Chapter 730: Governing Qinghe River
Lu Songli was not discouraged by his words. "So what? If you encounter a problem, solve it. If it can't be solved once, try twice. If it doesn't work twice, try a third time."
Banditry and prostitution are both social ills that must be eradicated with drastic measures.
Now, within Pingzhou's sphere of influence, hasn't the problem of banditry been greatly alleviated?
Ji Wuyin said worriedly, "Governor, this problem has been the same since ancient times. Dali has been established for nearly two hundred years, but has never thought about solving this problem." This is not within the scope of Dali's consideration. Isn't this a reasonable existence?
Lu Songli sneered, "If you want to solve the problem, you should give it your all from the beginning. If you don't want to solve the problem, no matter how much time you give it, it will be in vain."
During the Republic of China, red-light districts were everywhere in Shanghai and Tianjin, and the bandit problem was alleviated but not eradicated. What happened later?
Ji Wuyin had already sensed the governor's determination and immediately submitted, "Governor, I will refuse the Cui family's request and cooperate with Master Zhang."
Lu Songli nodded, "Okay, within Pingzhou's sphere of influence, such abuses and places must be eradicated and eliminated."
Ji Wuyin nodded, said his business, and left.
Lu Songli glanced at his back and thought, now everyone should know her attitude.
Many people may not be able to fully understand why she is so determined on this issue.
As the saying goes, no trade, no harm.
Her purpose in banning brothels was to stop prostitution and prevent women from being persecuted, and at the same time, to cut off the source of profits from crimes such as trafficking in women, human trafficking and even murder.
This is to improve social atmosphere and reduce crime. This is one aspect, but not the main reason.
In fact, there is a deeper reason.
At present, Pingzhou’s population is still too small.
The relationship between men and women is also a social supply and demand relationship.
Because a lot of economic consumption revolves around married life, that is, consumption based on marriage.
From the perspective of social development and the supply and demand relationship between men and women in society, if we want to develop, we must make it more difficult to obtain sexual resources and increase their scarcity, so as to encourage men to work harder and, after earning enough wealth, obtain this resource through legal means.
Not to mention legalizing such brothels, just allowing them to run rampant will make sexual resources cheap and abundant, and a considerable number of men will choose this way to meet their needs, and they will no longer be willing to work hard.
A prostitute can provide a considerable number of men with stable resources of that nature.
If such places are not banned, the large number of such men and women in brothels will be enough to bring down the economy of a place.
The cleanup and management of brothels in Qinghe County was in full swing under the leadership of Zhang Zhongxian.
At this time, news came out that Lu Songli declined to establish a country and move the capital. On the Dali side, the cabinet ministers decided to take advantage of the situation.
First, they spread rumors that Lu Songli's power was unprecedentedly great, and now in Pingzhou, only the governor was known, not the six generals of Qin.
In addition to this, it was also said that she ordered people to ban brothels in Pingzhou because she, as a woman, could not bear to see this.
Such divisive words were quickly suppressed.
But some people believed it, including those scholars who thought their interests were harmed.
Zhang Zhongxian went to deal with it, but deliberately delayed.
At this time, Wang Dong was already dealing with it.
He first had someone spread the news that the governor was being feared by the aristocratic families because he over-promoted and favored children from poor families.
After the news had spread widely, he brought people to mingle with the scholars and persuade them.
Wang Dong, who looked like an honest man, shook his head and said, "You guys really don't know what's good for you!"
The scholar from Qinghe County felt uncomfortable when he heard this. How could they be so ungrateful?
"How can these brothels be considered good places? These beauties are nothing more than money-wasting dens. Not only do they waste money, they also wear down one's will. I'm sure many of you have families tightening their belts to support your studies, right?"
Many of the poor children present were ashamed by what they said.
Thanks to the emergence of Pingzhou, the prices of the four treasures of the study have come down, otherwise the cost of their studies would be much higher than it is now.
"If you don't work hard when you're young, you'll regret it when you're old. Now is the time for you to study hard. If you really can't bear to part with this beautiful woman, then marry her."
"What? You don't have the money to marry her? Then why don't you study hard and get a good degree?"
"You really don't know how to cherish opportunities. Now the governor has opened up a bright future for you. If you study hard, there will be a way out. In the past, no matter how hard you worked, there was almost no way out. You, alas!" Wang Dong sighed after saying this.
After Wang Dong finished speaking, others began to discuss, "I heard that the governor intentionally promoted children from poor families and gave them a chance, thus infringing on the interests of the aristocratic families and offending them. This is why his reputation is..."
"We joined in the commotion, which was really wrong." The scholars lowered their heads in shame. In this way, they were somewhat ungrateful.
These words were quite heartfelt and spread among the scholars. Everyone no longer resisted the Pingzhou government's action to clean up the brothels. A group of scholars who had achieved academic success even fled to Qingzhou, because the construction of Qingzhou was in full swing and there was a particular shortage of talent.
Qinghe Cui Family
The atmosphere in the Cui family was very heavy at this time.
Cui Yan knelt on the ground, looking depressed.
Old Madam Cui said with dismay, "What good advice can Qi give you? Just believe what she says!"
Originally, the Cui family had just returned to Pingzhou, so they should have behaved humbly.
There was the Lu family of Zhuozhou before, and the three Jin families of Hedong after. Which family is not like this? Let Pingzhou arrange it.
But he refused to believe it and continued to do things recklessly, and now he is in trouble.
Cui Yan just felt wronged. How could he know that even if he offered half of the benefits, Lu Songli would not be moved?
"Mom, what should we do now?"
Old Madam Cui had a headache. She was old and lacked energy, and could not handle such a big matter.
She immediately sent someone to invite her daughter-in-law Gao.
After giving the order, Mrs. Cui advised him, "Be good recently, go to Qi's house less often, and coax your wife more."
"I'll listen to my mother." Cui Yan said obediently.
Old Madam Cui sighed. Her son was not capable, and the family depended entirely on her daughter-in-law.
Main Courtyard of Cui Mansion
Cui Yan's wife Gao Mei was dressing up. She already knew what Cui Yan had done.
"Madam, the master went to the old lady's yard and hasn't come out yet."
Mrs. Cui Gao sneered, "Serves you right."
She had never been in favor of having so many brothels, but Cui Yan refused to listen.
Later, the same thing happened. I told him not to do it, but he was so stubborn that he insisted on doing it. Now, he has offended Governor Lu.
"Madam, what should we do now?" the trusted maid asked, complaining, "Master is such a jerk. He knows nothing and keeps messing around all day, wasting Madam's energy and effort. In the end, Madam has to clean up this mess."
Another confidant stopped him, saying, "Alright, stop nagging. Madam is already suffering enough."
Listening to the conversation between her trusted maids, Gao Mei couldn't help but grit her teeth. Cui Yan, that idiot! If she were the head of the Cui family, she could do a better job than him with just a few fingers.
At this time, the old nanny from the old lady's yard came and said, "Madam, the old lady wants to see you."
I had expected this to happen. Gao Mei stood up and walked out.
The other maids hurried to follow.
Gao Mei thought as she walked, Governor Lu shouldn't mind if the Cui family has a new master serving her, right?
At this time, Mrs. Cui was also thinking about how to tell her daughter-in-law.
A quarter of an hour after the three of them met, Mrs. Cui covered her chest and looked at her daughter-in-law in disbelief, "What did you say?"
She couldn't believe what came out of her daughter-in-law's mouth.
Gao Mei said, "Mom, I say, you can let me clean up his mess, but you must give me the position of the head of the family."
Before Madam Cui could say anything, Cui Yan couldn't help but said viciously, "Don't even think about it!"
Gao Mei looked at her useless husband with disgust and said, "Fine, you guys handle this matter. If you can't handle it well, forget it. At worst, I can go back to my parents' home."
"Gao Mei, does it have to be like this?"
"Yes. I don't want to have to clean up his mess over and over again."
Madam Cui said loudly, "Yan'er is your husband."
Gao Mei nodded. "I know, that's why I always cleaned up his messes before." But now, she didn't want to think about it anymore. Why couldn't she be the master of her own house? How was she any worse than Cui Yan?
"Mom, rather than letting him ruin the fruits of my hard work time and time again, I might as well just let it go."
"Of course, if mother is willing to support me in taking over the position of the head of the Cui family, I will definitely manage it well, and in the future this family business will be passed on to your eldest grandson, my son." She turned to persuade her mother-in-law.
Old Madam Cui felt very tired. When she first learned that the person in charge of Pingzhou, Lu Songli, was a woman, she had been afraid of this day.
"Mom, Cui Yan's abilities are limited anyway, so you might as well consider my proposal. I won't be the head of this family for many years anyway. No matter how well I manage the business, won't it all be your eldest grandson's in the future?"
Hearing this, Mrs. Cui looked at her son for a long time without saying a word. To be honest, her heart was moved. Isn't the family business based on inheritance?
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