Zhao Hanzhang quickly ran to the western suburbs of the city. Of course, she was not the only one, she also took the four horses with her.
Looking at the endless wilderness overgrown with weeds, Zhao Hanzhang waved his hand and said: "This will be our horse farm in the future."
Ma Tou looked with his mouth wide open.
"Of course, it can't be called a racecourse." Except for the qualifications granted by the imperial court, no one can raise horses privately. If you mark the racecourse openly, isn't it waiting for the people from the yamen to come and inspect it?
So Zhao Hanzhang said: "This is called ranch!"
Ma Tou swallowed his saliva and asked, "Just grazing like this?"
He looked down at the weeds at his feet, touched them, shook his head and said, "Many of the grasses here are not suitable for horses to eat, but they are good for raising cattle."
Zhao Hanzhang looked down at the green grass and felt heartbroken, "It's a pity that we have few cattle, so so much grass is wasted."
Wei Matou: ...It’s just weeds, so there’s no need to feel so bad. There’s not much else in the field, and the grass for the cattle can still be managed.
Wei Matou had been raising horses for many years and was very experienced. He looked at the soil under his feet, then rode his horse around the area. After a long time, he ran back, dismounted and said to Zhao Hanzhang: "Girl, this land is covered with dust."
It can be opened to plant beans, and horses must be well raised to eat beans. That area is mostly raw land. We can remove some weeds and then plant pasture. In the future, we will plant some every year. In this way, the amount of pasture in this area will increase.
We're coming up here, we should be able to raise three to five hundred horses."
Zhao Hanzhang's eyes brightened, "Okay, I'll do as you say. Where do you think the stable should be built?"
Wei Matou pointed in one direction and said, "That's the best place. It's also close to the water source. It's easier for us to get water."
Zhao Hanzhang went up with them to have a look, and nodded with satisfaction, "Okay, when the autumn harvest is over, I will have someone come to build a horse stable for you, clear up wasteland, and remove weeds at the same time. We will try to turn the horse farm into a horse farm before next spring. Oh, no,
It’s the pastures that are opening up.”
Wei Ma Tou asked, "When will the foal be delivered?"
Zhao Hanzhang said: "It's almost time. You should prepare first."
Ji Yuan contacted three horse dealers through Wei Matou and Chai County Magistrate, and placed an order for a total of 128 horses, of which 30 were underage foals. However, he only paid a deposit, and the horses will be followed.
to be shipped.
Ji Yuan said that this was the limit of the three horse dealers, and no matter how much they asked for, they would not be able to give it.
And they haven't contacted Liu Kun yet.
Zhao Hanzhang rode his horse back to the county town. Before he arrived at the county government office, he saw Fu Tinghan standing at the corner of the street, guarding a steamed bun stall. There were about twenty children lined up in front of him. He was constantly taking steamed buns from the cage for them to eat.
Zhao Hanzhang dismounted, threw the horse to Tinghe, and approached him curiously, "Tinghan, this is..."
She looked up and down and asked, "Did you buy it?"
"No," Fu Tinghan took an oversized steamed bun to the child and gestured to the next one. He said as he handed it out: "The food I took from the county government was given to the store to make it. This relief point is only responsible for giving some to the children.
For food, the store owner can get ten pounds of food per day."
Sounds pretty good.
Zhao Hanzhang leaned aside and watched him deliver, "You come here every afternoon to distribute food?"
"No, the official in charge of this area has a stomachache. I'll take my place temporarily." Fu Tinghan finished distributing one cage and was about to change it to the next one. Zhao Hanzhang had already picked up the empty one and put it aside, lifting the three cages on top.
, signaling Fu Tinghan to take out the bottom cage.
Fu Tinghan paused for a moment, took it out and put it on the top, put a steamed bun in a child's bowl, turned to Zhao Hanzhang and said, "I can do this kind of rough work from now on."
"It's okay, it's just my job." Zhao Hanzhang continued to lean on the door panel and watch Professor Fu divide the steamed buns.
As she watched, her eyes followed his movements to the children lining up in front of him. They were ragged, and some of them not only had black fingernails, but also had dirty faces.
When they got the steamed buns, they didn't stuff them into their mouths immediately. Instead, they broke it open, leaving half of it, then stuffed the other half into their mouths and ate it eagerly.
Zhao Hanzhang stretched out his hand and grabbed a child who was about to leave after receiving the steamed buns, and asked: "It's already evening, it's dinner time, right? Who should I give this half to?"
The child glanced at her timidly and whispered: "Eat it tomorrow morning."
Fu Tinghan explained on the side: "There is only one meal a day, and there is only one steamed bun per meal."
He paused and then said: "There isn't that much food in the county government warehouse, we have to save it."
Now the whole county is doing work-for-relief, and if you want to get food, you have to work. Fu Tinghan stipulated the food corresponding to the workload. The food an adult can earn every day can support himself and his two children.
But... there are still many orphans without fathers and mothers in this county, as well as old and weak orphans and widows, so Fu Tinghan can only set up a separate relief point.
But it was impossible to keep them full, so he only kept them from starving to death.
Zhao Hanzhang asked the children, "Where do you live?"
The child pointed to an alleyway and said, "Inside."
Zhao Hanzhang simply followed him in to take a look, and saw that a corner of the courtyard had collapsed where he was pointing. It was stained with blood, and there were blood-red drag marks on the ground. Zhao Hanzhang asked, "Is this your house?"
"Yes," the child said matter-of-factly: "My father and mother are buried. This is mine, but they said it will no longer be the case soon."
He raised his head and looked at Zhao Hanzhang seriously, "Girl, can the Yamen not accept my family?"
According to the rules, a family cannot be established without children. This child is so young that he cannot start a family. The Yamen will temporarily manage the family assets for them and return them when they reach adulthood.
But now that the world is in chaos, if this thing is given away, there is basically no possibility of it coming back.
Of course, the child may not be able to be saved if he is not released.
Zhao Hanzhang reached out and touched his head and said: "No, the Yamen will keep it for you temporarily. You may not be able to keep this house if you live in it, but if you put it in the county government, I promise you that as long as I can still do this Xiping County
If you are the master, then this Dongxi county government office is just a temporary substitute."
Zhao Hanzhang said: "I will build a Yushan Hall. You and other children who have lost their parents will go to live in the Yushan Hall. I will also ask someone to teach you how to read. When you are sixteen years old or graduate from the school,
After you can make money by doing things, the property that the Yamen has kept for you will be returned intact."
The child asked blankly: "Can I read even if I am a commoner?"
"Of course," Zhao Hanzhang said with a smile: "Everyone in the world has the right to read and write, as long as you want."
Zhao Hanzhang took his hand and said, "Let's go. First, let's meet your first teacher."
When Fu Tinghan saw her coming back with a child in her hands and a flattering smile on her face, she raised her eyebrows and asked, "What do you want to do again?"
Zhao Hanzhang shook the child's hand and said: "I want to build a Yushan Hall and another school. These children must be properly arranged, and don't we lack talents? We need to develop in an insignificant way. If we can't issue recruitment orders widely, we can only do it ourselves.
After training, I think these students will be good."