The convoy gradually went away, raising a trail of dust. It was not until the carriages could no longer be seen that the Jiang family finally turned back towards the door of their home.
May 22nd was the day Jiang Wenyuan took office. Since he was taking up a post close to home, there were no particular feelings of parting.
After breakfast, Jiang Wenyuan only brought his letter of appointment and his wife Lu held a small bundle before going to the county government.
It was only on this day that people finally realized that Jiang the Top Scorer was the new county magistrate of this county, and jaws dropped all around.
Jiang Wenyuan was born and raised in Qingzhou, and was extremely familiar with the local climate, customs and human relationships.
With the assistance of his uncle, taking care of affairs was like adding wings to a tiger. In just a few days everything was clarified and dealt with smoothly.
Among the existing staff at the yamen, the most delighted was Master Lu Pingzhang.
Lu Pingzhang did not have much talent for studying. After barely passing the imperial examination at the provincial level, he knew there was no hope of passing the metropolitan exam, so he found someone to get him the position of Registrar at the yamen.
Previously he had been worried that when Magistrate Qin left, the new superior might make things difficult for them, or even kick them out altogether and bring in his own people.
Now the new superior turned out to be his brother-in-law, and he was so happy he could laugh in his dreams. As long as he did his job properly and made no mistakes, things would definitely go smoothly.
While Jiang Wenyuan was busy at the front office, Lady Lu was also busy tidying up the rear courtyard.
The furniture and such were all ready-made. When Qin had left, other than plaques and brush pots the common people had gifted him, and some necessary clothing and tea sets, he hadn’t taken anything else with him.
Everything was left behind for them, all made from high-quality chicken wing wood.
But the bed curtains, quilts and blankets, pots and pans, and ladles and bowls all had to be newly purchased.
In addition to their own room and their son and precious daughter’s rooms, they prepared two extra bedrooms for when family came to the county town and needed a place to spend the night.
Fortunately Eldest Sister-In-Law Chen was there to help, but even so, after two days Lady Lu was exhausted.
Chen said, “This won’t do. Now your status is different, how can you do everything yourself?
You can’t just let anyone come and have the wife of the county magistrate personally pour tea for them, how would that look?
Don’t say you don’t care yourself, even your brother-in-law would become a laughingstock. Not to mention, your family isn’t lacking for money now.”
Lady Lu felt Sister-In-Law’s words made sense. That evening when Jiang Wenyuan returned from the yamen, she brought it up with him.
Jiang Wenyuan said this had been his intention already, but had forgotten about it due to being busy after just taking office.
Eldest Brother also had servants, and he was familiar with the local employment agencies, so it would be best for her to ask him to find several good ones.
The next day when Chen came again, she told Chen about it. Chen immediately sent someone to call the head of an employment agency. After selecting carefully, they bought four servant girls of twelve or thirteen years old for their family.
They were given seasonal names of Lu Chun, Gu Yu, Li Xia, and Xiao Man. There was a cook called Rong Sao, and an old woman to do odds and ends as well as a young boy to run errands.
They also bought two robust older women and the Yang family of five and sent them back to Xijin ferry.
The Yang family of five were originally household slaves from the estate of an official in the nearby Chenzhou Prefecture. Later when the official got in trouble and his family property was seized, the slaves were all sold off, and their family was sold here.
Old Man Yang was over forty years old, and would do well keeping watch over the gate. His son Yang Tiesuo was in the prime of life and had considerable strength, being skilled at farming work.
His daughter-in-law was also capable and diligent, and the two children, one nine and one six, could also help with light tasks.
If clever, they could serve as young study-companions for the household's boys in the future.
These people had already learned some manners at the employment agency. After some further training, they would quickly become capable.
Lady Lu also felt relieved. By the time everything was properly put in order, four or five days had passed.
Thinking of the son and precious daughter they hadn’t seen for many days, the couple felt extremely eager in their hearts. That day after Jiang Wenyuan left the yamen, the couple hurried home without even bringing a servant girl.
Upon entering the door, it was just in time for dinner. Seeing the two of them return, the pair of older brothers teased in unison.
Eldest Master Jiang drew out his tones, “Oh, oh oh, County Magistrate is gracing this humble abode, please excuse us for not coming out to greet you sooner. Please bring chairs.”
Second Master Jiang echoed, personally bringing two chairs over, “Here—ya, please be seated, sir and madam!”
The two brothers sang and bantered, provoking loud laughter from the whole room, rendering Jiang Wenyuan and his wife unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.
The baby girl was eating dinner. Not having seen her parents for many days, she really missed them somewhat.
Therefore, the moment they entered, she put down her spoon and nimbly slid off of her chair, running over to snuggle with Mother for a while.
Then she threw herself into Father’s arms to snuggle, and once she had kissed them enough she sat on Father’s knee and hugged her little bowl to continue eating.
Ever since she was barely able to hold a spoon, she refused to be fed by adults.
Although due to her young age her limbs were uncoordinated and she often made a mess all over the table, she always managed to feed herself full.
Over time, she became better and better at handling the spoon, and although she still spilled some here and there, it was far better than when she first started.
Even with his daughter getting rice all over him, Jiang Wenyuan didn’t show any distaste at all.
Happily, he would wipe the oil off the baby’s messy little mouth from time to time,
Or put one or two chopsticks of food she could eat into her little bowl, extremely content to dote on his precious child.
After dinner, seeing it was still early, Jiang Wenyuan called all of the children and nephews to the study, tested each of them on their recent schoolwork, then pointed out their shortcomings before getting up and heading to the front hall.
In addition to fetching the children this time, there were two important matters.
One was establishing a clan school.
For a clan to prosper in the long term, they needed talented people. And education was crucial.
He didn’t expect everyone to be able to become top scholars, but at least they couldn't remain ignorant.
His initial idea was that his family would provide the silver to build the school and hire a teacher, as well as buy over a hundred mu of land to serve as clan property.
As long as it was managed properly, the proceeds from the fields would be sufficient to sustain the clan school in future.
The second was building roads.
From Xijin ferry to the county road was over five li, all muddy paths.
On sunny days it was still passable, but on rainy days when there were many people and vehicles, it turned entirely to mush, even sinking his carriage in multiple times.
He planned to discuss with the village, with him providing silver to purchase materials, and the village providing manpower. Together they would repair and widen the road to allow two carriages to travel abreast.
After discussing with the family, Eldest Grandfather and the two elder brothers all raised their hands in agreement. Firstly, the villagers would benefit. Secondly, it would build up their family’s reputation. And reputation was extremely important in officialdom.
There was no time like the present. Eldest Grandfather immediately sent people to invite the village chief, clan chief, and several esteemed clan elders to come over.
When they arrived, everyone thought the new county magistrate was going to announce some government policies. Hearing that Jiang Wenyuan wanted to build a road and school for the village, the group of elders were so excited they nearly fainted.
When Jiang Wenyuan passed the imperial examination as Top Scholar, it only made the village’s reputation sound a bit better. But these two things he proposed now were concrete benefits for the villagers.
After discussing, they were in agreement with Jiang Wenyuan’s ideas.
One was the school. The construction costs and initial fees to hire a teacher plus stationery supplies would be borne by Jiang Wenyuan.
Later on, the proceeds from the clan fields would sustain it. The school would belong to the Jiang clan, and any Jiang clansmen above the age of 5, regardless of gender, could attend.
Villagers of other surnames could also attend without paying tuition, but would have to provide their own stationery. Additionally, the teacher’s room and board would need to be provided by students taking turns.
Two was repairing the road.
They had to either not build it, or build it properly. The existing road would be widened to allow two carriages to travel abreast, using lime-mixed river sand and gravel to make rammed earth.
Built this way, not only would the surface be flat but also extremely solid, easily lasting twenty years without damage.
For labor, each family would provide one person. It wasn’t a particularly busy time for the fields presently anyway.
Xijin ferry was right next to the Qing River. In the past when the Qingzhou county seat was further upstream before it moved down, merchant ships plying the river often docked there for supplies, and over time the place got its name.
The shoreline including the old dock stretched over ten li up and down the river, all covered in pebbles.
On the riverbank, simply lifting up a patch of grass revealed thick sand underneath.
Many families’ fields along the Xijin ferry riverbank were sandy soil. Even Jiang Wenyuan’s family had over ten mu of sandy fields.
In short, these natural building materials were too good to pass up. Using them saved a lot of money, just requiring a bit more manual labor.
When all was totaled, the sum exceeded six hundred taels, a considerable amount.
Jiang Wenyuan had money from selling ginseng earlier, plus the generous gift from the Duke's estate. While not wealthy, six hundred taels was within his means.
He immediately had Lu fetch six hundred tael banknotes, stating he would pay the excess costs and collect the difference owed.
Settling these two matters lifted a weight from Jiang Wenyuan's mind. He had left instructions with the property agent to notify him immediately if suitable farmland became available.
The next morning, Jiang Wenyuan and his wife brought Jiang Yuqing back to the county office.
As for their son, for now...this would work best:
First, staying with his older brothers allowed bonding and familiarity. Second, the tutors at his father-in-law's academy were highly learned and dutiful with students.
He himself had studied there, so felt assured. After testing into the academically-advanced tongsheng class, their son could join them without delay.
Xijin Ferry
The village chief and Clan Chief told everyone about Jiang Wenyuan funding the clan school and road repairs. Beyond delighted excitement, they loudly praised him as a man of real action.
The Jiang family's reputation in the village rose another level.
The school impacted the children's futures, so mistakes were unacceptable. They must hire specialized builders for proper design.
But roadwork required no special skills, just strong arms.
Initially, each family had pledged one laborer. Now, all ages eight to sixty, regardless of gender, able-bodied or not, joined the crews hauling sand and stones whenever free.
The tools were motley: baskets, backracks, ox carts, donkey carts. Some women even brought unused chamber pots from home to impress.
In just over ten days, Jiang Wenyuan had the land deed back. A small farmstead, 121 mu in all. Not far from Xijin Ferry, about five li downstream.
It had belonged to a landlord whose only son killed someone fighting over a courtesan in the provincial city. To ransom his son from prison, the family sold their ancestral property. Truly, raise your children well, or their wicked ways will lead to ruin.
Meanwhile, Jiang Wenyuan and his wife had brought Jiang Yuqing to the county office. Whenever awake, she explored with two servant girls, pattering about on little legs.
Small but comely, and sweet-tongued, she charmed everyone. The household servants called her "Young Miss," the errand boys called her "Young Master." Older women like cooks and laundresses called her "Mistress."
As for her father's colleagues, she addressed them as "Uncle" or "Elder Cousin." After just a few days, she had wrapped them all around her fingers. Each outing ended with bulging robe pockets, stuffed with candies, cakes, snacks, dried fruits - every treat imaginable.
Moreover, she was extremely disciplined. Knowing she was teething, she rarely overindulged, eating just one or two pieces before distributing the rest among the servant girls Spring and Rain.
When adults learned of this, their affection for her grew. The gifts they showered her with multiplied, until Lu tailored a small pouch for her to wear slung across her back.
As June progressed, the weather grew increasingly hot.
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