dognovel Chapter 834 Old people are shrewd, old horses are slippery, and the Korean Duke is both shrewd and s
Chapter 834 Old people are shrewd, old horses are slippery, and the Korean Duke is both shrewd and s
We can no longer continue to be lenient with them.
Li Shanchang, with a dark and sour face, slowly paced a few steps on the city wall. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and looked at Yang Shaofeng, saying, "This old man wants to borrow a few men from the Prince Consort."
What the hell?
Yang Shaofeng looked at Li Shanchang with a bewildered expression.
Do you want to listen to what you are saying?
Ever since I became the magistrate of Ningyang County, I have been constantly complaining about the lack of manpower. I have asked the old magistrate for craftsmen and the young magistrate for scholars. Now it has evolved to asking the short and ugly for laborers.
but!
Aside from those from Ningyang County and Dengzhou Prefecture who passed the imperial examinations, there were also those who had already become officials and were transferred normally. When have you, Li Shanchang, ever seen Old Deng and Little Deng manage to get rid of people from my hands?
Even the mighty Emperor and the Vice Emperor of the Ming Dynasty couldn't accomplish this, yet you, Li Shan, just open your mouth and ask me to lend you a few people.
What, just because you're old, just because your hair is white?
Yang Shaofeng snorted coldly, his face contorted with embarrassment, and said, "Is Prime Minister Li sure he hasn't come to the wrong person?"
Li Shanchang said with a dark face, "Either the Prince Consort should properly train Zhou Jingxin and Xu Jingyu, or bring back a few from Yanyun to train them, or I will find a way to make the Prince Consort go to Jiangnan in person."
As Li Shanchang finished speaking, Zhu Biao almost burst out laughing, and Yang Shaofeng's face turned as black as the bottom of a pot in an instant.
This old scoundrel is threatening me!
I'm always the one threatening others, but now this old scoundrel is trying to turn the tables and threaten me!
Yang Shaofeng grew increasingly annoyed and was about to retort when Li Shanchang simply raised his right hand, held up three fingers, and then bent his middle finger: "Three conditions."
"Firstly, as long as the men trained by the Prince Consort can stir up a few major cases in Jiangnan, and these cases are well-founded, have sufficient evidence, and will not be criticized by future generations, no matter how many people are involved, I will find a way to bring them to Dengzhou Prefecture to work as laborers."
"Of course, it's not very realistic to bring all of them to Dengzhou Prefecture as laborers, but the Prince Consort can make a deal with Hu Weiyong and his group. He can exchange as many relatives of gentry as possible for laborers from Liaodong. Hu Weiyong certainly won't refuse the Prince Consort."
This time, Zhu Biao's face turned ashen.
What's wrong? You two are plotting loudly in front of me, but you don't include me?
“Secondly,” Li Shanchang said, bending down another finger, “I will try to get a few more master craftsmen from higher-ups to work in Dengzhou Prefecture. Whether the Prince Consort directly assigns them to work or arranges for them to teach in the university’s academies, it’s all up to the Prince Consort.”
Zhu Biao's expression immediately brightened.
Indeed, the older the ginger, the spicier it is.
Given my brother-in-law's personality, if I directly told him to transfer the craftsmen and make them teachers, he would definitely cry foul and then try to gain more benefits.
However, with Li Shanchang's manipulation, the whole process turned into a transaction. The brother-in-law would definitely feel that he had gotten a good deal, and then he would arrange for all those craftsmen to work as teachers in the academy.
Tsk tsk.
Brother-in-law Rao, you're as cunning as a devil, but I'm afraid you'll also be tricked by the Korean prince this time.
Li Shanchang bent his last finger, put his hand down, and said with a smile, "The third condition is that the development of this workshop is to be planned by the Prince Consort. As for the rest, whether it's persuading the Prince Consort to take the lead or how to implement it, I will handle all of that. How about that?"
Zhu Biao's eyes immediately lit up even more.
Look, look, the Korean man just threw the plan to his brother-in-law in a few words, and then made his brother-in-law owe him a favor.
Tsk.
No wonder people say that old people are shrewd and old horses are slippery; the Korean king was both shrewd and slippery.
However, just as Zhu Biao was waiting to see Yang Shaofeng make a fool of himself, Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "Prime Minister Li is indeed very generous, considering my needs in every way. However, how officials should be transferred is up to the Ministry of Personnel. As long as Prime Minister Li can persuade the Ministry of Personnel, I can handle anything."
Li Shanchang stroked his beard and smiled. Yang Shaofeng then changed the subject and said, "Hasn't Prime Minister Li ever considered that he doesn't actually lack manpower at all?"
As Yang Shaofeng finished speaking, not only was Li Shanchang stunned on the spot, but even Zhu Biao looked at Yang Shaofeng with a blank expression.
Does Li Shanchang not lack manpower?
If Li Shanchang had enough manpower, it meant that the Ming Dynasty also had enough manpower.
If the Ming Dynasty hadn't lacked manpower, why would my father have appointed some illiterate peasants as officials?
Heaven have mercy! To fill those vacant official positions, my father issued a special imperial edict back then, ordering officials to search for and recommend talented individuals. Even someone who was good at farming could potentially rise to the position of the most powerful person in a county.
Even if you don't know these things, brother-in-law, you should at least remember how you became the magistrate of Ningyang County, right?
Yang Shaofeng ignored Li Shanchang and Zhu Biao, who were looking at him with a stern expression. Instead, he turned his head and looked in the direction of Ningyang County, saying meaningfully, "There are a full six hundred usable people in Ningyang County."
"If Li Xiangneng can wait patiently for another year or so, these 600 people can be directly sent out to serve as officials."
"Whether these six hundred people can be good officials, I can't say for sure in a short time."
"But to let them deal with those gentry and merchants is like Zhang Fei eating bean sprouts, easily crushed by hand."
"These six hundred people are all familiar with the laws of the Ming Dynasty and well-versed in the Thirty-Six Records and Sun Tzu's Art of War."
“Even if those gentry have successfully cleared their names, these 600 people have mastered the trick of creating evidence when there is none.”
"In terms of martial arts, these six hundred men, though not necessarily the most skilled fighters, are certainly not the kind of men those gentry and scholars could easily defeat."
"In fact, these six hundred men only lack real battlefield experience; the rest are just as good as anyone else."
"As long as you have a suitable weapon, it's not difficult to take on ten opponents at once."
After a slight pause, Yang Shaofeng added, "Try to avoid letting them resort to violence. After all, these six hundred people have been taught how to kill efficiently from the beginning, so they might not be careful when they start fighting."
Li Shanchang immediately became interested.
Highly efficient killing?
No matter how efficient it is, can it be more efficient than using a knife to chop someone up?
Faced with Li Shanchang's question, Yang Shaofeng simply chuckled, then took a weapon from the guards of the Imperial Son-in-Law's residence behind him and handed it to Li Shanchang, saying, "Prime Minister Li, you might as well take a look at this thing. I can say with my hand on my chest that if you are stabbed by this thing, even if you are lying on the operating table of Dengzhou University Medical School, you may not be able to survive unscathed."
Li Shanchang weighed the weapon in his hand, examined it carefully, and immediately gasped.
Do you, Yang, have some serious illness?
How dare you produce such a vicious weapon?