Traveling to Ancient Times: My Space Contains Weapons

Chapter 1517 Magistrate Luo, who came with us

After hearing this, Wei Dequan immediately patted his chest and guaranteed it.

"Don't worry, Young Master Chu. Most of the people here are poor and easy to talk to. Besides, I, Wei Dequan, have some prestige here. As long as you don't mistreat everyone, we can talk things over."

"I'm relieved to hear you say that. Next, I need you to do something: mobilize every household to make use of all the idle land in this area and plant sugarcane on it. We'll sign agreements with the farmers and set a purchase price."

"This matter needs to be handled quickly. Niu Zi, you go with Uncle Dequan. I'm going to the county government office here."

The two nodded after listening and turned to prepare.

Chu Chen, along with Gou Shengzi, climbed onto the carriage and, guided by Wei Dequan, headed towards their county government office.

If you want to do business in this place, you must bribe the local officials.

However, now that Chu Chen has the status of Imperial Advisor and the token, it shouldn't be too difficult.

The carriage slowly made its way towards the county town. Although the south was not as flat as the Central Plains, there was still a main road leading directly to the county government.

After about an hour, the two arrived at the entrance of the county government office.

Above the entrance, the four large characters "Tonglai County Government Office" were somewhat faded, and the entire county government office appeared somewhat dilapidated, giving the impression of a relatively economically backward county town.

The two constables leaning against the wall perked up when they saw a luxurious carriage approaching: "Where have you two come from? What brings you to the county government?"

Chu Chen smiled after hearing this, thinking that although it looked dilapidated, it was still quite polite.

He immediately took out the imperial advisor's token and handed it over, saying, "I am the imperial advisor of the Song Kingdom. Tell your county magistrate to come out and see me."

The two men took the token, glanced at it, and immediately returned it, saying, "Grand Preceptor, please wait a moment. We will go back and report immediately."

After he finished speaking, a constable quickly ran inside, and a moment later, a thin man came out with an official.

Then he knelt directly in front of Chu Chen: "Your humble servant Luo Bai greets the Imperial Preceptor."

He wouldn't doubt the authenticity of this imperial advisor, because the Song state had a complete token system, from the material to the patterns to the hidden designs, which no one else could replicate.

"Lord Luo, there's no need for such formalities. Please rise."

Chu Chen had no need to flaunt his power in front of a county magistrate and do something meaningless.

After Luo Bai got up, he led Chu Chen and the other person directly into the inner hall of the county government office.

This is a distinguished guest. Tonglai County is a notoriously poor county. If we treat this Grand Preceptor well, he might speak to the higher authorities and get some preferential treatment in policy, which would be quite remarkable.

The people who came with them were suffering terribly. Commerce and agriculture were underdeveloped, and you couldn't even see a fat person on the street. Of course, Niu Zi's mother-in-law was an exception; she was naturally fat, but sickly fat.

Chu Chen looked around the county government office, at the dilapidated tables, chairs, and benches, everything in its state of disrepair.

Even Luo Bai's official robes were tattered and worn.

"Lord Luo, our Tonglai County doesn't seem to be economically developed, and the people's living standards aren't high either."

Luo Bai was overjoyed upon hearing this, thinking that no high-ranking official had ever visited in all these years.

This Grand Preceptor looks kind. Could it be that my arrival in this county is truly the beginning of a great leap forward?

"This humble official has failed in his duty; I beg Your Excellency, the Imperial Preceptor, to punish me!"

"Oh, why do you say that?"

"Lord Chu, to be honest, the production level in our Tonglai County is low, natural disasters occur frequently, the people's harvest is low, the land is barren, and it is really hard for people to survive."

“As the official in charge of the people who came with us, I am guilty for managing them in this way.”

Chu Chen smiled after hearing this, feeling guilty, thinking that the old man was just trying to plead poverty.

But this is good, it saves me a lot of trouble. I came here specifically for sugarcane planting.

Since you can't grow grain, then you might as well grow sugarcane.

"Hehe, Lord Luo, all land under heaven belongs to the king. Tonglai is a part of the Song Kingdom. Now that the Song Kingdom is powerful, how can we leave Tonglai out?"

"Therefore, the purpose of my visit here is to lead you all to prosperity."

"Get rich?"

Luo Bai was overjoyed upon hearing this. It seemed he had guessed correctly; the Grand Preceptor's visit to his remote and impoverished village had indeed brought development.

“That’s right. I believe no one wants to see such a poor place in our Song Kingdom, so I came.”

"It's quite a coincidence that one of my brothers has married a woman from this area, which is why I, your national teacher, have been able to come here today."

"This must be fate that brought me here with you."

After saying that, Chu Chen gave Gou Shengzi a wink. Gou Shengzi immediately turned around and went out. When he came back, he had a piece of sugarcane in his hand.

Chu Chen handed the sugarcane to Luo Bai: "Lord Luo, do you recognize this?"

"Your Excellency, this is a 'Genggeng' (a type of fruit). Although it has a very sweet taste, it is not edible and will cause constipation."

After hearing this, Chu Chen rolled his eyes at Luo Bai, thinking to himself, "Who the hell told you to eat even the scraps?"

This is ridiculous, who can actually pull that thing out?

"Lord Luo, you may not know this, but it's a treasure."

"baby?"

"That's right, this thing is called sugarcane, and I can make it into crystal clear white sugar."

"So the reason I came here this time is to cooperate with Lord Luo and do the sugar business in the world."

Luo Bai had no idea what white sugar or brown sugar meant. He had never even seen them before. Wasn't sugar maltose? It was incredibly precious. Even in his large county magistrate's household, he only had a pound or two.

Not to mention the common people who came with them, they couldn't afford to eat there either.

"Please enlighten me, Your Excellency."

"It's very simple. I want you to mobilize all the people who came with me to plant this plant, and of course I will buy it at a very good price."

"Moreover, my sugar factory will be built in Tonglai, and the people of Tonglai can come and help with the work. The daily wage will not be less than twenty coins."

Luo Bai almost jumped up after hearing that.

He understood what Chu Chen said earlier, but didn't pay much attention to it. What he was concerned about was Chu Chen's last sentence.

Twenty coins a day, that's six hundred coins a month.

That's an income of over seven taels of silver a year, and that's just for one person. Imagine a family with three able-bodied members...

He dared not think any further; everything felt unreal to him, and he even felt that the Grand Preceptor in front of him was just bragging.

"Your Excellency, the population of my county is 20,000. It will be a considerable expense to support all of them."

Chu Chen nodded and smiled, thinking to himself, "Why are you thinking about this?"

Shouldn't we have considered the income from the previous planting?

"Hehe, Lord Luo only saw one side of the story, but not the other."

"Only a small number of people earn money through labor; the most profitable way is still sugarcane cultivation..."