Shipin Dalizheng

Madam Gao laughed at him and said, "Okay, you're praising him now. When he first tricked you into buying a stake in the shop, you couldn't sleep all day."

"The shop hadn't been taken over by him at that time. Look, now all the shops in town and county have come back. I won't tell you, old woman, I'm going to go find the shopkeeper Rong and ask him a question."

As soon as Mayor Gao went out, he met the village heads who came to see him. After listening to their demands, he found that they were similar to his own.

"You all want to jointly recommend Rong Dajiang as the village head, and then you are willing to follow him as the boss in managing village affairs, right?"

During this era, there was a slight distinction between the village head and the village chief. Although both served as village administrators, smaller villages often had their own elected village heads. Only when the population reached a certain level would a village head be appointed. While the position held no official rank, it did have a written commission, effectively serving as a non-staff official administrator.

This does not need to be approved by the Ministry of Personnel. It only requires nomination from the grassroots level and submission to the county magistrate for stamping. The county magistrate will also report it step by step through normal channels. There are so many village heads in a country that the higher-ups basically don't even look at the names and it's a sure thing.

The village heads all confirmed that everything was correct. Mayor Gao said, "Okay, I got it. Send me the joint letter of recommendation. I'll go to the county town to discuss this matter. You guys can go back now."

The village heads were not wealthy, so they shared a bullock cart and came here together. There was no need for them all to go to the county.

Zheng Changzhi stayed at Cui Xian's house for one night. The next day, Cui Xian did not go to the yamen, but accompanied him to wander around the county town. As they wandered around, they came to the door of Rongtang's shop in Yongning Lane.

In the past few days, both the cloth shop and the wine shop have been running smoothly, with people coming to buy things in an endless stream, which made Cui Xian's eyebrows jump.

Perhaps, within a decade or two, he would be able to recoup his investment and make a profit...

Ugh, what are you thinking? He doesn't live on these little things.

Zheng Changzhi's eyes were fixed on a few children queuing in front of the candy shop. They were racking their brains to memorize a nursery rhyme that included the twelve Chinese zodiac animals. However, these children were clearly not very bright and could not recite it with much effort.

The boy said, "There's only one spot left. Whoever carries it out gets the little tiger."

Because there were often children lining up here to sing and get candies, this candy shop, which only occupied one counter, quickly became famous. Almost all the families in the county town who had a little money had shopped here.

Zheng Changzhi pointed at the candy shop and asked, "Was this his idea too?"

Cui Xian didn't want to praise Rong Tang, but he was a decent man. "He's a little clever, but what I admire most about him is not his business methods, but his ability to check accounts."

"Is he that capable?"

"Actually, I'm not sure if it was him or his personal accountant. They were checking the accounts together. It could also be his accountant. I heard that he used to be an accountant, and it was him who copied the account books that Rong Tang used to bring down Yang Lianye."

Zheng Changzhi felt a little better after hearing this. No one knows everything. Everyone should have their own strengths.

At this moment, the county magistrate came to Cui Xian and said, "Sir, it's Mayor Gao who has arrived. He has brought a joint letter of recommendation from the six village heads, recommending the head of Rongjia Village to be the head of the village in charge of seven villages."

Since this was official business, Cui Xian let Zheng Changzhi and his servant wander around while he returned to the county office to see Mayor Gao. Mayor Gao, through his various gestures, explained how the six villages and Rongjia Village had actually signed farming contracts with Rong Tang, and also mentioned the water dragon cart.

"Prince Rong is capable and willing to help the neighboring villages. Why don't we use this method to tie Rong Dajiang down and let him lead the seven villages to common prosperity? Although Rong Dajiang himself doesn't have much ability, he can influence Prince Rong, and it can be considered a win-win cooperation with the villagers."

Seeing that the county magistrate was silent for a moment, Mayor Gao gritted his teeth and said, "If our county develops well, it won't be your achievement, right? Then you can rise to prominence in no time."

He gave Cui Xian the cake that Rong Tang had drawn for him.

Cui Xian had a complicated expression. He certainly had no intention of objecting, but he just couldn't come to his senses for a moment. It turned out that under his rule, such amazing things as sugar sorghum and water dragon carts appeared.

If this happened in a remote area, he, as the chief official of a county, would be the first person to know about it. But this is a suburban county of Shangjing, and Rong Tang is a son of a Shangjing noble, so he has direct contact with the Ministry of Works.

However, no matter what, as long as they do not leave his county, all political achievements belong to him, and there is nothing wrong with that.

He took a deep breath, crossed out Rong Dajiang's name and changed it to Rong Tang, then wrote the letter of appointment and stamped it with the official seal.

Mayor Gao was stunned with his eyes wide open.

"Just in time for you to be here, you can deliver it yourself."

Mayor Gao put the letter of appointment in his pocket and rushed to Rongjia Village with a confused look on his face.

The team that went to Dahong Village to cancel the engagement took two hours to come back. They looked so proud and excited.

During these two hours, Rong Tang also went to see the land of Jianmu Workshop, which was located in a sunny sandy land in the northwest of the village. Crops could not be grown there, and it was outside the village. Villagers from other villages did not need to enter Rongjia Village to work there to avoid being spied on at the winery and sugar factory.

This piece of land didn't entirely belong to Rongjia Village, and they still had to pay for it. Rong An was calculating whether the village or the prince should pay for it. When he saw everyone coming back from afar, he said, "Prince, why don't we go and ask about the situation?"

The fact is that he didn't need to ask, Chuncao had already found out everything, and came to report happily, "Master, you showed off your power, and when our village went to cancel the engagement, the Hong family was still unwilling. They said that if anyone wanted to cancel the engagement, it would be theirs, and they couldn't embarrass their son. As a result, the three masters and the head of the Hong family quarreled fiercely, and the three grandmothers jumped and scolded. The most outstanding ones were Aunt Ma and the other four, who were as powerful as ten people, and spread the scandals of Mrs. Hong far and wide. Later, Mr. Hong also showed up. You know, Master, Mr. Hong is quite influential in this area. In previous years, when there were disputes over status, no village could stand up to Dahong Village. Today, the villagers threw all their weight around. They caught the scholar and gave him a good scolding. Dahanzi even rode on him and urinated, making him scream with disgust. Later, Village Chief Hong threatened to report him to the authorities. Aunt Ma threw a handful of copper coins at him, saying it was just compensation for his clothes and that the matter was over. If the dispute continued, how could a poor scholar like him be more powerful than Rong Shizi? Village Chief Hong didn't dare to pursue the matter further, and the Hong family was afraid that the matter would become a big deal and tarnish Hong Tongsheng's reputation, so they withdrew the engagement in disgrace.

When talking about this kind of gossip, her little face turned red with excitement.

"Big fool?"

Rong Tang thought about it and remembered this man. He was from the Seventh Master's branch. Both his parents had passed away, and he was simple-minded, so he was the guardian of Rongjia Village. After all, his last name was Rong, so no one bullied him. They helped him harvest and gave him a meal, so he would not starve to death.

"Although Dahanzi is a little stupid, he is very strong. This time the villagers specially brought him to do some extra work. This is also a reward for the Third Master's years of care for him."

As they were talking, they returned to the village and heard the villagers still discussing enthusiastically what had happened in Dahong Village.

"Everyone, please be quiet. I have something to say."

Rong Tang gave an order and the crowd quieted down.

"I don't need to count the people present, but almost every household has sent someone. First of all, I want to say that this is very good. It shows that the people of Rongjia Village are united. When one family is wronged, the whole village is willing to help. In the future, anyone who wants to bully our people will have to think carefully."

The villagers murmured, "That's right, even Hong Xiucai was beaten, and they didn't dare to do anything. We don't bully others, but we can't let others bully us either."