The Lucky Farmgirl

Manbao spent considerable effort explaining to Old Zhou and Ms. Qian the difference between titles of nobility and official positions, and to help them understand better, she used Prince Gong as an example.

"Prince Gong currently holds no official position. He was previously a prince with a large fief in Jinzhou. The taxes and other revenues from the fief belong to him. Although he has no governing power, since the fief is his livelihood, he can still have a say with the local officials there," Manbao said. "For example, he can request tax exemptions or reductions."

"Later, when he became the Prince of a smaller domain, a portion of his fief was taken back. The people in that portion no longer pay taxes to Prince Gong but to the court instead."

Old Zhou stared blankly, "You’ve become a prince?"

Manbao: "... Dad, I’m just a fifth-rank village lord with a fief of 500 households, equivalent to six of our villages or three villages like Dali Village."

Ms. Qian was also surprised, "That’s impressive, still better than your father, I mean, your biological father."

Old Zhou recovered and immediately turned to ask Old Madam Liu, "In-law, doesn’t Shanbao also have some kind of fief? How many households does he have?"

Old Madam Liu smiled and said, "He does; just like Manbao, he also has 500 households."

Old Zhou asked immediately, "Where are they located?"

He also turned to Manbao, "Where are our 500 households? Do you know whose homes are they?"

"They’re in Liyang," Manbao replied. "I’ll ask the Liyang County Magistrate later. Bai Shan’s fief is in Longzhou, not here."

Upon realizing this, Manbao exclaimed, "Why did His Majesty place my fief in Liyang? It should be in Luojiang County."

Old Madam Liu laughed and tapped her on the forehead, "Silly child, isn’t it good for the fief to be in Liyang? It’s right under the emperor’s nose, making it easier to manage, and the taxes they pay are higher."

Liyang is part of Yongzhou and is very close to the capital. From Wannian County it’s just Liyang, less than a hundred li from the outer city of the capital, a fast horse can reach it in an hour, closer than to their manor.

Of course, Liyang is not small either, it also depends on where the 500 households are allocated; if it’s in another corner, it might take a full day by horse to reach.

However, Old Madam Liu believed it wouldn’t be like this. She smiled and said, "You’re favored now, and neither the Ministry of Rites nor the Liyang County Magistrate would make things difficult for you."

Not only would they not make it difficult, but upon receiving the decree, because the emperor didn’t specify a particular location, only giving the title of Liyang, the Liyang County Magistrate had a peculiar feeling that Zhou Man might soon be promoted again.

So, he carefully studied the documents, and after pondering over it for half a day, finally confirmed that the Ministry of Rites hadn’t specified a location either, so he took out the map of Liyang County and contemplated.

After half a day, he circled a small piece of land near Wannian County, planning to allocate these 500 households to Zhou Man, and if she were to be promoted again, they could continue giving her more land in that direction.

The Liyang County Magistrate thought happily, after all, Zhou Man is an external official, she could at most rise to the rank of a county lord with a fief of 1,000 households, it would be perfect to make this whole area her fief.

Meanwhile, County Magistrate Guo was sighing to his steward.

Steward: "... Sir, what’s the matter?"

County Magistrate Guo said, "The places we wanted to seize from Liyang are probably unobtainable now."

Steward: ... Why does his lord always want to seize territory from Liyang over there?

But he still hurried to ask, "Has the Ministry of Revenue explicitly rejected it?"

"No," County Magistrate Guo said gloomily, "His Majesty conferred Zhou Man as the Village Lord of Liyang."

Steward was puzzled, "What does this have to do with my wanting to seize the territory of Liyang? Could it be that Lord Zhou will advocate for the Liyang County Magistrate?"

His lord shouldn’t be scared by this, right?

What are you afraid of, just go for it!

County Magistrate Guo glanced at him and said, "If His Majesty doesn’t specify a specific location for the fief, Liyang could very likely allocate those lands bordering Wannian County to Zhou Man."

The steward realized, his expression turning indifferent, "Oh."

Those lands can’t be seized; they’re all Zhou Man’s fief now. Even if we seize them, they can’t be taxed or used for anything, so why put in the effort for no reward?

County Magistrate Guo felt it was a pity; initially, the Ministry of Revenue was already somewhat lenient, almost agreeing to allocate the township near their Wannian County to them. Who knew that suddenly a Village Lord of Liyang would descend?

If the Liyang County Magistrate isn’t foolish, he would definitely use her to divide the two counties, and then he would be completely unable to annex Liyang’s territory.

It’s truly a pity.

The Liyang County Magistrate, however, was very pleased and had the list he had drawn up presented to the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue the very next day.

Just as Manbao sent Bai Shan off to his exam and turned around to treat the State Duke Pi’s wife before returning to the palace, the official sent from Liyang had already delivered the documents to the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue.

As a result, by the time Manbao finished her work in the palace and Director Xiao announced a six-day holiday for her and Imperial Doctor Lu, the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue had already reviewed and approved the documents.

Manbao was particularly happy, leaving early. On her way out of the palace, she detoured to the Ministry of Rites to ask if there was a specific location for her fief.

The document from the Ministry of Rites hadn’t been put away yet; upon hearing her request, they took it out for her to see, "This is the list and number of the 500 households; take a look."

Manbao opened it up, first checking the place where they resided, memorizing the location before moving on to their names, casually asking, "Is this the location His Majesty designated?"

The official from the Ministry of Rites smiled and said, "No, this was designated by the Liyang County Magistrate. Speaking of which, the village Wutun where these villages are located is quite famous indeed."

He continued, "The Liyang Ancient City is right there, over a thousand years ago it was the ancient capital of the Qin Kingdom, but it has been deserted for many years. During the late emperor’s time, Liyang was merged into Wannian County, but later it was returned to Yongzhou..."

It was just transferred back and forth, so... it’s quite poor.

Of course, this poverty is compared to the counties around the capital; compared to Luojiang County, it’s much better, at least it’s considered a middle-ranked county.

The four villages allocated to Zhou Man are not bad either; it’s just because they’ve been transferred back and forth that the previous higher officials didn’t manage them seriously, so they’re somewhat poor.

Because the Ministry of Rites is managed by the Crown Prince, and based on the understanding that Zhou Man is the Crown Prince’s person, the officials at the Ministry of Rites naturally have a favorable impression of her, after all, they’re family, right?

So the official from the Ministry of Rites, pulled by Manbao for questioning, earnestly explained to Zhou Man, "This Wutun Village, because of the ancient city, was quite commercially prosperous in the previous dynasty; many merchants traveling to and from Chang’an would stop there. Though it’s called a village, it was actually busier than Wannian County back then."

The capital went through war, when there was fighting in the capital, many people fled to nearby villages to hide, and over time, Wu Township developed even better than Wannian County.

"So when the late emperor ascended the throne, seeing Wannian County was indeed deserted, he merged Liyang into Wannian County. At that time, the Wannian County Magistrate redirected the people and merchants from Liyang to Wannian County..." The official from the Ministry of Rites paused before continuing, "But later, because the county was too big to manage, and Chang’an County and Wannian County, with Chang’an County as the primary one, and Yongzhou to act as a subsidiary capital, the late emperor returned Liyang to Yongzhou and made it a separate county."

But the merchants, gentry, and officials that had gathered in Liyang had all moved to Wannian County; it was impossible for them to return, so the Liyang Ancient City became increasingly deserted, now it’s no different from ordinary villages, even more dilapidated.

Manbao: "...I’m just here to eat the revenue; aren’t these the matters for the county magistrates to worry about?"

The official from the Ministry of Rites was taken aback for a moment, then nodded and smiled, "Yes, indeed these are matters for the county magistrates to concern themselves with."

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