As a lord, I was forced to farm

Chapter 708 Rat

"The county lady is here!"

As soon as the order was given, people in the village came to greet and salute.

Xu Nong, the former counselor of Xinheng Town and now the head of Dongtian Village, had known in advance that Jiang Ran was coming, so he was not in a hurry and stepped forward to greet her, "Greetings, County Lord!"

Xu Nong glanced at Jiang Ran, with a hint of surprise in his eyes. The last time the latter came to Dongtian Village was about half a year ago. Without the summons of the county lord, the various township heads were generally not allowed to disturb the county lord at will unless there was an urgent matter. In other words, Xu Nong had not seen Jiang Ran for half a year.

Boys of sixteen or seventeen have changed a lot. Jiang Ran originally had outstanding talent. When Xu Nong first met him, he secretly exclaimed that he felt like seeing a fairy. Now, time has made his immaturity disappear, and Jiang Ran knows how to restrain his edge. But in the eyes of outsiders, he looks more like a nobleman, and his natural temperament makes people dare not look at him closely.

Xu Nong was a minister who had served the Second Lord. He was worried that Jiang Ran would dislike him, so he became more reserved. "Dongtian Village was established relatively late, and compared to the prosperous Suling Town, the supplies are much scarcer. Xu Nong is ashamed. If I have neglected the county lord, please forgive me."

Jiang Ran lowered her eyes and looked at Xu Nong who was very respectful. She held his hand as he saluted. "In the past, Dongtian Village was poor and had no place to live. Mayor Xu worked tirelessly to ensure that the villagers of Dongtian Village had enough food and shelter. Mayor Xu's efforts are obvious to all. This county lady should reward and praise him, and why would she blame him?"

These were just polite words. Jiang Ran didn't know Xu Nong very well. It was Lin Sha who recommended Xu Nong to be the head of Dongtian Village, where it was very difficult to take a bath and eat.

He went from being the top strategist in the town to the head of a remote mountain village. From the perspective of official position, this was naturally a demotion. A normal person would have some complaints.

But judging from the feedback from Linsha and other officials, Xu Nong was not dissatisfied. He brought his wife and children to Dongtian Village and performed his duties faithfully.

The cultivators have great abilities and the rulers rely on them the most but also fear them the most.

More than half of the Hanyuan people who came to Dongtian Village were disabled, but without exception they were all cultivators.

Jiang Ran arranged for them to live in Dongtian Village which only had a cave. It was fine for one or two days, but compared with the comfortable lives of other people in Suling County, they would inevitably feel disappointed after a long time.

Once there is a gap, it is easy to breed lawless elements.

But Xu Nong promoted education and integration in Dongtian Village, planted ginseng and dug herbs, tamed snow wolves and organized villagers to hunt diligently, and often sought to gain advantages and conduct trade with people inside and outside the county. Although Dongtian Village was not so convenient in daily life, it could earn a lot of pure crystals and spirit crystals.

People who practice cultivation naturally care most about their own cultivation. The pure crystals and spirit crystals they get can calm their restless hearts to the greatest extent.

Although he had Jiang Ran's support, Xu Nong was able to protect the villagers and let them live in the danger-ridden Yunxiang Mountain with limited manpower, limited funds and limited time, which was considered a great achievement.

Thinking of this, Jiang Ran turned his head to Chun Ya and said, "I remember there are two rolls of plain cloth in the treasury. Let the clerk of the Ministry of Revenue send one over tomorrow to make two clothes for Madam Xu Nong and her son."

Due to the small silk production, the Suxiang cloth was not sold. Only those who received rewards from Jiang Ran could own it. It was said that one or two of the heads of each of the five tribes failed to get a whole piece of Suxiang cloth. Xu Nong was slightly stunned. He did not expect that a small village head like him could receive such an honor. County Lord Jiang was really open-minded and tolerant. She did not care about his mistake of leading troops to attack Suling Town in the past. Thinking of this, he felt guilty again. Xu Nong kowtowed and thanked her, "Thank you for the reward, County Lord."

"No need for such a grand ceremony."

Xu Nong himself was so moved, not to mention the bystanders, who envied and jealous Xu Nong while also admiring the generosity and magnanimity of the current county lord.

Following Jiang Ran and his party, there was also the Shuxu caravan that delivered supplies to Dongtian Village on time. Dongtian Village had no land for planting, and its food source was very dependent on Suling County.

The cost of transporting supplies to Dongtian Village through the teleportation array is extremely high. Before the drought, food could be purchased from nearby territories such as Tianchen County City, but in this disaster year, the people in those territories were unable to take care of themselves, so how could they have extra food to sell?

Therefore, the white flour that sells for twenty or thirty silver yuan per catty in Suling can rise to one gold yuan per catty in Dongtian Village!

The water source is also precious, and a jar of spiritual spring water contains ten pure crystals.

However, the villagers of Dongtian Village did not think the water was expensive. After all, "This is the water from the spiritual spring. Even if it is not a disaster year, the outer city would sell it at such a high price. I really envy Qingshan Village and Aojia Village, who can drink the spiritual spring water at will. Even if the spiritual spring water is diluted by the mountain stream water, long-term drinking is of great help to the human body..."

Villagers from other villages may not be able to afford such high fees.

But in years of disaster, along with the price of food, the price of herbs that strengthen the body also soars.

The medicinal value of ginseng has been proven over time. In Baicaotang in Mingxiao City, if Ruolan fruit is the store's signature herb, then ginseng is the signature herb of Baicaotang.

As the treasure trove of Xiaoliangshan is occupied, even though the villagers have to hand over half of every ginseng they obtain as "ginseng tax" to the government as a subsidy to the ginseng spirit and a "dividend" for the villagers' investment in the mountains, the villagers who pay the tax can still receive a considerable reward.

Therefore, the charges for food and water were a bit more expensive, but the villagers of Dongtian Village could afford it. Besides, everyone knew that the government's transportation of food to Dongtian Village was not actually for the purpose of making a profit, so no money could be made.

Due to Jiang Ran's presence, the Dongtian trading venue was more orderly than before. After drinking half a cup of tea, a group of soldiers leading snow wolves and carrying huge bags came from a distance.

"County Lady, Qianyu and the others are back." Xu Nong raised his eyes, "I wonder what good things they brought back from outside this time."

Zhou Bao smelled a hint of blood in the air, his face darkened, and he lowered his head and said to Jiang Ran, "My Lord, there is a smell of blood, someone is injured."

At the same time, the wind blew, and the shadow behind Jiang Ran moved slightly, as if something had sneaked in. Bat Ge didn't show up, but Jiang Ran heard his gloomy and hoarse voice, "Master, there are other people's blood and energy moving. Qian Yu is followed by a group of sneaky people. Do you want me to deal with them?"

Batman is extremely sensitive to blood due to his bloodline talent. Since he said that there was an outsider approaching, he must be right.

Jiang Ran's expression did not change. He did not use the Bat Ge Lian. Instead, he turned his head and said to Zhou Bao, "A stinky rat has sneaked over here. Take some people to deal with it, and by the way, find out who sent it."

"Yes!" Zhou Bao's face changed and he immediately set off with his men.

When Xu Nong heard Zhou Bao say that someone was injured, he immediately went to call the village doctor.

Xu Nong hurriedly said, "My Lord, my blood is dirty and I am afraid of insulting your body. Please move away."

"It's okay, don't worry about me, go and take care of the injured first."

Xu Nong didn't have time to worry too much at this moment. He nodded, and went with the doctor to pick up Qian Yu and others.