In the name of supernatural powers

Chapter 118 Farmers' All-Out Martial Arts Show

Lu Zhao flipped to one of the pages and showed it to Zhang Like. The latter glanced at it and said, "It is indeed a bit too detailed, but these shouldn't be considered secrets. Just like you and I both know that Mo Kun embezzled logistical supplies, we just don't have substantial evidence."

It's impossible to hide who has powerful backers or what kind of background someone has.

For example, bidding for federal projects is public; the names are posted in the announcement and can be easily found with a quick search.

Lu Zhao said, "I asked you to investigate yesterday. Even if you call and ask right away, it's too fast for them to provide such detailed information in just one day."

This only deepened Zhang Like's suspicions, and he asked, "There is indeed a problem. It seems like it was prepared in advance. Can this intelligence still be used?"

Lu Zhao shook his head and said, "The intelligence is correct, but it must have been instigated by someone."

Zhang Like immediately understood and asked, "You mean Zhao De?"

It's likely that only this city leader in the city has such power.

"That should be true. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. I don't need to worry about the authenticity of the intelligence."

Lu Zhao continued reading and finished reading the remaining content.

In terms of political influence, Wei Jiahong was far inferior to Zhao De; he was essentially a local gentry smuggler. Although he controlled the entire grain production and distribution channel, his influence was limited to the market; he had no connections beyond that.

They may have some connections, but they are not a behemoth like the Chen family, whose influence extends throughout the entire Nankaido region.

A very typical local Brahmin.

Lu Zhao was much more at ease when facing the Wei family, not because he came from the Lin family, nor because of the more powerful Liu Wuhou.

What others promise never counts; only what you make counts.

His composure stemmed from the fact that, no matter how much power Wei Jiahong wielded in Fangshi, as long as he had no authority over personnel appointments, Lu Zhao was invincible.

She herself has no political stains, while Wei Jiahong has many.

Lu Zhao was unfamiliar with the grain supply and marketing system, but by convention, the process from grain collection to rice becoming a commodity would form an industrial chain, and many department leaders would profit from this industry.

It's not as lucrative as smuggling, but it's more stable.

I remember Lin Zhiyan saying that when a family completely declines, they will choose to go into business or the military.

The fact that the descendants and the family influence are no longer enough to support the next generation in reaching the official level; even becoming a minor official might be difficult.

When it comes to joining the army, it depends on the location. Those with background and influence should go to Longyou Road to protect the capital Chang'an, rather than go to Chishui to fight monsters.

Just like Lin Zhiyan, her first job was the prestigious position of supervisor, where she followed Ding Shoujin around arresting people.
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July 18th.

Zhao De was suspended from his post for the second time due to issues with his conduct and discipline, and was also criticized by the supervisory authorities.

Deputy Mayor Wei Jiahong will replace Zhao De in his work and will act as the acting mayor.

This caused a huge uproar in Fangcheng District, with discussions taking place everywhere.

In this era, the municipal government wielded immense power, truly living up to the saying "the people's official." Zhao De, however, demonstrated strong governance capabilities, leading to significant development in Fangcheng District in recent years, and the implementation of numerous public service projects won him popular support.

His suspension by the supervisory authorities for misconduct and discipline will naturally cause a public outcry.

The same applies within the system; officials at all levels thought the matter was over, but unexpectedly, a sudden counterattack occurred.

Being far outside the city, Lu Zhao was not surprised to receive the news.

He was dealing with a dispute with the grain depot. The border post lacked agricultural management personnel, and it was impossible to let a group of ordinary soldiers manage it.

Zhang Like excitedly ran over to report the situation, saying, "Old Lu, the handover of work is complete. We have established communication with the fifteen grain depots in our jurisdiction, and we will be able to collect grain in another half month."

"The garrison system here is really good. As soon as they heard that they would be protecting their own annual salary, the brothers were all full of enthusiasm."

Lu Zhao waved his hand, his face showing no joy, and said, "The merger of local grain depots with us is a federal order, and they cannot openly disobey it."

"The real problem is that once they take over, they start to pay lip service, falsify accounts, cause trouble, and sabotage."

Zhang Like didn't quite believe such a seemingly certain statement.

The verification process will begin gradually over the next two days.

That afternoon.

The border post requested that the fifteen local grain depots submit their annual accounts, but they were immediately met with similar rejections.

Either the ledger is missing, or it's damaged; in any case, there's no ledger.

The 19th, sunny.

Following the manual, the border station issued instructions to local grain depots, urging villagers to rush to harvest and dry their grain, otherwise, according to past practice, the rainy season would begin in August.

It can drizzle for a whole month, interspersed with occasional heavy rain.

Rice with too much moisture is prone to mold if it is not dried.

That noon, Lu Zhao received a report that due to unreasonable scheduling of the threshing grounds, fights broke out among villagers in multiple locations.

Zhang Like immediately led all three companies out, armed with guns and sticks, to each threshing ground to maintain order.

Before leaving, Lu Zhao specifically instructed that people should try not to hit anyone.

The August sun was exceptionally scorching.

Standing on the concrete threshing ground, facing the bustling farmers, Zhang Like was completely stunned. In the past, they would dry their grain in their own yards or on the roofs of their bungalows, but in recent years, with the continuous reclamation and development of land, an average Chinese farmer now has to cultivate three acres of land, and the space at home is simply not enough for drying grain.

As a result, some centralized drying grounds for grain were established, which are also called drying dams in the south.

Another advantage of the threshing ground is that the grain depot is located there. The grain can be weighed on the spot after drying, and the grain can be handed over to the state on the spot, which can also save the cost of a tractor.

That's why everyone likes to come to the threshing ground.

The scene is extremely chaotic, filled with shouts and curses in local dialects.

"Everyone, listen to me..."

"You damn pimp! I've been waiting for two days, why should I let you go first?"

"Let's take it one at a time."

"Fuck you! I've been waiting for three days, fuck you, want to fight?"

"Everyone has something to show off."

After Zhang Like finished speaking, his ears were filled with all sorts of beautiful dialects.

Fangshi is mainly inhabited by Cantonese and Hakka, with some Tanka dialect as well. The linguistic diversity of the South China Sea West Road lies in the fact that local dialects can exhibit unique characteristics.

The local dialect is called Fangshi dialect, but it is also called Fangguang dialect.

People speaking the same language may only be able to understand each other with difficulty.

The crowd grew increasingly noisy, and Zhang Like pulled out a pistol and fired a shot into the air.

boom!
Gunshots rang out, and the crowd immediately fell silent.

"Xie Meimeng! Can you even understand human language? Fuck you! Anyone who dares to fight again, I'll arrest them all!"

With the situation under control, Zhang Like then faced another problem.

How should we arrange for the grain to be dried?
Zhang Like led his men into the grain depot at the threshing ground. They found the depot director drinking tea. Enraged, Zhang Like kicked the director to the ground and then grabbed him by the collar and slapped him twice.

"Thank you, I'm sweating buckets outside, and you're here drinking tea!"

After this massage and expressing gratitude in Zhuang language, the grain depot director was finally persuaded to resume work.

As for the reason for the chaos, the other party gave a vague answer.

Zhang Like didn't have time to argue; he still had fourteen grain depots to visit.

Three hours later, he had barely made it to three grain depots.

Zhang Like almost collapsed to the ground.

I initially thought it was just a few people being instigated to cause trouble, but when I arrived at the scene, I found that the farmers' argument had many issues, and the threshing ground was just the trigger.

For example, there's the issue of water supply for farming. Upstream villages don't share their water with downstream villages, and then the downstream village chief goes to dig up the paddy field ridges at night to steal water.

For example, a dispute over farmland demarcation might be a disputed area just three steps away, yet it could cause two villages to be hostile to each other for five or six years.

Social resources are so scarce that farmers are struggling to afford even a meal, a plot of land, or an irrigation ditch.

Now that the rice needs to be dried, nobody knows when the rainy season will arrive, so everyone is rushing to dry their own grain first.

Zhang Like called Lu Zhao and wailed, "Old Lu, this can't go on. You need to think of a way to make these bastards listen to you."

"They're all a bunch of troublemakers; if you ask me, they should all be beaten up."

He couldn't just kill the grain depot because they weren't cooperating. He also couldn't find a suitable replacement, as most of the people at the border station had previously been responsible for border defense work.

As the saying goes, "every profession has its own secrets," and many things are easier said than done. Simply becoming familiar with grain depot work is not something that can be accomplished in a day or two.

Zhang Like is, after all, a soldier. The military has strict hierarchical rules, but not many intricate details.

He found it hard to imagine how Lu Zhao had managed to defeat Zhao De back then.

"Old Zhang, you're getting impatient again."

On the other end of the phone, Lu Zhao's calm voice slightly calmed him down.

“I told you they would try to trip us up. If they don’t act now, they won’t be able to move after a while.”

The essence of politics is the use of power, and the essence of power is the allocation of resources.

The federal government granted the Ant Ridge Border Station the authority over 130,000 mu of farmland, which Lu Zhao could then use to allocate resources.

For example, adjustments to the positions at the grain depot and personnel appointments for various posts.

Just like what he did at the border post.

By making personnel arrangements, one can gain more resources; whoever controls the resources is the winner.

Once the early rice season is over, Lu Zhao will inevitably purge the population and replace them all with his own people. Conversely, Wei Jiahong will also realize this and will certainly strike first.

He wanted to make me take the blame for serious dereliction of duty by disrupting production.

(End of this chapter)