Boil the starch with kudzu root and rice flour, then paste the torn cloth and old cloth on a large piece of cloth to a thickness of five or six parts, dry it in the sun, and then cut it into a sole shape with a shoe knife. Then drill through with an awl, pass through the hemp shoelace, and pull tightly. The holes drilled should be dense and evenly arranged, and the tighter the shoelace is pulled, the better. Only then can you make a Bai Nian Qian Ceng shoe.

  It has to be said that as long as there is money to be made, whether it's studying or working efficiently, it immediately becomes worthwhile.

  Not a single day passed before the officials and their servants, runners and soldiers knew what to do, then they led away large quantities of coarse cloth.

  With just a little bit of prompting, these women knew how to make the most of the assembly line principle.

  In feudal society, if it's peaceful, the county magistrate actually has very little to do. After all, the social structure is simple and easy to manage. Here, Fang Xin can't help but think of a question - those Confucian scholars who strongly oppose commercialization, is it because merchants are highly mobile and specialized, making them difficult to control?

  If it can't be managed, then abolish it; if it can't be abolished, then degrade it. Once Fang Xin understood this point, the historical process suddenly became crystal clear to him.

  From the perspective of world history, the existence of Ming Suan Ke (digital and accounting) contributed to the prosperity of Tang Song business, but in the Ming and Qing dynasties, Ming Suan Ke basically did not exist or sank into the skills of small officials, resulting in a severe closed-door policy.

  This is because those in the social elite class are not good at arithmetic, or rather, they are not skilled at arithmetic. They naturally have an intense aversion to and criticism of business - because they don't know how to manage it. Even if you explain it to them, they still won't understand anything.

  On earth. Countless people study why China cannot produce capitalism, and the reasons are many, some idiots even say that this is the instinctual hatred of feudal lords for capitalist masters, which is simply nonsense, they are all prophets who know class theory, do they know that capitalists will replace them?

  The reason is actually very simple. The officials who manage the country and the entire literati class are not proficient in mathematics, so they naturally cannot manage business. With their limited arithmetic skills, it's enough to manage land tenants, so they especially hate and crack down on merchants - think about it, aren't those who oppose merchants just bad at math?

  As soon as this is thought of, everything becomes clear. There are many links in changing China's internal circulation pattern, but the key point is that if a certain dynasty takes mathematics as a basic subject for officials, and examines it like strategy, then the overall quality of the official class will be improved, and they will naturally manage business and merchants well. They won't crack down on them, but allow businesses to develop, and also discover the benefits within, and then naturally transform from landlord aristocracy to capitalist aristocracy, thus naturally forming a capitalist society.

  Thinking of this, Yu Ruyi suddenly had a great shock, almost emitting light, which was an unprecedented event, indicating that there were unprecedented merits.

  Fang Xin exhausted a lot of mental energy to finally control himself. He resumed his usual leisurely life, after all, once the taxes were collected, there was no official business in the entire yamen, but this didn't mean he had nothing to do, on the contrary, he was very busy.

  At this time, the whole government is busy. In order to prepare for the New Year's celebration, they need to make full preparations.

  The customs of Chu, once entered into the twelfth lunar month, are considered to have entered the year-end. It is not until the twenty-fifth day of the first lunar month, after "filling the warehouse", that things return to normal.

  Whether it is the government or the common people, they must prepare for the New Year's goods to celebrate the New Year, which is one of the most important things. Therefore, as soon as the lunar month begins, the market suddenly becomes prosperous, and this is a special market within a year, called "Lunar Month Market".

  Not to mention the provincial capital, even the temporary market in the county town is very lively, and vendors from all over have also arrived.

  Of course, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the government office must specifically offer sacrifices to "Ya Shen and Yu Shen", and as the county magistrate, they must also offer sacrifices to the land god. This is a very important task to ensure a bumper harvest, people getting food, so they make offerings. Lin Lei

  That day, the whole yamen was filled with fragrance because they cooked Laba porridge. This pot was extremely large and one pot could feed fifty people. According to the rules, a total of 10 large pots were simmered, so everyone in each yamen would get a share.

  Inside were red dates, glutinous rice, walnut kernels, chestnuts, and Job's tears, even adding some rare sugar, instantly making everyone happy.

  "Adults, preparations are complete." Not long after, on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month in the morning, someone reported.

  Down at the county yamen, the square was already packed with people. At a rough glance, there were about 400 people, apparently all from the yamen, almost everyone had arrived. Seeing that the crowd was gathered in full, Fang Xing gave an order and they arranged themselves according to their official positions and age.

  As the county magistrate, Fang Xin personally led them to offer sacrifices to heaven and earth, the emperor and parents, and gods, busy for an entire afternoon. After the sacrifice was completed, they returned to the square again. At this time, there were even more people, crowded with people, even family members came, and there were nearly a thousand people on the scene.

  Fang Xin coughed, and the whole scene fell silent. Then Fang Xin stepped forward, speaking slowly: "Today is Laba Festival, according to the rules, everyone will line up in order of their duties and age!"

  Apart from formal officials with ranks, others also stood up in order.

  Fang Xian saw that the crowd had gathered, and with a smile said: "Today, I'll say it first. Since taking office in this county for three months, thanks to your loyalty to your duties, things have been handled properly. Therefore, this year's annual goods will also be distributed together."

  He turned around and said to County Magistrate Zheng Yongze, "Magistrate Zheng, there are too many people. Why don't we divide them into three groups? You can read the first part, how about that?"

  This had already been said, County Lieutenant Zheng Yongze slightly nodded his head and said: "Yes!"

  He took up his brush and sang: "Signing the deed, Officer Song Wenchen!"

  "At your service!"

  "Eight Treasures Porridge one serving, Thousand-layer official boots two pairs, Hundred-soled shoes two pairs. His wife Zhang made 20 pairs of boots, labor cost 2000 wen!"

  As soon as this sound came out, everyone was stirred up. Song Wencheng calmly walked forward, and then his wife brought a large bowl over. She filled a bowl, and also accepted the boots and copper coins.

  "Team leader Liu Jue Ming!"

  "At your service!"

  "Labazhou one serving. Thousand-layer official boots two pairs, hundred-bottom shoes two pairs, his wife Qian Shi, made 50 pairs of boots, labor cost 5,000 wen!"

  Liu Jue Ming stepped forward with a pleased expression, this wage was equivalent to his annual salary. Of course, corruption could bring in some extra money, but this county was very poor and there were limits to how much he could embezzle. Fortunately, he had managed to secure an order for 50 pairs of shoes and had mobilized his relatives to help with the work.

  And below, everyone has a share. Even the least of them have 500 Wen, you know that at this time rice is only 2 Wen per catty, and meat is only 10 Wen per catty!

  When the reading reached one-third, County Lieutenant Zheng Yongze's throat was indeed a bit hoarse, and he hastily handed it over to Chief Scribe Qiao Jieying. Chief Scribe Qiao Jieying read for another third, then handed it over to County Captain Gu Qingbin, taking three hours in total. Only after finishing the distribution of the annual goods did everyone's face turn red with joy, filled with delight, and their support for the county magistrate immediately increased by a notch.

  Fang Xin then went on stage and said, "From now on, you can only come to work for half a day. After the 20th of December, except for some positions that require rotation, everyone else can go home for New Year's. Even prisoners in jail, those with lighter sentences can also go home for New Year's, while those with heavier sentences are allowed to have their families visit and reunite."

  "Yes, sir!" Thousands of people knelt down and kowtowed in gratitude.

  The grand ceremony of the Chu State begins on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. In fact, it has already been half a holiday. On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, the government office will be sealed and closed until the twentieth day of the first lunar month when it will reopen for business. After the seal is closed, all officials begin their formal holidays.

  So, from the 8th to the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, the county magistrate would invite the heads of various government departments, and these department heads would in turn invite their subordinates. This was a way to thank everyone for their hard work throughout the year, so they would gather together to drink and celebrate, which had become a tradition. After the 20th, everyone would rush back home.

  After the hustle and bustle, the main officials of the government office finally entered the grand hall. This was a banquet that only high-ranking officials could attend. Of course, Song Wenchen, the clerk in charge of documents, and Liu Jiaoming, the head of the class, were special cases and also participated.

  "We have come to congratulate you, sir!" At the banquet, all the officials raised their cups and congratulated Fang Xin.

  Fang Xin's warm smile said: "Tong He, you gentlemen have worked hard this year, come on, let's have a drink!"

  At that moment, everyone drained their cups and the atmosphere relaxed a lot. They sat down, and at this time, outside was all white, and it had started snowing. Fang Xin held his cup, no longer speaking.

  "Good sir, a heavy snowfall foretells a bumper harvest year! Congratulations, good sir!" The county magistrate thought for a moment before saying.

  "Sir, I heard that you are this year's new jinshi and top scorer in the imperial examination. May I have the honor of seeing one of your poems?"

  "There is a poem, you can all listen." Fang Xin played with his wine cup and slowly recited.

  "Sixty-year-old charcoal seller outside the city, cutting firewood and burning charcoal in the south mountain. Face full of dust and smoke color, two temples grayish black ten fingers. What to do with the money earned from selling charcoal? Body clothes mouth food. Pitiful body clothes are thin, worried about charcoal being cheap wish for cold weather."

  When Fang heard the poem, everyone was stunned and didn't know what to say. As humans are not beasts, these people naturally had some literary talent and thoughts. After a while, County Magistrate Zheng Yongze sincerely sighed: "I, as an official who rose from being a scholar, have been in office for 16 years, and I've always had regrets in my heart. Today, after hearing the poem by Your Excellency, I suddenly woke up to reality. Only someone like you, who truly cares about national affairs and worries about the people's livelihoods, can become a parent official of a region at such a young age. This is not only your good fortune but also the good fortune of the imperial court and the great fortune of the common people!"

  Qiao Zhe said sincerely: "It's indeed a good poem, Qiao is truly ashamed!"

  Xun Jian Zhang Yang's expression was very strange, after listening to this poem, he actually had some tears in his eyes, and he stared blankly without speaking.

  "Gentlemen, today I will speak frankly. As a government official, it is only natural that I should govern fairly and bring peace to the people, not betraying the emperor's kindness above nor the common people below, and having no shame before the sages' books!" Fang Xin cupped his hands in respect: "However, which family does not have wives and children? Which family does not want a better life? The imperial salary is clear to everyone; if one were a commoner, it would be enough to support a family. But as an official, with the need to curry favor above and below, and to socialize with colleagues, this amount of money is fundamentally insufficient. What do you gentlemen think?"

  The officials present had thought that Fang Xin was going to play the role of a clean official, so they admired him with admiration and still had some worries in their hearts. Now hearing this, everyone suddenly had the same feeling, staring at him, waiting for him to continue speaking.

  "Heaven's principle is not beyond human emotions. Our county will not dare to violate this principle. At this time, during the inspection of the granary this year, everyone has given their full support. I would like to thank you all in advance." Having said that, Fang Xin paused for a moment and swept his gaze across the entire scene.

  "I dare not, I dare not!" The officials actually filled the warehouse after thinking for a long time. Since it was only 40%, they thought about Fang Xinde's warning and gritted their teeth to agree. This was also accidental, and if it really happened again, who knows whether they would agree or not.

  "Fang Xin said: 'In this county, the people are overburdened with taxes and labor. If we take one more coin or a single piece of silver, it may lead to family ruin and death. Since I took office, I have been turning this over in my mind, unable to sleep peacefully. How can I ensure the well-being of the people while also ensuring the comfort of all you gentlemen?'"

  County Lieutenant Gu Qingbin's eyes lit up instantly and he asked: "Sir, what is your brilliant plan?"

  Fang Xin laughed: "Since we can't save, let's make more. Song Wenchen, go get the account book!"

  "Yes, sir!" Song Wenchen immediately fetched it.

  "Hundred Bottom Store, purchased eight hundred bolts of coarse cloth from the county warehouse. Eight hundred strings were spent, which have been entered into the county treasury, and checked without error." Song Wencheng read aloud.

  "Gentlemen, is this deal fair? Has the county treasury ever been short of silver?"

  "The adults, the cloth is only worth two yuan and one piece, but the inferior cloth in our county can only be sold for eight hundred wen, and there are few people who sell it. If you can sell it for one yuan, you have already made a profit." Chief Cao immediately said: "Whoever says that they cannot afford to shortchange the government's silver!"

  "Recite again!" Fang Xin was very satisfied, saying. "Eight hundred pieces of coarse cloth, a total of five thousand pairs, one thousand and five hundred pairs of boots. Four thousand and five hundred pairs of bottom shoes. Later, the cost of fine shoe threads, hemp lines, glutinous rice, and labor costs, totaling eight hundred yuan. In total, all the costs add up to one thousand and eight hundred yuan."

  "Send down 100 pairs of boots with a thousand layers, and 800 pairs of shoes with a hundred bottoms, to be presented to the Magistrate and the Governor, as well as various high-ranking officials. In total, 100 pairs of boots with a thousand layers, and 200 pairs of shoes with a hundred bottoms were sent out. The remaining 300 pairs of boots with a thousand layers, and 3,500 pairs of shoes with a hundred bottoms, are to be sold at a fixed price: 2 guan for the boots with a thousand layers, and 18 wen for the shoes with a hundred bottoms!"

  "It's just the right time for the annual meeting, so it was sold out in the prefectural city. It was actually given to the officials first, which is also a reasonable thing to do. As a result, all the officials and scholars wanted to buy it, and three days ago, it was completely sold out, with a total profit of 1,111 guan and 600 wen!" Song Wenchen concluded.

  All officials were shocked upon hearing this, they had never thought that the profit would be so high.

  "This is the principle of opening up this county. You see, I take 20%, County Magistrate Zheng takes 15%, the county lieutenant and the chief clerk each take 10%. The other nine grades each take 5%, and another 10% goes to the bottom shop. We don't exhaust our resources for fishing, we also need to leave some capital. After all, we can't sit in person, how is that?"

  This is one thousand taels, taking one tenth is one hundred taels. You know, in this poor county, last time they embezzled, the total was only three thousand taels of silver, and each person only got a little over three hundred taels. Now all of a sudden there's almost a third of that, almost making up for this year's replenishment of the granary. Suddenly everyone knew what Fang Xin meant by "opening up sources".

  "Magistrate, sir, taking 20% is a bit too little, I think you should take 50%!" said Cao Shaoping, the head of the tax collection office.

  "Not a single one less, everyone has a share, each takes what they need." Fang Xin interrupted this remark, saying: "There's no need to argue about this anymore, now, please take it, gentlemen!"

  No one in the field was a commoner; all were officials. Although they thought about it, for the time being no one came forward.

  But then, County Magistrate Zheng slapped his palm and exclaimed loudly: "Wonderful!"

  He took out one of them, which was exactly 150 taels of silver. There were three in total. The snow-white silver ingots dazzled people's eyes, and some other loose silver coins were not taken. He said, "Give some to the brothers in the yamen to drink!"

  With this opening, suddenly everyone came forward, each took a handful of silver coins, and with the silver in hand, people's hearts were greatly delighted.

  Fang Xian laughed loudly, pointing to the charcoal fire and saying: "Ah, gentlemen, stop talking, come on, the delicious food is ready, why don't you quickly pick up your chopsticks? Next year, it won't be just this!"

  "Good, let's all congratulate our master, and have another drink!" This not only brought warmth to everyone's heart but also made them raise their cups and drink together. After the distribution of spoils, everyone became much closer, and they drank with great relish.

  At this moment, snowflakes fell, and the wine was intoxicating. The joy of the New Year already had a few points, as for further away, those yamen attendants' families also participated in the work and received thick red envelopes for the New Year, each busy going to the market to buy meat, and having several good meals.

  Only the common people, each and every one of them still struggling to make ends meet, for a while, have not yet seen any great benefits. After drinking a few cups of wine, they felt more at ease, went out the door, and arrived at the outer courtyard, where snowflakes as light as feathers were floating in the sky, the sun was dim, with a kind of dense and unrelenting feeling of tranquility, met several officials, who all bowed and paid their respects.

  "Next year should be a bumper harvest!" Fang Xin thought to himself, the entire government was already under his control, it's time to take action.