Transmigrated into a female county magistrate during a famine, leading her country to prosperity

Chapter 617: Travels in Mountains and Rivers

After talking for an unknown amount of time, Wang Guangjin stopped talking, as if he was thirsty.

Shen Zheng handed him a cup of tea. He took it, drank it all, and then slapped his head.

"I have forgotten the important matter!"

After saying that, he raised his sleeve to wipe his mouth and asked Shen Zheng curiously: "I came back empty-handed, why... didn't you ask where Mianhua and Lord Wei are?"

Could it be that the Master has clairvoyance and doesn't need to ask at all?

Shen Zheng smiled when she heard this, "Where else can the ship stop besides the dock? But listening to you talk about what you saw and heard along the way... is really great. If I have the chance in the future, I will definitely go and take a look."

This sentence made Wang Guangjin itchy and he forgot about the main business - he really had a lot of interesting things that he hadn't told the adults. What should he do? He really wanted to tell them!

The next moment, Shen Zheng said, "I want to discuss something with you. How about you listen to it?"

Wang Guangjin was stunned. "Just tell me what you want to do. There's no need to discuss this with me."

"What are you talking about?" Shen Zheng shook her head. "We all have human rights. How can I make decisions for you?"

Wang Guangjin felt warm in his heart after hearing this - how about home? No matter how prosperous the outside world is, no matter how attractive the scenery is, the place where people can let down their guard is still home.

"My lord, please tell me."

Shen Zheng looked at him and said, "Come to think of it, you are also a scholar. Although you don't look like one now, you are also a scholar."

Wang Guangjin stroked his tangled hair and chuckled, "Compared to you, I am not that knowledgeable... I can only recite two poems and read a few articles."

"What about writing it yourself?" Shen Zheng asked him.

"Ah?" Wang Guangjin was stunned and pointed at himself: "Is this subordinate writing an article...?"

Shen Zheng raised an eyebrow: "You haven't written anything in Liuchang Academy? Or should I go to the academy and ask the headmaster to show me the articles you wrote?"

Wang Guangjin’s scalp is numb!

How dare he show off his stuff in front of adults!

"Sir, please forgive me. The reason why I didn't pass the exam is because I didn't write a good essay... Please don't read it, it's really an eyesore!"

But... "You want your subordinates to write articles?"

Wang Guangjin discovered the highlight.

Shen Zheng smiled and nodded: "It's not a serious article. You should have read the travel notes, right?"

Travel notes - an article that records travel experiences, which is rich in descriptive and lyrical colors. It looks at the mountains and rivers from the third person perspective, and looks at people and things from the first person perspective, making the readers feel as if they are experiencing the travel notes themselves.

Travel notes can be poems, articles, or...novels, or beautified records of reality.

"Travel notes?!" Wang Guangjin exclaimed, "How dare I show off my knowledge and experience by writing a travel note? Not to mention that you and several other people are in the county, let alone the old man, Master Bo..."

That person is a well-informed person. If the things he wrote were published as a book...that person would have to come to his house in person to "educate" him.

Shen Zheng gave him a light look and said, "You are too self-deprecating. You just shared something with me so fascinatingly, but now you can't do it anymore?"

Wang Guangjin moved his mouth.

It's just talk, but when it comes to writing...

He really felt that he was not good enough. Travel notes were difficult to write. Those who dared to write travel notes and publish them were either serious masters or anonymous people who were "not afraid of wearing shoes even if they were barefoot."

For a small person like him to publish a travelogue under the title of "President of Tongan County Chamber of Commerce", wouldn't it be a disgrace to the county and to the adults?

Seeing the three big words "I can't do it" written all over his face, Shen Zheng sighed to herself.

"You have seen the mountains, the waters, and the world, but I have not seen it, nor have Chief Secretary Xu, nor have the children in the county school, nor have so many people in the county..."

After that, she sighed again: "It is because I am incompetent that I cannot help you all broaden your horizons. I feel so ashamed of the people in Tongan County... Alas!"

Wang Guangjin felt that he was being treated as if he was eating for free, and he hurriedly explained: "No! Sir, please don't say that. I was not able to see the beautiful scenery in the west because of my official duties..."

"Don't say so much." He had just opened his mouth to say a few words when Shen Zheng raised her hand to interrupt him: "Just tell me whether you saw it or not?"

"......" Wang Guangjin choked and said, "I saw it."

"That's right!" Shen Zheng asked again: "Just tell me whether you will write it or not?"

Wang Guangjin looked bitter: "But, but most of the people in the county are illiterate. I wrote it... Only those people can read it."

According to what Your Excellency meant, if he dares to write, Your Excellency will order the printing house to print 18,000 copies... By then, not to mention Tongan County, I'm afraid that in Quanyang County and Yonglu County, everyone who can read will have a copy!

Shen Zheng stretched out a finger and pointed in the air: "That's right. Your Travel Notes is not for scholars and gentry, do you understand?"

Wang Guangjin was stunned. He felt like he understood, but also like he didn’t understand.

He hesitated and asked, "You mean... for the people to see?"

Shen Zheng nodded: "Now all school-age children in the county are sent to the county school. Every household has one or two children. Even if you don't have one now, you will have one in the future, right? Even if you don't plan to have children in the future, you will have one among your neighbors, right? There will always be someone who can read."

"Can......"

Wang Guangjin wanted to say something else, but Shen Zheng didn't give him a chance and interrupted him again: "So this first "Travel Notes" can't have sour words, and can't have words that are too complicated to understand."

Wang Guangjin seemed to understand, and felt like countless little sparrows were spinning in his mind.

Shen Zheng asked him, "If a serious scholar wants to express the size of the sun, the beauty of the sun, or the beauty of the sunset, how should he express it?"

Wang Guangjin thought for a moment: "The sun sets in the dark room instead of a candle? Or... the sun sets in the half-red wheel, or... half of the lake is rustling and the other half is red?"

Shen Zheng shook her head after hearing this: "No, no, no, no, the poem is a good one, and it has the proper artistic conception, but the people are currently in the 'enlightenment' stage, and it's a bit embarrassing for you to write like this."

Wang Guangjin felt that he was about to understand, and asked Shen Zheng: "Then, sir, how should this be described?"

Shen Zheng did not mention the specific sentences, but said: "Some people cannot afford candles at home, and have never seen a lake, so it is hard for them to imagine what you wrote. Travel notes... are indeed meant to broaden readers' horizons and allow them to see infinite scenery, but the things you write about should resonate with readers and provide them with room for imagination, only then will they be of the best quality."

As I said before - it is difficult for people to imagine things they have never seen.