Chapter 26: Seeking Talent Like Thirst

  "Gu Er brothers just returned home, where are they going again?"

  "I was going to visit my elder brother, but now that you're here, I won't go. What brings you here, Master?"

  Gu Xiu-xing smiled awkwardly and said: "I heard that Lin Dian-shi is recruiting clerks in Zhijiang, I'd like to ask, isn't it only for people from Zhijiang?"

  "Governor Tian has summoned a book clerk? I haven't even heard of this."

  "I also heard it from a relative on the other side of Zhi Jiang, no announcement was made, saying that recruitment will start on the sixth day of the first month. You've been following Lin Dianshi for many years, can you help me say some good words?"

  "You overestimate me, Governor. How can I possibly converse with such a distinguished historian?"

  "Those two brothers should be more familiar with Lin Dianshi's temperament, right?"

  "Haha, speaking of Lin Dianshi, some things are really hard to believe. He's very considerate of his subordinates. And he's eager for talent, that big-eared cat from the neighboring village, you know him? He's garrulous and only has good relations with the locals, but now he's been promoted to deputy general manager. That is to say, as long as you can do something, Lin Dianshi won't not use you. This scholar, Gong Pingri, who helps villagers measure their land every day, Lin Dianshi should be able to see that. Besides, Lin Dianshi has never discriminated against brothers based on region, so this scholar can rest assured!"

  A single remark made Gu Xiu Xin uncontrollably scratch his ears and cheeks, overjoyed, and also said to Er Gang Zi "Seeking talent like thirst" in astonishment. This Er Gang Zi originally didn't recognize a single character, now he can actually use idioms? He couldn't help but ask: "Did the two brothers still study with Governor Dian Shi?"

  "It's not just reading books! I also learn arithmetic. Lord Genji values people who are good at arithmetic, so I've been studying it too!"

  Gu Xiu-xing nodded secretly, filling himself with confidence. If it was about writing and composition, Gu Xiu-xing didn't have any confidence at all, but if it was about calculations, he was confident that no one in Gu's village could surpass him. He made a secret decision to go to Zhī Jiāng on the fifth day of the first month, even if Lin Dian-shi didn't want outsiders, he would use his math skills to impress him. He had no other talents, but he was extremely interested in mathematics, and the few books at home, such as "The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art" and "Essential Points of Mathematics", were almost worn out by him. His abacus skills were also swift and accurate, not inferior to those of a store's accountant.

  On the fifth day of the first month, Gu Xiu-xing set out to look for Zhi Jiang and left. He rested in Zhi Jiang for a night, and early the next morning, he arrived at the county government office. When he arrived at the county government office, he found that he had come too late. A large crowd of people was gathered at the entrance, looking anxiously inside. Although there were two or three hundred people, they didn't seem to be making a lot of noise. After a while, an archer led everyone into a large hall next to the county government office and instructed them to find their seats. Gu Xiu-xing sat down beside an empty table and chair. On the table were placed pens, ink, paper, and inkstones, as well as several blank sheets of paper.

  All I could hear was one person waving a piece of paper and shouting: "There are some questions on this paper, everyone choose one that you are most familiar with and good at to answer, after finishing the answer, just hand it over to me. Be sure to remember, write your name and address clearly, so that we can find each other tomorrow." After finishing speaking, he signaled several archers to distribute the papers.

  Gu Xiu-xing received the paper and found that there were twenty questions covering agriculture, textiles, dyeing, mathematics, commerce, architecture... even some engineering management problems, but no content from the Four Books and Five Classics. Gu Xiu-xing chose a math question, which was to calculate the area of an irregular polygon. With years of practice, it wasn't difficult for him at all, and he answered quickly, taking less than half an hour. If it weren't for the requirement to write out the process, it would have taken only two moments.

  Gu Xiu-xing handed over the paper, took a deep breath, and it seemed that this book official should not have any problems. The book officials in the county government are now fat jobs, and Gu Xiu-lin has seen many officials become rich with his own eyes. Hehe, there's no need to worry about life in the future. Gu Xiu-xing was overjoyed and couldn't help but stroll around the county town. He had been to Zhijiang County many times, but there wasn't much change. After strolling for a while, he didn't find it interesting, so he returned to the inn. Unexpectedly, as soon as he returned to the inn, the shopkeeper informed him that Lin Dian-shi was inviting him. Gu Xiu-xing's heart was greatly settled, and he hurried to the county government.

  Lin Chunhong pointed to a right triangle and asked: "I don't know how Mr. He calculated the ratio of the hypotenuse of this triangle?"

  Gu Xiu-xing looked carefully and said: "This angle is 2 fingers, construct a triangle with a side length of one foot, set this angle to 2 fingers, measure the length of the arc, and the ratio of the chord to the arc will be known."

  "Can't you just calculate it without actually measuring it, sir?" Lin Chunhong asked.

  Gu Xiu-xing shook his head honestly and admitted that he wouldn't be able to do it. Lin Chun-hong smiled and said, "Well, this is indeed a difficult problem, but you really have talent, you're accepted."

  As he came out of the county government office, Gu Xiu-xing didn't feel excited. He was still pondering over Lin Chun-hong's words earlier. Could it be that the length of the zither string could really be calculated with a pen? Without measuring? There was no record of this in ancient books either. Maybe Lin Dian-shi was just joking around?

  Gu Xiu-xing didn't know that Lin Chun-hong was excitedly pacing back and forth in the county government office, constantly saying to Li Chong-de: "There are many talents in the countryside too! I really can't believe it, with just one gathering, so many have come. Look at this one, he's good at building houses; this one is good at measuring land; this one is good at planting cotton... Wow, all the talented people in the world have fallen into our trap! One person here is worth more than a scholar-official, I don't know what kind of nerve the imperial court has, selecting such talents? It's really a waste for them to be just clerks, heh heh."

  Gu Xiu-xing didn't know that Bao Zhe-dong and Tan Jie-xi were also discussing this matter, and they looked down on Lin Chun-hong. They thought it was not worth making such a big fuss over just finding a few clerks. However, this wasn't their concern, and if Lin Chun-hong wanted to cause trouble, that was his business. Even if he hired a few widows as clerks, that was up to him. They suspected that Lin Chun-hong must have damaged his brain from excessive indulgence in lust.

  Lin Chunhong finally selected fifty-two people, these fifty-two people generally all excel in a certain aspect of affairs, and half of the people are not from Zhijiang County, there are those from Yiling, Jingzhou, and even Dangyang County. He then notified these fifty-two people overnight, to arrive at the county government office at dawn the next day.

  On the second day, Lin Chunhong saw that all 52 people had arrived and stood in front of them, saying loudly: "You are all talented people, but I only have three positions for bookkeepers. After thinking about it, I can only arrange everyone to work in my business, do you agree?"

  A murmur of noise rose from the crowd, and Lin Chunhong continued: "In my business, wages are paid like this... In addition to paying wages, after two years, you can also get a dividend. The dividend policy is as follows... Moreover, as long as you join us, you can rent land in Baili Prefecture for farming, with a rental fee of...". Lin Chunhong spoke eloquently about the benefits, making everyone's heart itch more and more. These people were not well-off at home, otherwise they would not have come to grab this job. Moreover, they had no official titles, so they did not mind being ridiculed by others.

  "Alright, that's it. Later, I'll give each of you a piece of paper and have everyone write down their choice. If by any chance there are more than three people who choose to be a book officer, we'll just have to select the top three."

  When everyone finished writing their choices, Lin Chunhong counted and found that only one person wanted to be a book official. Lin Chunhong was overjoyed and said with a bow: "From now on, we are all in the same boat! I, Lin, still need to rely on your talents! Come, give everyone their first pay!"

  Everyone's face is beaming with joy, and unexpectedly, they received their wages without even working!

  After the Lantern Festival, Gu Xiu-xing followed Lin Chun-hong's orders and went directly to the warehouse at Geheyan to report for duty. After arriving at Geheyan, Gu Xiu-xing was in charge of coordinating the transportation of goods. This task was not easy, as every day he had to arrange ships according to the type of goods and their destination, requiring him to be both efficient and economical, while also ensuring that perishable goods were transported on time.

  Fortunately, Gu Xingxin cherished this opportunity very much and didn't feel tired even when working until late at night. Moreover, Lin Dianshi publicly declared that this job was considered an internship, and if the work was done well, he would be entrusted with another important task.

  As soon as he thought of being entrusted with an important task, Gu Xing couldn't help but feel a wave of excitement. He was jealous of Er Gouzi, who had been appointed as the deputy director of Ya Zi Kou. Er Gouzi was illiterate and not clever, Gu Xing believed that he was definitely better than Er Gouzi and might be entrusted with the position of director, stepping over Er Gouzi's head.

  Therefore, Gu Xing not only did a good job in cargo transportation but also paid attention to how the warehouse manager worked, secretly pondering the manager's gains and losses, striving to make a name for himself as the future manager.

  Three months later, Gu Xingxin was summoned to Baili Zhou by Lin Chunhong due to his diligence and outstanding performance. Upon arrival, he found that twenty others had also been summoned and were standing in the hall waiting for Lin Dianshi's speech.

  Twenty people? Gu Xiu Xin couldn't help but feel disappointed, what reason is there to reuse twenty people at the same time?

  Just as Gu Xiu was lost in thought, he suddenly heard "Dian Shi Da Ren has arrived". He saw Lin Chunhong walking into the house with a big smile on his face. Lin Chunhong wore a white robe, which was slightly tight-fitting, making him look extraordinary and majestic.

  Gu Xing dismounted his horse and bowed deeply, saying loudly: "A humble commoner pays respects to Lin Dianshi!"

  "No need for courtesy, no need for courtesy." Lin Chunhong smiled and returned the greeting, his eyes moving from left to right, as if trying to remember each person.

  "You twenty are the best among the fifty-two, and your performance over the past three months has been very satisfactory. Next, I have a very important task for you all, which is to go to the villages to manage the villagers!" Lin Chunhong said solemnly.

  Managing villagers? What a heavy responsibility! Isn't there a village head already? Twenty people looked at each other in dismay, not knowing what kind of trick Lin Chunhong was playing.

  "Of course, we can't directly go into the village to manage the villagers. We have to do it under the banner of maintaining law and order, otherwise Bao County will accuse me of overstepping my authority."

  Lin Chunhong didn't regard these people as outsiders at all, and bluntly stated his intention of hanging a sheep's head to sell dog meat. This made everyone feel extremely uneasy, and they repeatedly said: "We will definitely follow Lin Dianshi's instructions."

  Lin Chunhong continued: "Maybe everyone still has doubts about managing villagers, thinking that since the village has a Li Jia, what do we need to do? I'd like to say something here. There are two major evils in the village. One is the local ruffians who extort and blackmail villagers for a living; the other is the Li Jia clan leaders who not only use official power to embezzle private benefits but also use usury to seize villagers' land. You have all lived in rural areas for half your lives, so you must be clearer about this than I am. As a county historian, what I hate most is seeing ordinary people being bullied, so I can only hope that after you arrive at the village, one thing you'll do is eliminate the local ruffians and another is restrict the Li Jia clan leaders' lawless behavior, giving ordinary people a place to reason."

  "This thing sounds difficult just listening to it, and doing it is even harder. However, I believe you can do a good job with these things. If you feel unwilling to go now, you can speak up."

  The crowd was silent, although they felt puzzled by Lin Chunhong's words, but no one wanted to be the first to speak up.

  Lin Chunhong smiled and said: "It seems that everyone wants to do something for the villagers. Hehe, I, Lin Chunhong, thank you all here."

  After finishing speaking, Lin Chunhong bowed deeply, startling everyone to dodge and repeatedly say: "How can this be, how can this be?"

  Lin Chunhong continued: "The archers of Bailizhou are brave and good at fighting, I believe everyone has seen it before. You can rest assured, boldly try, if anything happens, I Lin Chunhong will take responsibility for it. Those archers will be your strongest backing!"

  The crowd felt much more at ease, they all knew that these archers had not only fought against the Qing army and local forces, but also defeated the pirates in one breath, it was no exaggeration to call them elite soldiers, and in Zhijiang, they could hardly find any opponents.

  "Of course, we must be methodical in our work. A general principle is to unite with the great majority and strike at the small minority, and to win over the masses of villagers..."

  Lin Chunhong spoke eloquently and without pause, at first the crowd thought it was nothing special, but later on they became more and more enchanted, some even started asking questions, which made Lin Chunhong extremely delighted.

  Finally, Lin Chunhong concluded today's speech with one sentence: "How to do it specifically, I will teach you in the next five days."

  In the following five days, these twenty people grasped the mass work method in theory. They may not have felt the power of this method yet, and even less could they imagine that more than three hundred years later, someone would use this method to control the entire country.