Traveling through the late Ming Dynasty to promote Chinese civilization

Chapter 682 Poaching

Liu Ye smiled and said, "Mr. Yanzhi is right. We always deal with governors and viceroys. Speaking of which, you are the second governor I have invited back to Shandong. Before you, there was a former governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou who went to Qiongzhou. You two should get to know each other better when you have the chance."

Now it was Zhu Dadian's turn to be surprised. He asked, "Former governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou? Could it be...?"

"It was Mr. Chuyang, Sun Yuanhua, who was the governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou during the rebellion."

Zhu Dadian clicked his tongue in amazement: "Everyone says he died in the chaos of war, but it turns out you rescued him and took him to Qiongzhou. This man is skilled in Western learning and proficient in firearms; he is indeed a rare talent."

Liu Ye said with no small amount of pride, "Everyone should make the best use of their talents and resources. The right people should be placed in the right positions. Although Mr. Chuyang is not as good as you, Mr. Yanzhi, in leading troops into battle, he is extremely suitable for supervising the manufacture of firearms and managing military supplies and provisions."

"What a brilliant man, making the best use of everyone's talents and resources!" Zhu Dadian praised. "Just from this one sentence, we can see how wise Marquis Pingnan is at recognizing and employing people."

"Hehe, Mr. Yanzhi, please don't flatter me so much." Liu Ye steered the conversation to the main topic. "With you in charge, I'm no longer worried about the lack of leadership on Dongfan Island. However, even a skilled cook can't cook without rice, and I can't let you go there as a lone commander. I've already found you a helper, the former Tianjin Military Commissioner, but one person can't do it all, so we need to find ways to recruit more people. I plan to post a notice to select the best, what do you think?"

Zhu Dadian stroked his beard and laughed, "Why bother with all this? I didn't serve as governor of Shandong for nothing these past two years. I have connections at all levels. I know quite well who is talented but unappreciated and who is frustrated in the governor's office and local prefectures in Jinan. As long as you offer a sufficient monthly salary, I can reason with them and appeal to their emotions. I won't have trouble finding enough people."

Liu Ye was overjoyed. He had managed to poach a former governor of Shandong, who even came with the ability to excavate—it was an incredible bargain! Poaching directly from the government office meant he had the qualifications, experience, and ability—far more reliable than hiring some down-on-his-luck scholar for last-minute cramming. And let's be honest, only someone with Zhu Dadian's reputation and status could pull off something like this; he himself would never have been able to poach him. He'd truly struck gold today.

"The monthly salary is absolutely no problem. After these people arrive, you will arrange their duties, and their monthly salary will be five times that of similar-ranking officials in the government..."

The two struck while the iron was hot, discussing recruitment methods, monthly salaries, and other issues before Liu Ye reluctantly took his leave.

After Liu Ye left, Lin Tianming emerged from behind the screen.

"Yanzhi, although I strongly recommended you to my son-in-law, I never expected you to agree so readily, nor did I expect you to take the initiative to help him poach talent from the government offices..."

Zhu Dadian gazed at the doorway where Liu Ye had disappeared and said slowly, "I have devoted myself to the court, but how has the court treated me? In suppressing the rebellion in Shandong and training troops in Jinan, I, Zhu Yanzhi, have done my duty diligently and conscientiously, and I have earned merit and hard work. However, because I took office hastily, I suffered a defeat at the hands of bandits, and a single imperial edict wiped out all my years of hard work. Not only was I stripped of my official position, but my family property was confiscated, and I was exterminated. If it weren't for the meager land I owned, I would have really been starving."

Lin Tianming, whose path was similar to Zhu Dadian's, felt a sense of shared sorrow upon hearing this and sighed, "The court has indeed been unfair to Yanzhi..."

"The court has treated me unjustly, so don't blame me for being ruthless. I have seen through the current emperor's ingratitude, cold-heartedness, suspicion, and distrust. In his current state, there is no hope of being reinstated, and even if he were reinstated, his life would be precarious. Since that's the case, why not find a way out for myself?"

Lin Tianming seemed to be deep in thought, and pondered for a moment before saying, "Yanzhi means..."

Zhu Dadian smiled mysteriously: "Don't underestimate your son-in-law. Given time, he might just become the next Zhao Jiuzhong. When that time comes, you might as well give up your position as governor of Dengzhou and Laizhou and just wait to rise to the top!"

Lin Tianming's expression became quite interesting, a mixture of doubt, joy, and panic. He quickly said, "Yanzhi, this must not be told to any third party. Remember that."

Zhu Dadian laughed heartily: "Xiang San (Lin Tianming's courtesy name) doesn't need to panic too much. It's still too early to tell, and everything is unknown. I'm just speculating. Perhaps your son-in-law is just Guo Ziyi, not Zhao Jiuzhong?"

Lin Tianming didn't want to continue this sensitive conversation, so he changed the subject: "Go ahead and poach people from the Western Three Prefectures, but don't try to poach people from my Eastern Three Prefectures."

"Of course! I wouldn't dare to undermine you, Xiang San! Besides, I'm working for your good son-in-law now, I'm too busy flattering you to worry about anything!"

Lin Tianming was somewhat embarrassed and waved his hand, saying, "Yanzhi's words are so embarrassing!"

After leaving the governor's office, Liu Ye summoned everyone to discuss the matter.

"First, I have some good news to share. Zhu Dadian, the former governor of Fengyang and the Grand Canal Transport Commissioner, has agreed to join our Qionghai Army and go to Taiwan as its first manager—I've given him the title of Governor-General of Taiwan. In addition, he has also agreed to recruit people from the governor's offices of the three western prefectures and various prefectures. They are all experienced clerks and will be able to get up to speed faster. In this way, the framework of the administrative structure in Taiwan will be basically set up."

Liang Xiaoming was overjoyed: "With such a seasoned veteran in charge, Taiwan has nothing to worry about."

"There's no need to worry too much about Taiwan for now. It's a blank slate. As long as we get off to a good start, we can gradually build it up. But we also need to work on things carefully in Shandong..."

Liang Xiaoming didn't quite understand: "Shandong is doing well, so why do we need to make some changes? And what are we going to make changes to?"

“Because Shandong is still under the control of the imperial court, I want to turn it into our Shandong,” Liu Ye explained. “At the very least, it has to be in a semi-independent state.”

He said to Su Hongtu, "Originally, the plan was for me to concurrently serve as the General of Dengzhou and Laizhou, but after I obtained the title of Grand General, it became unnecessary. Now I have decided to hand over the title of General of Dengzhou and Laizhou to you, and report to the Ministry of War to upgrade you to the General of Shandong, commanding all troops within Shandong. Tomorrow you will take the imperial edict to Jinan, hand over the reins to the current Shandong Governor, and reclaim the military power of the three western prefectures. Except for the militia recruited by the prefectures and cities themselves, all the troops within the territory will be under your unified command, including the garrisons."

Su Hongtu was overjoyed and quickly stood up, saluted, and loudly replied, "Your subordinate obeys!"

"I haven't finished yet," Liu Ye said. "Your independent regiment will remain. Using it as the core force, we can reorganize and train the soldiers in Shandong. We can also recruit new soldiers to gradually replace those veterans. Within a year, we can reorganize all the imperial troops in Shandong into our subordinate forces. Do you have confidence?"

Su Hongtu stood with his legs together and answered loudly, "Yes!"