Chapter 130: The Official’s Life Is Not Easy (Part 3)
"I tell you, those officials are certainly not trustworthy. They are probably cursing right now, wondering who the hell Huo Chong is!" Huo Chong calmly told the young man at the headquarters about his judgment.
"Then why does sir go to all this trouble?" Lei Hu asked anxiously.
Huo Chong looked at his subordinates. Some of them really hadn't thought about it that much, while others were just taciturn. There weren't many people like Lei Hu who could build their own understanding of the world. But Huo Chong didn't think there was anything wrong with these subordinates who were unable to use concepts to understand the world.
Ignoring Lei Hu for the moment, Huo Chong continued, "Why are those people useless in business? Because their views on business are different from ours. Those people still adopt the master-apprentice system under the guild system. If the apprentice's products are not recognized by the teacher, then they are useless."
After saying this, the other subordinates became serious. Lei Hu himself was not capable of making others accept his concept of the world, that was for sure. It was the same when Huo Chong was young. No matter how hard he tried to come up with sophisticated concepts, he could not compare with those "old" concepts.
The reason is simple, those "old" concepts have been tested in reality and have been tempered a thousand times, while Huo Chong's concepts are more of what Huo Chong "thought up" in order to prove that he is different.
"The system we adopt is different. Whether it's a teacher or an apprentice, they are all under the same system and the same standard. Teachers cannot deny students, and students cannot deny teachers. Only by using the same standard can we make judgments!"
The subordinates have all learned and understood the terms used by Huo Chong. Everyone has the same foundation, and these educated subordinates can finally understand what Huo Chong wants to express.
"Sir, if they do the same thing, aren't they the same as us?" Yang Wangfu asked.
"What you are talking about is another issue. Everyone wants to be the master of others. As long as a person is a person, whether he is aware of it or not, he has the need to dominate others and dominate the world. Please note that it is a need!"
After Huo Chong finished speaking, he wrote the word "need" on the blackboard.
"Whether you are willing to admit reality or not is a skill. So far, I have talked to you about three different concepts. Don't confuse them. The ability to admit reality, the need to lead others, and the business model are not the same thing. Whether you can understand, remember these."
As soon as Huo Chong finished speaking, Lei Hu was already overjoyed as if he had just woken up from a dream. He shouted, "Sir, is it because you want to dominate the situation that you refuse to admit that their business model is the reality that you dominate the judgment standard?"
Lei Hu had said this, Huo Chong really had no choice but to say something to Lei Hu, looking at this guy, Huo Chong nodded, and then said to the others: "I'm going to tell you something that may take you a long time to understand. Is it better to use a lifetime to heal your childhood, or to use your childhood to heal your lifetime. This is a big question. As you become stronger and stronger, you will inevitably face this problem when you are really strong. Many bird people use their lifetime to heal their childhood. This is especially true for those officials. They want to control their own destiny, and they want to control the destiny of others. As long as they can decide the life and death of others, it can bring pleasure. That's very happy. But I want to talk to you about business now. Business is a very realistic issue and is only related to everything at the moment. If you have the ability to face reality, you will understand what you are facing. So, I tell you, those people will definitely say, what kind of person is Huo Chong! Because they have already felt that I am going to be their boss!"
"Huo Chong is a piece of shit!" Such curses were heard in more than one official's home.
The officials thought that they could ask Huo Chong for money after reaching a verbal agreement with him to borrow money. Unexpectedly, Huo Chong sent someone to ask the officials to make further arrangements and provide various conditions on the loaned land.
Just as Huo Chong said, whether it was rational cognition or physical intuition, the officials all felt that Huo Chong wanted to be their master.
Being controlled by others is unbearable. To borrow Confucius' words, it is the point of "what can be tolerated is intolerable". The county magistrate who ruined the family, the prefect who wiped out the family. As people in power, how could these state officials tolerate it? Scolding is still the least, many people have seriously considered how to kill Huo Chong, the dog thief.
At that time, these officials did not expect that Huo Chong had already decided to rebel. Rebellion meant becoming an enemy of the entire Qing Dynasty. Even if these officials were obedient to Huo Chong and licked his feet, Huo Chong already knew that he would kill these officials.
While officials were angry because they felt personally “offended” by Huo Chong, Huo Chong’s training class had already started comprehensive education, especially through the Zhongfu platform to explain to the farmers who participated in Zhongfu what kind of operating model Huo Chong wanted to establish.
Compared with the officials' anger, Huo Chong only cares about the farmers' understanding of this operating model.
Many members of the Zhongfu platform, whether they understood or not, went down with the headquarters' plan and introduced the concept of cooperation with the platform to farmers. Half a month later, Huo Chong had received news quietly sent back by the intelligence department. At least one-third of the young people on the platform mentioned a concept, a concept with a long history in China, that is, "those who till the land own the land."
Huo Chong was in a very good mood after reading the report. It was really very, very good!
Those who till the land own the land. This is the highest ideal of the small peasant economy and also the intuition drawn from people's feelings for thousands of years.
In fact, the idea that "land belongs to the tiller" has long been proven to be an illusion. Small farmers lack everything: knowledge, technology, water conservancy projects. Any lack can bankrupt these people.
In the 21st century, in countries like the United States, big capitalists, with their advantages in technology, capital, and resources, are ruthlessly crushing family farms. Especially in the current era of advanced communication technology, even the United States itself may not have publicly proposed or realized a certain trend. The trend of unmanned agricultural equipment completely crushing the small peasant economy, that is, crushing the American rednecks, is inevitable.
The iron ore mines in that damn place of Australia have all started to have unmanned mining systems, and the unmanned agriculture on the thousands of miles of uninhabited plains of North America will sooner or later completely crush the American family farms.
From the perspective of efficiency and technological progress alone, complete industrialization of agricultural production is the most advanced and efficient.
In China, the small farmers' desire for "land to the tiller" is actually their fear of losing their land and other means of production at any time. Without their land, oxen, and agricultural production loans, these small farmers can become landless farmers in a matter of minutes. They are then thrown into a more competitive survival arena and brutally exploited.
Land to the tiller is not so much a political concept as it is a desire of small farmers for “self-security” and a rejection of bottom-line competition.
Huo Chong only explained this to a dozen selected people. To Huo Chong's surprise, all the young people understood. But their understanding was different.
For example, Qian Qing was just looking forward to a rebellion caused by chaos. Lei Hu, who never considered himself a member of the ordinary people, was ecstatic about this purely conceptual thing. Other young people had to recognize this fact because they saw many farmers who were saved from bankruptcy by the Zhongfu platform in their actual work. This explanation can fully explain everything they saw with their own eyes.
"Sir, do you really not want to help those officials?" Yang Wangfu finally felt the fear, the same fear that Lei Hu had felt long ago.
"It's not us who are begging them, but they are begging us." Huo Chong replied coldly. It's not the right time to promote rebellion. For so long, Huo Chong has become more and more certain that if he saves a life, others will follow him without hesitation. This kind of logic is just nonsense made up in literary works.
The first year of Yongzheng's reign was a year of misery for officials. Yongzheng had already removed so many officials, and then what? The exiled officials did not resist at all, but kept their heads down and obeyed obediently.
Just like the official Li Xu who was investigated in the first month of the first year of Yongzheng's reign, the deputy governor Cha Binna wrote:
Li Xu's family members and servants Qian Zhongxuan and other men, women, boys and girls, totaling more than 200 people, have been sold in Suzhou. It has been nearly a year since then. The people in the southern provinces all know that they are bannermen, and no one dares to buy them. Now, except for those who should be detained for trial, the rest of the records are sent to the General Administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. How to deal with them has been reported. By order: follow the proposal. So ordered. Jiangnan Director Tongzhi He Sheng'e was sent to deliver them here. And so on. After investigation by my office, it was found that there were 1 man, 1 woman and 1 girl who died of illness on the way. There are now 227 people sent here, including 10 women and children of Li Xu. In addition to Li Xu, there are 217 servants, all of whom are handed over to Chongwenmen Supervisor 51 for sale. The eight people who are detained for trial, including Qian Zhongxuan, will also be handed over to Chongwenmen for sale later. And so on. For this reason, I wrote a memorial to request the emperor's order. Sent to the Minister of State Affairs, Wang, and the Ministers for review, and then to Shuangquan, Deputy Minister Zhang Wenbin, and others for forwarding. By order: General Nian Gengyao has few men, so he will be asked to select the men he will send, and he will report the number of men he will select. The rest will be sent to the Chongwenmen Supervisor. This is the order of the emperor. (Translated from the Manchu memorial of the Ministry of Internal Affairs)
The above mentioned the situation when Li Xu's family was confiscated. From this, we can know that at first, Li Xu's family members and servants were confiscated because of the case and sold in Suzhou, but no one dared to buy. Li Xu and Li Ding were sent for interrogation, and the rest of the population was recorded and taken to the Ministry of Internal Affairs. After review, the family members were exempted from sale, and the remaining more than 200 servants were either awarded to meritorious officials or sold.
In such a tragic situation, didn't the officials rebel? The intelligence collected by Huo Chong only included major events, and the news that the Shandong officials were punished was slower than that learned by Li Xu's family.
It was only roughly known that Yongzheng's thirteenth brother, Prince Yi, Yunxiang, had already begun to rectify this boiling situation. As long as the officials honestly admitted the account and did not engage in any special corruption or anti-Yongzheng activities, Prince Yi would begin to formulate policies against them.
Huo Chong can only honestly seek opportunities to unite with the people and collude with officials, haha.
It was almost December of the first year of Yongzheng's reign. Apart from taking strong measures to collect debts owed by officials, Yongzheng focused the rest of his attention on the war in the northwest.
At this time, Yongzheng had already ordered the inscription erected by the Fourteenth Emperor to be smashed. The reason was very high-sounding: "The inscription did not praise the late emperor."
This move has made the officials sense the new emperor's attitude. He is going to severely punish his political enemies!
Of course, Prince Yi had heard of such statements a long time ago. When he heard that his third brother was coming to visit him while he was doing his work, he had to temporarily put down the documents in his hands and invite his third brother in.
Among Kangxi's sons, the eldest was born in a humble family and never had the chance to inherit the throne. The second was the crown prince for decades, but was eventually deprived of the throne because of the difference between father and son. The fourth, Yongzheng, inherited the throne. The third, however, led a group of people to complete the compilation of the Kangxi Dictionary. Although he did not say anything explicitly, he actually showed his intention to compete for the throne.
It's just that Kangxi never threw the third brother down, so the third brother didn't dare to say anything. From this point of view, the Thirteenth Brother thought the third brother was quite smart.
The two brothers sat down in the room, and the third brother sighed: "The emperor is pursuing his political enemies relentlessly, making the ministers panic..."
When the Thirteenth Brother heard this, his expression was no longer polite, "You owe money, pay it back. Do you think those people don't have to pay back the money they borrowed from the court?"
The third brother was stunned when he heard this. After a while, he waved his hand and said, "Thirteenth brother, I don't mean that."
The Thirteenth Elder had no intention of doing anything to the Third Elder, so he advised, "Third Elder, if we, the royal family, talk about pursuing political enemies, it will only scare the ministers! If someone says this to you, you should tell them that it is only natural to repay debts. When these officials took money from the treasury, they should not have thought about whether they would have to repay the money. If so, what are these people? They must want to repay the money!"
Some officials that Lao San knew came to him and begged him, saying that the officials were all very upset about the debt repayment. He also wanted to sell himself well, but he didn't dare to go directly to Yongzheng. He could only come to Yongzheng's beloved Lao Shisan to find an opportunity. After hearing what Lao Shisan said, Lao San already knew that he didn't need to consider finding a breakthrough from Lao Shisan . Since his goal could not be achieved, Lao San could only leave in disappointment.
No matter how high the pressure was, Yongzheng and his brothers dared not say a word, and the officials had no other options. After all, the officials who could borrow a large amount of money were all well-known when Kangxi was alive, but their reputation was given by the emperor. If the new emperor Yongzheng did not give them face, they would have no face.
More and more officials were dismissed, no matter they were from Beijing or local government. Those sentenced to exile could only take their families to the distant exile place. Especially those who were sent to Yunnan, Guizhou and other places had to pass through the rich Jiangsu and Zhejiang.
Although most officials did not establish a network of power such as "official protection talismans", at least there were some officials of the same year. Many people they knew were in Jiangnan. The officers who escorted these people did not dare to treat them too harshly. When these people passed through Jiangnan, they were still quite good. They could even rest at various post stations and taverns.
Xu Youlin had already returned to Jiangnan. This time, Yongzheng's rectification had a great impact on Xu Youlin, especially the sudden drop in sales of Liulihuo, which had finally become popular among the wealthy people in Jiangnan in recent years. Even though Huo Chong had already adjusted Xu Youlin's supply in a reasonable way, Xu Youlin still felt the pain.
At this time, I learned that many exiled officials were passing by, so I went to the post station in Yangzhou to see what was going on. As expected, I saw several arrogant guys sitting in the post station in chains. People around were not surprised. A fat local businessman even came forward and asked, "Sir, I wonder if there is any new news in the capital."
Xu Youlin felt that the guy who asked this question was simply asking for a beating. Wouldn't such a question be directly poking at other people's sore spots?
However, the convicted official was unmoved. He turned his head and looked at the fat man with a condescending look that only comes from being an official for too long, which made the fat man feel uncomfortable. However, the official suddenly laughed and said, "You want me to talk about the news in the capital, but you don't have any wine to drink?"
When the fat man heard this, he was delighted. Before the fat man could speak, the people next to him who also wanted to hear the news had already ordered wine. Xu Youlin did not join the ranks of ordering wine for the criminal official, but whispered to his subordinates: "Send wine and food to the extremely important official."
The subordinates followed the order and left. When the wine and meat were placed in front of the officers, the officers were also a little surprised. However, those who wanted to listen to the story would not let the officers interfere. Some people came forward to toast the officers and serve them food. Not long after, someone even secretly slipped some money to the officers.
The officers had a hard time escorting the prisoners along the way, and seeing the money coming in, even though it was small amounts, it would still be an income if accumulated. They would happily sit at the door to ensure that the prisoners would not escape.
Seeing that the officers were far away, the prisoner began to eat and drink. After he had eaten and drunk his fill, he began to tell about what happened in the capital.
Xu Youlin sat nearby and listened, and the more he listened, the more surprised he became. Because he was helping Huo Chong get information, the information Xu Youlin heard from his uncle was very different from what the prisoner said. In particular, the prisoner officials hinted that Yongzheng had sent medicine to Kangxi, and Kangxi died after taking it. Hearing this, Xu Youlin looked at the prisoner again and again.
However, the criminal was determined and didn't care about the audience at all. He asked, "What word can be written by filling a horizontal line on top of the cross and a hook on the bottom?"
Not many people in the audience knew how to read. Xu Youlin couldn't help but write a few strokes on his palm according to what the prisoner said. Those who knew more about reading replaced the character "十" with "于".
The criminal didn't speak directly, but just said: "I heard that the emperor's will passed the throne to the fourth son. After the emperor ascended the throne, he ordered the fourteenth master to return to the capital, but intercepted the fourteenth master's letters. I don't know why the emperor is so anxious."
Regardless of whether others understood or not, Xu Youlin really understood. Even in the middle of winter, he felt a little sweat on his back. This criminal official really didn't fear life or death. He was just short of publicly saying that it was Yongzheng who tampered with the will and took back the throne that should have belonged to his fourteenth brother.
In this panic, the prisoner heard the official say: "When the previous emperor passed away, only the uncle of the current emperor was by his side. Some people say that this uncle sent someone to summon the emperor to the palace."
