232 Cherishing Talent
Looking at the two small children, Song Renying couldn't help but feel curious. He raised his hand, beckoning the sword-carrying bodyguard to co down. "Don't scare them," he said.
Then he smiled at Zhao Zhitong and the other child, asking, "Oh, do you have sothing for ?"
Qiao Muchen quickly replied, "Yes, my lord. We have written a thod for dealing with locust plagues."
As he spoke, he held up the envelope in his hand. "Please, my lord, take a look."
A very cultured man beside Song Renying stepped forward, took the envelope from Qiao Muchen's hand, and handed it to Song Renying.
Song Renying didn't have high expectations for the content of the envelope, but as he read on, his expression beca more and more shocked.
The handwriting on the paper was very immature, clearly that of children. But could the content really have been written by these two?
Song Renying looked at Qiao Muchen and Zhao Zhitong with an inquisitive expression. "Did you two write all of this?" he asked.
Qiao Muchen glanced at Zhao Zhitong and replied, "My friends and I summarized these thods from books recording how our ancestors handled locust plagues."
"But the last two thods were thought of by my good friend, Tongtong, based on common sense."
Song Renying couldn't help but step down from his sedan chair. He was very interested in the two children. He asked further, "How did you co up with the idea to look in books for solutions, and then decide to intercept my sedan chair?"
Qiao Muchen instinctively looked at Zhao Zhitong and whispered, "Tongtong, you tell him."
Zhao Zhitong blinked and said softly, "You tell."
Qiao Muchen insisted, "No, you."
The interaction between the two children did not escape Song Renying's notice. His face maintained a gentle smile, and he didn't rush them, just watched them.
After a mont, the two seed to have reached an agreent. Zhao Zhitong began, "In response to your question, my lord, our Teacher once taught us in the classroom, 'When the world is in chaos, every commoner has a responsibility.'"
"Upon hearing of the terrible locust plague and worrying that the villagers might go hungry, we wanted to do our part, so we looked in books for solutions."
"But as children, our abilities are limited. We wanted to present the thods we summarized to you, my lord, so that you could save the people."
As Song Renying listened, he couldn't help but nod. "Good children, good children," he said.
He waved to the other official beside him and said, "Li Yu, bring them to my room."
A man in a red official's robe, who had been following Song Renying all this ti, bowed respectfully. "Yes, Master," he said.
Then, he approached the two little ones.
***
Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen followed Li Yu back into the County Governnt Office, this ti directly to Song Renying's room.
It wasn't long before Song Renying walked in.
With a smile on his face, he saw Zhao Zhitong and the other child about to salute and waved his hand, stopping them.
Afterward, he asked amiably, "Please don't be nervous. I don't bite. What are your nas, where are you from, and how old are you?"
Zhao Zhitong answered first, "My lord, my na is Zhao Zhitong, and I live in Zhao Village. I am six years old this year."
Qiao Muchen imdiately followed, "My lord, my na is Qiao Muchen. I live in Xiaoyi Village, and I am eight years old this year."
Song Renying smiled and nodded. "Good. Are you both currently studying under a Teacher?"
The two children nodded.
Song Renying was still sowhat surprised by Zhao Zhitong, as it was quite rare for a girl from a rural area to be literate.
However, from the young girl's responses outside the County Governnt Office, it was clear she was quite clever.
Following further conversation, he kept marveling at the intelligence of these two children.
Especially the girl; she was not at all inferior to the boy. In fact, her insights were so profound they startled him.
They were both remarkable children! If cultivated well, they will surely achieve great things in the future!
It's just a pity that one of them is a girl, he thought, sowhat regretfully.
Song Renying cherished talent greatly, so he couldn't help but feel a growing admiration for these two clever children.
"You are very talented. The thods you have summarized are excellent and useful," Song Renying first affird, referring to their suggestions. "thods like the trench burial thod, the cloth barrier thod, the bag-catching thod, and the sole-crushing thod are all asures we currently use to deal with locusts."
Qiao Muchen exclaid, "Wow, my lord! You also use these thods to fight locusts?"
Song Renying laughed. "Yes, they are all inherited from our ancestors. However, the 'biological control' and the 'luring and burning' thods you proposed at the end are quite novel. I've never heard of them before. Tell more about them in detail."
Qiao Muchen looked at Zhao Zhitong and said to Song Renying, "My lord, these two thods were thought of by Tongtong. She understands them better, so let her explain them to you."
Song Renying nodded, looking kindly at Zhao Zhitong. "Co on, young girl, tell in detail."
Although Zhao Zhitong was young, she had strong verbal expression skills. She explained the ideas, principles, and implentation thods to Song Renying in detail.
In the end, she curiously asked, "My lord, will you use the thods we provided?"
Without hesitation, Song Renying affird, "Yes, of course."
Zhao Zhitong looked at Song Renying in astonishnt. "Why? Don't you think we're just children ssing around?"
Song Renying answered seriously, "I will try any viable thod to combat the locust plague. Even if there's only a glimr of hope to save the food supply for thousands of people, it's worth trying. Don't you agree?"
Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen exchanged glances and nodded their heads vigorously in agreent.
For so reason, they both felt that this Censor was truly great.
At this point, Song Renying had already begun giving orders to Li Yu, instructing him to contact the County Magistrates of various counties and call upon the public to donate their chickens, ducks, and geese.
He also instructed his subordinates to prepare large quantities of tinder and firewood.
Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen stood by, watching Song Renying efficiently issue various commands, their eyes practically sparkling with admiration.
After everything was arranged, Song Renying spoke to the two children for a while, and then called for his servants to send them ho.
As the servants led Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen out, they happened to run into the County Magistrate, who was hurrying out with Li Yu.
When the County Magistrate saw the two children, he was taken aback and blurted out, "Why are you two still here?"
Li Yu couldn't help but look at the County Magistrate and ask, "You know these two children as well?"
The County Magistrate ignored the word 'also' in Li Yu's question and said with a laugh, "These two children are from Zhao Village and Xiaoyi Village. I had contact with them during Lord Fang's case."
After speaking, he told Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen to hurry ho, saying that the County Governnt Office was very busy and they shouldn't cause any trouble.
Li Yu looked at the County Magistrate with curiosity. He had heard that the County Magistrate of Anyang County had exposed the various oppressive acts committed by Lord Fang of Anyang County, eliminating a scourge for the common people and winning their deep affection.
Logically, this ant the County Magistrate of Anyang County was not foolish and was, in fact, a good official. So why did today's encounter not quite match the rumors?
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