Chapter 261: Unable to Write a Single Word

Liang Shixian grasped the Li Family’s intention almost instantly.Work-for-relief!

Simply handing out grain wasn’t ideal; neither was giving grain away with book purchases.

Human nature harbors a “dark” side, so anything involving a “free handout” usually ends with dissatisfaction.

But work-for-relief was a sound approach.

In the blink of an eye, Liang Shixian mentally listed ten thousand benefits of work-for-relief.

Of course, this approach had one major drawback: it required immense financial resources. Once again, Liang Shixian felt a surge of admiration. The Li Family truly possesses wealth rivaling the state! To conceive such an expenditure strategy…

Could Shen Wansan, the richest merchant of the early Ming Dynasty, even compare to the Li Family?

Mr. Wang smiled. “A year ago, County Lord, when you first saw the cement road, you wished to build one, didn’t you? Though Thirty-Two dissuaded you.”

Liang Shixian thought: That’s true. Impressive you remember such details. For me, recalling it feels like searching through a dim lantern show.

Mr. Wang continued, “Conditions weren’t mature then, but they are now. County Lord, seize this chance to realize your benevolent vision of building bridges and repairing roads. Simultaneously, you’ll resolve the people’s livelihood. Two benefits in one stroke — why hesitate?”

Liang Shixian said, “Indeed, precisely as you say. This official shall immediately prepare for this matter. It must be handled impeccably.”

His urge to debate further with Mr. Wang vanished. He turned, grabbed his Clerk, and hurried off. “What are you dazing about? Draft a detailed road construction plan immediately!”

The Clerk, rushing with pride, responded, “Dong Weng, rest assured. Leave this task to me.”

Both mounted their horses and sped away.

At that moment, Gao Yiye sauntered from the back and stood beside Mr. Wang, watching Liang Shixian’s retreating figure together.

Gao Yiye remarked, “That man seems like a good official.”

Mr. Wang sighed, “Yes… If he, not Zhang Yaocai, had been the Chengcheng County Magistrate back then, Wang Er might not have rebelled. How many fewer in Chengcheng County would have died…”

Li Daoxuan shook his head softly. It’s far simpler than you imagine. Even if Wang Er hadn’t rebelled, someone else would have — Zhang San, Li Si, or Ground Rabbit… If not Chengcheng, then Qingjian, Mizhi, Fugu, Luochuan, Yichuan… rebellion was inevitable everywhere.

This peasant uprising of the late Ming couldn’t be averted.

The Great Ming’s fate was sealed!

God Himself wouldn’t save it — only upend it all to start anew.

The massive road construction project commenced.

In this era, paving a road spanning over thirty miles was no simple feat.

The workers hadn’t attended Lanxiang Technical School. They possessed no modern machinery: no cement mixers, no dump trucks hauling rocks or sand.

They split mountains and shattered stones solely with picks and chisels; carried mud and earth upon their shoulders; traversed mountains and valleys relying only on their legs.

Under such conditions, building a thirty-mile road was a monumental task.

Fortunately, a yellow earth official road already existed. They weren’t starting from virgin land, merely paving a new, level path beside the official road before covering it in cement.

A “notice seeking laborers” was posted at the entrance of the county office.

A large group of refugees clustered around it. “What’s written on that notice?”

The scholar invited by Liang Shixian stood beside the notice and read it aloud to the common people. But after he finished reading, the refugees still looked confused.

Alright, the notice written by Liang Shixian was too literary. Even when read out loud, the common people still couldn’t understand it.

The scholar had to translate it into plain language. He shouted loudly, “The County Lord said, we need to recruit some workers for road construction now. It’s not corvée labor, not corvée labor, not corvée labor—important things are said three times. It’s hiring workers in the form of temporary laborers, including meals, and additionally distributing three catties of grain per day.”

As soon as these words were shouted, the common people immediately wanted to cheer.

But…

The cheer got stuck in their throats and couldn’t come out for a long time.

The government recruiting workers? Paying wages?

Who in the hell dared believe that! Even though the current County Lord had a reputation for being honest, people still didn’t quite dare to believe it. Hadn’t they been cheated by the government enough in their lives? The Ming court simply had no credibility.

With a “hum,” the crowd started to disperse.

Liang Shixian was hiding in a house not far away, secretly watching the people’s reactions. Seeing this, he became extremely anxious. He grabbed the Clerk and roared, “Why don’t they trust me? I’ve been distributing congee for a year. Every time bandits came, I led from the front, commanding the militia to defend stubbornly, and I’ve never mistreated the common people.”

The Clerk from Shaoxing said with a bitter face, “Dong Weng, although you are a good official, you can’t hold up against other officials… cough… look at that Li Ying last time… and Zhang Yaocai before that…”

Liang Shixian: “…”

What to do then?

I must think it over carefully.

Liang Shixian, knowledgeable in many matters, immediately activated an emergency handling mode in his mind. The government’s reputation, his own reputation, the people’s loyalty, ways to gain the people’s trust—they spun in his mind like a revolving lantern. Then, with a “ding,” it fixed on a signboard.

The signboard had four large characters: Chengcheng Bookstore.

Got it!

Liang Shixian jumped out from his hiding place and shouted loudly, “Don’t be afraid, everyone. It’s not the court that is recruiting for road construction, so it’s not corvée. This time, it’s the Chengcheng Bookstore’s Mr. Wang who’s recruiting for road construction. He wants to build a good road to make it convenient for his transport team to carry books… All the grain will be distributed by the bookstore. The government is just here to oversee things. If the bookstore owes you wages, you can come to the government to lodge a complaint, and I will definitely handle it.”

As soon as he said this, the people who were about to disperse swarmed back at once.

“So it’s the bookstore.”

“You should’ve said that earlier. I’d believe it if the bookstore is giving food.”

“As long as it’s not the government, I’d dare to try any recruiter. I just don’t dare to go if it’s the government.”

“The bookstore has been giving out grain all along. It’s just that buying one book only gets you two taels, which isn’t enough to eat. I thought the bookstore didn’t have much grain, so they didn’t dare give more. Turns out they were saving up for a big project.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Mr. Wang from the bookstore is a great benefactor.”

“The court is different. Before you work, they promise you everything well and good. After the work, they turn their faces and won’t give you a single copper coin.”

“But Magistrate Liang is also considered an honest official.”

“What’s the use of an honest official? Honest officials just ‘admit the debt but don’t pay it.'”

“What do you mean ‘admit the debt but don’t pay it’?”

“It means, I admit I owe you money, but I don’t have the money to pay you. Anyway, they just say it’s the fault of those above, the higher-ups didn’t send money down, and a minor Seventh Rank official like me has no choice. They just give you that excuse, and what can you do about it?”

“I see.”

“So we’d better stick with the bookstore. Mr. Wang is a good man.”

The common people said joyfully: “We’ll do this work, we’ll do it.”

Liang Shixian listened to the people’s comments, looking awkward, and inwardly sighed: How could the government’s reputation have become like this? When did it start changing? Alas! The people’s hearts have already become like this?

This was a very bad thing!

Without the people’s trust, nothing can be established.

With the people’s hearts like this now, our majestic Great Ming… is in grave danger.

Liang Shixian instantly picked up a pen: “I must submit a memorial to the Emperor, telling him that it’s very dangerous now. But, how should I write it? What should I write?”

He held the pen and stiffened for a long time, unable to write a single word.