Chapter 211: Only he would think of such a sinister method!
Empress continued reading and her eyes lit up again. “Street stall economy!”
Street stall economy is not a new concept, it’s just allowing common people to set up stalls on the streets and earn money, every city has it. However, she discovered that Lin Beifan had come up with a new approach.
First of all, in terms of planning, categorizing and planning the stalls, allowing everyone to operate within their designated stalls, maintaining cleanliness and tidiness.
As a result, the streets looked much cleaner and less chaotic than before.
Secondly, categorizing and planning allowed similar stalls to be grouped together, creating economies of scale and naturally attracting more people to consume, making business better.
Thirdly, with the improvement of street stall businesses, more common people would naturally be attracted to do street stall businesses, increasing income.
This creates a mutually beneficial and self-reinforcing cycle.
The method is precise and ruthless, directly increasing the income of the lower-class common people without middlemen making a profit.
“This method is ingenious, worth promoting!” Empress exclaimed excitedly.
Lin Beifan’s approach was not actually sophisticated, but it was simple and made Empress applaud and highly commend it.
Because now, Great Wu was in decline and the court had no money, neither did the local governments.
Without money, many policies could not be implemented and many things could not be carried out. So, how to promote the economy and increase the income of the common people with the least amount of money was the most urgent problem.
Lin Beifan’s method was a brilliant solution to this problem.
Firstly, it didn’t cost much money.
Just have the government come forward, plan each street and each stall, and allow the stall owners to operate according to the rules, and business can start.
Just look at Lin Beifan, after implementing the street stall economy, in less than a few days, there were more than 3,000 additional stalls. This means solving the problem of more than 3,000 people’s meals, benefiting their families as well.
This means that at least tens of thousands of people will benefit!
Immediate results, remarkable effects!
Moreover, this method is simple and easy to implement and can be replicated and promoted.
Every city has street stall businesses.
And those who do street stall businesses are often the common people in the city, they are the backbone of the city.
If this is promoted in every city, at least millions of common people will benefit!
“My trusted subject, you are indeed capable of governing!” Empress admired Lin Beifan.
In just half a month after taking office, he cleaned up the judiciary and social environment in Dedian Prefecture, making the officials and aristocrats afraid to do evil.
He implemented the street stall economy, giving the lower-class common people another way to earn money, activating the market, making the streets lively, and the results were very remarkable.
Therefore, during the morning court, Empress praised Lin Beifan verbally.
She also expressed that she would let him continue his efforts, keep the position of Vice Governor for him, and let the court officials envy and be jealous.
Under Lin Beifan’s management, the appearance of the capital city has been completely transformed. The phenomena of bullying and intimidation have reduced, the income of the common people has increased, and the streets have become lively, presenting a vibrant scene. Lin Beifan’s days have become prosperous again.
However, there is one person whose days have become difficult. That person is Guo, the head of the Six Doors. While drinking with Lin Beifan, he sighed and expressed his envy, saying, “Mr. Lin, you have only been in office for just over half a month, and you have achieved such remarkable results. Even the Empress praised you in front of the entire court. It’s an occasion for celebration! With everything going so smoothly, you will surely ascend to the position of Minister in the future, surpassing the authority of the Six Doors! I toast to you!”
To be honest, Guo is truly envious. He lacks the abilities for governance and can only manage a group of guards. His official position is nearing its end. Unlike Lin Beifan, who has climbed to high positions at a young age, now managing the capital city efficiently, exhibiting extraordinary governing abilities. He is bound to be valued and reach higher positions.
The position of Vice Governor of the capital city?
Those are definitely not the end!
“Thank you, Master Guo, for your kind words. I am unworthy of such praise!” Lin Beifan smiled and clinked glasses with him. After finishing the drink, he asked with a smile, “Master Guo, you seem to be in a bad mood. Did something troubling happen to you?”
Guo nodded and sighed, “Recently, I have indeed encountered a troubling matter! I am just a rough person, only skilled in wielding knives and spears. I really can’t come up with a good solution! Two minds are better than one, so I came to seek your advice, Mr. Lin!”
“I would like to hear the details!” Lin Beifan’s expression became serious.
Guo let out a breath, “This Jianghu has become restless again!”
It turns out that there is a top-tier force in the Jianghu called Tianmen, which senses the chaos in the Jianghu and has called on major sects to hold a martial arts conference to elect a leader of the martial arts and maintain order in the Jianghu.
“This sounds like a good thing, but the leader of Tianmen, named Leng Ruochen, is an ambitious person! Since he founded Tianmen, he has been continuously developing it! In the past 30 years, it has grown into a super sect with over ten thousand members, and there are over ten innate experts among them!”
Lin Beifan’s face slightly changed.
To have over ten thousand members is not a small number, and it poses a great threat to an army of a hundred thousand.
Moreover, with over ten innate experts among them, it becomes even more terrifying.
Back in the Dragon Mountain Range, led by twenty innate experts, they were able to break through the 400,000-strong army of the Wuxi Dukedom, resulting in over a hundred thousand casualties!
Although Tianmen’s power is far from that, it is still enough to pose a threat to an army of 200,000.
“And, the leader of Tianmen has recently made a breakthrough and become a pinnacle figure at the Grandmaster level!”
Lin Beifan’s expression changed once again.
The leader is also a grandmaster!
This threat is even greater!
You have to know, when two grandmasters gathered in the capital city in the past, what kind of impact did they have?
The court could only tolerate them as long as they didn’t cause trouble.
Now, this top-level martial arts force has produced an ambitious grandmaster, the problem is serious!
Guo smiled bitterly, “So, Mr. Lin, you should guess why he is holding a martial arts conference at this time, right?”
“Even a fool knows the ambition of Sima Zhao!” Lin Beifan’s eyelids drooped.1
“Yes!” Guo nodded, “His power is already formidable. If he becomes the leader of the Jianghu, consolidating the strengths of all the martial arts factions, the threat to our court will be greater than that of the major vassal kings!”
“Why didn’t we send troops to suppress them when they first developed?” Lin Beifan asked in a discontented tone.
“I also wanted to!” Guo sighed, “But they are too cunning! They developed separately, each innate strength developing as a separate force, and for more than ten years, no one discovered them! It was only this year that they integrated and joined Leng Ruochen’s Tianmen! At this point, it is too late to say anything!”
“Alas!” Lin Beifan sighed.
Guo clasped his hands and asked, “That’s why I have come to seek your help, Mr. Lin! You are always astute and have deep foresight. Please see if there is any solution!”
“You asked the right person, I indeed have one!” Lin Beifan’s eyes brightened, and he said eagerly, “Please speak, Mr. Lin, I am extremely grateful!”
“The method is actually quite simple!” Lin Beifan smiled faintly, “As long as we, in the name of the court, appoint the abbot of Shaolin Temple as the leader of the Jianghu, and lead the martial artists, we can curb their development!”
Guo slapped his thigh and exclaimed excitedly, “Exactly! Why didn’t I think of it? Haha!”
“Shaolin Temple, as the leading figure in the martial arts community, is very well-suited to be the leader! However, there cannot be two leaders in the martial arts community, so they will directly clash. The martial arts conference of Tianmen will become a joke! In the future, if they want to develop and become the leader, they cannot bypass Shaolin Temple! We just need to sit back and watch them fight, haha!”
Lin Beifan smiled and nodded, “Exactly! Although the martial artists may not agree with our court, our court represents the orthodox authority, recognized by the world! Therefore, appointing Shaolin Temple as the leader is a legitimate matter that no one can oppose!”
Then, Guo became worried again, “The method is good, but what if those cunning monks of Shaolin Temple become timid and refuse to take on the role of the martial arts leader?”
Lin Beifan remained calm and composed, “They cannot refuse! Because if they refuse, it would be tantamount to defying the imperial edict, disrespecting our court. Then, their good days will come to an end!”
“Besides being a martial arts sect, Shaolin Temple is also a Buddhist force with numerous followers throughout the world! If we tarnish their reputation and make their followers lose faith in them, the losses will be incalculable!”
“They… absolutely cannot bear this price!”
“If they are wise, they would definitely not refuse the goodwill of our court! By becoming the leader of the Jianghu, although they would have to contend with Tianmen, they would also have the legitimate authority to manage the disputes in the martial arts world! If they do well, their influence will grow even further!”
“If they decline, their reputation will definitely plummet, and they will become a despised figure. Their days will be miserable!”
“Mr. Guo, if it were you, what would you choose?”
Guo smiled, “Definitely become the leader, even if it means gritting my teeth!”
Lin Beifan chuckled, “Exactly! However, if they still refuse, don’t we still have Wudang? If we bring down Shaolin Temple, let’s see if Wudang would dare to refuse?”
“Thank you, Mr. Lin, for your guidance. I know what to do now!”
So, the next day during the morning court assembly, Guo reported the martial arts conference organized by Tianmen to the Empress…
The Empress angrily exclaimed, “Guo, I appointed you to lead the Six Doors and manage the martial world! Yet, you allowed Tianmen to grow and now it threatens the court. What crime should you be punished with?”
Guo immediately bowed his head, “Your Majesty, please calm down. It was indeed my negligence that allowed them to develop. I am at fault! However, I have a method to curb their growth!”
“Speak!” the Empress demanded in anger.
“Yes, Your Majesty!” Guo immediately explained Lin Beifan’s method.
The Empress’s face slightly softened, “This is indeed a good method! However, I don’t believe that you would come up with such a plan! If you had the ability, you would have been more than just a third-ranked official!”
“Your Majesty, this method was suggested to me by Lin, the Prefect of the Dedian Prefecture and the Principal of Imperial Academy!” Guo explained.
The Empress sneered, “I knew it! Only he would come up with such a sinister plan!”
Lin Beifan: “…”
1. The saying “Even a fool knows the ambition of Sima Zhao” means that Sima Zhao’s ambition is so evident and well-known that even someone who is not intelligent or perceptive would be able to recognize it. In other words, Sima Zhao’s aspirations and intentions are quite obvious and apparent to everyone, and it doesn’t require any special insight or intelligence to understand them.
Sima Zhao was a historical figure who lived during the Three Kingdoms period in China. He was a prominent military strategist and politician and served as the regent of the Wei state, one of the Three Kingdoms. During his time, his actions and decisions clearly displayed his desire for power and control. His ambition to further consolidate his authority and possibly become the ruler of the Wei state would have been widely recognized and acknowledged by people, whether they were well-informed or not.
So, when the saying “Even a fool knows the ambition of Sima Zhao” is used, it implies that Sima Zhao’s ambitions were so apparent that anyone, regardless of their level of intelligence or awareness, could easily discern his desire for power and influence.
