The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 180 Test

The more Wang Hengzhi thought about it, the more excited he became. He stood up and called out to Changping, "Come on, follow me to see the prefect and report this to him!"

Although he was excited, he did not lose his composure. He was only the co-magistrate, the deputy of the prefect. No matter how good the strategy was, it had to be approved by the prefect before it could be implemented.

Although he knew that most of the credit would go to the prefect, Mr. Ma, he didn't mind it.

Although Wang Hengzhi wanted to gain a foothold in officialdom, climb up the ladder, and become a high-ranking official, and even lost sleep at night planning ways to get promoted, when faced with such things, he put his own selfish desires aside and put the people first.

When the prefect Ma heard that Wang Hengzhi had brought a young student to ask for a meeting, although he did not understand the meaning, he quickly met with them.

Without much politeness, Wang Hengzhi bowed to Lord Ma, introduced Changping's identity, and then told him everything about the edible oak seeds. He then handed Changping's proposal to Lord Ma for review.

Lord Ma was also extremely surprised when he first heard it. He had been an official in the local area for five years and had visited the local areas during this period. Naturally, he was familiar with the iron oak tree and knew that the oak seeds were poisonous and could not be eaten.

He read the proposal, looked at the brown jelly again, and was delighted.

Mr. Ma has been in this position as prefect for nearly three years and will soon face an evaluation.

Longnan is a remote place with inconvenient transportation. It is mountainous and has few good farmlands. The literary culture is not strong, so there are not many scholars and even fewer who pass the exams.

Apart from that, there was nothing special in the local area and the economy was not prosperous, so even though he felt that he had been diligent in his work as an official, he still had no outstanding political achievements to show for it.

There is no official working in this remote place who does not want to be transferred elsewhere. Whether it is to the Central Plains or the south of the Yangtze River, it is better than staying in the Northwest.

But if you want to be transferred or promoted, you must have some merits to show to the higher-ups. I heard that the previous prefect was transferred to Jiangnan for his contribution of new grain seeds. That's a good place, a hundred times better than the Northwest!

Lord Ma was full of regrets as to why he didn't have such a good opportunity to get promoted, and now the matter of the oak seed was brought to his attention!

The iron oak tree is widely distributed and has a high fruit yield. Once this matter is reported to the imperial court, its significance will be no less than the discovery of a new grain variety!

After all, several years have passed and he doesn't even know what corn looks like. It is obvious that it is not easy to promote it.

But this iron oak tree has existed for many years. It is a measure that will produce immediate results and can greatly alleviate the food shortage caused by drought and flood disasters.

The petition to the higher authorities for tax reduction or exemption was rejected because there were too many disaster-stricken areas and the reduction or exemption could not be afforded!

The national treasury is already tight, and if all places reduce or exempt taxes, how can we carry out grain collection this year, how can we pay the officials' salaries, and what will the soldiers in the army eat!

I heard that the foreign tribes on the border are ready to make a move, and it’s hard to say when the war will begin. How can we survive without sufficient food and fodder?

In fact, Lord Ma can also understand the court's decision.

The Zhou Dynasty had a vast territory with varying degrees of wealth. There were both prosperous and fertile areas like the south of the Yangtze River and cold and bitter lands in the north. I heard that the smoky and miasma-ridden areas further south were even worse, and few of those exiled there could survive more than a year.

Lord Ma is not greedy, and he doesn't necessarily have to go to Jiangnan. It would be fine as long as he could be transferred to a richer place.

And with this achievement now, he has hope of promotion!

However, to be on the safe side, he decided to let the doctor check the jelly first, and only tasted it after confirming that it was non-toxic.

It's not that Lord Ma doesn't trust Wang Hengzhi, but human nature is unpredictable. He has been in officialdom for a long time and has seen many strange things, so he is inevitably more cautious in his actions.

The place where the government office was located was very prosperous, with all kinds of shops around it. After Lord Ma gave the order, the doctor was quickly invited.

Lord Ma did not say what the jelly was made of, he just asked the doctor to taste it to see if there was anything abnormal or toxic.

The doctor first pricked a silver needle into the body for testing, and then seeing that there was nothing wrong with the needle, he carefully picked up a tiny bit and put it into his mouth to taste and examine it carefully.

At this time, Changping felt a little regretful. Why didn't he think of asking a doctor to check it out? It really was Lord Ma who was thoughtful.

However, this also shows Lord Wang's trust in himself. As soon as he ate it, he dared to eat it too, without going through a doctor's operation. He completely trusted himself.

Of course, this is also because of the friendship between my family and Lord Wang over the years, and we know each other better. Lord Ma does not know me, let alone being familiar with him, so it is normal for me to be wary of him.

Soon, the doctor came to a conclusion: "To answer your question, sir, this food does not seem to be poisonous. At least I have not tasted it. Can you tell me what it is made of? I can analyze it in detail based on its properties!"

"This is made from the fruit of the iron oak tree. Someone removed the poison from the fruit and made it into jelly. It is fine for humans and chickens to eat. That's why I want you to check if it is really non-toxic!"

The doctor was horrified. As a local, he knew that oak nuts were poisonous and tasted astringent.

But he really didn't taste anything bad in the jelly just now, and the astringent taste of oak nuts was completely gone!

The doctor looked at the jelly made from oak nuts carefully again and murmured, "But this jelly is really not poisonous!"

After sending the doctor away and warning him not to talk too much, Lord Ma picked up the chopsticks and began to taste the oak jelly.

He smiled very kindly, and took a few more bites of the jelly. He smacked his lips a few times before praising, "Not bad, not bad. This oak is really a good thing. With it, many people can be saved from starvation!"

Putting down his chopsticks, he patted Changping on the shoulder and said, "Liu Changping, right? You have passed the imperial examination at such a young age. You are truly a young talent. Since you have reported such an important discovery to me this time, I will definitely ask the court to reward you!"

Changping: Actually, I reported it to Lord Wang!

But when he saw Lord Wang sitting aside with no strange expression on his face and without saying anything to remind him, he knew that he should have expected this.

So, Changping bowed deeply to Lord Ma and said earnestly: "Lord, you are too kind. I don't deserve it. I am just an ordinary citizen under the jurisdiction of Longnan Prefecture. I see that you work hard for the people's livelihood all day long, and you can't eat or sleep. I accidentally made such a discovery, so I should report it in time to share your worries and be loyal to the court. This is what every ordinary citizen should do. I am not seeking any reward. You are really ashamed to say so!"

Mr. Ma: I didn’t expect this child to be so good at talking. He looks very happy when he talks!