Chapter 796 – Greed of the Unscrupulous Business Men
Along with the release of the appointments of the various governors, Zhou Haichen quickly entered the field of sight of the masses, becoming one of the hot topics. His background and past were dug up.
Cui Shousi, who was promoted before him, had the Cui Family supporting him and also an infanta like Cui Yingyu backing him up. Hence, his future was bright in the eyes of the people.
Zhou Haichen was different. He came over to the territory as a refugee and had no family and friends in the territory. He relied solely on his ability and the Monarch's support to walk step by step to his position today.
The only relationship he had was probably with Fan Zhongyan, who fostered and taught him when he was in the Administration Department.
Ouyang Shuo still remembered when he was establishing the affiliate village, Friendship County. At that time, he had compared Zhou Haichen and Qin Shijian.
In the end, he gave the role of Friendship County County Magistrate to Zhou Haichen while he gave Qin Shijan the role of Meritorious Service Secretary.
By now, Zhou Haichen had already become an extremely important official in the territory while Qin Shijian was still the Meritorious Service Secretary. However, the current Meritorious Service Division was under the Official Ruling Department under the Administration Bureau.
It seemed like going out and facing difficulties would allow one to obtain contributions to the territory and receive promotions.
As for the problem with Lei Fan's appointment, to protect Lei Fan, apart from Ouyang Shuo, Xiao He, and Zhang Tingyu, no one else knew about the matter.
Even Lei Fan himself had no idea.
Ouyang Shuo considered him for Yizhou Governor because Shanhai City had not found any great historical talents after they took down Yunnan City-State.
Lei Fan was also a member of the mountain barbarian tribe and had a great understanding of the territory multi-racial strategy. Hence, it would be good for him to be appointed in Yizhou, where mountain tribes were aplenty.
Apart from that, Ouyang Shuo also considered the political matter of calming down the mountain barbarian tribe. As the Barbarian King, in addition to the mountain barbarian soldiers contributing so much to the territories in war, it was time to give them more speaking rights in the territory.
The promotion of Lei Fan would undoubtedly give the mountain barbarians a greater sense of belonging and closeness to the territory.
Hence, it would also build a very stable foundation for them to take over the mountain barbarians in the Shu Lands.
Of course, Xiao He's opinion made sense too. Before Lei Fan became the Gushan County County Magistrate, he was just a tribe leader and had not received any proper education and had a natural deficiency.
However, this alone was not enough to be a vote of no confidence.
In history, there were many generals who started out with humble beginnings but became major figures in the end. Even Xiao He himself was just an unassuming County Magistrate at one point.
In the end, talent mattered the most and not one's upbringing.
Ouyang Shuo was extremely confident that Zhang Tingyu's evaluation would bring a huge surprise to Xiao He.
Gaia 4th year, 1st month, 15th day, Dongchuan Prefecture.
During this period of time, Dongchuan Prefecture could be said to have faced many catastrophes. They were first swept by the Guards Legion, and then they were destroyed once more by the Yanhuang Alliance Army and Alliance Army. Afterward, the Swordsman City soldiers pillaged the prefecture.
The Swordsman City Army had not stayed here for too long before the Guards Legion Corps reclaimed Dongchuan Prefecture.
The lives of the Dongchuan Prefecture people were tough beyond belief. Due to the slow spread of information in ancient times, the people did not know about what had happened in the Battle of Yunnan. Every morning, they woke up not knowing who it was that ruled the land that they were living in.
On this day, the Guards Legion Corps led by Huo Qubing once again arrived outside of Yongren City.
The bodies outside of the city were all cleared out by the system, leaving a ground that was stained red by blood, proving that not long ago a seismic battle had taken place here.
Soldiers from the Guards Legion Corps 1st legion were looking rather absent-minded as many of them were buried in this land before being miraculously revived.
Yongren City would forever be a humiliation to all of them.
Long before the Guards Legion Corps had stepped foot in Dongchuan Prefecture, the Yongren City Lord had already abandoned the city and left. The disbandment of Yunnan City-State, Yanhuang Alliance being chased by Shanhai City, facing the menacing Guards Legion Corps that wanted revenge, the Yongren City did not think that there would be anyone who would be able to help him.
One must not look at how arrogant Feng Qingyang was, the Swordsman City Army did not even stay here and retreated swiftly to the Shu Lands, camping 50 miles away from the border. It was obvious that they did not want to fight with the Shanhai City Army.
If they still tried to stay, it would be the same as waiting for death.
The Yongren City Lord was extremely decisive; he took all the items he could and left just like that. As for the promises that the Yanhuang Alliance had given him, he was not prepared to go and collect them.
If he were to approach Di Chen and the Yanhuang Alliance now, they would probably eat him alive.
After the battle at Wenshan City ended, the China forums entered overdrive. There were comments about the battle, thoughts on how it would affect the China region, as well as discussions about the fate of the two alliances.
There was only one thing that everyone agreed on.
No matter what the players were discussing, they all had high hopes about the future of Shanhai City and felt that Yanhuang Alliance was on a decline.
The fans that the Yanhuang Alliance had hired wanted to fight for their Lords and employers and change the direction of the discussion, but they were instantly drowned out by the voices of the other players.
Di Chen and the others had never faced such a situation before.
Some people who were well-informed learned that the members of Yanhuang Alliance had been meeting a lot these few days; they were probably trying to think of a way to resolve the crisis at hand.
At such a time, if the Yongren City Lord went to find them, wouldn't he just be looking for his death?
Hence, when they saw that the Guards Legion Corps was outside the city, the last City Protection Regiment in the city came out to surrender. Along with them were the merchants in the city.
The first question that they asked made Huo Qubing not sure whether he should laugh or cry.
"General since you are here, you won't leave, right?" The person who asked this was extremely nervous.
Huo Qubing laughed in his heart. After all, he did not have a single good impression of Yongren City. However, as the commander, he needed to not only handle military matters but also consider the interests of the territory.
A commander did not solely represent military power.
"Do not worry. The entire Yunnan City-State has been taken down by us. So, do you think we will still leave?"
The moment this news broke out, the merchants and nobles present all felt their hearts jolt.
"Wow, Yunnan Province is about to turn on its head." Thinking about that, all of them heaved a sigh of relief and were not as nervous as before.
To them, it did not matter who ruled the city, stability was more important.
"General, please!"
The merchants immediately started to smile, with one wider than the next.
Huo Qubing did not fall for that. After all, he was born elite, and he was unwilling to hang around with people like merchants. Furthermore, 'Once bitten, twice shy' so Huo Qubing would not enter the city so rashly this time.
Although the Military Intelligence Division spies had already confirmed that the Yongren City Lord had left, the territory stone steele was still erected and the teleportation formation could still run effectively.
No one could be sure that the Yanhuang Alliance would not launch another sneak attack.
Huo Qubing arranged a unit to enter the city first to destroy the stone steele. Only then would he be able to lead his troops in without worry and officially take over Yongren City.
However, Huo Qubing was overthinking thing this time as Di Chen and the others did not have such plans.
...
Night, the merchants in the city invited the Guards Legion generals to a feast.
Huo Qubing could not decline it. Although these merchants were unscrupulous and despicable, this did not mean that they had no say here. If the officials that Shanhai City sent over wanted to rule Yongren City well, he needed the support of all of these people.
It was already the 4th year of Gaia and not the 1st year. There had been various power levels formed up in player territories and the power struggles within were exceedingly complicated.
Now, it was not like before where a new official would be able to calm down all waves.
If not, Ouyang Shuo would not have started dealing with emergency administrative matters right after the Battle of Lingnan had ended. He engaged in a month of touring activity to calm down the people sentiments and to deal with all the merchants and nobles.
In the midst of all the wine and food, the true faces of these merchants would be revealed.
Some merchants raised their wine cups and arrived before Huo Qubing. On their faces, there was the classic merchant smile. They bowed and said, "General, I am Zhu Jing, I run a small business in the town, let me toast to you."
As he said that, he drank the entire cup.
Huo Qubing was expressionless and raised his cup, "Zhu Jing, Zhu Ban Cheng, taking over 90% of the cloth, sesame oil, rice, and noodle businesses. Your personal wealth can buy up half of Yongren City, yet you say it is a small business?"
Huo Qubing had obviously studied everyone who was here for the feast. Huo Qubing did not like to deal with merchants, but this did not mean that he could not handle such situations.
On the contrary, Huo Qubing was extremely skilled at dealing with such people.
During the day, the Shanhai Guards had sent him specific intel. Zhu Jing was an important target, and the details regarding him were the most detailed.
This person was not a Yongren City resident. Instead, he was a person that the Yongren City Lord had spent a lot of gold to recruit from the Dali Imperial City. As a result, he was able to monopolize many businesses in the city.
Undoubtedly, this person was the representative of the merchants in the city.
How could Huo Qubing treat such a god of fortune lightly?
Hearing his identity being revealed, Zhu Jing was not surprised. On the contrary, he felt that this was to be expected.
Seeing Huo Qubing finish the wine in the cup, Zhu Jing's smile grew even wider, "General is too kind, I do not dare to say anything else, but no matter what the military needs, I can provide a little help."
As he spoke, Zhu Jing changed his tone, "I will not hide it from general. Before the damned Swordsman City Army left, they raided our treasury and warehouses. Now, we cannot even afford to pay the salaries and are on the verge of closing. Now that the Governor-General House is in charge, shouldn't you compensate us?"
"That's right!"
Everyone agreed.
It was obvious that the reason they had all invited Huo Qubing to the feast was not to speak some greetings.
When Huo Qubing heard these words, he cursed out in his heart, 'Unscrupulous businessmen!'
To think that they managed to think about asking Shanhai City to compensate them for their losses caused by Swordsman City looting them.