That night, Gao Changjiang, one of the few intellectual talents in Lin's society, secretly came to the Chenghuang Temple in Xushuguan to pay homage to Lin Tailai.
Lin Tailai asked first: "In the past two months, has there been no major event in the club?"
Gao Changjiang replied: "Except for daily internal strife, there are no major events."
Before leaving, Lin Tailai temporarily carried out strategic contraction and gathered most of the community's strength in Mudu Town.
Hundreds of troops who had experienced large-scale actual combat turned Mudu Town into a fortress that even foreign enemies could not attack.
Relying on Mudu Town and Xujiang, it is still barely possible to control the surrounding area for dozens of miles.
As for the daily internal strife, Mr. Lin didn't want to ask in detail. If he did, it would only give him a headache.
Gao Changjiang then remonstrated and said: "It is better to let the two empresses have children as soon as possible, otherwise they will not be able to calm down.
In the future, if I go to other places for a long time, and if there is no prince in Suzhou, the morale of the military and the people will not be stable.
Even if the emperor goes on an expedition, there must still be a prince staying to guard the country!"
Lin Tailai shouted softly: "What nonsense are you talking about? Let's talk about the ceremony to welcome me back first. Have you made arrangements for it?"
Gao Changjiang sighed: "There is still a problem."
Lin Tailai said dissatisfied: "How can there be problems with such a simple matter?"
Gao Changjiang explained: "If you want to sit in the pavilion and have a huge crowd of people, flags waving, gongs and drums roaring, firecrackers blasting, and even large banners hanging on the Maple Bridge, then there is no problem.
The only thing is that it is difficult to find heavyweight guests, and it is even more difficult to sit in the venue and require a combination of local officials and top local celebrities.
Let’s just say that local officials, whether prefect or county magistrate, will not deal with you or Zuoguan. Your close friend, Mr. Yuan Xianzun, is from Changzhou County next door.”
Lin Tailai said impatiently: "Go and talk to Deng County Zun of this county. This is not asking him to attend, but asking him to attend!"
A local celebrity has returned with a great reputation, won't he show his face? Or does he not want to do it anymore?"
Gao Changjiang grimaced. How could he have the courage to talk to the county magistrate like this?
Six months ago, he was just a storyteller who made a living by collecting reward money.
Lin Tailai taught him a lesson: "I am always moving forward, and you must keep up with me and don't fall behind!"
Gao Changjiang could only respond: "Sit down, please slow down and wait for your subordinates!"
Lin Tailai asked again: "Do you still need a top local celebrity, but you can't find one?"
Gao Changjiang replied: "Among the people I have good friends with, Mr. Zhang Youyu is a famous person, but his image is not suitable for being a guest.
Moreover, Mr. Zhang Youyu is still your nominal teacher, so there is no reason for a teacher to greet students.
Second Master Shen is only from a strong family, he is not a famous person, and he does not have much fame in the literary circle.
In addition, Mr. Wang Zhideng, the leader of Suzhou City's literary circles, was Ma Xianglan's lover, and he was even flirted with in the past.
Wen Yuanfa, the head of another top celebrity writer family, has never had any friendship with Zuo Guan and has already declined.
There is also Mr. Zhang Fengyi. He wants to do business to support his family, but he is at odds with the Dongting Business Gang, so he is afraid of offending the Dongting Business Gang and is unwilling to come forward."
After listing it all, it seems that it is not easy to find a top local celebrity to be a guest.
As for second- and third-rate celebrities, Lin Tailai doesn't like them either.
The main reason is that Lin Daguan and Xinxinshe have only been around for a short time, and their connections in the literary world are indeed limited.
"Otherwise, don't invite guests." Gao Changjiang couldn't help but suggest.
Lin Tailai asked: "If we don't invite heavyweight guests, wouldn't it just be our update agency's own entertainment?"
Ceremonies are not just for the sake of rituals, but also for the purpose of creating gods and forming a new identity for the whole city of Suzhou.
In the past, when locals talked about Lin Tailai, their impression was that he was the leader of the society, the best hero, and he also wrote a lot of poems.
From now on, the impression should be that of a powerful boss who leads local affairs. With this image, many things, such as taking over projects, can be done with twice the result with half the effort.
Gao Changjiang added: "It would be okay if it was just a ceremony, but I'm afraid it won't be easy to realize the intention of sitting in the pavilion. The Dongting Business Gang is also taking action."
Lin Tailai dismissed this, "What can they do? Organize another thousand troops to attack Mudu Town?"
Gao Changjiang replied: "According to the information we have learned, the Dongting business gang will launch the largest strike."
Lin Tailai still said indifferently: "How big can it be?"
Then I heard Gao Changjiang say: "On the day we returned to Suzhou City, the three major commercial districts of Shangtang, Shantang and Nanhao outside the city, as well as the shops in the East and West Central Market in the city, were all closed!
And at least five hundred shop assistants will be mobilized that day to go to Fengqiao to block the restaurant!"
Such a large-scale operation cannot be kept secret at all, and it is only natural for Gao Changjiang to find out about it.
But this is all a conspiracy, and it doesn't matter even if the news leaks out.
Lin Tailai was also a little surprised: "Do they have this ability?"
Gao Changjiang replied: "In major commercial districts in Suzhou City, at least a quarter of the shops are owned by members of the Dongting Merchant Gang.
It is said that on the day of closing, patrols will be organized to discourage others from opening the door.
Their business gang has a large number of people, so how can others dare to mess with them?"
Lin Tailai said angrily: "How much hatred do you have to spoil my mood like this!"
Gao Changjiang was speechless. If there was no grudge, you had smashed up the Dongting Merchant Gang's clubhouse and burned down more than a dozen shops before you left. Have you forgotten all about it?
To put it bluntly, the wealthy and powerful Dongting businessmen were unconvinced and refused to admit that they were thwarted by a group of thugs.
We also don't want to see Lin's association set up municipal offices in various commercial districts and usurp the power of merchant associations.
We are even more unwilling to see enemies occupying the customs and Xujiang waterway and being controlled by others for a long time.
Then Lin Tailai asked very sensitively: "They are so organized, who is directing them?"
Gao Changjiang had heard about this, "Another great minister of the Xi family, named Xi Siquan, was urgently transferred back from Hankou, Huguang, by the old lady of the Xi family, and took over the original position of the prisoner Xi Siwei."
Lin Tailai chuckled and said: "These big families can spread their business territories all over the country, and they are indeed full of talented people. If one person is gone, another one will immediately take over."
Afterwards, Lin Daguan thought for a moment and said, "In this case, the ceremony to welcome me back at Maple Bridge needs to be modified."
Gao Changjiang advised: "Are you planning to mobilize hundreds of people and start the fight directly in Fengqiao?
You should think twice before sitting in the hall! A club must have a clear purpose when starting a war. Fighting without a purpose is meaningless!
Moreover, such chaotic fighting is not good for the image of Zuiguan, and will also ruin the entrance ceremony of Zuiguan."
Lin Tailai said angrily: "I still use you as a lecturer? If you don't fight them, why should you just give in? Your municipal management office doesn't want you?"
Lin Daguanren planned to build municipal management offices in various commercial districts outside the city, and nominally Gao Changjiang was responsible for this business.
Gao Changjiang said impassionedly: "I'm not ignorant of the general situation! For the sake of the overall situation, I can temporarily sacrifice my rights and interests and look for another opportunity later!"
The main reason is that after practice, I found that this new business was too difficult to handle, so I just treated it as a trouble.
At this time, the Hushu Customs Envoy Wang Zhidu suddenly sent someone to invite Lin Tai.
Lin Tailai couldn't guess what was going on with the tax envoy Wang. After all, they had just met during the day.
The customs office had closed the door and locked it, and Lin Tailai entered the official residence through the back door.
Wang Zhidu held an official document in his hand, "Xi Siwei's son went to the Nanjing Criminal Department to file a complaint!
The Nanjing Ministry of Punishment came here and requested that the prisoner be transferred to Nanjing, where the Ministry of Punishment would be responsible for interrogation!"
Lin Daguan, who knew the law and knew the law, immediately objected: "This is an appeal beyond the level! The Xi family has committed many crimes, how can they still have the face to complain?
Moreover, it is against the rules for the Ministry of Punishment to go down even higher levels to hear local cases!”
Wang Zhidu replied: "It has been approved by the Suzhou government office, and the government office will be responsible for sending several suspects to Nanjing.
Besides, if the Ministry of Punishment wants to try the case, why should it tell you the rules?"
Lin Tailai asked another very critical question: "Who will preside over the trial at the Nanjing Criminal Department?"
Wang Zhidu looked at the official document and said: "The document from the Ministry of Punishment was signed by Wang Shizhen, the right minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and he should also be in charge of the trial."
Damn it! Lin Tailai was taken aback and said subconsciously: "This old man is still an official of the Ministry of Justice!"
Wang Zhidu also said helplessly: "Old leader Wang's original official position was the right minister of the Nanjing Criminal Department. You can't possibly not know, right?"
This sudden news made Lin Tailai feel unhappy, "Hasn't he been out and about, claiming to be a scholar, but he hasn't taken office yet?"
Wang Zhidu replied: "So this time, probably in order to disgust you, a great literary master abandoned his noble persona and went to take up his post to do secular work."
To be continued...