Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 136 Gan Ning Takes Office
Bai Tu was very surprised. Although the previous "trial of Pan Zhang" did not cause these great families to completely classify him as an enemy, it should still be a deduction...
However, now, just after the "trial of Pan Zhang", the Wujun Gu family and the Kuaiji Wei family, which had been lukewarm, actually came over first?
Could it be that Gu and Wei have such high ideological awareness? It doesn't make sense!
Seeing Bai Tu's puzzled expression, Lu Kang smiled and said, "My lord, are you wondering about the purpose of these two people?"
"I think it was Mr. Lu who urged them, and appealed to their emotions and reason..." White picture.When in doubt, lick first to show respect.jpg.
"My lord, thank you for your praise. My little bit of face is not so useful as this." Lu Kang said modestly.
"Then... I guess the Gu and Wei families are very understanding and righteous?" Bai Tu knew that Gu Yong and Wei Teng were the pillars of their respective families.
If the talents from the side branches take sides, it cannot represent the will of the families behind them, but Gu Yong and Wei Teng... definitely come with the support of the two major families!
"This is one of them." Lu Kang said.
After that, Lu Kang stopped keeping the secret and gave Bai Tu a hint: "The reason why our noble families can continue from generation to generation and remain glorious is not just because we are familiar with the classics..."
Bai Tu also understood this point. No aristocratic family or wealthy family could be supported by just "great scholars". It was true that Confucianism was the only official school of thought in the Eastern Han Dynasty, but which aristocratic family did not have some other academic heritage?
Whether it is the military strategist, the legalist, the diplomat, or the Mohist...
For these great families, the core concepts of various schools are no longer important. The families that can be passed down for a long time are all true "pragmatists", and their core is always the word "profit".
Now that Confucianism is the prominent school of thought, naturally everything is Confucian. The same will be true in the future if another school of thought takes the lead.
Pure Confucian scholars can only serve as mascots in the end. This is true in the imperial court and in aristocratic families.
As Lu Kang spoke, he glanced at Lu Su. As for the other reason, he couldn't explain it in detail. He could only ask Lu Su, who was closer to him and not from a noble family, about it.
Lu Su said bluntly: "The Lord's previous actions did seem to be against the noble families, but that was also why they were worried that if they didn't get closer to the Lord, they might suffer an unexpected disaster."
Bai Tu was stunned when he heard this...
So, after the ordinary wealthy families found out that Bai Tu was standing on the opposite side, their instinctive reaction was to move away, while the cunning big families, after discovering this, wanted to get closer?
Of course, this was not simply a case of "joining forces out of fear". The reason why the Gu and Wei families were stepping up their efforts to show goodwill was because the Bai Tu had not really violated their interests, but they were just beginning to have differences in ideas.
They were optimistic about Bai Tu's future, had confidence in Bai Tu's current strength, and... knew that anyone who wanted to shake Bai Tu's popularity would only get into trouble, so in order to prevent Bai Tu from making further extreme moves, they made the most advantageous decision - and became closer to Bai Tu!
Logically, these cunning families are never either friends or enemies.
It doesn’t matter if the favorability decreases, the interests are eternal.
On the contrary, some wealthy families with shallow background directly expressed their dissatisfaction with Bai Tu. It is estimated that when they turn around and find that the big guys, who they thought were in the same camp with them, are more cunning than each other, their faces will be very interesting.
Bai Tu even felt a little sympathy for these "noble families"...
Otherwise, why are they from an aristocratic family, while you are just a wealthy family?
A large number of talents emerged from the Naxianguan channel, which meant that Bai Tu did not have to worry about the shortage of grassroots officials for the time being.
Taking advantage of their dissatisfaction, a large number of "newcomers" without much background or too many interests were supported to fill the vacancies.
…
At the same time, Gan Ning had already arrived in Kuaiji, and it was said that he had imported a batch of raw silk from Shu... and craftsmen!
Moreover, I heard from Yu Fan that Gan Ning had some conflicts with local nobles because of encouraging sericulture.
"As a county governor, I have the power to adjust the local industrial structure, as long as it does not affect the local grain tax and the people's food and clothing."
Faced with Yu Fan's words that seemed to be intended to "complain", Bai Tu had no intention of mediating. He believed that as Gan Ning came from a noble family, he should know very well what he would face.
Although Gan Ning usually behaves in a stubborn manner and easily angers other people, he rarely does anything bad. Instead, this is his unique way of doing things.
"As for whether others are willing or not...ha, I haven't even taken sides for my Kuaiji prefect. Do you still expect me to make Xingba restrain himself for their selfish reasons?" Bai Tu said with a sneer.
Yu Fan also realized that although Gan Ning's presence in Kuaiji had affected the interests of some people, Bai Tu's "acquiescence" was a support . Maybe...if Gan Ning suffered a loss in Kuaiji, Bai Tu's mediation would be needed!
Because of the lack of necessary conditions, Yu Fan didn't understand why Bai Tu wanted to accommodate Gan Ning. In Yu Fan's opinion, Gan Ning's current actions were full of selfish motives.
"The Yu family... should also be involved in the shipping business, right?" Bai Tu suddenly asked.
"Some, mainly selling sea salt to Qingzhou and Xuzhou." Yu Fan admitted it frankly. After all, there are only Bai Tu and Yu Fan now.
"Let's not talk about the sea salt for now. Your shipbuilders are your own, right? Send a batch of them, including the contracts and the people, to Gan Ning... Tell your family that after these people are sent out, no one is allowed to interfere, otherwise... Xingba will deal with them all." Bai Tu was not polite to Yu Fan.
He didn't even say what he would offer in exchange for this group of shipbuilders.
This was not only out of his willfulness due to his relationship with his great-grandfather...great-aunt, but also because Bai Tu knew that Yu could understand what he meant.
Similarly, Bai Tu had previously requested a group of shipbuilders from the Lu family. The big families in Wujun and Kuaiji were basically all involved in some shipping business, but they were all along the continent's near-shore routes, usually going north to Xuzhou and as far as Qingzhou. As for Liaodong... the current level of shipping is not up to that level yet.
Gan Ning should have asked his family for a group of shipbuilders as well - Shu County could leave Sichuan via the Three Gorges waterway. With Hanzhong blocked, this was the only passage between Bashu and the outside world. Therefore, as a large family of Shu brocade, the Gan family must have had the convenience of water transportation. However, their shipbuilders should have been better at building river boats, but Gan Ning was more comfortable using them.
Given Gan Ning's status, even the Gan family in Shu would not abandon their homes and businesses to join Bai Tu, but they could send some of their clansmen and craftsmen to join Gan Ning to share the risk, which was also what should be expected in aristocratic families.
In this way, Gan Ning now has a foundation in ship work and can slowly carry out the main tasks assigned to him by Bai Tu!
As for the Shu brocade...or the Jiangdong brocade that is about to be released, it can be regarded as an allocation from Bai Tu to Gan Ning.
After all, the Ministry of Revenue cannot afford such a large sum of money to build ships, and the industrial and commercial tax has not yet been officially implemented. After Gan Ning's Jiangdong brocade is produced, it is still "tax-free" for the time being, which can be used to fill the hole in shipbuilding.
Although Yu Fan didn't know what Bai Tu wanted to do with the shipbuilding, he also vaguely understood that Gan Ning's promotion of brocade weaving after arriving in Kuaiji might not be all for himself...
After returning, he immediately notified the clan members not to provoke Gan Ning on this matter. He also gave half of the money to the boat builder and told them not to try to gather information. Otherwise, it would be handed over to that dog-faced Gan Ning to handle. He knew that he had Bai Tu's support, so he could do anything!
Gan Ning's personality is there. Although many people dislike him, it also provides him with convenience...
Yu Fan had also made up his mind to convince the family in Kuaiji and to establish a good relationship with the prefect who might have a secret mission!
