Don't make trouble, let's build infrastructure!

Tong Ran walked towards the gate of the courtyard, only to hear the man say: "Then can you let me wait here for the county magistrate?"

"This..." When Qiu'er hesitated, he caught a glimpse of Tong Ran coming back with the little tiger in his arms, and hurriedly pointed, "Here, Mr. Tong is back."

Looking at the back, Tong Ran only felt familiar, until the man turned around and realized that it was actually Gao Zhuo.

"Master Gao." Tong Ran nodded.

"Master Tong, I have something to say, can I borrow a step to say it?" Different from the toughness on the first day, Gao Zhuo bowed firmly, very respectful and polite.

"Come in." Without hesitation, Tong Ran ordered Qiu'er to prepare tea, and brought Gao Zhuo into the main room.

Tong Ran put the little tiger on the bed behind the screen before coming out to talk to Gao Zhuo.

Gao Zhuo's rank was higher than Tong Ran's, and when he saw Tong Ran again, he noticed the increase in his righteousness, but out of respect, he didn't investigate carefully.

"Master Gao, sit down." Tong Ran said.

When Gao Zhuo's confidant returned to the Yamen to be on duty, Tong Ran noticed the change in his attitude, but he thought it would take some time, but he didn't expect Gao Zhuo to come to him so soon.

Gao Zhuo sat down, but only occupied one-third of the seat, nodding his head slightly with a serious face.

"Lord Gao, don't be nervous. I'm just a county magistrate, not a big tiger." Tong Ran smiled.

"My lord was joking. Gao Zhuo was not nervous, but he was confused by what he did before, and he was thinking about how to ask for your forgiveness." Gao Zhuo said, his tone was serious, and his voice was a little loud, as if it filled the whole room.

It happened that Qiu'er was serving tea, and he also heard this. He didn't dare to talk too much on such an occasion, so he quickly served tea and left.

"Master Gao spoke so loudly just now, and my servant heard it too, so aren't you afraid of embarrassment?" Tong Ran said with a smile.

"Of course I'm not afraid. A mistake is a mistake. Since I dare to admit it, I'm not afraid that people will listen to it." Gao Zhuo said.

Tong Ran couldn't help sizing Gao Zhuo a little more, Gao Zhuo didn't hide, he put his fists on his knees, his back was straight, and he let him scrutinize him.

After being quiet for a while, Tong Ran said again: "How long has Mr. Gao been an official?"

"Six Spring and Autumn Periods." Gao Zhuo said, "I lived in Jiangliu for one year and Xiaoguo County for five years."

Tong Ran said again: "How high is Mr. Gao's righteousness?"

Gao Zhuo replied: "Xuan rank middle grade nine."

Having been an official for the same six years, Gou An only had the third lowest rank of the Xuan rank, while Gao Zhuo had the ninth rank of the middle rank of the Xuan rank.

In the process of updating the stall regulations these days, Tong Ran also got to know more about the inside and outside of the county government office. He is afraid, so he doesn't care much about the work of the county magistrate, and spends all day fooling around with those rich businessmen under the instigation of Gou An.

It's no wonder that Deng Qi doesn't like Gao Zhuo's straightforward personality.

Tong Ran took a sip of tea and said, "Since Mr. Gao is straightforward, the county will not forgive you. I appreciate your straightforward personality and agree with what you said about obeying the law, but the law is not static, especially in my hands. .”

Gao Zhuo changed his tone when he heard his words, and his originally relieved mood became tense again.

Tong Ran paused, and continued: "Xiaoguo County will definitely undergo a big change in my hands. Today, we can have such a big conflict over a small matter of setting up a stall. If I make big changes in the future, don't I want Make the entire county government unclean? I appreciate Mr. Gao's character, but Xiaoguo County under my rule may not be suitable for Mr. Gao to serve."

After Tong Ran finished speaking, there was a moment of silence in the room.

Although he didn't expect Gao Zhuo to come today, Tong Ran has been thinking about what he said for a few days. Gao Zhuo is a good official and very clean, but he is too old-fashioned, which often makes good things go bad.It's as if everyone knows that the regulation on setting up stalls is no longer suitable for the present, but he still implements it. He seems to be doing the right thing, but makes the people miserable.

Gao Zhuo may be a good sword, but it is not suitable for the hand, and it is worth not to keep the unsuitable sword.

After Tong Ran finished what he wanted to say, he sat down and drank tea leisurely.

Gao Zhuo pondered for a long time, until the red light of sunset came in from outside, he said: "I have been in the officialdom for six years, and I have met many officials, big and small. There are people who play tricks and tricks, but it is rare to see someone who works for the people like an adult, and the officials are indeed stubborn, but if they are ordered by the adults, the officials are willing to follow."

Tong Ran glanced at him, and Gao Zhuo also looked directly at him calmly.

The little tiger woke up at some point, jumped to Tong Ran's lower seat and sat down, as if he was also looking at Gao Zhuo.

Tong Ran put down the teacup and said, "It's a great honor for Tong to get Mr. Gao's words, but..."

Gao Zhuo was the first to say: "My lord Tong, if you are fighting against you like this, if you don't punish me, you won't be able to serve the people, I ask you to downgrade to an ordinary yamen servant, and do my best to reform Xiaoguo County." He lived so young Don't bow your head. If you want to bow your head, he must be sincere.

Gou An came to him a few days ago and talked a lot of nonsense, Gao Zhuo knew that he was going to incite himself to conflict with the county magistrate, he naturally would not follow Gou An's words, but he also saw Gou An's dissatisfaction.

It was the luck of Xiaoguo County that people like Gou An were unhappy, and around that time, he had the heart to fall for Tong Ran.

Tong Ran didn't expect Gao Ran to be so sincere, so he nodded and said, "It's a waste of talents to let Mr. Gao be an ordinary government servant. You will still be your county captain. I will punish you with one year's salary as punishment."

"Master Xie Tong." Gao Zhuo cupped his fists.

A few days ago, Yuan San reported to Tong Ran that Gou An had been to Gao Zhuo's house.

Gou An looks cunning, but he doesn't have a deep mind, and Gao Zhuo is just like what he said just now, he is an old-fashioned person.Tong Ran was not familiar with the situation when he first came to the county government, and was worried that the two of them would cheat him, but after these days, he also knew that this was impossible.

Gou An went to Gao Zhuo, probably because he refused to meet those merchants, and wanted to provoke Gao Zhuo to further quarrel with him, so that he could find another opportunity to show his favor.After Tong Ran waited for two days without Gao Zhuo coming to find out what happened, he guessed that Gou An's plan had failed.

Sure enough, recently Gou An asked him to go out with various big merchants a few times, but what he is doing now does not need their help, nor can it benefit them. More contact is just to add trouble to himself, and Tong Ran refuses.

The next day, Gao Zhuo appeared in the yamen, and everyone held their breath when they saw him, and Tong Ran was even more nervous when he came.

However, Gao Zhuo greeted Tong Ran respectfully, and Tong Ran publicly announced Gao Zhuo's return and punishment, but Gao Zhuo was not displeased at all. Immediately after Tong Ran arranged the work, he also looked serious.

After watching the show, the civil servants went back to work.The yamen servants breathed a sigh of relief, their boss reconciled with their boss's boss, and they finally lived without worry.

Soon, however, they discovered that they were too naive.

Although Tong Ran took punitive measures from time to time, he had a mild temper and hardly swears.But Gao Zhuo was different. Whenever he found something wrong, he scolded him straight away. He was very strict. The yamen servants all clamped their tails tightly when they were on duty, not daring to relax for a moment.

With Gao Zhuo in the county government office, Tong Ran freed his hands and went for a long trip.

He had been to the destination before, which was Straw Mushroom Township with the fewest subordinate villages. He did not go to the third village of Cheng Straw Mushroom Township that day because of the vision of heaven and earth. Tong Ran wanted to go and visit now that he had time.

Because it took a long time, Tong Ran took Qiu'er and Yuan San together, led the way by Xiangzheng in Caogu Township, and entered the third village in Caogu Township.

This village is in the mountains, and the mountain road is rugged. They walked for a whole day to get there.

"That's right down there." After turning over a mountain, the villager of Straw Mushroom Township pointed to the village under the hillside.Tong Ran looked in the direction he pointed, and there were several houses scattered in the greenery.

"Only these few?" Tong Ran asked.

The township of Straw Mushroom Township said: "Where is it? There are also on the other side and on the east side. They can live comfortably. It is said that it is a village, but it is actually divided into several places."

There were only five households in the place Tong Ran and the others visited, and according to what Caogu Xiangzheng said, there should be thirty households in this village, but this small number of people live in so many places, really scattered.

Tong Ran stood on the slope and looked down. There was a field below, but it was not the dry land like other villages in Xiaoguo County, but a paddy field for rice. There were ditches around the paddy field, and the water source in it was very sufficient.

The township of Straw Mushroom Township said: "There is water on the mountain here, and there are springs. The water source is much more abundant than other places in Xiaoguo County. The soil quality is also different, so they all grow rice."

"Why aren't they planted on the mountain?" Tong Ran asked casually. The mountains here are lush with trees, but there are no terraced fields.

The township of Straw Mushroom Township was stunned for a moment, and said: "This...the county magistrate doesn't know something. Rice needs to be planted in paddy fields, but on hillsides...it can't be grown." Tong Ran had done composting and digging wells to irrigate the fields before. Vigorously, they thought that the county magistrate had a great talent for farming at a young age. Didn't they even know such trivial things as not being able to grow food on the hillside?

"Ah," Tong Ran suddenly realized that there were no terraced fields here, so he immediately changed the subject, "Take me to visit other people's houses in the village."

Straw Mushroom Xiangzheng followed his advice and took him to look elsewhere.

Tong Ran walked around with him, and he had figured out the terrain here.

Here is a mountain depression, scattered with many families.Those who come from Xiaoguo County have to cross a mountain pass, but the direction to the North Shanlin Road is much flatter. It is no wonder that although these people belong to Xiaoguo County, they are closer to the North Shanlin Road. unreasonable.

"Wow." The little tiger didn't know why, Tong Ran was talking to himself, but it rarely yelled when nothing happened.

"Are you hungry?" Tong Ran asked, stroking its hairy head.Xiangzheng, Qiu'er, and Yuan San went to prepare food, and Tong Ran took the little tiger around the village.

The little tiger swept its tail, it was strictly disciplined since it was a child, how could it yell because it was hungry, isn't it because this little servant who knows nothing about the heights of the sky and the earth dares to complain in private even about the administrative division, is it because he is dissatisfied with it?

Of course Tong Ran didn't understand the little tiger's twists and turns, so Qiu'er ran over and told him that dinner was ready.They found a farmer, gave Yinzi a table of vegetables, and a large piece of roast meat for the little tiger.

The farmer has a pair of young sons and daughters, both of them were very curious to see the tiger, and they wanted to play with it.

"Wow!" The little tiger roared ferociously, and the little boy and the little girl were stunned.

"Zai Zai, don't scare them." Tong Ran said.

The next moment, a pair of children laughed even more happily, and the little girl clapped her hands and said, "The little tiger is very playful and can even bark, just like the milk doll next door."

"Hahahaha." Tong Ran couldn't help laughing, not to mention, Zai Zai is not much older than a human milk doll in terms of age, this metaphor is really apt.

"Wow!" The little tiger yelled at Tong Ran this time, and Tong Ran held back his laughter until his shoulders shook.

After returning from Straw Mushroom Township, Tong Ran visited Jiuxiang Village again, but this time he didn't go to the farmland, but walked all the dirt roads that were formed or not.

Xiaoguo County is located at the junction of Dunan Road, Longyou Road and Shanlin North Road. There are mountains in the north of Shanlin North Road, and Xiaoguo County is just on the other side of the mountain. Therefore, although it looks bordering on the map, the traffic is actually very inconvenient.

If you want to transport things from North Shanlin Road, you have to detour from other places in Dunan Road, so the logistics cost will be much higher. Therefore, even if North Shanlin Road, which is rich in products, is next door, Xiaoguo County will not be able to benefit from it. .

To be rich, build roads first.

Tong Ran finished the tour of Jiuxiang and Yicun again, and paid attention to road construction again.

This road needs to be repaired, but... Tong Ran rubbed his hair. The official roads here are all rammed earth roads, and the rammed earth roads are not bad. The Qin Zhi Road built in the Qin Dynasty can still be used in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, but it is expensive to build. The manpower and material resources are huge, and the cement road must be economical in comparison.

But this cement can't be mixed with any mud.

Regarding cement, he had learned a little from a brother who studied road materials, and he also knew the characteristics of suitable mud and limestone, but Dacheng is so big, where would he find it?

"My lord." Yuan San knocked on the door outside.

"what's up?"

"My lord, there is a businessman outside who wants to see your lord." Yuan Sandao said.

Tong Ran frowned. In order to avoid trouble, he never socialized with the merchants in Xiaoguo County. Who came to him in such a hurry?Tong Ran said: "I'm not free, please ask him to go back."

Yuan San guessed that he would say this, so he told the businessman that Mr. Tong was busy with everything and had no time to see him, but the businessman insisted on seeing him, and said...his surname was Fan.

Yuan San had never heard of a big business family in Xiaoguo County with the surname Fan, but the man was dressed in brocade, the color was low-key but the material was excellent, Yuan San didn't dare to dismiss it casually, so he came here to report.

"My lord, the businessman said his surname is Fan, and we are old acquaintances with your lord." Yuan San said again.

范？

Fan Heng!

Tong Ran put down his pen and said, "Please invite him to the study."

Yuan San breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he came to report. It seems that it is really an old acquaintance of the adults.He didn't dare to neglect, and immediately went back to the gate of the county government office, and invited Fan Henggong in respectfully.

The little tiger just woke up, shaking his head and stretching his paws.

Fan Heng is here, why is he here?

Wearing a low-key brocade robe and leaning on crutches, Fan Heng entered the study under Yuan San's guidance.

"Brother Tong, please stay safe." Fan Heng said affectionately as soon as he entered the door.

Tong Ran got up from behind the desk, asked Fan Heng to sit down at the tea table, and said, "Brother Yuan, let's have some tea."

After exchanging pleasantries, Tong Ran asked, "Why did Brother Fan come here, do you have business?"

Fan Heng smiled and said: "Yes, Yanwu Pavilion wants to open a branch here, and then I will have to rely on you, County Magistrate Tong."

In fact, such a trivial matter as opening a branch of Yanwu Pavilion does not require him to come in person, it is just a task assigned by His Majesty before.A long time ago, His Majesty sent him an order to investigate Tong Ran's background. After receiving the order, he rushed back to Zhuoyang Mansion to inquire, but found nothing.

The only clue is what he got out of the guy in Donglaiwashe.

It turned out that Tong Ran was picked up by shopkeeper Washeli in the river outside Fucheng.At that time, Tong Ran fell into the water and was drenched all over. Shopkeeper Li kindly gave him a hand, but Tong Ran said that he didn't remember the past and didn't know where his home was. Seeing that he was pitiful, shopkeeper Li took him back to Wa Abandon.What happened next is well known.

As for what happened before Tong Ran fell into the water, and how he fell into the water, he asked many people who often traveled by the river, but found nothing.

There was no progress on his side, and His Majesty had people come to urge him several times, so he simply came to Xiaoguo County, thinking that he might be able to find out more by getting in touch with Tong Ran more.

After thinking about it for a while, Chu Jun understood Fan Heng's intention.

But Fan Heng made a mistake this time. If he could find out anything by Tong Ran's side, would he still need Fan Heng?It was because there was no clue around Tong Ran that he asked Fan Heng to investigate, thinking that he might be able to find something in another direction.

The little tiger felt bored after hearing them say a few words. He knew Fan Heng's style very well, and he knew what he would say without listening.

Tong Ran suddenly asked, "Brother Fan, do you know anything about the mud and limestone in Dacheng?"

"Mud? Limestone?" Fan Heng was taken aback. "I don't know about it, but I have porcelain masters and stone carving workers under my command. They often need to go to various places to purchase raw materials, so they should know something."

"That's great, Brother Fan's coming here really relieved my urgent need." Tong Ran said.

Fan Heng was still at a loss. What did Tong Ran need stone and clay for? Could it be that he was not enough to be a county magistrate, and he also wanted to do business in porcelain and stone carving?

Tong Ran took a pen and paper, and wrote down some characteristics of soil and limestone suitable for making cement from memory, and handed it to Fan Heng: "Brother Fan, can you do me a favor, please take a look at your masters, look at it." Where can this type of soil and limestone be quarried?"

Fan Heng glanced at it and said, "That's not a problem, but what do you want these things for?"

It's okay to tell him, Tong Ran said, "I want to build roads."

Fan Heng was even more confused: "You can use mellow soil for road construction, but what do you need limestone for?"

"I want to make a new road construction material." Tong Ran said.

Fan Heng seemed to understand but not understand.

The little tiger narrowed his eyes, building a road?No wonder the little attendant has traveled all the roads of Jiuxiang and Yicun in the past few days. It turned out to be this idea.

But what did he just write?The little tiger jumped onto Tong Ran's lap and stretched his head to look.

Fan Heng caught a glimpse of it, panicked, folded the paper and put it away.This tiger cub, like His Majesty, has a pair of green eyes, which made him think of His Majesty when he saw it.

"It's not difficult, I'll send it back and ask them to do it." Fan Heng said.

Tong Ran nodded, and said bluntly: "As soon as possible." He looked at the sky outside again: "Then I won't bother you to make another trip, and I will thank you when the news comes."

Fan Heng: ...

He said to go back, that is to go back at night, Tong Ran is telling him to go back now, even the wind and rice are not invited?It's really not a waste of time.

Tong Ran really didn't invite him to dinner, but at least he sent a lot of home-brewed beer and barley tea, and asked the yamen servant to send Fan Heng back to his residence.