My book friend Long Aotian

Chapter 157 Waste of natural resources
The crowd was pressing forward.

They were hundreds of men working the docks, with similar origins, similar financial status, the same rules and regulations to guide their daily lives, believing in the same ancestor, and calling each other brothers.

Now, they were organized and gathered together by their superiors with higher prestige, and they were pouring along Fuya Street towards the Tongwen Bureau.

There is a word that can accurately summarize this behavior.

Civil uprising.

No one in power will tolerate this happening.

But now there is a subtle problem.

Throughout the dynasties, it has been the consensus of the rulers that those who incite civil unrest must be killed.

However, how should we deal with the officials who incited the civil unrest?

"Commander, Judge Zhang is coming from the back door!"

The officers hurried over, leading the military officer of the state.

Zhang Chun dismissed his attendants, took a step forward, and whispered, "This is a good opportunity. No matter what the intentions of the Cao Gang are, inciting civil unrest is always in the public eye. I will immediately lead the troops to suppress and drive away the beating and scolding crowd. If these Cao Gang men resist a little and bleed, Ma Fulong will never be able to shake off the label of gathering a crowd to rebel!"

He stretched out his hand and slashed in the air, revealing a resolute and ruthless look: "Then we will seize the Yunhua Hall in one fell swoop, and drive the Cao Gang out of Huazhou, and solve this problem once and for all!"

Li Bailong frowned slightly.

"Let me do it for you."

Zhang Chun was good at seizing opportunities. He had been thinking about it for a few days and had received letters from his friends in Beijing. He knew that the situation in the court was changing. He guessed that the king of Zhao had recruited Li Bailong to the Tongwen Bureau to do something important. Since he had already surrendered to the king of Zhao, he could not care about his life when doing something big.

After all, King Zhao's political credibility has always been reliable, and it has never been heard that he has wronged anyone who has made contributions.

He said calmly: "Your Excellency is in Huazhou, and you still have to fulfill the trust of the Emperor's uncle, so you should be useful. The credit of suppressing rebellion, exterminating bandits, and sweeping away the people should be left to me."

Li Bailong glanced at him and said calmly, "Most of the Cao Gang members outside are poor men who are just exchanging their lives for money at the dock. You led your troops to charge recklessly, killing innocent people. Can King Zhao tolerate you?"

This time, it hit Zhang Chun's weak spot.

He hesitated for a moment.

After all, Lord Zhang joined the Emperor's uncle not for any ideals or ambitions.

As they were talking, another messenger came to report: "The Lord has sent a letter!"

Li Bailong took the letter and opened it.

Although the prefect was secretly communicating with him, he was extremely cautious in open communication. He only spoke harshly and condescendingly in the letter, telling Li Bailong to handle the matter with caution. After all, Yunjiang is a thoroughfare, with countless cargoes transported every day, all of which depends on the operation of the canal gang. If the canal workers at the dock stop for a day, Huazhou's commercial activities will begin to fall apart. Li Bailong, a fourth-rank official, cannot afford to take on such a huge responsibility.

Lord Shi was obviously reminding him to be more careful and not to be impulsive.

Because if the Cao Gang really wanted to cause trouble, they could really bring the matter to the court and make it difficult to handle.

Li Bailong looked at the third paragraph of the letter and did not mark it, indicating that it was not a secret letter. He showed the letter to Zhang Chun and said, "The prefect does not agree to make things worse. If you run into the crowd and even pick on the Yunhua Hall, and the canal workers in the city go on strike, what should be done?"

Zhang Chun thought to himself, if I don’t make things bigger, how can I let the emperor’s uncle see my loyalty and my willingness to sacrifice myself?
But since Li Bailong said so, he felt a little disappointed.

Because he could see that Li Bailong did not agree to immediately crack down on the canal workers.

Damn it, he was so cruel to Gao Bijin, and showed no mercy to the booksellers, and treated the old officials of Tongwen Bureau like dogs, so why did he hesitate when it came to the turn of the untouchables?

Zhang Chun agreed on the surface, but he felt a little contempt in his heart.

Arrogant to his superiors but compassionate to his subordinates, no wonder King Zhao values ​​him so much... The emperor's uncle is now thinking of that adult.

The shouting outside was getting closer.

"The governor has mercy on them, but they may not appreciate it." Zhang Chun couldn't help but say, "If we let them go now, they will go too far and attack the government office. What will happen then?"

"I'm not that pedantic. Since I've rushed into the government office, there's nothing much to say. I'll kill anyone who comes in."

Li Bailong said calmly: "I will cut as many knives on Ma Fulong as the number of people who died."

Zhang Chun said nothing more, but shook his head in his heart.

too naive.

You have killed someone, and it is not your turn to decide whether it is right or wrong. At least the millions of members of the Cao Gang will only believe that you are a butcher who killed their brothers. The Cao Gang's business is all over Da Qi, so this matter can be spread all over Da Qi. If I were a member of the Cao Gang, I could use the lives of some low-class people to leave a permanent mark on you. Whether you take the imperial examination or become an official in the future, this is a stain that you can never get rid of.

"In any case, I will go and make some arrangements and provide support."

He bowed and said goodbye, but he was thinking in his mind.

——If the Cao Gang really attacks the Tongwen government office, I will order a suppression and avoid the infamy of massacring the Cao workers. This will both benefit Li Bailong and please King Zhao, which seems to be killing two birds with one stone.

However, the price is the hostility and revenge of the Cao Gang... Is it worth it?
Oh, damn, it’s so hard to be an official.

In the main hall of the government office, Li Bailong pondered for a moment and called a few officers with a roster. These were temporary workers of the "Tongwen First Batch", lawless lunatics carefully selected by the Lingyu Sect, almost all of them were talented. "I have read your resumes. You all have special skills, but you fell into the hands of the Lingyu Sect."

The officers looked embarrassed.

"I have something I would like to ask you for help with. If you can do it well, I will pay off the money you owe to Lingyu Sect." Li Bailong said calmly, "What do you think?"

These people were assigned to the Gulag class. Their crimes were relatively minor. They were surprised and happy to hear this. The leader asked tentatively, "Your Excellency wants us to deal with those canal workers?"

"Do not."

Li Zhishi replied: "I want you to pretend to be canal workers and go to Moshangsang to set fire and cause trouble. When you cause trouble, say that Li Bailong has gone too far and insulted our canal gang. On the orders of Ma Xiangzhu, we must teach him a lesson today. After you are done, you must run away quickly and don't let the canal gang find you and catch you..."

"So before you take action, go to the Spirit Pet House to find Senior Brother Xiong Jingyan of the Lingyu Sect and tell him about this plan. Ask him to make arrangements for you to be on the safe side."

"After the matter is done, your debt will be written off, and Senior Brother Xiong will arrange for you to escape. However, since this is related to the Cao Gang, in order to keep it secret, you will have to spend a few months on vacation in the industrial park of the Lingyu Sect. If you are caught, do not admit your identity as a Tongwen Bureau member, just insist that you are from the Lingyu Sect, and Senior Brother Xiong will make excuses for you... Of course, if you are caught, only one-third of the debt can be written off, but the rescue will be free."

He gave a few instructions and arranged the matter carefully, feeling that everything was stable.

So he sent them out through the back door to find Xiong Jingyan.

Jiang Lishu came out from the back of the house and said sarcastically, "It's getting dirty."

"I'm much cleaner than Ma Fulong."

Li Bailong said indifferently: "Even if they resort to such tactics, they are only targeting the culprit. He incited innocent workers to take to the streets for something that has nothing to do with them. It's really disgusting."

He then became somewhat confused and puzzled: "Come to think of it, is the Cao Gang so cohesive? If these workers took to the streets to cause trouble because of low wages or the introduction of cheap labor from southern Xinjiang, I would definitely be happy and applaud... But it sounds like it's just for yesterday's official document?"

When he thought of this, Li Bailong found it so absurd that he couldn't believe it.

Damn it, in my previous life I was used to seeing the game-playing world being a mess and despising each other. The Guo Nan world was even more internally divided, and they couldn't even unify the boxing classics. The book-readers couldn't even make a wave. How come the other world was so full of martial virtues that a bunch of dock coolies dared to make trouble just because of a document from the Tongwen Bureau?
In comparison, it's so embarrassing.

"…How did Ma Fulong do it?"

The master replied softly: "The Cao Gang is very special..."

The people living on the river live by the water, are closed off from the outside world, worship their ancestors, and believe that power is passed down through bloodlines. They have numerous rituals and a complex culture... and there is huge uncertainty and unknowability.

Although the Cao Gang's business was spread all over the world and its fleet sailed overseas, that was only the Cao Gang in a broad sense.

Among the six factions of the Southern Qi Dynasty, the Cao Gang in the true sense was the most closed and mysterious.

“I always feel that this matter is a little weird.”

Outside the government office, the water transport workers were crowded around, the noise was deafening, and there were even shouts of "Get out, you dog official!"

Damn, there are bad people among the crowd.

I never thought that I would be treated like one of the workers blocking my door.

Li Bailong exhaled slowly and ordered, "Open the door."

What many people don’t know is that what can impress workers are also sincere words and attitudes and plans to solve problems.

Jiang Lishu put the sword in his hand on the table and said, "I'll go out with you. If we can't come to an agreement, or if someone is instigated to throw rocks or rotten eggs at you, I'll go up and get beaten first, and then you can fight back and be right... But with a beautiful girl watching, I'm sure the rough guys of the Cao Gang will be more polite."

Li Bailong said proudly: "Why do you have to do this? Look, I can persuade them to retreat with just words."

"…What are you going to say?"

"Of course, I'm reciting the oath-taking speech given by the founder of the Cao Gang at Tianmen Fort, in the Cao Gang dialect..."

"--Hello!"

The door of Tongwen Bureau slowly opened.

There were more than a thousand canal workers gathered in the Yaqian Square. The number was extremely large. There was still a buzz of voices among the crowd, but it was generally quiet. Countless pairs of eyes were looking at a young official in a scarlet official robe stepping out from behind the door.

Li Bailong was also looking at them.

Pairs of eyes, faces, exposed to the sun and rain for many years, worn by the river wind, dark and thin, revealing an unhealthy strength... ordinary people.

They get together, they can get together... but for something like this, what a pity, it's a waste of God's gift.

His eyes swept through the crowd and finally stopped at the front.

Next to Ma Fulong was Zheng Xiuyuan who was forcibly helped up.

Members of the Cao Gang came from all directions, surrounding the government office tightly, but they were still some distance away from the gate of the Tongwen Bureau, as if there was an invisible line blocking them. What kept them at a proper distance was the gold medal of Prince Zhao on the table.

I originally wanted to write a long chapter and post it directly, but I overestimated myself. I’d better post this chapter first and continue writing the next one.

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(End of this chapter)