Unlimited Resources: Raising a Minister with a Space Supermarket-Chapter 534 - 468: Public Opinion (Part 3)

Not only can it serve the people, but it also satisfies him. It must be said that Su Jingchen indeed has some skills.

As for reputation, as long as he puts some effort into building it later, it will come, and these labors are not enough to affect the big picture.

"But, if Su Jingchen exempts all excessive taxes and levies, and only pays the Ministry of Revenue’s grain tax, then Your Highness..."

If the grain tax is taken by the Ministry of Revenue, wouldn’t their prince get nothing?

Autumn is supposed to be the harvest season, but now it seems, Yangcheng cannot offer anything to their prince.

"Let’s wait and see, no rush!" Jun Mobai smiled faintly.

Fu Qing frowned as he left Jun Mobai’s study, feeling frustrated, he ran into Qi Yunfan and promptly pulled him aside to vent.

Qi Yunfan, having gathered some information from Fu Qing, immediately sent someone to Yangcheng to deliver a message to Su Jingchen.

After reading the message, Su Jingchen burned the paper, already knowing what to do next.

Jun Mobai cannot be offended, not only can he not be offended, but efforts must be made to appease him.

After much consideration, Su Jingchen finally decided to seize the opportunity during the autumn grain tax collection to boost Jun Mobai’s reputation.

During the collection of the autumn grain tax, all the streets and alleys in Yangcheng were turned into smooth and solid cement roads. Taking advantage of the moderately warm weather, Su Jingchen organized manpower to repair one-tenth of the road to Linzhou.

The autumn grain tax collection went very smoothly. Su Jingchen stored the grain in the granary, waiting for the Ministry of Revenue to come and fetch it. Meanwhile, he issued each worker at Wuyuan Mountain a set of thick cotton coats and pants. The cement factory couldn’t stop, but considering the weather would get colder, Su Jingchen established a shift system, rotating people every hour for work, and improved the meals as well.

Jun Mobai didn’t receive any tribute from Su Jingchen, but he was very pleased with how Su Jingchen spread his name in Yangcheng.

Thus, Su Jingchen managed to curry favor with Jun Mobai without spending a single cent.

As the year-end approached, Yu Xiaolian took out a thermometer and stuck it in the snow in the yard, minus thirty-two degrees.

As the saying goes, one’s breath turns to ice, the severe cold has arrived. The workers at the Red Sausage Factory are fine, as it’s mostly indoor work, but the cement factory is not. Even with shifts every hour, many workers’ hands, faces, and ears suffered from frostbite.

If in the previous winter months roadworks were being done, numerous citizens would have died from the cold while working on projects due to conscription.

Although Su Jingchen was eager to produce more cement, he cared more about ensuring the people’s livelihood.

Vacation!!!

Everyone received a fifty-wen year-end bonus and half a pound of meat to go home and stay warm for the New Year.

The Red Sausage Factory didn’t close, as losses from the cement factory needed to be covered by it. In the dead of winter, the entire area around the Red Sausage Factory was steaming with heat and the smell was enticing.

During the disaster, the government controlled salt, grain, and iron. Salt and grain were in limited supply, and quality iron was hardly seen in the market, having been requisitioned by the government to forge weapons.

Although systems have returned to pre-disaster conditions, salt supply remains tight, salt is expensive, and it’s difficult for common people to find.

Yu Xiaolian had salt in her space, but figuring out how to distribute it to help the people was another challenge.

Yu Xiaolian spent several days worrying about this issue.

She thought of dozens of methods, but Yu Xiaolian dismissed them one by one. The current peaceful life had been hard to come by, and she didn’t want to take risks.

It would be easy to produce a bag of salt, but ensuring everyone had some was unrealistic.

The court’s control over salt was too strict. If she suddenly acquired a cart full of salt, it would be creating something out of nothing. Remembering how Jun Mobai constantly had people watching Su Jingchen and her, Yu Xiaolian quickly dismissed this dangerous idea.

The end of the year was fast approaching. The weather in the Northern Land was getting colder and colder, so Yu Xiaolian chose to stay home all day, no longer going out, and left affairs of the Red Sausage Factory entirely to Liu Shuangli’s management.

One day, amidst a heavy snowfall, Yu Xiaolian was warming herself by the brazier when Fang Cao suddenly knocked on the door, saying that Master Sun Wulin’s wife, Mrs. Gao, had arrived with her two children.

Yu Xiaolian hadn’t seen Mrs. Gao and them for nearly half a year. She didn’t know whether they had built a house over in Upper River Bay.

Yu Xiaolian thought Mrs. Gao might be visiting because the New Year was approaching, but unexpectedly, Mrs. Gao had come with her children to seek refuge with her.

"What’s going on? Haven’t you built a house after all this time?"

Mrs. Gao looked much more haggard. Since arranging manpower and helping Yu Zikuang and the Sun Family’s ancestral grave, Yu Xiaolian hadn’t returned to River Bend. She assumed Mrs. Gao had reunited with her family and was living harmoniously, but today Mrs. Gao unexpectedly arrived with her two children to seek her help.

Mrs. Gao originally planned to stay at her mother’s place for a while, then go back to repair the dilapidated house at Upper River Bay, and formally settle down, living a stable life.