Chapter 103: A letter from the capital

Xiao Hanzheng did not beat around the bush.

“That’s right. I still need your help to hand over the recipe for the cement.”

He was once an official. Although his goal was to seek revenge, he still wanted to do something practical.

In this life, revenge was not his main priority.

He wanted to do something for the commoners and the nation.

His little wife was very good at doing what he wanted.

This allowed him to focus his efforts wholeheartedly to achieve his goals.

The smile on Mo Qingling’s face deepened. “You two are very thoughtful.

“After I go back, I’ll write a memorial and send the recipe to the capital.”

He said to Xiao Hanzheng, “You should write the recipe down.”

Xiao Hanzheng nodded. “Okay!”

After Mo Qingling finished his tour, they returned to the Xiao residence together.

Xiao Hanzheng copied the recipe again and indicated where it came from.

Of course, his wife learnt it from the Taoist temple.

At the same time, he discussed with Mo Qingling about opening a cement workshop.

Mo Qingling thought about it and agreed.

This would benefit the county, so there was no reason for him to object to it.

Besides, the recipe was offered by Xiao Hanzheng and his wife, so building a workshop was not a big deal.

After taking the recipe, Mo Qingling left in a hurry.

He was very busy recently.

He let someone go to the village to inform the villagers who had planted flax not to sell them in a hurry.

After their county built a workshop, they could send them to the workshop for processing.

Not only would the price not be lower than selling the seeds directly, but the villagers could also earn a job vacancy for their family members to work in the workshop.

Shi Qingluo suggested this.

It would also tie the interests of the villagers and the workshops together, so that they would farm and work more diligently.

At the same time, he also followed Shi Qingluo’s instructions to plant polygonum multiflorum in a suitable environment that was under his jurisdiction as a county magistrate.

He also budgeted a sum of money from the county yamen to open an oil-extracting workshop.

In the future, apart from selling flax oil, he could also provide raw materials for making flax oil.

Now he also had cement, hence he was even busier.

But he was willing and happy to be busy. It was better than cleaning up the mess left by the previous county magistrate.

After returning to his place, Mo Qingling wrote a memorial and attached it to the cement recipe. He asked someone to send it to the capital as soon as possible.

With Mo Qingling’s permission, Shi Qingluo and Xiao Hanzheng started to work.

The cement workshop wasn’t built beside their old house.

Instead, after discussing with the chief and the others, they built it on an empty land in front of the village entrance.

This time, it was built in the name of the village.

Shi Qingluo suggested that the people in the village chip in to build the cement workshop with shares.

Each household who purchased a share would nominate one person to work in the workshop. This would also prevent the recipe from leaking out.

Everyone would also work more diligently.

The money earned would also be divided according to the amount of shares they had.

The chief and the villagers had never heard of this method before.

However, it did not stop the villagers from trusting Shi Qingluo as though she was a mystery.

She was the disciple of an old immortal, and the things that she had created looked good.

Now, she asked everyone to invest in shares as she wanted to help them earn money.

Hence, aside from those who did not have any spare cash or were still suspicious, all other families chose to participate.

In the end, 90% of the villagers bought the shares.

Shi Qingluo took the list and smiled. “This way, the entire Xiaxi village is on the same boat.”

Binding money and other benefits like this was the most reliable.

Xiao Hanzheng understood Shi Qingluo’s thoughts. “That’s right. In the future, if anyone wants to sell the recipe for cement or do anything against the workshop, the villagers would take action without us telling them to do so.”

For instance, they didn’t need to worry about buying land to build the cement workshop now. The chief and the villagers had settled it.

Shi Qingluo nodded. “That’s right. When we have more workshops, we’ll have to unite most of the people in the surrounding villages and even the entire county.”

In order to revitalise and develop Nanxi county, it wasn’t enough to rely on just a handful of villagers.

Moreover, if there were any problems or if they faced any enemies, everyone would work together.

Even if the emperor wanted to do something, he had to be careful. There were many families in this county.

Even ants could bite an elephant to death.

Xiao Hanzheng nodded. “When the paint workshop opens, we can recruit some people from the nearby villages to work.”

The chiefs and their assistants from the nearby villages would come to look for him from time to time.

They also hinted them to consider recruiting those from the nearby villagers in their workshops.

“After all, there is limited manpower in our village. If we want to expand, we must recruit outsiders.”

How would it be possible to build a distribution centre based on these people in the village?

Of course, they had to gather everyone from the nearby villages.

With good development and high wages, everyone’s standard of living would improve.

People from the distant villages and even outsiders would flock here to work.

This place would also become more popular with huge crowds.

The two of them chatted for a while before Shi Qingluo went to take a shower.

When she came out and saw that her young husband was still writing the manuscript, she sat by the side and propped her chin up to take a look before lying on the table and falling asleep.

When Xiao Hanzheng saw this, he put down the pen and carried her to the bed.

After taking a shower, his wife, who was soft and fragrant, was very adorable.

He kissed her forehead and forced his gaze away before he got up.

Then he went back to writing his novel.

Recently, he had to write more chapters.

Firstly, his novel had become popular and he earned a lot of money.

Secondly, it was time for him to go to the county school.

While the cement workshop was in full swing, Bai Xu also came to the village.

When he saw the cement floor, he was also astonished.

He didn’t expect that this kind of road existed.

He kept pacing back and forth on the cement floor. “You guys have to sell me some cement from the first batch.”

Shi Qingluo smiled. “Don’t worry, you won’t be short of it.

“If you want to lay the floor tiles and ceramic tiles, you can’t do it without cement.”

She asked, “By the way, when will my floor tiles be delivered?”

Bai Xu replied, “It’ll be ready in two days. When you are done tiling your house, I’ll do it for my house as well.”

They had already produced floor tiles into various colours.

Shi Qingluo and Xiao Hanzheng had chosen plain colours, while he liked new ones with different designs.

The tiles were still under research and modification to become even more beautiful.

Shi Qingluo nodded. “As long as you’re happy.”

Bai Xu looked at Shi Qingluo and sighed. “Your brain is really useful.”

He had no idea how this woman’s brain evolved to be able to come up with so many strange and wonderful things.

Even if she had read books in the Taoist temple or learnt them from an old Taoist, she still had to be smart to remember them.

If she were someone else, he would count the person lucky to be able to learn one or two of them.

Shi Qingluo curled her lips. “That’s true. You have a good eye for spotting talented people.”

Bai Xu thought to himself, screw you.

Whoever complimented her had a good eye. There was no other woman like her.

However, he was prepared to follow Xiao Hanzheng and his wife.

He was certain that after mass producing the floor and ceramic tiles and using the latest cement, it would definitely be a big hit after he sent them to the capital.

After Bai Xu left, the chief’s son came to the Xiao family.

He passed a letter from the courier station to Xiao Hanzheng. “This is a letter from the capital.”

“Thank you!” Xiao Hanzheng didn’t need to read it to know who wrote it.

He did not expect that the people of the old Xiao family would really listen to his little wife’s words and send a letter so soon.

It seemed that they had temporarily settled down in the capital.

However, from his understanding of those in the old Xiao family, they highly likely encountered some difficulties and wanted to ask his little wife for advice.