Shipin Dalizheng

The head of Yushuwan Village rubbed his hands and said, "How can I be so embarrassed? They are just broken stones. How can I ask for money? When I have time, I will ask the villagers to deliver them. I don't want anything."

Rong Tang smiled and said, "I'm not talking about the money for the stones, I'm talking about the money for the labor. Okay, call a meeting of the villagers and give me an answer tomorrow regarding the planting of sugar sorghum and the purchase of the water hose."

The head of Yushuwan Village confirmed again, "Our village has no cash. I'd like to work to pay off the debt later. Is that okay?"

"Yes, but there's a small amount of interest. If you borrow 100 taels, you have to pay back 110 taels after one year. An additional 10 taels of interest will be added for each year of delay."

The head of Yushuwan Village calculated that with so many laborers in the village, if they continued to work, they could pay it back in less than a year.

"Okay, that's settled."

The master and his two followers mounted their horses and returned to Rongjia Village. Mayor Gao watched the whole process and was convinced. He then rode his donkey back to the town and left without saying anything.

The head of Yushuwan Village lamented to the villagers, "Look at Rongjia Village. It was extremely poor two months ago, but now it's developing so rapidly. They've built a winery, a school, and opened shops in town. I heard that every family in the village has shares and is just waiting to get their share of the profits."

Someone disagreed, "Isn't it said that the shop belongs to Prince Rong? Did he give it to the village?"

"How could that be? We rented it out to the villagers at a low price. The shop belongs to Rong Shizi, and the business is shared by the villagers."

This attracted countless envy, "Why isn't there a noble person in our village? Even a ninth-rank official would be fine."

The village chief laughed and scolded, "Do you think all officials are good? What if a greedy one comes along and sucks the blood of the whole village to enrich himself? Besides, how can such a noble man appear in every village? He is not far away from us, and he is willing to help us. It's already a blessing."

Then one villager suddenly had an idea, "Village chief, even though he is not from our village, we can still get in touch with him and let our village be under his wing."

"How can you help us? His surname is Rong, and all the villagers are outsiders. We are not related at all."

One villager joked, "It's not that they're not related at all. There are daughters-in-law from our village who are from Rongjia Village, and there are daughters from our village who marry into Rongjia Village. Isn't this a relationship by marriage?"

The village chief was amused. "Unless a girl marries Prince Rong, he is our village's son-in-law and I am willing to protect her."

It was just a joke. The girls in the village were all rough-looking and illiterate. How could they be destined to marry a noble in the capital? It was just a joke to make people laugh for a while.

But there was someone who was serious, and that was the first villager who was willing to join in.

"Village Chief, even if a girl marries Prince Rong, that's just a family relationship, not the entire village. Here's what I think: if we put Yushu Bay under the management of Rong Village, Yushu Village will also be the area that Prince Rong should be concerned about. If Rong Village eats meat, we should at least have a sip of the broth."

The village chief rubbed his head and said, "It's not that I don't want to be inferior to the village chief. He and I are both village chiefs, and we are equal. I just want to listen to him, and he doesn't have the authority to do so."

The villager said, "Village head, how could you forget? Our village is small and we don't have a headman. It just so happens that Rongjia Village doesn't have a headman either. Go to Town Chief Gao and recommend Village Chief Rong for the position. We in Yushuwan are willing to accept him as the headman. Isn't that a deal?"

The village chief hissed, "There's a field in the middle..."

He slapped his thigh and said, "There's no village head in Shangtiangang. I'll go and try to persuade them. Maybe they'll agree."

"Hurry up, hurry up, and tell us what happened before it gets dark. Whether our village can drink meat soup in the future depends on this."

"Don't just sit there, clean up the pit. Use the money from selling the stones to buy some wine."

In this way, the head of Yushuwan Village hurriedly set off for Shangtiangang Village.

When Rong Tang and his friends returned to the village, it was already dark. They could still see villagers on duty at the water hose at the bridgehead, working in groups of two, taking turns drawing water.

Rong Wanli couldn't help but ask, "Master, what's the use of that stone?"

"Build the road." Rong Tang pointed to the bumpy village road and said, "Smooth and widen the road. It will be more convenient for villagers to travel, and it will also be smooth for people coming to buy wine. In short, there are many benefits."

"But if we want to build a road, we have mountains and rocks here too, so why should we buy them?"

Rong Tang said, "That's not ordinary stone. It's limestone, which can be used to burn lime. Buying it from the Ministry of Industry is too expensive, so I plan to burn it myself."

Rong Wanli shut his mouth. He really shouldn't have asked. From now on, even if his master bought manure, he would not ask.

Back in the courtyard, Chuncao grumbled as she rubbed her handkerchief to wipe their faces, "Young Master, you're really asking for trouble. You've even worried about the county magistrate, but he hasn't even given you a penny for your hard work."

"Why ask for hardship fees? They are all poor people. If I can help them, I will help them. When they become prosperous, I will become a bully who bullies the people in the village."

Chuncao laughed, "Now it's spread all over the village. They say that in order for the prince to achieve his goal sooner, everyone is working hard and trying to take turns buying fish and meat for you."

As they were chatting and laughing, Daya came to say goodbye, "Sister Chuncao, I'm leaving first."

"Hey!"

Rong Tang hadn't seen her smile in a few days, and she was especially silent today. When she left, he asked Chuncao, "What happened to Daya?"

Chuncao just sighs.

Qiaoqiao whispered at home, "My sister is disliked by her mother-in-law."

"Her mother-in-law? From Dahong Village? What happened? When did her mother-in-law come?"

Chuncao said, "No, it was when we went to Dahong Village to buy pears that his mother-in-law saw Daya following into someone else's pear field and asked her to pick some pears for her. Daya refused to take advantage of them, so she changed her attitude and said that Daya was unfilial before she even got married, and that once she got married, she might not want the elderly anymore. She also went around slandering her for being unruly and said she was unworthy of entering her house."

Rong Tang laughed in anger, "What kind of weird mother-in-law is this? She lets her daughter-in-law steal pears for her. Also, what kind of family is she from? Is our daughter not worthy of her?"

Mentioning this Chuncao made her even angrier. "What kind of shabby family could it be? Most people in Dahong Village are surnamed Hong, and their clan produced one, Scholar Hong, who was the most remarkable. Now he's over 30 and has become an old scholar. Daya's in-laws are close to Scholar Hong's family, and they've always prided themselves on being a farming and scholarly family, so they're so proud of themselves."

"If you are so proud, why are you willing to get engaged to Daya?"

It's not that he is disrespecting the girls in his family. Daya is really not good-looking. In fact, she is much better now than two months ago. She is not as dark and not as thin, but she is still not beautiful.

Chuncao curled her lips. "I heard from the aunties in the village that they got engaged quite early. Although the old uncle was gone at that time, Madam Rong was still able to manage the affairs and take care of the villagers. The Hong family thought they could take advantage of the uncle's mansion, so they got engaged to the clan leader's granddaughter. In fact, they didn't have their eyes on Daya. Last year, his son passed the examination and wanted to cancel the engagement. I think they are just making excuses to make trouble."

The three words "Hong Xiucai" brought back some not-so-good memories for Rong Tang. He looked at Li Jin, who had suddenly become busy and looking for work to do, and finally remembered that Li Jin's biological mother, Rong Xueyan, had been betrothed to Hong Xiucai. Rong Xueyan refused to marry him and ran away with Li Zongbao, which led to the birth of Li Jin.

Li Jin's father and mother died at the hands of Hong Xiucai, directly or indirectly. How could the two families, separated by blood feud, be willing to become relatives again and again?

Rong Tang felt it necessary to take some time to ask the Third Master what he was thinking.