"What do you mean, my lord?"
Feng Jin was a native of Shangyang County. He knew the aristocratic circles of the place very well.
Their opinions were secondary. Jiang Pengji's attitude was the most important.
If she was weak and chose to yield to the pressure of the aristocratic families in Shangyang County, they could only suggest that Jiang Pengji appease the emotions of those people and plan for the future. If she was stubborn, Feng Jin naturally had a way to keep them busy and not spare the energy to bother her.
Jiang Pengji was their lord. The lord's attitude would greatly affect the strategist's decision.
"What do I mean?" Jiang Pengji smiled. She said, "I'm the master of Shangyang County now. Since when is it their turn? If they simply want to help and take advantage of me, it's not that I can't tolerate it. But if they take advantage of me, do you think I can tolerate it? "
Whatever entered her pocket was hers. It was the same for Shangyang County.
She didn't care if these aristocratic families were local tyrants. They had to obediently cower in front of her. If they didn't listen, they couldn't blame her for being ruthless.
Wei Ci smiled. "According to my lord's temperament, she naturally can't tolerate it."
She had always been the one to be bullied by others. When had others ever given her a hard time?
Not to mention the aristocratic families in Shangyang County. In her previous life, Jiang Pengji was a bandit with tens of thousands of troops. The Dongqing court couldn't do anything about her. They had no choice but to recruit her. She was appointed as the County Magistrate of Hu County with the intention of using the vicious and merciless aristocrats in Hu County to frame her. Who would have thought that she would kill all of them instead. From then on, no one in Hu County dared to question her.
If she said one, no one dared to say another.
Of course, the beginning of the two lives was different.
As the emperor who was born a bandit, she killed whoever she wanted. She killed whoever made a fuss. She didn't care about her reputation at all. She was very willful.
Now she was Liu She's son. She had a reputation and a shackle. She couldn't be as willful and ruthless as she had been in her previous life.
She couldn't fight. She could only use her wits.
However, no matter how much a person changed, their style would never change.
Even if she used her wits, it would still be terrifying.
Feng Zhen coughed softly. He hugged the hot water in his arms tightly and took a sip of hot tea to slightly dispel the chill in his body.
"Once my lord starts like this, how will she be different from a puppet in the future? He had to be more forceful in this matter. In terms of money and grain, the Lord's wealth may not be comparable to that of a country, but it is more than enough to feed two counties. Why do you need their support? The only shortcoming is' talents. 'According to the Lord's current foundation, there is indeed a shortage of talents … This is also a problem … "
No matter how talented Feng Zhen and the others were, they were still just a few people. They could not be compared to a few hundred people.
Jiang Pengji did not lack top-notch talents, nor did she lack the most basic talents. What she lacked, however, were intermediate talents who were not as good as the best but were better than the worst.
Even if Jiang Pengji had found a way to open an academy and nurture some useful talents.
Unfortunately, they didn't have enough time. They hadn't even finished the first semester. It would take another two to three years before they could put it to use.
If she accepted the "talent assistance" from the local aristocrats, Jiang Pengji's team could be considered to have taken shape.
However, there is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Everything comes with a price.
The powerful gentry clans could secretly control the succession of the throne. Jiang Pengji had only progressed so far. If the gentry clans took advantage of the loophole and controlled the right to speak, she would only be another "Dongqing Emperor" no matter how well she lived in the future. She would always be under the control of the gentry clans.
This topic was somewhat awkward for Feng Jin. Who asked him to be born in such a high position?
However, as a strategist, he had to think of Jiang Pengji's immediate interests.
"Why not let them restrain each other? We can temporarily maintain a more balanced state. After a few years, they can recover, "Feng Jin suggested." The gentry clans in Shangyang County are complicated. There are interests and disputes between each family. If we make use of them appropriately, we don't have to worry about them stirring up trouble. "
Jiang Pengji frowned as she listened.
Wei Ci and Feng Zhen were both foreigners. They did not understand the local situation as well as Feng Jin.
Feng Jin's suggestion was considered more feasible at the moment.
The balance of power was also one of the keys to governing.
"Huaiyu's suggestion is feasible. However, Zixiao and I do not understand the situation in Shangyang County. If we do this, we can only hand this matter over to Huaiyu. I'm afraid it will be more difficult. "
Feng Zhen was all smiles as he held the hot water in his hands. It was as if he could see the scene of Feng Jin being busy all year and not being able to return home.
Feng Jin smiled bitterly to himself.
He could not stand the sight of Feng Zhen, the prodigal son. He did not expect Feng Zhen to witness his antics.
However, Jiang Pengji said, "Huaiyu's suggestion is a good idea. However … this is also treating the symptoms and not the root cause. Although they have conflicts and disputes, they are not irreconcilable. If you play with balance too much, you will eventually lose control. Instead of doing this, why not take drastic measures? "
She still had no way to make the local gentry clans in Shangyang County a mere figurehead, but she could weaken them step by step.
"Drastic measures?"
Although Feng Jin was born in a gentry clan, the Feng family was watching from the sidelines. He did not need to be conflicted. His lord's interests were the direction he should go.
Feng Zhen asked, "How do we take drastic measures?"
"Don't stick to one pattern. Select talents." Jiang Pengji's eyes shone as she said, "Talents are also divided into different grades. What we need are not virtuous people who can rule the world. Our standards are not that high. In Shangyang County, other than the gentry clans, everyone else is an idiot, right? No matter if they are poor or from a humble background, regardless of their status, as long as they are talented, virtuous, and capable, they can all be recruited! "
Fengyi County did not have such conditions, but Shangyang County was different. There was a strong learning culture there. There was no lack of talents.
Not only did she want to open an academy to nurture her own talents, but she also wanted to recruit talents that could be used.
In this era, to become an official, one needed family background, appearance, virtue, and ability. Among them, family background was the most important. If there were no special circumstances, official positions could be inherited. To put it bluntly, it was better to be born well than to be well educated, and it was better to have good parents than to be born well. Ability was not important at all.
Jiang Pengji's words were, in a sense, a challenge to the entire human resource system of this era.
Feng Jin secretly glanced at Wei Ci and Feng Zhen's expressions. Both of them looked slightly agitated. He secretly sighed in his heart but did not say anything.
Feng Zhen asked, "My lord wants to replace all the people?"
Jiang Pengji snorted and said, "Replace all of them? How is that possible? I don't want to be poisoned to death when I go out and drink a cup of water. "
Replacing all of them meant completely robbing the interests of the gentry clans. It would be strange if they did not go crazy.
Wei Ci said, "My lord, I'm afraid you want to first replace those who are not important and wait for them to familiarize themselves with the situation before making any plans."
Apart from not alerting or angering the gentry clans, another important reason was that the newly recruited talents were not familiar with their positions and would easily cause trouble.
It was better to leave them in an unimportant place to gain experience for a while before transferring them.
This period of time would be enough for Jiang Pengji to gain a firm foothold.
This was not only taking drastic measures, but it was also a delaying tactic.
The gentry clans were not afraid of 20,000 troops. What about 50,000 or even 100,000?
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