The Daily Life of a Down-on-Hard-Life Medicine Girl Supporting Her Family

Chapter 360

Spring has arrived again, flowers are in bloom, and I feel much more refreshed.

In the imperial court, the emperor finally received good news from the Hubei and Hunan regions: the plague had been eradicated and the regions were reviving.

Zhao Minglang wrote in his memorial: Everywhere is a scene of busy spring plowing, and the people are shouting "Long live the Emperor!" while plowing the fields.

This is not an exaggeration by Zhao Minglang, but a fact.

Because, after the floods and plagues, the people of the two lakes region were able to move into houses, regardless of size, thanks to Governor Zhao's series of policies that benefited the people. Furthermore, because of his work-for-relief program, the people were able to build their own dikes and still have enough to eat, and every household was able to solve their basic needs.

In addition, the government supports the people in reclaiming wasteland, allocating a certain number of acres per household based on the number of people in the household, without paying taxes or rent.

After the disaster, Zhao Minglang had various vegetable seeds purchased from other places and distributed to the people to plant. At this time, the land of the two lakes was lush and green, and there were more vegetables than could be eaten.

During the Spring Festival, they have countless radishes and cabbages.

Zhao Minglang remembered the dried radishes and cabbages that the villagers in his hometown pickled, so he suggested that they pickle them too. It was a simple thing to do, and after such processing, they could sell them to others, increasing their own income and making people's lives better day by day.

They were especially motivated by the thought of not having to pay taxes for three years.

"Ah Jiu, you're so young, what are you doing out here farming? Go back to town and study."

The people were very grateful to Governor Zhao because he had also set up schools for them free of charge.

If your child, or even an adult, wants to learn to read, they can go to the town's public school, sit and listen to the teacher's lectures, and learn to write with the teacher.

That's right. Zhao Minglang invited those scholars to be teachers, which could solve the problem of food and clothing for them and their families, and also allow the people to learn some knowledge.

In any case, it's always good to be able to write your family members' names on the paper.

In Lord Zhao's words, "Don't just know how to sign and put your fingerprints on things. If they sell you out, you'll still be helping them count the money. You need to be literate and know what's written on it."

Lord Zhao said, "Don't think this is alarmist; it's the truth."

For example, the other party gives you a contract to sign and put your fingerprint on, saying it's a contract for buying something. You don't look at it, you just listen to what he says. After you sign and put your fingerprint on it, he tells you that the few acres of land you farmed were sold to him for one tael of silver.

You say it's impossible, but they have a contract and you signed and sealed it. Even if you go to court, you won't win.

In this way, the land that your family worked so hard to cultivate will become someone else's.

If you told them your children were sold to someone else, they wouldn't feel this much heartache.

But if you say the land was sold to someone else, that won't do, absolutely not.

Therefore, ordinary people are happy to send their children to public schools.

This Ah Jiu is eleven years old this year. He was almost half a labor force in the family, but now his father says he's too young and tells him to hurry back to school.

Of course, there were also quite a few girls in the public school.

Normally, such a thing would never be allowed to happen.

A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent.

Girls can learn embroidery, cooking, being a good wife and mother, and managing household affairs; they don't need to learn to read or write accounts.

However, Lord Zhao said that in their Shu region, women can also engage in business and open pharmacies. He then cited Chunnuan, who had recently established a women's medical college, as an example, saying that she was highly skilled in medicine and had been apprenticed to her grandfather, Physician Xiao. He claimed that in the Great Zhou Dynasty, no one else dared to claim to be the best at treating women's diseases except her.

Lord Zhao elevated the status of women and also told everyone that girls from poor families should learn more knowledge. Even if they were to work as maids in wealthy households, they should still be able to read and write and read account books.

All the maids and servants in his own household were literate.

With Lord Zhao's personal explanation, even girls from poor families dared to sit in the classroom of the public school to listen to the teacher talk about books, learn to read and write.

“Father, Mother, the school has given us a five-day break for spring planting.” Ajiu said, “The teacher said it’s spring planting season now. I know you’re all very busy, and many families are counting on you to lend a hand. If one of you comes today and two of you come tomorrow, we can’t teach. So we’d like to give you a five-day break for spring planting so you can all go back and help with the planting. Once you’ve finished, you can come back to class without worry.”

“Sir, you have thought this through very well. Ah Jiu, you must study hard and learn to read well. You must not let your teacher down.”

"Father, Mother, I know. I learned a few more words today, and I can even remember your names now."

Ajiu found a twig and wrote her parents' names on the muddy ground.

"I can write the names of my whole family."

"That's amazing. If our Ah Jiu studies hard and keeps going, he might even become the top scholar in the imperial examination."

"Hehe, I heard that Lord Zhao was the top scholar in the imperial examination."

"The top scholar is indeed a great talent."

"Indeed, it is thanks to Lord Zhao that our two lakes region has been managed so well, and that the people have been able to live a peaceful and prosperous life so quickly after the flood."

"Lord Zhao said that this is all thanks to the Emperor, who has always been concerned about the people of the Hubei and Hunan regions. The Emperor also said that the Hubei and Hunan regions have whatever they need, and he is supporting us in every way."

"Yes, long live the Emperor!"

"I wonder if we'll ever get to see the real emperor."

"I wonder what the Emperor looks like?"

Zhao Minglang received intelligence that the people greatly admired the emperor and wanted to see what kind of noble person he really was.

"Tell them that as long as they work hard and make the Lianghu region the most beautiful, prosperous, and united place in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, the Emperor might just come to inspect it."

Zhao Minglang was already adept at psychological warfare and knew how to win people's hearts.

The common people worshipped the emperor.

However, since the beginning of this dynasty, the emperor has never gone on an inspection tour.

If the Hubei and Hunan regions were truly developed and the people lived in peace and contentment, the emperor would surely be very happy to see such a wonderful scene, wouldn't he?
Zhao Minglang instructed his subordinates to secretly spread the news.

Sure enough, the people were even more excited upon hearing this and worked even harder.

Farmers can't thrive on just farming; commerce is also needed for prosperity to flourish.

Zhao Minglang then wrote to his younger brother, Zhao Minghua, asking for advice on how to attract shopkeepers to open businesses there. Zhao Minghua told him: exempting them from taxes for a year would naturally attract more merchants.

Zhao Minglang was still a little confused when he looked at the letter his younger brother had written.

Why does a greater number of merchants lead to a more prosperous business?

Even if it were just those merchants, how could it be prosperous?
Zhao Minghua had no choice but to explain the problem to him in detail.

"Whether a place is prosperous or not can be judged by only one thing: how many people live there."

With more people, there's a need for food, drink, and basic necessities; a need to buy this and that; a need for accommodation—all of these cost money, don't they?

No matter how much these people spend, as long as they spend it in the Hubei and Hunan regions, the region will prosper.

After thinking it over and over, Zhao Minglang suddenly realized a truth: money earned in the Hubei and Hunan regions should be spent in the Hubei and Hunan regions, and don't even think about bringing it home!
In this way, businesses in both Hubei and Hunan will make money!
My brother has a great idea.

However, although the Hubei and Hunan regions were under his jurisdiction, these matters were not something he could decide on his own, so he immediately wrote a memorial and submitted it.

Zhao Minglang is very smart. No matter what he does, he always asks for permission first.

The same applies to this matter.

The emperor was greatly pleased upon seeing Zhao Minglang's memorial.

"Only Zhao Aiqing could have done this."

The top scholar truly lives up to his title; he is indeed a man of great talent and will surely become a pillar of the nation in the future!
The emperor even thought that perhaps the position of Left Chancellor could be his.

As for Zhao Minglang's memorial, he directly approved it: "Agreed."

After obtaining the emperor's approval, Zhao Minglang posted the notice directly.

Effective immediately, all merchants doing business in the Hubei and Hunan regions will be exempt from taxes for one year.

However, there is one prerequisite: registration with the government.

Why do we need to register?

The reason why registered merchants are exempt from paying taxes is because the government only keeps records of them.

Of course, the scope of registration is also very broad.

Shopkeeper's name, ancestral home, industry, unit price, and total inventory.

These were all registered one by one.

The merchants were a little hesitant, but they couldn't resist the temptation.

Everyone knows that there are benefits to moving to the Hubei and Hunan regions.

“It seems I should also make a trip to the Hubei and Hunan region,” Zhao Minghua said. “I’ll take my second sister-in-law and the child there on the way.”

"You can arrange it."

Chunnuan wished Zhao Minghua could take her with him.

However, I really can't leave Chunshan Medical College.

There was nothing else to do but tell Zhao Minghua to be careful and make sure to deliver his sister-in-law and nephew to his brother safely.

Throughout the journey, Qiu Yan and the child caused Zhao Minghua a great deal of worry.

"Young Master, you seem unhappy."

"Qingsheng," she asked quietly.

"Nonsense, you wouldn't be happy if this happened to you either." Zhao Minghua glared at him irritably: "Traveling with this mother and son is dozens of times more tiring than traveling with my wife."

Honestly, Zhao Minghua regretted accepting this job in front of his parents; Qiu Yan was too spoiled.

She can't travel too much each day, or she'll get dizzy.

It was impossible for her to travel through wind and rain and sleep outdoors; she only wanted to stay at an inn.

Zhao Minghua was quite helpless about this.

And then there's his little nephew. His wet nurse gets carsick one minute and has diarrhea the next, leaving her completely overwhelmed.

How dare you say you're unhappy while celebrating your birthday?
How can you be happy when you only walk a few miles a day?
He intended to do business in the Hubei and Hunan regions, but by the time he manages to reach them, it will be too late.

"The second wife is indeed much more delicate than our wife."

“Yes, that’s the one Second Brother likes,” Zhao Minghua said. “If we were traveling with Nuannuan, we might be riding horses at breakneck speed right now.”

The young master is absolutely right about this.

My wife is someone even men might not be able to surpass.

She has everything you could want, and traveling with her is never tiring.

"After calculating the time, it will take at least ten more days to reach the two lakes."

There's nothing we can do about it.

“Actually, I think there’s a way,” Zhao Minghua said. “If all else fails, I’ll hire one or two female bodyguards, leave my second sister-in-law with them, and then we can travel on our own.”

"Young master, this method is indeed feasible, but we cannot do it this way."

"why?"

"Young Master, have you forgotten? Before the trip, Madam specifically instructed that the Second Madam and the Young Master be delivered to you safely."

You can ignore what others say, but you have to listen to your wife.

Zhao Minghua was stunned for a moment. Indeed, he had promised Nuannuan and had to keep his promise.