Southwest.
Chengdu.
It was just past noon. The bright June sun fell on the tree-lined road beside the Pool of Mahākāśyapa. The sound of cicadas at the end of summer echoed in the hot air. Lin Qiu passed through the road with few pedestrians and walked towards Fengyin Hall.
It was the 12th of June in the second year of the Huaxia Yuan Calendar. It was an ordinary day in the midst of busy work. Lin Qiu was 31 years old. He was one of the most experienced young officers in the Huaxia army.
He joined the Huaxia army during the Canghe Era. He went through the training of the first batch of young officers and experienced battles on the battlefield. Because he was good at handling details, he joined the secretariat, the General Staff Headquarters, the Intelligence Department, the Commerce Department … In short, after 25 years old, because of his active and open mind, he basically worked in the core department of Ning Yi's immediate control. He was one of Ning Yi's most useful assistants for a period of time.
Although most of the talents in the early days of the army were interspersed and placed wherever they were needed, he had been exposed to everything. His resume was still quite outstanding among his peers. During the later period of the Southwest War, Ning Yi negotiated with Zong Han and Gao Qingyi at the Shiling frontline. He brought Lin Qiu, who was active and had outstanding adaptability, to convey his will.
After the Huaxia army defeated the Jurchens, they opened their doors to sell their technology to the outside world and expand their trade routes. He was responsible for a few of the most important negotiations. After this was done, Chengdu entered a period of great development. He entered the Chengdu Bureau of Commerce as the deputy director and was responsible for the details of the development of Chengdu's industry and commerce. At this time, the Huaxia army was only in the southwest. The core of the southwest was Chengdu. Therefore, in reality, his work often reported directly to Ning Yi.
After the Huaxia People's Government was established, Ning Yi had two offices in Chengdu. One was the chairman's office near the Huaxia People's Government in the north of the city. It was mainly used for meeting, gathering people, and dealing with large government affairs. The other was the Fengyin Hall next to the Pool of Mahākāśyapa.
Now that the work of the People's Government was on the right track, Ning Yi didn't need to be here all the time. He spent half of the year in Chengdu. If there were no major changes in his schedule, he would usually go to the government office in the morning and return to the Fengyin Hall in the afternoon. For some things that didn't require too many people, he would usually summon people here to deal with them.
There were usually other department heads working in the vicinity of the Wind Chant Hall, but it was basically not too noisy. After entering the door of the hall, the spacious roof shielded him from the summer heat. He walked through the corridor with practiced ease and went to the side hall where the audience awaited. There was no one else in the side hall. The secretary outside the door told him that there were two people in front of him, but one of them had already left for the toilet.
The room in the side hall was spacious, but it didn't have any luxurious furnishings. Through the open window, the scenery of flowers and trees outside was refreshing under the sunlight. Lin Qiu poured himself a cup of cold water, sat on the chair, and began to read the newspaper. The fourth person who was waiting to be interviewed did not come over, which meant that there were not many things to do in the afternoon.
The sound of footsteps came from the corridor outside. It should be the first friend who went to the toilet. He raised his head and looked. The figure who walked to the door also looked in his direction, and then came in. They were all familiar faces.
Hou Yuanyong rubbed his hands together and walked in with a smile on his face. "Big Brother Lin, hehehehe …" For some reason, he couldn't help but laugh.
"Yuan Yong. Sit. "
Hou Yuanyong was a few years younger than him, but his family was also old in the Huaxia Army. He could even be considered the family of the oldest batch of soldiers. After he grew up, he worked in the intelligence department for most of his time. Different from his colleagues who worked in the intelligence department, his personality was more carefree. Occasionally, he would say some off-key jokes, but usually, he didn't cause any trouble. He could also be considered the most trusted core member of the Huaxia Army.
"Hehe, Big Brother Lin." Hou Yuanyong sat on the chair beside Lin Qiu. "Do you know what the most popular gossip is recently?"
Lin Qiu smiled and looked at him. "I don't want to know."
"It's like this." Hou Yuanyong smiled. "Say, who is the most powerful person in the Huaxia Army? The one that scares the Female Zhenren the most … "
"That should be me, right?" When chatting with this kind of guy who came from the intelligence department and talked nonsense, Lin Qiu just could not follow his rhythm. So, after thinking about it, Lin Qiu answered seriously.
Hou Yuanyong didn't care about his rhythm. "It's Sister Juan 'er."
"Ah …"
"The one that the Female Zhenren is most afraid of should be Sister Juan 'er."
"Why?"
"Hey, hehehe, there is such a thing …" Hou Yuanyong smiled and leaned over. "The year before last, when the war in the southwest was in full swing, Ning Ji helped out in the general camp for wounded soldiers. Later, the general camp was suddenly attacked by a group of idiots who wanted to capture Ning Ji. When this matter was reported, Sister Juan 'er was angry. She told Peng Yueyun that this couldn't be done. They attacked children, so she also wanted to kill Zong Han's children. Xiao Peng, give me a reward. I want Zong Han's two sons to die … "
Hou Yuanyong's voice echoed in the quiet hall. "The reward was given out. Then what happened? Everyone knows … Zong Han lost the battle and didn't die. Neither of his two sons escaped. Hehehehe … Say, isn't Sister Juan 'er the most powerful … "
Lin Qiu thought for a while. "You guys are so boring …"
"The chairman made a joke himself. Hehehehe … Let's go." Hou Yuanyong patted his arm, then stood up and left. Lin Qiu shook his head with a smile. Theoretically, it was not a good thing to talk about the leader and the people around him. However, in the past few years, the core members of the Great Xia army were all friends who had gone through hardships and battles together, so they were not too afraid of these things. Furthermore, Hou Yuanyong was not ignorant. Looking at his attitude when talking about this matter, it was probably a rather popular joke in Zhang Village.
Because they had met many times and even met each other in the canteen from time to time, Hou Yuanyong did not say anything like "see you later" or "eat".
Not long after Hou Yuanyong left, the second person who was received also came out. It was Peng Yueyun, whom Hou Yuanyong had mentioned earlier. Peng Yueyun was a seed left behind after the collapse of the western army. He was young, loyal, and reliable. After the establishment of the People's Government, he also entered the intelligence department. However, compared to Hou Yuanyong who was responsible for gathering, summarizing, analyzing, and organizing intelligence, Peng Yueyun was directly involved in the command and arrangement of the spy system. If Hou Yuanyong was involved in the rear work, Peng Yueyun was involved in the front line of espionage and counter-espionage. The two of them had not seen each other for a long time.
Both of them smiled and greeted each other, exchanging a few pleasantries. Compared to Hou Yuanyong who was jumpy, Peng Yueyun was more steady. The two of them did not talk too much. Considering that Hou Yuanyong was in charge of intelligence and Peng Yueyun was in charge of espionage and counter-espionage, as well as the things that he was currently doing, Lin Qiu had some guesses about what they were going to talk about during this meeting.
After a while, he met Ning Yi in the room by the lake. He began to report on the work that was going to be done in the Bureau of Commerce during this period of time. Other than the development around Chengdu, there was also the issue of Dai Mengwei and some businessmen buying long-term contracts from other places.
"… Currently, many of these factories are privately contracted with outsiders. They have signed long-term contracts of 20 or 30 years, but the wages are extremely low … These people may become great hidden dangers in the future. On the other hand, people like Dai Mengwei, Liu Guangshi, and Wu Qimei may have planted a large number of spies among these workers, and they will cause trouble in the future … We have noticed that there are people in the newspapers saying that the Huaxia Army keeps saying that they will respect the contract, but it depends on when we break the contract …"
"… Regarding these situations, we think that we should make preparations in advance … Of course, we also have concerns. For example, if we cut off these unreasonable long-term contracts, it may cause the people outside to not be so proactive in sending people over. After all, on our way out of Sichuan, there is still Dai Mengwei blocking our way. Although he promised not to block the trade route, he may try his best to stop the migration of people … Then, what we are considering now is to lay a series of foundations and raise the bottom line. For example, for these workers who have signed long-term contracts, we can ask those factories to have some protection measures for them so that they will not be exploited too much. When the foundations are laid, we can slowly squeeze the living space of these black-hearted businessmen. Anyway, in another one or two years, no matter what happens after we fight our way out, we should not care about the little trouble that Dai Mengwei has caused …"
Regarding the black-hearted businessmen, long-term contracts, and even the spies among the workers, the Huaxia Army had long noticed them. Although Lin Qiu was assigned to manage the business, his view of the overall situation would not weaken. Of course, at the current stage, while protecting the interests of these workers, it also conflicted with the policy of absorbing a large amount of manpower from outside. He had also thought for a long time before coming up with some restrictions in the early stage to lay a foundation.
He had previously submitted these ideas to Ning Yi. Today, he came over and saw Hou Yuanyong and Peng Yueyun again. He reckoned that he would also talk about this aspect.
As expected, Ning Yi purposely took out the black-hearted businessmen's document from the few documents, pressed it on the table, and listened to what Lin Qiu had to say. He pondered for a long time. After Lin Qiu finished speaking, he pressed his palm on the document. After a moment of silence, he said, "What I want to talk to you about today is also this aspect. You have a big head here … Go out and take a walk. "
"Yes." Lin Qiu stood up, but he was slightly confused. After following Ning Yi for so long, he had experienced countless major events. Even now, there were countless major events happening inside and outside of Chengdu. Even if the black-hearted businessmen's issue involved Dai Mengwei and even involved the contract issue, there were still various solutions in theory. According to Ning Yi's style of doing things in the past, he would be able to make a decision with just a few words. However, looking at his current expression, there was a deeper level of caution and vigilance.
Walking out of the room, Lin Qiu followed Ning Yi and walked to the lakeside. The sunlight shone on the road and cast shade on the trees. The cicadas were chirping. This was an ordinary day, but even after a long time, Lin Qiu could still remember every scene that happened today.
"There is one thing that I have thought about for a long time, but I still have to do it. Only a few people will participate in it. What I said to you today will not be recorded in the future. There will not be any trace left in history. You might even be cursed. I will know what I am doing, but if someone asks, I will not admit it. "
Ning Yi paused. Lin Qiu frowned slightly, then nodded and replied quietly, "Okay."
"Regarding these black-hearted businessmen, you should not stop them. Instead, you should push them."
"Push …"
"Regarding these businessmen who have colluded with the outside world, I want you to control the situation well. Don't fight them for now and admit the validity of their contracts. Let them earn whatever money they can. However, at the same time, you cannot let them overflow. Bad money drives out good money. You have to deter them … In other words, I want to form a separation between black and white among these businessmen. Those who abide by the law will be able to earn money. Those who have problems, make them even crazier. You want them to squeeze more of their workers' livelihood … Do you have any ideas about this? "
Lin Qiu lowered his head and thought for a moment. "It seems that we can only … collude with the government and businessmen?"
"We can charge them some money." Ning Yi nodded. "There are two things you need to consider. First, don't disturb the livelihood of legitimate businessmen. You still have to encourage normal business practices. Second, don't let those businessmen who have taken advantage of you be too dependable. You have to carry out a few normal cleanups to scare them. In two years, at most three years, I want you to drive them crazy. Most importantly, make them exploit their workers to the extreme."
"… Dai Mengwei's people will take the opportunity to cause trouble …"
"We will also arrange for people to go in. They will help them cause trouble in the early stage and control them in the later stage." Ning Yi said, "You have followed me for so many years. You can understand a lot of my thoughts. We are now in the early stage. As long as we keep winning battles, our internal power will be very strong. This is the reason why I can let those people outside gossip and scold us. For these new capitals, they are after profits, but they will be wary of us. If we want them to develop naturally to the point where they are crazy about profits and the workers under them have no way to make a living, it might take at least eight to ten years of development. If we have a few more people with a conscience, those workers who have signed a thirty-year contract might be able to live for the rest of their lives … "
"I don't want to wait that long. Two years, at most three years. I hope to stir up resentment among these workers. Dai Mengwei's people will, of course, help us to cause trouble and incite these workers. But in the later stage, our people will find a way out for them. I hope that it will be a demonstration and not a large-scale riot. When they do something like this, they will find that their resistance is effective. We will correct the unreasonable things in the past … I want to use three years to argue for the 'civil rights' of the four citizens in their hearts. "
The sun fell, and the surface of the lake sparkled. There was a gentle breeze, and there was the sound of cicadas in the surroundings. No one knew that such a conversation had happened.
"Some people will die. In the future records, it is the people's initiative to awaken and resist that brings about everything. You will not get any credit. Even if you make a mistake, I might not be able to protect you. You can consider whether you want to take this job or not. "
Lin Qiu thought for a while and considered the method. Of course, there was no suspense in his answer.
After Lin Qiu left, Shishi came over.
In the afternoon, they took a break and did some shameful things. Then, Ning Yi told her about a story called 'The White-Haired Girl' …
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