PFC Chapter 47 Self-Reliance
Chapter 47 Self-Reliance
Li Sheng asked with delight.
"How long have you been serving in the pavilion?"
Li Zili straightened his back a bit and spoke steadily.
"I am not a post station soldier, but I was adopted by an old post station soldier when I was young and grew up in the post station. I just had my coming-of-age ceremony this year and turned twenty."
He spoke these words in a calm tone, as if his humble origins were not something to be ashamed of.
Li Sheng looked at him and remained silent for a moment.
"Since you grew up in this pavilion, you should be quite familiar with the affairs here, right?"
Li Zili's eyes lit up slightly, but his expression remained respectful.
"Reporting to the pavilion chief, I am somewhat familiar with all the affairs of the pavilion, including registering travelers, organizing documents, inventorying supplies, and knowing the locations of each village. If the pavilion chief does not mind, I am willing to share the burden for you."
When he said he "knew a little," his tone was calm, but the composure and confidence in his eyes told Li Sheng that he knew far more than just "a little."
"It seems we've truly discovered a hidden talent."
Looking at Li Zili's expression, Li Sheng nodded inwardly.
He started from a low point and lacked management talent. Although he had already trained more than a hundred militiamen in Dongping Village, only a little over a month had passed and he hadn't seen any obvious results yet.
This meant that during this period he had to do things personally and rely on his own abilities to change the world.
No matter how strong an individual's abilities are, the scope of their influence is ultimately limited, which is why he has been confined to Dongpingli and unable to expand and grow.
Of course, this period of time is not meaningless.
He has already selected twenty-four promising local militia brothers from within Dongping Village, including Liu Wu, Li Feng, and Liu Lu. They are loyal to him and have a firm belief in Taiping Huangtian.
He had managed to make the entire Dongpingli neighborhood a monolithic entity, and he had completely seized power at the grassroots level.
Having tasted the power firsthand, Li Sheng became even more eager to seize more power.
This was not driven by personal desires, but rather by the ability to use power to free his thoughts from the constraints of the flesh and to make greater changes.
The new look of Dongpingli, which is different from other townships, is the result of his ideological practice.
Seeing Li Zili's confident demeanor, Li Sheng nodded and turned to walk into the duty room.
"Come in, and tell me about this Siyang Pavilion."
Li Zili responded and quickly followed, his steps light and steady, as if he had been waiting for this day for a long time.
Liu Lu lagged behind, watching that figure from behind, and whispered to Li Shi.
"Brother Shi, this guy... he's got something."
Li Shi didn't speak, but stared intently in that direction and nodded slightly.
The duty room was small, with a table and a chair, and two wooden shelves against the wall, on which were piled some bamboo slips and wooden tablets.
A ceramic pot sits by the window, with several rough ceramic bowls upside down next to it.
Li Sheng sat down in the main seat and casually flipped through the documents on the table.
Although the paper was rough, the handwriting was neat. Most of the records were of passersby, such as the date, where so-and-so came from, where they were going, and what they were carrying.
The records are scattered, the most recent being more than half a month ago.
"Did you write all of this down?"
Li Sheng looked up at Li Zili, who was standing respectfully beside him.
"Yes, it was me who wrote it down, Pavilion Chief."
Li Zili answered frankly.
"The previous headman disliked these trivial matters, so he entrusted them to me. Although I am not well-versed in poetry and literature, I can recognize most characters, so I am using this as a record-keeping tool. I hope the headman will forgive my poor performance."
Li Sheng offered no comment, but simply put the document back in its place.
"Tell me about this Siyang Pavilion."
"Yes, as you, the pavilion chief, surely know, our Siyang Pavilion administers ten villages. The southernmost one is your Dongping Village, and the northernmost one is..."
He paused.
"The northernmost part is Xiangyangli, where Wangjiawubao was recently captured by bandits. The post station is located in the center of the station's jurisdiction. Five li to the north is Xiangyangli, and five li to the south is Dongpingli. The other eight li are scattered around these four areas."
As he spoke, he traced a rough map in the air with his finger.
"The pavilion has a quota of ten guards, responsible for patrolling, apprehending thieves, and receiving travelers. However, the actual number is always insufficient. When the previous pavilion chief was in office, there were only five or six guards, and most of them were...mostly placed there by wealthy households in various villages. The ones who actually did the work were these lowly errand boys..."
He spoke the words "placement of wealthy households" in a flat tone, but the meaning was crystal clear.
Those so-called guards were nothing more than figureheads who were paid without working.
Li Sheng nodded, remaining expressionless.
"What happened to the supplies in the pavilion?"
Li Zili's lips twitched slightly, revealing an almost helpless expression.
"The pavilion didn't have much to begin with. The guardhouse, side rooms, and stables were all old houses that had been there for many years, leaking and drafty. The armory had seven or eight ring-pommel swords, a dozen or so spears, and four small wooden shields. There were three or four bows and arrows, but they hadn't been maintained for years and were probably not very useful."
He sighed.
"When the previous headman was in charge, he didn't care about these things either. The guards slept in the pavilion during the day and went home at night. If a passerby came, they were lucky to get a sip of hot water; most of the time, they couldn't even find a soul in sight."
Li Sheng did not show any surprise after hearing this.
He had already inquired about the general situation of Siyang Pavilion from Liu Wu, and what he saw and heard today was simply confirming those hearsay reports.
"You just said that you were adopted by an old soldier and grew up in the pavilion?"
Li Sheng then changed the subject.
Li Zili paused for a moment, then nodded, his tone tinged with nostalgia.
"Yes. My adoptive father's surname was Li. He was an old soldier at Siyang Pavilion. He had no wife or children. He took pity on me and brought me back to raise me. He died of an epidemic at the end of last year, and I... have been staying here ever since."
Li Sheng understood the unspoken meaning in his words.
An orphan without parents was adopted and raised by an old pavilion soldier. He served one generation after another of the pavilion chiefs and soldiers who were just getting by, and he also had to greet the travelers from the north and south with a smile.
His keen eye and his sense of propriety were honed in these difficult circumstances.
"You can read, who taught you?"
"My adoptive father taught me. He worked in the county when he was young and knew a few characters, so he taught them to me."
As Li Zili spoke, he suddenly laughed self-deprecatingly.
"My adoptive father often said that once I learned to read, he would help me find a way to make a living in the county after I came of age, but unfortunately..."
The duty room was quiet for a moment.
Liu Lu stood at the door, unusually refraining from interrupting, but watching Li Zili's back with a hint of admiration in his eyes.
Li Sheng stood up and walked to the window.
Outside the window was the courtyard of the inn, the rammed earth ground was firmly trodden, a few clumps of wild grass grew in the corner of the wall, and in the cowshed, a bull was swishing its tail and eating the fodder in the trough.
Judging from his words, Li Zili was in charge of almost all the affairs of Siyang Pavilion, and he maintained them in a fairly good manner, making him a promising talent.
"He's self-reliant and independent; his adoptive father, however, treats him with great care."
Li Sheng finally remembered the person whose name differed from Li Zili by only one character. That person was Li Zicheng, the "Chuang King" of later generations. Both of them started as lowly soldiers and were quite capable.
So Li Sheng turned to him and said solemnly.
"Li Zili".
"I'm here."
"I aspire to achieve great deeds and maintain peace in my hometown. I observe that you possess great talent; would you be willing to join me on this path?"
Upon hearing Li Sheng's words, Li Zili raised his head and looked straight at him. His usually respectful eyes seemed to be flickering with fire.
He had been waiting for these words for a long time.