Just after noon, the bright sunshine in June fell on the tree-lined road beside the Maha Pond, and the late summer cicada chirped in the sultry air. Linqiu passed through the road with only a few pedestrians, heading towards the Fengyin Hall.
Walk in the direction.
This day is the twelfth day of June in the second year of the Chinese Yuan calendar, an ordinary day at work. Lin Qiu is thirty-one years old and is one of the young officers with a brilliant resume in the Chinese army.
He joined the Chinese Army during the Xiaocanghe period, experienced the training of the first batch of young officers, and experienced fighting on the battlefield. Because he was good at handling detailed affairs, he joined the Secretariat, entered the General Staff, and was involved in the Intelligence Department, the Ministry of Commerce...
In short, after the age of twenty-five, due to his active and open thinking, he basically worked in the core departments directly controlled by Ning Yi, and was one of Ning Yi's most useful assistants for a period of time.
Although most of the early-stage talents in the army were mixed and used wherever needed, they had been exposed to a little bit of everything. This resume was still quite outstanding among their peers. In the late period of the Southwest War, Ning Yi and Zong Han were on the front line of Shiling.
Gao Qingyi negotiated with Lin Qiu, who conveyed his will, with active thinking and outstanding adaptability.
After the Huaxia Army defeated the Jurchens, it opened its doors to the outside world to sell technology through auctions and expand trade routes. He was responsible for several of the most important negotiations. After this was completed, Chengdu entered a stage of great development, and he entered Chengdu's business at this time.
He held the position of deputy bureau and was responsible for the detailed affairs of Chengdu's industrial and commercial development. At this time, the Huaxia Military Region was only in the southwest, and the core of the southwest was Chengdu. Therefore, in practice, his work was often directly responsible to Ning Yi.
After the establishment of the Huaxia People's Government, Ning Yi had two offices in Chengdu. One was the chairman's office near the Huaxia People's Government in the north of the city. It was mainly used to facilitate meetings, gather people, and centrally handle large-scale government affairs; and the other
This is the Fengyin Hall beside the Maha Pond.
Now that the work allocation of the People's Government is on track, Ning Yi does not need to sit here all the time. He spends half of the year in Chengdu. If there are no major deviations in the schedule, he usually goes to the government office in the morning and returns to Fengyintang in the afternoon. Some
Things that don't involve too many people are usually handled here by calling people over.
There are usually heads of other departments working near Fengyin Hall, but it is basically not too noisy. After entering the hall door, the spacious roof blocks the heat. He walked through the corridor with ease and went to the side hall where he was waiting for the interview.
There was no one else in the side hall. The secretary outside the door told him that there were two people in front of him, but one of them had already come out and went to the toilet.
The room in the side hall is spacious, but there are no luxurious furnishings. Through the open window, the scenery of flowers and trees outside in the sunshine is refreshing. Lin Qiu poured himself a glass of cold white water, sat on a chair and started reading the newspaper, but there was nothing
The fourth person waiting to be interviewed came over, which showed that there was not much going on in the afternoon.
The sound of footsteps came from the corridor outside. It must have been the first friend who went to the toilet. He looked up and saw the figure who walked to the door also looked here, and then came in. They were all acquaintances.
With a smile, Hou Yuanyong rubbed his hands and walked in to say hello: "Brother Lin, hey hey hey..." For some reason, he couldn't help laughing.
"Yuan Yong. Sit down."
Hou Yuanyong is a few years younger than him, but his family is also an old man in the Chinese military, and he can even be regarded as a family member of the oldest group of soldiers. He has worked in the intelligence department most of his adult life. Unlike his colleagues who work in the general intelligence department, his He has a rather out-of-touch personality and occasionally makes jokes that are not humorous, but he usually never does anything bad. He is also considered the most trusted core member of the Chinese army.
"Hey, Brother Lin." Hou Yuanyong sat down on the chair next to Lin Qiu, "Do you know what the most popular gossip is recently?"
Lin Qiu looked at him with a smile: "I don't want to know."
"That's right." Hou Yuanyong smiled, "Tell me, who is the most powerful person in our Chinese army? The one who scares the Jurchens the most..."
"That should be me, right?" When chatting with a guy who came from the intelligence service, he just couldn't follow his rhythm. So Lin Qiu thought about it and answered seriously.
Hou Yuanyong also ignored his rhythm: "It's Sister Juan'er."
"ah……"
"The Jurchens are most afraid of Sister Juan'er."
"Why?"
"Hey, hey, hey, there's such a thing..." Hou Yuanyong smiled and leaned over, "The year before last, the Southwest War was in full swing. Ning Ji was helping out in the general camp for wounded soldiers. Later, the general camp was raided by a group of fools who wanted to capture Ning. Ji. When this incident was reported back, Sister Juaner was angry. She told Peng Yueyun that this would not work. They would attack children, so I would also kill Zong Han's children. Xiao Peng, please give me a reward. I want Zong Han’s two sons to die..."
Hou Yuanyong's words rang in the quiet hall: "The reward has been sent out, what happens next? Everyone knows... Zonghan was defeated and did not die. Neither of his two sons escaped. Hehehehe... you Tell me, is Sister Juaner the most powerful..."
Lin Qiu thought for a while: "You guys are boring..."
"The chairman made his own joke, hehehehehe...he's gone." Hou Yuanyong patted his arm, then stood up and left. Lin Qiu shook his head with a smile. In theory, it is not a good thing to gossip about the leader and the people around him. But in the past few years, the core members of the Chinese Army were all friends who had suffered starvation and battle together, so they were not too taboo about these things. Moreover, Hou Yuanyong was not self-aware. Judging from his attitude when talking about this matter, It is probably already a popular joke in Zhangcun.
Since we met a lot, and even met in the cafeteria from time to time, Hou Yuanyong didn't say anything serious like "see you later" or "eat".
Shortly after Hou Yuanyong left, the second person who was interviewed also came out, but it was Peng Yueyun whom Hou Yuanyong had mentioned before. Peng Yueyun was the seed left after the destruction of the Western Army. He was young, loyal, and reliable. After the establishment of the People's Government, he He also joined the intelligence department, but compared to Hou Yuanyong who was responsible for the intelligence collection, induction, analysis, and organization, Peng Yueyun was directly involved in the command and arrangement of the spy system. If Hou Yuanyong's participation can be regarded as rear-line work, Peng Yueyun was involved in espionage and counterintelligence. On the front line, the two sides haven't seen each other for a while.
The two parties smiled and greeted each other and exchanged a few pleasantries. Compared to Hou Yuanyong's escapade, Peng Yueyun was more steady, and the two parties did not talk too much. Considering that Hou Yuanyong was in charge of intelligence, Peng Yueyun was in charge of espionage and counterintelligence, plus he From what he was currently doing, Lin Qiu had some guesses about what he was going to talk about during this meeting.
After a while, he met Ning Yi in the room by the lake inside and began to report on the work to be carried out by the Commerce Bureau in the recent period. In addition to the development around Chengdu, there was also about Dai Mengwei and about some businessmen buying long-term contracts from other places. Workers' problems.
"...At present, many of these factories have private contracts with outside parties, signing long-term contracts of 20 or 30 years, but the wages are extremely low...These people may become a huge hidden danger in the future. On the other hand, People like Dai Mengwei, Liu Guangshi, and Wu Qimei are likely to have planted a large number of spies among these workers, who will cause trouble in the future... We have noticed that some people in the current newspapers are saying that the Chinese Army respects the contract, but it depends on when we Breach of contract…”
"...For these situations, we believe that we need to make preparations in advance...Of course, we also have concerns. For example, if we cut off such unreasonable long-term contracts across the board, it may make people outside not so active in sending people over. We After all, there is still Dai Mengwei blocking the road on the way out of Sichuan. Although he promised not to block the trade route, he may try his best to prevent population migration... So what we are currently considering is to make a series of preparations to raise the bottom line. For example, for workers who have signed long-term contracts, we can ask those factories to provide some safeguards for them so that they will not be exploited too much. When the preparation is enough, we can then squeeze the living space of these black-hearted businessmen step by step. In one or two years, no matter whether it’s a fight or something, we probably won’t care about Dai Mengwei’s troubles anymore…”
Regarding illegal businessmen, long-term contracts, and even spies among workers, the Chinese military has long been aware of it. Although Lin Qiu is assigned to manage business, his overall view will not weaken. Of course, at this stage, these workers are protected At the same time, it conflicted with the policy of absorbing a large number of external manpower. He thought about it for a long time before coming up with some preliminary restraint methods and laying the groundwork first.
These ideas have been submitted to Ning Yi before. I came here today and saw Hou Yuanyong and Peng Yueyun. He probably will also talk about this aspect.
Sure enough, Ning Yi specially picked out the black merchant's copy among the several copies, and listened to his words on the table, thinking about it for a long time. After Lin Qiu finished speaking, he put his palm on the copy, After a moment of silence, he spoke: "What I want to talk to you about today is this matter. You are the boss here... go out for a walk."
"Yes." Lin Qiu stood up, but he was slightly confused. Following Ning Yi for so long, he has experienced countless major events. Even now, countless major events are going on inside and outside Chengdu. Even if the problem of black businessmen involves Dai Mengwei , even involving contract issues, theoretically there are various solutions. According to Ning Yi's past work style, a few words can make a decision. But looking at his current expression, it contains a deeper level of caution and vigilance. .
After walking out of the room, Lin Qiu followed Ning Yi and walked toward the lake. The sun cast shadows on the road, and cicadas were chirping. This was an ordinary day, but even after a long time, Lin Qiu could remember what happened on this day.
of every scene.
"There is one thing that I have thought about for a long time, but I still want to do it. Only a few people will participate. What I tell you today will not leave any records or traces in history. You may even
Leave a name for yourself. You and I will know what we are doing, but if someone asks, I will not admit it."
Ning Yi paused, Lin Qiu frowned slightly, then nodded and replied quietly: "Okay."
"Instead of curbing the affairs of these black businessmen, you must promote them."
"promote……"
"For these businessmen who have colluded with the outside world, I want you to grasp a certain standard, not to attack them for the time being, recognize the validity of their contracts, and let them earn the money they can. But at the same time, you cannot let them spread.
If bad money drives out good money, we must deter them... In other words, I want to form a black and white separation among these manufacturers. Those who are honest and law-abiding can make money, and those with problems will make them even crazier.
, to allow them to exploit the livelihood of their workers even more... Do you have any thoughts on this?"
Lin Qiu lowered his head and thought for a moment: "It seems that only... collusion between government and businessmen?"
"You can charge a little money." Ning Yi nodded, "There are two things you need to consider. First, don't disturb the livelihood of legitimate businessmen. You still have to encourage normal business behavior; second, you can't let
Those businessmen who are taking advantage are too practical, so you have to carry out a few normal cleanups to scare them. In two years, or at most three years, I want you to drive them crazy. The most important thing is to let them exploit their workers to the end.
pole."
"...Dai Mengwei and his people will take the opportunity to cause trouble..."
"We will also arrange people to go in, help them make trouble in the early stage, and control the trouble in the later stage." Ning Yi said, "You have been with me for so many years, and you can understand a lot about my thoughts. We are now in the early stages of creation. As long as the battle continues to win,
, the internal force will be very strong, which is why I can let those outside chat and curse. They are profit-seeking for these nascent capitals, but they will have scruples about us and want to let them develop naturally.
To the extent that they are so crazy about profit that the workers under them are living in poverty, maybe at least ten or eight years of development, and even a few more conscientious Qingtian bosses, those workers who have signed thirty-year long-term contracts, may be able to live a lifetime.
…”
"I don't want to wait that long, two years, three years at most. I hope to arouse resentment among these workers. Of course Dai Mengwei and his people will help us to stir up trouble and incite these workers. But in the later stages of the matter, our people,
To find a way out for them, I hope it is a march rather than a large-scale riot. When they do something like this, they will find that their struggle is effective and we will correct the mistakes of the past.
It's reasonable... I will spend three years making an argument for the 'civil rights' among the four peoples in their minds."
The sun was setting, the lake was sparkling, the breeze was blowing, and cicadas were shouting all around. No one knew that such a conversation had happened.
"Some people will die. In the future records, it is the people's active awakening and resistance that brought everything. You will not get any credit, and even if you do something wrong, I may not be able to protect you. You can think about it.
, do you want to accept this job?"
Lin Qiu thought about it for a while, considered his approach, and his answer was certainly not suspenseful.
After Lin Qiu left, Shishi came over.
In the afternoon, they took a break and did some shy things. Then Ning Yi told her the outline of a story called "The White-Haired Girl"...