Chapter Seventeen: Borrowing Power to Generate Power

  The White Cliff Cave successfully stirred up hatred between the Han people and the Si Nan, all of whom felt relieved. Moreover, it also eliminated the safety threat to the White Cliff Cave, and everyone was grateful to Peng Xin Laozhang. The tribe leader also trusted Peng Xin, and consulted him on everything. As a result, Peng Xin's prestige in the tribe rose sharply. Peng Xin secretly gloated over this, but he also knew that his prestige in the tribe came from the struggle between the Han people and the Si Nan. Once the Han people and the Si Nan reconciled, or if the Han people exterminated the Si Nan, or if the Si Nan drove away the Han people, his position would be shaken. However, these things were beyond his control, which made him anxious.

  After staying in Gehouyan for a few days, he found that Lin Chunhong and others had a good method of felling trees, with high efficiency. He inquired about their profits from the side and found that logging was indeed a lucrative industry. Moreover, Lin Chunhong brought more than 300 soldiers from Da Tianqianhu, which made Peng Xin admire him even more. With sufficient labor force and good relations with Da Tianqianhu, the trees of Gehouyan were continuously transported out of the mountain, turning into silver in Lin Chunhong's hands, making Peng Xin also drool.

  What can be done to make one's position more stable? Peng Xin thought and thought, and felt that the only way to make his position more stable was to let his clansmen hold silver coins in their hands. In this way, no one would dare oppose him. And the way to earn silver coins is right in front of him, letting his own clansmen go logging!

  Peng Xin decided to contact Lin Chunhong himself without consulting the clan leader first. He thought that once he proposed this suggestion to the clan leader, the elders would definitely know the benefits of this matter and compete with each other, and it was uncertain whether he could take action himself, and maybe someone else would have taken credit for his idea by then. Peng Xin thought about it and decided to do it, so on that day, he brought one of his nephews to Liheyan to visit Lin Chunhong.

  Lin Chunhong didn't mind the previous calculation of Bai Ya Cave, but he was uncomfortable in his heart. After asking Peng Xin about his intention, he put him aside and gathered five team leaders, Li Shu and Zhou Wang to discuss together.

  "Felling trees is fine, but they must listen to our orders and do what we tell them to do. And the wages should be less!" Guo Mingyan knew about the previous calculation of Baiyuedong, and he was also resentful in his heart. Moreover, he thought that the native people should get even lower wages than them, equality was impossible, so he proposed.

  "This won't do, if time goes on like this, these barbarians will definitely be dissatisfied and may cause unrest! After all, they have several thousand people, if we really clash with them, we can't defeat them." Zhou Wang said solemnly.

  "Wages are low and it's hard to manage, now those military households are even more difficult to manage than the brothers of the past!" Lin Dehai was also dissatisfied with the current military households, he hoped to lead subordinates with wage differences.

  "That bunch of bastards don't take care of their tools either, they're damaged a lot, completely different from the brothers in the past!" Li Shu couldn't help but say, getting angry at someone's lack of professionalism.

  Everyone was discussing it in a disorderly manner, but the main point is that we can't let Baiyuan Cave take advantage of us, and the wages cannot be low, otherwise it will cause trouble.

  Lin Chunhong actually tended to cooperate with Baiyuedong, which not only enhanced his own human resources but also formed a community of interests with the locals, greatly enhancing his own strength. Given the deep-seated discrimination among his subordinates, it was indeed inconvenient to provide the same wages. So Lin Chunhong said: "Everyone thinks that we can cooperate with Baiyuedong, this is our consensus, as for what content and how to cooperate, we will continue to discuss. In short, I think that since it is cooperation, we must be able to get benefits, they also get benefits, so that we can last long."

  "The last time we were outsmarted by the White Cliff Cave, and now that things with Si Nan haven't been settled yet, it's better to let them provide some strong men to follow us for training and battle! Best if they're archers, these barbarians are always hunting, their archery skills aren't bad." Zhou Wang remembered Si Nan's threat at all times.

  "Uh, can't let them get away with it so cheaply. The strong men they provide must obey our command, and paying them the same wages as Lin Chunyi's men is no big deal either. This way, they will eventually lean towards us in their hearts." On this point, everyone was unanimous, after all, when fighting a war, any unstable factors had to be eliminated.

  "I think the herbs of Tumanzi are also good, bringing them over to sell in the mountains might make some money." Guo Mingyan's lumberjack was injured last time and recovered under the effect of the herbs, he remembered it deeply.

  "That's right, we can totally find them to buy these local specialties, and they'll definitely make money in the city. Moreover, they also need many things from us Hans, and we can bring them over to sell to them. Back and forth, won't we make a fortune?" Lin Deshao had already considered the necessity of circulation, and Lin Chunhong looked up at him with admiration.

  "Wood can also be treated as a local specialty, let these turtles come and sell it to us themselves, and don't care how they cut it?" Li Shu followed Lin De's line of thinking and inadvertently solved the problem of logging labor costs, making everyone's eyes light up.

  Lin Chunhong carefully considered everyone's words and happily said: "We buy their things, sell them Han people's things, they can't leave us, everything has to rely on us, these people belong to us!"

  Lin Chunhong knew that this was a naked economic and cultural annexation, and his heart suddenly felt heroic. He wondered if the rebellious and bloody changes could be easily solved with this method, so he made Baiyuan Cave an experimental product.

  Finally, Lin Chunhong organized everyone's opinions into a document and took it to discuss with Peng Xin. Peng Xin saw that the content not only exceeded his original expectations in terms of comprehensiveness and depth but also considered the interests of both parties without putting himself at a disadvantage. He was overjoyed, but he still made one request to Lin Chunhong: all transactions between them must go through him, and do not look for other people from Baiyadong.

  Lin Chunhong listened and felt that Peng Xin's desire for power was very strong. He was moved in his heart and asked, "Was it your idea to bring the people from Si Nan over last time?"

  Peng Xin was shocked and couldn't say a word, his eyes rolling back and forth. Lin Chunhong saw this and became even more determined in his heart, angrily saying: "For those who scheme against me, I have only one principle, which is to repay blood with blood. Even if it's an official soldier, I'll still kill whoever I say I will!"

  A powerful confidence and strength combined, it was an exceptionally strong aura, Peng Xin was almost suffocated, his knees couldn't help but bend, kneeling on the ground, constantly begging for mercy, his forehead knocked against the ground with a loud thud, instantly covered in blood, a pitiful sight.

  Lin Chunhong saw that he had been beaten enough and coldly said: "Get up, remember to be more careful in the future!"

  Peng Xin stopped kowtowing and slowly got up, hunching his back and standing at attention, not daring to look at Lin Chunhong.

  "As for contacting only you, no problem, I promise you."

  Peng Xin was covered in sweat, and after hearing Lin Chunhong's words, he finally put his heart at ease, but for a moment, he couldn't help feeling puzzled - why was he so afraid of this young man?

  Lin Chunhong has a high opinion of Peng Xin, who is very sensitive to benefits and has a strategy. If he can return to his heart, he will become his trusted assistant. As for only contacting Peng Xin about transaction matters, this has no impact on Lin Chunhong, as long as the transaction can be made, it's like contacting a dog from Baiyue Cave, what's the problem?

  Lin Chunhong continued, "What's the point of fighting over the leadership of Bai Ya Cave? With your abilities, governing a state or prefecture is not difficult at all. Bai Ya Cave only has a few thousand people, while a prefecture has tens of millions. Look further ahead and don't just focus on what's in front of you."

  Peng Xin clearly disagreed with this, after all, he had only come out of the mountain a few times and his horizons were not yet broadened. He thought that being able to become the head of Baijiao Cave and bullying the people of Sichuan was already the most glorious thing.

  Seeing Peng Xin off, Lin Chunhong couldn't help but sigh that talented people are everywhere, they just haven't encountered the opportunity yet.

  Zhou Wang again deliberated for a long time on the matter of Baiyue Cave's Zhuang Ding, and then consulted with Lin Chunhong, saying that the proportion of Han people was too small and unacceptable. It is necessary to let Han people occupy the majority, so even if the locals have ulterior motives, they will not be able to stir up any waves. From this matter, Zhou Wang also believed that the military households currently occupied the majority of the labor force, inevitably subject to Ruan Zhihuan's constraints. In order to grasp the initiative, it is necessary to recruit more of his own people. Now that funds are abundant, it is just right to recruit workers on a large scale. Lin Chunhong deeply agreed and planned to recruit people in the near future.

  Zhou Wang also believes that there is currently a severe lack of capable people, and as the team expands, this problem will only worsen. Lin Chunhong can't think of any good solutions either, so he has to instruct Zheng Tiancheng to search for such talent outside.

  Talents, talents, are scarce everywhere. Lin Chunhong felt that Lin Deshao had a simple understanding of commodity circulation, so he thought of sending Lin Deshao to Yizhou City to build a warehouse. This warehouse can be used to sell local specialties and also to store goods prepared for transportation to the barbarian land. From thinking to doing, Lin Chunhong handed over the affairs here to Zhou Wang to take charge, and promoted Deng Yuhe to replace Lin Deshao as the captain, while he himself took Lin Deshao back to Yizhou.

  After Wang Er and more than a dozen people took Zhou Wang as their master, Ma Sou did not dare to make any rash moves. Wang Er and the others were having a great time, feeling very pleased with themselves, and they even recruited a few more brothers, expanding their group to over 20 people. Although Zhou Wang had instructed them to gather information about the situation in Yiling State, nothing out of the ordinary was happening there, and all that was being reported were trivial matters such as someone's wife having an affair with a wild man or whose mother pig had climbed a tree. Wang Er didn't think it necessary to report these things back to Zhou Wang. However, he took very seriously Zhou Wang's instruction to take care of his family's safety and would often come by to check on them.

  Wang Er and others often came to take a look, thinking that there was nothing wrong with it, but they came too many times and were seen by Xiaofeng. Xiaofeng didn't know what their purpose was, so he took the opportunity to beat Wang Er and his friends severely. Wang Er suffered an unjust disaster, truly having grievances with no place to appeal. Later, when Xiaofeng understood that Wang Er was taking care of safety under Zhou Wang's orders, he also found it amusing.

  Xiaofeng every day has nothing to do, so she calls Wang Er and others to come and go. Wang Er and others see that Xiaofeng's martial arts are skilled and she is a great beauty, so they also listen to her orders. Zhou Wang's wife sees that Xiaofeng is getting further and further away from the path of a virtuous woman, and is worried and anxious, often teaching her that she should not go out of the house. Xiaofeng listens for a few days, but after a few days, she returns to her old ways, and this happens several times. Zhou Wang's wife then puts her hopes in Zhou Wang to educate their daughter, but unfortunately, Zhou Wang rarely comes home, so she can only secretly get angry and constantly complain about her husband and Lin Chunhong taking on such a useless apprentice, which has caused their daughter to learn bad things.

  Li's mother, Li Shi, also had a similar experience in her youth and didn't think there was anything wrong with Xiaofeng's behavior. As a result, Xiaofeng was very respectful to Li Shi and often chatted with her. In front of Li Shi, Xiaofeng became a well-behaved little girl, making Li Shi love her dearly and thinking about when Lin Chunhong would bring Xiaofeng into the family. However, outside rumors grew more numerous, and ordinary people had already regarded Xiaofeng as a female demon head, a black society boss. Of course, this was partly due to the efforts of Ma Sui and others, who were accustomed to spreading rumors and slandering others, especially since Xiaofeng had blocked their way.

  Mrs. Li had also heard the rumor, so she was very sympathetic to Zhou Wang's wife. After all, as parents, who would be happy to hear their daughter being talked about in this way? Mrs. Li felt responsible for teaching Xiao Feng a lesson and making her stop.

  At this time, Xiaofeng was sitting with Li Shi together, chatting and sewing shoes. Looking at Xiaofeng's needlework, Li Shi couldn't help but feel proud, this is indeed the daughter-in-law of the Lin family, she is really a clever and skilled person. She couldn't help but put down her needlework, stroking Xiaofeng's head, saying: "Xiaofeng, you are already eighteen years old, it's time to talk about marriage."

  Xiaofeng was staring at Mrs. Li with wide eyes, looking puzzled, when she suddenly heard her say this and felt deeply ashamed. She lowered her head and said in a low voice, "Auntie, I won't get married, I'll just stay home to accompany Mother and the two aunties."

  "Silly child, what girl doesn't get married? There's a way for you to both get married and stay with your mother and aunt."

  "What's the solution?"

  "Why don't you just marry our family's Third Master?" Li asked with a smile, staring at Xiaofeng to see her reaction.

  Xiao Feng's face turned bright red, and she pinched the half-finished shoe sole, answering in a mosquito-like voice: "Father and he rarely come back together several times a year!"

  Xiaofeng's seemingly inexplicable answer delighted Li, who as a woman understood that not opposing was equivalent to agreeing. Since Xiaofeng had agreed to this matter, Li completely regarded herself as Xiaofeng's future mother-in-law and said: "That Wang Er is originally a rascal, always extorting and blackmailing people, the townspeople both hate and fear them. Auntie knows they listen to you, can you make them stop harming people in the future?"

  "Auntie, I've already told them not to bully the neighbors anymore, but they insist on asking the shopkeepers for money, saying that if they don't get paid, they'll have no way out," Little Phoenix said in a low voice.

  "Auntie also knows you want to go out and do something, I was just like you when I was younger. But everyone thinks that a big girl like you shouldn't be out in public, so let's wait until your dad and his mistress get back, they can think of something for you to do."

  "Now there's something for you to do, Little Feng, will you do it?" Lin Chunhong's voice came from outside, and as soon as the words fell, Lin Chunhong pushed open the door. This startled both Little Feng and Li Shi, who scolded: "You'll scare people to death!"

  Lin Chunhong laughed and said: "Mother, I'm back with Tie Shou, I'm starving, hurry up and cook something for us."

  Li was about to leave for work, and Xiaofeng hurriedly said: "Auntie, I'll go!" Then she quickly slipped out of the room. Xiaofeng suspected that Lin Chunhong had heard everything she said earlier and felt embarrassed, so she took this opportunity to slip away.

  Li and Lin Chunhong saw Feng'er jumping out with a fiery personality, they both thought it was interesting and couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  Lin Chunhong and Lin Deshao chose a location directly opposite Gezhou to set up their warehouse, which was close to the dock and convenient for loading and unloading goods. Lin Chunhong arranged for Lin Deshao to be in charge of the warehouse's operations and had Xiaofeng assist him. Xiaofeng brought Wang Er and others and lectured them: "In the past, I told you not to extort money from merchants, you said that if you didn't take money, there would be no way out. Now, this young lady has found a job for you, and in the future, you are not allowed to go and extort money from merchants again, do you understand?" Wang Er and others nodded in agreement. Lin Chunhong and Lin Deshao looked at Xiaofeng's serious expression as she lectured Wang Er and couldn't help but stifle a smile, guessing that for Wang Er and others, Xiaofeng's words were more effective than Lin Chunhong's orders.

  Xiaofeng divided Wang Er's men into three groups, one group was responsible for purchasing goods, one group was responsible for selling goods, and one group was responsible for taking care of the warehouse. As for what to buy and sell, and at what price, everything was decided by Lin Deshao. This arrangement made Lin Chunhong extremely surprised, thinking that his Xiaofeng was indeed a phoenix among people. Only Wang Er had no assigned task, and he couldn't help but ask: "Feng Niang, what about me?"

  Xiao Feng's eyes widened and he said, "You're just following Iron Head Uncle to do business, don't you want to be a rogue for the rest of your life? You're their leader, aren't you?"

  Wang Er bowed and greeted Lin De Shao, saying "Wang Er is not talented, please Uncle Tie Tou teach me more." Lin Chun Hong patted Wang Er's shoulder and said: "Brother Wang Er, do well, I know you're clever and have many ideas."

  Xiao Feng'er didn't even give Lin Chunhong any face, and sternly said: "My subordinates, do they need you to buy people's hearts?"

  Lin Chunhong's hand stopped in mid-air and couldn't clap anymore, turning around with a smile.

  Wang Er and his gang, although inexperienced in buying and selling goods, relied on their notorious reputation to intimidate merchants into handing over money as soon as they opened their mouths. Business was surprisingly easy for them. Additionally, the prices of Lin's warehouse were reasonable, so gradually, merchants began to voluntarily purchase these local specialties, but that's a story for later.

  Lin Chunhong had another purpose for coming back this time, which was to ask Li Chongde to come out and help himself. Lin Chunhong was distressed by the lack of talent, and his career was difficult to expand. Last time, Li Chongde's interest in management studies touched Lin Chunhong, who felt that Li Chongde had something valuable inside him. Even if he didn't have anything substantial, he could still have a decorative effect, which would be worth a thousand pieces of gold for a horse's bone.

  Lin Chunhong inquired all the way and arrived at Changlinggang Village, entering Li Chongde's home to find that Li Chongde was teaching two children to draw characters. Lin Chunhong smiled: "A scholar has a lot of free time!"

  Li Chongde was delighted to see Lin Chunhong arrive, and hastily invited his wife to pour tea and asked Lin Chunhong to sit down. Before Lin Chunhong had even sat down properly, Li Chongde said: "The method you used last time to calculate wages is only suitable for workers who make things, but it's not applicable to people like wine shop waiters, nor is it applicable to officials. Do you have a better way?"

  Lin Chunhong couldn't help but laugh and cry, this Li Xiucan was too obsessed, always thinking about this issue? Lin Chunhong thought for a moment and said: "I haven't experienced this either, but I've also come up with some methods, don't know if they're applicable or not. For example, for the wine keepers, we can let them supervise each other, every month have everyone evaluate a certain person, and decide how much salary to give based on the evaluation."

  Li Xiuzai opened his eyes wide and carefully considered Lin Chunhong's plan, praising: "Lin Boss' method is good. In short, they can't be allowed to take the same wages as us. What about those appointed by the imperial court?"

  Lin Chunhong guessed that Li Xiuciai was still thinking about this question, and now the scholars all understand that the officialdom of the Ming Dynasty has become rotten to the core, almost to the point where national governance cannot be carried out smoothly. It is estimated that Li Xiuciai has been thinking about how to reform the Ming Dynasty's officialdom every day.

  Lin Chunhong did not hide his own views, saying: "Officials are more complicated. For them, promotion is more motivating than salary. The method is still the same as for wine keepers, where ordinary people evaluate officials. For example, when the position of county magistrate in Jiangling County becomes vacant, both Mr. and I want to be the magistrate, so let the ordinary people choose who gets their support. If most ordinary people support Mr., then he will become the magistrate. However, if Mr. oppresses the people after becoming the magistrate, next time the ordinary people will definitely not support him."

  Li Xiucan nodded and said, "The method sounds good, but when it comes to implementation, there are many problems. For example, how do we determine whether the common people support someone? What if the person who wants to be an official bribes or coerces the common people? Some common people have never seen an official in their lifetime, so how can they know who to support? Moreover, rural people are easily misled by rumors and lies. What if they are tempted by people with ulterior motives?"

  "Yes, it's a difficult problem, and I haven't thought it through thoroughly." Lin Chunhong said frankly.

  "Nowadays, both capital inspection and outer inspection can actually assess officials, but they have been distorted by the people above." Li Xiuzai thought for a long time before responding.

  "Capital inspection and outer inspection have already become tools for party struggle, so let's not talk about it. Moreover, this is different from what I said earlier. Capital inspection and outer inspection are evaluated by officials or the emperor, while what I said earlier is evaluated by ordinary people."

  "Doesn't the Emperor's evaluation differ from that of the common people?" Li Xiucai asked. The scholars of this era always had an inexplicable fantasy about the Emperor.

  "Of course it's different, weren't there many tyrannical rulers and emperors who brought disaster to the country throughout history?" Lin Chunhong retorted.

  Li Xiuciai listened and burst out laughing, saying: "Boss Lin is indeed a quick-witted person with a sharp tongue!"

  Lin Chunhong also burst out laughing: "Hearing Mr.'s words, this young man has gained a lot!"