My Apprenticeship to Uncle Jiu: I Was a Warlord in the Republic of China

Everyone agreed with what he said, so after discussing for a while, they went back to rest. Jiang Li also successfully got the tattered book on growing blood-evil mushrooms.

But because I was so busy these days, I looked through it and found it was really difficult to recognize, so I put it aside and took a rest.

The next day, Uncle Jiu, Mao Shanming and others led their men to work. As for Jiang Li, he started training with the 20 selected security guards. Of course, it was impossible for them to be equipped with guns at the beginning.

After three days, order in the town was restored. Ren Fa used his connections to recruit hundreds of poor people. Now there were about two hundred people in the town, and it seemed that there was some vitality in the town.

That day, Jiang Li led two hundred people to start farming. Because Tengteng Town had three thousand acres of land and five hundred acres of paddy fields, it was impossible for the current two hundred people to complete all the farming.

So Jiang Li led his people to plant high-yield pumpkins that were simple to cultivate and manage on most of the middle and lower-quality fields, and only then did they cultivate the other high-quality fertile fields and paddy fields intensively to grow staple food.

Because there were too few people to distribute the land, Jiang Li simply used the model of agricultural cooperatives in later generations. They worked together and shared the harvest equally according to their contribution. As for the large livestock, Jiang Li provided all of them.

This work took a month. Fortunately, Jiang Li did not expect to be able to intercrop twice a year. As long as he could have one good harvest, the advantage in quantity would be enough for three to five years.

That day, Ren Fa personally brought a group of animals and men to find Jiang Li. Jiang Li hurriedly went to meet him and said, "Why did father-in-law come in person? If you have anything to say, just tell him and ask the housekeeper to run a trip."

Ren Fa smiled and said, "My dear son-in-law, you may not know that the position of town mayor you want has been finalized. This time I came here not only to send you someone, but also to give you the appointment letter. From now on, you can go ahead and do your job."

Jiang Li took the appointment letter and said happily, "I see. It must have been hard for my father-in-law to deal with this."

Ren Fa smiled and waved his hand, saying, "We are family, so don't talk about different things. Just know what's going on."

"Oh, by the way, you should go and make arrangements for these people and animals first!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Li ordered people to take these dozens of people to eat, take a bath, and allocate rooms. Once the accommodation is arranged and they have a clear mind, they can start work tomorrow.

At this time, Ren Fa said, "My dear son-in-law, I heard that you planted a lot of pumpkins. This thing is not filling, I am afraid it will be difficult to sell it!"

Jiang Li smiled helplessly and said, "This is not my intention. I just don't have enough manpower to take care of all the fields. I can only plant some things to prevent the fields from becoming barren and overgrown with grass."

"Don't worry about the large quantity. We can just dry them into pumpkin jerky later."

Ren Fa smiled and nodded when he heard this, "You are a person with ideas, so I won't say much. As for manpower, I can continue to help you find a solution, but the number may not be too much in a short period of time."

Jiang Li smiled and said, "Don't worry about the manpower issue, father-in-law. We have several months after the busy farming season ends. I don't think there will be any major problems in the future."

After saying this, Ren Fa asked again, "I heard that you have been away from home for a long time. Go back and see Tingting when you have time. You just got married not long ago, and it's not a good idea for you to be away all the time."

Jiang Li said seriously, "Don't worry, father-in-law. I will go back after I finish my work. You can see that we really need people here."

Ren Fa didn't say anything more after hearing this, and only said, "It's good that you think so. It's a good thing for a man to focus on his career, but don't forget your family."

After hearing this, Jiang Li naturally nodded in agreement.

...

Another half a month passed and the crops had been planted. The next step was weeding, watering and fertilizing.

Since the Ren family has been using their connections to recruit bankrupt farmers, there are now 400 people in Tengteng Town, so they can handle these tasks.

On this day, Jiang Li was training the 30 newly recruited security guards. His eldest brother Jiang Daniu came to find Jiang Li and said a little stiffly, "Brother, I have already organized the banquet you asked me to do. What do you think we should do next?"

Jiang Li smiled and said to his elder brother, "Brother, why are you so reserved? I've asked you to take over the mayor's affairs for ten days. Don't be so reserved in the future. Show your authority as the mayor!"

Jiang Daniu became even more nervous after hearing this and said, "Hey, brother, why are you still saying that? I've already said that I won't be the mayor, so don't make fun of me!"

Jiang Li put away his smile and said solemnly, "Brother, I know clearly that although our family's situation looks good on the surface, the actual situation is not optimistic. We must keep this town in our hands."

"I have to practice Taoism, grow mushrooms, and gather people and supplies everywhere. I don't have time to stay in Teng Teng Town all the time. I don't feel comfortable handing these money and guns to others, so you must take on this important task and help our Jiang family manage this place."

Jiang Daniu scratched his head after hearing this, and finally struggled and said, "But doesn't the appointment letter say that you will be the mayor?"

Jiang Li put his arm around Jiang Daniu's shoulders and said, "I will appoint you as the deputy mayor from now on and take full charge of Teng Teng Town on my behalf. Isn't that all that matters?"

Having said that, he ignored Jiang Daniu's reaction and took him directly to the town for a banquet.

He pulled Jiang Daniu to Uncle Jiu's side, greeted him, and then said loudly to everyone present, "Everyone, today's banquet is for nothing else but to celebrate our timely completion of farming. Everyone should eat their fill in a while."

Everyone smiled and said yes when they heard this. Jiang Li calmed the crowd down a little and said again, "Besides this, I have another thing to tell you today."

He then pulled Jiang Daniu over and said, "You should have known this person these days. He is my elder brother Jiang Daniu. Because I have other things to do, I appointed my elder brother as my deputy mayor of Teng Teng Town."

"From now on, my eldest brother will be in charge of all matters in the town when I'm not here. I hope everyone will cooperate. I, Jiang Li, would like to thank you in advance."

At this time, someone stood up and asked inappropriately, "Then how about the working days you recorded for us before? You can't deny it!"

After hearing what this person said, the scene suddenly became noisy. Jiang Li quickly spoke up to ask everyone to be quiet, and then said, "Everyone can rest assured about this."

"I will remember the work I did before. When the crops are harvested, we will distribute them fairly and openly. At that time, we will not only distribute the crops but also the land."

After hearing this, everyone was relieved and stopped discussing. Jiang Li then said to Jiang Daniu, "Brother, you should also say something!"

Jiang Daniu was a little overwhelmed when he heard this, but after a while he mustered up the courage to stand up straight and said to everyone, "My name is Jiang Daniu, I won't say anything else, everyone, enjoy your meal today and don't be polite!"