The fisherman seemed quite hearty, and Li Guanyi didn’t feel any malice whatsoever.
So he bowed with hands folded in front and laughed freely,
"Since the senior invites, the junior will not stand on ceremony."
Qilin then seated himself firmly beside them.
Li Guanyi, holding a fishing rod, sat next to the fisherman who grinned, thinking to himself, you young lad actually dare to sit down.
Li Guanyi cast the line and while fishing, he asked, "Senior, do you live here? The Gongsun Family and the Xue Family’s Trade Guild, guiding people around to take refuge, haven’t they notified you yet?"
The fisherman responded, "The ends of the earth bear no restraints; I am merely a passerby. I call this world my home, where is there a going or coming for me?"
"Speaking of which, why suddenly disperse the people around? Is it because something happened?"
Li Guanyi said, "There is a villain coming, someone who, when he goes mad, might involve innocent people, so we hope the public can temporarily avoid this place and seek refuge elsewhere, then return after a couple of days."
"The Xue Family’s Trade Guild and the Gongsun Family have offered some compensation to them."
He watched the ripples in the water, no fish had bitten the hook.
The background of the fisherman, who naturally disdained so-called aristocratic families, was such that Li Guanyi’s actions in dispersing the innocent villagers had slightly endeared him; seeing a letter tucked into Li Guanyi’s waist pouch, the fisherman flicked his wrist and the fishhook flew out, hooking the letter and dragging it over.
With nimble movements, neither Li Guanyi nor Qilin noticed anything at all.
"However, young friend, it seems you’ve dropped something."
With the letter in hand, the fisherman said, "You wouldn’t want to forget this." He propped up his fishing rod and pretended to return it to Li Guanyi, but as he passed it to the young man, he used a surge of profound inner strength to shatter and disperse the letter’s outer seal,
Revealing the letter on the ground, Li Guanyi, with a hint of admiration for the display, said, "Senior, what fine skill!"
He then picked up the letter, handed it back, and said with nonchalance, "However, there’s nothing in this letter that can’t be seen. If you wish to read it, please do. There’s no need for such tactics."
"Such profound inner strength, truly impressive!"
The frankness and unconcern of this young man seemed to give the fisherman a slight disadvantage; he just gave a casual smile and said, "Haha, my young friend, please forgive me. I’ve got this odd illness that makes my hands itch to read letters."
He casually picked up the letter; it was intelligence from Changfeng Building, describing the overall situation in Jiangnan and containing evaluations from the people of the Jiangnan Eighteen States, many containing curses directed towards the Qilin Army, yet all originating from aristocratic families.
The fisherman read the words written on it: ’The Qilin Army has now practiced benevolent governance.’
’Calling upon the widowed, solitary, discarded, abandoned, sick, and the impoverished who are unable to establish themselves, loans were granted to them.’
’Furthermore, they have built houses to shelter those displaced by war, those stranded and orphaned children.’
’They can help the military households with farming and receive remuneration.’
’For those willing to cultivate and reclaim wasteland, land, seeds, and provisions are lent in advance, to be repaid the following year.’
’The Qilin Army has waived the land tax for one year.’
’The aristocratic family offered beauties and treasures in hopes of building a palace for Marquis Qin Wu, and once Prefecture Governor Yan Daiqing received them, with the treasures he bought provisions, which were then distributed to the soldiers and people in each city.’
This was Yan Daiqing’s style of internal politics.
He’s the kind of person that even his own father considered to be too upstanding; he ranted for a solid hour at Pang Shuiyun, Yuan Zhi, and the executors below him, negating the original ’sheltering the people and providing them with provisions’ as a relief measure.
Instead, he helped these people to farm on their own or engage in handicrafts.
Teaching them how to fish.
It was different from the acts of charity by local officials, which was to open granaries and provide disaster relief.
At the beginning, he faced quite a bit of criticism; moreover, there were lazy individuals who would rather lie down and wait for disaster relief than till the fields themselves. They even cooked the seed grains and breeding pigs distributed by the Qilin Army into porridge and traded half a pig for alcohol.
In such cases, it was no longer Yan Daiqing’s responsibility to handle them.
It was another duty for a young strategist from the Academy.
Li Guanyi, when he browsed through this dossier at the Xue Family’s Trade Guild, couldn’t help but mutter to himself—
Ding, you ate the seed grains and breeding pigs distributed by the Qilin Army.
You sacrificed your opponent, Yan Daiqing.
Switching the ’demon’ into the game.
Your opponent now is—the unvengeful Confucian gentleman of the Gongyang Lineage, Xiao Zhi, with a notebook in hand, enters the scene.
In any case, the policy enforcement currently proceeds smoothly, and for those genuinely homeless, accommodations similar to dormitories have been constructed for them to live in, providing basic meals; Li Guanyi, gazing at the river, didn’t notice the slight pause in the movements of the fisherman beside him.
Suddenly, the young man laughed, "Oops!"
With a flick of his wrist, the fishing line became tense and straightened, then with just one pull, a fish was hauled up—Li Guanyi announced, "The fish has taken the bait."
The fisherman fell silent, and with a bland tone, said:
"This Qilin Army really is strange, huh."
"They actually took charge of the beggars on the streets, providing them with food and shelter, and forced them to bathe every five days. They even went as far as driving them to cultivate the land and become self-sufficient."
"What’s in it for them?"
Li Guanyi pulled the fish up.
The fish showed great strength underwater, thrashing, tail flapping and creating a widespread splash, but the fisherman couldn’t help but say, "Fishing requires skill, just —if you use force and so does the fish, it could break the line, and then..."
Li Guanyi pulled out the mystical weapon [Lingyun Wood], and with a sideways sweep,
The large fish rolled over, showing its white belly, as Li Guanyi hauled it up.
"What were you saying, senior?"
He shook his head and said, "Nothing, your fishing style is rather, quite unique."