Chapter 242 - 242 Ways
242 Ways
Tu Hui’s mother thanked him with tears in her eyes. “Thank you, sir. My family really can’t spare any more money. Ah Hui’s salary was used up yesterday. I was still worried about not having enough money to treat him today.”
The shopkeeper of the Rejuvenation Hall stepped forward and bowed respectfully. “Sir, Constable Tu has recovered a little. It’s just that he’s still a little weak. When his injuries get better, he’ll be fine after going home to recuperate.”
Zhou Jia said to the shopkeeper, “Shopkeeper, the government will pay for his medicine.” The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment and smiled apologetically. “Lord Zhou, the family has already paid for Constable Tu’s medicine.”
“Scribe Tu will pay you for the rest of the medicine. You have to treat him carefully.”
The shopkeeper bowed. “Yes, sir.”
When the bailiffs who followed Zhou Jia out to patrol the streets heard this, they bowed to Zhou Jia. “Sir, we will do our best for the government office in the future.”
“Oh! Didn’t you guys do your best for the government office in the past?” Everyone was stunned. A thin bailiff stepped forward and bowed with a smile. “Sir, we tried our best in the past, but sometimes, hehe…” A few bailiffs laughed foolishly.
Zhou Jia smiled and said, “Alright, when I go back, I’ll discuss with Lieutenant Yu and Official Tu. In the future, no matter who is injured because of work, the government office will pay him money to recuperate. Don’t worry!” The bailiffs cheered in unison. “Thank you, sir!”
When Zhou Jia returned to the government office, he saw that the spies’ luggage had already been retrieved. After careful searching, he finally found one in the compartment of a leather jacket. It was a half-drawn map of Qingchuan City. It seemed that these were indeed spies sent by Great Qi. Since Great Qi was gathering information, it meant that they were still bent on attacking Great Yong.
The reason why the spy came to Qingchuan had been figured out. Zhou Jia recalled what he had promised the citizens in West City and returned to the office to discuss the problem with Li Yu.
Li Yu and Xiaoyu, who had brought Seven Pounds back from the manor, sat on the brick bed and teased Seven Pounds, who was lying on the brick bed and watching the two of them babbling. When Xiaoyu saw Zhou Jia return, she carried Seven Pounds and bowed to Zhou Jia before going to talk to Yu Niang and the others.
Li Yu thought that Zhou Jia had returned to the back office after knowing that Mr. Wen was back. She smiled and said, “Xiao Xi, I’ve already told Sir about catching the spy. Sir is already helping you make hallucinogens. Do you want to take a look?”
Zhou Jia nodded happily and said, “Yu’er, I’ll go greet Sir first. There’s something I want to discuss with you when I come back.”
Li Yu held her waist and followed Zhou Jia to the eaves of the corridor. “Go! I’ll wait for you.”
Yu Niang carried the child that Scribe Tu had brought back from the front yard. The child was still sobbing.
Li Yu looked at the child in Yu Niang’s arms. “Yu Niang, what’s wrong with the child? Are you feeling unwell?”
Yu Niang said to Li Yu with a worried expression, “Madam, this child has been looking for his brother since he woke up early this morning. He didn’t respond when we asked him so we don’t know what he’s called. Also, Scribe Tu didn’t even bring back any clothes. What do you think we should do?”
Li Yu looked at the thin child and touched the hard cotton jacket on his body. She frowned and felt that the child’s hand was not very warm.
Seeing Li Yu touch his hand, the child leaned on Yu Niang’s shoulder timidly.
Li Yu recalled that the clerk had said that the child’s grandmother and brother had been killed by those spies. She sighed in her heart. Poor child. He didn’t know that he had already lost his only two relatives overnight. Li Yu said gently to Yu Niang, “Go to the storeroom and get some cotton cloth. Make a few undergarments and two sets of cotton pants for the child. Make two pairs of cotton shoes. When Mr. Tu finds his relatives, they can come and take him away.”
Yu Niang touched the child’s face and looked at him sympathetically. “Thank Madam quickly. Madam is making new clothes and shoes for you.”
“Go! It’s cold outside.”
“Yes, Madam!” Yu Niang agreed crisply and carried the child to the storeroom to get the cotton cloth.
After Zhou Jia greeted Mr. Wen, he came back and told Li Yu about the predicament of the people in West City and his intention to help them. He said, “Yu’er, help me think. Is there any way to help them?”
Li Yu thought for a moment and said, “They don’t have fields. There are still many small wastelands in the villages and towns outside Qingchuan City. You can encourage them to develop fields and increase the years of tax relief appropriately. They will be able to recover in two years at most.”
Zhou Jia shook his head and said, “Yu’er, most of the people are unwilling to develop the fields. Firstly, some people are so poor that they don’t even have the money to buy livestock, hoes, and plows. Secondly, without manure to increase the nutrients in the fields, many people can’t even live like they are now. How can they wait for a year or two?”
Li Yu thought for a moment. “Xiao Xi, it’s better to teach people to fish than to give them fish. There are two ways. The first is for you and Scribe Tu to calculate the places that Qingchuan can reclaim and distribute them to the poor families. We’ll teach them the method of reclaiming and farming on our farmstead. The government office will come forward to buy farming tools and seeds, lend them to the poor people, and buy some farming cows for the people to buy. The farming cows can be bought by several families and shared. This money will be paid by the government office first. After the people buy them, they’ll pay off the interest within the stipulated period. If they exceed the stipulated period, they’ll pay a certain amount of interest. As long as they’re not lazy families, they can change their economic status. This method is most beneficial to them.”
Li Yu paused for a moment. “There’s another one. Ah Wei went to Dagon Village with Dashui this time. He saw that the col is half the size of Phoenix Village and the soil is fertile. I want to buy that place and build it into a farm. Ask them if they’re willing to go to Dagon Village to develop farmland after spring. The salary is still 15 copper coins a day, and three meals a day. We can sell food to them in advance and they can work in spring to pay off the debt. There’s no risk in this. As long as they’re hardworking, they can also work on the farm.”
After hearing Li Yu’s words, Zhou Jia thought carefully for a moment and said, “The government office will come forward to pay for the money to buy plowing cows, farming tools, and seeds. They will give them to the commoners and let them develop the fields. This method is indeed the most beneficial to them. It’s also good for the government office. It will increase the area of farmland and pave the way for political achievements. However, this way, the government office will bear a huge responsibility. How about this! I’ll discuss both methods with Scribe Tu. The first method will help more poor commoners, and the second can only help the dozen or so families on West Street. I still want to use the first method.”
Li Yu smiled and said, “This is just a hypothesis. You still need to formulate it in detail. You should go to the front office and discuss it with Mr. Tu and the others.”
Zhou Jia stood up and kissed Li Yu. He smiled and said, “As long as Madam helps me think of a general direction, I can go back and discuss with Scribe Tu before drafting the final implementation. It’s definitely not wrong.”