No Directions Without Money (Please Recommend and Bookmark)

No Directions Without Money (Please Recommend and Bookmark)

The governor remained silent longer than ever before. In the end, he did not agree, merely told Lin Wen to leave.

That vague attitude proved that even the leader was unsure. He probably needed to weigh it carefully again, or seek instructions from above.

Lin Wen could not be bothered with so much. After completing the relevant appointment formalities at the Governor-General's Office, he took a special car back to Long Mountain Commandery.

This time, he had to make good use of this position and farm Good Karma like mad.

Lin Wen thought to himself.

Good Karma was the root of everything. It could add flowers to brocade and send charcoal in snow; it could send one soaring to the heavens in a single step, and it could serve as a safety net.

As long as he had enough Good Karma, nothing would be a problem.

Then he could look for a chance to achieve a perfect reincarnation.

If reincarnation could be achieved early, that would be best. It would spare him the suffering of being tempered in the mortal world, lest dust cloud his Dao heart and ashes settle upon his spiritual altar.

If there was no opportunity, that was fine too. He could treat it as another form of hardship and cultivation.

In any case, when he cultivated immortality in the future, he would probably be unable to escape this trial of tempering in the mortal world.

Third, he needed to find more ways to die. If he truly found an especially outstanding death that could replace Star of Salvation and Duty-Bound Person, changing targets would not be impossible.

With his thoughts settled, Lin Wen studied [Immortal's Guide] for a while longer and asked quite a few questions, but unfortunately gained nothing.

For example:

"How can I become the prefect of Long Mountain Commandery perfectly, without making any mistakes at all?"

19600 Good Karma required.

"What is the way to make everyone in Long Mountain Commandery become rich overnight?"

92021812 Good Karma required.

"How can I use the prefect's authority to maximize my Good Karma?"

Content does not exist. No answer.

Damn it!

After returning to Long Mountain Commandery, Lin Wen's workplace moved from Changle Town to Huai Town. This was a town with modern civilization and the capital of Long Mountain Commandery. Its facilities were far better than those in Changle Town.

The appointment from the Governor-General's Office had long since arrived at the Commandery Administrative Office and the prefect's office. Yet when Lin Wen arrived, only a few low-ranking clerks came out to welcome him. Not a single official from the Commandery Administrative Office was in sight, and no one handed over the work to him.

Lin Wen did not care. He dismissed everyone and went straight to the prefect's office to look through the files.

He remained there for three days.

Lin Wen read through all the documents in the prefect's office, then went to the Long Mountain Commandery archives and flipped through records from the past ten years. Of course, there was too much material to finish in a short time, so he only skimmed the main contents.

He had gained a preliminary understanding of Long Mountain Commandery's basic situation. It truly deserved to be called the poorest region in the Empire. Last year, the entire commandery had produced 89,000 ten-thousand Imperial yuan.

That sounded like quite a lot, but Long Mountain Commandery had 1.3 million people. The average output per person was only 680 yuan. If that gross output was calculated the same way GDP had been in his previous life, then its per capita GDP was an astonishing 680 Imperial yuan.

It was not even one-tenth of what Africa's black uncles had. Compared to his own dynasty, one would probably have to look before liberation.

And in reality, because the mountainous regions were remote and there were many areas difficult to count, Long Mountain Commandery should have had 1.4 to 1.5 million people. Calculated that way, it was even lower.

No wonder when he asked [Immortal's Guide] what Long Mountain Commandery needed most.

The answer was only one word—[Money].

Among the prefect's documents Lin Wen had read over the past few days, what he saw most often were Long Mountain Commandery development plans that had been halted or shelved, along with even more drafts that had only been half-written. Most of them had been the work of the previous prefect, Zhao Anping.

There was only one reason they had been abandoned.

Insufficient funds. Impossible to implement.

Sure enough, in every world, the only incurable disease was poverty.

It seemed that if Lin Wen wanted to farm Good Karma like mad, the first thing he needed to do was get money.

There was no hope to place on the East Qin Provincial Governor's Office anymore. Sheng Huaixuan had told him clearly: "I simply won't give it to you."

Moreover, based on the information Lin Wen currently had, the Empire itself was also extremely short of funds, with enormous gaps in every area. Though Long Mountain Commandery was a top-tier impoverished region that ought to receive support, among the many children crying to be fed, it was clearly not the one crying the loudest.

Long Mountain Commandery received only 600,000 Imperial yuan in fixed support funds from the Empire each year, which came to merely 46 yuan per person. Even as the area most severely affected by disaster this year, only 100,000 Imperial yuan in post-disaster reconstruction funds had arrived. The overwhelming majority of the money remained nowhere in sight.

Now, the Commandery Administrative Office had zero funds on its books.

The Empire could not be counted on either.

He could only find a way to get money himself.

Lin Wen was truly not good at making money, but when he thought of the 300,000 disaster victims waiting for Long Mountain Commandery to help rebuild their homes, his heart burned with heat.

Other policies might get messed up, but rebuilding homes had to be right, did it not?

How much Good Karma would rebuilding homes for 300,000 people bring him?

Though the policy had been decided long ago, due to lack of funds and a series of problems such as flood cleanup, the reconstruction plan had been forced to stop almost as soon as work began.

The disaster victims could only be temporarily placed in resettlement sites.

If I can get the money, rebuilding homes for 300,000 people should count as a huge achievement, right?

Lin Wen thought.

Giving me eight hundred or a thousand Good Karma should be no problem, right?

After so many days of practice, research, and hard charging, Lin Wen had also figured out some of the mechanisms for gaining Good Karma. Put simply, it depended on how large a role he played in the matter.

For example, in guarding the dike, he had indeed earned the foremost credit, but not all the credit. Others had transported supplies—without them, how could he guard it empty-handed?

He had not become an immortal yet!

If there were transporters, what about the people who built the dike? If no one built it, what would he guard?

After all that was counted, the Good Karma was naturally thinned out considerably. There was nothing to be done about it. He could not take on everything himself; he could only maximize profits as much as possible.

For instance, assigning ten laborers to haul dirt instead of having them come help him guard the dike was maximizing profits. Guarding the dike definitely earned more credit than transporting supplies from the rear.

And now, as long as he got the money, that would be maximizing profits.

The question was, how would he get it? Where would he get it?

Lin Wen first sought help from [Immortal's Guide].

"How can I obtain, in the shortest possible time, the money needed to rebuild homes that will bring the greatest happiness to 300,000 people?"

Lin Wen had carefully prepared this question. It was somewhat tongue-twisting, forcing him to repeat it twice.

981092 Good Karma required.

Damn it!

Lin Wen now greatly disliked this spell because it always messed with his mindset like this. If he was not careful, an enormous cost would appear, glaring at him like an eyesore.

He changed the question repeatedly, but did not get a single answer with a normal cost.

Just as he was at his wit's end, another document arrived from the Governor-General's Office.

This time, it was delivered by the governor's special car.

When the special car arrived in Huai Town, it did so with tremendous pomp. Officials from the Commandery Administrative Office surged out in a wave. Lin Wen heard the roar and came out as well, only then discovering that there were actually so many people here. When he looked up, he was instantly stunned.

It was the most ostentatious car Lin Wen had ever seen in his life.

It was a gigantic vehicle three meters tall and seven meters long, surrounded like stars paying homage to the moon by more than ten normal-sized luxury sedans.

The massive car was covered in extravagant decorations—treasured swords, scepters, deer heads, wind chimes, and more. A picture was painted on each side of the body: flourishing flowers and brocade-feathered pheasants on the left, a lion king among a hundred beasts on the right. The entire vehicle was a riot of purples and reds, its colors competing in splendor, so bizarre that words failed him.

But no one present saw it that way. They stood by the road respectfully and tremblingly, scarcely daring to raise their heads. Lin Wen even felt they wanted nothing more than to kneel and welcome the sacred presence.

The giant car's doors opened. The first person to step out was not Governor Sheng Huaixuan, but a stern, thin, tall man.

Lin Wen was a little disappointed. Not the governor.

A bald man from the crowd went up to greet him and immediately gave a 180-degree bow so deep that even a Japanese man would fall silent. "Commandery Administrative Office Director Li Tupu respectfully welcomes Secretary Cheng's arrival..."

Secretary Cheng did not even look at him. A burly man in black beside him shoved Li Tupu away, then walked toward Lin Wen and stopped before him.

Secretary Cheng fixed Lin Wen with a cold gaze and raised his white-gloved right hand. A strong man solemnly removed a document with a golden dragon-patterned seal from a black briefcase, placed it on a tray covered in red brocade, then handed it to Secretary Cheng.

Everyone's gaze was drawn to that document, as though it were a massive pile of gold, silver, and jewels.

"Hello, Prefect Lin. I am Cheng Hexin, the governor's chief secretary."

Secretary Cheng spoke slowly and unhurriedly, with his mannerisms laid on thick.

"This is the document for Long Mountain Commandery's Special Pacification Authority, specially approved by the Empire, signed by His Majesty, and sealed by the governor."

He raised the tray with both hands and presented it before Lin Wen.

Lin Wen extended his right hand, which was covered in unidentified grime, and immediately heard a heavy cough.

A beautiful female secretary wearing a blue silk scarf circled behind Lin Wen and personally put white silk gloves with hollow patterns on him, tied a diamond-studded ceremonial sash with gold-edged cloud patterns around him, and draped a purple-flowered, gold-threaded cloak over his shoulders. Then two ceremonial hostesses stood on either side of him and lightly supported his elbows.

Seeing Lin Wen still standing there stupidly, Secretary Cheng gave a soft snort and said quietly, "You may proceed, Prefect Lin."

Only then did Lin Wen snap awake from his daze. He reached out with both hands and took the document from the tray, and in an instant countless flashes nearly blinded his dog eyes.

Fortunately, the two ceremonial hostesses behind him tightly gripped his elbows, allowing him to maintain a dignified pose.

After the flashes ended, Secretary Cheng finally revealed the faintest smile. "Congratulations, Prefect Lin. This is the first time the Empire has granted Pacification Authority to an inland region without unrest or war. Your name will surely go down in history. I hope you will use this authority to exactly the right degree and live up to the governor's high expectations."

He clapped his hands. "Withdraw."

The crowd departed like a receding tide, and the convoy soon vanished into the distance.

Everyone present seemed petrified. Not a sound could be heard.

Only Lin Wen bared his teeth in pain. His hand joints felt as though they had been clamped by iron pincers, and he could not even straighten his arms. Those two ceremonial hostesses had looked so delicate—how were they so strong?

He ignored everyone present, turned around, and returned to his office.

He wanted to see exactly what this Pacification Authority was, to have been made into such an arrogant, earth-shaking spectacle.

Maybe it could help him get money?

After closing his office door, Lin Wen had only just sat down when there came a knock on the door of the prefect's office, which had been deserted for three days.