The two county magistrates left the governor's office and did not take the sedan chair, but walked along Shuyuan Lane and talked.

"It doesn't matter whether it's a turtle or not. The key is to get cement." Zhang Defu said anxiously, "You are the parent official of Xishan, how can you not think of a solution?"

"You think I didn't think about it?" Yang Chenglin rolled his eyes at him again and said, "Xishan Island and Dongshan Island are like the two balls of my Wu County. If someone grabs one of them, how the hell would I feel good? I dream of taking it back."

"Then do it. If you have a dream, you have to make it come true!" Zhang Defu urged.

"In fact, I have sent people to negotiate many times." Yang Chenglin said the truth depressedly: "I asked when the Kunshan gunners would withdraw, and they always said that there were still remnants of bandits in the mountains... Damn it, there are almost 20,000 people on the island now, what kind of pirates can't they catch?"

"Those are all excuses. They just want to learn from Liu Bei's borrowing Jingzhou and refusing to leave." Zhang Defu suggested, "You can ask the landlord to file a complaint. If the prefect can't do it, then ask the governor. If the governor can't do it, then file a complaint in Beijing. If the situation gets out of hand, there will always be a solution."

"The entire Xishan Island was bought by Liu Zhengqi, and then transferred to that damn Jiangnan Company..." Yang Chenglin sighed, rubbing his face and cursing: "Liu Zhengqi is a bastard, he is a traitor, selling land for fame, he is a traitor to Wu!"

This is also the main reason why Mr. Liu dared not return to Suzhou. He was afraid of being scolded to death by County Magistrate Yang and his fellow villagers.

"How difficult is that? How much silver did those people get for one mu when they sold it to Liu Zhengqi?" Zhang Defu said, "One tael or two taels? It's not expensive anyway. Just let the original owners regret it and file a complaint."

"Who dares?" Yang Chenglin looked helpless, and it was obvious that he had used this trick before.

"Don't forget, the second master of the Xu family is still carrying manure on Xishan Island. Inspector Lin was also buried in the garbage dump and never had the face to return to Suzhou. After suffering such a great loss, the Xu family dared not say a word and even sent their grandson as a hostage to seek peace. Who among those Xishan merchants dares to provoke those living bandits?"

"Oh, that's true..." Zhang Defu was sweating profusely after hearing this. He took out a handkerchief and wiped his forehead, saying, "I thought it was too simple. Zhao Shouzheng must have a powerful backer behind him. We, the innocent county magistrates, cannot afford to offend him."

"They definitely have backers. What's more frightening is that they not only have connections above them, but also connections below them. I asked Chen Tongzhi, and he said that on the day of the ceremony, more than 200 gentry from Suzhou, Nanjing, Taicang, Zhenjiang, Wuxi and other places came to show their support for him. Even Grand Tutor Hua, who had not appeared in public for many years, was there."

After a pause, he said depressedly, "By the way, the person in charge of Xishan now is Hua Bozhen, the eldest son of Grand Tutor Hua. Do you think those landlords dare to cause trouble? Won't the Hua family throw them into the Taihu Lake?"

"Hasn't he just been in Kunshan for less than two months?" Zhang Defu was dumbfounded. He thought he had seen through the father and son, but he didn't expect that this was just the tip of the iceberg. "What kind of god-like person is this?"

"Do you understand now?" Yang Chenglin patted Zhang Defu on the shoulder and said, "Don't have any bad thoughts, otherwise you will not be able to escape the fate of carrying manure."

"Uh..." Zhang Defu was speechless. Was he going to give up like this?

After a long silence, he suddenly said, "No, there is another way!"

"What method?" Yang Chenglin asked hurriedly.

"Hold! Big! Legs!" Zhang Defu said in the most cowardly tone, "Since we can't beat him, let's join him!"

"Uh..." Yang Chenglin was stunned for a long while, then nodded and sighed resignedly: "This is possible."

~~

Taicang Prefecture.

Wang Mengxiang has been paying close attention to the flood situation in Kunshan.

When he learned that the newly built dam had withstood the first flood of the year, he immediately rushed to Yanshan Garden in the rain to tell Wang Shimao the good news!

When Wang Shimao heard this, he was so happy that he danced with joy. He pulled Wang Mengxiang and laughed heartily, saying, "Uncle, you are so good at judging people. We made a lot of money from this investment!"

"Hahaha, of course." Wang Mengxiang's beard curled up proudly. "When have I ever made a mistake in judging people?"

He originally thought that his most successful achievement was giving birth to a pair of second place sons. His most proud investment was buying the bottom of the Wang brothers when they were at their lowest point.

But now it seems that the most proud investment has become the one invested in Zhao Hao!

In fact, he realized this after attending the groundbreaking ceremony in Kunshan.

But before seeing the actual results, he didn't dare to be happy too early.

Until today, after learning that the concrete levee had withstood the test, Wang Mengxiang finally dared to declare brazenly that cement is a great achievement, Jiangnan Company is a great achievement, and Master Zhao is even more great!

Of course, Lao Tzu's vision is really great.

The two of them immediately asked someone to cook a few side dishes and started drinking happily.

Wang Shimao filled Wang Mengxiang's glass with wine and said sincerely, "I have no choice but to accept it. My vision is far inferior to that of my uncle."

"What's wrong?" Wang Mengxiang picked up a piece of honey-glazed fire square with chopsticks and chewed it comfortably, "What else are you worried about?"

"Anyway, there are no outsiders around, so I'm not afraid that Master Zhao will hear me." Wang Shimao smiled ashamedly, "In fact, after seeing Master Zhao's actions before, I have been wondering in my heart."

"What are you mumbling about?"

"I thought to myself, is he taking our money to support his father?" Wang Shimao smiled bitterly and said, "It really hurts me to see him using our food to feed the people of Kunshan. I also feel a lot of resentment."

"Hehe, I've been scolded a lot. People say I'm old and confused. I don't help the elders in Taicang, but give alms to the beggars in Kunshan." Wang Mengxiang clinked glasses with Wang Shimao, drank them all in one gulp and said, "They know nothing! Do you understand now?"

"I understand. As soon as the cement came out, I understood." Wang Shimao nodded and poured him more wine. "Mr. Zhao is a man of foresight. This cement can be used for a lot of things. It can be used to build cities, palaces, levees, seawalls, bridges and roads, or to build yards and houses... It can kill all the wood, bricks, cement and glutinous rice mortar!"

"Yes, how big is this market? How much money can be made?!" Wang Mengxiang raised his wine cup towards the west and laughed: "Cheers to Mr. Zhao!"

"Cheers to Mr. Zhao!" Wang Shimao also raised his wine cup and toasted Zhao Hao from a distance.

Fortunately, both of them hoped that Zhao Hao would live a long life, so they did not pour the wine on the ground, but drank it themselves.

~~

"Uncle, how come Mr. Zhao is so powerful?" After three glasses of wine, Wang Shimao's face turned red. Normally, he couldn't drink so little, maybe he was in high spirits because of the good news.

"In Beijing, you can make a lot of money by digging coal out of the ground and mixing it with mud to make coal lotus roots. You can also buy an abandoned coal mine that has been abandoned for many years and make a 'drain king', which immediately turns waste into treasure!"

He drank too much and talked a lot. "He came to Suzhou, bought the abandoned Xishan Island, dug up soil from the ground and burned it, and turned it into cement, making a lot of money! Don't you think he is the reincarnation of the God of Land?"

“Hahaha.” Wang Mengxiang laughed so hard that he kept wiping his tears and said, “What nonsense are you talking about? As the sage said, ‘Heaven gives birth to things, and the earth gives them life.’ Of course, all good things come from the earth.”

As he said this, he guessed: "Maybe this is the power of science, otherwise my Ding Jue wouldn't be thirty-something and worship Master Zhao as his master."

"Science is really a good thing." Wang Shimao sighed in agreement and asked, "Uncle, do you think the shares of Jiangnan Company are more valuable than those of Xishan Company?"

"It's much more valuable!" Wang Mengxiang said without hesitation: "Although we don't have coal in Jiangnan, it is everywhere in the north. Xishan Company can only eat in northern Zhili."

"But cement is the only one in the world! Just for this, even if you offer me two shares of Xishan Company for one, I won't agree!" Wang Mengxiang said in a low voice:

"Besides, what value does the coal business have other than making a little money? The benefits of the cement business are huge. Even if we don't make money, our company is much more valuable than Xishan Company!"

"Why?" Wang Shimao asked in astonishment.

"Because its value to businessmen is secondary, but its value to officials is sky-high!" Wang Mengxiang could not help but say excitedly:

"This is not cement at all! This is a panacea for officials to get promoted, make money, and leave their names in history!"

ps. Chapter 5 of Single Eye, please give me your monthly vote!