Chapter 41: Calculating County's Respect

  Long before the Double Temple Mountain riot, Lin Chunhong had begun to expand his control over the countryside to the entire county. He established a "Xingzhi Book Hall" in Baili Zhou, which, according to Lin's plan, would primarily cultivate rural management talents in the short term and provide him with a steady supply of various management talents in the long run.

  Lin Chunhong attaches great importance to this school, not only personally formulating a study plan and compiling teaching materials, but also having the twenty people who entered the village in advance give lectures, and even personally giving classes. Recently, the school term is three months, after completing the studies, they are dispatched to villages for internships, and after passing the assessment, they officially take charge of managing a village's affairs.

  After reaching an agreement with the Huaiwang Fu, there were still some ignorant gentry who tried to resist the bowmen's entry into the villages. Lin Chunhong didn't say a word and immediately dispatched his fierce guards, flying the bowmen's flag, to conduct armed drills in these villages. Under the pretext of pursuit, they also brought back an unruly gentry member to the yamen for interrogation for three days.

  The effect of this method is very obvious. The rural gentry who were about to resist immediately retreated and unanimously chose to cooperate or turn a blind eye.

  Lin Chunhong saw that the timing had matured, and after the first batch of "Xingzhi Book Hall" students graduated, they were directly sent to the countryside. In less than half a year, more than 100 villages in Zhuxiangjiang had archers stationed in each village, and the entire Zhuxiangjiang immediately became unrecognizable. Some insightful people gradually realized that if this continued, Bao Zhedong's orders might not be able to leave the county seat.

  Bao Zhedong's power and influence were of no concern to Lin Chunhong. He was planning to build a dike along the Baoli River, but had yet to obtain the official deed for the land. Bao Zhedong was already dissatisfied with Lin Chunhong and looked down on him because he didn't have any official titles or achievements, so why would he easily hand over the deed?

  One day, a yamen runner suddenly came to report that Magistrate Bao Zhe Dong had an invitation. Lin Chun Hong casually asked: "What's the matter with Magistrate Bao's parents? Why did he invite just me?"

  The jailer replied: "Please thank Master Zhou for me, it's said to be a matter of refugees."

  "You go back, I'll be right there, thank you for your trouble."

  When Lin Chunhong heard about the refugees, he understood the door in Bao Zhedong's stomach. Zhang Daohuan had already informed Lin Chunhong: Shaanxi and Henan provinces frequently suffered from floods and droughts, and a large number of refugees entered the Huguang Jingzhou area. The imperial court ordered the two prefectures of Jingzhou and Xiangyang to properly handle the situation, but the order was issued without any funds. The Jingzhou Prefecture decided to distribute the refugees to each county, with Zhijiang County being allocated more than 5,000 refugees. According to the quota of one and a half shi per refugee per year, more than 2,000 shi of grain were allocated from the prefectural treasury, and the remaining insufficient part was supplemented by Zhijiang County.

  Lin Chunhong couldn't help but sneer: "Dare you not give me the official deed? Today, I'll make you swallow your teeth and blood!"

  Lin Chunhong arrived at the county government office and found that Tan Jie Xi was already there. Judging from the tea water, he estimated that he had been there for a long time. As soon as Lin Chunhong sat down, Bao Zhe Dong poured out his troubles: The county no longer has any stored grain, nor is there any remaining wasteland to resettle these refugees. The refugees are now gathered at Anfu Temple and have already shown signs of unrest, and could become rioters at any moment...

  Lin Chunhong listened and asked: "Isn't Jingzhou Prefecture already allocated more than 2,000 stones of grain?"

  "That's just on paper, and in the end, we won't even get a thousand stones." Bao Zhedong and Tan Jie Xi said in unison, their eyes hiding a look of disdain, thinking to themselves: This fool doesn't even know this.

  Lin Chunhong certainly knew that the people of Jingzhou Prefecture and Zhijiang County were in cahoots, embezzling and misappropriating grain. He even knew about the partnership between Bao Zhedong and Tan Jie Xi to embezzle 500 dan of grain. Now they're calling Lin Chunhong over, it seems like they want this wealthy man to take on this hot potato. As for the details, these two scoundrels probably discussed them long ago.

  Lin Chunhong asked again: "Among the more than 5,000 people, how many are able-bodied men?"

  Tan Jie Xi rolled his eyes and replied: "About 50% of the strong men."

  "What? Zhāng Dīng actually has 50%? What about his parents, wife and children?" Lín Chún Hóng continued to pretend to be foolish, asking.

  Tan Jie Xi was annoyed by Lin Chun Hong's useless questions and replied, "Those who can run from Shaanxi and Henan to Zhijiang are naturally strong and healthy. The old, weak, sick and disabled probably all died on the way."

  "Oh? Ah, the people's lives are so difficult! There are actually so many people dying on the road. Isn't it all white bones along the way? Cao Cao has a poem: White bones exposed in the wilderness, a thousand miles without a rooster crowing... How sad, how sad! Five-tenths of the strong men, once they encounter a peasant uprising like Yang, they're done for. Have you heard about the tragic fate of Shen Wenrui and Song Haitao? It was so tragic... When I arrived at the county government office, two heads were hanging on the wall, with empty eyes...” Lin Chunhong knew that these two old men wanted him to come up with a solution on his own initiative, and then they would naturally shift the burden onto him. So he kept talking nonsense."

  Shen Wenrui and Song Haitao's miserable state made Bao Zhedong and Tan Jie Xi feel a chill, Bao Zhedong couldn't bear to watch Lin Chunhong continue to pretend to be stupid, interrupting him: "So, Lin Dianshi must think of a way, in case it triggers a civil unrest, as the saying goes 'when the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact', everyone will perish together."

  "What can I do? One thousand dan of grain can feed more than five thousand people, how long can it last? Moreover, there is no place to settle them down, and they cannot be sent back, so we have to keep feeding them." Lin Chunhong said with a shrug.

  This excuse made Bao Zhedong and Tan Jixi very dissatisfied, and Tan Jixi couldn't help but rush forward and say: "Everyone in Jingzhou and Yiling knows that Lin Dianshi is rich and wealthy, with money flowing like water. Recently, I heard that Lin Dianshi lacks workers for logging and lacks laborers for building the river embankment on Bailizhou. Why not recruit these people? On the one hand, it would give the refugees a way out, and on the other hand, it would solve a big problem for Zhijiang. It's a win-win situation for both the imperial court and ourselves, so why not do it with pleasure?"

  Lin Chunhong said with a bitter face: "Everyone looks at my appearance, outsiders don't know that last time Chen He discounted the sale of wood, I lost nearly 100,000 taels of silver! Master Bo doesn't say anything about cutting down trees, but as soon as he mentions it, I get angry. Those natives didn't even let me cut down trees there. Now I have several hundred people idle at my place! Building a river embankment is a matter for Zhijiang County, how can I do that? That's just a rumor!"

  Bao Zhedong and Tan Jie Xi were both somewhat angry, "We treated you as a dish, discussed the refugee situation with you, but you're crying and pretending to be stupid again. What do you take us for?" Bao Zhedong said in a low, angry tone: "If Lin Dianshi has any difficulties, just speak directly! Don't beat around the bush anymore!"

  Lin Chunhong saw that the timing was right, and with a smile, he pulled out a land deed and said: "Currently, Baili Zhou has 53,040 mu of arable land. I plan to repair the river embankment, and those sandy beaches and mudflats are approximately 178,000 mu. After repairing the river embankment, we will gain more than 160,000 mu of fertile land. I hope that Father Bao can issue an official deed for us!"

  Bao Zhedong and Tan Jie Xi took the contract, their faces turned green, and they cursed Lin Chunhong in their hearts: This kid is too black-hearted, taking advantage of the resettlement of refugees to get his hands on over 1.6 million mu of land. They had a mind to take a share, but thinking about repairing the river dike was no joke, at least tens of millions of taels would have to be invested. Moreover, when the summer flood came, it was still uncertain whether the river dike could withstand the floodwaters.

  Bao Zhe Dong waved the contract and said: "Is Lin Dianshi planning to take all 5,000 refugees to repair the river embankment?"

  Lin Chunhong shook his head and said: "No food, how can I raise so many people? I can only recruit 30% of the people!"

  Bao Zhedong and Tan Jie Xi exchanged a glance, saying: "If we recruit five percent, the remaining five percent has more than 1,000 dan of grain, which can also be endured for more than a year. Later, let some rich households donate a part, Lin Dianshi, take a look at this, is it feasible?"

  Lin Chunhong cried with a sad face, secretly rejoicing in his heart, and said: "The parents have ordered, can the subordinate not execute? It's just that this will suffer for me, alas, it's not easy!"

  Returning to his residence, Lin Chunhong immediately ordered Xiao Dazi to pass on the order, asking Zhou Wang, Zheng Tiancheng, Zhang Zhao, Li Chengzong and Li Chongde to come to the county town to see him, saying that there was an important matter to be dealt with. The next day, Zhou Wang and others rushed to the county town in a hurry, hearing that the official contract for Baili Zhou's beach had been obtained, they were all overjoyed. Originally, when discussing the big plan of spending money last time, the matter of building the river embankment was already settled, but since the official contract had not been obtained, people were afraid that the cooked duck would be taken by others, so they hesitated a bit. Now that the official contract has been obtained, it is just right to make a big move.

  Lin Chunhong also introduced the matter of refugees, ordering Li Chengzong to recruit craftsmen from among the refugees, regardless of what kind of craftsmen they were, as long as they had a special skill, even if it was just repairing thatched houses; ordering Zhang Zhao to recruit skilled boatmen from among them; ordering Zhou Wang to recruit physically strong and morally upright people into the guard corps, especially identifying those who had previously joined the border army; ordering Li Chongde to recruit people who could handle financial matters and serve as clerks. Ordering Zheng Tiancheng to select the remaining able-bodied men to work on repairing the river dikes, and also ordering Zheng Tiancheng to purchase food for 2-3 thousand people.

  Zheng Tiancheng's face turned sour as soon as he heard it, saying: "This season is not a good time to purchase grain, and now there is a shortage of grain everywhere, the price of grain has risen to 2.5 yuan per stone, 2000 people working will consume more grain, at least 1000 stones per month, which is more than 20,000 taels of silver, not counting firewood, rice, oil and salt. Moreover, now repairing the river embankment with 2000 people is simply not enough, at least 50,000 people are needed to work for two years to complete it."

  Li Chongde also nodded and said: "Tian Cheng is right, now buying grain is just a matter of having no market at all. Even if you are willing to pay a high price, it's still a question whether you can buy it or not!"

  Lin Chunhong did not expect the grain problem to be so serious, and he was stunned for a moment, unsure of what to do. After a long time, he asked Tian Cheng: "How much grain is left in our Changping Warehouse?" Lin Chunhong currently has several thousand people under his command, and in order to meet the needs at any time, he built a "Changping Warehouse" on Baili Island.

  "According to the original plan, even if all the grain that can be purchased is bought, there are only 8,000 stones now. The granary has only more than 6,500 stones!"

  Lin Chunhong's heart skipped a beat as he thought about it. With thousands of people relying on him for free food, the consequences of running out would be unthinkable. Alas, in his earlier focus on doing business, he had forgotten about the problem of food. The workers and guards were all centrally managed, and it was not possible to distribute silver coins instead of food.

  Lin Chunhong slumped back in his chair and muttered: "What to do? Can't let everyone go hungry!"

  Everyone's face turned gloomy and dismal after hearing this. Only Zhou Wang smiled and said, "It's not that serious, food is not just rice and wheat, those natives have a lot of sweet potatoes and corn in their hands now. If we slightly raise the price to buy them, it won't be difficult to get some. Besides, eating more meat and greasy food reduces grain consumption. By the end of the year, those natives will have a lot of cured meat on hand, so buying a bit more would be enough. Those people who are almost starving to death will be thrilled to eat this!"

  Zhou Wang also reminded Zhang Zu, and Zhang Zu said: "Huguang has many rivers and lakes, where is it easy to starve to death? If you are really hungry, you can catch fish in the water and hold on for a long time. We can now send some people to catch fish specifically, use salt to pickle them, and store them well. Doesn't Tiancheng have 30,000 dan of salt tickets in his hands? It just happens that they can be used to make salted fish." After Chen He escaped, Zheng Tiancheng spent 90,000 taels of silver to buy the salt ticket from Guan Renmei's hands.

  Zheng Tiancheng was delighted when he heard this, and exclaimed: "With the salted fish, we can transport it to other places to sell. This is a profitable business! Right, Boss Lin, as long as we can get salt, even if it's private salt, we can make a profit by selling salted fish and salt. Wow, that way we'll make a fortune!"

  Zheng Tiancheng's antics made everyone roll their eyes, and Li Chengzong said: "Do you think the government is full of idiots, watching you sell salted fish with their eyes open?"

  Lin Chunhong smiled and said, "The government is not stupid, but they will turn a blind eye. This can be discussed later. The most urgent task now is to get food supplies. Xiao Dai, draft the documents immediately and issue an order for the three warehouses in Yuezhou, Yiling, and Qingjiang to purchase grains, including sweet potatoes and corn, as well as cured meat and game. All of these will be transported to Baili Island for storage."

  Xiao Dai's voice came out, and Lin Chunhong continued: "The 50,000 mu of land in Baili Zhou has only harvested more than 8,000 dan of grain, which is too little. There are nearly 20,000 mu of land lying idle, which is a pity. I want to recruit people to farm the land, but it's hard to find so many people at once. Everyone thinks about it, what's a good solution?"

  Li Chongde pursed his lips and said, "That's right, no grain means instability. Doing business does bring in money quickly, I had a bad feeling about it before, but when I mentioned it to Old Master Lin, he didn't take it seriously. Now it's not too late to make up for the loss of the sheep!"

  As for Li Chongde's criticism, Lin Chunhong didn't mind at all, this was his fault. In the past he thought that with money, how could grain not be bought? Now he truly felt the importance of grain, sometimes grain really couldn't be bought.

  For a time, everyone harbored the mentality that "fertile water does not flow into other people's fields" and set their sights on Lin Chunhong's arable land.

  Afterwards, several people went to Anfu Temple to recruit refugees. None of them had ever seen a large number of refugees before, and they were deeply shocked when they walked in.

  What kind of environment do these refugees live in? The low and humble huts don't even have the most basic function of keeping out the rain, inside it's dark, damp, with some simple pots and pans, and no water facilities, they all take water directly from the river ditch. Outside the huts, sewage flows everywhere, garbage is scattered all over, if it weren't already winter, there would definitely be mosquitoes swarming around. The refugees are all skinny, with skin hanging loose on their bones, catching lice and sunbathing. What's even more frightening than their thinness is the desperation in their eyes, as Lin Chunhong and others arrive, people keep pulling out children to sell, saying "Master, please be kind, this child can't survive with us, please give him a way to live". Lin Chunhong looks at these children, his emotions stirred up even more, immediately ordering Xiao Dazi to cook the rice they brought into porridge for the refugees to drink.

  Outside the Liujin Cave, a large number of archers gathered to prevent any treachery from the refugees. Just then, Lin Chunhong was surrounded by the refugees, who were wielding long spears and shouting insults at him. Lin Chunhong hastily stopped the rough behavior of the archers.

  When the pot of porridge was set up, the refugees were immediately attracted to it, their eyes turned green, and it was unbearable to look at them. Zhou Wang saw Lin Chunhong's sympathetic heart overflowing, touched him and said: "Don't change the plan, we can't manage so many." Lin Chunhong then suppressed his surging emotions and ordered everyone to follow the original plan.

  Then, Zhou Wang's escort team immediately ran into the crowd of refugees, beating gongs and shouting to recruit people. The refugees had just finished their porridge and quickly gathered around Zhou Wang and his men, keeping them extremely busy. The refugees were not organized and did not have the habit of lining up, so they crowded together in a mess. Some didn't even understand what Zhou Wang was trying to do, but when they heard him recruiting people, they pushed forward, causing Lin Chunhong to shake his head in dismay. A disorganized crowd is the most terrifying thing. I estimate that now if someone were to rally them, wherever there's food, they would immediately follow, without caring whether they'd be killed or not. I reckon that's how the rioters in Shanxi and Shaanxi were formed. Alas, the government's organizational abilities are really too poor. If they encountered a responsible official, these refugees might not have starved to death and wouldn't have become rioters. But if they encountered an irresponsible official, it would be inevitable for the refugees to become rioters.

  On the third day, more than 1,600 strong men with their families, totaling over 3,000 people, set off from Anfu Temple to Dongshi, and then took a boat to Baili Zhou. Lu Shiyuan in Baili Zhou had already started building simple wooden houses under Lin Chunhong's orders to accommodate these refugees. In the process of organizing the refugees, Xiao Daizi performed exceptionally well. He divided the refugees into groups of ten households, assigned one person to be responsible, and arranged for a guard team to escort them. Every eight groups were further organized into a team, with one person in charge. With his arrangement, although the refugees were noisy and chaotic, they did not cause any trouble and walked, boarded the boat, and rested in an orderly manner. Everyone was very satisfied with Xiao Daizi, and Lin Chunhong pointed at him and smiled: "Dai Zongguan, you will take office tomorrow! The laborers for repairing the river embankment will be under your management!" This left Xiao Daizi a bit flustered.