Chapter 61: Make a Name for Yourself

  Li Qin raised his hands to calm the crowd, saying: "I brought a batch of copper bars from Long County, but our Fu Jiao Fortress is too poor and struggling to start anew... all industries are waiting to be revived..."

  This time, Jia Zheng didn't get anxious, but Jia Rong immediately did. He hastily whispered from behind: "Ah Qian, the matter of privately minting copper coins mustn't be spoken of in public, it's fine to handle it discreetly, but it absolutely can't be openly said!"

  He heard Li QIN mention copper bars, thinking it was about privately minting copper coins. Many people are doing this kind of thing, nothing unusual. But when you say it out loud, there's no need to pretend to be law-abiding anymore. At least put on a show!

  Li QIN said: "I originally wanted to make a batch of money for everyone to spend. But I think this is not good, the money will be spent sooner or later, and now prices are soaring, money is worthless, it's better to use copper bars to do something really useful. I decide to record all the names of people in Fugui Fort, then make them into copper plaques, each person has one, regardless of male or female. Men have copper plaques, representing that they are from Fugui Fort, women get married and take their copper plaques with them, letting her husband's family know that she has a big maternal family, this big maternal family is Fugui Fort, it's her reliance!"

  Jia Xiang let out a sigh of relief, so that's how it was. This was meant to get the villagers to band together and also a way to pull people in, even the women's husbands' families could be pulled over.

  Suddenly, a woman shouted from below: "We won't marry out, we'll recruit sons-in-law and let them marry in!" The one who shouted was Qiao girl.

  Shen Yi immediately responded: "Right, right, don't marry out, let's just have someone from our own village be the son-in-law!"

  Qiao girl shouted, many women followed suit, even some parents of unmarried girls at home also joined in the shouting, all loudly calling for a son-in-law, as if being able to be a son-in-law of Fu Jiao Fort was such an honorable thing. Fu Jiao Fort has nothing now, but they are already proud of their identity as fort residents.

  Li QIN shouted: "Also, I want to set up a big stone tablet to record today's events and give everyone copper plaques. In the future, if someone comes again, they will also be given copper plaques. Even if I become so poor that I have to sell my pants, this rule must still be followed!"

  Set up a monument? The common people were even more delighted. In the minds of people in this era, as long as they had written evidence, they would not go back on their word. If they set up a stone monument and cast a copper plaque, it was even less likely that they would go back on their word. They immediately believed everything Li QIN said!

  Jia Yu pondered again, this second method is good, but it can only be used in the most difficult times, and long-term use will lead to serious drawbacks. Now that Fu Jiao Fortress is recruiting people and expanding, with this second method, the common people who come to rely on them will feel like they have a backing, a support. However, once Fu Jiao Fortress develops to a certain scale, it will immediately start excluding outsiders, and internal struggles will be extremely cruel!

  What's the point of giving examples? The current Han court is like this, isn't it? Everything is about family background. Where does family background come from? Isn't it because of this? Now look at these people who have nothing but want to develop Fu Jiao Bao, they can't get anything done, but once they do develop, according to their family status, all of these people's families are wealthy and influential!

  To solve the problem of selecting officials, from ancient times to the present, there has been no good method. However, generally speaking, there are some methods, such as the nine-rank system and the imperial examination system. These are outdated methods, but in Li Xuan's time, they were considered very advanced.

  Jia Yu naturally couldn't have thought of these things, but the thing he was worried about wasn't urgent either. Li Qin's method would definitely be able to solve the current predicament, and the problem wouldn't appear until much later, or maybe not at all. So there was no need for him to remind Li Qin of anything, lest Li Qin become embarrassed and have to consider saving face for his superior. He had already acknowledged that Li Qin was the leader, the master of this new group.

  Li Qinsaid after the second one, and said: "As for this third one, the first two are all about everyone, letting us all have good fortune together, and share difficulties together. And this third one, I will talk about myself!"

  People on the wall and under the wall are watching Li QIN together, how can they talk about themselves? What's good to say? You're a rule-maker, you can't let rules control you! The leader is allowed to be above the rules!

  Li QIN took a deep breath and said loudly: "I, Li QIN, am the descendant of Flying General Li GUANG..." This time he didn't use honorifics or euphemisms, but spoke directly, because many barbarians couldn't understand complicated words.

  He said, "The prestige of my ancestors is renowned throughout the borders, and all ethnic groups look up to it with admiration. I cannot tarnish the prestige of my ancestors. Therefore, this third point is that I swear by the prestige of my ancestors, if I fail to fulfill the first two points, then...". He drew a curved knife from his waist, grasped a strand of his own hair and said, "It will be like this hair!". The curved knife swung down, cutting off the hair.

  Li Tian shouted from behind: "Son, don't..." He Shi let out a cry and her body swayed, almost fainting, luckily the people beside her rushed to hold her up.

  Cutting one's hair and making a vow was a very serious oath in the Han Dynasty, equivalent to cutting off one's own head. Cao Cao had once cut his hair as a substitute for his head.

  The people below saw this and all exclaimed in surprise, shouting together: "Lord Li, it's unbearable! We can't trust you..."

  Li Qin took the lock of hair and handed it to Jia Yu, saying loudly: "Today we will set up a stele. Since there is no stone material available now, let's first set up a large wooden one, and tomorrow we can look for stone materials again. I, Li Qin, speak with action, every word must be followed by deed, absolutely no delay! Let Mr. Jia write the inscription on the stele in plain language, and bury this lock of hair under the stele as witness to my oath!"

  Jia Xun took the hair with both hands, his expression agitated, and repeatedly said: "Good, good, dare not obey, I will write the epitaph now!" He handed this lock of hair to Xiao Ma Chao, called for a child to hold the hair, and had someone bring over a brush. Taking up a bamboo tablet, he began writing the epitaph. As he wrote, he recited: "In the fifth year of Guanghe of the Great Han, evil people in the court caused chaos, Heaven was enraged, and I was sent to Liangzhou with drought, a disastrous year, all living things wailed..."

  Li Qīn said loudly: "We must write in vernacular!"

  Jia Xun hastily agreed, and changed it to vernacular language, still writing and reciting at the same time. He wrote that Li Qinxian had a brilliant family background, which was very important; then he also wrote that Li Qinxian's family had once lived on coarse rice gruel, which was also very important, showing that Li Qinxian would sympathize with the common people; and then he wrote about the hardships of building the fort, the crowd responding, etc., basically a motivational short piece, he wrote this very skillfully, with both pathos and grandeur, and in a clear and loud voice.

  Li Qian listened to him writing the inscription, thinking: "Guanghe five years? I had never noticed the year number before, especially when I saw Ma Chao was still so young, I thought that although the great chaos of the world was near, there was still a period of time. I didn't expect it to be Guanghe five years already! In that case, the Yellow Turban Rebellion will erupt in two more years!"

  The reign name of Emperor Ling of Han was not just one, Guanghe was used for seven years, but the seventh year of Guanghe was the first year of Zhongping, and at the beginning of the year, the Yellow Turban Rebellion broke out, and the world was in great chaos from then on.

  Li QIN was luckier than other heroes or princes, because he started building his own army and establishing a base ahead of time. However, it wasn't long before that, only two years had passed, which couldn't be considered very long. At this time, transportation was inconvenient, even if you wanted to rush on the road, it would take at least a month to go from Lianzhou to Longxian and back. If used for development, the time is extremely urgent.

  It's not hard to fight with the lords shoulder to shoulder, but it's difficult to take the initiative and suppress others from the beginning. Even Dong Zhuo, under various coincidences, couldn't do it.

  But if you want to get noticed by the people of Luoyang, when an accident occurs, invite Li Jue into the capital to help with the crisis, and use this opportunity to rise up quickly. Just look at Dong Zhuo and you'll know. But if you want to make Dong's villainy turn into Li's villainy, and let him dominate the capital and give orders to the whole country, that won't be easy. Not to mention whether he can defeat the other lords in the future, just this opportunity alone he won't get, because Li Jue has no one in the capital.

  Li Qinxin thought: "No way, I have to quickly make a name for myself, quickly develop my strength, and I must be able to shout too. In the late Han Dynasty and Three Kingdoms period, playing low-key doesn't work, one has to be able to shout to stand out. Look at those three against-the-heavens-level characters, each of them is especially good at shouting and especially famous!"

  Cao Cao dares to take a dagger and challenge Dong Zhuo alone. As a wanted criminal, he is famous throughout the world. He loudly calls himself a lone hero, I resolutely oppose Dong, if not so, who would think he's a good guy when contacting other lords? What happens next is for later, before that, isn't he just the grandson of an eunuch? Not a good guy!

  Liu Bei was born in a humble family that made straw shoes, but he loudly claimed to be an imperial relative. He acted as if he were the emperor's uncle and scolded his children. He desperately tried to win over his subordinates, and anyone who refused to acknowledge him as the legitimate ruler would make him cry. This proved that only a crying child gets milk!

  Look at Sun Ce, who is building his foundation, shouting that I am the Little Overlord, and everyone follows me to rob money and women. Whoever is good to me, I will let them marry a beautiful wife. I'll take the big one, and my iron brothers will take the small ones. Let's charge, yeah!

  To stand out in this special era, one must have a reputation, be different from others, and let people know that following me will bring them a bright future. I am a good master!

  Li Qian's three fort rules, the first is to give people who follow him hope. If a person has no hope, he cannot survive. It doesn't matter if one suffers, as long as their children can live well and their family line continues, this is the greatest hope for people in this era; The second fort rule he gave was to give people something to rely on. In an era full of contradictions, everyone wants to have something to rely on, to be able to live in peace, this is a basic survival requirement; And the third fort rule, he vowed to achieve the first two, this is a promise, one promise is worth a thousand gold, this is the moral standard for people in this era.

  On the other side, Jia Yu finished writing the inscription and looked at Li Qin.

  Li Qinchang took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, thinking to himself: "Li Lang is the most righteous, I must make this statement known throughout the world!"

  ——

  The second update is here! Ping An also learned from the main character, shouting and asking brothers and sisters to collect, vote, and support!