"Greetings, Governor." More than a dozen officials bowed in unison to greet Fang Yun who was sitting on a stone bench. Fang Yun did not even look at them. He placed the tea tray and teapot on the stone table, then began to boil water, leaving only one cup.
The officials straightened up and looked at each other, helpless. Everyone knew that Fang Xusheng was different. Even the veteran officials in the officialdom could not guess what he was thinking.
Dong Wencong was familiar with Fang Yun, so he walked forward with a smile and said, "I never thought that you would come to the North Workshop District in person. I am ashamed."
"Listening to you officials talking about this matter, you seem to be acting like it has nothing to do with you. How can you feel ashamed?" Fang Yun said calmly.
The officials present were ashamed. Their rotation just now was normal. They had to maintain the order in Xiangzhou, save the reputation of the Zhao Company and allow Baling City to develop. They treated those people as unruly people and did not want to listen to what those people said like Fang Yun did.
Fang Yun looked up at the night sky and said slowly: "The world has been peaceful for a long time, and the change of dynasties seems to have nothing to do with you and me, so no one is afraid of the people who fought their way out of the war. You are actually right, the people are the most patient, as long as they are well fed and clothed, they will not rebel, so it seems that there is nothing wrong with you being high above and treating them like slaves."
The officials were sweating profusely. Fang Yun spoke the truth while speaking sarcastically. His tone was calm, but his meaning was weird, which made people most worried.
This Governor is a terrifying figure who dares to gamble with the saints in the demon world.
The yard was quiet. Fang Yun poured himself some tea and drank it. The aroma of tea filled the air, but the officials present did not dare to make a sound.
After a long while, Fang Yun asked, "Wen Cong, has this matter been concluded?"
Dong Wencong hesitated for a moment, then decided to tell the truth, saying, "I am ignorant and have not yet reached a conclusion."
"So what do you lean towards?"
Dong Wencong hesitated again and said, "I think that most of the people were instigated by outsiders to take to the streets to oppose. As long as we catch the culprit and make an example of him, and then do a good job of appeasing him, and say on the surface that we are considering closing the workshop, but continue to build the workshop secretly, after a long time, they will know that their opposition is hopeless and will forget about it."
"The culprit? Are you talking about those ruffians, or the county magistrate who was fighting for the papermaking workshop, Ge Baiwan of Qingjiang Trading Company, or Qing Jun?" Fang Yun's tone was extremely calm, but the officials felt a chill down their spines when they heard it.
Dong Wencong's arms trembled slightly. Until this moment, he understood why officials of all ranks in Mizhou were so afraid of Fang Yun. The other party was obviously just a young man, but a few words from him could make him tremble with fear. His official power was as powerful as the sea.
The most terrifying thing is that Fang Yun pointed out the key to the matter directly, and officials such as Dong Wencong only dared to arrest those ruffians, and had neither the ability nor the courage to confront Qing Guan who was behind the ruffians.
Fang Yun asked in surprise: "Why are you silent? You are right. Although the Qing officials want to surrender to the Qing Kingdom, they are still Xiangzhou officials after all. They are paid by the Jing Kingdom after all. No matter how much trouble they make, they are still our family. When encountering such a thing, we can just arrest a few of their servants, but how can we ruin the reputation of our own people? As for those people who oppose, what do their lives have to do with us?"
The officials bowed their heads.
"Well, you must be uncomfortable with this. After all, it's better for everyone to know this kind of thing. It's not good to say it out loud." Fang Yun said, "Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys, saying that opposition is hopeless, that's a good way to put it. Let them be afraid, let them despair, let them forget, and then you can pretend that nothing happened and you can get promoted with peace of mind. That's a good way to put it. It's just like teasing a dog or a cat. Just comfort them. You have done your best. What else do they want?"
Yan Xiao, the prefect of Baling, said, "Governor, you misunderstood. It was this humble official who advised Dongzhou Mu to do this. This humble official dared to guarantee with his life and future that there would be absolutely no problem with the papermaking workshop, because as early as half a year ago, this humble official began to send scholars from the working families to observe the papermaking workshops of the Zhao's Trading Company, and has sent four batches. Our conclusion is that the papermaking workshops of the Zhao's Trading Company are absolutely trustworthy, and building them outside the city of Baling will not have too much impact. It is precisely because of this that this humble official thought that he could deceive the people. When the papermaking workshop is built, they will find that it is not much different from before, and they will not object. If the papermaking workshop discharges too much wastewater, it will be as abominable as the Qingjiang Trading Company. This humble official will be the first to disagree!"
Fang Yun nodded gently and said, "Prefect Yan, I know you are a man who gets things done. Whether it's public opinion or the people who oppose the papermaking workshop, they all say you are a good official."
"Your Excellency is too kind." Yan Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"But don't you ever think about why those people who praise you would take to the streets to oppose the papermaking workshop? Why would they rather believe those ruffians or the people from Qingjiang Trading Company instead of you, a good official?" Fang Yun asked back.
Yan Xiao was stunned and speechless.
"When you no longer care about the people, they will treat the government and officials as shit, and everything you say will sound like shit to them. I didn't say this, but I heard it from an old man today. So, tell me, Prefect Yan, where do you think the root of this matter lies?"
Yan Xiao gritted his teeth and said, "I think the root cause is that the people are ignorant. They don't know that the technology of the workers is developing, they don't know that the court and the workers are trying to reduce wastewater as much as possible, and they don't know that once this papermaking workshop is built, the paper in Baling Prefecture will be much cheaper. When they complained about the high price of paper, they scolded the government. Now that the government is trying to lower the price of paper, they don't want to make any sacrifices or pay any price!"
The other officials nodded slightly, and Yan Xiao expressed their thoughts.
Fang Yun asked in surprise: "They don't want to pay any sacrifices and costs? Then I want to ask, those soldiers who died in Liangjie Mountain, Zhenyu Sea, and the north of Jingguo, they are not civilians, are they your fathers? When you need them to farm, they worked in the fields, did they go to the streets to complain about their hardships? When you need them to work in the workshop, they worked in the workshop, did they go to the streets to complain about being tired? Now, they have been deceived by you for so many years, afraid that you don't care about their life or death, so they stand up and say a few words, what's wrong? Even if they are ignorant, they have been deceived by you to become smart, so they would rather spend more money to buy paper than die in the wastewater of the papermaking workshop for no reason!"
"I..." Yan Xiao was about to speak but was interrupted by Fang Yun.
"Just today, I asked my friends in Gongdian to check the papermaking workshop of Zhao's Company. Zhao's Company is indeed very conscientious. Their papermaking workshop is not as good as Qing's in papermaking technology, but it is much better than Qing's in reducing sewage. The papermaking workshop is built outside Baling City, and it will not have a negative impact on the lives of the people. If there is really a big problem with the papermaking workshop, why would I sit here and drink tea?"
The officials were puzzled and had no idea what Fang Yun was thinking.
"Let me ask again, what is the root cause of the people taking to the streets?" Fang Yun said.
.(To be continued.)