Chapter 2554 - 2528: Not Meddling in Their Affairs

Once again, it’s one of the bi-monthly grand court meetings, and the main topics of this court meeting are the upcoming spring planting and the civil service exam happening tomorrow.

Manbao didn’t have a chance to speak on either of these major issues; she was quietly glancing toward County Magistrate Guo.

County Magistrate Guo lifted his eyelids to look at her, thinking she was looking at County Magistrate Tang, so he friendly gave County Magistrate Tang a hard nudge.

County Magistrate Tang shivered from the poke, turned back calmly to glare at him, but County Magistrate Guo subtly signaled him to look toward Zhou Man.

County Magistrate Tang then looked at Zhou Man.

Manbao looked at them with a bewildered expression, completely clueless about what they were up to.

Seeing this, County Magistrate Tang immediately turned back to glare at County Magistrate Guo.

County Magistrate Guo: ...

After the grand court meeting ended, County Magistrate Tang intentionally rubbed his waist as he stood up, and with a faint smile, said to County Magistrate Guo, "You’ve got quite the strength, County Magistrate Guo."

County Magistrate Guo, however, looked at Zhou Man, curious about what her glance meant.

Manbao cleared her throat softly, squeezed out a smile, and stepped forward, "County Magistrate Guo, do you have some free time at lunchtime? After all these years of kindness, I’d like to treat you to some tea at Qingfeng Pavilion?"

Beside them, County Magistrate Tang said quietly, "All these years, I’ve never seen you invite me for tea at Qingfeng Pavilion."

After hesitating for a moment, Manbao said, "Would you like to come too, senior brother?"

County Magistrate Tang stared at her for a while, then snorted, "No, I’m not going."

With that, he turned and walked away.

County Magistrate Guo was very curious about what Zhou Man wanted from him.

"Introduce me to County Magistrate Xun?" County Magistrate Guo widened his eyes in surprise. Does he need Zhou Man to introduce him to the county magistrate of the neighboring county?

Manbao then smiled and explained their plan to repair the road.

County Magistrate Guo understood immediately, pondering for a moment before saying, "Our labor resources in Wannian County are fixed, and this sudden increase in workload might upset the people."

He added, "After all, not many people from Wannian County go toward Yongzhou, so fixing the road doesn’t change much for us. The existing official road isn’t far anyway."

Manbao’s mouth dropped open; she didn’t expect County Magistrate Guo to oppose the plan. Fixing roads is a good thing.

"County Magistrate Guo, do you know the current price of vegetables in Wannian County compared to those in the Liyang County area?" Manbao said, "Fixing the road, not to mention allowing more agricultural products from elsewhere to enter, will benefit many people."

County Magistrate Guo smiled slightly, "Lord Zhou is right, but if Liyang’s goods can’t enter, they consume our local goods from Wannian County. Shouldn’t Liyang pay for this road if they want to earn money from us?"

"Liyang County is already in charge of one section of the road," Manbao paused here and sensed something was not right, so she shifted her approach, "How about this, since County Magistrate Guo has such a feeling, why not have a face-to-face talk with County Magistrate Xun?"

County Magistrate Guo raised his eyebrows, somewhat disappointed that Zhou Man caught on.

But indeed, repairing the road is feasible; it’s just a matter of how much each side contributes.

So County Magistrate Guo nodded, deciding to handle it differently.

Manbao let out a big sigh of relief, then poured tea for County Magistrate Guo, "County Magistrate Guo, please have some tea."

As Zhou Man rarely invites anyone, County Magistrate Guo naturally took his time to taste the tea thoroughly.

Manbao went rushing back to the palace, and after work, she went to find Bai Shan, grumbling, "They’re all old foxes, trying to dig a pit and bury me."

After listening to her explanation, Bai Shan laughed, "The labor decree is a serious matter; it’s naturally better to send out less if possible. This road connects your fief, Liyang County, the imperial estates, and New City; it’s a significant matter. You think you’re being fair by having each take a section, but they must also be willing."

He added, "In this matter, County Magistrate Guo holds the upper hand, so he naturally wants more benefits. It’s right for you not to get involved. Anyway, no one dares to expand the section you and Princess Mingda are responsible for, so let the two counties handle the rest themselves."

Manbao realized midway through that County Magistrate Guo intended to haggle, hoping to convince her before persuading County Magistrate Xun. That’s why she quickly withdrew.

After all, she’s not a local official, so it’s not appropriate for her to be too involved in such matters.

Local affairs are too complicated; she finds them far less satisfying than the tasks at the Imperial Hospital and the Imperial Medical Department.

Although Bai Shan hasn’t been in office for long, he has experienced quite a lot.

She’s always been at the top, handling matters at the Imperial Medical Department and Imperial Hospital. She gives advice, writes petitions that face the emperor and heavyweights like Wei Zhi, discussing grand schemes. She doesn’t know that those below have to discuss much more tedious matters.

Tedious to the point of deciding whether to spend money on a single desk and chair for the Imperial Medical Department or to requisition it from another department.

Bai Shan gave her a slight smile, "Never mind them for now; the labor decree for our section of the road has already been issued. Since you are the lord, shouldn’t you take some time to visit the countryside to see if they have any difficulties?"

Upon hearing this, Manbao immediately nodded, "Sure, let’s go after work tomorrow. If we ride fast on the back roads, we’ll get there quickly."

Whether County Magistrate Guo agrees to build that section of the road or not, the three sections they initially agreed on have already started construction anyway.

Taking advantage of the farming season not yet starting, County Magistrate Xun seized the time and immediately notified the local chiefs to come to the county for a meeting, then selected five village labor draftees and issued a ten-day labor decree.

According to the Great Jin decree, every household must provide one able-bodied person for twenty days of labor each year and an additional two days in a leap year. This year is not a leap year, and now that County Magistrate Xun issued a ten-day decree, there will still be ten days left come autumn and winter.

Usually, unless it’s an emergency, like a river embankment about to collapse, knowledgeable county magistrates deliberately avoid issuing decrees during busy farming seasons, generally issuing them during the farmer’s slack seasons.

As it’s not yet the busy farming season, while some grumbled, the people below still prepared when County Magistrate Xun issued the labor decree.

The section belonging to Zhou Man naturally used laborers from her fief, and the costs of the laborers had to be borne by Zhou Man.

Manbao entrusted this task to Zhou Wulang and Zhou Lichong.

Zhou Wulang and Zhou Lichong were taking on such work for the first time, but Zhou Wulang had served labor duties before and had some idea of what it involved.

Therefore, they prepared food and vegetables early, bought some pork, and handed it over to women hired to cook, making sure they added some extra oil in the meals every day.

When Manbao and Bai Shan rode in on horseback, everyone was still busy working, with Zhou Wulang waving from beside a large pot, stirring vegetables.

Seeing Manbao approach, he immediately handed the spatula to a woman and ran up, "Manbao, what brings you here?"

Manbao dismounted, looked at her Fifth Brother, and exclaimed in surprise, "Fifth Brother, what’s with your appearance?"

Covered in dirt and much darker, she had just seen him last night.

Could it be because the lighting was dim at night, so she couldn’t tell the light from the dark?

Zhou Wulang grinned, "Just after moving a few baskets of mud with them, I ended up like this. See, in three days, we’ve made quite some progress."

Manbao came over and noticed the road was significantly widened, enough for two carts to pass side by side, more than twice as wide as before when one cart struggled along.