Chapter 679: Chapter 681: Plans

Jin Qianqian recalled that scene as well. She sighed and said nothing more.

"It’s the common people who truly suffer," Ancient Wenheng said. "We must act with a clear conscience.

I don’t have any lofty ambitions. I just want the people to have enough to eat."

"Do you have a plan, then?" Jin Qianqian asked.

"Reclaiming land for farming isn’t something that can be done overnight."

"No need to rush," Ancient Wenheng said, pulling a stack of blueprints from his robes. "I’ve already done some planning. Now, it all depends on everyone else’s attitude."

’This is the downside of not being the one in charge,’ he thought. ’There are constraints from above, and the people below won’t listen to my every command.’

"I suddenly find myself missing those bandits," Jin Qianqian said. "If we could bring those tens of thousands of men over here, think how much trouble that would save."

’After all the hard work we put into training them to be expert farmers, someone else gets to reap the benefits.’

Ancient Wenheng smiled. "We’re on the same wavelength."

"There may not be any bandits from the sea here, but there are plenty of mountain bandits. Since they refuse to be upstanding citizens, we’ll just have them undergo some ’labor reform’."

Jin Qianqian stared, mouth agape.

"Close your mouth. Is it really that surprising?"

Jin Qianqian pursed her lips and blinked. "Are there a lot of mountain bandits? How come I’ve never heard about them?"

"Curious?"

Jin Qianqian nodded eagerly. It felt a bit childish, but she was genuinely curious.

"The local government has made many attempts to capture them," Ancient Wenheng explained. "The ones who are still around have all fled deep into the mountains.

After a few crackdowns, they’re not as brazen as they used to be. They only dare to cause minor trouble now. Even so, they’re still a major nuisance for the local populace."

"Are they all desperate, vicious criminals?" Jin Qianqian asked.

"Not all of them," Ancient Wenheng replied. "Only a small fraction have taken lives and are on the wanted list.

The vast majority are just people who couldn’t make a living anymore. They followed the others hoping to find a path to survival."

"So you want to persuade that group?" Jin Qianqian arched an eyebrow at him. "It won’t be that easy.

Once they’ve started down that path, they don’t get to choose anymore.

Unless you plan to use force. But with the number of men we have, that doesn’t seem very realistic."

Jin Qianqian knew that mountain bandits were even harder to deal with than the sea-faring ones. The moment they hid in the mountains, it would take an immense amount of manpower just to find a single clue.

And by the time you finally tracked them down, they could have easily moved to another mountain.

Ancient Wenheng chuckled. "I never planned on a head-on confrontation."

He pointed to his heart. "We win their hearts and minds."

"Are you planning to offer them amnesty or to recruit them?" Jin Qianqian asked.

Ancient Wenheng shook his head. "Everyone in this world has ties that bind them. Even those bandits in the mountains must have friends and family.

What do you think would happen if those people tried to persuade them?"

Jin Qianqian wasn’t as optimistic. "If they really cared about their friends and family, they never would have become bandits in the first place.

Besides, if a family discovered one of their own was a bandit, they would do everything to hide it, not broadcast it."

"That’s where a great incentive comes in," Ancient Wenheng said. "These men became bandits simply to survive.

No one wants to spend their lives hiding in the mountains. If we give them a chance, I’m sure they’ll want to rejoin society."

Jin Qianqian was baffled and couldn’t quite grasp his idea. "Incentive? Where would that come from? I don’t mean to discourage you, but you’ve inherited quite a mess."

Ancient Wenheng leaned in and whispered in her ear. As he spoke, Jin Qianqian’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"That plan might actually work," she said, "but you’ll have to report it to your superiors first."

Since Ancient Wenheng had such a plan, he naturally had a strategy to execute it. "I’ll sort out the Commandery Mansion’s accounts first. I might be away from the mansion for a while after that.

You just went through that ordeal a few days ago. You should just stop attending banquets for now. Decline any invitations you receive."

What happened the other day truly frightened him. If it weren’t for the long distances between commanderies and the poor state of the roads, he would have kept her by his side just for his own peace of mind.

"It’s all right," Jin Qianqian replied. "An incident like that is enough to put everyone on high alert. The other mansions will surely be more careful when they host banquets from now on.

I just didn’t expect to have such bad luck and get caught up in the power struggles of their inner court.

In my opinion, Mrs. Liang He isn’t innocent either. The fact that she was able to identify the culprit so quickly means she was already aware of the plot. She just used us unlucky few as an excuse to counterattack."

Over the last few days, as her spirits recovered, she had thought it all through. ’There’s no way Mrs. Liang He was unaware that Governor Liang’s other descendants wanted to seize power, and no way she wasn’t guarding against it.

If she were as harmless as she pretended to be, she never would have survived at Governor Liang’s side all these years, let alone safely raise her child to adulthood.’

Ancient Wenheng’s impression of Mrs. Liang He was very poor. "She used the incident with you all to make her move. Now, she has the entire Liang Mansion’s inner court firmly in her grasp."

’But by taking advantage of the situation,’ he thought, ’she has inadvertently offended quite a few people.

How many people who’ve reached their status are fools?

Everyone just plays along to maintain a superficial balance, but they don’t expose the truth.

When you do something like that, you have to be prepared for the backlash.’

"These inner courts are truly battlefields without smoke," Jin Qianqian remarked, feeling a bit thankful she hadn’t grown up in a place like the imperial harem. ’Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have survived past the second episode.’

She knew her own background well. ’I grew up in a modern society; I’m not used to all these conspiracies and schemes.’

Ancient Wenheng glanced at her. "Even so, you need to be aware of these things. You’ve grown a bit complacent these last two years.

Even if we don’t scheme against others, we must still guard against them scheming against us.

Nanny Ou is too old for such long journeys. I’ve already written back to the capital and asked Brother Zhou to find some retired female officials from the palace for you."

"Is that a good idea?" Jin Qianqian had another concern. "Didn’t you say you wanted to avoid taking sides? Won’t asking him for a favor now cause a misunderstanding?"

Ancient Wenheng gently patted her hand. "We spent so much time together back in Lu City. A relationship like that can’t be severed instantly. We can only let it cool down gradually over time.

But that doesn’t mean we cut off all contact. I helped him a great deal in Lu City. A small matter like this doesn’t count as a major favor.

Not to mention all the silver you’ve helped him earn over the years. Honestly, it would be for the best if a ’favor’ like this could cancel out our past obligations."

Jin Qianqian admitted to herself that she didn’t really understand the intricacies of official life. Since Wenheng had decided how to handle it, she wouldn’t question him further.

「Shangjing」

After many twists and turns, Zhou Shixiong’s marriage was finally settled.

"Prefect Yin’s second daughter is still a bit lacking in status. My brother is being wronged."

Empress Zhou glanced at the betrothal gift list in her hand before suddenly pushing it aside.

"With Prefect Yin’s family being what it is, it’s difficult for me to even prepare the betrothal gifts."

’If I give too much, the Yin family certainly can’t afford a matching dowry with their meager resources. They can’t be expected to bankrupt themselves just to marry off a daughter, can they?

But if I give too little, how will the Marquis Zhongyong’s Mansion save face?’

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