Chapter 342 A little punishment
In the evening, while several local tycoons were waiting anxiously, Li Tai finally returned to Fucheng from the north bank of the Weishui River, naturally followed by the dejected Lu family and his sons.
"You guys, please stay away from the meeting for a while. I'll come back to visit you after I finish taking care of all the things on my desk."
Li Tai first gave them some time to communicate with each other, then raised his finger and pointed at the Lu family and his son behind him and said to everyone.
After hearing this, several people quickly nodded in agreement and thanked Li Tai again and again before heading to the other hall under the guidance of the state officials.
Li Tai returned to the state capital and sat down in the main hall. He first listened to Huangfu Mu's succinct report on today's events. After making sure that there were no problems or omissions, he then gave instructions: "Collect and calculate the shortfalls of military supplies and miscellaneous items. Create a volume."
After hearing this, Huangfu Mu nodded in agreement and stepped back to handle the matter. While Li Tai was still reviewing and reviewing several important documents, the relevant accounting books were put on the desk. This has been the focus of recent state administration. New data will be updated every day, so a result will be available soon.
Li Tai took the account book and browsed it, and then he had an idea in his mind. Seeing that it was getting late, after arranging the night watch personnel, he went to the other hall where the local tycoons were.
In the other hall, several powerful men first asked in detail how Lu and his son were kidnapped by Li Xian. Lu Fuhu made no secret of this, and exaggerated the leanness and strength of Li Xian's part to demonstrate the embarrassment of being controlled by others.
After listening to Lu Fuhu's story, everyone present looked unhappy, and they hurriedly asked: "Did Duke Xia Feng clearly say where on earth did we and other countrymen offend him, so that he was provoked to commit such atrocities? "
Lu Fuhu sighed after hearing this, and one of his sons said with some lingering fear: "Xia Fenggong said that the former agreed to Li Changshi's plan, and he was already tolerating for the sake of his hometown. But when he actually acted on it, it went against the previous plan. , How can people believe that they can keep their promises for a long time? Therefore, therefore..."
After hearing this, several people looked a little ugly. They excluded the state capital mostly because they followed Lu Fuhu's advice. It was not because of the gold mine output, but because they planned to control the nostalgia, but they didn't expect it at the beginning. The game was ruined. Not only could they not control the two tribes, but they also caused a lot of trouble.
"Since Duke Xia Feng is willing to release General Lu, then this matter is considered settled?"
Some people said with some fantasy that from the bottom of their hearts they did not want to continue to tangle with Li Xian, a strong importer. After all, it was not a major matter related to the rise and fall of the family business or the survival of the family.
After hearing this, Lu Fuhu shook his head, with anger in his expression, and said in a deep voice: "I don't know what they are thinking about there, but Li Xianhe really deceived people too much this time! It is my family that is suffering today, but you are waiting for everyone here It's not safe either. In order to prevent being subjected to such persecution and humiliation, we still need to take more precautions. The Duke of Hanoi is not in the state now, and Li Changshi is a young man, so he may not be able to protect the people of the state, so we still need to... "
What happened this time was an unforeseen disaster for Lu Fuhu. After escaping from the panic, he felt a little bit unable to swallow his breath. On the way back, he was already thinking about how to persuade relatives and friends in the state to fight against Li Xian. Of course, his family's power is not Li Xian's opponent, but if several families can unite, even though Li Xian is a powerful dragon in transit, he will still have to deal with it!
But he didn't know that due to Li Tai's previous intimidation, several people had already directly rejected the option of confrontation with force. Seeing that Li Tai understood Lu Fuhu's family as soon as he went out, it can be seen that Li Xian is not arrogant and cannot talk to each other. Since the matter can be resolved peacefully, there is no need to use force.
So when they heard Lu Fuhu's suggestion, everyone just laughed. Anyway, it was your family that suffered the embarrassment, and you took the initiative to cause this trouble. We really can't share the same hatred with you.
Lu Fuhu is an old man from the village who has gone through many vicissitudes of life. Most of the time, he can see through the thoughts of the villagers at a glance. At this time, everyone was quite indifferent to his proposal. Even though he realized that they must have reached some kind of consensus, they may even have a tacit understanding to sacrifice their own interests to solve the problem when necessary.
Thinking of this, he felt something bad in his heart, and immediately stood up and said to his sons: "Let's go!"
When several people saw his father and son getting up and about to leave, they each raised their hands to stop him and said, "Li Changshi hasn't come here yet. Because of his intervention, General Lu and others can get out. If we leave without saying goodbye, That would be so rude."
Lu Fuhu snorted coldly when he saw this situation, and had no choice but to sit down again.
After another half an hour, Li Taicai arrived belatedly. As soon as he walked into the hall, he noticed that the atmosphere was a bit depressing, as if the conversation had broken down, and he suddenly felt happy.
No matter when, if the village is harmonious and happy, it is not a good phenomenon. If there are no conflicts or conflicts of interest that require external forces to mediate, then there is no way to intervene. Only by asking you to stir up trouble and get involved can I say something fair to you!
Since the atmosphere was already a little bad, Li Tai didn't mind adding more fuel to the fire. After sitting down, he lowered his face and scolded Lu Fuhu again: "General Lu is a well-reputed rural elder and is highly respected by the masses. I Therefore, I trusted you and entrusted this matter to you. However, you acted arbitrarily, made grudges against others, and provoked revenge. You still wanted me to act carefully. If you had known this, why would you have to be superstitious about the virtues of the country and send a member of the envoy? This may not happen!”
When the Lu family heard this, they were all ashamed. One of the sons even glared at Li Tai and said, "This matter is not my family's private matter. Aye is willing to accept it because of the friendship between the villagers. Even if things go wrong occasionally, Shouldn’t we first ask whether the planner has a thorough idea?”
"Shut up! This matter has been decided by the masses in the village. How can we allow Shuzi to make such wild accusations! Li Changshi risked his life and entered the enemy's formation to lure your father and son back. It was just a life-saving grace. The great kindness has not been repaid. , It’s unreasonable to accuse your benefactor first!”
Before Li Tai could respond, a local tycoon at the scene had already jumped up and pointed at the son of the Lu family and said angrily.
After Lu Fuhu heard this, he immediately ordered his son to kneel down and apologize to Li Tai with a sullen face. At the same time, he lowered his head and said that he had not taught his son well.
I recall that when I was at Kuamagou a few days ago, this old man acted like a wise representative of the village and an opinion leader, communicating with Li Tai in a neither humble nor overbearing manner. But now, both father and son need to bow their heads to Li Tai and admit their mistakes.
Li Tai magnanimously did not care about the offense. He waved his hand for everyone to take their seats, and then sighed: "As long as we can save the person and don't cause any more disputes, it doesn't matter whether we repay the favor or not. But the matter is still there. Before it is completely resolved, I have put forward some conditions, please listen to them."
As he spoke, he briefly explained a few requirements to everyone, such as each family taking turns to serve in the army and producing the mineral deposits as soon as possible, and before the minerals were realized, they would advance materials to help the two families, etc. .
For Li Tai, this was just a slap in the face and a light punishment, and it had not actually cut them to pieces. If they still had objections to this, they were really ignorant.
But people's positions are different after all. These people were originally just lending a hand to help, but they didn't expect that it would become a real burden on their shoulders in the blink of an eye. Moreover, there was no profit in it, and they didn't even say thank you. They can't change it. After all, this is the result of someone strangling their necks and forcing them, so they feel a little bit conflicted in their hearts.
Li Tai did not just intimidate and coerce them. Instead, he talked about the state government's plan to recruit a group of rural people to carry out trade routes after pacifying Liangzhou. Businessmen who are not recognized by the state government will not be protected and may even be punished.
As soon as these words came out, everyone present looked surprised, including the Lu family and his son. They temporarily put aside the humiliation in their hearts and showed great interest in this.
There are indeed many powerful people in Longyou, but being powerful does not necessarily mean being rich. Some local forces even work together to make a living simply because they are poor. The output of farming and animal husbandry may barely sustain food and clothing, but there is no hope of any considerable surplus. Therefore, the expectations for trade are The hope is still great, but the previous situation and environment were not suitable for the development of commerce.
Although Li Tai did not make a clear request, everyone is an adult and should understand what the rules of an adult are. Only when you are convenient for others can you be convenient for yourself, so they all said that there was no problem in the past. Several companies shouldered the responsibility.
Only then did Li Tai put forward further conditions, placing a list of some of the military supply shortages in front of several people, and carefully explained to them the conditions for borrowing military supplies in exchange for trade qualifications, and expressed that if they wanted to join, then We need to prepare as soon as possible.
Because this kind of selection not only tests the assets and financial resources of the powerful people, but also tests their recognition of the rule of the country. Only with considerable financial resources can we carry out large-scale commercial transactions and restore the scale of east-west trade as soon as possible. At the same time, only those with high loyalty to the imperial court and the state capital would be eligible to share in the dividends brought by this war.
Therefore, this opportunity is first come, first served, while supplies last. If you miss this opportunity, you will regret it!
After hearing this, several people suddenly became more anxious. They originally planned to bargain for a while, but it was too late. After clearly remembering the types and quantities of materials that the state capital needed to borrow, they hurriedly stood up and left, and no longer worried about whether He would continue to be kidnapped and held hostage by Li Xian, so he rushed to his home in a hurry, intending to preemptively lock in a spot.