"Guan Lin, what you said... do you mean that I am not good at eating?"
"You know me well. I have been muddle-headed for most of my life. I have accumulated countless ideas in my head but never had the chance to implement them. This time, I have finally met a wise master and have something to do. Why should I waste my energy?"
"Now my whole family has come to Jiangdu. It is said that the governor's mansion does not support idle people. If I cannot get the governor's approval, how can I support my family?"
"Chapter Clerk Wang, Lady Clerk Ran...these two are the governor's trusted aides. How can I compare with them? All I can do is be more diligent..."
He admitted that he opened his mouth a little wider when he ate today, but as a newcomer, he was in the period of growth, so it was normal to eat a few more bites, right? Wang Yue didn't think there was anything wrong with him at all. Instead, he gradually felt that Luo Guanlin's reminder was somewhat untenable.
"Speaking of which, Wang Changshi and Ms. Ran are both your family members. Ms. Ran is like your second pair of eyes... Wang Changshi is in charge of the affairs of the Governor's Office. He is very busy on weekdays. He is very happy to see us share your worries. I am so active and diligent. I think they are very happy. How can they think that I have stolen the limelight?"
To put it bluntly, Wang Changshi and Ran Nushi are of higher status than him. Who doesn't like the people below them to be both capable and willing to work?
Isn't competition something that usually happens between people of the same status and position? Thinking of this, Wang Yue's gaze towards his friend gradually changed, and he asked tentatively: "Guan Lin, are you worried... that I will shake your position in the adults' hearts?"
In the small study room with only two people, Luo Guanlin sat upright and said, "...Absolutely not!"
Seeing Wang Yue still showing a bit of sadness, Luo Guanlin frowned and said, "If I had such thoughts, why did I strongly recommend you to come to Jiangdu?"
Wang Yue was reserved about this statement. That was not necessarily true. What if they were worried that he would not eat enough, but also worried that he would eat too well?
Human nature was like this...it was not like he couldn't understand it.
Wang Yue sighed faintly: "I understand, Guanlin, I will listen to your advice and be more restrained in front of the governor in the future..."
Luo Guanlin was a little anxious. How could he bear the bad reputation of competing with Wang Wangshan for favor? And the one he was competing for was the favor of a 17-year-old girl! He would never admit it... No, he didn't have such thoughts in the first place! In order to clear his name, Luo Guanlin finally said: "Don't let your imagination run wild. You don't know that I have a three-year agreement with her in private. After three years, I will leave Jiangdu. This three-year agreement is just to repay her for saving my people!"
In short, there is no emotion, it’s all done out of necessity!
Wang Yue: “?”
Three years later, leaving Jiangdu?
Wang Yue turned around in his chair and faced Luo Guanlin, who was standing beside him. “Guanlin…how come I’ve never heard you mention such an important matter before!”
"What should I do if you leave after three years?" Wang Yue asked anxiously.
Luo Guanlin said calmly: "This is just a temporary solution. If there is a better place to go, I will take you with me..."
Wang Yue didn't listen to him at all and said directly: "No... If that's the case, I'm afraid I won't be able to handle it alone. I need to consolidate my position as soon as possible!"
Luo Guanlin looked at his friend with an indescribable look in his eyes - you have absolutely no intention of going with him, right?
It is impossible for Wang Yue to consider this option easily. Firstly, he is now full of ambitions and has many hopes for Jiangdu. Secondly, he has finally decided on the lord. If he is asked to switch to someone else... Does anyone understand how cruel and terrible this would be for him?
Wang Yue then spoke from the bottom of his heart: "Guan Lin, you have never had a bottleneck period in choosing a master, but I am different. It took me most of my life to decide on Changshi. Unless it is absolutely necessary, I will never change a new master."
Luo Guanlin frowned. What does it mean that there is no bottleneck period in choosing a master? It made Luo Guanlin sound like a fickle person! "So, Guanlin... help me quickly!" Wang Yue put his hands together and bowed to Luo Guanlin: "Just now, I misunderstood you... Since you have nothing to ask for, just be a good person to the end, and help me stabilize my position in front of the governor!"
He had heard that quite a few scholars had come to the Governor's Mansion recently, but Wang Changshi was still screening and observing them, and had not allowed those people to work in the outer study for the time being.
But the competition will be fierce, and it is important to consolidate your position as soon as possible! "Guan Lin, tell me, what taboos and preferences does the governor have on a daily basis?"
"Guan Lin, I have an unwelcome request... If you have any good ideas in the future, why don't you give them to me in private? You don't need them anyway, right?"
“…”
Luo Guanlin suddenly felt like he was being roasted on a fire. So, was he now forced to help Wang Wangshan "consolidate his favor"? What on earth was he doing here tonight? That night, Luo Guanlin was pestered by Wang Yue to ask about Chang Suining's likes and dislikes. It was past three o'clock in the morning before he was able to get away.
Therefore, when he appeared in front of Chang Suining the next day, there was a slight dark color under his eyes.
Chang Suining summoned officials from Jiangdu to discuss matters, summarized the problems encountered in recent days, and discussed solutions one by one.
After all the officials left the conference room, Wang Changshi also stepped back to arrange matters.
At this time, a runner came to announce that someone wanted to see the governor. His identity was unknown, and he only said his surname was Yuan. He said he knew the governor.
Chang Suining asked Yao Ran to go and see the man first to verify whether he was real.
After Yao Ran left, Chang Suining looked at Luo Guanlin, who was sitting there sorting out his notes, and asked, "Mr. Qian, do you have anything to say?"
At this moment, everyone dispersed, and except for Chang Suining, only Luo Guanlin and Wang Yue were left in the conference room.
During the meeting, Luo Guanlin seemed to want to speak but hesitated several times, but he did not speak directly in front of those officials.
Hearing Chang Suining's question, he put down the notes in his hand, looked seriously at the girl in the crimson official robe above him, and asked before answering: "Sir, do you know why the court chose to suppress industry and commerce?"
Scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, with merchants and artisans coming at the end. This is the division based on value recognition.
Chang Suining nodded.
Luo Guanlin said: "Merchants pursue profit. When they see profit, they will do anything. Once they become powerful, most of them will be cunning and deceitful, forcing the good people to be inferior, and even colluding with officials to deceive the superiors and oppress the people. Therefore, if we don't try to suppress their status, it will shake the foundation of the country."
"The origin of commerce is also closely related to workers. Workers create things, while merchants sell them—"
Luo Guanlin looked at Chang Suining and said bluntly: "Your Excellency is now going to set up a craftsman school in Wueryuan to train craftsmen and let them grow. This move may bring temporary prosperity to Jiangdu, but if the craftsmen are allowed to grow and develop, it will only take a few years for them to flow into all walks of life and pursue profits together with merchants. There must be two foreseeable dangers-"
Chang Suining nodded and continued, "First, once the status of workers is improved and the profits of businessmen increase, it will be easy for the people to deviate from reality and pursue empty things. People will be restless and unwilling to settle down in farming, which will shake the foundation of farming."
Luo Guanlin was stunned for a moment, and then the girl continued, "Secondly, once the industrial and commercial connections become powerful, they hold huge profits and collude with the powerful, just like the salt dealers. In the future, there may be a problem that they will become too powerful to be eliminated and the government will be worried about them."
Luo Guanlin looked at her deeply and said, "That's right. Once this situation is formed, the prosperity of the moment will be like a bubble and may collapse at any time."
He couldn't help but ask: "Since you know this, why did you choose to set up the Artisan Academy? Is your goal just to achieve a temporary prosperity? For this reason, you have to ignore the possible drawbacks of this drastic measure?"
"Sir, I need craftsmen. I need many craftsmen with excellent skills who can make new things."
The girl's cold eyes were filled with faith and determination: "Sir, do you know how important a good sword, a good armor, and a warship that can break the wind and waves are on the battlefield? They can even determine the outcome of a war. And the advent of a sharp weapon that other countries have never seen, if it plays a role in a crucial battle, can determine the survival of a country. Nowadays, we are facing internal and external troubles, and foreign enemies are constantly coming. We need sharp weapons to protect our prosperity and decline."
The girl's voice was not loud, but there seemed to be the sound of swords and horses behind her.
Luo Guanlin had never been to the battlefield, but at this moment, he actually saw the tenacious spirit of defending the country from this seventeen-year-old girl.
He suddenly believed that she really wanted to protect this land and its people.
"This is a matter of survival and victory in war." Chang Suining continued, "What workers create is beneficial in all aspects. Since the beginning of farming, the importance of farm tools is self-evident. If we can make further progress on the current basis, we can use less manpower to do more things. The development of workers will not only indirectly 'hurt farmers', but also directly help farmers."
"I cannot refute the benefits you mentioned." Perhaps he really understood Chang Suining's intentions, Luo Guanlin's tone sounded much more relaxed, but his attitude was still clear: "But you just mentioned the harm that this move will bring. After weighing the two, do you still think it is worth doing this?"
"Yes." Chang Suining said without hesitation: "But I will try to minimize the harm. I want craftsmen, and I have no intention of raising the status and interests of merchants--"
Luo Guanlin: "But craftsmen and merchants are a cause and an effect..."
Chang Suining raised his hand and poured himself a cup of tea, and asked: "What if all those craftsmen who master the latest skills belong to me?"
Luo Guanlin looked at her in confusion.
"The craftsmen I trained should be employed by me." Chang Suining took a sip of tea and said, "Sir, I plan to build four workshops in Jiangdu."
Luo Guanlin didn't react for a moment: "... Wueryuan has not yet been fully completed, why are they building a workshop?"
Chang Suining blinked his eyes and said, "If I don't build a workshop, where will the craftsmen who graduate from the Wueryuan Artisan Academy go to work in the future?"
"It turns out that the governor has already thought of where these craftsmen should go!" Wang Yue pondered and said, "In this way, they can be restrained and supervised to the greatest extent..."
He also knew that his response was not very good, but it was not a big deal since he couldn't get a word in.
When listening to Lao Luo halfway through, he began to feel regretful - such a good opportunity to show off, why not leave it to him! But Wang Yue also knew that this topic was too complicated, and he was destined to not be able to grasp it as well as Luo Guanlin - people who have been to the capital and served as officials are still different after all.
In terms of perspective and sharpness, he is far behind.
Wang Yue knew that he was inferior to him, so he secretly made up his mind to ask more advice from his friends in the future, and to take advantage of his friends in the name of asking questions without feeling ashamed.
But then again... Sir Governor has not been in office for long, so how is it possible that he can converse so freely with Old Luo?
"Yes, restraint and supervision is one of them." Chang Suining said: "I not only want to supervise, but also to make profits."
She used straightforward words: "The benefits are in my hands, in the hands of the government, in the hands of the court, just like the official salt. How to distribute it to those merchants and how to regulate it are up to me."
Luo Guanlin raised his eyebrows: "Your Excellency, do you mean to build a government-run workshop?"
"Of course." Chang Suining said, "I will not only build a porcelain workshop and a silk weaving workshop, but also a shipbuilding workshop and a smelting workshop. All of these must be approved by the court."
The government-run handicraft industry has existed since the Western Zhou Dynasty. This is not the first case. Xuanzhou already has government-run paper mills and porcelain workshops.
"Given the current situation in Jiangdu, even if the court agrees to let you build a workshop, the Ministry of Revenue may not be able to allocate the money..." Luo Guanlin said tactfully.
There is also shipbuilding and smelting, he couldn't even imagine how much money this would cost.
"It's OK, as long as the court approves it. I can advance the money." Chang Suining smiled and said, "I happen to have some extra money on hand."
Spare money?
The three million strings of cash in her private vault? Luo Guanlin felt like sighing for some reason. They had just had a few days of ease... She couldn't even save a bit of money. She had to spend it on something.
But if these workshops were really opened, the profits should be considerable. And the court would also be happy to see workshops that could enrich the national treasury and were supervised by the government.
She invested the money herself, and most of the craftsmen there came from Wueryuan... Although it was nominally a government-run business and had to pay taxes, it was almost the same as her own private business.
Therefore, she first built Wueryuan and then the workshop. I'm afraid she had already laid out a complete plan for Jiangdu in her mind.
In this way, craftsmen can better utilize their strengths while being managed in a standardized manner. The profits created are distributed by them and the market is regulated by them, which can effectively mitigate the impact on the system order.
She tried to make Jiangdu fly, but the kite string was in her hand... then everything could be controlled to a certain extent.
This also shows that she understands the importance of the word "rule".
In fact, we have just mentioned many disadvantages. In the final analysis, the greatest harm is that it is not conducive to governance. This is also the fundamental reason why the court emphasized agriculture and suppressed commerce, and degraded all new and unique skills into gimmicks.
"Don't worry, sir. I'm not someone who just fantasizes." Chang Suining put down the teacup and said, "This world will always need order and means to maintain stability. I will never ignore the fundamentals at any time."
At this moment, looking at the aura surrounding the girl, Luo Guanlin's emotions surged like waves, and then slowly settled down. He couldn't even tell what the feeling was.
Good night, good night. (The plots of the last few chapters seem very boring, all about Ningning's official business, and it is very difficult to write. I look up a lot of information every day, and I may only write a few words, crying, but if I don't write, it will feel very superficial, and I can't be lazy and just pass it over. But this paragraph is finally roughly written. If there are any mistakes or omissions, please correct me.)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
