CHAPTER 255: CHAPTER 250: COMMONERS SURROUND THE NOBILITY

Zhao Hanzhang picked up a piece of freshly served fried tofu with her chopsticks and sighed, "Such a delicate dish, yet Mr. Qian calls it rough. What coarse fare, then, must the bean-rice be? And yet, under my governance, most of my people still rely on bean-rice to fill their bellies."

Zhu Chuan was also displeased and said to Qian Wei, who had been voicing objections, "Perhaps these dishes don’t suit Mr. Qian’s taste."

He was hosting a gluttonous feast, and this person kept chirping that the bean products were coarse. Wasn’t he implying that the ingredients he used were crude?

These people were quite ignorant.

Indeed, the selection of dishes was influenced by the Zhao Family’s cook, but they were genuinely delicious.

Anyway, he had tasted every dish before the feast, several each day, and every time he tried new dishes, he was happy.

These dishes were selected from a wide array of options, the ones not chosen outnumbered them twofold.

He had put in so much effort, and the dishes were indeed good, yet the other party criticized him just because beans were considered common fare. He was no clay figurine and naturally couldn’t bear it.

Everyone watched their argument unfold, glanced around, and then turned to Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming was leisurely enjoying the dishes at his table, seemingly unaware of the disagreement.

Upon seeing this, everyone returned to their activities, either conversing among themselves, eating quietly, or simply standing up and walking out.

The confrontation between the three ended abruptly, with Zhao Hanzhang holding onto unresolved anger, Zhu Chuan displeased, and the dissenting Qian Wei also discontent, as many who shared his dislike of the bean products remained silent, merely observing.

Fu Tinghan glanced at Zhao Ming opposite him, lowered his eyes thoughtfully, and after tasting all the dishes, he took Zhao Hanzhang for a walk in the courtyard, "Your prestige among the commoners is increasing, but in the eyes of Xiping Noble Family, you still can’t compare to Uncle Ming."

He said, "They act according to his signals, not yours. Being angry is futile right now. It’s better to think about how to replace Zhao Ming’s position among the nobles."

Zhao Hanzhang snorted, "Originally, I planned to proceed gradually, as Xiping County is already under my control. Prestige comes naturally with accomplishments. But now, I’ve changed my mind."

Fu Tinghan: "Hmm?"

"Humph, I’m not concerned with them anymore." Initially, Zhao Hanzhang was quite domineering. She intended not only to be a good County Magistrate of Xiping County, gaining the general acceptance of the commoners, but also to receive recognition from the Xiping Noble Family, separating her identity from the Zhao Family and ensuring they adhere strictly to her commands as the County Magistrate. But now...

Zhao Hanzhang decided to disregard their incessant complaints, her eyes grew cold as she snorted, "I will establish a new set of rules. Regarding their thoughts, if they are reasonable, let them be; if not, they can keep it to themselves."

That said, at the time, Zhao Hanzhang didn’t have much clarity; she simply felt the obstruction her ideas faced during implementation.

At the lower level, her thoughts could pass unimpeded, but at the upper level, everyone basically minded their own affairs, occasionally considering the thoughts of the Zhao Family, fearing her armed forces, with very few genuinely listening to her ideas.

Now, she suddenly understood the key to her dilemma, as she wrote her plan, she couldn’t help but laugh maniacally, her expression fierce as she said, "Surrounding the city from the countryside, surrounding the city from the countryside, whether it be noble families or powerful clans, isn’t the foundation still people?"

Fu Tinghan held a pen, staring blankly at her, it took a while for him to regain his voice, "What can I do to help you?"

Zhao Hanzhang immediately took her plan and ran over, "Refine it, the plan is as it is, but we need to calculate the specific supply amounts."

Fu Tinghan scanned quickly, "Rewards?"

"Yes," Zhao Hanzhang replied, "The items donated to Shangcai can be distributed as relief materials, but within Xiping County, they are not for relief but as rewards."

Relief, at its mention, isn’t a pleasant term, reserved only for times of disaster.

Zhao Hanzhang counted on her fingers the reasons she thought of to distribute items, "Students in schools, the top five in each class with good grades can receive different rewards, various work-for-food sites will select the top ten best performers to be awarded, and elders, children, filial sons, filial daughters, and dutiful daughters-in-law in the county town can all receive rewards..."

"Besides that, I plan to start holding some competitions in the county town from Little New Year’s day."

Fu Tinghan first thought, "In this way, the population coming to the county town will surely increase, invigorating the economy."

Over the past few months, Zhao Hanzhang implemented work-for-food, bringing some vitality to the county town, but commercial transactions were not frequent.

On the main street outside the county government, nearly a third of the shops hadn’t opened, and those that did see very few customers in a day.

Even Zhao Hanzhang’s own Treasure Pavilion sees only sparse visitors.

Currently, the largest transaction was provided by Zhu Chuan.

Fu Tinghan had long thought Xiping County’s commerce was too stagnant, but considering it had just been through war, he thought it should be given time to recover.

Zhao Hanzhang saw this as an opportunity, "So help me calculate how much of the various reward items I need to prepare."

She said, "Oil needs to be extracted, at least we need to prepare some things in advance."

Fu Tinghan agreed, "I’ll go find Chief Clerk Chang tomorrow and calculate for you once the prize quotas are confirmed."

"No, let’s calculate based on production capacity," Zhao Hanzhang said, "It must remain within my capability."

Fu Tinghan nodded, "Alright."

Zhao Hanzhang sighed, "Alas, I don’t know if Zhu Chuan’s pots have been sold. It’s quite unfair to him, having put him in a bind twice."

Fu Tinghan couldn’t help but laugh, asking her, "Do you want to buy back the pots?"

"Forget it," Zhao Hanzhang immediately changed her mind, "Mr. Zhu isn’t someone who lacks money."

But she had many to support and was indeed in need.

Interestingly, Zhu Chuan actually sold them.

No matter if they considered bean products coarse, they indeed appreciated the wonders of the pan-frying.

And weren’t you looking down on beans as cheap and crude?

Yet iron pots were valuable, so some truly loved the dish, while others merely cared about appearances, hence many asked Zhu Chuan about the origin and price of the iron pots.

Zhu Chuan had learned days earlier that Zhao Hanzhang had people take down two pots from the Treasure Pavilion, leaving only one in the store.

So he casually pointed everyone in the right direction, leading some to send people to inquire at the Treasure Pavilion.

Coincidentally, Zhou Hanzhang, feeling somewhat guilty, had just had the last pot removed as well. When someone inquired, the shopkeeper said, "The last pot was just bought by someone from out of town."

"Then there are none left?"

Looking troubled, the shopkeeper said, "Ironware is rare, we only had these few pots in the shop, which were previously bought in one swoop by Mr. Zhu who purchased nine, leaving just one, which unfortunately, has just been bought."

Upon hearing this, they immediately turned to find Zhu Chuan.

Upon learning this, Zhu Chuan breathed a sigh of relief, his smile was much more sincere, and he felt a little better towards Zhao Hanzhang.