Zhao Zheng thought for a moment and said, "Not few, there are more outside the city."

Zhao Hanzhang: "Do they find the farming tough? Can they cultivate all the land given by the court?"

"Fine and careful farming is certainly impossible; most of it is rough cultivation. Some lands are too rushed to weed, they just plow hastily and scatter seeds, and the crops grow as lush as the grass."

The crops grow as lush as the grass compared to...

Zhao Hanzhang paused for a moment before asking, "Do they want to remarry?"

Zhao Zheng: "Most of these widows have children and their husband’s elderly parents. If they want to remarry, they mostly want to bring along the elders and children. Bringing children is fine; most men wouldn’t mind, but bringing the husband’s parents..."

Zhao Hanzhang waved her hand dismissively, "No need to worry about this. I’m just asking, if there’s such a person willing to accept them, would they be willing to marry?"

Zhao Zheng thought for a moment and said, "I think they would be, as the farm work would be shared, and the family could earn more money."

"What about soldiers?"

Zhao Zheng fell silent.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t react much, but Zhao Erlang was displeased and said, "What’s wrong with soldiers? We soldiers are strong, good at farming and fighting."

Zhao Zheng said, "But they are soldiers who might go to the battlefield at any time and could die in battle at any time, leaving them to fend for themselves, possibly with a bunch of children to raise."

The Zhao Family Army is formidable, but their casualty rate is still high, and they need regular training, which means they spend very little time on family affairs.

Widows still need to plow the fields themselves, manage the household, at most they receive some military pay to support the family.

If the husband dies in battle, they would become widows again, with even more family burdens, which is too much pressure for them.

Zhao Hanzhang, however, waved her hand and said, "You can’t just focus on the difficulties when living your life; otherwise, good things will turn bad. My point is that if they were to die on the battlefield, I, Zhao Hanzhang, won’t abandon the family. I will do my utmost to help them."

Feelings and emotions aside for now, what she needs right now are people and manpower, but most importantly, is a method to combine the existing workforce.

Now the populace is indeed more vibrant and aspirational than before, but it’s still not enough.

The burdens of life still weigh heavily on them, they see a future in life but it’s not fulfilling.

If the current incentive dangling in front of them is a plump chicken leg that they all yearn for, she hopes to hang a whole chicken in front of them, making them happier and more diligent, ultimately yielding more rewards.

And marriage, and childbirth, is the most effective and direct method.

Zhao Hanzhang said to Zhao Zheng, "Make a report, list all the eligible single women inside and outside of Luoyang and report to me, as soon as possible."

Zhao Zheng opened his mouth, expressing how much he missed Fu Tinghan at this moment, wondering how long it would take him to compile all this data?

He looked at Zhao Erlang.

Zhao Erlang looked down at his toes.

Zhao Hanzhang ignored the two and told Zhao Erlang, "Watch over the defense upon this location, and learn some of the inspection work from Zhao Zheng, keep statistics on taxes."

Zhao Erlang agreed, and as soon as Zhao Hanzhang walked away, he said to Zhao Zheng, "I’ll manage the soldiers; you handle the officials."

Zhao Zheng silently watched him for a moment, considering the tasks Zhao Hanzhang just assigned, he pulled him along and said, "I’ll send people back to the county government to fetch files, later you follow me to count eligible single young women."

Zhao Erlang panicked, "I don’t recognize the characters..."

"Learn!" Zhao Zheng said, "Don’t make excuses, you just can’t recognize them all. I’ve asked around; you know over eighty words. Besides that, don’t worry; you can recognize numbers at least, and common words you are familiar with even if they are not complex. You are the County Magistrate; this work is yours."

Zhao Zheng dragged him to the city walls, refusing to let go.

Zhao Hanzhang returned to the Zhao Mansion and was startled as soon as she entered. Lanterns outside the main gates were fine, but there were lights on in the yard as well.

She walked under a streetlamp, looked up, and marveled, "Our house actually has oil lamps for the street lighting?"

Hearing the commotion, Uncle Cheng paused his steps, feeling distressed, "Miss, it was the madam who ordered them lit."

With tears in his eyes, Uncle Cheng said, "The madam said she didn’t want you and the gentleman to come home in darkness; it must be lonely coming home after a hard day without even a light." 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

Zhao Hanzhang also teared up and said to Uncle Cheng, "I’m very touched, but that’s really not necessary. My eyesight is quite good, I can see in the dark and the moonlight is also bright, I don’t feel lonely."

"But I do feel some heartache for these lights," Zhao Hanzhang said, "Uncle Cheng, perhaps it’s best if we put them out?"

Oil lamps are expensive~

Uncle Cheng hesitated, "But the gentleman hasn’t returned yet."

"Don’t worry, Erlang won’t feel lonely; he hasn’t developed that nerve yet, just go ahead and put out the lights," seeing Uncle Cheng still hesitating, Zhao Hanzhang added, "Besides, he won’t come home tonight."

"Ah, the gentleman isn’t returning tonight? The madam just arrived, shouldn’t he come back to pay respects?"

"He will return tomorrow; there are still many carriages and goods outside the city gates. Bandits are rampant outside, and nobody can guarantee safety outside the city. As the Luoyang County Magistrate and a General, he should lead troops to protect the area, so he can’t come back tonight."

Uncle Cheng muttered, "That’s extremely tough..."

Despite reluctance, he still ordered someone to extinguish the lanterns hanging on the trees.

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t go to wash up but ran to see Mrs. Wang first. As soon as they met, Mrs. Wang couldn’t stop her tears, touching her hands and face, feeling pity, "It’s been too short a time since I last saw you, your hands and face have wrinkled, and you’ve tanned quite a bit."

Zhao Hanzhang laughed, "It’s nothing bad. There were people mistaking us for sisters back then, and now even more so, except now I’m the elder sister, and mother has become the younger sister."

Mrs. Wang wiped her tears with a smile, lightly tapping her, "Such a smooth talker."

She pulled Zhao Hanzhang onto the couch to sit down and asked, "Have you eaten?"

Seeing Zhao Hanzhang shake her head, she promptly asked someone to fetch food from the kitchen, "It’s so late, yet you haven’t eaten dinner. If you spoil your stomach, who are you trying to distress?"

Zhao Hanzhang gave her a silly grin.

Mrs. Wang only asked about Zhao Erlang once and then inquired in detail about Fu Tinghan, "Why isn’t he in Luoyang? I found out only when I arrived that he wasn’t with you at all. Where did he go?"

Zhao Hanzhang didn’t reveal his location, only said, "He went on official duty, he’ll be back in a while."

"Can he be back before the Lunar New Year?"

Zhao Hanzhang’s scalp tingled, "He should be able to; what’s the matter you have with him?"

"For your marriage matters, what use is it only seeking you?" Mrs. Wang said, "The main reason I came to Luoyang this time is to see the two of you married."

Zhao Hanzhang: ...

Seeing her indifferent, Mrs. Wang couldn’t help but touch her forehead, "Do you really think your Fifth Uncle has so much time on his hands just to come to Luoyang for a visit? He also came to urge the marriage."

Mrs. Wang lowered her voice, "You must marry; there are different voices in the clan, they want you to cancel the marriage with the Fu Family and engage with someone else."

Zhao Hanzhang raised her eyebrows, "Who in this world is worthy of me?"