sovbooks Chapter 18 Winning Hearts and Minds
Chapter 18 Winning Hearts and Minds
When talking about these wealthy local families in Yanggu, Cui Shi's eyes lit up, his eyebrows danced with excitement, and his eyes were full of envy.
Li Chong sighed inwardly. Sure enough, he couldn't rely on Cui Shi to do anything. He had asked Cui Shi to inquire about the situation in the county, but Cui Shi was instead focused on which wealthy people lived there.
Fortunately, there were still some gains. In this era, money and status were closely related, which could help Li Chong's plans.
Li Chong began by asking, "Tell me about the Zhu family first. They sell medicinal herbs in the county. With such a large business, have they ever been robbed while transporting their goods?"
"this......"
Cui Shi thought for a moment: "I heard that they were robbed a few times, but later the Zhu family hired a group of guards from somewhere, and since then I have rarely heard of them being robbed."
"What about the other families?" Li Chong continued, "Those families you mentioned that can't compare to the Zhu family, like the Zhang and Xue families."
Cui Shi nodded readily: "Many others have been robbed. The official road from Yanggu to Daming Prefecture inevitably passes through Dafeng Mountain. These families couldn't find reliable guards and were robbed repeatedly. Several families who do business are now afraid to go to Daming Prefecture."
"Some remote villages are too far from the county seat, and occasionally bandits come down from the mountains to rob, causing heavy losses to the villagers."
Upon hearing this news, Li Chong's lips slowly curled upwards; he had finally heard the news he wanted to hear.
If what Cui Shi said is true, then it proves that the people of Yanggu County do indeed have a need to suppress bandits, and the next step will be much easier.
After sitting at the table and pondering for a moment, Li Chong instructed, "Go find a box and place it outside the county government office. I will later have someone write an official document and post it there. Then you should find a way to spread the word that I am going to raise funds, and make sure everyone knows about it."
"Yes." Choi Si nodded subconsciously and turned to leave.
As soon as he took a step, he suddenly realized something was wrong.
Cui Shi looked at Li Chong nervously: "You still want to raise funds? You won't get any money. In this day and age, who would willingly hand over their money to someone else for nothing? Aren't you just making yourself a laughingstock?"
Seeing Cui Shi's strong resistance, Li Chong had no choice but to tell him the truth, no matter how unwilling he was.
There was nothing he could do; he simply didn't have anyone else available at the moment.
"Come closer," Li Chong gestured to Cui Shi. "Now that things have come to this, I won't hide anything from you. We're both new here, and to establish our authority, we need to do something significant. But Yang Chengde has already taken over all the other places; there's no room for me to interfere."
"The only way forward is to take an unconventional approach to catch people off guard. If I openly declare that I am going to suppress the bandits, Yang Chengde will assume that I am going to compete with Fu Shun and will not be on guard. But that is not the case. We can use the pretext of suppressing the bandits to give generous gifts to the county officials and clerks to win their hearts."
"Procurement, smelting, and provisions—each of these is a lucrative position. When it comes time to choose who to manage them, won't it all depend on my approval as the county magistrate? The world is bustling, all for profit; the world is in turmoil, all for gain. If I have profits in hand, why worry about not having people flocking to me? At that time, Yang Gu County won't be under Yang Chengde's control anymore."
Upon hearing Li Chong's grand promise, Cui Shi's eyes practically shone with excitement.
There's a saying that goes, "When the cannons roar, gold pours in."
Although bandit suppression is not the same as formal battlefield combat, it is still a serious fight, and the profits involved are indeed considerable.
If Li Chong had said it, he might actually have been able to win over quite a few people.
At that time, wouldn't Cui Shi, the magistrate's "confidant," get away with not getting any benefits?
The more Cui Shi thought about it, the brighter the future seemed.
But then he thought again, and the excitement on his face faded considerably. He asked, puzzled, "But where will we get the money to win people over? Are we really going to rely on donations?"
"That's natural." Li Chong chuckled. "Ordinary people naturally won't give up their money easily, but my target wasn't those people from the start. Ordinary people only have a few coins; if they want money, they'll naturally ask the rich."
Li Chong stood up: "For many years, the wealthy households in the county have suffered from bandits. Not only have their avenues for making money been cut off, but they also have to endure frequent robberies. If the government were to step in and unite its forces, do you think they would be willing to pay some money to solve this problem once and for all?"
"Once the bandits of Dafeng Mountain are eliminated, the road to Daming Prefecture will be unobstructed. Wouldn't it be much smoother for both trade and purchasing? Why not sacrifice short-term gains for greater future benefits?"
Cui Shi stood beside Li Chong, rubbing his hands together, his back unconsciously hunching over. He smiled ingratiatingly, "I'm not trying to be nosy, but are you really confident you can wipe out that gang of bandits? Didn't County Commandant Fu say that even his several attempts to suppress them failed?"
"Of course," Li Chong waved his hand dismissively. "If we wiped out the bandits in one fell swoop, what would be the point of having him as a county magistrate? He's a military man, and his career is pretty much over. If he doesn't take the opportunity to make some money, does he really expect to get promoted by meritorious service?"
Upon hearing Li Chong's explanation, Cui Shi suddenly understood and nodded repeatedly in agreement.
Where would the soldiers come from if there were no bandits?
Li Chong's words were absolutely true.
Glancing at Cui Shi, seeing the boy's admiring expression, Li Chong said calmly, "You understood everything? Then why don't you get started?"
"Okay, I'll go right away!" Choi Si-sil nodded quickly.
Just as he was about to step out the door, Cui Shi suddenly paused. After a moment's hesitation, he turned back and asked, "Sir, were you really just helping people collect debts before? How could someone with such skills have fallen to such a low level?"
Li Chong's various actions not only broadened Cui Shi's horizons but also aroused his questions.
Although there are many things that Li Chong doesn't understand, there are also certain areas where he knows far too much.
This made Cui Shi wonder what kind of person he had found.
Li Chong had expected this, and calmly explained, "Didn't you see me burning the account books back then? What else could I be doing if not collecting debts? Don't overthink it, getting to work is the priority."
After glancing at Li Chong, Cui Shi bowed and withdrew.
Watching Cui Shi leave, Li Chong shook his head helplessly, finally managing to fool him.
Despite what Li Chong said earlier, half of it was just to fool Cui Shi. Things won't necessarily go exactly as Li Chong predicted.
Li Chong was indeed using the pretext of bandit suppression to win people's hearts, but when it came to the actual bandit suppression, he really didn't have much confidence.
He's not Zhuge Liang, who knew the three kingdoms before even leaving his thatched hut. How could a modern keyboard warrior know the specifics of how to wage war?
Not to mention wiping out the bandits in one battle.
However, given the current situation in Yanggu County, if they want to make a breakthrough, they can only start from here. Li Chong has no other choice but to do this.
As for what happened next...
Tapping his fingers on the table, Li Chong silently pondered, "Whether it will succeed or not depends on my luck."
After straightening his official robes, Li Chong stepped out of the inner office.
"Someone, take me to find Zhu Lushi, I need to check the registers of Yanggu County over the years."