Even Xie Linzhou didn't know what had happened to Jiang Shuyue before.
Since returning last time, his personality has changed drastically.
"What exactly did Song Ning tell you?"
Jiang Shuyue regained her usual gentle demeanor and smiled, "It's nothing, just that I should live a good life."
Live well for yourself.
As long as she recovers, what do other people matter?
When Xie Linzhou left the princess's residence, the imperial decree had already been sent to the Six Ministries.
The emperor did show some appreciation by having the Ministry of Revenue allocate funds.
The imperial decree was relayed from the capital to various towns and villages throughout the Jin Dynasty. Within half a month, almost half of the Jin Dynasty knew about it, demonstrating the court's emphasis on Tianxiang County.
Xie Linzhou stayed in the capital for more than half a month before returning to Tianxiang County with the Ministry of Works' personnel and silver.
Tianxiang County is bustling with activity right now, attracting many people who come hoping to get a piece of the pie.
The county has recently recruited a lot of people to dig underground tunnels and build docks.
Song Ning made plans for the entire county, specifying what to build in which areas and where the underground passages should be built.
This was a huge project. Song Ning and Zheng Gaoyi led a team to measure for a long time before they were able to fix the location marked on the map.
Then Song Ning became the leader of this group.
In Zheng Gaoyi's words, "You drew these, you know best, so of course you have to be in charge. Don't worry, I'll be watching over the dock. The market and food street you mentioned have your drawings, so that's fine too. If there's anything I don't understand, I'll come and ask."
Song Ning gave everyone a general explanation of the structure of the tunnel and how to dig it.
After everyone understood, the work officially began.
Song Ning felt that she was now like a contractor. If something went wrong here, they would come to her; if something couldn't be done, they would come to her; even the matter of paying wages would be discussed with her.
She didn't even have time to visit her land; her mother even brought her lunch.
At this time, a large number of people began to flock into Tianxiang County, including merchants and ordinary people looking for work.
People from the surrounding counties and villages, having heard that they could make money here, all came to visit.
The businessmen who came to inspect the area nodded in satisfaction when they saw how bustling Tianxiang County was now.
Don't be fooled by the fact that they have nothing now; things might change in the future. The imperial court has spoken, so these people certainly can't miss this opportunity.
Recently, the county has been busy, so Zheng Gaoyi arranged for Gao Tiedan and his team to maintain order in the county and to supervise and manage the people who have come to the county.
Since becoming yamen runners, Gao Tiedan and his companions have only truly felt like yamen runners these past two days.
In the county town, they only listened to two people: the county magistrate and Song Ning.
They did a pretty good job.
Song Ning instructed them to arrange for these merchants to register.
If you want a certain number of shops, you pay for that number of shops; a person can only have a maximum of three shops.
One room costs 10,000 taels, which isn't cheap, but the initial investment can bring higher returns later.
Some were hesitant to give up, so Song Ning began to rally them: "Gentlemen, our Tianxiang County is only just beginning. Although you have all invested a lot so far, think about it..."
Once this place is built, those shops will be yours for life, and your profits will be for life, benefiting future generations. Who would complain about having too much money?
"As long as you have made contributions to Tianxiang County, you are heroes of Tianxiang County, you are elders, and future generations will not be able to get in..."
With his silver tongue, Song Ning managed to get most of these merchants to pay.
After resting, Song Ning gulped down some water, and Shi Tou gave her a thumbs up.
"Er Ya, you really are something else, just like you."
“These things were originally done by the county magistrate, but now he has handed them over to me and he’s gone into hiding.”
Song Ning looked up to the sky and roared, "I'm still a child!"
“You’re thirteen now, you’re not a child anymore,” Stone retorted.
"However, your method is indeed effective. I see there are quite a few people outside, and the amount of silver collected is also considerable. Moreover, some people outside have already started discussing settling down here."
It's good that they've settled down; they're currently worried about not having enough people in the county town.
As a result, more and more people came to Tianxiang County, some digging underground tunnels, some building docks, some constructing houses, and others farming.
With such a large number of people, the county yamen runners alone could no longer control the situation, so Zheng Gaoyi simply borrowed troops from Xie Linzhou to maintain order every day.
Everything was going smoothly until the officials from the Ministry of Works who came from the capital started to have objections.
Ever since those people came to Tianxiang County, they have been complaining all day long about the poor conditions here or that they are unruly.
The underground passage that Song Ning was in charge of was being dug perfectly fine, but while Song Ning was away, those people started interfering and making comments.
When Song Ning returned, she discovered that a long section of it had deviated from its intended direction.
Song Ning immediately lost his temper: "Didn't I tell you to dig along the pre-marked path? Can't you see how it turned out?!"
No one dared to speak. The leader stepped forward and explained, "We originally dug according to the route you gave us, but today an important official came to inspect and said we were digging incorrectly, insisting that we change our route. We had no choice but to..."
Song Ning said with a stern face: "Remember, from now on, no matter who asks you to change, I will not care."
"Hey, don't worry, we definitely won't listen."
Song Ning really couldn't be bothered to comment on those people from the capital.
Is the imperial court lacking incompetence? They sent over a few incompetent fools who not only couldn't help but also caused her trouble everywhere.
The county magistrate was a person of high status, and they dared not offend him, so they specifically targeted her, who had no background or status, to cause trouble.
He's really spoiled.
Song Ning sat watching the people working not far away, sweating profusely.
The tools of that era were primitive, and the only way to dig was by hand, bit by bit.
They've been working here for over a month, and they still haven't dug a complete underground tunnel.
Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by an unpleasant voice coming from not far away.
"What are you doing? Didn't I tell you to make changes? Call out the person in charge here."
Three or four people dressed in official robes stood aside, their expressions arrogant, and berated the workers.
The group exchanged glances, then looked at Song Ning but ignored him.
These people all came from the capital and were used to being flattered and treated with arrogance, so they all carried a certain degree of pride.
But arrogance is not the same as haughtiness.
The group followed the gaze to Song Ning, their eyes clearly showing disdain.
Song Ning walked over, his attitude already quite polite: "Gentlemen, is there something you need?"
One of them sized Song Ning up and down, a smile playing on his lips: "You are...?"
"I am the person in charge."
The person in front of me seemed unconvinced and scoffed, "You?"
"Me."
"Ha, is there no one else in Tianxiang County? A little girl like you can get on the stage?"
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