Linxia

Chapter 205, temptation

"After I leave, let the floods come!"

Master Qi felt a chill in his heart when he heard this, and finally tried to persuade him: "Sir, I am afraid that something will happen in the future, and the disaster will be too serious. The prefect in office will blame him, and the court will investigate..."

"If something really goes wrong in the future, shouldn't the incumbent prefect reflect on whether his dam is solid and whether he has done his best in office? How dare you blame me? How dare you? I, Yan, am not a pushover and will not take the blame for others."

Yan Shideng sneered: "In fact, I even hope that after I leave, something will happen in Huai'an... Some things, only with comparison, can make the people above see my merits more and make the people below miss my kindness more!"

Master Qi sighed secretly, knowing that Prefect Yan had made up his mind, and said nothing more, but just flattered: "Your Excellency has a subtle grasp of people's hearts, which is beyond my reach."

"Ha ha!"

Yan Shideng was in a good mood today, and he rarely said a few more words: "I think that being an official has three levels: First, do more and make more mistakes. In this level, you are brave enough to take on responsibilities, do more and make more mistakes. Others will not see your contributions, but will only remember your mistakes. In the end, you will end up being picked for nothing, being blamed everywhere, and having a thankless job;
The second level is, "Not doing anything is right." This level has recognized the nature of being an official. If you don't do anything, you won't be blamed. You are very good at shirking responsibility, and you won't end up with your head and body separated no matter what happens.
The third level is to do less and talk more. Know what is easy to do and what is difficult to do. Pick the easy things to do. Do one thing and get one result. Then put ten times the effort into promoting it. Let the people above see it and let the people below know about it. Only in this way can you make progress!"

All we can say is that he has mastered the essence of being an official.

He was born in a third-class family and started out as a local official. At a young age, before he was thirty, he became a fourth-rank official, all thanks to this.

Just imagine, Yan Shideng came to a place, took charge of the area, and used all means to achieve political achievements. During his term of office, he governed the area under his jurisdiction very well, and then spent a lot of effort to publicize it so that the people above and below could see it. Given his own background, if he didn't make progress, who could make progress?
As for some places that are really difficult to deal with, and choosing some quick-success-oriented, potential-exploiting, or even poison-drinking methods, there is nothing we can do about it. As long as we do it secretly and don't let others know, it means we haven't done it.

There was a certain underhanded implication in Yan Shideng's words. After Master Qi heard this, he thought about what he had seen and heard over the years following Yan Shideng, and actually felt that it made a lot of sense: In this officialdom, it really is not important how much you have done, what is important is how much the people above and below you see you do. If you don't let others see or know, it is the same as not doing anything.

With a educated look on his face, he continued to talk about the next matter: "Sir, this is more detailed information from the recent investigation of the five families in the city, Fan, Gu, Ma, Shao, and Duan."

"Yes, Not Bad."

Yan Shideng flipped through the book with deep eyes. "Tomorrow I will host a banquet to entertain the heads of these five families. I hope they will know how to respect me. If they cooperate with me, I can turn a blind eye to annexing land and creating strange fields as long as the annual taxes are sufficient. I will not control them in the area along the river outside the city and let them eat the meat. But if they go against me... humph!"

His meaning was very simple: I promote mine, you annex yours, you cooperate with me to create political achievements, and I will not stop you from encroaching on land, this is called "those who obey me will prosper"; if you refuse to accept my toast, want to cause trouble, make my life difficult, and block my progress, then you are an enemy and must be eliminated by any means necessary, this is called "those who go against me will perish".

"If you move up, they will get real benefits. It will be a win-win for both sides. These five families are all smart people. I think they will not be ungrateful."

Master Qi paused and asked again, "Sir, that Fang Chenshi has a strong foundation in Huai'an, almost as strong as those five families. Should we invite him as well?"

"This Fang Chenshi is close to the two factions of Pu Zhifu and Dong Xiuzhuan. They are all noble people, so you can't win them over by this method. Also, from what I see, he has no ambition to buy land or houses, so it's obvious that he's not interested in that. But he seems to be interested in fame. The second part of his Journey to the West will be published soon, right? When the book goes on sale, I'll go there in person to support him..."

This gives enough face.

"Does your Excellency also like Lord Fang's novels?"

"Heh!" Yan Shideng just smiled lightly and said nothing, but his attitude was revealed.

In fact, ordinary juren and jinshi who had not been appointed to an official position did not have the qualifications to look down on Fang Lin. However, officials who came from the imperial examination system, such as Yan Shideng, often looked down on Fang Lin, who had been lucky enough to be appointed to an official position with no official title.

——In fact, it was jealousy. After all, I studied hard for ten years, worked hard day and night, and passed the county, prefectural, imperial, and palace examinations before I could wear this official robe and hat. What kind of status do you have that you can wear the same clothes as me? They were not satisfied, but they could only claim to be a noble person, and think that they were noble. Wouldn't the other party reject such a person?

Of course, even though we don't like it, we won't touch it. After all, there is no conflict of interest, and there is no benefit even if we win. Who would do such a difficult and uncomfortable thing?

If Yan Shideng was able to control his emotions and not target Fang Lin, this was smart. Then, even if he looked down on Fang Lin, he was able to put on another face for the sake of his own interests and humble himself to make friends with him. This was already a qualified politician.

"Do what I tell you to do as soon as possible. Huai'an is just a stepping stone. I don't plan to stay here for long. I will serve one term, or two at most, and then I will enter the imperial court."

"Yes."

After Master Qi left, Yan Shideng picked up his brush and continued writing. Soon, eight characters in a vigorous and powerful style appeared on the paper: Time waits for no one, we must climb to the top.

……

Fang family.

During the meal that day, Fang's father asked, "Linzi, did you give a gift to Prefect Yan?"

"Linzi sent gifts to show his appreciation. I heard that the five families of Fan, Gu, Ma, Shao, and Duan gave a lot of gifts, including gold, silver, and beautiful maids... But Prefect Yan was so kind that he returned all of them."

Fang's mother sighed: "Prefect Yan is a good official!"

"If he was really a good official who was dedicated to his work and not interested in fame and gain, how could the news spread so quickly in the city and even reached ordinary people? At least it shows that this person is not so pure."

Fang Lin thought about it secretly, but didn't say it out loud. After thinking it over for a while, he said to himself, "I don't need to guess what this Prefect Yan is thinking. Prefect Yan will do his own thing. I will continue to test it in my own way."

'Everyone has their own pursuits in life. This is also true for officials. Some like money; some are lustful; some seek fame; and some are greedy for power, wanting to be a higher official and hold greater power. Only by understanding the pulse can we prescribe the right medicine.'

"This time, the prefect Yan refused the money and the beauty. It depends on whether he wants to be remembered in history or he wants power and achievements. He wants to move up the career ladder. As it happens, I can give him all these. This time, I will test the waters."

Fang Lin decided to say that he had an idea for his next novel, The Legend of the White Snake, and asked if the other party was willing to write a preface, and invited him to host the "First Jianghuai Cup Popular Fiction Competition". ——At the beginning, he had drawn a blueprint for Prefect Pu to "build Huai'an into the center of popular fiction in Daxia", which has now been basically realized. The foundation has been laid, and the conditions for hosting the "First Jianghuai Cup Popular Fiction Competition" have been met. However, Prefect Pu was promoted before he hosted it, and now this is just the bait to see if Prefect Yan will take it.

"Once we know who this person is, we will expand the scale of the factory, build our own fleet, and compete with the Gu family."
At this moment——

Rumble, rumble!

Fang Lin listened to the rolling spring thunder, walked to the window, looked at the sky, and felt a sense of pride in his heart: "Fighting with the sky is endless fun; fighting with the earth is endless fun; fighting with people is endless fun!"

……

Half a month later, the second part of "Journey to the West" was released in Huai'an. Yan Shideng came to the stage in person and mobilized a large number of yamen runners to maintain order. The scene was quite big.

——Considering the relationship between Yan Shideng and Fang Lin, this move is actually a bit flattering, but it can also be said to be people-friendly.

This also has some implications of misusing public resources for personal gain, but it is not an exaggeration today because the "First Jianghuai Cup Popular Fiction Competition" is held, which is also a semi-official event.

Yan Shideng presided over the meeting and said, "I am very proud that the 'First Jianghuai Cup Popular Fiction Competition' is held in Huai'an. I would like to express my gratitude to Mr. Fang... To show my sincerity, I will take out one year's salary and invest it in this competition as a prize..."

——Yes, he refused to write a preface for The Legend of the White Snake, but agreed to host the "First Jianghuai Cup Popular Fiction Competition". The former was because he was worried that he would have a grudge against Emperor Hongtai if he wrote a preface for Fang Lin's novel like Emperor Hongtai did; the latter was because he would not have such a taboo if he hosted the "First Jianghuai Cup Popular Fiction Competition". He would naturally not refuse this political achievement, which was delivered to him, as it would promote the prosperity of Huai'an's commerce and culture.

After Prefect Yan announced the matter, the five families of Fan, Gu, Ma, Shao and Duan expressed their support one after another. They changed their previous stinginess and donated generously. Each family donated more than a thousand taels of silver, which brought this event to a climax.

The people in the city who were watching the excitement were all talking about it with great relish.

"Oh my god, the total prize money for this 'First Jianghuai Cup Popular Fiction Competition' is seven or eight thousand taels. Even the third prize is worth dozens of taels of silver... It's only because I can't read, otherwise I would have wanted to participate."

"Prefect Yan is a really good official. I heard before that he returned all the gifts from the big families in the city and Lord Fang. This time he even donated a year's salary... He is also very capable. Look at how he controlled the five families of Fan, Gu, Ma, Shao, and Duan. He donated so much. He is a capable official. The people of Huai'an are blessed."

"Thank you, Prefect Yan, and thank you, Lord Fang. Don't you feel that there are more and more people in the city recently, and business is getting better."

……

Fang Lin listened, but narrowed his eyes: "Did you deal with the Fan, Gu, Ma, Shao, and Duan families so quickly? If it was like Prefect Pu's method of winning over, dividing, and controlling them, it would never be so fast. That would mean compromising with these five families."

'He is so eager for quick success. Considering his previous refusal to write a preface for The Legend of the White Snake and his acceptance of the 'First Jianghuai Cup Popular Fiction Competition', it is obvious that what this Governor Yan wants is political achievements and a chance to climb the ladder! '

He could clearly feel that after submitting this achievement, Yan Shideng's attitude became three times warmer.

"This matter has made the prefect Yan a success, but I have not lost anything either."

Ultimately, Fang Lin benefits the most from hosting the 'First Jianghuai Cup Popular Fiction Competition'.

——After all, as the leader of Huai'an's popular fiction industry, he was naturally the one who benefited the most. To some extent, the money donated by Yan Shideng, Fan, Gu, Ma, Shao and Duan were all helping him.

"This person is willing to sacrifice his status and dignity for the sake of political achievements. I'm afraid he is a person who will do anything to achieve his goals."

'There are both advantages and disadvantages for such a person to be the prefect of Huai'an. The disadvantage is that he is eager for quick success and instant benefits, which will cause huge hidden dangers in the future and may cause destruction and terror, which will be a disaster for ordinary people. But for a vested interest group like me, I can get a more relaxed environment for what I will do in the future than a prefect like Pu Zhifu who has a bottom line.'

For example, if Fang Lin's actions of forming a fleet, purchasing firearms, and training a new army were completely exposed in front of Prefect Pu, it is hard to say whether Prefect Pu would sacrifice his own family for the sake of justice; but if it was Yan Shideng, considering his position, he would most likely conceal the truth and try to cover up the truth.

"I am expanding the factory and building a fleet, which can make Huai'an more prosperous and can be considered a political achievement. I think the prefect Yan will be happy to see it happen and will not be a hindrance. The Fan family is needless to say. The Ma, Shao, and Duan families can also exchange interests and compromise. The only one I really have to face is the Gu family, who has a large factory and fleet industry."

After Fang Lin sorted these out, he became more confident about what he was going to do.

……

Government office.

Here, Yan Shideng came back from hosting the 'First Jianghuai Cup Popular Fiction Competition' and was in a good mood.

——It’s like a pie falling from the sky. I’m enjoying the legacy left by the previous prefect and getting this political achievement for free. How can I not be happy?

The most important thing is that compared with the treatment of the area along the river outside the city, this way of hosting the 'First Jianghuai Cup Popular Fiction Competition' is cost-effective, requires little investment, has low risks, produces quick results, and has great political achievements, which is what people like him like the most.

"That Fang Chenshi is a man of knowledge and taste. Now, I really like him. No wonder he is so favored by His Majesty and has such a great favor."

If Yan Shideng knew that Emperor Hongtai ignored state affairs and, as Fang Lin's pen pal, kept writing letters to him, and that Fang Lin had been so good at controlling him, he would probably be envious and jealous, and would curse him bitterly: "It's a pity that he ignores state affairs all day long and only cares about novels instead of the people."

Perhaps it was because he loved the whole house, he also liked the second part of Journey to the West that he brought back, so he opened it and started reading. The more he read, the more he nodded. He analyzed it from his own perspective, "Yes, it's just like the Heavenly Court and the Buddhist sect arranged a series of plays for the Journey to the West team to fool people. How happy they were... Especially this Monkey King, who was suppressed under the Five Finger Mountain for five hundred years and has become much more obedient after coming out. It seems that Fang Chenshi is also a man with a story!"

……

(End of this chapter)