The best county magistrate

While waiting for the legend, the iron ore plant at the foot of Lanshan Mountain has been initially completed.

The workers worked day and night, which not only brought them generous wages, but also brought countless iron ore to Yang Xuanchen.

As the excavation deepens, lack of manpower becomes the biggest problem.

Breaking mountains and breaking rocks has become a top priority.

On this day, on a high ground outside the mountain col, Yang Xuanchen put his arm around Zhang Ludan's shoulder and spoke earnestly.

"I heard from your brother that he fell in love with a girl's family?"

Zhang Ludan chuckled, scratched his head, and a blush appeared on his dark face.

"Master, do you know all this?"

"Are you really a god as those people said?"

Giving him a bang, Yang Xuanchen smiled and said: "If I were a god, why would I need those workers to mine? I can do it alone."

"I came to see you today because I have something important to do. If this thing is done, I will tell you to go and do it in person."

After looking at him suspiciously for a long time, Zhang Ludan laughed honestly, "What's the matter? I, Zhang Ludan, swear to God that I will definitely complete the mission."

Seeing that his goal was achieved, Yang Xuanchen took out a bamboo tube from his arms, then took out a fire stick and lit the exposed fuse.

It was thrown out with all its strength. After a few breaths, an explosion sounded, and a small crater was blown out of the ground in the distance.

"Master, why are you setting off firecrackers? It's still a while before the New Year."

Looking at Zhang Ludan, Yang Xuanchen said, "Do you think my firecracker is more powerful than usual?"

Looking at the small pit that was still smoking, Zhang Braised Egg asked doubtfully: "Huh? It's quite big, much bigger than the ones usually put out during the Chinese New Year."

"Do you want me to do this kind of firecrackers? It's not a big deal, it's very simple." Then I thought, why don't I just do a few firecrackers? Do you need to take me across the river?

Yang Xuanchen shook his head and denied his statement.

Then he took Zhang Ludan for a walk around the mine. The miners were digging with primitive axes and picks, which was extremely inefficient.

Once you encounter solid rock, the pickaxe becomes less useful.

Although they have used some mining experience to prevent production capacity from declining, it is still far from the goal set by Yang Xuanchen.

In the past few days, the shadow of black powder has been constantly appearing in his mind.

He knew the ratio of mononitrate, disulfide, and charcoal, but he didn't quite understand the sentence about adding some sugar to Big Ivan.

So today I brought Lu Dan, an expert in playing with fire, here to promise benefits and to let him see the scene.

Yes, he wants to blow up the mountain!

"Lu Dan, I want to blow up these difficult-to-excavate mountains. Do you think it would be faster to dig up the ore?"

Yang Xuanchen's sudden idea shocked Zhang Ludan.

He looked deeper.

I blanch it and fry it?

Is this something that humans can do? Even if the firecracker you just fired was more powerful, it was still just a firecracker.

Exploding mountains? Just kidding?

After laughing a few times, Zhang Ludan scratched his head and said, "It's a good idea, sir. Let's make some firecrackers and blow them up."

He took some powdered saltpeter, sulfur, and charcoal from the package, and grabbed a handful of white sugar produced not long ago in the sugar factory.

Four things were placed in front of Zhang Ludan, and Yang Xuanchen said solemnly: "I added some sulfur to the firecracker just now, so it was more powerful."

"I did some general research and found that if I add more sugar, it might be more powerful."

Catching Zhang Ludan, Yang Xuanchen joked: "If you research this thing, you can bring a few of these things to the martial arts conference and you can become the leader of the alliance."

Zhang Ludan was a little confused, "What the hell?"

"Black gunpowder!" Yang Xuanchen nodded and continued: "It can also be said to be explosive!"

"Explosives?"

"That's right, dynamite! Mononitrate, disulfide and charcoal are the basic ratio. I think adding some sugar will make it more powerful."

"So, from now on, you will study black powder here."

"Whenever I can blow up this mountain, I will propose marriage to you!"

"If you want people, give people, if you want money, give money. Anyway, I will give you whatever you want."

Yang Xuanchen stared at Zhang Ludan for a while, his tone suddenly became colder, and his eyes became serious, "Explosives are harmful to the world, and the formula must not be passed on to a third person, do you understand?"

Zhang Ludan's whole body trembled and he nodded mechanically.

Marrying a wife is secondary. For the sake of the master's grand plan, he is willing to do anything to his heart's content.

"This thing is very powerful. You have to pay attention to your safety and don't get too close when you click it."

"If she is killed by the explosion, your wife will take advantage of others."

The two discussed the details and returned to the county seat.

It was still quite hot in June and July. After the boat docked, it walked along the Red Maple River with more than a dozen tall waterwheels. Soon, there were acres of fertile farmland.

On the edge of the rice fields, several egrets danced gracefully. They foraged for food in the rice fields, adding a bit of vitality to the green ocean.

Farmers bend down to work, and their figures shuttle through the fields, forming a pastoral picture of hard work.

Yang Xuanchen was walking in the fields, while Wang Tieshan followed him from a distance with a carriage.

He waved his hand and called several farmers to come closer, "Will our rice fields be blooming in the next few days?"

This farmer was originally a tenant. Since Qian Youde's collapse, Yang Xuanchen introduced a policy of returning the land to the people.

He could own one acre of land with a leasing fee of 100 cents per year. He was the first farmer to come to the Yamen to apply.

When he saw that it was the county magistrate who was talking to him, he quickly patted the dirt on his body, knelt on the ground, and burst into tears of gratitude.

"What a master! If I tell you, the flower will bloom in less than three days."

Yang Xuanchen originally wanted to take a look at his ten thousand acres of fertile land, but he didn't expect that his superficial judgment was met by the fact that the rice was about to bloom.

In his previous life, he lived in the city and didn't know much about farming.

He has never experienced such things as growing flowers, setting ears, and harvesting rice.

With an open-minded attitude towards learning, Yang Xuanchen asked: "Big brother, how much food can we produce from this acre of land?"

The farmer replied: "The weather is good this year, and with the big water tanker built by the master, the yield per acre of land will be more than last year."

"I can probably give birth to more than 200 kilograms..."

Listening to what farmers say, more than 200 kilograms is considered a good harvest in this era.

Yang Xuanchen praised a few words and then fell into memories.

The widespread application of modern rice planting technology has stabilized the yield at more than 600 jins, and high-yield fields can even reach 1,000 jins per mu.

The yield per acre of hybrid rice can reach an astonishing 1,600 kilograms.

As the memories deepened, Yang Xuanchen's brows began to frown.

The farmer looked at him with doubts and worries in his heart.

He didn't understand what happened to his county magistrate. Wouldn't it be good to produce more food in the fields?

"Master, what's wrong with you?" he asked.

Half of the grain per acre of land must be paid, and farmers can freely use the remaining half.

Based on ten acres of land, at most five or six hundred kilograms of the remaining thousand kilograms of grain can be sold.

Grain merchants charge seven to nine cents for a pound of grain, which means they only earn four to five taels of silver in a year.

In order to improve their lives, they had to do odd jobs in their spare time.

If there is a disaster or the children get married, all the savings will be spent if one is not careful.

A large country is based on agriculture and merchants are at the end.

Over the past year or so, I have focused on business but neglected agriculture.

Yang Xuanchen came back to his senses, looked at the simple face in front of him, and felt determination in his heart.

"Brother, after the rice fields in your home bloom in a few days, carefully look for the rice in the fields."

"I don't know what to say if you look for someone who can't show off anything..."

"Master, are you talking about prodigal rice? It's the kind of rice that can't produce flowers. We can deal with it on weekdays..." the farmer replied.

Yang Xuanchen listened to his story carefully and thought that the rice was probably a male sterile plant.

"Brother, what's your name?"

"Jiang Chengshi. Those two are my sons, Jiang Tianyang, Jiang Tiansheng..." As he spoke, he pointed to the two teenagers who were bending over and working in the distance.

"Compared with Haonan from the Chen family at the head of the village, Zhao Shanhe from the tail end of the village is much easier to raise."

"And those two guys, Bao Daming and Bao Erming, are also restless."

Let me tell you, do people in Ningqing Township have names like this?

If we pull out the people from these families, we can make a Qingshui County version of Young and Dangerous.

"Brother Jiang, what did you name your two sons?"

Jiang Chengshi shook his head and smiled honestly, "The village chief gave it to me. He said it was born with natural nourishment. It is not easy to get sick and is easy to take care of."

Indeed, in this era, names such as "Naturally Raised" and "Tie Hammer Er Niu" all mean that they are easy to support.

It's better than whole eggs or braised eggs.

"Brother Jiang, please turn around and spread the flowers. If you find the prodigal son, you must protect him and let me know!"

Jiang Chengshi had doubts in his heart, but in front of him was the county magistrate who was like a fairy. His reputation and various deeds had spread throughout Qingshui County.

Coupled with today's special instructions, he regarded Yang Xuanchen's instructions as an imperial edict.

In the next few days, all the farmers in the village were mobilized, just for those few failed plants.