Three Kingdoms: I, Liu Feng, do not want to die

Chapter 10: A brilliant plan to recruit people, this is Zhuge Liang's fan
The art of lobbying is to first impress people and then explain the techniques.

Seeing that Deng Fan was very skilled in lobbying, Liu Feng did not point it out, but followed Deng Fan's idea and bowed, "Please give me some advice, sir."

Deng Fan's vanity was greatly satisfied, and his eyes became more excited: "Although the general promised not to deceive the people when he patrolled the city today, there will not be many people who believe in the general."

"Because the generals and soldiers are stationed in Shangyong, they will certainly impose corvée labor and collect taxes from the registered people of Shangyong."

"If corvée and taxes are too heavy, it will certainly discourage the people; the registered people will not be able to bear the corvée and taxes and will flee, making it difficult for the upper class to be loyal to the people."

"But if the corvée and taxes are too light, it will not be able to support military use."

"So the most urgent task is to increase the number of people registered in Shangyong."

"Shangyong has little food and few people. It's not that there are really few people, but that there are few registered people. More than 700 miles west of Shangyong, there are many mountain people and barbarians outside the city."

"These mountain people are mostly people who escaped from their native places because they could not bear the heavy taxes and corvée labor, and the barbarians are mostly people who wandered in the mountains during the late Qin Dynasty and were not assimilated to Han culture."

"If the general can promise them great benefits, provide cattle and seeds, and teach them farming, silkworms, weaving and other skills, the mountain people and barbarians will definitely come and rely on him."

"There are also vagrants from various states who have come to the city to avoid disaster. We can also ask them to voluntarily declare their household registration to enrich the registered population of Shangyong."

"If there are more people registered, taxes and levies can be reduced, and the people will naturally be loyal to you. If the people are loyal to you, even if Cao Ren leads his army, he will not be able to defeat you."

Liu Feng was moved.

This time I was really surprised by Deng Fan’s talent.

The vagrants in the city were ordered to report their household registration. Zhuge Liang once used this strategy in Xinye to obtain a large number of registered citizens for Liu Bei.

After Xiahou Shang captured Shangyong, he also used Shangyong as a passage to advance westward for more than 700 miles. In the past five or six years, thousands of mountain people and barbarians came to rely on him!

You have to know that Shen Dan and Shen Yi only gathered a few thousand households in the area from Shangyong to Xicheng!

Deng Fan was a scholar who came to Xinye to avoid disaster. He not only knew that there were many nomads in the city, but also knew that there were a large number of mountain people and barbarians living more than 700 miles west of Shangyong.

He also proposed a plan to recruit people by "promising them light taxes and levies, providing them with oxen and seeds, and teaching them farming, silkworm, weaving and other skills". This must have been based on field investigations and a true understanding of the needs of the mountain people and barbarians.

What a talent!

Although Deng Fan's last sentence was meant to be flattering, the strategy Deng Fan proposed to enrich the upper-yong households was actually for Liu Feng's benefit.

When Liu Feng first arrived in Shangyong, although he had loyal and righteous men such as Tian Qi and Tian Zhong as his minions, he had no trusted scholars around him.

Deng Fan came on his own initiative and just filled this vacancy.

Although Deng Fan's name was recorded in history only because he had the same name as Deng Ai and caused Deng Ai to change his surname, and even it is not yet known whether the Deng Fan in front of us is the same person as the Deng Fan who caused Deng Ai to change his name, but Deng Fan had a deep understanding of the people's sentiments in Shangyong, which was enough to be appointed to an important position.

The Outlaw once said some very interesting things.

The world is actually a huge makeshift team, and most of the people are ridiculously incompetent, so there is no need to always worry about your own lack of ability or not being able to do the job well.

No matter how talented a person is, he or she often learns on the job. No matter how glamorous an industry is, there are always loopholes behind it. Everyone is bluffing, but they just tacitly agree not to expose each other.

Those people around you who have halos are actually the same in essence, so there is no need to worry at all, just need to move forward boldly.

In the past, Xiao He was just an ordinary student in Pei County. Liu Feng raised the wine cup and said, "Mr. Deng, your talent and courage amaze me, but there are many people who are good at talking, but few who can do things."

"I am currently in need of a clerk who can handle confidential matters. I wonder if Mr. Deng dares to take on the role of clerk?"

The chief clerk was originally just an assistant clerk in charge of document management for the chief officials at all levels.

During times of war, the powers of generals became greater, and they often took charge of all civil and military affairs in the garrisons, while most of the generals in the army were good at fighting.

Therefore, the chief clerk who originally managed the documents gradually became an important subordinate of generals and important ministers, and often participated in confidential affairs and became a trusted aide to generals and important ministers.

Deng Fan came here on his own initiative in order to seek advancement.

Liu Feng immediately gave Deng Fan the position of chief clerk, who could participate in confidential affairs, which made Deng Fan feel flattered.

Liu Feng was asking Deng Fan whether he "dared" to take the position, rather than asking whether Deng Fan was "willing" to take the position. The difference of these two words also determined Liu Feng's attitude towards Deng Fan's appointment as chief clerk.

If a clerk involved in confidential affairs is found to be a fake, the consequences will be serious.

If it were a company in the future, if the newly hired executive turned out to be a dud, he would at most be fired.

But in Liu Feng's army, the newly recruited chief clerk was a dud, so he was not dismissed. Either Deng Fan saved his own life, or Liu Feng made Deng Fan save his life.

Deng Fan took a deep breath, stood up and bowed, saying, "Thank you for your trust, General. I would like to serve as your chief clerk and help you solve problems and relieve your worries."

Seeing Deng Fan's courage, Liu Feng laughed and said, "Great! From today on, you will be the deputy general's chief clerk."

"You will be solely responsible for the task of filling the Shangyong register, and you will also be in charge of all the civil servants in the army."

Deng Fan was overjoyed: "Thank you for your trust, General. I will definitely live up to your trust."

There was a pause.

Deng Fan asked again, "How many clerks are there in the general's army now?"

Sharing happiness with others is worse than enjoying it alone. Deng Fan also wanted to take the opportunity to gain some benefits for his close friends. After all, these close friends know him well.

Seeing Liu Feng's expression change, Deng Fan hurriedly said, "I dare not deceive the general. I have several good friends in Shangyong City. If there are vacancies, I would also like to invite all my friends to serve the general."

Liu Feng smiled and said, "Master Deng has misunderstood. Before you came, there were no clerks in the army. You are the first. Since Master Deng has a good friend in the city, I don't have to worry about recruiting clerks for Master Deng."

Deng Fan was stunned.

I, the chief clerk, am just an empty figurehead, without any subordinate clerks at all!
Liu Feng seemed a little embarrassed, so he said: "Well, I will give you twenty quotas, and you can recruit capable clerks on your own. I will recruit talented people regardless of their relationship. As long as they can help me fill the registered population of Shangyong, regardless of gender, age or status, they can be recruited as clerks."

What Liu Feng said was equivalent to telling Deng Fan: I will regard these twenty people as wise men, even if you include your eighty-year-old mother and three-year-old child among them, as long as you enrich the registered people of Shangyong.

Although Deng Fan was somewhat speechless, he did not want to give up this opportunity to advance, so he bowed again and said, "Thank you again, General, for your trust. I will definitely live up to your trust."

Seeing that Deng Fan had taken on this important task, Liu Feng raised his cup to pay his respects again: "It is better for me to have this Chief Secretary Deng than to hear his words. I will make things clear!"

"please!"

(End of this chapter)