Chapter 669: Naming
Two and a half months later.
Shen Yanzhou sat behind the desk in the front hall of the county government office, with a thick stack of bamboo slips and paper books in front of him.
The sunlight streaming in through the window cast a warm glow on the wooden plaque on the corner of the desk.
He picked up his pen, made a mark on the last household registration book, closed it, and rubbed his wrist.
More than 20,000 people from Yuguan County have already arrived, and they are distributed in the county seat and more than a dozen townships under its jurisdiction.
The county government expanded from its initial four officials and dozens of yamen runners to a scale of nearly a hundred people.
The granaries opened, the markets opened, and new land reclamation applications were submitted every day, with new shops opening for business every day.
Although Yuguan County is not as prosperous as those old county towns, it already has a bit of a lively atmosphere.
He was calculating next month's grain ration when Zhou Wenyuan walked in from outside.
"Your Excellency," Zhou Wenyuan cupped his hands in greeting, a rare smile on his face, "the first batch of government-sponsored children has already been sent to the drill ground."
Shen Yanzhou looked up, his eyes lighting up: "They've arrived already? How many?"
“Thirty families, a total of one hundred and twenty,” Zhou Wenyuan said. “They all follow the rules, with each family keeping one son and one daughter to raise themselves, while the other four children are supported by the government.”
Shen Yanzhou put down his pen and let out a long sigh: "Judging by the time, it's indeed about time."
He thought for a moment, then asked, "Has the nanny in charge of looking after the child arrived?"
Zhou Wenyuan nodded: "They've arrived. They've also brought a large number of dairy cows and female goats. These animals produce an astonishing amount of milk under the influence of the pristine environment. With our county's current stock, feeding the babies that will arrive later shouldn't be a problem."
Shen Yanzhou stood up and walked around from behind the desk: "Let's go take a look."
The two left the county government office and walked along the stone-paved road toward the drill ground in the east of the city.
Several yamen runners followed behind him, and the people along the way made way for him, nodding and bowing to Shen Yanzhou.
Shen Yanzhou nodded to them as he walked, his steps never faltering.
The drill ground was located inside the east gate of the county town. It was an open rammed earth field used for militia drills on weekdays.
At this moment, a special area has been fenced off in one corner of the venue, with several rows of simple sheds set up, and rows of cradles neatly placed under the sheds.
The cradle is made of locally felled timber and has a faint woody scent.
The wet nurses were busy under the shed. Most of them were women in their thirties or forties, wearing uniform plain aprons, and gently rocking the babies in their arms.
Some were breastfeeding, some were changing diapers, and some were patting their babies' backs to lull them to sleep.
Several well-fed babies lay side by side in the cradle, their little faces rosy, fast asleep.
Behind the shed, there was a row of cattle pens and sheep pens, where a dozen or so Holstein cows were grazing quietly in front of the trough, with fresh milk buckets filled with freshly squeezed milk.
The female goats lay in twos and threes on the hay, their bellies round and full, indicating they had plenty of milk.
A wet nurse carrying a bucket walked over and patted a cow's neck. The cow obediently lowered its head and let her milk it.
Shen Yanzhou stood outside the shed for a while.
He saw a wet nurse holding two babies in her arms, feeding one baby on the left and one on the right.
The two little ones ate with loud smacking noises, their little fists clenched tightly.
Zhou Wenyuan whispered from the side, "Your Excellency, these children don't have names yet. Why don't you give them some?"
Shen Yanzhou glanced at him: "One hundred and twenty, you want me to take them all?"
“You are the county magistrate,” Zhou Wenyuan said with a slightly guilty smile. “The names you chose will be something they will remember when they grow up.”
Shen Yanzhou remained silent for a moment; he actually quite liked this job.
These children are the first batch of infants supported by the government in the Pure Land of Ten Thousand Lifetimes. In a sense, they are the seeds of the future of this land.
"Okay," he replied.
Back at the county office, Shen Yanzhou sat down at his desk, spread out a clean sheet of paper, and dipped his brush in ink.
He thought for a moment and then wrote down the two characters "Shen An".
The word "peace" is reliable. He has seen too many displaced people. Before entering the Pure Land, who wasn't living a precarious life?
He hoped that these children would never have to be afraid again from birth, and the first child was named Shen An.
Secondly, he wrote Shen Ning, where Ning also means peace and stability.
The third one... He paused for a moment, then wrote down Shen Ping, the Ping of Taiping.
The fourth one is Shen Kang, which means "healthy".
Fifth, Shen Yuan, has a long-term vision.
He wrote them down one by one, and when he got to the teenth or so, his writing speed slowed down.
Choosing a name is easy at first, but gets harder as you go on. There are only so many good names, and you can't have 120 children all with the surname Shen.
He rubbed his temples, picked up a new sheet of paper, and continued writing: Zhang Huai, Li Nian, Chen Zhi, Zhao Xing, Zhou Gui...
When he got to the twentieth name, he put down his pen, took a sip of tea, and stared blankly at the densely packed names on the paper for a while.
Then he picked up his pen and started writing again.
He wrote for more than ten days, revised it twice, and wasted more than ten sheets of paper before finally finishing all one hundred and twenty names.
His last child was named Shen Wang, with the character "Wang" meaning "hope".
He put down his pen, stretched out a big yawn, raised his arm above his head, and his knuckles cracked.
He leaned back in his chair, looking at the list filled with names: Shen, Zhang, Li, Chen, Zhao, Zhou, Wu, Zheng, Wang, Feng... The surnames were lined up one by one, like flipping through the population register of the entire county.
His lips curved slightly; it hadn't been easy.
Just then, a yamen runner rushed in from outside, panting: "Your Excellency! Another batch of children has arrived!"
Shen Yanzhou straightened up: "How much?"
“There are over a thousand this time.” The constable swallowed hard. “The official who escorted them said there will be even more later, so be prepared.”
Shen Yanzhou's vision went black.
More than a thousand? He just spent almost half a month coming up with 120 names, and now he has more than a thousand? Are there more to come?
He opened his mouth, his mind racing, and finally waved his hand, his tone weary and resigned: "Let the parents collect it themselves, and then report it to us for registration."
He rubbed his temples and added, "If you really don't know how to remove it, you can help me remove it."
"Yes!" The constable accepted the order, turned around, and ran off.
Three days later.
Shen Yanzhou sat at his desk, flipping through the list that had been submitted.
His gaze swept down from the first name... Zhang Yi, Zhang Er, Zhang San, Zhang Si.
His finger paused on the paper, his lips twitched, and he continued reading.
Li Yi, Li Er, Li San, Li Si.
He turned to the next page.
Zhao Yi, Zhao Er, Zhao San, Zhao Si.
Shen Yanzhou closed the list, shut his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and let out a long breath.
The sunlight outside the window shone on his face, warm and comforting, but his heart was ice-cold.
He spent nearly half a month choosing from 120 names, racking his brains and carefully considering every word.
More than a thousand names were handed in in just three days. Shen Yanzhou looked at the stack of papers and didn't know what to say.
He suddenly remembered the name he had given his first child, Shen An.
Let's take another look at the list in my hand.
"...Okay, fine." He opened his eyes and muttered to himself, trying to comfort himself. "It's just a name; I can change it when I grow up."
He picked up his pen and wrote a line at the end of the list: "Approved. Also, each village shall establish a literacy school to teach people to recognize characters and choose names, and stop using numbers to fill in names."
After approving the list, he pushed it aside, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.