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Chapter 378: Human Heart ()

It is hard to leave one's hometown. If one can make a living in one's hometown, who would be willing to leave their hometown and settle down in a completely unfamiliar place?

The two old men were somewhat confused, and one of them asked rashly, "Is what the princess said true? Is there really an imperial envoy in Yan County?"

The other one reacted much faster, answering firmly: "We finally escaped, and now we are in Nanyang, where we are able to survive. Nanyang is our hometown, and we will not go back to Yan County."

The one who came before also reacted and agreed: "That's right. We are from Nanyang now, and we are not going anywhere."

The court's inaction broke the hearts of the people in the north. In the hearts of these two old men, they did not trust the imperial envoy sent by the court at all, and they still trusted the princess.

Jiang Shaohua saw through the old man's thoughts and smiled, "Okay, if you stay, you will all be citizens of Nanyang County. With this princess here, I will make sure you live and work in peace and have no worries about food and clothing."

The old man was so excited that tears welled up in his eyes again.

Several ignorant children opened their eyes with clear black and white. Chen Jinyu took out a bag of meat jerky with a smile and distributed it to the children. The children were very happy to get the meat jerky and couldn't wait to stuff it into their mouths.

Jiang Shaohua wandered around the hungry village for half a day and then went to the wasteland.

There were not many hungry people in Wuyin County, and they only had over 2,000 mu of wasteland. County Magistrate Gao had done his best to raise funds, but there were still not many hungry people who could use wooden plows and oxen. Most of the hungry people were struggling to plow the land with iron hoes.

Jiang Shaohua frowned slightly, turned around and told Ma Yaozong: "Send this princess's message back to the palace immediately, asking Shen Gongzheng to send some new plows to Wuyin County. Write another letter to Biyang, asking Magistrate Ma to send some oxen."

The workshop of the Nanyang Palace was busy day and night to ensure that the guards had sufficient armor and weapons, and the Nanyang Army also had to supply them. The speed of making new plows was naturally much slower, and the inventory was far insufficient. In other words, the princess could allocate new plows from the workshop at will.

As for oxen, they were in short supply in every county. Even in the richest Ye County and Bowang County, it was impossible for every household to have an ox. If two or three households had one ox, it was considered very good.

Only Biyang County had wide pastures, and while raising war horses, it also raised cattle and sheep in large quantities. If one wanted to "borrow" oxen, of course it would be most appropriate to borrow from Biyang County.

Ma Yaozong immediately accepted the order and quickly wrote a letter to arrange the matter.

The best part was that the Eagle Guards had already brought their trained goshawks to the palace and the counties. After repeated training, the goshawks were already useful.

In the past, it took two or three days to send a letter to the palace, and five or six days to go back and forth. But this time, I received a reply from the palace within half a day.

"My lord, the hawk is really fast in delivering letters." Ma Yaozong reported with a look of surprise: "The reply from the palace has arrived."

The reply letter was rolled into a paper roll and stuffed into a specially made small bamboo tube.

Jiang Shaohua was also filled with joy. He took the bamboo tube, opened it, and poured out a small paper roll. It turned out to be a letter from Shen Gongzheng.

There were thirty new plows in the workshop, which were delivered immediately.

"In the future, when the princess is on patrol, it will be very convenient to send letters and messages." Chen Jinyu's eyes lit up and his tone was full of excitement.

Jiang Shaohua smiled and said, "It saves a few days of time and the trouble of traveling back and forth. It's really good."

Ma Yaozong laughed softly and said, "Now it is a fixed-point message delivery. Maybe, after a few more years of training, the goshawk can fly far to the north and deliver letters to Tang's grain store. What the princess said today will be heard by Commanders Qin and Meng of the Royal Guard Camp in the evening." Jiang Shaohua's heart beat fast when he heard this.

The official roads in Daliang were well built, and even the most remote prefectures and counties were connected by official roads. However, relying on fast horses to deliver messages was not only time-consuming and labor-intensive, but also consumed a lot of war horses. If a communication channel based on goshawks could be truly established, it would be an unprecedented change.

Of course, this is extremely difficult. Jiang Shaohua thought about it and smiled, "I will write a letter to Li Tianxi and ask him to give it a try."

Four days later, fifty new plows were delivered to Wuyin County.

Two days later, thirty oxen were delivered.

County Magistrate Gao was so happy that his mouth was almost crooked with smiles. It turned out that being thick-skinned had many advantages. With so many new plows and oxen, the hungry people could cultivate the wasteland with much less effort.

County Magistrate Gao was thinking about how to distribute the plows and oxen, and Ma Yaozong couldn't help but remind him, "This is the princess's grace to the hungry people. In my opinion, it would be more appropriate for the princess to distribute it herself."

County Magistrate Gao, who was not very smart, suddenly realized what was going on and responded, "Master Ma has thought it through. I will send someone to the hungry people's village to pass on a message and ask them to gather together to thank the princess for her grace."

That’s right!
The county lord wants to win the hearts of the people, this is a great opportunity.

Ma Yaozong went to report the matter to the princess with satisfaction. Jiang Shaohua knew what was going on as soon as he heard it, and said with a smile: "County Magistrate Gao is stubborn and not flexible enough. Did you remind him privately?"

Ma Yaozong smiled and replied, "Nothing can be hidden from the princess's discerning eyes."

Ma Yaozong was young, but he was very flexible in handling his duties, and he was especially good at guessing her intentions and acting accordingly.

Jiang Shaohua laughed and praised the horse herder. There was no need to choose an auspicious day. That afternoon, he brought the new plow and oxen into the village of hungry people.

The hungry people were very excited when they saw the brand new plows, and their eyes lit up when they saw the strong oxen. They could not help themselves and gathered together to whisper excitedly.

"My God! Is this really for us?"

"I used to have a wooden plow at home, but it was much heavier than this new plow. I heard that the new plow in Nanyang County is the lightest and most convenient to use."

"Look at those oxen, each one is stronger than the other. I have always dreamed of having a cow, but unfortunately I could never afford it. I never expected that after I escaped from famine, I would be taken in by Nanyang County. The county lord even gave us oxen..."

Suddenly, someone started crying.

There was gratitude and relief in their cries, but more importantly, there was confidence and joy for the future. With a princess who treated the people so well, they no longer had to worry about the future. From now on, they would stay in Nanyang County wholeheartedly and become the princess's people.

The sound of crying was the most contagious. Once there was one, there were two, three, and soon it spread to the whole area. Hundreds of people from Yan County knelt down and kowtowed to the princess.

"Everyone stand up."

Jiang Shaohua was a little excited when he saw this scene, and his voice became gentler: "There are a total of fifty new-style plows, one for every two households. There are thirty oxen, one for every four households. There is no need to fight over them. There is a household register here, and the oxen will be distributed according to the names on the register."

"When the situation gets better in the future, everyone's life will get better and better."