Yefutidaolu

Chapter 69 Pier
As they were eating, the Jade-faced Prefect, perhaps having finished talking to other people, suddenly changed the topic to Gao Jian.

Moreover, it also raised a question that was particularly acute for Gao Jian.

Now, all the gods in the outer city of Cangzhou have been slaughtered by Gao Jian.

So, Gao Jian, what are you going to do?
"I am only a seventh-rank official, a mere captain of the Yellow Spring Guard. The matters concerning ghosts and spirits in Cangzhou are under my jurisdiction. As for matters concerning gods, please leave them to you, my lord, to decide." Gao Jian said immediately.

Gao Jian knew very well that without the support of other families in Cangzhou, he would definitely not be able to maintain his current position.

If they fail to stand firm, they will face fierce retaliation from the Zuo family and the Baishanjiang tribe.

Therefore, at least for now, Gao Jian still needs to do some official work.

"Let me decide? Well, this matter was caused by my negligence, and I should make up for it. Then, Gao Jian, you have made great contributions in eliminating the evil god, and the matters of ghosts and gods have always been inseparable. How can you be in charge of ghosts but not gods? You will be fully responsible for the matters of ghosts and gods in the outer city." The Jade-faced Prefect said with a smile.

This matter was decided right away at the dinner table.

"How have I deserved this? Please revoke your order, sir." Gao Jian immediately declined.

The jade-faced prefect immediately showed displeasure on his face: "You can't refuse. You saw injustice and killed the evil spirit on the road, which is virtuous, and you have indeed mastered the method of incense and fire energy, which is capable. With virtue and ability, how can you not take on this task? Don't let your skills go unused for the sake of leisure."

Gao Jianze immediately replied, "It's not that I don't want to serve the people, but because, after all, I am a country bumpkin who has not received much education. I am far from talented enough. Although I am more than capable of killing evildoers, I am not capable of governing the people. I am afraid that I cannot handle this important task. Please send someone else, and I am willing to serve as your deputy."

As soon as these words were spoken, Sima of the Demon Suppression Division and the Zuo family all raised their eyebrows and stared at Gao Jian in surprise.

Was this person an official before? How come he is so familiar with me?

This move of retreating to advance, and also giving the prefect a handle, was a tactic only used by veteran officials, because the prefect would never really send someone to be the chief officer.

Zuo Jia looked at Sima and thought, maybe Sima taught Gao Jian how to speak. This man looked big and strong and usually spoke directly, but now it seemed that he had some scheming to sit in Sima's position.

Sima stared, how could this kid be better than him? Where did he come from?
The Jade-faced Prefect smiled and chuckled, "So that's how it is. Then I can send someone to be your deputy, isn't that enough? You can just let him handle the political affairs. The chief official must be upright, just and impartial. You are the right person for this job."

"Cang Cang, get up." He pointed at a young man at the end of the banquet.

But then a nobleman stood up and saluted.

Gao Jian looked at the nobleman.

Wait, he knew this guy.

He had seen this person at the sacrificial site of Hebo in Qingshui River.

At this time, the prefect introduced him, "His name is Shui Cangcang, he is my great-grandson, and he happens to be good at these chores, so let him assist you. This way, you will have no excuses, right?"

"Then... Thank you very much, sir. I will live up to your trust. The outer city of Cangzhou will never be as chaotic as before." Gao Jian said.

Zuo Lang closed his eyes beside him.

Since you have already lost, don't say too much and just make people laugh.

Let’s wait until Zuo Qing comes back.

The other noble families and the prefect all smiled and congratulated Gao Jian, and then new dishes were served.

String music, actors and prostitutes entered the stage again, singing and dancing, and the atmosphere was peaceful again.

This time, many officials began to talk freely about many things.

Gao Jian was listening nearby, sweating profusely.

...They were discussing how to apply this situation to the entire Cangzhou.

With Gao Jian's experience, Gao Jian's incense and fire methods, and the help of a "righteous man", all the hundreds of counties in Cangzhou, big and small, were taken away.

Of course, they weren't that explicit.

At first glance, they all said, "Evil gods are wicked and false. This is the evil of tolerance. It is treacherous people who hinder good governance, resulting in bribery, improper rewards and punishments, lax discipline, confusion between the virtuous and the inferior, heavy labor, exhaustion of public and private resources, and the common people are exhausted. Officials, both big and small, are controlled by them, fearing crime and avoiding disaster, and are tongue-tied. The people below cannot understand the situation, and the superiors cannot express their feelings. There is an endless stream of sorrow and sighs, and disasters accumulate and become disasters. This is the reason. I hope you will be wise, see through the past, thoroughly investigate the gods, and avoid disasters."

"My Lord, now is the time to promote the virtuous and dismiss the wicked, to clearly indicate the rewards and punishments that should be carried out. There should be no doubt about it, and no more following the old ways that will cause trouble in the future. I especially hope that the witches will make serious self-examinations, seek frank opinions, point out the bad policies, and select and implement them in order to win the hearts of the people and restore the will of heaven!"

"The evil god has usurped the throne and enjoyed endless worship, misleading the world and deceiving the people. Nothing is worse than this, and it should be thoroughly investigated!"

All these words sounded sincere and loyal, but they all seemed to be aimed at reducing the power of the Zuo family.

A drinking party shook things up far more than Gao Jian’s fight last night.

But it was the fight last night that led to this dinner.

Gao Jian seemed to understand something. Perhaps this was the balance point between violence and political intrigue. Through political intrigue, greater violent incidents and fighting among many families were avoided.

It is much better to say a few words at a dinner table than to actually fight one. After all, it has not come to a life-and-death situation yet, so there is no need to risk one's life.

But sometimes, a small-scale violent struggle can lay the foundation for many bigger things and form a new tacit understanding.

It is this tacit understanding that allows Gao Jian to gain a foothold.

It’s just… Gao Jian felt particularly unappetizing while eating.

This tacit understanding is the root of all chaos.

None of the gentlemen present here look like a human being.

The delicacies in his mouth no longer tasted good, but he still ate.

Eat more to accumulate energy.

Gao Jian tried hard to eat and just listened to the words.

Finally, the banquet ended and everyone went home, but the big shots still had things to do.

Sima Rang Gao Jian went back by himself, while people like the prefect and the priest Zuo Lang walked into another secret room.

Gao Jian also packed up his things, walked out of the Bazhen Food Restaurant, and took Zoulong away from the stable boy.

Zoulong obviously also ate a lot of food, probably more than ten gold coins, so he can be considered to have benefited from it.

As they were about to leave with the dragon in their hands, the nobleman from before, Shui Cangcang, walked up to Gao Jian leisurely and saluted elegantly: "Captain Gao."

"Mr. Shui." Gao Jian also bowed.

"I'll need Captain Gao to take care of me in the future. I don't have an official position. I'm just an assistant doing odd jobs. I have to rely on Captain Gao's authority." Shui Cangcang joked in a gentle manner.

"Mr. Shui, you're joking. Just with this fan of yours, no one in Cangzhou dares to disrespect it." Gao Jian smiled and pointed at the folding fan on Shui Cangcang's waist.

There is a piece of jade hanging on the folding fan, and the word "water" is engraved on the jade.

"What can a piece of jade do at a critical moment? Doesn't Zuo Baicang also have a piece of jade on his body? It's hanging on your waist, Captain Gao." Shui Cangcang pointed at Gao Jian's belt.

Gao Jian laughed loudly, and then replied: "There are not many madmen like me in the world. If you meet one, just admit that you are unlucky. But for other people, this jade pendant can be useful." "Haha, Gao Xiaowei's words are interesting. By the way, where should we contact for official business after that?" Shui Cangcang suddenly asked about the main business.

"I don't have a government office here yet. Tomorrow, we'll stay where we are now. When the time comes, I'll trouble Mr. Shui to help me deal with some paperwork."

"It's my job, it's my job, but what is the lieutenant going to do? It's said to be a paperwork matter, but there are no documents, accounts, or official documents. What is he going to do?"

"These will be available tomorrow, so don't worry. However, you'd better prepare paper and pen yourself," said Gao Jian.

Shui Cangcang was stunned for a moment.

what?
Bring your own paper and pen?

Obviously, he was caught off guard by this move.

But his good self-control still allowed him to react immediately, and he replied, "Of course, there is no need for you to worry, Captain."

Natural?
Natural shit, how can you bring your own paper and pen to work? And you don’t even get paid.

Shouldn't he come here to fully monitor Gao Jian's whereabouts and take control of the basic situation in Cangzhou's outer city?
Do you really think of yourself as a mentor?
But what Shui Cangcang didn't expect was that after saying this, Gao Jian left.

He just led the dragon away.

Shui Cangcang looked at his back. Because of his good upbringing, he couldn't make the move to call him back.

no……

Would a normal person just leave at this moment? Shouldn't he have a good talk with him? Wasn't Gao Jian quite understanding at the banquet before?
However, Gao Jian was still busy.

He has many places to go today.

Moreover, what happened today made Gao Jian once again determined.

Look at the gentlemen at the banquet today.

None of them really cares about the lives and deaths of tens of millions of people in the outer city. What they care about is their own power and wealth. All these people in the outer city are just numbers, a piece of "colored territory". As long as this area is painted with their own color and has a fixed output value, then what happens inside... Actually, they don't care.

Even though Gao Jian did all these things, they didn't think there was anything special about what Gao Jian did. They just regarded it as part of the struggle for power.

None of these noble families has the slightest anthropomorphism.

Gao Jian led the horse away. It was noon and there were still about six hours left in the day.

In the first hour, Gao Jian rode his horse at an extremely fast speed and reached Jinyouzhai, a thousand miles away.

The tortoise shell, snake sword, and Nuo mask were all dealt with by the people in Youzhai.

The people in Jin Youzhai were well-informed and recognized Gao Jian at a glance. Then they naturally took all the things, and Gao Jian had an extra three thousand gold in his pocket.

The most precious item is the Nuo mask, which is estimated to be worth 2,400 gold. It is truly worth a thousand gold.

But it was of no use to Gao Jian, so he was too lazy to analyze the value of this thing and decided to just exchange it for money.

And he has already put these three thousand golds to good use.

There are still five hours until midnight.

Gao Jian returned to the outer city of Cangzhou and headed towards one of the docks without hesitation.

Soon, Zoulong arrived at the dock.

On the dock, trackers were pulling the boats and laborers were carrying bags. Although it was autumn, they were all naked. Those who were well-dressed wore a loincloth, while those who were not would be blown by the wind.

The blood and sweat rolled down his sunburned body, causing unbearable pain and itchiness, but there was nothing he could do.

However, being able to earn a living by working hard is already considered lucky.

Compare it with the magnificent Eight Treasures Restaurant.

Every drop of the people's blood turns into golden branches and leaves.

Gao Jian came here.

As soon as he arrived, someone recognized him.

"Benefactor!"

"Boss! I'll go call Jun Ge'er!"

One of the laborers immediately ran to the other side and found "Jun Ge'er" carrying a bag not far away.

Gao Jian recognized him at first sight. The dozen gold coins he threw out were collected by this man. However, he did not become a superior person and was still carrying the bag.

But when Gao Jian came, he immediately put down the work in his hands, ran towards Gao Jian, wiped the sweat off his face, found a loincloth to wrap himself around, and came in front of Gao Jian.

"Boss, are you willing to come and take a look at the property?" He said this when he met Gao.

"Find something to wear." Gao Jian said.

He shook his head: "Doing rough work will easily wear out the clothes. It's not cheap, so we'd better save as much as possible. Our bodies are more wear-resistant than clothes." As he spoke, he patted his shoulders. The large calluses on his shoulders were like armor.

"Li Jun, right? Don't call me boss, just call me Gao Jian." Gao Jian said.

Li Jun shook his head: "That won't do. You invested money, so I should call you the boss. It's just that we haven't earned the money back yet. But now we brothers have the final say over this wharf. With the financial support of the boss, the previous foremen couldn't outlast us. Now you are the only boss of these wharfs that have subcontracted cargo unloading."

"This place brings in at least 40 to 50 gold coins a year, and it will pay off in two to three years, so it's a lot of money."

"These are all small matters. I won't take advantage of you. I will give my brothers whatever I earn. I come to you for something bigger." Gao Jian said.

But these words made Li Jun's eyes widen.

Wait, no pumping?

At the end of that year, after deducting the bribes and various taxes, the income of almost all the laborers doubled!
Is there anything bigger than this?
"Boss, you are kidding, right? What do you want?" Li Jun became alert.

"Don't be afraid. Let me ask you something. How many docks are there in this outer city? How many brothers at the docks are you familiar with and can you order them around?" Gao Jian asked again.

Li Jun thought for a moment and said, "There are thousands of docks in Cangzhou, big and small. I can only use these two or three around here. There are too many other places, too complicated, and difficult to handle."

"Li Jun, you are a capable person. I will give you a task and ask you to lead the people at other docks. Can you do it?"

"Let them invest with me. The price is the same. I won't take any money from them. As long as they work under my name, they can keep whatever they get."

"Then...I'm afraid the other foremen will cause trouble for you, boss." Li Jun smiled bitterly.

(End of this chapter)