He changed Tiwat

Gan Yu did not answer Han Fulai directly, but changed the subject.

“Do you remember what I told you before? Moonsea Pavilion is actually just a revolving door. Wealthy merchants and scions of noble families come in as secretaries, trying every means to obtain various policies and business information related to the Liyue government, and to build connections with the Seven Stars and Eight Gates. They leave as wealthy merchants, administrative heads of the Eight Gates, or the next Seven Stars.”

"I remember." Han Fulai nodded. It was something Gan Yu told him when she first talked to him about "the day the Emperor was gone."

Gan Yu picked up the teacup on the table, gently swirled it a few times, and then put it down. The tea in the cup formed a small vortex, causing the tea stems inside to rotate continuously.

"Even if I put down the teacup now, the tea will continue to spin due to inertia until its momentum is exhausted. The same is true for revolving doors; if you don't stop them forcefully, they will keep spinning due to inertia."

Han Fulai understood Gan Yu's meaning, of course. Gan Yu had once said that her goal was to stop the "revolving door." But forcibly stopping the revolving door still seemed too hasty, especially at this sensitive time when the Emperor had just retired. Gan Yu's expression of her political ambition would disrupt the delicate political balance between the Liyue Seven Stars and the Immortals.

“If we forcibly stop this revolving door, it will inevitably encounter a great backlash. Just like this.” Han Fulai also picked up his teacup, suddenly shook it vigorously, and then immediately gripped the teacup, causing the water inside to splash out.

"This draft will have such consequences."

Gan Yu smiled gently and replied, "I never intended for this draft to pass."

"Huh? Why did Lady Gan Yu draft this document?" Han Fulai was puzzled. Given Gan Yu's emphasis on efficiency, she would never do anything pointless. Moreover, this draft seemed quite radical and might have a negative impact on the reorganization of Yuehaiting.

"The network of relationships within Moonsea Pavilion is intricate and complex, with numerous scions of prominent families and wealthy merchants. It's almost as if a single move can have far-reaching consequences. About twenty years ago, I tried to suggest to the Seven Stars of Liyue that some redundant staff members be laid off from Moonsea Pavilion. At that time, Moonsea Pavilion had 279 people, and I proposed laying off 24 of them. Guess what happened?" Gan Yu said.

“Twenty-four people, that doesn’t sound too much… but perhaps the Seven Stars didn’t approve of this proposal back then?” Han Fulai guessed.

“No.” Gan Yu shook her head. “Back then, the Seven Stars readily approved the list of 24 people to be laid off, and they actually removed these people from Yuehaiting in the next quarter’s personnel appointments, either by placing them in other departments or by dismissing them directly.”

"Then Lord Gan Yu only needs to proceed gradually to gradually replace redundant personnel," Han Fulai said.

Gan Yu smiled slightly.

"Then Yuehaiting expanded its staff by 49 people in the next quarter. That is to say, I laid off 24 people, while Yuehaiting added 25 people, increasing the total number of people from 279 to 304."

"Isn't this just creating more jobs by laying off more people..." Han Fulai wondered.

Gan Yu rested her chin on her calligraphy brush and recalled, "Because several executive deputy secretaries-general of Yuehai Pavilion and the people associated with the Seven Stars jointly proposed that the grassroots level lacked personnel familiar with the work, making it difficult to carry out the work. So, the Seven Stars kindly recommended seven talented young people to enter Yuehai Pavilion that year. By the way, Xiao Huixin's mother was recommended to Yuehai Pavilion by Tian Shu Star that year."

"...I see." Han Fulai understood. Gan Yu's layoffs would inevitably create some vacant positions. Each secretary in Yuehaiting nominally had their own assigned tasks, so some positions would naturally be short-staffed after the layoffs. Although the layoffs were for redundant staff whose work was not important and could easily be filled by others, procedurally it would still be a vacancy.

The Seven Stars took advantage of this procedural gap to plant their own people in the Moon Sea Pavilion.

—We heard that Miss Gan Yu is going to lay off redundant staff, and we at Seven Stars have agreed to the layoffs. After the layoffs, we suddenly realized that we don't have enough staff at Moon Sea Pavilion. No problem, in order to help Miss Gan Yu, we will send another batch of talented people to help you complete the work! These are not redundant staff, but talented people. It's out of good intentions, Miss Gan Yu, you can't refuse!

As a result, Yuehaiting naturally ended up with more and more employees being laid off, and most of those who came in were people with connections.

But shouldn't Gan Yu be someone who doesn't learn from her mistakes? Doesn't this further illustrate that the layoff plan shouldn't be rushed?

As if seeing through Han Fulai's question, Gan Yu smiled again and said, "Because I have another draft here."

Gan Yu took another document from the file box on the desktop and handed it to Han Fulai.

This draft list includes both dismissals and promotions. It dismisses one executive deputy secretary-general, fifteen deputy secretaries-general, and thirty secretarial assistants, and promotes twelve grassroots staff members, including Huixin, Han Fulai's direct assistant, to deputy secretary-general positions from among the current secretarial assistants.

"I wonder if you've ever been to the Rock Tea House?" Gan Yu asked. "I've been there a few times and learned some very useful card tricks there."

“There’s a regular there named Ye Lan. She’s very skilled; she can read minds. I once saw her deal cards to her opponents with her eyes closed, but she could always guess what cards they had.”

As Gan Yu spoke, she took out two more documents from the file box on the table and placed them face down on the left and right sides of the table.

"Would you choose the left or the right?" she asked.

“Hmm, then the left one,” Han Fulai replied.

"Okay, you chose this yourself."

Gan Yu took the document on the left and left the document on the right for Han Fulai.

“Wait, I chose the one on the left,” Han Fulai protested.

“That’s right, so I took the document from the left side. I only asked you whether you chose the left or the right side, but what I meant was for you to choose which side to give up. Also, since we’re sitting face to face, I can also explain that you chose my left side, not your own.” Gan Yu blinked innocently.

"Now, turn to the document on your right. I predict this is a new reorganization plan for Yuehaiting."

Han Fulai opened the document as instructed, and it was indeed a new draft for the reorganization of Yuehaiting. This was also a reorganization plan with both dismissals and promotions, and it was very similar to the previous one, with only a slight adjustment to the number of deputy secretary-generals and assistant secretaries to be dismissed.

"I understand. No matter which side I choose, I will always end up choosing the side you want me to choose. It seems like I have a choice, but in reality, I don't." Han Fulai clapped his hands in admiration.

Gan Yu tapped the three documents on the desktop with her finger.

"There are three choices for the Liyue Seven Stars, two of which are actually exactly the same."

"And the third one is completely unacceptable. For example, laying off most of the people with connections at Yuehaiting." Han Fulai smiled.

“Yes. Miss Yelan calls it ‘The Magician’s Choice.’ I call it ‘The Civil Servant’s Card Trick,’” Gan Yu said with a smile.

Chapter 86 Gan Yu's Open Scheme

"The 'card trick of the civil servants' is indeed ingenious," Han Fulai couldn't help but exclaim.

Gan Yu still had a smile on her face: "If Yuehaiting can be reorganized smoothly, we will have to thank Mr. Han."

Han Fulai's pupils contracted slightly as he suddenly understood Gan Yu's meaning, and his heart trembled violently!

—It turns out that Gan Yu had already completed his plan long ago!

Gan Yu's methods were truly ingenious.

"The Civil Servant's Card Trick" may seem simple, but it is in essence a profound insight into human nature.

In ancient times, when strategists offered advice to their rulers, they would often present three options: superior, middle, and inferior.

The best strategy yields the greatest benefit but also carries the highest risk; the middle strategy usually strikes a balance between benefit and risk, representing a moderate approach; the worst strategy typically offers the least benefit but also the lowest risk. Rulers generally choose the most moderate yet prudent middle strategy, which allows them to obtain sufficient benefits while accepting the corresponding risks.

When Han Fulai was studying, he wondered why ancient strategists didn't just offer the middle strategy. Knowing that the monarch wouldn't choose a strategy that was too risky or had too little benefit, the best and worst strategies were simply futile.

But having experienced the battle against the Demon God Oser and manipulated the "Prince's Head Offering" plan by leveraging the Emperor's influence, Han Fulai had come to a profound understanding: people only believe what they want to believe. Just as Gan Yu was willing to believe in his strength, the immortals and the Seven Stars were willing to believe he was the Emperor's man. The truth wasn't important; what mattered was making people willing to believe that so-called truth.

Gan Yu offered the Liyue Seven Stars three choices to convince them that the policy was chosen after weighing the pros and cons. When people have choices, they tend to trust their own judgment more.

However, merely seeing this layer is not enough to say that one has grasped the profound meaning of Gan Yu's "card trick." The essence of Gan Yu's actions actually represents the nature of politics—the distribution of interests.

There is a famous saying by a Chinese gentleman: "Politics is about making as many friends as possible and as few enemies as possible."

Whoever represents the fundamental interests of the broadest masses of the people will have the most friends. In other words, whoever provides the most benefits will have the most friends.

The fact that Gan Yu gave the Liyue Sept three draft proposals for them to choose from sent a signal: Gan Yu still respects the Liyue Sept's influence over Moonhall and is willing to give them the right to choose. This willingness to respect their influence and give them the right to choose means that Gan Yu will continue to protect the Sept's interests, as long as they don't oppose Gan Yu.

If the Seven Stars can't see through this "card trick," that's fine. But even if they do, they have no choice but to choose according to Gan Yu's wishes. That's the true purpose of this "card trick"—to force a choice!

Regardless of which option Qixing chooses, they cannot ignore the fact that Gan Yu intends to reorganize Yuehaiting and discontinue its "revolving door" system. Such reforms will inevitably harm the interests of wealthy merchant families and Qixing itself. To avoid further damage to their interests, Qixing must accept the option offered by Gan Yu.

Gan Yu deliberately drafted a proposal to dismiss half of Yue Haiting's associates and showed it to Qi Xing. The meaning was clear—based on her personnel authority, she could go this far. Although the consequences would be severe, she could completely disregard them and implement the plan without discussion, because she had that authority.

Therefore, these three drafts were actually three steps Gan Yu set up for the Seven Stars, so that the Seven Stars could gracefully back down and avoid bringing the conflict into the open. Gan Yu proposed a plan, the Seven Stars made a choice, everything followed the procedure, everyone was happy and harmonious, a successful meeting was held, and Liyue remained prosperous and stable.

Just as ancient strategists offered monarchs three strategies—superior, middle, and inferior—the most important thing wasn't letting the monarch choose which strategy to use; the choice itself was unimportant. What mattered was respecting the monarch's right to choose. The strategy itself wasn't important to the monarch; the power to choose the strategy was.

The duty of a strategist is to assist the monarch, just as the duty of Yue Haiting's secretary is to assist the Seven Stars.

With the emperor abdicated, the people's hearts are restless. Under such circumstances, how useful can Gan Yu's hard-won power over personnel appointments at Yuehai Pavilion be?

The political balance between the Liyue Septim and the Liyue Asuras remains fragile. Although Gan Yu has gained full control over personnel at Moonsea Pavilion, the power of the Liyue Asuras she represents has declined to its lowest point with the Emperor's retirement. Even though the Liyue leadership knows the Emperor is not dead, they also know he cannot easily return to power.

It's like everyone knows Liyue is the "Land of Contracts," and everyone talks about "respecting contracts," but very few actually put it into practice. Sellers offering inferior goods, unscrupulous merchants cutting corners, powerful families engaging in forced sales, and officials abusing their power—these are all commonplace in Liyue. Liyue was like this even when the Emperor was in power; now that he has abdicated, it's easy to imagine how much binding force these so-called "contracts" still hold.

Under such circumstances, Gan Yu dared to make reforms to reorganize Yuehaiting and dared to let the Seven Stars make choices according to her wishes, precisely because of the arrow that Han Fulai gave her at Qunyu Pavilion! The merit of this arrow was completely transformed by Gan Yu into her political influence.

Han Fulai had now completely connected the arrangements that Gan Yu had made before and after the invocation ceremony.

Looking back, Gan Yu remained very silent throughout the entire process of the invocation ceremony, as if he hadn't done anything. But in reality, he did everything perfectly, and he used perfectly legitimate and impeccable strategies!

With the Golden House ceasing production, Gan Yu, who had been preparing for "the day the Emperor is no longer here," anticipated that the Emperor would abdicate and began her scheme.

Gan Yu's first step in preparation was to trade with Ning Guang for the personnel authority of Yuehaiting before the Immortal Invitation Ceremony, thereby obtaining the legal authority needed for reform and gaining political allies among the Seven Stars.

During the Summoning Ceremony, Gan Yu disappeared at the same time that the Geo Archon abandoned the Celestial Ancestor's physical body, precisely to prepare for her second step—to seize control of Liyue. With the Archon absent, Liyue's strongest force comes from the various immortals.

Since Gan Yu had already seen through the fact that the Emperor was faking his death, given her gentle nature, she should have told the immortals this fact to reassure them and encourage them to remain calm. Her return to Liyue Harbor was only to deal with any potential unrest.

However, Gan Yu did not do anything to appease the Seven Stars, allowing the Liyue Cult members, including her master Liu Yun Jie Feng Zhen Jun, to interrogate them. In essence, she was telling the Seven Stars that the Liyue Cult members had the ability to overthrow the Seven Stars' rule. Besides cooperating with the Emperor's performance, she was also increasing her own political capital.

While Gan Yu was blocking the Demon God Oser at Qunyu Pavilion, he was also making his final preparations. If Ning Guang smashed down Qunyu Pavilion and became the one who made the greatest contribution to defeating Oser, then Gan Yu would use Ning Guang's status as a political ally and combine it with his own military strength to gain political influence and complete the reform of Moonsea Pavilion. If the Emperor transferred immortal power to strengthen the immortals present, then Gan Yu would of course join forces with the immortals to defeat Oser, and use this as a foundation to let the immortals rule Liyue.

With this, preparations for the reorganization of Yuehaiting were fully completed, and the Seven Stars could no longer prevent Gan Yu from becoming the true master of Yuehaiting.

In other words, on the very first day Han Fulai transmigrated to Liyue, Gan Yu had already foreseen the reorganization of the Moonsea Pavilion today!

Han Fulai's actions, which attributed the victory over Osael to Gan Yu, propelled Gan Yu's reputation and political capital to unprecedented heights. Even the storytellers of Liyue Harbor were recounting the power of Gan Yu's single arrow. That's why Gan Yu thanked Han Fulai for his help just now.

This means that Gan Yu is now Liyue's military representative and the greatest hero in protecting Liyue Harbor. And Han Fulai, the second-in-command on-site, is her personal secretary.

After the ceremony of sending off the immortals was completed and the Emperor officially abdicated, Gan Yu had obtained four major elements: "allies," "legal principles," "strength," and "reputation." It can be said that as long as she wanted, she was the de facto master of Liyue!

Yet Gan Yu, still acting as Liyue's secretary, made suggestions to the Seven Stars of Liyue, balancing the political situation in Liyue, and always acting with discretion—everything she did was ultimately for the purpose of protecting Liyue Harbor and seeking the greatest well-being for the people of Liyue.

Han Fulai stood up and bowed deeply to Gan Yu with genuine sincerity: "It is my honor, Han Fulai, to be able to help Lord Gan Yu."

Chapter 87 Scholar Maocai, I'll borrow your head for a moment.

Han Fulai's respect for Gan Yu at this moment was genuine.

Although Gan Yu did not actually teach him in class, she genuinely taught Han Fulai a lesson through her words and deeds, making him realize that there was still much for him to learn.

Han Fulai had already experienced firsthand just how terrifying the executive secretary who had stood firm at Yuehai Pavilion for three thousand years truly was.

—And what about the Geo Archon who has ruled Liyue for 3,700 years? How far can Zhongli's vision extend?

Only now did Han Fulai understand the true meaning behind Zhongli's words about "those who break their promises will be punished by eating the rocks" that he had specifically mentioned to him in the Yanshang Tea Room yesterday. Zhongli had already seen that he was getting a little arrogant and was subtly reminding him not to become complacent after achieving some small success; compared to Gan Yu, he was still far behind. At the same time, Zhongli was also reminding him that his greatest reliance at present was actually his contractor, Gan Yu.

Han Fulai actually possesses the arrogance of a small-town exam-taker. To put it nicely, he's aloof and only ever thinks about relying on his own strength; he won't consider others' help unless absolutely necessary.

While studying at Huaxia University, Han Fulai had already started to support himself through scholarships and part-time jobs. After graduation, he supported himself entirely with his salary. Even when he spent all his living expenses on gifts for his ex-girlfriend, he never asked his family for support.

After transmigrating to Liyue, he adhered to his principle of repaying kindness. Gan Yu gave him work, so he worked diligently; Zhi Ruo had given him a meal, so he repaid her by revitalizing the Gu Hua Sect; Yan Fei took him in, so he wrote her an IOU and helped her solve cases; Ning Guang did him a favor, so he helped Ning Guang repay the Emperor's favor...

Even though he was intentionally trying to curry favor with Zhongli, Han Fulai insisted that the way he did so had to look cool. He couldn't just rely on Zhongli for nothing; he had to do something to prove his worth.

So far, he has never actually asked anyone for a favor.

However, he truly needed Gan Yu's support for the revitalization of the Guhua Sect. Previously, he had considered helping Gan Yu complete the Yuehaiting reorganization plan and making some exchanges to gain Gan Yu's support. Now, he no longer thought that way.

He realized that Gan Yu's abilities far surpassed his own; in fact, it was Gan Yu who had been taking care of him all along. Honestly asking Gan Yu for help was the only thing he should do.

Han Fulai bowed his head deeply and earnestly requested, "Lord Gan Yu, I have a private matter I would like to ask for your help with."

Gan Yu shook her head expressionlessly.

“I’m sorry, I can help with official business. But as the executive secretary of Yuehai Pavilion, it would be arouse suspicion of abusing my power to help my subordinates with personal matters. Yuehai Pavilion is undergoing reforms, and I need to set an example.”

Although Han Fulai was disappointed, he understood Gan Yu's actions. Gan Yu was known for her selflessness, always kept public and private matters separate, and lived a very simple life. She had not even owned any property in Liyue Harbor.

The secretaries at Yuehaiting all knew that Senior Gan Yu was a kind person who never hesitated to spend time guiding and helping his subordinates complete official duties—but only official duties. Gan Yu never interfered in personal matters, and of course, no one would bother Gan Yu to do personal things for them.

"It was my subordinate's rudeness..."

Han Fulai was about to apologize when Gan Yu interrupted him.

"But that's because you asked the wrong person..."

Han Fulai looked up in surprise, only to see Gan Yu propping her chin up with the handle of a calligraphy brush, looking out the window with her face turned to the side, deliberately avoiding eye contact with Han Fulai.

“If you’re not asking about ‘Lord Gan Yu’ of Yuehai Pavilion, but someone who happens to also be named Gan Yu, and is a like-minded…good friend of yours, she would be happy to help you.” Her voice was soft, as if she were talking to herself, but her cheeks were flushed.

"So that's how it is," Han Fulai said with a knowing smile.

"Well... Gan Yu, I'd like to ask you to do something for me," Han Fulai said.

Gan Yu turned her face and looked at Han Fulai with a smile, "Speak, what is it?"

"I would like to ask you to help me revitalize the Guhua School," Han Fulai replied.

"Revitalize the Ancient Chinese School? What does the Ancient Chinese School have to do with you?" Gan Yu asked curiously.

Han Fulai nodded and replied, "Gan Yu... Gan Yu, you know, I was summoned from China, not from the Teyvat continent."

After hearing him recount his background, Gan Yu understood his meaning: "Could it be that Gu Hua is yours...?"

"They are... fellow townsmen of mine. I only learned about this from a conversation between the Emperor and me yesterday." Han Fulai said, recounting the relevant matters concerning Gu Hua to Gan Yu in detail, omitting, of course, his criticisms of Gu Hua.

"...So in order to explore the secrets left behind by my fellow townsman, and to repay the kindness of Miss Zhiruo, I am determined to revitalize the Guhua School."

"I see." Gan Yu nodded. "But, I wonder how I can help Mr. Han?"

"Lady Gan Yu forbids me from calling her Lady Gan Yu, but she still calls me Mr. Han," Han Fulai said deliberately.

"Ah..." Gan Yu gently covered her mouth.

“My old friends used to call me ‘Han Fei’ or ‘Bandit,’” Han Fulai laughed. “In China, the pronunciation of ‘Fulai’ is similar to the pronunciation of ‘flying.’ And the homonym for ‘Han Fei’ is ‘Bandit.’”

"Han Fei, a bandit..." Gan Yu repeated it twice and laughed, "His name is bandit, but he doesn't look like a treasure-hunting gang at all."