Empress: Your Majesty, please respect yourself, I don't want to be promoted

Just as the Sui Palace was taking spontaneous actions in full swing, Lu Chen left Yuzhou City and went to Ping County for inspection.

Although the information of each county in Yuzhou is archived in Yuzhou City, Lu Chen cannot make decisions based on the text on paper alone. He still has to conduct on-site inspections to understand the situation in each county.

Of course, there is no need to bring a large army with you on the inspection. Not to mention it is unnecessary, it will be very slow and will delay things.

This time he only brought Fu Ya and Chai Hongyu with him. They didn't even use a carriage and just rode their horses there.

There were two warriors at the Guiyi realm, and their mounts were the divine horses Huang Feidian bestowed by the emperor. The three of them traveled very quickly, and arrived at the Pingxian County Government in just one hour.

On the way, although the people along the way recognized Lu Chen, they were sensible and did not call out to him because he was in a hurry. Instead, they watched him leave until he was far away and could no longer be seen. Then they left silently.

He arrived at the gate of the county government office, revealed his identity, and the bailiff hurried to pass on the message.

Not long after, a burly man with a leopard head and round eyes, who looked a bit out of place in a civil servant's robe, came out from inside, bowed his hands, and said in a thunderous voice:

"Your subordinate Zhang Yi, I pay my respects to Lu Shaobao."

The original magistrate of Ping County was Fang Yu, but he did such an outstanding job that he built the entire Ping County into the economic center of Yuzhou. The county seat was expanded nearly ten times, and its size was almost close to that of Yuzhou City. At the same time, relying on commercial taxes, its annual revenue directly ranked first among all the provinces in Central and South China. With such great political achievements, the empress would naturally not let him stay in one county seat all the time.

Now that he has been promoted to the post of Northern Ji Provincial Administration Commissioner, when he leaves, someone will naturally be needed to take over.

The county magistrate who replaced him was the county lieutenant who had governed Ping County with him before, and was also a member of the Xuanji Guard.

Lu Chen had some impression of him, so he smiled and greeted him, "It's Brother Zhang, long time no see."

Hearing this, Zhang Yi was a little flattered.

"My Lord, do you still remember me?"

"of course."

Lu Chen smiled and said, "I remember all the warriors who followed me to annihilate Prince Yu's Palace."

Apart from anything else, it would be hard for him to forget this face that resembled a certain ring-eyed general who had shown his might at Changbanpo. In addition to Zhang Yi, he remembered there was also a red-faced, bearded man named Guan Sheng.

It would be perfect if the ears hung down to the shoulders and the hands were below the knees.

Zhang Yi didn't know what Lu Chen was thinking, but when he heard him say that, he was instantly moved.

"Your Excellency is indeed loyal. Even though you are in a high position, you still remember us. I admire you very much!"

In the end, he even called himself a warrior.

It seems that he is not used to calling himself a subordinate.

At this time, Zhang Yi turned his head again and bowed deeply to Fu Hua: "Greetings, Commander."

Fu Ya nodded calmly without saying anything.

I don’t know if it’s because he doesn’t want to steal Lu Chen’s limelight or he doesn’t quite remember this subordinate whom he hasn’t seen for almost two years.

After chatting for a while, Lu Chen got straight to the point.

"Zhang Yi, are you busy now? If it's convenient, I'd like to trouble you to take us to visit the county town and the surrounding villages and introduce them. I want to see the current specific situation in Ping County."

Hearing this, Zhang Yi immediately patted his chest and responded loudly, "Your Excellency is too polite. I just want to show you the way. If it's any trouble, I will take you there."

"As for whether it's inconvenient for me, don't worry. Brother Fang and the others strictly followed the county administrative framework you personally formulated and improved the various departments of the county government. The judicial department is responsible for trial, the criminal department is responsible for investigation, the household department is responsible for civil affairs, and the commercial department is responsible for commerce. There are special departments responsible for various matters related to people's livelihood. As a county magistrate, I only need to control the overall situation. There is not much official business, so it won't have much impact if I am not in the government office for a day."

"I also often visit the surrounding villages to see if the people have any problems that need the government's help. I will solve them on the spot. For example, the day before yesterday, a black bear-like spirit beast suddenly appeared in Yulin Village, and I killed it."

Hearing this, Fu Ya couldn't help but twitch her lips.

What he said before was all very good. When Lu Chen was in charge of the two states, he made a lot of arrangements, including the reform of local government administrative agencies. Fang Yu and others carried it out throughout, which shows that they are indeed working hard. So far, the effect is quite significant.

Moreover, officials should indeed travel to more places and always care about the people's livelihood in their jurisdiction.

But what's the hell with the last sentence? You are a civil servant, calling yourself so-and-so? And you are so careless as to show off your military power?
Yes, yes, it's really amazing that you killed the spirit beast alone, but can you look at your official robe? The places torn by the spirit beast's claws were patched with rough linen? Can you be a little rougher?
However, compared to Fu Hua's helplessness, Lu Chen gave Zhang Yi a thumbs up and praised him, "That's right, Brother Zhang, an official should be like you, insightful of public opinion and solving people's urgent needs. As the saying goes, those who eat the emperor's salary should bear the emperor's worries. This also applies to officials and civilians. Our salaries are all paid by taxes. Since we have taken the people's money and food, we should ensure their peace."

Hearing Lu Chen's straightforward praise, Zhang Yi scratched his head in embarrassment.

Afterwards, Zhang Yi took the chief clerk, Lu Chen and the other two and headed towards the East City Market.

On the way, Lu Chen suddenly thought of something and asked, "By the way, Liang Yu said that the Xuan Ji Guards she left in Yuzhou two years ago all had unique skills. In addition to martial arts, most of the skills they practiced have played a very good role in people's livelihood. What are you practicing, Brother Zhang?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yi's first reaction was not to answer, but to ask in confusion: "Sir, who is this Liang Yu you are talking about? Why have I never heard of him?"

Fu Hua's face suddenly turned dark.

"it's me!"

As soon as she opened her mouth, Zhang Yi was immediately frightened.

"what?"

He widened his eyes, "Commander, isn't your last name Fu Minghua? I remember your nickname was Chi Luan, when did you add another name..."

Lu Chen turned his head and glanced at Fu Ya. The scene was a little awkward for a moment.

Fu Hua's face suddenly turned darker.

“That’s my word.”

"Forehead…"

Zhang Yi, who had a very long reaction time, finally realized that Fu Ya was different from them. Although she was born in a humble family, she was the last disciple of a great master, practicing both the holy and martial arts, and held an important position in Cangming Realm, so it was natural that she could not be without a name.

After coming to his senses, he scratched his head with a naive look on his face and quickly apologized and admitted his mistake.

Fu Ya didn't care about this little thing, but just asked him to remember his superior's name in the future and not to make a fool of himself.

Zhang Yi quickly said yes.

After the incident, Zhang Yi said to Lu Chen, "Your Excellency, before I joined the army, my family was a butcher. When I was young, I always wondered if pigs could eat less and grow more meat. Also, is there a sour and fishy smell in the meat? In addition to cooking with heavy ingredients, is there a way to get rid of it from the root?"

"After I learned martial arts, I didn't give up thinking about it. This can be regarded as a side path that I practiced. Then I figured out some things." Lu Chen raised his eyebrows slightly.

"Castrated the pig?"

"Yes, my lord."

When talking about his major, Zhang Yi is more excited than talking about martial arts with others.

"I saw that the pigs in the pen were always restless and moved around when they were in estrus. If they moved around too much, they wouldn't grow meat, so I wondered if there was any way to make them settle down, and that's when I thought of using humans as a comparison."

Hearing this, Fu Hua and Chai Hongyu couldn't help but look a little unnatural.

Lu Chen's expression was also a little subtle.

Tsk tsk…excessive sexual desire leads to disasters, can I cut it off to cure it forever…

Zhang Yi continued: "It suddenly occurred to me that we humans are also very enthusiastic about that, but there is only one type of people who have no interest in it, and this type of people, as long as they eat well, their bodies are generally in good shape..."

"Cough cough cough..."

Lu Chen suddenly coughed lightly, stopping him from continuing: "Okay, I know the principle. Brother Zhang, tell me, after the promotion of the method of castrating pigs, will there be any changes in people's lives?"

“What a huge change!”

Zhang Yi smiled and said, "Since people know that castrating pigs can make them grow faster, be slaughtered earlier, and remove the sour smell, and the taste is even as good as mutton, almost every household has built a pigsty and raised pigs at home."

"As soon as the pigs are released from the market, they are bought by merchants at high prices and sold to other places. Thanks to this, many people's families have become much better off. Now not only does every household have surplus food, but they can also eat meat from time to time. Ping County's pork production is huge, and the income is very considerable. Thanks to this, the government's tax revenue has also increased a lot."

Having said this, a look of pride unconsciously revealed on his dark face.

Although Zhang was not as good as Fang Yu in literature, not as good as the commander in chief in martial arts, nor as good as Li Yue who became the backbone of the dynasty by relying on the way of studying things, he allowed the people to eat meat, and it was good meat without any fishy smell, unlike before when they had no oil in their stomachs and could hardly eat meat all year round.

Based on this alone, he had the capital to be promoted to the magistrate of Ping County.

Moreover, the people of Ping County spontaneously built a small temple for him next to Lu Chen’s Changsheng Temple, so that the people can remember him and offer incense and offerings to him in the future. This life is worth it.

"very good!"

Lu Chen praised generously, "I told you before that the way to govern is to deal with the affairs of the people. As long as it is beneficial to the people, it is the great way. The fact that you can think of promoting the method of castrating pigs to benefit the country and the people proves that you have touched the threshold of the great way."

Zhang Yi immediately burst into laughter.

"but…"

Just when he was laughing, Lu Chen suddenly changed his tone.

Zhang Yi immediately started to shudder and looked towards Lu Chen with a somewhat nervous look in his eyes.

"Sir, what did I do wrong?"

Lu Chen shook his head: "That's not the case. You did a good job, but it's still not enough."

Upon hearing this, Fu Hua and Chai Hongyu both showed surprise on their faces.

Isn't this enough?

Zhang Yi's method of castrating pigs has doubled the income of the people here and significantly increased local fiscal revenue. No matter where it is placed, it is definitely a great achievement, and this method will definitely be promoted throughout the country in the future to benefit all the people of Daxia.

This can be regarded as immeasurable merit, what else is not enough?

Are Lu Lang's requirements so high?

However, Zhang Yi was only slightly stunned for a moment, then he immediately adjusted his attitude, bowed to Lu Chen, and said respectfully: "Please teach me, sir."

Lu Chen smiled slightly and said bluntly without further suspense: "What you haven't done enough is that you haven't applied the principles of this method to further study the way of breeding."

"How to breed?"

Zhang Yi pondered for a moment, and after a moment, he suddenly became alert.

Lu Chen continued, "That's right, raising pigs is a type of breeding."

"In the past, pigs were slow to be slaughtered, had a low meat yield, had a foul odor, and had a low survival rate. Therefore, they were considered low-quality meat and difficult to promote to the rich and powerful. However, after castration, these defects have been overcome. Since the defects of pig farming can be overcome, can other livestock and meat poultry also improve their own defects?"

"It doesn't make sense that the way pigs are raised can be improved, but other things can't be improved, right?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Zhang Yi suddenly understood, and instantly felt as if he had been enlightened.

"My Lord, what do you mean?"

As he spoke, a special spiritual power slowly condensed in his body, rapidly spreading throughout his body along the spiritual veins, constantly nourishing the spiritual vein barrier, causing it to gradually expand and expand...

Fu Hua and Chai Hongyu immediately noticed something strange about Zhang Yi. They widened their eyes, looked at each other subconsciously, and then turned their heads at the same time to look at Lu Chen.

Lu Chen, a rookie who was only at the Guiyuan Realm, was completely unaware of the changes in Zhang Yi's spiritual power. He continued as if nothing had happened, "As the saying goes, there are three thousand great ways, but they all lead to the same destination. The principles are all the same. For example, the way of studying things that Liyue excels at is essentially to study the changes in everything and find ways to use these changes to create what you need."

"By analogy, the way to raise livestock is to study their habits, use their laws, and make them change in the direction we need."

"Take raising chickens for example, Brother Zhang, try to think about what we want chickens to look like."

Zhang Yi thought for a moment and responded, "Of course, the bigger the rooster, the better, and the hen should lay as many eggs as possible."

Lu Chen extended his index finger, as if he wanted to explain something.

"So, why not go in this direction and study the habits of chickens to make them become what you just said. If this can be achieved, then their economic value will increase significantly, and the people's living standards will also improve accordingly."

"It's not just chickens, but also cattle, sheep, fish, ducks, geese, etc. We can also research whether they can overcome their inherent defects through breeding methods. At the same time, whether free-range breeding or large-scale breeding is more cost-effective, etc."

After listening to Lu Chen's instructions, Zhang Yi was completely stunned.

It turns out that improving pig farming methods is just the beginning of farming. After that, there are so many ideas to choose from.

He dared not even think about it. If this could really be done, and so many chickens, ducks, fish, pork and mutton could be produced every year, how much would the local fiscal revenue increase? How prosperous would the lives of the people be? (End of this chapter)