Speaking of this, Governor Zhou felt that his attitude was clear enough and there was nothing more to say later.
Even if this matter spreads in official circles, he is not afraid of being talked about.
Isn’t my attitude towards the Lin family respectful enough? Is my attitude towards Lin Tailai not respectful enough?
No matter which colleague in the officialdom comes to judge, they can't find fault with themselves. Even the chief minister can't say anything wrong with him.
But Lin Tailai actually forced himself to do practical things, forcing himself to be a doer in promoting huge projects regardless of the consequences in order to pursue his career. This made the bad guy innocent!
If this reputation spreads, how can I live my life? How can I be a mediocre official whose fault is nothing but merit?
Official Lin must be very clear about Governor Zhou's thoughts. And he also knows that today's conversation is very important. A big project cannot bypass the official of Fengjiang.
Thinking of this, Mr. Lin put away his smile and said calmly: "Being an official is the same as being a human being. You need to be patient and learn to listen.
So Futai might as well be more patient and listen carefully to the gossip I brought, it will be very useful to you."
When he heard Mr. Lin repeatedly mentioning "gossip" and then emphasizing "gossip" after changing his attitude, Governor Zhou understood that this "gossip" must be enough to kill him.
Then Lin Daguan stopped talking and said, "I heard that the weaving eunuch wants to tax the machine households again."
"How come this court hasn't heard about it?" Governor Zhou couldn't help but say.
Official Lin asked in surprise: "It's impossible that you haven't heard about it, right?
You fled Suzhou City in such a hurry. Didn't you hear the news and deliberately avoid trouble?"
Governor Zhou: ""
Lin Tailai continued: "You should also know that resisting taxes is a traditional art skill of us Suzhou people.
This time the weaving eunuch wants to tax looms again, which will definitely trigger a riot in the weaving industry.
And this time it’s not just the city, there are now a large number of looms in the industrial parks outside the city.
Therefore, once a civil uprising breaks out, there will be a response from inside and outside, from the city to the outside, and the scale and space will be unprecedented.
Under this background, it’s really unjustifiable for you, the governor, to run away from the battlefield, isn’t it? Isn’t it an exaggeration to charge him with dereliction of duty?”
Governor Zhou was shocked and confused. A matter that was nothing but nothing was said to be so serious.
Master Li next to him asked: "May I ask Bachelor Jiuyuan, does the weaving eunuch Sun Long really want to tax?"
Lin Tailai replied meaningfully: "Guess?"
Master Li couldn't help but be surprised that Lin Jiuyuan had such deep roots in Suzhou that he could even arrange for weaving eunuchs.
Lin Daguanren added: "It doesn't matter to me. My third brother is in charge of two thousand looms. It's good to follow others to make a fuss about tax exemption."
Governor Zhou continued to say forcefully: "This court doesn't care! At most, it's just an oversight and a failure of responsibility. At worst, you'll be punished by the court!"
I would rather be punished one by one for failing to respond to the civil uprising than do difficult practical work! This is the last dignity of a dawdling bureaucrat!
After receiving the punishment, he became a hero again three years later!
Official Lin did not argue with Governor Zhou about the pros and cons of interests, and continued to elaborate:
"Things are not that simple. The civil unrest of Ji households to resist taxes spreads from the east of the city to Mudu Town, and will eventually affect the Taihu boat households not far from Mudu Town.
Tens of thousands of boat households have been suffering from massive in-kind taxes imposed by the government for many years. This time, they were encouraged by the boat households to resist the tax, so they responded one after another!
The boat people's tax resistance has spread to various places around Taihu Lake, including Huzhou in Zhejiang Province, and has had a very bad impact."
It was obviously a fictitious thing, but Lin Daguanren's tone was exactly the same as if it had already happened.
Although Governor Zhou is an honest person, honest people are more stubborn than others. "If such a situation really happens and I, the governor, fail to suppress the local area effectively, I will be dismissed from office by the imperial court at worst!"
It is impossible to do practical things. You would rather be dismissed than do practical things!
As long as the personal connections are still there, five years later he will be a good man who will be resurrected!
Official Lin still refused to debate the pros and cons of interests with Governor Zhou, "Things are still not that simple. As you know, my Suzhou government is very rich in money and food.
Both machine and boat households have risen up to resist the tax. It is also reasonable for ordinary farmers to be affected and have anti-tax sentiments, right?
It is only a month and a half before the autumn harvest. If by then there is a large-scale gap in the collection of money and grain, why should you apologize to the court, Futai?"
Although Governor Zhou wanted to continue to be tough in his heart, he really couldn't be tough with his mouth.
Machine households can be tough in resisting taxes, and boat households can be tough in resisting taxes, but if farmers are involved, the nature will completely change.
For the governor of Jiangnan, money and grain, especially grain, was the most important task, and it was also the lifeline of the imperial court.
If there is a big problem with the grain supply, it is equivalent to the border town governor making a mistake and losing the battle and losing ground.
Then it's not just a matter of punishment or dismissal from office, but at least a banishment package.
Lin Daguanren added: "A large part of the reason why these things happened is due to Fu Taiqian's inaction!
Before the chain of civil commotions occurred, you suddenly left Suzhou to avoid trouble and refused to return!"
Governor Zhou finally broke his guard and shouted: "What good will this do to you?"
Lin Daguan replied: "I am a native of Suzhou, and I am a local with a small industry.
The folks have launched a wave of tax resistance, which will certainly benefit me a lot!
On the contrary, if you, the governor, responded improperly, it triggered a widespread anti-tax controversy and even affected the grain supply. What will you do in the future?
I don’t know if you can adapt to the climate of Yunnan, Guizhou and Guangxi at your age.
Moreover, there may be a punishment such that three generations of descendants will not be allowed to take the imperial examination. How can this be a good thing?"
Governor Zhou fell into silence. At this moment, Zuo Protector Zhang Wen suddenly spoke and reminded:
"Sit here, some people in the capital are already saying that you are the governor's killer.
In the past three years, you have deposed four governors."
The implication is that if you add the one in front of you, there will be up to five people, which is a bit too much.
Official Lin quickly refuted: "No, no, don't talk nonsense! Besides, can you blame me?"
Zhang Wen added: "Although those governors deserve their punishment, don't you have a little bit of responsibility in sitting in the office?"
Lin Daguan said excitedly: "Our dynasty was first divided into three divisions, and later a governor was set up to take charge of military and civilian affairs. His power exceeded that of any local official!
The only reason to blame is that after these people became feudal officials, with the sudden expansion of power, they all developed the illusion of being 'omnipotent'!
Therefore, no matter what type of governor they are, they always want to have their own ideas and are not willing to listen to advice!
So it’s not that I, Lin Tailai, always have trouble with the governors, it’s mainly that these governors really need to be dealt with!”
Governor Zhou: ""
Are you polite to say this in front of a governor?
Official Lin said, "The governor needs to take care of things," and he even believed it himself.
In comparison, Old Man Zhao, who had also been a governor, was the most useful, and he was worthy of being the training target he had chosen a few years ago.
The right protector Zhang Wu was not willing to be alone and spoke loudly: "After returning to Suzhou this time, I may have been too kind!
I think there are times when we should kill appropriately and kill appropriately. So what? Kill one person to serve as a warning to others?"
"You've said enough!" Governor Zhou said unbearably.
He just wants to be an ordinary official, so why should he suffer these threats and weird things?
What happened to honest people? Do honest people deserve to be pointed at by bows and arrows?
Master Li thought for a while but found nothing to do, so he whispered to Governor Zhou: "Dong Weng, those who know the current affairs are heroes."
He finally saw that the resources Lin Tailai could mobilize in Suzhou were far beyond imagination.
If it hadn't been a waste of time changing governors and re-adjustment, Lin Tailai probably wouldn't even bother to bother with Governor Zhou.
This is a gap in absolute strength. Clever tricks like running away are completely useless in the face of absolute strength.
Now Governor Zhou has two options: he can either fail and be blamed by the official government and be dismissed from office and go home; or he can run away and be blamed privately and be exiled.
The lesser of two evils is the choice for all normal people.
Governor Zhou sighed and asked, "What exactly do you want this court to do?"
The Zhang family brothers who had just been helping to instigate the situation also shut up. Their mission had been completed.
Looking at the surrendered Governor Zhou, the two brothers thought to themselves that there is really not much difference between sitting in officialdom and working in the society. The methods of dealing with people are essentially the same.
At this moment, Lin Daguan finally got to the point, opening his mouth was the most difficult task: "There is at least a shortfall of 200,000 taels in project funds. Please worry about Futai."
Governor Zhou said angrily: "Don't force others to make things difficult for you! Where did this court get two hundred thousand taels? There is no place to raise two hundred thousand taels!"
Lin Daguan said quickly: "Don't be nervous! I will naturally give Futai a clear path and you can borrow it!"
Governor Zhou sneered and said: "Who can lend 200,000 taels to this court? Besides, the face of our court is not worth 200,000 taels."
Lin Daguan replied: "The imperial court can always get two hundred thousand taels, and Futai can borrow it from the imperial treasury!"
Governor Zhou: ""
What kind of whimsical idea is this? I have never heard of any place where money can be borrowed from the national treasury.
If money could be borrowed from the national treasury with empty talk, then all the national treasuries would have been borrowed long ago!
And even if you can lend money, what will you get in return?
Lin Daguan explained: "All the money will be used in Songjiang Prefecture, so Songjiang Prefecture should repay it.
Although two hundred thousand taels of silver sounds like a lot, Songjiang Prefecture also has five million acres of farmland!
You can spread the two hundred thousand taels of silver to the five million acres of land in Songjiang Prefecture, collect more money and food next year, and return it to the court with interest!"
Governor Zhou: ""
Isn't this a disguised increase in land tax? The people will definitely poke their spines and scold you, right?
Lin Daguan encouraged: "For the long-term benefit of a hundred years, it is inevitable to sacrifice short-term interests!
There may be many people who don’t understand that it’s all thanks to officials like Futai who don’t care about personal gain or loss to take care of it!”
Governor Zhou: ""
Damn it! You don’t care about personal gains and losses!
You Lin Tailai are really not a human being! You can even come up with such dirty ideas!
But I have a vague feeling that doing this has opened a new window, whether it is good or bad.
Then Governor Zhou raised a very practical question: "The imperial court has never had a precedent, so it may not be willing to agree, and there must be many opponents."
Official Lin said with a ferocious smile: "Then tell those rubbish in the imperial court who dare to object, if you don't agree, borrow money from the royal treasury!
With Songjiang Prefecture's five million acres of land tax to repay the loan and interest, His Majesty the Emperor must be extremely happy!
But the consequences of drawing out the emperor are unpredictable. I don’t think anyone in the court would dare to object to borrowing money from the treasury!"
Governor Zhou was stunned. If the emperor was given the opportunity to directly collect land taxes in Jiangnan, would the officials in the imperial court go crazy?
Then in the eyes of others, wouldn’t you become a person who sold his soul to the devil?
You, Lin Tailai, still want to force others to do such dirty work. You are not a human being! You are more of a devil than a devil!
In your mind, Lin Tailai, are you really just using the governor as a consumable?
In desperation, Governor Zhou said: "I think this matter"
"Shut up!" Lin Tailai interrupted Governor Zhou, "You only need to say yes or no!"
Governor Zhou was stunned for a while, gritted his teeth and said, "Promise."
The warm smile returned to Lin Daguan's face again, "Other things in the preparation stage are relatively trivial.
No matter what application Xu Zhifu submits, you should not delay it. The main thing is to order the surrounding prefectures and counties in advance to prepare for the recruitment of manpower."
Governor Zhou nodded frequently like a zombie. He no longer expected to have any "sovereignty".
All he wanted in his mind was to let Devil Lin finish speaking and leave quickly.
Finally, I finally heard Mr. Lin say: "We have finished talking about the construction issues."
Governor Zhou immediately stood up and left like a student after class.
We've finished talking, what are you still doing here? Look at Lin Tailai's proud face?
"Wait a minute!" Lin Daguan shouted: "There are still later operational issues to discuss!"
Governor Zhou couldn't understand it at all and said in confusion: "What is the later operation?"
Lin Tailai said in detail: "It is currently estimated that the construction will cost 300,000 yuan, of which Futai will borrow 200,000 yuan from the imperial court.
The remaining 100,000 is not a small amount, and there is a Xinwu Club who is willing to contribute money to help the government solve its problems.
But we can’t let the Xinwu Club give out these 100,000 yuan in vain, right? Therefore, the government should give Xinwu Club a certain amount of compensation, and you still need to Futai to finalize the decision.”
Governor Zhou said impatiently: "What other benefits do you want, just say it in one breath!
Is it possible that you also want to collect land tax from the five million acres of land in Songjiang Prefecture?"
Lin Tailai defended: "It's not that I personally ask for benefits, but that the Xinwu Club needs to have benefits after paying one hundred thousand taels of silver."
"It's all the same!" said Governor Zhou.
So Lin Daguan stopped being pretentious and said directly: "First, the land within two miles of the mouth of the Songjiang River in Xinwu will be owned by the Xinwu Club. Whether to lease or acquire it will be discussed separately.
Second, Xinwu Club is allowed to build three new river ports on the Wusong River.
Third, only cargo ships designated by the Xinwu Society are allowed to pass on the Wusong River.
Fourth, the government negotiates with the Xinwu Society on the collection of customs duties."
Governor Zhou thought that he had made enough psychological preparations and had the clearest understanding of Lin Tailai's greed. No matter what Lin Tailai said, it would be impossible to shock him again.
But he still didn't expect that he still underestimated Lin Tailai's demands! No, he underestimated Lin Tailai's lower limit!
What kind of brain can you think of such crazy four things? You, Lin Tailai, are not afraid of dying?
Also, why does it sound like the underworld is dividing its territories and areas?
"You," Governor Zhou said hesitantly.
"Shut up!" Lin Daguan said without any doubt: "I didn't discuss it with you, I just informed you."
