Shipin Dalizheng

Sima Xin's face was strange. "Is this what you understand as a dandy?"

"Isn't that it?" Rong Tang said half-seriously, "Maybe we should add the term robbing women. But look at the girls in the village, all of them have dark skin and sallow complexions. I can't bring myself to do anything unless I whiten them up."

At this moment, a short girl named Wang happened to walk by. When she heard the words, she thought they were talking about her. She felt embarrassed and ashamed, and ran away with her hands covering her face and stamping her feet.

Rong Tang: "..."

Sima disciples: "..."

Chuncao walked out of the yard, unable to stop smiling.

"Master, the pear syrup candy is ready. I made over twenty jars today and plan to send them to the county town for a trial sale. Gou Shengzi said he wanted to contract the purchase of mountain pears. I think it's a good idea, but he doesn't have the capital, so he wanted to borrow two taels of silver. I lent it to him..."

He chattered for a while, with a confident blush on his face.

Rong An also came over to report on the progress of village construction. After the construction of the school started, the carpentry workshop mentioned earlier was also put on the agenda.

While the Sima family father, son and brothers were drinking water and taking a break, Rong Tang handled a lot of village affairs in the main hall, and was even busier than a serious official.

Finally, after all the chores were settled, Rong Tang had time to talk to the Sima family.

Sima Xin sighed, "You are a prince of a baron, but you handle village affairs more skillfully than officials who have been in office for decades. It's hard to believe that you have to worry about so much at such a young age."

Rong Tang sat down, exhausted. "There's nothing we can do. We're all blood relatives. They're actually doing pretty good, and they all have their own ideas. It's just that they subconsciously want a backbone to give them validation."

Aunt Dahu and Huixiang and Huizhen prepared the food and brought it over. Since they were all strong and energetic young men, they ate a lot. They steamed two buckets of rice, filled two baskets with white steamed buns, killed two chickens, and added several large plates of fried fish from the day before, two jars of wine, and all kinds of miscellaneous food on the table.

Then, before Rong Tang even started eating, the Sima brothers swept away all the food in no time.

Sima Xin was a little embarrassed. "You little brat, you've bankrupted me. Excuse me, excuse me."

Rong Tang silently put down his bowl and chopsticks. Aunt Dahu came over and was also surprised. She hurriedly prepared meat soup noodles for Rong Tang and Sima Xin separately so that they could feel full.

After dinner, Rong Tang asked Sima Xin to give some suggestions to the village carpentry workshop. Sima Xin agreed and walked out, just passing by Mayor Gao.

The two men didn't know each other, they nodded and brushed past each other, one went out and the other came in.

Mayor Gao did not come alone, there were also village heads from other villages in the same town.

It turned out that since their last separation, Mayor Gao had taken the Gao family to the county court for trial. He had actually taken Rong Tang's words of encouragement to heart. He was quite enthusiastic about the words that he would lead the entire town to prosperity and his outstanding political achievements and rise to prominence.

However, County Magistrate Cui was naturally prejudiced against Rong Tang and did not express any opinion on this, which dampened his enthusiasm.

But being in the same town, it was impossible for him not to pay attention to Rong Tang. The best place to observe him was the town's liquor store. It was close by, and he frequented it often. He felt that business was quite good, especially the candy they sold. It was said that it was developed by Rong Shizi himself and sold exclusively. It was expensive, but it sold well.

He also went to the store to ask whether he had a share of the profits from selling sugar, and received a positive answer that he would get a dividend on anything sold in the shop.

Rong Shen also showed him the accounts for a few days. The sales were stable, and he estimated that he could get a few taels of silver a month, which was higher than his salary as the mayor. He was very happy.

This excitement made his blood boil again, and he wanted to find Rong Tang again to ask him specifically about the policy that benefited the people and whether it could be promoted townwide. Before he could find the time to go to his house, the head of another village came to see him.

The cause, of course, was that Tongqian and Tian Lao Da had been looking for sugar sorghum some time ago. They had also visited their village and asked about it. They did find some suspected seeds mixed in the fields of a few families, but the purity was not high, and it was impossible to pick and cut them, so the matter was left unresolved.

Some people, however, were curious and asked what they wanted that kind of sorghum for. Tongqian, being too talkative, started to make a fuss, saying that the sorghum made excellent wine and that they should plant more of it next year, saying that their prince would pay a high price for it. As for how high, he said the yield per mu was 10% to 20% higher than that of ordinary sorghum.

These people were skeptical and did not dare to go to Rong Shizi in person to verify it. So they decided to meet at a place to find the mayor and ask him to question them on their behalf.

When Mayor Gao came with them, he met the head of the nearest Gaojia Village and told him that Rongjia Village had installed several water hose trucks that had pumped out all the water in the river, and their village downstream was about to run out of water.

Mayor Gao turned to look at the water dragon, but he was surprised to find that there was someone guarding the water dragon truck from a distance, not allowing anyone to get close.

"What? Mayor? Sorry, we have a prince. This is private territory. Outsiders are prohibited from entering."

If Mayor Gao had not revealed his identity as a shareholder of a shop in town, the villagers would have dared not let them enter the village.

Hearing the questions raised by Mayor Gao on behalf of the village heads of Dahong Village, Caojiaao, Shangtiangang, Xiatianwa, and Yushuwan, Rong Tang paused for a few moments.

Although Tongqian's talk was nonsense, and the sorghum was not used to make wine but to make sugar, it was also true that he would need a large amount of sugar sorghum next year.

As for the per-mu yield, it is necessary to increase it by 10% to 20% on the existing basis. Otherwise, who would change the villagers who are used to growing old varieties and grow something they have never grown before under uncertain circumstances?

He said, "That's fine, but how to plant, how much to plant, and how to harvest are all decided by me. As for the specific price..."

He calculated in his mind, "Disregarding natural disasters, for those willing to plant sugar sorghum, I'll subsidize 50 wen per mu of land, and pay them according to the market price after the harvest. Or, we can simply settle the price at 20% above the market price, and we can sign a contract."

Sorghum is considered a cheap grain on the market, and its price is generally low. If it weren't for its adaptability to the soil, drought resistance, and sufficient yield to support a living, villagers wouldn't be interested in growing it. Now that there's another option, everyone is happy.

The village chief of Caojiaao felt the need to ask more clearly, "Prince Rong, what is the yield per mu of this sugar sorghum? I hope it's too little after planting it, not enough to cover the losses."

Rong Tang had also asked about this. The per-acre yield of sugar sorghum was similar to that of ordinary sorghum. However, considering the regional adaptability, he decided to leave 100 acres in Fuxinzhuang and wait until the sorghum was fully mature before cutting it down. Even if the sugar was less or gone, he would keep enough seeds first.

"Don't worry about that. If, as I say, there's a reduction in production or even a complete loss, regardless of natural disasters, the loss will be mine."

After he said this, the village heads expressed their willingness to give it a try next year.

The head of Shanggang Village also asked, "Prince Rong, if we choose the first contract, if we want a subsidy, does that mean we will also receive a fifty-cent subsidy even if we have no more crops?"

Rong Tang thought about it. If it really came to that, natural disasters and man-made calamities would occur frequently, and the people would be on the verge of life and death. Even if he donated money and food, it would not be just that. It would be considered as giving them some protection.

"Yes."

After hearing this, the village heads were even happier. Even a mosquito leg is meat. Who knows, one day they might have to rely on this to survive.

"You each go back and count how much the village has planted, and report back to me so I can save the seeds in advance."

After talking about this item, it’s time to talk about the water dragon. Mayor Gao was still tactful in his words. He was not stupid. Rongjia Village had a way to pump water. That was their ability. They didn’t block the river and stop the flow. It couldn’t be said to be their fault.