After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

The middle-aged man came to pick up his grandson, and Zhao Hanzhang handed the child to him, casually asking, "What’s the child’s name?"

The middle-aged man replied, "Your Excellency, he doesn’t have a formal name yet. Since he’s my only grandson, we’ve been calling him ’Little Lang’ until he’s older and gets a proper name."

He looked at Zhao Hanzhang eagerly, "He is destined to meet Your Excellency, please, would Your Excellency give him a good name?"

Zhao Hanzhang looked at the child for a moment, then smiled and said, "I’ve thought of a name. Although it’s common, it suits him well."

Zhao Hanzhang reached out to touch his head and said, "He’s still young now, so let’s hope he grows up safely. Let’s call him Ping’an, though I don’t know his surname?"

"His surname is He," the middle-aged man repeated twice, "He Ping’an," and tears began to fill his eyes, "The name is good, really good. We all hope he can grow up safely, which is also his parents’ wish."

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t ask where his parents went; in these times, many things don’t need to be asked directly.

Chen Yin approached and, seeing Zhao Hanzhang was done speaking, bowed and invited Zhao Hanzhang inside.

His house was just a typical large rural landlord’s residence, lacking the refinement and luxury of the Zhao Family courtyard. The yard didn’t even have a flower garden, with only a few scattered fruit trees.

Mrs. Chen led her daughter and young son, waiting in the courtyard, and when Zhao Hanzhang arrived, they offered their respects.

Zhao Hanzhang dispensed with their ceremony, sat with Chen Yin in the front hall, and upon seeing him instructing people to slaughter a sheep to make delicacies, seemingly ready to warmly celebrate her visit to the Chen Family’s Castle, she stopped him, saying, "I’m just resting for a while, and since times are tough for the common people, there’s really no need for extravagance."

Chen Yin still wanted to persuade her, but Zhao Hanzhang proceeded with her business, "Building a county establishment here can’t rely on just one paper from me; there’s much work to be done."

Zhao Hanzhang said, "For instance, the city gate, the county government, these two are crucial places. Only when these are established can the people truly accept this as a county establishment."

She continued, "Besides these two, there are the population issues."

Zhao Hanzhang said, "I took a look when I entered the Wu Castle earlier, and indeed, there aren’t many people here. A county can’t have only hundreds of people, so you must continue to shelter refugees and attract more people here..."

Chen Yin was taken aback and quickly asked, "But I truly can’t come up with any more food; if I take in refugees, what will I use to feed them?"

Since accepting people means he must take responsibility, or surely chaos would ensue, and responsibility requires resources.

Zhao Hanzhang smiled and said, "I’ll give you a batch of food, but you can’t just give it to them for free,"

Zhao Hanzhang suggested him to offer work relief, "Since you plan to make this a county establishment, many things need to be done, such as building villages outside the Wu Castle to support the county city, which requires a lot of labor."

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Just in time, winter is coming, and everyone is idle from farming, perfect timing to handle these tasks.

Chen Yin didn’t expect so much to be done, momentarily feeling timid, he swallowed and said, "This, Your Excellency, I have no experience and fear doing poorly."

Zhao Hanzhang then smiled reassuringly and said, "It’s your first time being a County Magistrate, and it’s my first time being an Inspector. We’re both crossing rivers by feeling the stones; we will proceed slowly, and even if we stumble, we can hold onto the stones to get back up."

Zhao Hanzhang said, "I am the stone you can hold onto, with me here, what does Chen Qing have to fear?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Yin felt most of his timidity dissipate instantly; looking at the youthful Zhao Hanzhang, who appeared like his daughter, he felt ashamed and quickly said, "Just ask whatever you need, Your Excellency, I wouldn’t dare disobey."

Zhao Hanzhang smiled gently, "No need to be afraid, I’ll send a few people to assist you, they have some experience."

A county city, besides the County Magistrate, also has the Chief Clerk and County Magistrate, all quite important positions.

Zhao Hanzhang and Chen Yin discussed specific disaster relief issues and, once a course was roughly set, Zhao Hanzhang got up intending to go out with Chen Yin to inspect public sentiment and find talent in passing.

Going around once, public sentiment was, unsurprisingly, everywhere; questions asked of people ended up: among ten people, five were named Ping’an, while the remaining five either had their own sons named Ping’an or grandsons named Ping’an.

Even a seven or eight-year-old child told Zhao Hanzhang, "When I grow up and marry, I want my son to be called Ping’an too."

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t expect that just within this short period, her given name would become so popular, this was a trend for everyone to be named Ping’an.

She thought this matter would be limited to the Chen Family’s Castle, and no one would care once outside.

Unexpectedly, the trend of naming Ping’an started outside too.

Fu Tinghan, who stayed at Chen County, heard this rumor and couldn’t help but chuckle and said, "Looks like she’s been doing quite well with the bandit suppression outside."

Though he had not received any general teacher, unsure if Zhao Hanzhang hadn’t obtained it or if it was held back for other reasons.

But the former seemed unlikely, corpses were everywhere now, unburied, could Zhao Hanzhang really not access any great bodies of knowledge?

In his doubts, Ji Yuan handed over a small note, "My Lord might want to see this. Third Lady handed the matter to Military Doctor Cheng."

Fu Tinghan reached to take it, seeing the note said Zhao Hanzhang sent several bodies to Military Doctor Cheng, he raised an eyebrow and said, "Even though Military Doctor Cheng is a good doctor in the army, he’s too timid and lacks pioneering spirit; giving him the bodies yields half the result for twice the effort."

Ji Yuan said, "But besides him, we have no one else available right now."

Fu Tinghan thought about it and agreed, choosing Military Doctor Cheng was merely the best among poor options. He sighed, "It’d be great if we could recruit more good doctors."

Ji Yuan said, "After you returned, I already sent people to various counties to post notices recruiting doctors. It seems because they have to serve in the army, applicants are few, and I checked those who came, their skills aren’t as good as Military Doctor Cheng’s apprentices, so I’ve taken them in to train."

Fu Tinghan thought carefully and said, "If we really can’t find anyone, then spend the money."

He said, "The army must have good doctors!"

After this injury, they knew the importance of good doctors in the army. Previously, either due to lack of funds or attention, this wasn’t focused on, but now that they were, there should be no half measures.

Ji Yuan saw Fu Tinghan’s insistence and nodded in agreement, planning to further strengthen the recruitment effort, determined to capture scattered experts outside, and thoroughly inquire about several skilled physicians, focusing intensely on them.

Fu Tinghan said, "Even doctors with less skill should be collected; after all, they have the basics. Once they’re brought in, ask good doctors to teach them, even if they only handle simple bandaging and wound care in the army, they can quickly deal with injured personnel, improving survival rates."