The village head bowed his head and looked at the stone on the ground.
Cheng Luanluan could also understand that commoners in ancient times were like ants before officials, not daring to even fart.
Look at the peasant women in Dahe Village; normally they were the kind of people who loved to watch a commotion. Now that the County Magistrate had arrived, all of them were either hunched over hiding in the rice paddies or had their doors tightly shut, refusing to come out. In their eyes, the County Magistrate was like a man-eating tiger.
Cheng Luanluan could only speak for the village head: "The peasant woman's second son is a reckless boy. He goes up the Da Dong Mountain every day, so he's very familiar with it. Finding a water source isn't difficult for him. But he's never been to the mountains in the neighboring villages. To find a water source there would probably take a lot of effort. It would take a whole day to go around and search a bit. If he doesn't find it in one day, he'll have to go again the next. With so many fields at home, how can he manage?"
With Cheng Luanluan bringing this up, the village head's courage grew a little, and he chimed in: "That's no problem. Da Shan's mother can ask people in the village to help with the farm work."
Cheng Luanluan sighed: "If you ask others to work for a day, you can't not pay them. Our family is so poor we don't have a single penny."
The County Magistrate clasped his hands behind his back: "If your son can truly find another water source, this will be a great merit. This official will certainly commend him."
Cheng Luanluan silently grumbled that a few words of praise were neither painful nor itchy.
She paused, then said: "From discovering a water source to digging a ditch to divert water to the fields, this is not something one person can solve. At least Dahe Village must send four or five people to help. Now is the busy season. Whose family doesn't have a pile of farm work to do? They have to take care of their own household affairs. Who can wholeheartedly help other villages find a water source? If they can't find water in another village, and their own rice fields are left untended, weeds will grow even more, and by then, the harvest per mu of land will be less than other families'."
Master Yuan became angry again: "The County Magistrate has given an order! Who dares to delay!"
Cheng Luanluan was not afraid: "This peasant woman is just speaking the truth. The autumn harvest is not far off. Who would be willing to abandon their own family's work to help others?
County Magistrate, this peasant woman also once lived in a large family. Before the family split, there were many instances of 'fishing in troubled waters,' where people would be lazy if they could. Only when a huge benefit appeared before their eyes, without anyone needing to urge them, could this peasant woman arrange everything perfectly overnight. County Magistrate, do you think what this peasant woman says makes some sense?"
The village head was so scared that sweat poured down his head. Da Shan's mother was too bold. How could she dare to say such things in front of the County Magistrate?
Didn't she see that Master Yuan was about to die of anger? If the County Magistrate got angry, they would all be punished.
This was the first time the County Magistrate had met an ordinary commoner who dared to stand before him and speak at such length. Unlike ordinary praise and flattery, these words had a deeper meaning, and he actually found them very reasonable.
If he issued an order, the villagers would indeed have no choice but to comply, but they would not do so willingly.
Working wholeheartedly versus merely going through the motions yields completely different results.
During this great drought, all the surrounding towns and villages were parched, but only their Ping'an Town discovered a water source. This was an excellent opportunity to achieve merit.
If he could achieve this merit and meet the Prefect, he might even be promoted in the assessment a few years from now.
The secretary instantly understood the County Magistrate's intention and said, "The villagers from Dahe Village who help find water sources and dig irrigation ditches will be rewarded with one hundred copper coins each day."