sbdcsierra Chapter 227 Inspection
Chapter 227 Inspection
The news that the prefect was coming to Shanglin Village spread quickly, attracting villagers from surrounding villages to flock to watch the fun.
Surrounded by the officials from the county government, Feng Guangxiao, the prefect of Yuzhou Prefecture, and other officials including the associate prefect and the deputy prefect got off the carriage one after another.
Seeing the huge crowds of people at the scene, the prefect greeted them with a smile on his face.
"My dear father-in-law, how is the harvest this year?"
Feng Guangxiao came up to a white-haired old man. Seeing that the old man was wearing a sweatshirt and holding a sickle in his hand, he asked in a friendly manner.
The old man was a little excited and grinned, and I saw that several of his teeth had fallen out.
"Master, my family has a good harvest this year."
"I see you holding a sickle. At your age, you are still busy with the autumn harvest. Where are the young people in your family?"
When the old man heard the prefect asking about the young people in his family, he couldn't suppress a smile on his face.
"Hahaha, Master, you don't know that all the young people in my family have gone to work in the processing workshop. It's autumn harvest time, and the processing workshop arranged for the helpers to take turns going home for the harvest. My children took turns to rest a few days ago, and when they got home, they hurried to harvest all the crops in the fields."
"I see. Then why are you holding this sickle?"
"My family rents a spotted cow from a cattle farm. On weekdays, my children work in the processing workshop, so I stay at home to herd the cow. I also use a sickle to cut some fresh grass on the mountain so that I can feed the cow in the evening."
Feng Guangxiao, the Tongzhi, the Tongpan and other officials all nodded with satisfaction and smiles on their faces when they heard what the old man said.
The people in the county government office were a little nervous when they saw the prefect asking questions to the old man. But after hearing what the old man said and seeing the prefect and several officials nodding in satisfaction, they started to laugh.
"I heard from my father-in-law that all the young people in the family have gone to work in the processing workshop. You raise spotted cattle at home, so how is the family income?"
"Compared to previous years, the family's income is much better. In previous years, the family only had seven or eight acres of land, and the harvest from the land was barely enough to support the family. Both sons went to the county to do odd jobs to supplement the family income, and life was very tight."
The old man's expression changed, and a smile appeared on his wrinkled face.
"This year is good. Since the beginning of the year, my two sons and their daughters-in-law have been working in the processing workshop. Each of them earns at least one or two taels of silver a month. My grandchildren are still young, so my wife and I help take care of the children, raise spotted cows and milk them, plant some vegetables in the yard, and raise a few chickens. The children have eggs to eat every day. The processing workshop also provides meals for my sons and daughters-in-law, and I, an old man, go to the town to buy some meat every now and then. My grandchildren, who used to have sallow complexions, are now all plump and fair. Hahaha..."
The onlookers all nodded in agreement, praising the changes that the cattle farm and processing workshop had brought to their families.
Seeing all the villagers smiling and their faces filled with happiness, all the officials were very happy. These officials have been in office for many years and rarely see such a scene.
After a brief greeting with the common people, a group of officials, under the arrangement of Zhong Yunfeng and his son, went into the processing workshop for a visit.
Seeing the helpers in uniform busy at their posts in the processing workshop, it seemed that the arrival of their group did not attract much attention from the helpers. Feng Guangxiao and other officials nodded approvingly.
Seeing the convoys waiting in line for loading, Feng Guangxiao went up to ask about them and learned that among the convoys coming from surrounding provinces, there was also a convoy from Shengjing and Yangzhou. Several adults were very excited.
After the tour, Zhong Yunfeng and his son were preparing to arrange for the adults to go to Yunfeng Tower, but they saw Feng Guangxiao waving his hand.
"There is a cafeteria in this processing workshop. We can have our meal here today."
After hearing what the prefect said, Zhong Yunfeng and his son tried to persuade the prefect and then led a group of officials towards the cafeteria.
"Is this the food these workers eat every day?"
Feng Guangxiao saw the helpers who took turns to eat in the cafeteria. They were all in a hurry and busy eating. Feng Guangxiao saw that on the table in front of the helpers, there were not only meat and vegetables, but also soup, rice, noodles and steamed buns. It looked very rich.
"Sir, the cafeteria will change different dishes every day to meet more of everyone's needs and preferences."
After listening to Zhong Yunfeng's introduction, Feng Guangxiao nodded with satisfaction, and then everyone was arranged by Zhong Yunfeng to sit down.
I originally planned to ask the chef to cook a few dishes separately, but was stopped by Feng Guangxiao.
"Just use the dishes to put some of the cooked dishes on. I think these dishes are quite sumptuous."
After eating in the cafeteria, a group of officials praised the food for its delicious taste.
Feng Guangxiao knew that Mr. Cai was in Shanglin Village and had originally planned to visit him. Before retiring, Mr. Cai was the chief academic officer of the Imperial College. Although his rank was equivalent to that of a prefect, Mr. Cai had many students and old friends throughout the court and the country. Several of his disciples had entered officialdom and he had an important influence among the vast number of Confucian scholars. Moreover, although the ranks of Beijing officials and local officials were equivalent, their status were different.
Feng Guangxiao was of course willing to get to know Mr. Cai, but after some inquiries, he found out that Mr. Cai had gone out to study with two of his disciples yesterday.
Time passed quickly and the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching. Mr. Cai took Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng out for half a month and finally returned to Shanglin Village before the Mid-Autumn Festival.
I saw that on the open space opposite the official road of the processing workshop, craftsmen were already digging the foundation.
The manager of the processing workshop also prepared Mid-Autumn Festival gifts for the helpers in the processing workshop as requested by Zhong Yunfeng. In addition, the processing workshop will be closed for two days during the Mid-Autumn Festival.
When Ye Changyan arrived at the processing workshop, he saw the managers distributing Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to the helpers.
Among the group of people who were in charge of distributing holiday gifts were Dalang, Silang and Li Rongxu.
Now Dalang and Silang are in charge of a workshop independently, and each of them manages nearly 20 people.
Li Rongxu has a quick mind, clear ideas and outstanding abilities. Ye Changyan asked him to learn from the managers for two months and then promoted him again. Now Li Rongxu is the deputy general manager of the production department, responsible for the daily management and coordination of all workshops.
Li Baolin was very grateful to Ye Changyan for his son's quick recovery after entering the processing workshop and for his recognition and promotion by Ye Changyan. He specially prepared a Mid-Autumn Festival gift and planned to visit him in person with Li Rongxu.
The helpers were holding the generous holiday gifts and were all smiling happily.
Zhong Yunfeng also arranged for Wang Shun to help the Lian family build a small courtyard on the land they bought.
When Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng went to Ye's farm, they saw that some craftsmen had already started digging the foundation.
From a distance, Ye Changyan and Liang Jingcheng could smell the fragrance of osmanthus wafting from the Ye family's farm.
When I walked into the yard, I saw mushrooms drying all over the yard. My aunt and cousin were busy turning them over, and my grandmother was sitting on a small stool to help.
The three maids, Suqin, Duoer and Xueli, were busy at the stove distilling the fresh osmanthus flowers they had just purchased.
Soon, my grandfather returned to the farm on his donkey. My uncle and cousin also came back from the mountain with Shitou and Erniu, each carrying a full basket of mushrooms.
"Grandpa, grandma, uncle, aunt, tomorrow is the Mid-Autumn Festival, everyone should take a couple of days off. Tomorrow everyone can come to our house and have a reunion dinner."