Walking the Path of a Workaholic in Cliché Novels (QT) Chapter 86

Qi Di was standing at the door, whom An Yinong had only met once. She was dressed like a capable female shopkeeper, and was accompanied by a little girl of about twelve or thirteen years old and a guard.

When An Yinong saw her, he bent down. When Empress Qi was about to stop him, An Yinong had already bowed and said respectfully in official language: “Disciple greets teacher.” He was a graduate of the palace examination and a disciple of the empress. There was nothing wrong with him calling himself the empress’s student.

He was a smart man. Empress Qi raised her hand and said, “Master happened to be passing by here, so I came to see you.”

The residents around who were paying attention only understood the word “teacher”, so they showed a kind expression: “So he is our official’s teacher. She must be a good person to be able to teach such a parent official like our magistrate.”

An Yinong led the three people into the door, and as soon as the door closed, he bowed again: “Your subordinate…”

Before he finished speaking, Empress Qi helped him up and said, “Teacher already knows, you don’t need to be polite.” What she meant was that here they were in the form of teacher and student, and Empress Qi was not going to reveal his true identity.

“Yes.”

The little girl next to Empress Qi looked at him with a smile: “Senior Brother.”

He played the whole game, the empress became a teacher, and even the princess called him senior brother. If it weren’t for the noble status of this little girl, he would have wanted to give her a bun.

Only then did Qi Di have the mind to look at the things in the yard. She saw two small benches, a half-eaten melon, a majestic eagle, a cat rolling around in the vegetable garden, a dog lying at the door, chickens walking around, and rabbits in cages.

“This doesn’t look like the backyard of a government office, but more like a farmyard.”

Empress Qi walked over and picked up a piece of watermelon that had not been touched: “The book says that even if you eat all the fruits in the world, they are still not as good as a Dingsha honeydew melon. Let me see if it’s true.” As she said that, she took a bite.

“Mmm, sweet and juicy.”

“Mother, I want some too.” Seeing that Empress Qi was enjoying her meal, the Crown Princess acted coquettishly and openly.

“Help yourself.”

“…” An Yinong was too embarrassed to tell the emperor that this was what Brother Diao didn’t want.

Empress Qi ate a slice of watermelon, wiped her hands and said, “I have seen your memorial. Tell me what you think.”

An Yinong knew that she was talking about the post regarding the trade fair, so he found a small stool and sat down, just like a student discussing homework with their teacher, and expressed his thoughts one by one.

In fact, the essence was to exchange what they have. The obvious line was legitimate and reasonable business behavior, while the hidden line was to ease bilateral relations through win-win transactions and use economic means to indirectly influence the prairie ethnic groups.

“You mean to issue trade permits to the tribes that are close to the Central Plains so that they cannot form a united front?”

“Yes, this student has investigated and found that salt, tea, and medicine are all hard currencies on the grasslands, enough to affect a tribe’s life and death. In addition, we can send people to teach them how to grow grass and herbs so that nomads can settle down in one place. Those who have permanent property not only have perseverance, but also have weaknesses. They can no longer just plunder and leave like before.”

An Yinong, who came from the modern era, had no hatred towards the grassland peoples, but he would not lower his guard. The matter of ethnic integration would be left to future generations. He only hoped that both sides could live in peace and achieve a win-win and harmonious relationship.

Qi Di nodded, and she stood up: “Please accompany me for a walk.”

“Yes, but this student may need to dress differently.”

“Go ahead.”

Qi Di thought he was just changing clothes, but ten minutes later a man with a black face and a big beard came out and called himself a student to her.

Empress Qi: …That’s not necessary.

The sandstorms in the northwest for two years did not destroy this face that should have been chosen as the third place winner. But as soon as she arrived, she witnessed how destructive black and big beards could be on a person. Empress Qi recalled that the high-spirited young man in the Golden Palace was still as blazing as the sun, and the light in his eyes had never changed. But she herself, occasionally thinking of the past, felt like a dream.

Several people went out and walked on the long street. The long street was newly built, and the shops on both sides were also new. They were only rented and not sold, and the rent was used as part of the fiscal revenue.

Because the rent was not high, there were all kinds of shops on both sides, with food, daily necessities and clothes. Most people had smiles on their faces, and judging from their physical condition, they were not starving or cold.

“Chen Xiaoer Mutton Soup Bun? Is this the Chen Xiaoer in the memorial you submitted last year?”

“Yes.”

Empress Qi still remembered that memorial and the series of uproars it caused. An Yinong was at the border at the time and didn’t know what happened, but the capital was indeed shaken by his memorial. The father killed the mother, the son sued the father, the father was sentenced to death for intentional homicide, and the son was found not guilty because of his extenuating circumstances.

This ruling violated the traditional Confucian morality that the husband was the head of the wife and the father was the head of the son, so it caused a big uproar. However, as the founding empress, Emperor Qi had a bad temper and was arbitrary. She said, “Since there is no decision, let’s have a discussion.”

The court ministers were divided into two factions. Later, one faction won with the support of Empress Qi. This faction supported the death penalty. The main reason they demanded that the original verdict be upheld was that women are human beings, not property. Because they are human beings, they should be judged according to the laws that treat human beings, not property.

When a husband killed his wife, it was essentially a person killing another and he should be sentenced to death. The same applied to a wife killing her husband.

As for the son accusing his father of innocence, it was because the person who was killed was his mother, so he was in a very contradictory state. On the one hand, there was the revenge for his mother’s murder, and on the other hand, there was his own father. In this case, there should be no punishment or reward, just declare him not guilty.

To be honest, this kind of thing could only happen in this dynasty, because the ruler was the founding female empress, she had female generals and soldiers under her, and there were also female officials in the court.

Now some examinations abolished the single-sex condition, such as the selection of medical officers and imperial craftsmen, and only the imperial examination was still in the process of mutual change. Empress Qi chose the crown princess for this reason. The crown princess was more suitable for the succession and would not overturn and destroy the system she had established.

An Yinong accompanied Qi Di through the street, passed the welfare housing, saw the snowflake cattle farm, and visited the reservoir under construction for water storage. The last stop was the college that existed for literacy.

Boys and girls sat together inside, and the teacher on the stage treated everyone equally. They used the teaching materials compiled by An Yinong, which were quite interesting and contained nursery rhymes, tongue twisters, and short stories using idioms.

The children and teachers in the film were playing a sentence-making game. The children’s world was full of innocent dreams, and the sentences they made were also full of fantasies. However, the adults who saw this would not get angry, but see a different world through the children’s eyes.

Qi Di stood outside for a while and then left. There was a faint smile on her face. This was the first time she showed obvious happiness.

“When you submitted that memorial, you wanted to classify cattle into draft, beef, and dairy cows. How did you think of this? You should know that cattle have been used for farming since ancient times. Privately slaughtering cattle will result in a criminal sentence. You dared to submit this memorial. Aren’t you afraid that I will punish you?” They talked as they walked.

“Not everything that has been done since ancient times is right. We should select the essence and discard the dross. For example, the black cattle in Dingsha are not naturally good at farming, but they grow fast and have good meat quality. Why do we insist on using them as oxen for farming and forbid them from being bred and slaughtered? Isn’t it a pity to waste their good meat?”

“How much did you spend in total on your three rows of welfare housing?” Qi Di asked again.

An Yinong gave a figure, which turned out to be not as much as expected. He said: “The materials are all local materials, but the wood for the foundation was hard to find. Fortunately, merchants were willing to spend a lot of effort to transport it from other places. The most expensive expense was the hanging kang, but the materials used are not much, so the people can afford it.”

“How long did it take to repair it?”

“It took less than half a year to repair more than 40 buildings. The people knew that they were building houses for themselves, so they would secretly come to help at night. When the mason got up in the morning, he saw that most of the houses had been repaired, and the craftsmanship was not worse than his.” The people of Dingsha County were ignorant and stupid, but they were also simple and grateful. If you go along with their wishes, they will be useful.”

Poor, bad mountains and rivers produced unruly people, mostly because of poverty and lack of education.

Empress Qi nodded. The house with a large yard could be used to dry crops, grow things, and raise livestock. There were 42 households in three rows, surrounded by drought-resistant trees on all sides, and sharing a large well. Moreover, the welfare houses were surrounded by fields and allocated pastures. They could farm at sunrise and return home at sunset, which was very convenient.

There was not only one such welfare house here, and it was said that the seventh one was being built. The welfare houses also had matching furniture, the kind with upper beds and lower cabinets, or simply bunk beds.

It was a little small, but it was enough for seven or eight people from three generations to live in. The house was made of good materials and was warm in winter and cool in summer.

Empress Qi calculated the time: “All these welfare houses will be repaired, and the reservoir will be repaired just after you leave office. At that time, these will not be counted as your achievements.”

“I know that three years is too short. Even if I use all my nights, it still won’t be enough. Fortunately, Your Majesty is wise and powerful. She will definitely send the most suitable people to continue to help the people of Dingsha County. I have nothing to worry about.”

The Crown Princess behind him couldn’t help laughing when she heard this “flattery”, then she closed her mouth and became a quiet listener.

They were now walking on the newly repaired road, with trees on both sides of the road, and beyond the trees were farmlands with people working in the fields. There were also caravans going back and forth on the road, with the sound of bells ringing.

These caravans were both local and foreign. Since Dingsha County had its own specialty products and the thieves on the road have been cleared out, there were many more merchants present. As a result, there were also caravans from the two nearby counties – because some of the special products of succulents were available in several surrounding counties.

At a slightly larger turning point in front, there was a small park with slides, see-saws, plum blossom piles and other things. Old people gathered there, rubbing leather ropes and chatting, and the children were left aside to play by themselves.

“When they grow up a little, they can be sent to school and learn a craft. I think carpentry would be a good choice.”

“You still have to raise cattle, and the wages are high.”

The old man was talking about the future with a smile.

Qi Di suddenly turned around and said, “I see that there are only young children in the academy. You just don’t care about them after they have studied for three years?”

“It’s not that we don’t care. Three years later, those children will take exams. If they perform well, a master will come to take them away to learn a craft. Children who have learned can understand faster than those who haven’t. Teacher, look at that piece of land. It’s a herbal medicine field. There are special herbal farmers who are taking a few children to learn while working. And that is a tree that produces spices. There are also spice craftsmen who are taking care of the children.”

This road was newly built, and the fields on both sides of the road were reclaimed in the past two years.

Although outsiders talked about Dingsha in terms of the plants and animals he introduced, for An Yinong, the proudest thing he had done for the people of Dingsha was dividing the land and reclaiming wasteland. With the guidance of old farmers, most of the land in the county was planted in rotation with wheat, soybeans and sorghum, to maximize the use of the land.

The remaining fields were used to grow grass, herbs and spices. Sufficient land provided basic survival needs and also stabilized the hearts of the people. At the same time, he actively promoted Dingsha’s unique economic animals and plants, which could not only increase extra income for the people, but also increased employment, killing two birds with one stone.

“These lands were reclaimed by the people of Dingsha themselves, and the food on them was grown by the people themselves. Even the black cattle and hunting dogs were raised and sold by the people of Dingsha themselves. There is not much that students can do, except to point out the direction.”

An Yinong looked at the children learning with their teachers in the fields and said: “After the students leave here, the people of Dingsha will still be able to cultivate the land and grow crops, raise cattle and dogs, and their children will continue these things from generation to generation.”

Qi Di looked at the green fields and woods. It really didn’t look like the northwest. She had been here for a while during the war, but now, in just a few years, the scenery had changed. There were saplings and shrubs swaying in the wind everywhere. Just like a child in the classroom, tilting his head back and listening attentively. In ten years or so, these saplings would grow up and become pillars of society.

“Just farming and raising cattle? Why don’t you let the children continue to study?” she asked. “You know how many new students and scholars are also part of the county magistrate’s assessment, right?”

“If they want to study, let them continue to study, but some children from poor families will definitely make other choices. Moreover, these children are still young and have just started to learn. Even if they take the examinations for Tongsheng and Xiucai, it will be the business of the next county magistrate. We can’t force them to grow too fast.”

“Many of your current plans are just seedlings that have just been planted. The fruits will have to be harvested by the next person. Aren’t you unwilling?” Empress Qi stopped.

An Yinong stopped and the guard said nothing. The Crown Princess thoughtfully looked at the two of them.

“In reply to your question, it depends on what a person seeks. If what I seek is fame, wealth and honor, I would feel somewhat unwilling. But what I seek is the process from nothing to something. I have already obtained this kind of happiness, and the fruits of labor are only incidental.”

An Yinong looked at the saplings and the people working: “When I said I wanted to study, some people asked me why I wanted to do so. I said I wanted to be an official, and I wanted the people under my rule to never have to suffer from famine.”