and seize this only chance to behead directly. This was easy to say, but it required strong willpower to accomplish. There could be no hesitation or hesitation between life and death. Wonderful, amazing, and not worse than the plot in the novel.

“Where’s that half-man-high golden eagle?”

The merchant raised his chin slightly. “You didn’t see it. Even the bandit himself didn’t dare to take the golden eagle. But our magistrate waved his hand and the golden eagle flew over and landed beside him. How can we say that the golden eagle understands human nature? It knows what’s good for it.”

The people were excited when they heard this, and they thought to themselves, “The life of Magistrate Dingsha in the past two years has been just as exciting as that in The Heroes of the Desert. Maybe his own experiences were reflected in this book.”

Thinking of this, they wanted to go back and read the book again.

“So, does the county magistrate still have time to write storybooks? One every two months, how long does it take?” Some people were curious, how was the time utilized? After doing so many things, did he still have time to torture them with storybooks?

“Ah,” the businessman from Dingsha County sighed, “He wrote it at night. Our county magistrate couldn’t find time to have a baby because of us. He doesn’t even have anyone in the house.”

“……” That was actually not true.

The fact that the magistrate of Dingsha County published a book and sold goods had become a hot topic. People in the Central Plains were very curious about what the next product of Dingsha County would be. There were even gambling houses that started betting.

Many people guessed it was wine, because the people of Dingsha said that their county magistrate had been thinking about making wine two years ago. Others guessed that it was gemstone jewelry. It is said that this chalcedony, unique to the northwest, naturally has the soft and bright luster of gemstones. They all guessed wrong. Dingsha County’s next hit product was rubber soles.

Rubber was a new product. The magistrate specially found a local wild grass (rubber grass), cultivated it, took the roots to make rubber, and then the new term “rubber” came into being, and then the soles sold on the market came into being.

This type of sole was soft, tough, waterproof, wear-resistant, and had many advantages. The half-finger thick sole was said to last for several years without breaking, and one sole was equivalent to ten. The price was not expensive and it was a daily necessity that ordinary people could afford.

“My dear sister-in-law, think about it. A pair of soles can be worn for at least five years, and they only cost sixty cents. On average, you only spend twelve cents a year. What can you do with twelve cents? Twelve cents is not enough to buy a fine cotton handkerchief, but if you buy this, you will be comfortable for the next five years. Isn’t this better than sewing soles until you bleed?”

“What? You want to buy it for your son? Then you should buy it. Your son works hard outside and his feet are always on the move. You can save money on anything except shoes. You will feel sorry for your son. I am also a mother, I understand.” The female shopkeepers who came from Dingsha County were all eloquent and no one would leave her shop without buying something.

In addition to rubber soles, her store also sold sealed jars, gloves and other rubber products. Many people bought a whole cart of items. People who know the business do the math for her. Even if the net profit of a pair of soles was only ten coins, she could still earn more than ten taels of silver a day. There was more than one such store. Dingsha County would have another good time this year.

“Gold can be dug out of inconspicuous weeds on the roadside. The magistrate of Dingsha County should not be called the Storytelling Magistrate, but the Money Magistrate. He is so good at making money. But I still don’t understand. Aren’t the fruits and vegetables there especially sweet and delicious? Why don’t they work with the fruits and vegetables?”

“Nonsense, who doesn’t want to grow fruits and make wine? We are short of water.” Thousands of miles away in Dingsha County, the magistrate was fanning himself and eating some watermelon, “It’s so sweet.”

The watermelon was given by someone from the county. When he opened the door in the morning, he saw a figure. The other person put down the watermelon and ran away, and he could not catch up at all. For some reason, the local residents had the illusion that “their county magistrate is poor and lonely.” So they were very keen to feed him and introduce him to a partner.

An Yinong was not bragging, but there was no one in Dingsha County who ate better than him. Even in the northwest, he could eat freshly cooked seafood – he was talking about his golden finger. This cheat code was a great help. After the ‘Fertility Aura’ reached the maximum level and became the ‘Directional Aura’, he could specify the direction of strengthening the pet’s offspring.

He enhanced the ‘taste’ of the local cattle, combined with grain-fed fattening, and enhanced the ‘intelligence’ of the local hounds, combined with training, and then stacked the ‘optimization halo’ to improve their appearance. Now, An Yinong also found a kind of cow that produced a lot of milk, and a rabbit that had mutated to have fine and smooth fur. They could be trained into modern dairy cows and rabbits. He planned to find a suitable time and place to launch them.

However, the development of a place could not rely solely on unique animals, but also on unique plants. An Yinong decided to focus on the development of local unique herbs, wine and rubber grass. Herbs and rubber grass were the focus because they were local products, adapted to the local environment and easy to grow.

Grapes would be planted, as will watermelons and honeydew melons, but they would not be planted on a large scale. Because this area was water-scarce and fruit cultivation required water, large-scale cultivation would aggravate land desertification. Treating fruit as the main industry was like drinking poison to quench thirst. For the sake of future generations and for sustainable development, fruit planting must be restricted.

In order to prevent future successors from not knowing the situation and planting grapes and melons, An Yinong held several meetings in the county, explaining the pros and cons of growing fruits, and then provided a solution – setting a fixed percentage of land that could be used to grow fruits. In this case, even if he wanted to sell wine and dried fruits, he could only sell them in small quantities and as high-quality products, his target customer groups were nobles and big businessmen.

In comparison, rubber soles were much more affordable and could take the route of small profits but quick turnover – in fact, this thinness was not extremely thin, so they could still make a lot of money. There were many advantages to promoting rubber soles. First, it was easy to transport and would not expire. Second, it was a daily consumable. Third, the raw materials were renewable materials.

Moreover, rubber grass was mainly planted in saline-alkali meadow areas. It did not occupy land for other crops and could improve soil conditions. It was a very suitable economic crop in Dingsha County and the surrounding areas.

The most important thing is that as long as rubber trees have not come out, rubber grass was irreplaceable in the country (the rubber yield of was too low), and it was very suitable for long-term planting and had become one of the fixed sources of income for the Northwest region people.

An Yinong sat on a small chair and shared the watermelon with the golden eagle standing next to him, but the eagle looked down on him.

“You came here on your own and yet you are so proud.”

The gray rabbit in the cage nearby was gurgling as if it wanted to eat.

“You can’t eat it, it’s too watery,” he said to the rabbit.

These rabbits were the mutant breed of domestic rabbits that he spent two years finding. Their fur was short, fine, and smooth, very much like the rabbits bred in later generations. Later, An Yinong bred the rabbits in a targeted way, and the fur became even finer, smoother, and more beautiful. They were suitable for meat, leather, or as pets.

Recently he had been thinking about raising rabbits. They have good fur and can be an economic animal if raised well. However, Dingsha County already had snowflake cattle, so he couldn’t spare any manpower for the time being. Moreover, he might have to leave Dingsha County in a few months, so it would be difficult to deal with the issue.

“With rubber, I won’t worry that Dingsha County will return to its former state after I leave. I don’t know whether the application for this trade will be approved, but it would be great if it is approved.”

The office term of a county magistrate was three years. If he performed well, he would generally be promoted. If he performed poorly or mediocrely, he would be transferred to another county to serve as magistrate. He had to make plans for this so that his achievements would not be destroyed after he left.

“The trade is a matter of great importance. Even if it is approved, you will only be a supporting role. Can you tolerate this?” Gu Zhengzhong appeared behind him.

Unlike An Yinong, who was wearing a simple Hu costume, he was still wearing a complicated long robe with wide sleeves, holding a book in his hand. If one didn’t look at the cover of the book, one would think he was reading the Four Books and Five Classics from his serious and focused look.

“Don’t look at it.” An Yinong felt very ashamed.

He wrote this series of “Heroes of the Desert” in vernacular Chinese, which lowered the reading difficulty for the common people. Even serious scholars did not consider it a “good book”. His teacher at the Imperial College even wrote to him to ask if he had not read recently and why his literary talent had declined.

Gu Zhengzhong smiled and put down the newly published script in his hand: “Given the style of the new empress, she is very likely to open up trade, but it is not easy for you to continue to stay here to preside over it. You are too famous, the empress can tolerate you, but others in the court may not.”

The three-year term set by the imperial court was to prevent the dragon slayer from becoming a dragon themself. Even if An Yinong guaranteed that he would not become an evil dragon, it would be of no use. The justice of the system was of long-term justice.

“Of course, you don’t have to worry too much.” Gu Zhengzhong said, “Dingsha County has been in the limelight for the past two years. I don’t know how many people are watching here. Any successor will not only not dare to change the rules you set, but will also have to stick to them. Otherwise, if it goes well, it will be your credit, but if it goes badly, it will be their fault.

“Of course, if they have no ambition and just wants to enjoy old age, being the magistrate here is quite comfortable. You have already set up the framework, and they just needs to add bricks. Hmm?”

Gu Zhengzhong’s expression changed slightly. He stretched out his hand, calculated, and suddenly smiled: “It seems that I was worrying too much.”

“What?” A question mark appeared on An Yinong’s head as he was eating melons.

“You have an important guest coming, do you want me to leave?” Gu Zhengzhong never interfered or meddled in An Yinong’s official affairs, unless it was his own request, such as the time when they suppressed bandits.

An Yinong didn’t say anything, he just agreed.

“Don’t worry too much, just follow your heart, I’m always here.” Golden runes flashed on Gu Zhengzhong’s black robe, and he disappeared calmly in front of people.

“Sir.” The still handsome guard Wei came over and said calmly, “There is someone outside who wants to see you. He said you will know who it is when you see the token.” As he said this, he handed over an object wrapped in black cloth.

It seemed that Wei the gatekeeper was determined to guard the door for him. His friends came several times but failed to persuade him to leave.

Later, An Yinong asked the court for permission to promote gatekeeper Wei and guardsman Tian to the 8th rank of county lieutenant, in charge of public security. However, one of them still liked to be a gatekeeper and the other liked to be a bodyguard.

An Yinong opened the black cloth curiously. Inside was a private engraved seal made of bloodstone and was very valuable. However… he didn’t recognize it. Suddenly, An Yinong re-examined the black cloth wrapped with the seal. When he touched the material, his heart trembled. Then he thought about what Gu Zhengzhong had just said and knew who the visitor was.

“Is he still outside? Come in! No, I will go and greet him myself.”