Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 93 Farming, Farming is Happiness
The journey back home is not long, and we arrive in the evening.

Today, the Changjiang River is calm and peaceful, not as turbulent as it was then. Green mountains stretch across the banks, and the big black fish leap out of the water in great joy. Looking ahead, you can see the Xinping Wharf, which is now brightly lit. These are not lights, but torches that everyone is eagerly waiting to light. The surging flames reflect the river red, competing with the setting sun for brilliance.

From a distance, they saw Xia Lin's boat approaching. The shore was crowded with people, and along the shore were children and boys who had been running along with the boat. They waved vigorously at Xia Lin, while Xia Lin stood on the side of the boat with his hands on his waist and yelled, "The big one, you better keep an eye on the little one. You're running so fast that the little one is going to die!"

Ma Zhou, who was standing by, saw this scene and felt a little emotional. He had been admitted to the imperial examination in Shandong and had seen bureaucrats from all over the country. It was true that no one had the ability like Xia Lin. Even in the neighboring Poyang County, the poor ghosts in the eyes of the county magistrates would be so terrified when they saw the county magistrate that they were afraid of any conflict when they met the yamen runners.

But now, even these little kids were not afraid of Xia Lin. Instead, they followed him along the coast. Some even shouted from a distance toward the pier: "Master Xia is back! Master Xia is back!"

With one shout, the firecrackers on the dock began to crackle, and the huge bonfire made of porcelain pieces piled on the shore was ignited with a bang. Its light was like the scorching sun, instantly illuminating the entire dock and the river beach.

Xia Lin stood on the boat with his hands behind his back, looking ahead. When he saw that they were almost at the same distance, he suddenly shouted, "Sister-in-law, two bowls of noodles, big ones!"

At this moment, Ma Zhou felt his heart beating violently. The sages' books only mentioned the will of the people but did not explain clearly what the will of the people was. But at this moment, he had actually seen the concrete form of the so-called will of the people. It was difficult for him to imagine what Xia Lin had done to make such a large crowd of people spontaneously come to greet him, wait for him, and even hold a grand ceremony for him.

This welcoming ceremony, which was on the scale of a sacrificial offering, was by no means forced, for it was too real and too exquisite. The porcelain kilns were lit up one by one, as if to light the way home for the people on the boat.

In such firelight, Ma Zhou saw the past hard work and dedication, but when he turned around, he only saw the cynicism of the boy who was chewing a biscuit.

Xia Lin got off the boat, still cursing: "What are you all doing here? You don't have to go to work tomorrow, right? You have nothing to do after eating!"

But it seemed that everyone was used to his chattering, and the people beside him just made a fuss. Soon, the sister-in-law's two bowls of noodles were brought over. The largest bowl was full of meat, but there were only a few noodles.

Xia Lin didn't hesitate and sat down on the wooden box next to him, picked up the bowl and started eating. Ma Zhou, who was also stuffed with a bowl of noodles, looked around blankly.

Once upon a time, his ambition was to become an official who was so loved by others. He even thought of the scene where countless people along the way would shed tears after he was sentenced to beheading for his death in the court. However, he never thought that someone could actually do it.

Just when Ma Zhou was distracted, a naked child of three or four years old ran in front of Xia Lin, grabbed his legs, stood on tiptoe and opened his mouth towards him. Xia Lin laughed and scolded: "Little bastard, you are so greedy. You were the one who had indigestion last time!"

Although he was scolding, Xia Lin still took some meat from the bowl and put it in the kid's mouth, then flicked it on his calf and patted his butt: "Go away."

Everyone around started laughing, but the kid at the back was being chased and spanked by his mother, which caused even more laughter.

"They all say that you narrowly escaped death this time. Can you tell us more about it?"

Someone in the crowd who was curious about the matter started asking. Xia Lin slowly put down the bowl and took a deep breath. "Oh, this is a long story. Anyway, I was almost dragged out and executed. At the lightest, I was exiled three thousand miles away. At the worst, I was forced to kneel at the street corner in the capital and be beheaded. When my life was hanging by a thread, I heard the sound of carriages and horses outside, and a man with a silver spear and a fast horse rushed into the battle..."

Xia Lin was talking nonsense, while Ma Zhou next to him covered his mouth and couldn't hold back his laughter. Although Lord Xia's performance was indeed brilliant, it was not that mysterious. But everyone enjoyed listening to it, and from time to time they exclaimed or cheered for the ups and downs in the gripping story, which was a scene of great joy.

While Xia Lin was speaking, the people around him took away their empty bowls and served him new tea and even various snacks. This spontaneous support made Ma Zhou, who was standing next to him, stunned.

He became more and more curious about what this gentleman had done here to gain such overwhelming support. These people might not even know the emperor, but he could see the burning love for Lord Xia in their eyes.

"Alright, alright, everyone go away. You don't have to go to work tomorrow, I still have something to do." Xia Lin stood up: "I have been locked up in the prison for a month, I have to go back and take a pomelo bath to get rid of the bad luck."

Ma Zhou on the side rolled his eyes and said in his heart: "I have been in prison for three years..."

People gradually dispersed, and Xia Lin and Ma Zhou took a bunch of fruits and went back to the township government office in a ox cart. Xia Lin looked at the dark government office and guessed that Chuntao had not returned yet. It was heard that there was a flood in Hangzhou, so it would probably take a few days.

"This is the government office. You can stay here today. Tomorrow I will go to the town to pick a house for you. Then you can bring your wife and children here in a few days."

Ma Zhou looked up at the government office and was stunned for a moment. He had never seen such a shabby county government office in his life. Moreover, as the county magistrate, he had no servants around him, and the gate was so old. "I can't help it. I've been very busy and have no time to take care of it."

Xia Lin walked in, fumbled for a candle, and lit it. "We need to repair it when we have time, and change the front door. At least it should be a brick-concrete structure."

Ma Zhou smiled dryly: "Sir...how come you don't have any servants? The magistrate of Poyang County is of the same rank as you, but he has four maids and three or four servants, not to mention the old maid who cooks for the family."

"Oh, this. I have a good sister who does housework on weekdays. I don't have anyone to serve. The county does not allow people to open brothels or buy maids. Since I am the county magistrate, I naturally cannot do things that are forbidden to others." Xia Lin took Ma Zhou into the backyard and opened the middle room: "You live here first."

"My Lord... This is the largest room. How dare I..."

"Hey, I've always lived in the room next to it. My things are all piled up there, so it's not convenient for you to move in. And next door is my sister's room. She went back to her hometown to visit her relatives and hasn't come back yet. I can't let you live in her room."

“Don’t dare, don’t dare…” Ma Zhou waved his hands quickly: “Then Sir Xia, I’ll go and boil some water for you to wash.”

"Okay, go ahead."

Xia Lin stood in the yard with his hands on his hips, took a deep breath, and looked around. This government office really needed to be renovated. Since it had been set up as a county, the specifications had to follow the normal system. To be honest, it would be inappropriate to continue like this. If his father Guo came again next time and saw it still like this, with not even a place to entertain people, he would probably scold him.

After taking a shower in the evening, Xia Lin fell asleep as soon as he lay on the bed, but Ma Zhou next door couldn't fall asleep no matter what. As soon as he closed his eyes, he thought of the scene when he came here, with crowds of people and torches like a river. He felt excited and even a little bit of longing.

This went on until daybreak, when he heard a noise in the next room. He then felt a little sleepy and wanted to get up to greet Lord Xia, but he fell asleep in a moment of distraction.

However, after getting up, his Lord Xia actually forgot about Ma Zhou from the next room. After washing up, he went out to eat and drink as usual, taking a bun from this shop and a bowl of soy milk from that shop. Everyone had long been accustomed to it and even felt a little missed and uncomfortable when this guy was away for more than a month.

He walked along the market and had breakfast, then strolled to the glass workshop. When the factory director saw him coming, he hurried forward to accompany him.

"Have you prepared everything before this?"

"Okay, sir, please follow me."

The two came to the back and saw boxes of glass bottles. Xia Lin squatted down and picked up two to examine them. Then he asked curiously, "Where are the lids? Are they tightly closed?"

"Before, the things from the ironworks were not very good, but then they changed the process from grouting to die casting, and now it's pretty good."

"Very good or not, let's do an experiment with a few control groups. You go and prepare a batch of samples. Use the method I described to process a batch of meat and put it in, and we'll see which sealing method works better."

Sealing is the key. No matter what casting technology is used, it will be very troublesome if it cannot be sealed. But there is a way to solve it, but the cost will increase accordingly. In the future, it will be a large-scale product. Even if the cost increases by one cent, it will be a disaster after the volume is sold.

As for the current sealing methods, there are no more than water seals, lead seals, paint seals, and mud seals. However, because it is food, toxic lead seals cannot be used, and paint seals are too expensive...

It’s still a headache to think about it, but never mind, let’s try to see if things can be stored in large quantities first.

That's right. In fact, to put it bluntly, it's about making canned food. If you can make canned food, you can transport fruits and vegetables from the south to the north. Salt and iron can't be transported, and grain and grass can't be transported, but it doesn't say that fruits and vegetables can't be transported, right? Use these scarce things in the north to exchange for scarce oils, meat and other things in the south. You can even try to promote chicken farming technology on the grassland, and then load fruits and vegetables from here to exchange for meat, eggs and milk there.

Oh...it makes me happy just thinking about it.

(End of this chapter)