Poverty Alleviation in Qin: A Sky-High Review of "I Am the Female Prime Minister of All Time&qu

In the spring of that year, the flow of carriages and people at the gate of Peixian County was several times more lively than in previous years.

It wasn't just local farmers rushing to the fields for spring planting; many more were people from other places with their families. Some came from neighboring counties, some from distant prefectures, and even some from the Guandong and former Han and Zhao territories.

Carrying bundles and driving oxcarts, with the old and the young in tow, they refused to leave once they stepped into Pei County.

A good reputation spreads faster than the wind.

"I heard that every household in Peixian County had a full granary last year!"

"Not only do we have surplus grain, but during the off-season, we can also fish, weave baskets, and make charcoal, which we can then exchange for money at the market to supplement our household income!"

"Lord Song built roads and bridges, and controlled floods; living here is the most reassuring!"

The word spread far and wide, and people from other places became increasingly tempted, packing their bags and moving their families to Pei County.

Xiao He was so busy that he barely had time to rest. He flipped through the household registers again and again, and new household registers were constantly being added. The stack of bamboo slips was almost taller than a person.

"Sir, over fifty more households have moved in this month. Since the beginning of spring, nearly two hundred new households have moved in!"

Xiao He spread out the booklet. "The county's population has increased by more than 20% compared to last year. At this rate, it will rise again by the end of the year."

Song also casually flipped through the booklet.

"My lord, this is wonderful news!"

Xiao He couldn't help but say, "With a larger population, taxes and labor force will follow suit, and the foundation of our Pei County will be stabilized!"

Song nodded and put down the booklet: "It's a good thing, but we can't just be happy about it. If there are too many people, there won't be enough land to go around."

"That wasteland in the north of the city can be cultivated."

Xiao He was taken aback for a moment, then immediately replied, "I'll make the arrangements right away."

Song had long been eyeing that wasteland by the river in the north of the city.

The soil is not bad and the water source is sufficient, but it has been abandoned for too long and reclamation is laborious. The harvest was unstable in the past few years, and no one was willing to waste their efforts.

With the population booming and arable land becoming scarce, land reclamation has become imperative.

Song also ordered people to measure the land, draw up plots, divide them equally among households, and set rules: rent-free for the first three years, and rent-reduced by half for the next three years.

The notice had only been posted for three days when long lines of people began to sign up to reclaim the land.

The newly arrived residents felt incredibly at ease after being allocated land and settling down, praising Pei County to everyone they met.

The local people are well-off and generous, and do not mind taking in migrants from other places.

Peicheng Market expanded and grew larger, with shops lining the streets offering all kinds of goods. The streets were bustling with people, shoulder to shoulder, and the shouts of vendors rose and fell, creating a lively atmosphere, just like the New Year celebrations every day.

As one local gazed at the fireworks display filling the city, he couldn't help but exclaim, "I've lived most of my life in Pei County, and I've never seen our county town so lively."

A passerby chuckled and chimed in, "Isn't it all thanks to Lord Song? Who would have looked down on our poor place before?"

"Indeed! Lord Song has only been here for a little over two years, and the entire Pei County has been completely transformed."

"Our Pei County will only get better and better in the future!"

......

Night had fallen, and the county government's backyard was completely silent.

Only Song Ye's house still had a single lamp lit.

A population boom may seem like a good thing, but in reality, it brings a host of problems.

If there isn't enough land, then we need to develop and plan for its reclamation.

Housing shortages necessitate the expansion of neighborhoods.

The market is crowded, and new streets need to be opened.

Schools need to be built, clinics need to be opened, and elderly people living alone need to be properly cared for... All the big and small things need to be noted down, manpower, construction period, and budget need to be calculated, and priorities need to be arranged.

After finishing the last stroke, Song let out a long breath, put down the charcoal stick, leaned back in his chair, and rubbed his temples. The bamboo slips were filled with neat and orderly writing, with detailed accounts marked after each item, leaving nothing out.

After checking everything over and confirming there were no omissions, he was about to put the bamboo slips away.

【Ding--】

A crisp mechanical sound suddenly rang in my mind.

Song's hand trembled, and he almost dropped the bamboo slip.

Current task progress: 10%.

Wait, when did the task progress reach 10%?

[This time, the randomly dropped item is: Papermaking Recipe, which has been stored in the consciousness space and can be retrieved at any time.]

[Please keep up the good work, host. We look forward to your next appearance.]

Song stood there, stunned, unable to react for a long time.

Papermaking!

One of the Four Great Inventions.

With paper, who would bother carving bamboo slips?

Who still carries around heavy wooden slips to record events and read books?

Song looked at the shortened charcoal stick in his hand and couldn't be happier.

God knows, she had been fed up with this thing for a long time.

"extract!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a scroll appeared out of thin air and landed on the table.

Song carefully unfolded the paper, which contained neat handwriting and detailed records of the entire papermaking process: raw material ratio, soaking time, cooking temperature, pulping technique, papermaking skills, and drying steps.

From material selection to finished product, every step is explained very clearly, with simple illustrations that make it easy to understand, even for laypeople.

Having seen all sorts of high technology in my past life, what haven't I seen?

In an era when everything relied on bamboo slips for recording events and the dissemination of knowledge was extremely difficult, the weight of a single sheet of paper was heavier than a thousand pounds.

With paper, the transmission of documents and the implementation of government orders would be several times faster.

Knowledge was no longer bound by cumbersome bamboo slips.

Students from impoverished families no longer need to carry heavy wooden slips weighing dozens of kilograms to school.

Schools, academies, official gazettes, and books from the marketplace... things that were once unthinkable became possible starting with this one piece of paper.

Thinking of this, Song couldn't help but smile.

The night wind outside the window gradually subsided, and the moon parted the clouds, casting a silvery-white glow.

After calming down, Song picked up the charcoal stick again, spread out a new bamboo slip, and wrote a line of words.

—Plan for the establishment of a paper mill.

......

The next day at dawn.

Song Ye's complexion was far from good; his eyes were dark and bluish-black, as if someone had drawn two lines with an ink brush, and the whites of his eyes were bloodshot.

But he didn't miss a single task: checking the attendance of his subordinates, verifying unfinished cases, and inspecting prisons and granaries, one by one.

When Xiao He came in, he saw that the adult's eyelids were almost too heavy to lift.

"My lord, did you not sleep well last night?" Xiao He approached with concern.

Song rubbed his temples: "I didn't sleep."

Xiao He was taken aback.

"I stayed up all night," Song said, picking up the bamboo slips on the table again. He flipped through a couple of pages, and his eyelids began to droop again. He blinked hard, then simply picked up the cold water next to him and gulped down a large mouthful.

The icy well water went down my throat, making me shiver and finally bringing me back to my senses.

"My lord, what have you been busy with all night?" Xiao He couldn't help but ask.

Song didn't answer him directly, only saying, "You'll find out later." After saying that, she continued flipping through the documents.