Zhao Hanzhang finished reading the letter and reacted, “Uncle Ming, why didn’t you tell me such important information?”

Zhao Ming replied, “Would you dispatch troops?”

“Uh, no.”

“Then isn’t that settled?” Zhao Ming said, “The only important piece of news is this one, and since you’re already doing it without me reminding you, what difference does it make whether you read the letter or not?”

Zhao Hanzhang actually found his reasoning sound.

Zhao Ming asked, “The summer harvest is about to end. Shouldn’t you be preparing matters like planting beans and such?”

He continued, “Since this matter has nothing to do with us, you can watch the excitement from the sidelines, but you should really focus more attention on the county affairs of Xiping and Shangcai—encouraging agriculture and sericulture, training soldiers. Don’t you have things to do?”

“How could it be unrelated? The great trends of the realm affect every single person,” Zhao Hanzhang said with a worried expression, “I’m not afraid of Prince Donghai and Gou Xi fighting each other now; what I fear is Liu Yuan taking advantage of the void.”

Zhao Ming fell silent, clearly he was also concerned about this point.

People like them could think of this problem, yet the ministers at court seemed blind. Aside from some who were still desperately trying to reconcile the two parties, everyone else was coldly watching from the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Liu Yuan, who was sitting on the mountain watching tigers fight, felt he could now emerge as the fisherman. So he had his son Liu Cong, his beloved general Shi Le, Wang Mi, and others lead troops southward.

The news hadn’t yet reached Yuzhou. Liu Kun’s men were desperately rushing to Luoyang to report, wanting Prince Donghai to stop fighting, to stop fighting.

Of course, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t know about this at the time.

Although she believed the great trends of the realm were related to her, Zhao Ming didn’t think so. He directly drove her to the fields to encourage agriculture and sericulture.

Wearing a large straw hat, Zhao Hanzhang squatted by the field edge, sighing deeply, then sighing again…

Chen San, who was pulling a plow past her, stopped and hesitated before asking, “What is troubling you, Miss?”

Wu Erlang, the hired hand pulling the plow with Chen San, also perked up his ears to listen.

“It’s not raining. From the summer harvest until now, it’s been half a month without rain, hasn’t it?” Zhao Hanzhang said, “The water in the ditches is about to run dry.”

However, Chen San wasn’t very concerned. He smiled and said, “Don’t worry, Miss. The weather has been like this these past few years—sometimes drought, sometimes flood—but they’re all minor disasters. This year’s prospects are quite good; the summer wheat harvest was substantial. Beans are drought-resistant; as long as there are two good rains after planting, it’ll be fine.”

He was quite optimistic, “Besides, we have irrigation ditches.”

How much could those ditches help?

Although they had dug ditches all winter, the county’s water conservation infrastructure was still very poor, with low water storage capacity and irrigation coverage.

But since her own tenants and hired hands were so confident, Zhao Hanzhang naturally wouldn’t discourage them. She also broke into a smile and nodded vigorously, “You’re right, we have irrigation ditches.”

She glanced at the field they had plowed and pointed out, “Too shallow—it won’t suppress the weeds. You need to go deeper.”

Chen San and Wu Erlang looked down at the soil they had turned, dejectedly acknowledged her instruction, and continued plowing with the implement.

Zhao Hanzhang squatted to the side watching. The matters of Prince Donghai and Gou Xi were still too distant. The urgent priority was finding a way to buy more oxen.

Relying on human labor to pull plows was not only exhausting but also consumed manpower.

But there were only so many oxen in the realm; they couldn’t be conjured out of thin air. It seemed she still needed to find ways to encourage the breeding of calves.

A cattle farm, perhaps…

After thinking it over, Zhao Hanzhang went to the county outskirts to inspect the horse farm.

After half a year of operation, Zhao Hanzhang’s horse farm had become quite substantial.

In early spring, Wei Matou had his people scatter plenty of grass seeds. The pasture grass grew quickly, and during the winter months before the new year, not only had Ji Yuan sent many foals, but Zhao Ming had also helped purchase some.

At this time, the horse farm was raising a total of three hundred sixty-eight horses—quite a large horse farm indeed.

It could support a cavalry unit of one hundred fifty men.

Wei Matou was very proud, feeling he had reached the pinnacle of his life. But would Zhao Hanzhang be satisfied?

The Xiongnu and Xianbei cavalry numbered in the thousands! With only a few hundred men, what was there to be proud of?

However, civilian livelihood was as important as military training.

So Zhao Hanzhang asked Wei Matou, “Do you know how to raise cattle?”

Wei Matou had a bad feeling. Before he could answer, Zhao Hanzhang continued, “I want people to learn cattle raising from you.”

Wei Matou said, “…County Magistrate, I’m a horse master—I raise horses.”

“That’s too limiting,” Zhao Hanzhang said, “As a person, you need to look further ahead. Cattle and horses aren’t that different—they’re both livestock. Many issues are universal.”

Wei Matou opened his mouth, wanting to refuse outright, but Zhao Hanzhang had already said, “I’ve decided to establish a Court of Imperial Stud within the county, like the Bureau of Agriculture and the Revenue Office, as a permanent office under the county government. How about you become my Minister of the Court of Imperial Stud?”

Wei Matou’s face flushed red, somewhat excited yet unable to believe it. “Then, then will I have an official rank?”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Ninth rank!”

Wei Matou’s eyes lit up brightly, and he agreed immediately, “Good, I accept.”

Zhao Hanzhang slapped her thigh. “Straightforward! Then it’s settled. Since you’re now my Minister of the Court of Imperial Stud, you must properly train your subordinates. Systematically summarize how to evaluate horses, raise horses, and treat horse illnesses, and train several people. Later I’ll have them raise cattle.”

This meant she wanted him to bring out his signature skills! But if he taught his apprentices everything, what would happen to the master?

“Later I’ll find you a few physicians to consult with.”

Wei Matou was startled. “What would I discuss with physicians?”

“Discuss treating illnesses, of course. Horses and cattle are just like people—when many gather together, they’re prone to illness. There are commonalities here that you can exchange knowledge about.”

Wei Matou’s guard, which had just risen, dispersed. “…Would physicians who treat people be willing to exchange knowledge with us who treat livestock?”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “I have money.”

After a pause, she added, “I also have authority.”

“I’ve decided to establish a Medical Bureau within the county government as well. In the future, all county departments can exchange knowledge with each other.”

Wei Matou’s excited heart suddenly cooled. He couldn’t help but ask, “County Magistrate, you want to establish this and that—will the court approve?”

“They’ll definitely approve,” Zhao Hanzhang said, “Do you know who my grand-uncle is?”

“I know—the Minister of Personnel.”

Zhao Hanzhang hadn’t expected he actually knew, but she was even more pleased. She smiled and said, “Exactly. The Minister of Personnel oversees the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Works—all departments are under the Minister of Personnel’s management. I’m just opening small departments in our county. Would my own grand-uncle not approve?”

Wei Matou felt her reasoning made sense. He didn’t know exactly how high an official the Minister of Personnel was, but someone who could manage so many departments before the Emperor must be an enormously high official.

And Zhao Hanzhang merely wanted to create two small departments in a small county, adding two minor ninth-rank officials. How could he not approve?

So Wei Matou’s heart grew hot again. After pondering for a moment, he nodded in agreement. “Alright, I’ll teach.”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled, vigorously patting his shoulder. “Old Wei, don’t worry. As long as you don’t violate Xiping County’s laws, even if you train many more apprentices who become more capable than you, I won’t let you starve.”

Wei Matou’s face darkened. “County Magistrate, that’s not what I’m worried about.” Even if he had such thoughts, he couldn’t let his lord know!