Qin Shi Ambitious

Page 24

Lu Wei held the zither in one hand and used his internal energy to support the other person with the other: "Since you don't refuse, I'll take it as you agreeing."

"Take the zither!"

Having said that, he threw the horn in his hand at the other person.

Gao Jianli, feeling dizzy, hugged the black zither and touched its body with his own hands before regaining some consciousness.

Carefully placing the bell aside, he stood up straight and, before Lu Wei, bent his knees, actively channeling his inner energy to resist the obstruction. With a thud, he broke through the barrier Lu Wei had arbitrarily set up and knelt on the ground.

"I am willing to repay Steward Lu's kindness today with my life!"

------

Is it worth exchanging a hundred gold coins for Gao Jianli's life?

Lu Wei wants to say: It's not worth it now.

However, if the plot develops smoothly, more than ten years later, when Yan Dan, the leader of the Mohist school, dies in the Battle of the Mechanized City and Jing Tianming becomes the new leader.

As the nominal second-in-command of the Mohist school and the actual temporary leader of the Mohist school, Gao Jianli is worth more than one million gold!

This is a business where you can win big with a single investment.

This is also why Lu Wei did not invite Gao Jianli to join the farmhouse after giving him the zither.

In that situation, he himself would probably impulsively agree to whatever Gao Jianli asked him to do.

But Shan Yu Mu Ye is still easy to use now, so Gao Jianli is no longer a necessity.

Instead of taking on a subordinate with a stubborn and upright personality, it would be better to keep him as a 'friend' for now.

After all, playing the game of 'pretending to be friends' can be quite fun occasionally. I just hope that Gao Jianli won't get tired of it in the future.

With things temporarily settled here, the next step is to directly test the waters with Yan Chun Jun.

It began with a banquet hosted by the steward of Lord Yanchun's residence.

After the banquet, I realized I needed to start planning for the preparations at Dazeshan. This year has been incredibly busy.

...

Golden Terrace, the most luxurious restaurant in Jicheng.

It is taken from the story of "King Zhao of Yan treated Guo Wei with courtesy to attract scholars, and built the Golden Terrace, so that wise men from the six states came from the west and south".

The expenses here are quite high, but fortunately, this time we used public funds from the farm.

This "Golden Terrace" naturally wouldn't attract famous scholars like Ju Xin, Zou Yan, Yue Yi, and Su Dai to flock there; only mundane events like Lu Wei hosting a banquet for Yan Chunjun's steward would occur.

Half an hour later than agreed, the steward of Yan Chunjun's mansion, with his head held high, stepped onto the 'Golden Terrace' steps amidst the flattering words of Lu Wei, who was waiting at the hotel entrance.

In terms of demeanor, he was even more glamorous than Yue Yi when he was appointed general at the Golden Terrace of King Zhao of Yan...

Chapter 33 Great Purge

The conversation with the steward of Lord Yanchun's residence was extremely boring.

Although the environment of Huangjintai was impeccable, the table was set with delicious dishes prepared by a gathering of elites, and Gao Jianli was playing the zither to accompany the music outside the table.

But Steward Yan Chunjun was arrogant and looked down on Lu Wei and the other representatives of Luqiu Pavilion.

Before Lu Wei and the other farmers could react to this attitude, Gao Jianli, who was playing the zither, turned cold.

He previously boasted that he could treat the powerful and wealthy with courtesy, but now it seems he still lacks self-cultivation.

The zither Gao Jianli used today was certainly not a bell: for a mediocre person, the most ordinary wooden zither would suffice.

If it weren't for Lu Wei's sake, he probably would have already stormed off.

Despite being treated rudely, Lu Wei's expression remained kind.

Anyone would be angry to be insulted for no reason, but not him today, because Lu Wei was thinking about two other things:

Firstly, today's banquet was hosted for Steward Yan Chunjun, and all the senior executives of Luqiu Pavilion were present, but he did not bring Lu Yu with him.

The reason he kept Ayu at the Luqiu Pavilion headquarters was because he secretly gave her an order:

Gather evidence and make arrests!

After Lu Wei returned to Jicheng, he briefly reviewed the accounts of Luqiu Pavilion during the more than one year that the caravan had been away, and found that there were many problems!

Clearly, there's a lot of shady stuff going on here.

Actually, this wasn't a big deal. In the chaotic environment of rural areas, petty theft was common, and falsifying accounts was even more prevalent.

As long as it's not too blatant, even when Xu Qiu was around, they turned a blind eye.

If Lu Wei wants to rectify this situation, he will likely have to put himself in opposition to the upper and lower levels of Luqiu Pavilion.

But his purpose was not to suppress the wind!

The caravan is about to return, and many members of Lu Ye's caravan have already pledged their loyalty to Lu Wei.

These people returned to Luqiu Pavilion, and as the former acting manager of the caravan, Lu Wei felt that he should stand up for them and elevate their status.

The requirements are not many; half of the current senior and middle management positions at Luqiu Pavilion will suffice.

In this way, Luqiu Pavilion can truly secure its voice.

The remaining half will be dealt with by winning over some and suppressing others once the situation stabilizes, striving to establish their own monopoly of power.

Although Lu Wei usually managed to control the peasant disciples in Jicheng fairly well by virtue of his authority as the leader of the hall, these people were not his own people after all, and were ultimately not reliable enough.

Trying to strip these people of their power will surely be met with fierce resistance. It would be better to use this banquet with Yan Chunjun's steward as an opportunity to take them away from the main camp. Once the banquet ends, everything will be lost.

Therefore, although Steward Yan Chunjun arrived half an hour late and was arrogant, these actions actually helped Lu Wei buy time, allowing Lu Yu to do things more calmly.

Secondly, unlike the claim that the gift of the pen name "Zhongqin" to Gao Jianli was a last-minute decision, this second point is actually a wonderful discovery made by Lu Wei at the banquet:

Although Steward Yanchun was extremely arrogant, he did not act as indifferent as he did when Lu Wei and the farmers tried to befriend him.

He was genuinely working to resolve the conflicts between the Yan Chun Jun family and the peasants. No matter how arrogant he was in his words, he did not shy away from the possibility of resolving the conflicts.

This amazed Lu Wei. In his opinion, Yan Chunjun had no reason to back down to the peasants in Jicheng. Even if he went further, Luqiu Pavilion would still have no choice but to give in.

Especially after Lu Wei presented the secret recipe for brewing fine wine from the daily treasure chest, Steward Yan Chunjun was extremely excited, and even the expression on the faces of the farmers improved considerably.

Seeing this, Lu Wei had a vague guess that he needed to confirm after tonight: if his guess was correct, it would be a new surprise!

The banquet lasted from noon until night. After offering a considerable amount of money and benefits in exchange, the Xu family only managed to recover some scraps from the businesses that had been shut down. However, the Xu family's liquor regained its original monopoly over the lower-level taverns.

In addition, with the special approval of Lord Yanchun's mansion, Luqiu Pavilion can more easily obtain fine foals and transport them to the State of Chu.

However, each horse needs to pay an additional tax to Lord Yanchun's residence.

The amount isn't large either, accounting for 70% of the profits.

The farmers nodded in satisfaction at the result, and the atmosphere became increasingly lively in the final moments of the banquet.

As for the Iron Fist waiting at Luqiu Pavilion after the festivities, it was a surprise that Lu Wei had deliberately kept hidden.

------

"Manager Lu, what's going on here!"

After respectfully inviting Steward Yanchun back to his residence, a group of drunken high-ranking members of the Yan Kingdom's farming families returned to Luqiu Pavilion.

As soon as he entered, Lu Yu led a group of timid and hesitant low-level disciples to take down all the high-ranking members at once.

Aside from Lu Wei, who was walking at the back, and Gao Jianli, who was silently watching the show.

Zhou Chu, as the deputy head of Luqiu Pavilion, struggled to break free from the disciples' encirclement. Looking at his colleagues who had all been captured, and then at Lu Yu, who was in charge of commanding the lower-ranking disciples...

He turned his head and pointed at Lu Wei, who had personally closed the door of Luqiu Pavilion, his tone filled with disbelief and bewilderment.

Everyone was so nice to each other at the banquet just now...

After closing the door, Lu Wei turned around and looked at Zhou Chu. The next second, he used his lightness skill to get in front of Zhou Chu and struck him in the chest with a move called the Frost Palm, sending him flying.

The agricultural machinery executives were already drunk and dizzy, and could only use 30% or 40% of their skills. Now, seeing Lu Wei's methods, their desire to resist was further extinguished.

"Cough..." Zhou Chu collapsed to the ground, his chest covered in frost. He coughed up a mouthful of blood and struggled to sit up: "Lu Wei, you actually betrayed the Farmer's Clan!"

"Disciples of the Farmer Clan, listen to my orders! Capture this man, and I will petition Master Zhou He for a reward on your behalf!"

"Hmph!" Before the other disciples could react, Lu Wei took out the hall token and raised it high: "You are the ones who betrayed the Farmer's School!"

Before the mighty Gonggong, Zhou Chu, the deputy head of the pavilion, had no authority or credibility.

"Lu Yu, read it!"

"Yes," Lu Yu replied, taking out the evidence he had collected and loudly reciting the illegal acts of the high-ranking officials present, upon receiving his elder brother's order.

Upon hearing those 'crimes,' the people present did not show much surprise. Zhou Chu, as a symbol of resistance, even burst into laughter due to excessive indignation:

"This can be considered a crime?"

"Farmer's teachings: Anyone who embezzles public funds or oppresses disciples may have their pearl grass confiscated and be handed over for public trial!"

Lu Wei's expression was serious as he withdrew the order from his hand: "The Hall Master granted me the authority to manage Luqiu Pavilion precisely to root out and expose you black sheep!"

"You're talking nonsense!" Zhou Chu shouted relentlessly.

Lu Yufei stepped forward and slapped the man's jaw off. Lu Wei nodded and said, "Take off the pearl grass from these people and lock them in the backyard. We will punish them after informing the disciples of Jicheng!"

"Furthermore, take down all their cronies, not one of them!"

"Inform all disciples in Jicheng that anyone who has been harmed by these people's crimes can come to headquarters in person to report them!"

"Yes!" Lu Yu clasped his hands in acceptance of the order.

That night, the farmhouses of Jicheng were destined to be anything but peaceful.

A hundred kilometers away from Jicheng, Lu Ye took the lead, with two carefully selected servants from among the orphans beside him.

Behind them, the caravan stretched far, far into the deep night.

"Please bear with us and travel through the night. We need to return to Jicheng in two days!"

"Yes," a servant relayed the instructions, torch in hand, to the rear...

Chapter 34 The Joys of Rural Life

After Lu Ye led the caravan back to Jicheng at top speed, Lu Wei began the redistribution of positions among the senior executives of Luqiu Pavilion.