After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Chapter 1126 - 1108: Governing the Nation Through the Smallest Matters

The villagers brought things from home; some even carried over their own clay jars and small cauldrons. With a few more fires going, cooking would go faster.

Zhao Hanzhang glanced at Zhao Rong and the others who were still sitting, glared, and said, "What are you dazing out for? Go help!"

Zhao Rong and the others came back to their senses, hurriedly got up to help light fires, draw water, and go to the riverbank to get meat from the trusted aides who were chopping venison and roe deer.

The villagers didn’t dare reach out and take anything; they could only wait for them to bring over the chopped bones and meat and put them into the cauldrons and clay jars.

Before long, the smell of meat was wafting through the village. Zhao Hanzhang turned the haunch of venison hanging over the fire, sliced off a few pieces with a dagger, picked up a leaf at hand as a plate, sprinkled a few grains of salt on it, and held it out with both hands to the old man.

The old man, flustered, waved his hands again and again. "General, you should eat first."

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and set the leaf in his hands, saying, "The elder should eat first."

She called out to Wei Xian and the others, "Everyone, come over and eat some meat."

The villagers all squeezed forward, looking at the old man with envy. Smelling the thick aroma of meat constantly rising, they couldn’t help swallowing.

Zhao Hanzhang sliced meat for them to eat. Everyone who managed to get a piece cut personally by Zhao Hanzhang was very excited, wishing they could take it home and set it up like an offering. But seeing that everyone else was eating, and with the smell of meat right under their noses being so tempting, they couldn’t help eating as well.

After Zhao Hanzhang had gone around once, the other venison leg was almost done too. She handed the knife to Zhao Rong and the others, letting them go slice the meat and experience for themselves what it meant to "serve the people."

She called over Zeng Yue. "Don’t bother chopping the remaining meat. Skin them, and before we leave, hand the meat over to Wei Xian and that elder, and let them distribute it fairly among the villagers."

Zeng Yue accepted the order. "My lady, it’s getting late. When are we returning to the city?"

Zhao Hanzhang said, "We’ll go back after we’ve eaten."

Zhao Hanzhang went to look at the hides they had peeled off and asked, "Do you know how to tan hides?"

Zeng Yue said, a little embarrassed, "The leather I tan isn’t very good. Wen Yangde’s tanning is better."

Wen Yangde was one of Zhao Hanzhang’s trusted aides, round-faced and honest-looking. He had previously been called Wen Dalang and had never had a formal given name; he asked Zhao Hanzhang to give him one after he started following her.

He had only one requirement for the name: it had to sound particularly cultured and particularly virtuous. So Zhao Hanzhang looked at his little round face and named him Yangde.

Although she felt Dalang also sounded nice, in her Personal Guard alone there were at least ten men called Dalang, if not twenty. Looking across the entire imperial guard, shout "Dalang" and at least a hundred men would answer; even adding the surname, there were still eight or nine.

Zhao Hanzhang called over Wen Yangde and handed him the few hides they had just peeled. "Go shout among the villagers and pick out a few young men. Teach them how to tan leather."

Wen Yangde stared for a moment, then immediately agreed and ran off to find people.

Zhao Hanzhang went back to the fire pit and drank meat broth and ate slices of meat together with the villagers, talking as she did so. "Wei Xian, a village elder as young as you is rarely seen. The fact that you were chosen as village elder shows how capable you are and how beloved you are by everyone. I hope you will not fail what I entrust to you, nor the villagers’ expectations, and do well as village elder."

Wei Xian, his face both excited and solemn, agreed and thumped his chest, declaring that he would definitely do a good job as village elder and manage the village well.

Zhao Hanzhang nodded slightly and instructed him on what things a good village elder ought to accomplish, then reminded him, "For village affairs, you can consult more with the elders in the village. They’ve seen more of the world and are steadier than we young people."

She went on, "You can also ask more for the opinions of the young people. They have drive. Outside, the world changes by the day; the court constantly issues new policies and technologies. Young people travel around more and are better informed."

Sitting to the side, Zhao Rong muttered to himself: Isn’t that just saying you have to listen to everyone’s opinions and not act arbitrarily?

Wei Xian didn’t catch the hidden meaning; he merely remembered it firmly and planned to act according to her instructions.

Zhao Hanzhang nodded in satisfaction, and everyone shared a delicious midday meal.

It was the best meal the villagers had eaten all year; they hadn’t eaten this well even during the New Year a few days ago. So it was also their happiest day.

When Zhao Hanzhang and her people were about to leave, the villagers of the whole village were reluctant to part with them, wishing they could escort them ten li out. But Zhao Hanzhang glanced at their feet and resolutely refused.

She left the remaining raw meat to them, instructed Wei Xian and the elders to distribute it to each household according to headcount, and then divided the three deer hides among Wei Xian and the two elders.

Receiving this favor, Wei Xian was so moved that his eyes brimmed with hot tears; he practically wanted to kneel on the spot and swear he would lay down his life for Zhao Hanzhang. So he took her instructions to heart one thousand percent. As soon as Zhao Hanzhang left, he immediately gathered all the villagers and divided up the raw meat on the spot.

The division was especially fair. No household received even a finger’s breadth more meat, and no household received a finger’s breadth less.

Seeing that Wei Xian was finally attending to the village’s affairs and no longer living only for himself and minding only his own family, the old man couldn’t help but have tears in his eyes. He gripped his granddaughter’s hand and said to her, "The young lady truly is remarkable. When our family harvests the new grain this year, I’ll send you into the city to study as well. Once you’ve read books, maybe you’ll be just as clever and capable as the young lady."

He vaguely understood that Zhao Hanzhang had done all this in order to get Wei Xian to manage them well and make the village better governed. But if you asked him to explain the reasoning behind it, his mind was a complete muddle and he couldn’t think it through.

With the little knowledge he had, the old man was sure of one thing: only reading books could make up for that gap.

As long as his granddaughter studied, she would understand the underlying principles. Once she understood them, she would put them into practice; then she would also be a capable person.

The old man patted her head and said, "Xiangcao, now a young lady can both study and serve as an official. Although your father and brothers are all gone, as long as you are clever and diligent, you can definitely rely on yourself to live."

Xiangcao nodded with tears in her eyes, clutching the old man’s hand tightly in hers, and said, nodding, "Grandpa, I will support myself, and I’ll support you too!"

The old man smiled with relief.

Zhao Hanzhang brought two deer back to the city. She handed one deer to Zeng Yue and the others and let them divide it among themselves; the remaining one she entrusted to Ting He, telling her to find people to skin it and then distribute the meat to each household.

"Send the two deer legs to Fifth Uncle and Seventh Ancestor. Pick the best shank meat for Mother and the Princess, and from what’s left, pick the good cuts and send them to Mr. Ji and Mr. Ming."

Zhao Hanzhang handed over the rabbit she had been carrying to her and said, "We’ll eat rabbit tonight. When Ting Han comes back, have him come to the study to find me."

Ting He agreed.

Zhao Hanzhang went straight to the study, took out a blank sheet of paper, and began to write.

She had been negligent. Rural administration was still following the old system; she hadn’t changed it. Yet now the vast majority of villages were newly established; many of the villagers were strangers to one another, and only a small portion were original clansmen who had gathered and formed villages.

In such a situation, if governance was not strict, all kinds of disputes could easily arise.

And the manpower in the countryside far surpassed that of the cities. If used well, its productive capacity would far exceed that of the cities and could also allow the state to escape from its current poverty faster.

Governing a state begins with the smallest details; earlier, this was where she had been negligent.