"City Lord, you can't be joking, can you? If we fully help Rongcheng rebuild, Yuzhou will have no energy to deal with other matters!" Yang Ye said seriously to Shen Feng.
Zhou Xiaoxiao also said seriously, "Group Leader, you must calm down. I know your hometown is in Rongcheng, but you also have to consider us in Yuzhou. We fully support helping Rongcheng rebuild, but going all out is too much! Yuzhou and Rongcheng are hundreds of kilometers apart. Even if it's rebuilt, what will Yuzhou get? Instead, it's a waste of time and energy, and we can't do anything else!"
Shen Feng still said seriously, "I understand all the reasoning you've stated. I also know that it's very unreasonable for Yuzhou to fully help Rongcheng, because even though Yuzhou is a paradise now, while other places are plunged into famine and war, Yuzhou can maintain stability, and its people have a peaceful living environment. But unknowingly, you have become too comfortable, to the point of being conservative."
Upon hearing Shen Feng's words, everyone fell silent, not because they were convinced by Shen Feng, but because they were thinking about how to refute his points. In many people's eyes, Yuzhou being a paradise was the best thing. When other places were chaotic, it was good for Yuzhou to live a stable life. What was wrong with that?
Guo Pinming also spoke up, "City Lord, if I remember correctly, when the Half-Immortal was critically ill, he had a heart-to-heart talk with you. He asked you about your choice of expansion at a critical moment. I wonder what the Half-Immortal said then?"
Everyone was reminded by this statement. Many people were not present during the conversation between Shen Feng and Dan Zhengming, but later they heard rumors that the conversation was about Yuzhou's future direction. Many people heard about this at the time and thought it was unnecessary worry, but now the time to choose had truly arrived.
Shen Feng looked at Yu Zhijing, who was still sitting on a chair. "Yu Zhijing, you should explain this matter! You were present at the time!"
Everyone then turned their gaze to Yu Zhijing. Yu Zhijing did not show any timidity and stood up, carefully recounting the conversation that had taken place in the hospital room.
However, after hearing the conversation, everyone couldn't help but laugh. Many people felt that Shen Feng seemed confused at this moment. The Half-Immortal had clearly said to go down the river and occupy Jingxiang, but Shen Feng wanted to do the opposite. Wasn't this going against the Half-Immortal's advice?
"City Lord, are you too tired? The Half-Immortal clearly told Yuzhou to seize the Three Gorges at the opportune moment and then control Jingxiang. Now you want to do the opposite. According to the Half-Immortal's explanation, after entering Sichuan Province, we won't be able to get out for a long time. Isn't this trapping ourselves?" Yang Chang couldn't help but ask.
Shen Feng said indifferently, "The reason I say these things is actually to let you know that sticking to one place easily leads to conservatism. When facing expansion, you must do it without hesitation. As for what the Half-Immortal said, it's just a reference, not a dogma. If in the future you only do things that are written in a little notebook, it would be too foolish."
Upon hearing Shen Feng's explanation, everyone couldn't help but say, "City Lord, since your intention is that it's time for Yuzhou to expand, what will we do after entering Sichuan Province? We have never prepared to occupy Sichuan Province. And there's one last question: how will we get out after entering Sichuan Province?"
Shen Feng said, "Isn't it simple to get out? It's the era of high technology now. Building bridges and roads is no longer a difficult task. As long as we have enough strength, we can go in any direction, north, south, east, or west. Except for the west, where there are high snow mountains that are difficult to traverse, the other three directions are fine."
"City Lord, you are too idealistic. We don't have enough strength to control Sichuan Province. Rebuilding Rongcheng is already a difficult task. Occupying Sichuan Province in the future might take more than ten years. This is simply not worth it!" someone continued to persuade Shen Feng.
"What's wrong with taking more than ten years? The world is in ruins everywhere now. On the contrary, Sichuan Province is a basin, where it's easy to cultivate and defend. As long as we can digest it, we will surely have greater prestige. Don't you all want to go further?" Shen Feng retorted.
To persuade Yuzhou to give up huge benefits, one must give them enough hope. Only by letting the people of Yuzhou know that investing in rebuilding Rongcheng now is for better future benefits will they not oppose it. This is the best method Shen Feng could think of: letting these people know that if they want to share the cake, they must help make it.
Seeing that everyone still wanted to argue, Chang Jianyi wanted to help her husband persuade others, so she directly said, "It's useless for everyone to continue arguing. Why don't we vote?"
Upon hearing this suggestion, everyone nodded in agreement, because they believed that if it was just a vote, their side would have the majority.
Chang Jianyi smiled slightly when she saw everyone agreeing and couldn't help but say, "Since everyone has agreed, I will now convene tens of thousands of people from the City Lord's Mansion to vote. I believe the voting statistics can be completed within two hours."
The people in the conference room were speechless upon hearing this answer. They never expected that at such an important moment, Chang Jianyi would still play word games with them. Logically, voting should only involve the eighty or ninety important figures in the conference room, but Chang Jianyi deliberately did not clarify, causing everyone to misunderstand, and only at the end did she say it was a vote of all official employees of the City Lord's Mansion.
If everyone in the City Lord's Mansion voted together, the outcome was a foregone conclusion. For many years, Chang Jianyi had been managing the affairs of the City Lord's Mansion. Regardless of spring, summer, autumn, or winter, Chang Jianyi was basically in Yuzhou and rarely went out. In the hearts of countless employees, she was the absolute leader. If she initiated a vote now, it would definitely result in an overwhelming advantage.
"The Deputy City Lord is still like this. Back in school, she liked to play voting tricks. I didn't expect that now that she's the Deputy City Lord, she'd still use such small tactics," Cao Fuli whispered to the people around him after hearing this.
Cao Fuli had followed Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi for a long time, so he naturally knew what tricks Shen Feng and Chang Jianyi had used before. At that time, Chang Jianyi liked to use voting as a means to gain support. He himself had even acted as a hype man, leading the crowd in shouting support. However, more than ten years had passed, and Chang Jianyi hadn't changed at all; she still used her small tactics.
Shen Feng looked at Chang Jianyi beside him, his face filled with relief. At critical moments, the person standing by his side was always his dear senior sister. Having such a wife was a great fortune.
Shen Feng had almost single-handedly dealt with everyone's questions earlier. Many people in Yuzhou did not want to invest too much in Sichuan Province, but Chang Jianyi's intervention changed everything.
"Now everyone go to the square and prepare to vote. All staff currently working in the Yuzhou City Lord's Mansion can vote," Chang Jianyi said with a smile.
The crowd could not stop Chang Jianyi's decision, so they prepared to go vote. However, many people were quietly discussing, "Let's all give orders to our subordinates not to vote for expansion into Sichuan Province. As long as we unite, we can definitely stop the City Lord's impulsive behavior."
This kind of speech was quickly agreed upon by everyone. They had the same idea: brothers united can break gold. Now, as long as they united, the small tricks of the City Lord and Deputy City Lord would be useless.
Therefore, many people went to secretly instruct their subordinates not to support the City Lord's decision and to choose the option of staying in Yuzhou. After half an hour, everyone gathered in the square to prepare for the vote.
Tu Xuhuai remained silent while these people were discussing. The intelligent him had already realized something was wrong, so he chose to do nothing.
Shen Feng couldn't help but ask Chang Jianyi in a low voice, "Are you confident about this vote?"
Chang Jianyi leaned close to Shen Feng's ear and said, "I've been using these tactics for over ten years. If I weren't confident, would I dare to do this?"
Upon hearing this, Shen Feng was relieved. Indeed, his senior sister's calculations were very formidable. Since she said she was confident, he should trust her completely.
When the voting began, there were two banners in the square. The banners read "Full Rescue of Rongcheng" and "Invest in Rongcheng as Much as Possible." Below the banners were two large buckets. Voters would receive a yellow bean and then participate in the vote by throwing the bean into the bucket, completing the ritual.
Originally, many high-ranking officials in Yuzhou were very confident because they believed their subordinates would not dare to betray them. Otherwise, they would make their subordinates suffer in the future. Everyone had to consider their future prospects and could not recklessly support Shen Feng's recklessness.
However, as soon as the voting began, countless people from the City Lord's Mansion chose to support Shen Feng's decision. They all threw beans under the banner of "Full Rescue of Rongcheng." The beans made a "ding-ding-dang-dang" sound as they fell into the buckets.
The originally confident high-ranking officials of Yuzhou were all greatly surprised. They never expected such a thing to happen. Their subordinates actually disobeyed their orders and all voted for Shen Feng's decision. Soon, Shen Feng's bucket was full of beans, and people had to switch to another large bucket. The banner on the other side had only a third of its bucket filled with beans.
"Why is this happening? The people under my department are not listening to me at all. Are they trying to sideline me?" someone muttered to himself.
Tu Xuhuai had already anticipated this scene. He then quietly explained to the people around him, "You have all been pampered for the past few years and have failed to notice one thing: the majority of people in the City Lord's Mansion are from orphanages. These children from orphanages are arranged in various industries after they grow up. These people are practically fanatical followers of Shen Feng. They are educated every day to be loyal to the City Lord. At this critical moment, of course, they will vote for the City Lord."
As soon as he said this, everyone was enlightened. They suddenly understood why this was happening. Many of their subordinates were from orphanages, and Shen Feng had immense prestige among the children in the orphanages. These children trusted Shen Feng completely, so naturally, they would vote for Shen Feng now.
"Tu Xuhuai, you scoundrel, why didn't you say so earlier? If these people report to the Deputy City Lord, we'll be in trouble from now on," someone said anxiously.
"Don't worry, your every move has already been known by the Deputy City Lord. She is just warning us this time, telling us not to oppose rashly in the future. She and the City Lord have strong prestige among the grassroots. They won't retaliate," Tu Xuhuai said calmly. He was proficient in the art of ruling and had already understood this point.