Chapter 279: This Is No Easy Task
Now that he was back, Wen Xiuyi had to report to the yamen. Mu Li shifted from following Wen Jun to following Wen Xiuyi, serving as both driver and bodyguard.
When Magistrate Chen saw him return, the first thing he did was inform him that Meng De and Lady Liu had left. Prior to their departure, Meng De had tried to see Magistrate Chen one last time, but Magistrate Chen had turned him down.
Wen Xiuyi teased him, “Why didn’t you see him? After all, he holds a higher rank.”
Magistrate Chen cast a glance at Mu Li standing by the door, muttering inwardly: What bloody good is a higher rank?
“Alright, stop poking fun at me. Grease got to my head back then, making me actually think of flattering him. Sigh.” Magistrate Chen was filled with regret. Yet, it wasn’t without its perks—at least he got to enjoy some juicy gossip. Massive gossip, at that.
At this thought, Magistrate Chen shifted his seat closer to Wen Xiuyi and asked in a low voice, “Aren’t you afraid of running into him again in the capital someday?” That would be beyond awkward.
Wen Xiuyi didn’t care in the slightest. “Doesn’t matter. As long as he doesn’t come looking for trouble, we’ll each mind our own business.”
“I see that fellow named Meng isn’t a generous man,” Magistrate Chen stated plainly.
Wen Xiuyi cared even less. “Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. You seem pretty free—if you’re so free, go take a walk outside.”
Hearing this, Magistrate Chen pointed to the stack of official documents on his desk. “I’m not free. See those? They’re letters and official documents sent by magistrates from the surrounding counties.”
“What for?”
Magistrate Chen walked over, picked them up, and set them on the table. “They want a piece of the pie, of course.” Who wouldn’t want a free political achievement delivered right to their doorstep? They were green with envy that such a massive pie had fallen right into Yunwu Town’s lap.
Wen Xiuyi didn’t bother with polite pleasantries and opened them to read right away.
Watching his actions, Magistrate Chen twitched his lips and grumbled, “You really don’t treat yourself like an outsider. Are official documents something you can just read casually?”
“If you didn’t want me to read them, why’d you bring them over?” Wen Xiuyi didn’t even look up.
Magistrate Chen: “…” I really spoke out of turn.
Wen Xiuyi finished reading through the letters. Several of the county magistrates were subtly asking to borrow seeds, while others invited Magistrate Chen and Wen Xiuyi to visit their counties as guests. They claimed it was a visit, but everyone knew their true intention.
“I’ve read through them all. I happen to know these few men, so let me break it down for you.” Magistrate Chen sat down, poured fresh tea for both Wen Xiuyi and himself, and picked up the official documents to analyze each person one by one—who was a good official, who was just putting on a show, and who was rotten to the core. He laid it all out for Wen Xiuyi.
The two chatted about the matter for over an hour, until Magistrate Chen’s mouth ran completely dry.
“The goods are in our hands now, so whether we give them any is entirely up to us. To be frank, how many of them are actually considering the common folk underneath them? If it didn’t involve their own interests, they wouldn’t lower themselves to ask us,” Magistrate Chen concluded.
Wen Xiuyi’s brows furrowed slightly. “Indeed. It should all be for the sake of letting the common folk eat their fill.”
Magistrate Chen took a sip of tea and looked at him, saying, “Don’t go playing the naive do-gooder. Keep in mind that His Majesty is watching us closely right now. We must guarantee our own yield first. Don’t forget, His Majesty only gave us two years. We have to gather enough seeds for the nationwide rollout in two years.”
Wen Xiuyi naturally knew how vital the rollout two years later was. As the saying goes, one cannot grow fat off a single bite. Even if every plot of land in Yunwu Town were planted with these three crops over the next two years, it still wouldn’t be enough to distribute across the entire Kingdom of Annan. Such things had to be done step by step—one year, two years, three years, or even longer.
“Let them borrow. No matter what their motives are, the common folk will ultimately benefit. Why overthink it? Even though His Majesty assigned us this task, wasn’t His Majesty’s original intention also for the people to have enough food and warm clothes to live good lives?” Wen Xiuyi let out a soft sigh, then added, “However, I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. Though these three items can serve as food, they aren’t a permanent solution. When all is said and done, we still need to shift our focus back to the primary staple crops.”
Rice—that was the true priority among priorities.
This year was already set, but Wen Xiuyi had made up his mind: starting next year, his main focus would be on rice. As for the current crops, with Lord Chen around, Wen Xiuyi trusted he could manage them well.
“Next year, I plan to focus on cultivating rice. I’ll leave these matters to you to handle as you see fit,” Wen Xiuyi stated directly.
Magistrate Chen froze. “You…”
In the end, Magistrate Chen didn’t press the matter, merely saying, “Whatever you need me to do, just say the word.” The least he could do was assist Wen Xiuyi as much as possible.
Lately, whenever he walked along the country trails, villagers would stop to bow to him with utmost respect and express their gratitude. This was a feeling he had never experienced in his previous years as a magistrate.
Back then, the respect and deference everyone showed him had always been tinged with a subtle, indescribable… fear?
But now, he could feel their genuine sincerity.
Turns out doing actual good deeds for the common folk truly brought rewards. This kind of reward felt far more gratifying than silver and gold—though, of course, he still quite liked silver and gold.
Wen Xiuyi glanced at him, thought for a moment, and asked, “Can you get your hands on the rice yield figures from various regions?”
Magistrate Chen’s heart skipped a beat. After a long silence, he asked, “Which regions do you mean?”
“Across the entire nation.”
Magistrate Chen immediately stood up, turned around, and walked toward his desk. “Take care, I won’t see you out.”
Wen Xiuyi rushed after him, adopting a flattering expression. “Aiya, Old Chen, we’re on the same team here.”
“Who’s on the same team as you? Get out, get out!” Magistrate Chen ousted him without a shred of mercy.
Wen Xiuyi shamelessly pushed past him and sat right down on the chair behind the desk, gazing at Magistrate Chen with eager eyes.
Driven past his limit by his persistent stare, Magistrate Chen spoke directly, “The Ministry of Agriculture has all the records. Every region reports its yield every year. Instead of asking me to get them, you’d be better off asking Prince Fu to help you.”
Wen Xiuyi asked point-blank, “Can you guarantee that the reported numbers are all genuine?”
Magistrate Chen’s face instantly changed. He rushed forward to cover his mouth, while cautiously darting a sneaky glance toward Mu Li outside the door, gritting his teeth as he hissed, “Have you lost your mind? How dare you blurt out such words!”
Although everyone was well aware of this reality deep down, no one dared to speak it aloud. After all, it wasn’t uncommon for many regions to submit false reports for the sake of their own political achievements. Thus, while the Ministry of Agriculture indeed held the data, just how accurate those figures were was entirely unknown.
This was precisely why Magistrate Chen had ousted him right away: he knew full well that Wen Xiuyi wanted real data, not the fake numbers submitted to the Ministry of Agriculture.
This was no easy task. If things went wrong, he might end up risking both lives and money.
“Brother, I am merely a minor magistrate with a large family back home to feed,” Magistrate Chen pleaded. If the data he uncovered contradicted the reports submitted to the imperial court, what would that imply? It meant he would offend everyone who had faked their figures. How many lives did he have to dare play such a dangerous game?
