Chapter 1070 Downhill Village
Sun Shan and his gang said goodbye to the old man at the tea stall and continued walking forward.
Walking along the official road, there are some small villages scattered along the roadside.
The further we walked, the fewer people there were, until all we saw were the deep mountains.
Gui Ge'er said worriedly, "Brother Shan, we brought out a little less people this time. Why don't we go back first and bring out all the people left in the government office?"
Yuanlu County is too remote. We walked for half a day and ended up in the deep mountains and forests. How come it is even more remote than Sunjia Village?
Although Huangyang County is surrounded by mountains, villages can still be seen from time to time.
It’s nothing like here now, where there are nothing but mountains.
The mountains here are only slightly shorter than those at Niujiao Mountain.
Sun Shan shook his head and said, "The entire Yuanlu is built on the mountainside, so it's normal to have a mountain outside."
As soon as Sun Shan arrived in Yuanlu County, he felt the slope of Yuanlu.
The road from the entrance to the city to the government office gradually climbs upwards, proving that the entire city was built on a mountain, rather than being built on flat ground like the county magistrate of Huangyang County.
The only thing to be thankful for is that the mountains in Yuanlu County are not very high, so we just have to walk on a slope, not a steep slope.
Otherwise, your legs will be tired from walking on it.
Walking out of Yuanlu City, there are mountains one after another, and there are some villages between the valleys.
After walking for a while, we came across some villages, which were sparse and looked very desolate.
Sun Shan consulted various files and found that the reason why Yuanlu County became a medium-sized county was not because it was richer than lower-class counties, but because the area under its jurisdiction was large enough, so the grain tax paid was high enough, thus becoming a medium-sized county.
Yuanlu County is the largest county in the entire Chenzhou Prefecture and has the widest jurisdiction. Although its population density is not as high as that of other counties, as long as the territory is large enough, the total amount will be more than that of other counties.
We only pursue the total amount, not the per capita amount, so Yuanlu is not ranked the lowest in Chenzhou Prefecture, and it is not a lower-level county.
Looking at the endless mountains and such a vast land, Sun Shan was filled with emotion.
Wang Jiaxing accompanied Sun Shan on the inspection. Although they rode in a mule cart the entire way, their buttocks were still too bumpy to bear.
Looking at Yuanlu, which is nothing but mountains, he said in distress: "Master, our Yuanlu has always been like this. There are villages where the mountains meet, and of course there are villages halfway up the mountain. We have always been mountainous here, and it is difficult to find a slightly flat place."
Sun Shan nodded and said, "In the future, we need to repair the official road and make it smoother so that it will be more convenient for people to walk out. Only when people can walk out and move around, Yuanlu will become better."
If you want to get rich, you must first build roads. Only when people living between mountains communicate with each other can the economy be promoted, and when the economy is promoted, everyone’s life will be better.
Sun Shan has already thought about what he will do in his upcoming military service.
The road must be built first, at least a road that mule carts can pass through.
Wang Jiaxing didn't understand what Sun Shan was saying, nor did he understand why the activities would make Yuanlu better.
I very much agree with the idea of repairing the official road.
It would be much easier for these students to go to Chenzhou Prefecture to take the imperial examinations, and the journey would be much more comfortable.
Sun Shan looked at the map and led everyone forward. If he found anything different from the actual situation on the map, he would mark it out and make corrections in time.
We walked from morning until the sunset was about to disappear before we found a village to stay the night.
Because Wang Jiaxing looked gentle, wore a long gown, and could speak the local dialect, all the villages were a little less wary of their arrival and gave them lodging.
The village where Sun Shan stayed overnight was called Xiapo Village, and the name suggests it is located on a slope.
If there is a downhill, there must be an uphill. So Sun Shan asked: "Village head, this is the downhill village, so where is the uphill village?"
The village chief could not have imagined that Sun Shan, a thin and weak man in an ordinary cotton-padded jacket, was the leader of the group.
He said in surprise and respect, "Master Sun, Shangpo Village is on the mountainside. It's not far from here. If we climb up here, we will arrive in half an hour."
It takes half an hour to climb the mountain, which is actually quite far. But compared with Daqian who relies entirely on his legs to walk and shouts to others, it doesn’t seem far.
Sun Shan smiled and asked again: "Why don't the people in Shangpo Village move to Xiapo Village? Living on the mountainside, it's not convenient to go to the county town."
The village chief shook his head and said, "We don't know why. Since I was born, there have been Shangpo Village and Xiapo Village. There are many relatives between our two villages. Sometimes the villagers of Shangpo Village go to the county town and can't get home in time, so they will stay here."
After a pause, he continued, "There is a large field above Shangpo Village. Maybe because there is land above, people gradually moved in. I don't know the specific situation."
After the village chief said this, Sun Shan understood.
Some mountains have a flat area in the middle that can be used for farming.
Maybe someone in Xiapo Village took a fancy to that piece of land and gradually settled there.
Later, more and more people settled here and it became a village.
Of course, all this is Sun Shan’s speculation.
Sun Shan chatted with the village chief and several respected elders in the village for a while.
This process required Wang Jiaxing to translate, as the villagers were very curious about Sun Shan, a foreigner.
There are very few outsiders coming here, so why did Sun Shan bring so many people here?
And from the conversation, it can be seen that the plain-looking Sun Shan kept smiling the whole time, looking like a scholar, which made everyone even more curious.
The village chief asked Wang Jiaxing: "Where is this Mr. Sun from? How did he come to our Xiapo Village?"
Wang Jiaxing couldn't say that the Mr. Sun in front of him was the newly appointed magistrate of Yuanlu, and that he came to Xiapo Village to inspect and take a look at the situation in Yuanlu.
I had to make up an excuse and said, "This Mr. Sun is from another place. He happened to pass by Yuanlu and wanted to see the scenery of Yuanlu. This Mr. Sun is a scholar who likes to recite poems and write couplets. When he saw that our Yuanlu has beautiful mountains and beautiful people, he wanted to walk around to find inspiration for reciting poems and writing couplets."
Wang Jiaxing pointed to his head quietly and said seriously: "I don't understand what Mr. Sun thinks. I am just hired by him."
What I mean is that you don’t need to ask me. I am just as confused as you are about Mr. Sun’s situation.
As for what Mr. Sun was going to do, I had no idea.
The village chief and elders of Xiapo Village stopped asking when they realized they couldn't get any information out of them.
They have also seen scholars and scholars with abnormal brains.
Perhaps the Mr. Sun who came from another place in front of him has an abnormal brain. He is idle and wanders around everywhere.
Because Sun Shan gave enough money, the village chief prepared a very sumptuous meal in the evening.
I even killed a chicken and made a pot-roasted pheasant slices.
The aroma was so strong that it made Sun Shan's stomach growl.
Sun Shan didn't stop eating until he had eaten three bowls of rice and his stomach could no longer hold on.