Yanshan Garden, in the Jiashu Pavilion.

"For officials, is that cement? That is clearly a dazzling political achievement!" Wang Mengxiang's old face turned red with excitement.

"In the two capitals and thirteen provinces, which prefecture or county doesn't have a major project that it wants to do but can't? But are these major projects so easy to build? Not only are they expensive and risky, but the key is that they take a long time, often several years."

"As time goes by, there will be many variables. The most frustrating thing is that when the project is almost finished, a transfer order comes down and you have to make way for others. As a result, you work so hard, but end up making things easier for others. How many officials can make up their minds to do this?"

"That's right." Wang Shimao nodded in agreement.

"But cement is amazing! It's fast and strong! With it, dreams can become reality and people can build ancestral temples for them! If you have real political achievements, who can stop you from getting promoted?" Wang Mengxiang said again with saliva flying.

"Yeah." Wang Shimao nodded and said, "You've made me want to become an official now."

He was a Jinshi in the 38th year of Jiajing's reign. While others were on the list of successful candidates and enjoying great glory, he witnessed his father's beheading and cried with his brother Wang Shizhen, and returned home to mourn.

After serving the imperial court, he was offered official positions many times, but he was always discouraged and afraid of official career. This time, his elder brother went out to be an official, but he was still staying at Yanshan Garden as a homebody.

Wang Mengxiang had advised him countless times, but Wang Shimao remained indifferent. However, cement aroused his desire to become an official. This shows the power of this magic weapon!

"Then come out!" Wang Mengxiang said happily, "Suzhou prefect Cai Guoxi and Songjiang prefect Zhong Zhenji are both your peers. Let them recommend you, and that will be all right, right?"

"Hmm..." Wang Shimao twirled his beard and said thoughtfully, "I'll go see them when I get a chance."

"They will definitely do their best to help you, otherwise you will be cut off from cement." Wang Mengxiang tilted his head, feeling so happy just thinking about it.

"Within two years, all officials in the world will understand this. What do you think the situation will be like by then?"

"You're competing to be friends with our Jiangnan Company." Wang Shimao also tilted his head, and faced Wang Mengxiang head to head, and said happily. "Who dares to offend us? Sorry, cement has nothing to do with you. You can only watch others get promoted while you stand aside, and you have to be criticized by the people for being incompetent."

"Hahaha, that's right. As long as the cement is in our hands, officials all over the world will curry favor with us!" Wang Mengxiang originally planned to say "live on our shoulders", but he felt it was too arrogant.

"In that case, we have to hold on to our stocks." Wang Shimao suddenly felt that everyone in the world would be eyeing his shares.

"Of course." Wang Mengxiang took a sip of the wine and sighed, "Now I know how much favor Mr. Zhao did for us."

"That's right." Wang Shimao agreed. Zhao Hao had only been in Suzhou for two months, but he had already done so many things. It was obvious that everything had been planned in advance.

Especially cement, I don’t know how long it took to develop it.

Even I can see the extremely bright prospects of cement. With Mr. Zhao's amazing business acumen, how could he not see it?

Although Young Master Zhao sold them shares, it now seemed like he was giving them away for free - with the little money and food they paid, they probably couldn't buy even a single cent!

Even if Master Zhao wanted to establish an alliance, giving them 1% would have been more than enough - when he was in Beijing, the shares he gave to those ministers and dukes were less than half of this amount.

But Master Zhao generously gave them half of the money, and half of the money for each family!

What does this mean?

This shows that Mr. Zhao really treats them as his own people. What he said, "Let's work together to accomplish great things," is not just empty talk.

~~

"When Mr. Zhao was here, he was trying to get at me about the maritime merchants, but I was hesitant and evasive. It was really outrageous." Thinking of this, Wang Shimao couldn't help but feel ashamed and said:

"I now understand that Master Zhao was hinting at me that he has known everything about our nine families. I haven't told him the truth yet, so Master Zhao must be... estranged from me..."

Wang Shimao's eyes turned red, and all the joy in his heart turned into worry.

"Oh, blame me for being old and confused." Wang Mengxiang also reflected on himself. "At that time, I saw that Mr. Zhao was interested in the offshore business, but I still advised you to wait until he opened his mouth. It was really selfish."

"I am actually smart in small matters, but when it comes to big wisdom, I am far behind Grand Tutor Hua." As he spoke, the smug look on Old Wang's face disappeared, and he sighed, "Look at how much they have invested? Not only do they have more shares than us, but Grand Tutor Hua is the chairman of the board, and Hua Bozhen is in charge of the cement yard. Now the Hua family has become Mr. Zhao's right-hand man."

"Yeah, yeah." Wang Shimao nodded repeatedly and said, "We are indeed lagging behind."

"It's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep have been lost." Wang Mengxiang slammed the table and said, "We must talk to Mr. Zhao as soon as possible and ask him what he thinks. If he wants to take the vacant seat of the Lu family, we will do our best to help him take it!"

"Uh..." Wang Shimao looked at Wang Mengxiang. After saying this, he couldn't help but ask, "Don't you have some thoughts too, uncle?"

"Hey, hey." Wang Mengxiang's old face turned red. It turns out that no one is blind. "When you can't have both fish and bear's paw, I will give up the fish and take the bear's paw."

After saying this, he said with anticipation, "Besides, the Eight Clans are in such a mess, and the sea is also a mess. They need Master Zhao to re-establish the Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind. I think we can have our cake and eat it too!"

"Smart!" Wang Shimao praised, "Then let's do this. Let's go to Kunshan tomorrow."

"The more urgent the matter, the more time we should wait." Wang Mengxiang waved his hand and said, "If you rush over here without thinking, Mr. Zhao will look down on you. Let's wait patiently for a few days and work out a plan. It will be better to talk about it when the levee is completed at the end of the month and congratulate you."

"Okay, I'll listen to you, uncle." Wang Shimao naturally agreed.

~~

The good news from Kunshan not only touched the hearts of the dignitaries, but also quickly reached the ears of the common people.

Those Kunshan people living outside can no longer sit still.

A large-scale wave of returning home broke out almost simultaneously in Suzhou City, Taicang Prefecture, Jiading, and Changshu.

Kunshan used to suffer from floods for many years, and the people who fled did not have to beg for food... In fact, most of them were self-reliant.

Kunshan people are clever and deft, and both men and women are good at weaving. They are also very hardworking and can accept lower wages from their bosses than from the locals. Therefore, it is not difficult for them to find work in the counties of Suzhou where the textile industry is thriving.

Many people settled down in neighboring counties. Some of them are even the second or third generation, but they still joined the trend of returning home.

In order to retain technical backbones, employers even offered to increase wages for the first time, making them the same as local workers!

But it still couldn't stop this huge wave of resignations.

This surprised the employers and they asked them what they were thinking.

In fact, the workers from Kunshan couldn’t really explain it themselves. They could only say that seeing everyone else going back, they felt like they were not human if they didn’t go back.

These uneducated people from Kunshan who are living outside of Kunshan do not understand themselves that what attracts them to return home is two words - "hope".

After a hundred years, Kunshan finally has hope! These wandering Kunshan people finally see hope.

That's all.

ps. The first of three consecutive updates. Please give me your monthly votes!