Before sending people to the sugar factory to conduct lectures, Yin Shuangshuang welcomed a special guest who came specifically, now the County Magistrate of Lin County, Yang Yixuan.

Yang Yixuan initially went to Lin County to accept the position of County Magistrate. He had been collecting evidence of the County Magistrate’s crimes; in fact, there was no need for much investigation as the County Magistrate had an abundance of faults.

The County Magistrate was born as a concubine’s child of an aristocratic family and followed their official ways, extorting common people, protecting fellow officials, and being quite lecherous, forcibly taking many beautiful women from good families in the county as concubines.

This County Magistrate believed that as long as the Emperor was unaware of his crimes, it would not matter, but he did not expect to be caught by Yang Yixuan.

Yang Yixuan managed to depose the County Magistrate in just a few days, and the Emperor specifically intervened to impose severe punishment, directly stripping him of his official attire and sentencing him to be executed after the autumn.

After Yang Yixuan took over as County Magistrate, he has been working diligently to improve the lives of the common people, but Yang Yixuan, being from a military general background, found it somewhat challenging to suddenly cross into the governance role as a magistrate.

Finally, Yang Yixuan thought about it and decided to seek advice from his benefactor, Yin Shuangshuang, hoping she could give him some ideas on how to govern the county’s people well. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

After considering, Yin Shuangshuang straightforwardly suggested that Yang Yixuan also engage in the sugar factory business. After all, it was just concerning two counties, both manually producing sugar, and couldn’t produce much sugar; there would certainly be a shortage, which wouldn’t impact Qinglin County.

Yang Yixuan was truly surprised that Yin Shuangshuang provided such a big surprise. He was aware of Yin Shuangshuang’s sugar factory venture, and he truly admired Yin Shuangshuang.

What a profitable business this could be, yet Yin Shuangshuang sacrificed it for the common people’s sake! This is truly how an official should care for the people like a parent.

If Yang Yixuan’s gratitude towards Yin Shuangshuang was significant before, now it was close to reverent, almost viewing Yin Shuangshuang as a saint.

Now, with Yin Shuangshuang allowing him to join in the sugar factory venture, it equated to sharing a part of the political achievement with him, leading Yang Yixuan to thank Yin Shuangshuang profusely before hastily returning.

Since there’s the addition of people from Lin County where Yang Yixuan resides, there were too many attendees for this sugar factory training, with the total number being considerable even if just one person from each household attended.

With so many people, the original space of the sugar factory was certainly inadequate, so Yin Shuangshuang decided to split them into several groups, with each batch being instructed one at a time, thus rotating the teaching.

Anyway, they would have to wait until next year after planting sugar beets to produce sugar; a year’s time is sufficient for everyone to learn sugar production.

On the day of the sugar factory lecture, Yin Shuangshuang specially arrived to address all attendees; when she arrived, she was warmly received by the common people with immense enthusiasm, bowing in gratitude.

After a long effort to lift everyone and reassure them, Yin Shuangshuang worked up quite a sweat before finally standing on the platform to address the crowd.

"I know you are all passionate and determined to succeed in the sugar-making venture.

However, I must say beforehand that since I am teaching you sugar-making, you must ensure the quality of the sugar remains high.

As you already know, my sugar has been designated by His Majesty as a tribute; poor quality would not only embarrass me but ruin the reputation of Qinglin County’s sugar production.

Though you haven’t traded before and may lack understanding of business protocols, let me tell you today: trust and honesty are paramount in business, and it’s all about competing with superior products.

Should anyone tarnish our Qinglin County sugar brand in the future, they will be banned from the sugar business for life. My words are my bond, and I hope you will heed my advice today."

The common people now regard Yin Shuangshuang’s words as the Holy Decree, considering whatever she says as heavenly principles, so as soon as she finished speaking, everyone echoed in agreement.

"Rest assured, sir, we will produce sugar properly and never embarrass you!"

"Indeed, we will never damage Qinglin County’s sugar reputation; if anyone breaks the rules, we won’t spare them even without your intervention!"

"Rest assured, sir, we will supervise each other; no one will compromise quality or engage in unscrupulous conduct."

"Since you have pledged, I believe in your integrity; there will be no one foolish enough to act carelessly.

One more thing, sugar beets are harsh on the soil, so remember to plant a crop of vetch before growing sugar beets to avoid depleting the soil’s fertility with continuous sugar beet cultivation."

The common people agreed to this last point more readily; for those who rely on the land for sustenance, their care for the land far exceeds those who do not farm.

After everything was said, Yin Shuangshuang left the sugar factory. The subsequent teaching of sugar production was handled by the sugar-making masters whom Yin Shuangshuang had previously trained; she had many things to attend to.

Besides the sugar beets grown on her estate, those from surrounding counties were nearly all purchased by Yin Shuangshuang; she intended to produce a large quantity of sugar to first establish the market.

A year later, the sugar from Qinglin County and Lin County would rise dramatically in quantity due to the common people’s production, and lacking sales channels would be disastrous for both counties’ people.

Currently, Yin Shuangshuang is rushing sugar production, selling it through Imperial Merchants and the Bai and Chu families nationwide; clearly, sales across many places mean sugar will be in short supply.

Thus Yin Shuangshuang limited sugar sales, employing a scarcity marketing strategy to tantalize those affluent enough to buy sugar, ensuring they fall in love with its taste, thus creating a market.

In usual circumstances, spreading sugar widely would take at least three to five years, but Yin Shuangshuang has the Emperor’s backing to expedite the process, with His Majesty declaring that all imperial merchants shall sell Yin Shuangshuang’s sugar.

The quality of Yin Shuangshuang’s sugar being excellent, its promotion naturally significantly reduced the time required to become popular, compressing what typically needed three to five years into one year, or even less.

————————

At the peak of frantic busyness for everyone involved, Yin Shuangshuang found herself idle again.

The reason being on the day of winter setting in, the temperature dropped sharply, making Yin Shuangshuang’s delicate constitution the first to succumb, leaving her no choice but to rest.

Yin Shuangshuang lay weakly nestled in heavy blankets, while Heng Yue busied himself brewing medicine in the pharmacy and Ying Chang’an sat before her, scolding her as he checked her pulse.

"You’re truly oblivious to your own health; during the autumn-winter transition, temperature changes are most unpredictable, prone to catching cold — yet you neglect adding layers, even daring to reverse day and night. Do you wish to fall sick deliberately?"

Yin Shuangshuang had grown accustomed to this; being one who swiftly admits fault but stubbornly refuses to change, she had thoroughly honed the skill of hearing through one ear, letting it out the other.

Lately, Yin Shuangshuang had been overly busy; if not for her constant reminder to nourish her body with Spiritual Power, she would have faced more than just getting sick.