sovbooks Chapter 133 Building Momentum
Chapter 133 Building Momentum
Wu Dalang and Fu Shun's confidants faced off outside the house, neither of them liking the other.
One person said the other was a petty person who had gotten ahead, while the other retorted that the other was out of touch with reality.
While the bigwigs on both sides were still negotiating inside, their underlings were on the verge of a fight.
Just as the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense, the door opened with a soft knock.
"Your Excellency is very grateful for your magistrate's magistrate's kindness. I will do my best to handle the matter entrusted to me by Your Excellency and will not delay it."
Fu Shun smiled and saw Li Chong out, showing no sign that he had previously been gritting his teeth at Li Chong, wishing he could fight him.
Li Chong smiled and said, "I trust County Magistrate Fu's abilities. I'll wait for good news in the government office."
"We will certainly not fail the magistrate's trust!"
Fu Shun cupped his hands in acknowledgment, his attitude very sincere.
Li Chong stepped forward, took his arm, and warmly helped him up: "Don't be so polite. We are both officials in the same county, so we should cooperate well to benefit the people. If Brother Fu doesn't mind, we can be friends in the future."
"Then I would be honored to be associated with you."
Fu Shunshun climbed up the pole, and for a moment the atmosphere was very harmonious.
The two of them were being all friendly, but their subordinates on either side were stunned. They subconsciously exchanged glances and then looked ahead.
Am I dreaming?
"What are you standing there for? Let's go!"
After bidding farewell to Fu Shun, Li Chong said a few words and called Wu Dalang and the others to leave together.
Although they didn't know what Li Chong was up to, Wu Dalang and the others quickly followed and left with him.
Fu Shun walked a few more steps to see Li Chong off, and only when Li Chong was far away did the smile on his face fade away.
He stared at it for a long time before turning back.
"The younger generation is truly formidable."
With a sigh, Fu Shun couldn't help but shake his head.
"Boss! What are you and that kid doing...?"
Fu Shun glared at his subordinates: "What are you yelling about! That's the county magistrate, don't you dare speak so disrespectfully!"
"Well……"
The group fell silent for a moment. It seemed that it was Fu Shun who started cursing at Li Chong in the first place, right?
Fu Shun stepped into the house and continued to instruct, "From now on, you should continue to collect the tributes from the West Market and distribute the money according to the usual practice. Also, please pass on a message to those gangs in the city; I need to speak with them."
Hearing that their future income was guaranteed, the group became excited.
"Boss, is it that little... no, magistrate trying to win us over? So he's planning to return the West Market to us?"
Fu Shun nodded, poured himself a bowl of wine, and smirked, "I've been the county magistrate of Yanggu for so long, and I didn't do it for nothing. If the magistrate really wants to keep his position, he'll have to come to me. Don't worry, we brothers have a long road ahead of us!"
With the crisis resolved, Fu Shun naturally wanted to seize the opportunity to win back popular support and re-establish his authority.
Sure enough, his words greatly excited his subordinates.
"As expected of the boss! Come, everyone, let's all have a bowl!"
"Dry!"
"Pour it again!"
The group toasted each other, and then the sound of drinking games filled the air, making it lively again.
Wu Dalang cautiously approached Li Chong's side.
After carefully observing Li Chong's expression, he asked, "Sir, what about County Lieutenant Fu...?"
Li Chong casually replied, "You don't need to harm him anymore, and you don't need to touch their tributes either. As for your losses, I'll compensate you elsewhere."
Wu Dalang quickly replied, "I owe my success today to you, sir. There's no need for any supplements. Just give me your order, and I'll do as you say."
Li Chong glanced at him and nodded calmly.
"That's all for now. You guys go on with your work, I'm going back to rest."
On the way back to the rear office, Li Chong was in a good mood.
He and Fu Shun didn't have any fundamental conflict, unlike Yang Chengde.
If Yang Chengde wanted to gain merit and promotion, he needed to seize the power that belonged to him from Li Chong, such as official duties like tax collection.
Fu Shun came from a military background and was fortunate enough to be promoted to county magistrate, but his career was basically over. Unless there were major changes, he was unlikely to be promoted again.
Therefore, as long as Li Chong provides him with sufficient benefits, Fu Shun can easily reconcile with Li Chong.
Moreover, Li Chong also painted a huge pie for Fu Shun, a pie that could break through the ceiling of his official career.
If the auspicious event succeeds, Li Chong will naturally reap the greatest benefits, but others may also benefit as well.
Fu Shun didn't ask for much. He didn't even want to be transferred to Bianliang, but he could at least be appointed as the magistrate of a remote county.
Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix; besides, a county magistrate can hardly be called a phoenix tail.
If given the chance to challenge for the position of Marquis of Baili, Fu Shun would naturally do his best.
Li Chong approached him to create momentum.
If you're going to offer up something auspicious, you need to get the approval of most people first.
The common people in ancient times were easy to fool, but not easy to fool either. If one simply spreads auspicious omens in a dry manner, it is inevitable that those with ulterior motives will see through the deception.
However, if they are encouraged to recognize the auspicious omen and spread it widely, and Li Chong then follows suit, it will be seen as going with the flow of people's hearts, and everything will fall into place naturally.
To achieve this, the participation of all sorts of people from various walks of life in the county is indispensable.
Fu Shun had more dealings with them, so by having him take the lead, Li Chong could remain uninvolved and manipulate people's hearts more freely.
"Next, we need to deal with Xiangrui. I don't know if my method will work. Also, the summer tax needs to be officially collected soon, and in a few months, the animals will be escorted to the prefecture."
Silently pondering this, Li Chong returned to the back office.
"My lord is back."
Shu'er took the initiative to greet him, helped Li Chong remove his outer garment, and then served him fragrant tea, attending to him attentively.
Not far away, Zhong Mei stood there, stunned. The person who should have been standing next to Li Chong was hers, but with Xie Wenyu's arrival, everything seemed to have changed.
After watching silently for a long time, Zhong Mei turned around and went back to her room.
"Should I go back to the mountain?"
Zhong Mei's mind was in turmoil.
Li Chong was drinking tea when suddenly a thought struck him. He looked up, but saw nothing.
"Zhong Mei..."
He stood up, intending to go over and take a look, but just then he bumped into Xie Wenyu, who was coming out of the inner room.
"My lord, there's no need for you to rise. We are husband and wife; there's no need for such formalities."
In this situation, what else could Li Chong say?
He could only smile and say, "It's only right. I've been busy with official duties and haven't been able to spend much time with my wife. I feel guilty about it."
Upon noticing the clothes in Xie Wenyu's hands, Li Chong raised an eyebrow: "What's this?"
"I've had nothing to do at home these past few days, so I made a new dress for you, my lord. I was in such a hurry yesterday that I forgot to take it out. Please try it on, my lord."
Xie Wenyu came over with a smile, carrying clothes to help Li Chong change.
Li Chong hesitated for a moment: "Should I change here?"
Xie Wenyu asked in surprise, "It's just Shu'er and me here, is there anything you're avoiding, sir?"
There was no taboo against it, but Li Chong still had some reservations.
Seeing Xie Wenyu's puzzled expression, he had no choice but to go over and take the clothes: "Madam's kindness is appreciated, but I have neglected you and feel ashamed."
"We are husband and wife, why say such things?"
Xie Wenyu helped Li Chong get dressed.