Crown Prince of the Empire, I quit!

The county town farthest from Linjiang City is called Yinshan County.

This place is surrounded by mountains on three sides. These three mountains are not high, but they block the way to the inland.

The only flat road out of the mountain faces the sea.

Therefore, the air here is humid and it rains frequently.

Over time, people gave it this name.

On this day, a large and ornately decorated carriage drove along the cement road that went around the mountain.

Song Dingsheng stuck his head out of the carriage and took a look.

"Alas, after many twists and turns, we're finally here!"

It is convenient to go out to the sea here, but the road inland is not easy to travel.

Not to mention people like Song Dingsheng who came over the mountains from Linjiang City.

When the imperial court transferred Yinshan County to his jurisdiction, Song Dingsheng was full of resentment.

However, the prefects of several other major cities in Lingnan all have connections in the imperial court and their backing is much stronger than his own.

There was no way out, this tough bone had to fall into his hands.

"Your Highness, this is Yinshan County."

The carriage stopped and Song Dingsheng jumped down first. While helping Qin Ming get off the carriage, he pointed to the county town in front of him and introduced the situation there to Qin Ming.

"It doesn't look so barren."

Qin Ming glanced at Yinshan County and found that there were surprisingly many people here.

Coming and going are fishermen returning from the seaside with a rich harvest.

"Don't look at this place as it's off-center, it's not!"

Song Dingsheng stroked his beard lightly, put his hands behind his back, and spoke in an understanding tone.

Chang Baishan, who was driving the carriage, frowned and said:

"Sir Song, how did you learn the storyteller's tricks? Just say what you want to say directly instead of keeping us in suspense?"

"Haha, it's nothing, actually. Yinshan County is relatively close to the coast, and there are many fishermen here. Many people who make a living by fishing at sea live here, so the population has increased over time."

"Then it should be easy to recruit people here."

Qin Ming walked forward and saw a row of welcoming officials standing in front of the county gate of Yinshan County.

The leader was a slightly fat middle-aged man with a square face.

"Wu Shizhong, the Magistrate of Yinshan County, respectfully welcomes Your Highness!"

"This is Lord Wu. He has made a lot of achievements in Yinshan County in recent years and is almost becoming the prefect."

Song Dingsheng was very familiar with the local situation, and he whispered an introduction in Qin Ming's ear before he even got close.

Yinshan County has a special geographical situation and most of the time it has to manage itself.

Most of the credit for managing this place well must go to Wu Shizhong himself.

Qin Ming nodded, and he already had some understanding of this capable Lord Wu.

Walking forward, he said with a smile:

"You're welcome, Lord Wu. I came here today just to recruit some people."

"Your Highness, I already know about your situation, but the manpower in Yinshan County is a precious resource, so I'm sorry I can't comply with your order."

Wu Shizhong is a man who wants to do things, and he does have the opportunity to be promoted in the future.

Therefore, he didn't want to do such a disadvantageous thing as sending people from his county out.

Qin Ming ran to the farthest Yinshan County, hoping to conquer the most difficult area, and then it would be easy to conquer the counties around Jiangcheng.

Unexpectedly, I ran into a setback as soon as I landed.

As if realizing that his words were a bit harsh, Wu Shizhong continued:

"Your Highness, I'm not targeting you, but it's too troublesome to recruit the people of Yinshan County. Furthermore, the journey is long, and the cost of both your transportation and their travel back and forth is too high."

Wu Shizhong was a little annoyed with Qin Ming.

He had already clearly refused twice in the letter.

He even wrote several thousand words analyzing the pros and cons to let Qin Ming know how wasteful it was to recruit people from Yinshan County to work.

It's not only a waste of Qin Ming's money and resources, but also a waste of manpower in Yinshan County.

If we want to develop here, we need the population in the county town as a foundation.

But Qin Ming still had the audacity to come and ask for people. Judging from his aggressive appearance, it seemed that he wanted quite a few people!

"There's a highway. You're only about thirty or forty miles away from Linjiang City. It'll only take an hour by carriage."

"An hour carriage?"

Wu Shizhong couldn't believe his ears.

I heard that Qin Ming did a good job in Linjiang City and built it quite well.

He even had some respect for Qin Ming!

Who knew that when we met today, what he said was just like "Why don't you eat meat porridge!"

Taking a deep breath, Wu Shizhong said:

"Let's not even talk about whether there are so many carriages running back and forth between Linjiang City and Yinshan County every day. Even if there were, would the people working in the weaving bureau here have the money to ride?"

"I'll just help them."

Qin Ming calculated that there was still some part of the road that had not been repaired.

After the repair was completed, it took them even less time to go to Linjiang City.

In addition, the site of their new factory was chosen on the outskirts of Linjiang City, in an area between several county towns.

In fact, it is not too far away from them. Maybe they can get there in half an hour by bike.

At worst, we can equip them with a few gears, just like a mountain bike, to help them ride more easily on mountain roads.

This makes things easier.

However, Wu Shizhong's attitude is a problem.

"Your Highness, why are you doing this?"

Wu Shizhong looked at Song Dingsheng.

"Master Song, is this what you mean?"

"Well, I have the same idea as Your Highness."

Song Dingsheng saw that Wu Shizhong was beginning to show resistance.

He quickly winked at Qin Ming.

"Your Highness, I want to talk to Lord Wu."

As he spoke, he pulled Wu Shizhong to the side.

"Old Wu, His Highness is willing to help you develop. This is a good thing!"

Wu Shizhong had a cold face and said nothing.

Song Dingsheng continued:

"If you accomplish anything, the credit will all be yours. I promise you, brother, I will never take any of the credit from you. You can be sure of my character, right?"

Wu Shizhong was stunned for a moment, and when he looked up at Song Dingsheng, he was already a little angry.

"Sir Song, I don't care about credit or discredit! I just don't want my people to be tormented like this. Do you know how far it is to Linjiang City?"

Seeing him so angry, Song Dingsheng quickly smiled and said:

"I know, I know. Of course I know. How about this? You've already explained this simple principle to His Highness before. If His Highness disagrees, then we can let His Highness recruit people himself. If anyone is willing, they can come. If not, forget it. How about that?"

He knew Wu Shizhong's character. Although he had a bad temper and was stubborn, this guy really wanted to do good for the people.

If it were someone else, Song Dingsheng would not have spent so much time and effort to negotiate with him.

"You won't do anything tricky, will you?"

Wu Shizhong was a little wary, and Song Dingsheng shook his head and said:

"How about half a month? If we don't recruit a hundred people in half a month, we'll leave. How do you think that is?"

"Really?"

"Of course, if you ask His Highness now, he will definitely agree with me. But Old Wu, you must not make things difficult for us."

"I wouldn't do that!"

Seeing that he dared to doubt him, Wu Shizhong immediately argued with him anxiously.

Song Dingsheng laughed in his heart. This guy's officialdom skills were not up to par. Although he had made many achievements, he still looked stupid.

At this rate, I guess I’ll have to wait a few more years before I can get promoted…