Royal Gold Magistrate

Paba glanced at the giant beside him.

He said calmly, “About three days.”

“Chilie, don’t cause any trouble when we reach the capital. The border conflicts have been intensifying. We’re here firstly to negotiate peace, and secondly to demonstrate our military might.”

“Follow my lead in everything.”

In the time it took to say this, half a leg of lamb had already disappeared into Chilie’s stomach.

Chilie looked at the trembling post station clerk beside him and said disdainfully, “The Jing people are pathetically weak.”

“In my opinion, even if we fought a war, it wouldn’t matter much.”

Paba looked directly at Chilie and said seriously, “Now is not the time for warfare.”

“Although Great Jing has suffered many disasters this year, their strength absolutely cannot be underestimated. The Khan has just unified the Northern Rong and needs time to recuperate. You may be exceptionally brave, but war isn’t decided by one person. The Great Jing palace must be full of experts. You’ll have your chance to show off!”

“Good!” Chilie grinned, his smile extremely arrogant.

……..

Banshan District, Fang Manor.

Fang Zheng lay on a lounge chair in the courtyard.

Xiao Bai was beside him, massaging his legs.

Xiao Tao stood nearby, reading official documents that had just been copied and sent from the judicial office.

It felt almost like being back in Taoyuan County.

The documents were in two parts, one issued from above,

The other was Banshan District’s own summary.

Every week and month, a report would be regularly submitted to Fang Zheng.

The content naturally included news about key businesses in the district,

Public opinion feedback, as well as various major projects.

Xiao Tao read extremely quickly, and before she knew it, she had gone through most of it.

When she turned to the second page, her pace suddenly slowed, and she said, “The stage in Banshan Square was smashed by the people because of the ban on new plays from Taoyuan County.”

“Very few people go to watch plays in Banshan District at night now. Thirty-eight shops have jointly petitioned for the district to resume performances.”

Fang Zheng narrowed his eyes: “What? Didn’t we ban them in our county too? Why are there so many issues in Banshan District?”

“What’s the difference in what plays they watch? What have they been performing recently?”

Xiao Tao hesitated for a moment: “They’ve been performing ‘The General Serves the Country’. At first, it was quite well-received, but after a month of continuous performances, everyone is complaining now. They say they’ve seen enough and want to watch new plays from Taoyuan County.”

“Actually… no one is watching in the county’s theater either, they’ve all moved to perform in brothels…”

Fang Zheng said dissatisfied: “Keep performing! Perform for another two months! They won’t even watch such a positive and uplifting play, and they want to watch that trash? A bunch of troublemakers!”

“Also! Write back to the county, if the brothels dare to perform those terrible plays again, shut them down!”

“Tomorrow, find a few provincial graduates, the mature and steady ones, form a review committee. From now on, all new plays must undergo strict review!”

“I don’t want to see any of that messy stuff.”

“Future plays must reflect positive attitudes, patriotism, family values, integrity, and kindness! All those dark, vulgar plays should disappear completely!”

Xiao Tao said worriedly: “But if no one goes to watch the plays, the merchants in Banshan Square won’t have any business. How will they survive?”

Fang Zheng said disdainfully: “Why should I care if they die or not! Who can save those who don’t use their brains in business? Isn’t the Northern Rong envoy arriving soon? Have the theater troupe create a new play, showing how the Northern Rong people live in dire straits, and how fortunate it is to be born in Great Jing.”

“Then have the merchants cooperate with the new play to create an event. Make the food taste awful, the worse the better, and say it’s Northern Rong specialty!”

“This way, the merchants’ costs will be reduced and they can still make money, while the audience will feel proud. It’s a win-win situation, we’re winning big time!”

“The environment is changing, people need to change too. Honest business won’t last long!”

Bai Yi looked at Fang Zheng with contempt.

How could there be such an unscrupulous person in this world!

As she thought about this, she unconsciously used all her strength in her hands!

Fang Zheng cried out in surprise: “Damn! You little wench, are you trying to kill me? Keep reading!”

Xiao Tao chuckled: “Yes, also, the football field in the district is almost complete.”

“However, people only understand cuju, not football.”

Fang Zheng slowly sat up, stretching his muscles and bones.

“Bring in a few people from the county to teach them.”

“If they can play cuju, how hard can football be?”

“Find several noble families to form football teams, have them participate in matches, and then have the newspaper promote it.”

“In the future, just like in our county, we’ll hold a big competition every year. The champion’s prize money of 1,000 taels will be provided by the Crown Prince! Let’s call it the Crown Prince Cup!”

The construction of the football field had started almost at the same time as the textile factory.

It was also part of Fang Zheng’s plan all along.

The people in the district were still far from escaping poverty, so he naturally had to find ways to create demand and increase wealth.

Taoyuan County undoubtedly had a football field.

But football in Taoyuan County was limited to entertainment, and he was satisfied as long as it could break even.

Banshan District was different. In the capital, there was a large population.

In an era without television or internet, these large-scale events were often the most attractive!

The entire industry chain could be revitalized in the capital, thereby creating enormous wealth.

There were many industries surrounding football, including event operations, venue services, advertising sponsorships, training, team merchandise, and various derivatives.

The women’s textile factory could also cooperate with the stadium, securing steady orders.

Various industries intertwining… There should be quite a few clever people who would grow from this opportunity.

Making footballs was simple enough, just cover a pig’s bladder with a layer of leather, and replace it when it’s worn out.

As for the matches, they would still use the rules from his previous life.

Regarding referees, Fang Zheng had considered using the model from his previous life, euphemistically calling it “let the first to get rich bring along the rest.”

But after careful consideration, he decided against it.

After all, everyone’s not stupid. You can fool someone with a biased whistle once, but not twice.

If the industry couldn’t grow, the common people would be the ones to suffer.

The capital wasn’t the isolated Taoyuan County; a robber’s mentality wouldn’t work here. Slow and steady was the way to go.

I guess the history books will have to record another of my, Fang Zheng’s, achievements!

As Fang Zheng was happily thinking about this, Li Yuanzhao’s loud voice suddenly came through: “Old Fang, are you in there!?”

Before he could answer, Li Yuanzhao had already pushed the door open and entered.

Fang Zheng helplessly waved away Xiao Tao and Xiao Bai, and said to Li Yuanzhao: “Your Highness, long time no see. What have you been up to lately?”

Li Yuanzhao smiled mysteriously: “That microscope of yours is indeed interesting. I’ve made a great discovery!”

“What?”

“I’ve discovered quite a few new things this past month. I found that when fresh meat is left out for a long time, a kind of worm grows inside it.”

“When I put the worms on fresh meat, it rotted even faster!”

Fang Zheng smiled with satisfaction.

Good, the child can be taught. The Crown Prince indeed hasn’t disappointed me.

“And then?”

“Then I rinsed the rotten meat with the worms in water, and gave the water to the guards to drink. Guess what happened?”

Fang Zheng’s face suddenly fell.

Li Yuanzhao, you’ve committed a great wrong!

“I won’t guess!”

Li Yuanzhao didn’t seem to care and continued excitedly: “I gave the water with worms to the people below.”

“They all got diarrhea!”

“……….”