Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

Fang Zheng sat in the president's office of Dongjiao University, quietly reading the school's progress report, with Mo Xiaohu accompanying him.

Recently, he had been living quite leisurely.

Fang Chenyu's matter could be considered settled for the time being. Although his son's methods were not perfect, he was completely satisfied that his intentions were good.

As long as he was smart enough and had a kind heart, the rest could be slowly taught later, as there was still plenty of time.

He had also kept his promise to his son to help Maodan go to school, and he naturally wanted to fulfill this small wish in a happy mood, but not to Yucai.

Instead, he specifically found a teacher.

After all, he was too young, his foundation was weak, and the students in Yucai Primary School were all of extraordinary status, which was really troublesome.

Fang Chenyu didn't dwell on it much. After hearing the news, he returned to school contentedly.

Clearly, after suffering the hardship of farming, his learning efficiency had greatly improved!

After a month of hard work, his class ranking had improved by a hundred percent!

It was estimated that with another month of effort, he could be the third from the bottom.

Faced with such exam results, President Fang, whose psychological expectations had already been beaten to the bottom, was very satisfied...

However, although Fang Zheng's life was leisurely, the external market was turbulent.

The influence of the advent of the train had not subsided, but had become even more lively with the passage of time.

Countless factories had already begun to invest heavily, frantically recruiting laborers and accelerating construction.

Many prominent families in the court had entered the scene, vying to purchase land along the planned railway lines.

Fang Zheng had personally witnessed two incidents where officials quarreled fiercely in private over the purchase of land.

The houses in Taoyuan County, like the land, were selling like hotcakes, of course, the large units were the bestsellers.

However, there were also some unexpected situations. The small units were originally prepared for some wealthy people in the capital.

Unexpectedly, many tycoons also intervened.

It was thought that these people were going for investment, but after careful investigation, it was found that this was not the case!

The tycoons bought small units not for investment; they didn't care about that little money.

The actual function was unexpected: to keep mistresses...

Although having three wives and four concubines was legal, the matter of keeping mistresses seemed to have never stopped from ancient times to the present. Perhaps it was because there was a shrew at home, or for some novel experience. Fang Zheng also didn't understand what most people's psychology was...

However, Taoyuan County was convenient for shopping and was indeed a good place to hide mistresses...

Everything was developing vigorously, and the surrounding environment could be clearly felt to be accelerating.

The flow of merchants was extremely fast, and the information required was also increasing day by day.

Even the brokerage firms were driven to frantically seek information on the sources of goods on the market.

Liu Zhongshun had already gathered many powerful merchants, and the exchange had been established, but the time was still short, and the influence had not yet become prominent.

The newspaper had not reported it either, so we could only wait for it to ferment slowly...

After reading the school's summary in his hand, Fang Zheng took a sip of tea, pointed to an article on it, and said, "This student who invented the four-wheeled carriage is a talent. This year, when awarding scholarships, this person must be added and given special praise!"

Mo Xiaohu got up, leaned over the table, and asked doubtfully, "Master, there are many outstanding things in here. Why do you only value this four-wheeled carriage?"

"Many people in the school have seen the finished product and think this thing is not very good. Two-wheeled carriages are already enough. This four-wheeled one is purely superfluous."

Fang Zheng shook his head, picked up the newspaper and asked, "In the past, there were no four-wheeled carriages because steering was difficult, but this student solved the steering problem structurally. This is a remarkable invention that will definitely be of great use in the future. When the school discusses these new things, don't pay too much attention to practicality in the short term. A major breakthrough is a good thing and should be encouraged."

This student's invention of the four-wheeled carriage was something that others thought was useless.

Fang Zheng was amazed by it!

This student invented the differential! An important component of future automobiles. It would be a real injustice if such an achievement were buried!

Of course, there were also many other good things in the summary, but in his opinion, most of them were just superficial tricks that wouldn't go far.

Compared with the four-wheeled carriage, it was a world of difference!

Mo Xiaohu put away the summary and nodded in agreement.

Fang Zheng looked at his watch: "It's time for dinner. Go to the steam workshop and call the Crown Prince."

He didn't come to Dongjiao University alone today, but with Li Yuanzhao.

It's just that he wasn't interested in the specific affairs of the school and went to the steam workshop by himself.

"No need to look, I'm here."

As soon as Fang Zheng finished speaking, Li Yuanzhao pushed the door open and walked straight to the table.

"Where are we going to eat?"

"The cafeteria, of course."

"The cafeteria? That's boring. I know a place where you can eat, drink, and have fun!" Li Yuanzhao said mysteriously.

Fang Zheng raised his eyes, curious: "There's such a magical place?"

"It's something new, and not many people know about it yet." Li Yuanzhao showed a mysterious smile, "Have you heard of the stock exchange? It hasn't been established for long, and the Banshan Daily hasn't even reported it yet."

This kid is quite well-informed. He even knows about the exchange?

"Uh...." Fang Zheng was speechless, "Why didn't I realize before that you have a special fondness for being scammed? You just got scammed out of thirty thousand taels, and now you're looking for another trap?"

"What are you talking about! What are you saying! Do you know what a stock exchange is? It's a new thing!" Li Yuanzhao said loudly and indignantly, "I found it in the city when I was bored a while ago. This thing has some tricks."

"I dare say it will be a hit in the future... Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I told you. Come and see for yourself, and I guarantee you'll have your eyes opened!"

Fang Zheng smiled dumbly.

"Then let's go and see what this exchange looks like."

The two hit it off and left immediately.

The location of the exchange was in the east of the capital, quite far from Dongjiao University.

It was past noon when the two finally arrived.

"This is the stock exchange. Isn't it impressive? It is said that the original row of four restaurants were all taken over and transformed. It's extremely spacious inside!" Li Yuanzhao introduced loudly.

People with hurried expressions kept entering and leaving the entrance of the exchange.

Fang Zheng silently observed his surroundings, and couldn't help but feel satisfied.

Although he was the one who suggested that Liu Zhongshun establish the exchange, he didn't expect him to do it so well.

This was also the first time he had personally visited the exchange.

Now it seemed that Liu Zhongshun was indeed efficient and organized, making it look quite impressive.

Looking into the building from the entrance, one could vaguely see a crowd of people inside.

Li Yuanzhao also poked his head in to look, and exclaimed, "What did I tell you? This exchange is really a good place. When I came here before, there weren't so many people. Today, it's actually full? Let's go in and take a look, and I'll explain the rules to you properly and broaden your horizons."

......