Shipin Dalizheng

After negotiating the price with Zheng Changzhi, Sima Xin walked back with his hands on his hips and laughing. The villagers could see his little tongue from a distance.

Zheng Changzhi's carriage returned along the original route and walked along the river bank for a distance. When he lifted the side curtain on the left, he saw Rong Tang and Tang Fuyun squatting at the horizontal surface of the river bank, pointing at a place where the flow rate was relatively faster than other places. The two of them were looking at a blueprint together. The water reflected the light under the scorching sun, as if it was glowing.

The sight stung his eyes, and he once again clutched the hem of his shirt over his ankles. He felt old, always chasing after a little kid, giving him trouble, tormenting him, and having to squeeze in time to do something practical for his people while they were dealing with him.

Have I finally become a ridiculous person?

"Old Wen," he said.

"Son."

"Go back."

Old Wen couldn't find the door. "Going back? Young Master, are you going back to Rong Village?"

Xuanque said, "Old Wen, you are really getting old and confused. You have forgotten the most important thing that the young master cares about."

Old Wen ignored her and only listened to Zheng Changzhi's instructions. Zheng Changzhi said softly, "Go to the county west of the city and find Cui Xian."

Cui Xian was a close relative of his mother's clan. Since Cui Xian came to the local area to take up a position, the two had frequent contacts.

Rong Tang saw Zheng Changzhi walking away out of the corner of his eye and finally breathed a sigh of relief. He really regretted his boasting now, so much so that every time he saw Zheng Changzhi coming, he acted very busy and pretended not to see him.

Sima Xin walked up behind him, his laughter still lingering, "Nephew-in-law, this waterwheel has just been produced, and we've already sold a hundred of them..."

"Wait a moment……"

Mr. Du San came over and placed an additional order, "We also want a hundred in our house."

Sima Xin's smile deepened. He nudged Rong Tang gently with his elbow and whispered, "As usual, you still get 30%."

Rong Tang already had a plan in mind. "Uncle Sima, waterwheels are essential for daily life. Right now, we're in drought season, and water is scarce everywhere. I suggest that every village with a river water source install two. Of course, on a large scale, this won't be something that can be popularized overnight, or even in three to five years. It's a long-term process."

"That's that."

"So what I mean is that we shouldn't be too concerned about profit after we manufacture it, as long as we can make a small profit. Also, I hope to have a processing workshop here in Rongjia Village. Apart from some metal parts, we can hire workers to make everything else."

Sima Xin's eyes lit up. "Your idea is very feasible. I was just thinking that the Ministry of Industry is rushing to make fans, which are more profitable, but things like waterwheels are also very important, so it's difficult to have both. Now, the Ministry of Industry will only make the most important key parts, such as chains and drive shafts. Other wooden parts can be outsourced to various large and small carpentry workshops. The Ministry of Industry only needs to inspect and accept qualified products. There is no problem with your branch workshop in Rongjia Village. I will go back and talk to the Minister and it will be settled."

Mr. Du San also hurriedly expressed his opinion, "We can also take the job."

Sima Xin said, "Master Du, this project is quite large. The Ministry of Works will definitely not be able to handle it. We will not worry about it. Come on, come on, let's go back to the city and talk to the Minister."

Third Master Du was so excited that he turned around and was about to leave, but suddenly he froze and turned back slowly, "Prince Rong, I have something to ask of you."

He used the word "ask", which made Rong Tang very curious, "What's wrong?"

Third Master Du's expression turned strange. He hesitated for a long time before moving closer to Rong Tang and saying, "Prince Rong, can you please excuse me?"

He walked about a hundred steps before he opened his mouth and said, "Prince Rong, I'm sorry. It was my fault that I stole your secret recipe."

Rong Tang was confused, "Which one?"

Mr. Du San was ashamed and told everyone about the embarrassing things that had happened to him over the past few days.

The cause of the incident was, of course, that after Mr. Du San saw Fu Xinzhuang cutting sorghum and making sugar, he vowed to take over this huge fortune.

He first went to his family's farm in the outer prefecture, organized a large number of people, built a wall around the courtyard, and bought a big pot. After everything was ready, he set off a string of firecrackers and started working.

The first thing he did, of course, was to send people to cut the sorghum. Although it was painful to cut the half-ripe sorghum, the sugar made from it was more valuable. So Mr. Du gritted his teeth and accepted the task, and cut down several acres in one go.

He didn't just chop away the juice, but also tested the results. Lacking equipment to squeeze the juice out, he resorted to the crudest method: grinding it with a stone roller, or having someone stronger pound it in a stone mortar, then squeezing it with a cotton towel. Basically, half of what he squeezed out was wasted.

After squeezing for a long time, they squeezed five buckets of juice from the sorghum stalks of one acre of land. The juice was black and looked like something scooped out from a roadside ditch. It didn't look like something edible at all. The workers shook their heads when they saw it.

Just like that, five buckets of black water were poured into a big pot, and it kept boiling...

The pot was boiled dry.

To say it was boiled dry wasn't quite right, because there was still a bit of black, sticky, filthy stuff at the bottom of the pot, emitting an indescribable smell. Uncle Du, after a long time of mental preparation, pinched a little and put it in his mouth, and he vomited immediately.

He said with shame, "I know I shouldn't have stolen your recipe, but since you didn't forbid me from entering Fuxinzhuang, you probably don't mind me seeing it. How much sugar can Fuxinzhuang produce from that little bit of land? Dayue is so huge. Even if we add another 100,000 acres, it still wouldn't be enough to sell. I shouldn't be able to hinder you from making a fortune. I was just bewildered for a moment..."

When Rong Tang heard the end, his mouth was empty.

"So what kind of sorghum do you use to make sugar?"

"Sorghum is sorghum, what's the difference between sorghum and sorghum?"

"So you just found a random sorghum field and started cutting it?"

"How can it be so casual? It's my family's land!"

Rong Tang was very frustrated. "Master Du, that's because you were chopping the sorghum in the wrong way. Fu Xinzhuang has to chant a spell before chopping the sorghum. You must not have heard it."

Third Master Du slapped his head and said, "I really didn't hear it. Rong Shizi, just tell me. At worst, I'll give you 20% of the profits from my sugar factory."

Rong Tang was absolutely amazing.

After a while, Uncle Du finally understood that it was not the posture or ritual, but that there was something wrong with the sorghum in their fields.

After living for most of his life, this was the first time he heard that there was a kind of sorghum called sugar sorghum in the world. It was too late this year, and he had to wait until next year to plant it.

It was like a bucket of cold water was poured over my head, and my mood and body could not bear it.

But something even more heartbreaking was yet to come. Rong Tang said, "If you have the time, why don't you just run your sugar and wine shop properly? I heard from Rong Wanli that the Du family's orders for goods aren't as much as my two small shops in the county. If this continues, I'll sell out all the sugar myself."

Mr. Du Sanye was deeply shocked. His shop was in the capital. Although other shops sold candy, the quality and taste of his candy could not compare to it. How could it be worse than a small shop in the county?

After coming to his senses, he decided to go to the suburban county to see what was wrong with his shop.

In just a few hours, the villagers have already arranged shifts to take turns fetching water, so that everyone can get a share.

After seeing off the outsiders, the villagers, still as enthusiastic as ever, invited Sima Xin and his family to dinner in the village. Now they had some extra money, and most importantly, they would continue to make money in the future, so they were willing to treat them to food and drinks.

Sima Xin and his family entered the village again and felt the difference between this village and other places. Everyone's face was radiant, as if they had endless energy.

He took the time to ask Rong Tang, "You're already a prince, wouldn't it be better for you to be a playboy in the capital? Aren't you tired of hanging around in the village all day?"

Rong Tang laughed, "I'm also a playboy now! You don't know, my dream is to be a tyrant and bully the people in the village. Who knew that when I came to the village, I saw that they couldn't even get enough food, so how could there be fish and meat for me to eat?"