Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 35

*Thud*, still unable to contain his anger, he threw the bamboo slip heavily against the wall. The sound made the disciples guarding the door shrink back: This Steward Lu wasn't like Steward Tian, ​​always smiling...

Even the head of the sixth hall of the Farmer's Clan was nothing more than a martial artist with strong fighting skills, but his cultural attainments were very limited.

If the statistics from Gonggong Hall are this bad, the other halls are likely in similar situations...

Lu Wei exhaled heavily through his nose, raised his hand, and used his internal force to retrieve the bamboo slips he had thrown away, trying to find something usable among them.

For example, an income and expenditure statement.

Gonggongtang's revenue mainly comes from two sources:

First, they were engaged in their traditional profession of farming, which was the most basic industry. Each clan had such a business. Large organizations like the Farmers' Clan owned a lot of land in the three kingdoms of Yan, Qi, Wei, and Chu. These lands did not need to pay taxes to their respective states. Local powerful families were so dominant that the royal authority did not extend to the countryside. The Farmers' Clan's name was the local law.

Secondly, they engaged in commerce and trade, primarily handled by the Yan state branch. They opened shops, traded goods in various countries under the guise of farmers, and sometimes even engaged in illegal smuggling activities, reaping substantial profits.

Lu Wei himself has experienced this firsthand.

Besides these two main jobs, other additional income accounts for a small proportion, mainly from activities such as acting as bodyguards and doing manual labor, which involve selling human resources.

Some disciples would secretly rob and plunder, then offer a portion of their loot to headquarters under the guise of being rewarded for saving lives, thus maintaining the protection of their status as disciples of the Farmer's Clan...

Zhou He rarely looked at the data sheets of Gonggong Hall. He only cared that the annual income was increasing and there was a surplus. As for how the income increased and how the surplus was generated, that was the disciples' business.

Lu Wei was furious at those who damaged the collective reputation, especially the reputation he was about to receive, to seek personal gain, and he was determined to crack down on them severely!

Not only should we crack down on them, but we should also hold trials so that these people can regain some of their lost reputation before they are completely ruined!

Gonggongtang must undergo a complete overhaul!

However, as I said before, any reform must be approached with caution. This applies not only to reforms in a country, but also to reforms within a faction; they cannot be arbitrarily changed at the whim of the upper echelons.

Lu Wei tried hard to restrain his eagerness for quick success and instant benefits, believing that his priority should be to cultivate a group of loyal, literate subordinates. For example, the group of Chu orphans that Lu Yu and Lu Ye brought back to Yan were quite good, although their numbers were a bit small.

We need to increase the number of these promising talents!

While cultivating a reform team, we must also send people to conduct in-depth research at the grassroots level and do a good job in data statistics. We cannot allow things to remain as chaotic and error-ridden as they are now.

The Gonggong Hall is already in a terrible state; making it even slightly better would be a huge improvement.

This progress began with changing the writing materials, namely, the previously suppressed practice of "papermaking"!

The greatest value of paper lies in its universality.

Perhaps in the early stages of its production, it could only be supplied to royalty and nobility, but as the technology matured and spread, paper would eventually benefit the middle and lower classes.

The barriers to 'education' will not disappear completely, but they will certainly fluctuate and become lower.

Lu Wei had obtained mature papermaking technology from a treasure chest a long time ago, but he believed that his previous self would have had difficulty preserving this achievement.

Now that I've become the head steward of Gonggong Hall, this matter can finally be done.

The prototype of the 'pen' paired with paper actually existed in this world long ago, and slight improvements were made to keep up with the progress of writing tools.

Ink making is another skill to acquire. However, I didn't have the necessary books on this technique, so I simply bought them from the system store: books on pure technique learning are very cheap.

These are all labor-intensive industries, which are well-suited for farmers.

After looking at the income, let's look at the expenses.

In addition to the salaries of disciples responsible for managing business operations, there are also those responsible for weapon manufacturing, the maintenance of the daily operations of headquarters and various branches, and rewards for disciples who have made meritorious contributions.

These data points present even greater challenges than revenue figures, but the numbers are strictly controlled below revenue to ensure a surplus each year.

After only flipping through two volumes, Lu Wei decided to stop reading the rest: Rome wasn't built in a day; let the accumulated problems be dealt with gradually...

------

When was the last time you saw Tian Zhong?

In the windowless little house, only a single candle burned dimly.

Lu Wei stared expressionlessly at the disciple opposite him, his voice echoing hollowly in the room, accompanied by the flickering candlelight.

"Your subordinate... is participating in the wheat-harvesting ritual at the autumn harvest festival."

The disciple's voice trembled, tinged with tears.

He was extremely afraid: not only because of his current situation and Lu Wei's interrogation.

This fear has actually lasted for several days.

That day, Lu Wei received full authorization from Zhou He in the morning to investigate clues about Tian Zhong's death within the farmhouse. In the afternoon, he mobilized his disciples to imprison all of Tian Zhong's confidants.

These people, who not long ago mocked Lu Wei's audacious and disrespectful behavior towards Steward Tian when he first arrived at the Gonggong Hall headquarters, will surely be met with a fierce counterattack.

Unexpectedly, Steward Tian suddenly passed away, and his heir turned out to be none other than Lu Wei...

They were arrested shortly afterward and remained unaccounted for for a long time, living in constant fear.

Several days later, when they were finally brought in for questioning, they were even more frightened.

Waiting is agonizing, but when that agonizing wait is followed by the terrifying reality, a breakdown can occur instantly.

Besides, these people genuinely didn't know what was going on; those who did know were interrogating them.

Such interrogation is destined to be a waste of time and will not yield any clues.

However, since the act had to be convincing, Lu Wei solemnly questioned these trusted men and instructed his disciples to immediately report the results to Master Zhou He.

Even though it was the early hours of the morning.

This is a matter of expressing an attitude.

Attitude is the mask of the heart!

Chapter 49 The Lü Family

Two months have passed in the blink of an eye, and it's the end of the year again.

After the Autumn Harvest Conference, Lu Wei was first awarded the Five-Star Pearl Grass by Zhou He and appointed as the acting general manager. Not long ago, he was awarded the Six-Star Pearl Grass for his "effective management of Gonggong Hall" and officially took over the position of general manager, and was established as the next head of Gonggong Hall.

Since the scandal involving Kuiwei Hall at the Autumn Harvest Festival broke out, the upper echelons of the Farmer's Clan have been engaged in a fierce power struggle over the selection of the new Kuiwei Hall Master.

Tian Mi is a victim of a scandal, the wife of the missing steward Wu Kuang, and has a 'special' popularity among the lower-level disciples, making her a strong contender to succeed as the head of the Kuiwei Hall.

In addition, she also had the support of the Tian family. The other competitors of Kuiwei Hall were all unknown old people. Logically speaking, Tian Mi should have won easily.

However, she had a fatal flaw that prevented the position of hall master from being decided for so long:

His status within the hall is too low!

Before Tian Mi was married to Wu Kuang, she only possessed a two-star pearl grass. Later, she was promoted to a three-star pearl grass, but it was still far from enough.

At this time, the Farmer's Clan was not yet the one that could arbitrarily grant disciples a certain number of pearl herbs in order to seize opportunities to recruit the remnants of the Six Kingdoms; the promotion of disciples was still relatively rigid.

Lu Wei arrived at Daze Mountain in August, and in just four months, the number of pearl grasses increased from three stars to six stars, which can be described as miraculous.

But this is in line with the rules of the farming community. His rank did indeed start from one star, and he rose step by step, making contributions with each promotion, which led him to his current position.

So much so that he could proudly claim in the martial arts world that he was a "genuine farmer"!

Tian Mi, however, has been crying all these past few months: crying in front of the leader of the Xia Kui, crying in front of the five hall masters, and crying in front of the lower-level disciples.

Will crying solve anything? She can't be promoted just because her husband died.

This trivial matter will probably be argued for several more months. Lu Wei has been handling things efficiently lately, and with his identity confirmed, he has become a hot new high-ranking member of the Six Halls.

Not only were many of the lower-level disciples trying to curry favor with Lu Wei while he was still young, but the other hall masters also clearly intended to win him over.

One evening, Tian Mi even sent a disciple to invite her...

This is indeed a good opportunity to play both sides and seek personal gain, but upon calm reflection, there are naturally corresponding crises lurking behind the opportunity.

Chen Sheng serves as a cautionary tale.

If a mere hall master like him could be deposed, what chance would there be of someone as lowly as a mere steward like myself?

Tian Zhong's previous idea was correct. At this stage, he no longer needed to try to seize power and gain benefits. Maintaining patience was the safest course of action.

However, since Tian Zhong had pledged allegiance to the Tian family, he had no choice but to work for them, while he himself was all alone in the main hall and had no constraints.

To completely avoid getting caught up in this chaotic situation, Lu Wei simply found himself a mission and left Daze Mountain for a field assignment.

After completing a general task during the New Year period, I simply returned to the Yan Kingdom after the New Year.

The situation in Gonggong Hall has stabilized, and I am already familiar with the affairs of the hall. Rather than scheming against the hall masters, stewards, and managers here, I would rather be a dictator without restraint in Luqiu Pavilion.

The more than nine thousand disciples of Gonggong Hall in the Yan Kingdom constitute a great force!

These infighting incidents could have been completely avoided, all it would have taken was for him to "return as the Dragon King" and succeed as the hall master!

------

The mission of this field operation is to locate three missing transport teams on the border between Qi and Wei.

Every year, farmers would transport large quantities of grain from the three kingdoms of Yan, Wei, and Chu to Dazeshan to prepare for unforeseen circumstances.

These days, food is the real hard currency.

The war between Qin and Zhao has been going on for almost a year. Since the young king of Qin took power, the world has become increasingly turbulent. Farmers are prepared: in years of great chaos, famine and natural disasters will always suddenly emerge, adding insult to injury to the desperate people.

Therefore, several new small-batch, high-frequency transport teams have recently been arranged to rush grain to Dazeshan.

Three teams from this transport fleet have gone missing at the same location over the past few months, which necessitates an investigation.

However, as the year draws to a close, very few managers are willing to go out.

Lu Wei had planned to avoid the situation at headquarters, and since he had no relatives in this world and didn't care about the name of 'reunion' for the festival, he simply took the initiative to accept the mission and rode out of the mountains alone with his sword.

Despite braving wind and snow along the way, nothing serious happened.

When we arrived at our destination, it was New Year's Eve.

Out of pure goodwill, he didn't bother the local farmhouse branch, but was surprised to find that a tavern in town was still open today, so he went in to make do for the night.

In big cities like Jicheng and Shouchun, everything is in ruins during the New Year. The tavern owner in this small town is quite interesting.

Although the town was small, the tavern was quite large, with two floors. It wasn't exactly bustling with people, but it wasn't bad either. There were a few swordsmen and about twenty ragged savages scattered around.

The savages were on the first floor, while Lu Wei, dressed neatly and carrying a sword, was naturally welcomed to the second floor by the waiter.

After ordering a pot of cloudy wine and two small dishes, Lu Wei placed the fine iron sword on the inside of the table and closed his eyes to rest.

The tavern was slow to serve food, and it took a long time for any to arrive, but several new customers did come in.

However, most of the people who showed up at the tavern on New Year's Eve were probably not there to satisfy their appetites, and nobody cared.