The best county magistrate

After returning to the county government office, Yang Xuanchen led Yan Chenghai and a group of subordinate officials to the warehouse.

Everyone in Qingzhou Mansion looked shocked when they saw the mountains of sea salt.

"Wu Gui, your Wu family has been the salt official since the beginning of the previous dynasty. Come and take a look at this salt!" Yan Chenghai ordered.

Wu Gui took some sea salt and put it in the palm of his hand, placed it in the sun and observed it carefully. After a while, he used his other hand to crush the salt block slightly, and put a small handful into his mouth.

He closed his eyes and savored the taste, then opened them suddenly, "Master Yang, I wonder if the dishes for lunch today were cooked with this salt?"

Yang Xuanchen nodded.

This Wu Gui does have some skills. During lunch, everyone praised Youpengge's food for being salty and delicious, but they didn't know the secret.

"Master Wu is awesome. It is indeed as you said. Today's meals are all cooked with this salt."

"This salt is produced by diverting seawater from Liujia Village in the east of Qingshui County. One acre of salt field produces about a thousand kilograms per day."

"It's just that the method of drying salt depends on the weather. If it encounters rainy weather, it cannot be used. Fortunately, the weather in Qingshui County is sunny all year round and there is enough light."

“This method is better than mining salt in salt ponds and requires less manpower.”

"The farm equipment will be improved by Xiaguan in the near future. By then, salt farmers can control more salt fields and increase production."

As soon as Yang Xuanchen said this, everyone exclaimed, and some even shouted that this was a magical skill.

Yan Chenghai was in an extremely excited mood at this time. He clenched his hands into fists in his wide sleeves, his whole body was trembling, and his eyes were even redder.

Originally, he thought that Yang Xuanchen's talk about making salt might be due to the discovery of a salt lake or salt well on the border of Qingshui County, but he did not expect that the salt was actually made from seawater.

If Qingshui County is properly protected, the salt will be inexhaustible, which will not only stabilize the price of salt in Dayan, but also sell it to other countries to increase Yan's national power.

"Sun Zhiqing!"

"Immediately write a memorial to report the matter of salt production in Qingshui County in the Ming Dynasty. This is a great blessing for Great Yan and an important matter for the country! Send it to Your Majesty urgently from 800 miles away!"

Immediately afterwards, Yan Chenghai grabbed Yang Xuanchen's shoulders tightly and stared at him, as if to see who the ridiculously young man in front of him was.

Yang Xuanchen met his gaze without avoiding it, with a smile in his firm eyes.

"Good! Good! Good!"

Yan Chenghai said hello three times, each one louder than the last.

A group of subordinate officials from Qingzhou Prefecture also agreed and praised him.

"Sir Yan, it's still early. Do you want to go to the salt fields in Liujiacun to inspect it?"

Yang Xuanchen first asked Yan Chenghai, and then bowed to everyone.

"The lower official has little talent and little knowledge. I still need to learn more from you adults about farming and salt production."

"I wonder if all your lords could give me a few words of advice on the way. I would be very grateful."

Yang Xuanchen's lack of arrogance, humility and courtesy won everyone's favor.

Yan Chenghai put a smile on his face and waved his hand, "Then go to the beach and see our precious salt fields in Qingzhou."

"Wu Gui, Mao Yi, you two should pay more attention on the way. You will give our Mr. Yang some suggestions and opinions later."

After receiving the order, everyone set off towards Liujiacun.

On the carriage, Yang Xuanchen and Yan Chenghai sat opposite each other.

"Sir Yan, I have some ideas, I don't know..." Yang Xuanchen probed cautiously.

"But it doesn't matter!"

Yang Xuanchen straightened his body and said slowly: "After Qingshui County has salt, it will definitely become rich, and salt merchants will come to Qingshui County one after another to do business."

"But Qingshui County is small and has few people, so public security will become the biggest problem in the future!"

Yan Chenghai touched his chin and thought for a while, then nodded.

"Although merchants are a lowly profession in the world's eyes, if a state or county lacks the circulation of merchants, it will be as poor and backward as Qingshui County."

"So the public security issue you mentioned is indeed a top priority. Not only Qingshui County but also Qingzhou needs to pay attention to this issue."

Yang Xuanchen smiled. He felt extremely relaxed communicating with Yan Chenghai on political matters. He could see clearly by simply asking a question.

Moreover, Yan Chenghai, as a son of a noble family and a person who grew up in a traditional feudal society, did not look down on businessmen. This alone was commendable.

"Sir Yan, so I want to impose a new policy on Qingshui County. This method is different from tradition and may be criticized by others."

Yang Xuanchen looked at Yan Chenghai, trying to find some clues from his expression so that he could choose what to say and what not to say in the next words.

"New Deal? But let's talk about it."

Yang Xuanchen took out the map of Qingshui County from his arms and circled the county seat.

"Sir, Xiaguan plans to renovate Qingshui County on a large scale, starting with infrastructure construction."

"Whether it's the capital or Qingshui County, every corner is always smelly, and people urinate and defecate everywhere, polluting the streets and alleys."

"When the weather gets hotter, bacteria will breed and diseases will be more likely to occur."

Yan Chenghai frowned. He didn't understand what bacteria were, but he thought that whenever the weather was hot, many diseases would appear in Linjiang City. Could it be related to the concentration of feces and urine in the city?

"What's the medical rationale for this?"

Yang Xuanchen's eyes lit up and he said slowly: "If the feces and urine are not cleaned for a long time, it will attract flies. After the flies lay eggs on it, they will breed maggots. When the maggots grow up, they will become flies. This is a cycle."

"If the city is overrun with flies, it will bring unknown diseases or plagues."

"So Xiaguan believes that if a county or a city wants to be managed well, it must start with infrastructure construction."

"The key point in infrastructure construction is hygiene."

Yan Chenghai nodded. He also admitted that what Yang Xuanchen said made sense, but there was no good way to deal with this problem from ancient times to the present, and he also had a headache.

Everyone wants to live in a clean and tidy environment, but urinating and scattering excrement and urine indiscriminately are bad habits that people are accustomed to, and it is extremely difficult to correct them.

"Speak to me about your thoughts!"

Yang Xuanchen connected the dots on the map, "This, this, and this, the official plans to build a certain number of huts."

"The reason why people defecate at will is because there are too few latrines in the city."

"The lower officials first built latrines to encourage people to use toilets. At the same time, they established an official gold juice store in Qingshui County to collect gold juice every day and hand it over to the people for farming and fertilization."

"In a few days, when more tax money comes in, sewer pipes will be built. From now on, Qingshui County will no longer see the sight of feces and urine gathering together."

Then, Yang Xuanchen talked about a series of measures, such as winning money in a lottery for using the toilet, publicizing the seven irregularities, and the sanitation team.

Yan Chenghai praised him repeatedly, but he also raised questions.

"What is the connection between the solution of health problems and the problem of public security?"

Yang Xuanchen explained: "The official calls it health and safety, if health is guaranteed."

"Then the diseases of the people will be reduced, and the occurrence of plague will be greatly reduced."

"When people are healthy, they will devote themselves to work. People can have work and earn money."

"Then they will still steal, rob, and kill?"

Yan Chenghai didn't expect that a small hygiene issue would be so important in Yang Xuanchen's eyes.

Moreover, every word of his words made sense. The people's requirements for life were very low. Good health, enough food and drink were their greatest luxuries.

Maybe improving hygiene can actually go a long way in curbing crime.

"Your ideas are very good. It's time for Qingshui County to take drastic measures."

"As long as I don't delay the salt production, you can do whatever else you want."

Yan Chenghai smiled and patted Yang Xuanchen on the shoulder to encourage him.

"I will definitely live up to Lord Yan's expectations!"

With the support of Yan Chenghai, Yang Xuanchen was filled with joy.

Finally, modern infrastructure can be applied to this era.