Chapter 181: Chapter 180: Discussing Tea with the President
The summer thunder roared, and when the storm visited Xuanzhu County again, the Silver Blood Association was also in turmoil.
The Spirit of Consciousness Sea was peaceful, with Ting Gu’s dark will compressed into a small corner, yet countless thoughts were churning restlessly.
The Sea of Consciousness is the embodiment of ’water can carry a boat and overturn it’: when everyone is uneasy and urgently needs a hero to save them, they can easily accept Ting Gu’s strong rule.
However, when Ting Gu wanted to randomly pick a lucky passerby to take the blame, everyone immediately pulled Ting Gu down in the Sea of Consciousness, and everyone regained their reason.
This is the law of the Sea of Consciousness: the one who can lead and rule the masses is not the strongest elite, nor is it a gathered group, but an opinion leader who can respond to the desires of most people’s hearts.
Being correct is meaningless; only by providing benefits to the majority can you gain support.
In a sense, the Sea of Consciousness might be the most basic and efficient democracy.
Ting Gu was not in a hurry either; he leisurely absorbed the dark mist, quietly waiting for a victim... no, a volunteer to appear.
Yet only moments later, there was no ambitious person volunteering; instead, everyone’s gaze turned to the big figures at the first table.
The council hall was divided into four tables, each with twenty-two people, and those sitting at the first table were the top twenty-two ’Silver Blood Upper Class’ merchants. This group quickly figured things out: though greedy, they would also consider feasibility. The position of the president of the Silver Blood Association was not something they could covet.
No one understood better than they did the power the president held. Although, at a glance, the president seemed like a tool for everyone, responsible for resolving threats to the Silver Blood Association, mediating conflicts between members, proposing solutions for everyone to vote on, and members could even oppose.
However, the greatest value of being the president lies in the ’inevitable voice of authority’.
In other words, whatever the president of the Silver Blood Association says, everyone must listen.
The substantial profits that the voice of authority can obtain can be seen from the Ting Family. The Ting Family, although one of the five major business associations before, could only rival the other four at best, but now they are almost overwhelmingly strong, showing how much the Ting Family has profited.
For example, Half City used to have residents. When Ting Gu was president, he proposed to use Silver Blood tax money to clear out Half City and turn it into the largest industrial area in Xuanzhu. Everyone agreed enthusiastically.
However, for the cost of clearing out Half City, the Ting Family hired gangs for forced demolition, pocketing a large sum themselves; for constructing Half City, they hired the Qin Family to do it, and naturally, the Qin Family had to give the Ting Family kickbacks; and there was more...
In many matters jointly funded and handled by the Silver Blood Association, the Ting Family always managed to earn quite a bit, and with justification, making everyone both envious and resentful about why they weren’t the president.
An example would be the patrol team assembled by the Ting Family, and naturally, firearms for the patrol were purchased with Silver Blood tax money, and training for firearms shooting techniques was very costly.
And who was the biggest firearms merchant in Xuanzhu County? The Ting Family.
Even matters like the patrol team, which were destined to lose money, the Ting Family still managed to profit!
This causal relationship is not that the patrol team was established to purchase firearms so the Ting Family could profit; rather, the Ting Family sold firearms, so they assembled the patrol team!
Many things that appeared at first to be beneficial for the country and the people were indeed just little schemes by the Ting Family! Even if they didn’t profit, they certainly wouldn’t lose!
Simply put, whoever became the president of the Silver Blood Association became the biggest client in Xuanzhu County!
However, not everyone could become the biggest client; it required a powerful network of relationships, diverse industries, and a business association that earned everyone’s full respect to leverage profits from the presidency of the Silver Blood Association.
If a small merchant became president, they would only be a scapegoat and a tool, unable even to make a suggestion without considering the expressions of the large business associations.
Therefore, most small merchants gave up, knowing that even if they returned successfully from the Linhai Army with the title of president, they would merely become puppets of the large business associations and might soon be ’forced’ to retire and cede power. What would be the point?
In the democratic system of the Silver Blood Association, power comes from the support and fear of its members.
Because they feared the weak individuals, they did not dare to offend them and could only support them;
Because of collective support, even strong individuals did not dare to offend, having to focus their fears on them.
The intertwining of fear and support creates a throne called ’power’.
And those who met the characteristics of being ’fear-inspiring’ and ’revered by all’ were only a few large business associations.
Fighting was useless for others; the president could only come from those few large business associations.
Ting, Jing, Luo, Quan, Lan, Qin, Zhou, Zhao...
Many people had eyes flickering with subtle emotions, thoughtfully watching Ting Gu. A Silver Blood member coughed and said, "The Ting Family is the backbone of the Silver Blood Association, and President Ting Gu has years of presidential experience. I believe the next president should be selected from the younger generation of the Ting Family."
"Ting Family’s second son, smooth in dealing with matters, mature beyond his years, is he suitable to be president?"
Hehe, isn’t it just about picking someone to die? I think your Ting Family’s second son is very suitable for this task!
Ting Gu still absorbed the dark mist while Ting Jiu immediately replied, "Morning is gloomy, nothing but a skeleton in the grave, hardly suitable to be president!"
Another Silver Blood member spun his eyes and continued, "The Luo Family’s only son, young and outstanding, hospitable and skillful in multiple industries, has many competent subordinates, could he be president?"
The Luo Family patriarch immediately said, "Luo Zhen is bold but faint-hearted, lacks decisive planning, is reluctant to risk personal safety for great objectives, and easily forgets life over small benefits. He is not fit to be president!"
Then someone said, "There’s one who is renowned in the Dongyang political scene, with connections in both business and politics—could Quan Xin be president?"
The Quan Family patriarch’s face immediately changed, "Quan Xin relies on his father’s name, appears golden outside but is hollow within, unsuitable to be president!"
Le Yin observed in puzzlement, slightly leaning back and whispering to Jing Shou, "Why are they only nominating the younger generation? Aren’t the patriarchs still alive?"
Jing Shou whispered back, "It’s a Silver Blood tradition; previous presidents were young when they spent their terms, and over time, they’ve only proposed those under thirty. For one, a long tenure for young people is favored, as frequent leader changes are not seen as beneficial by merchants. A strong leader can be collectively countered, while a weak leader can be marginalized, but frequent changes would trigger internal election consumption, which isn’t wise."
"Secondly, a young president is harder to impose upon rival merchants. Compared to the cunning and reputable older patriarchs, they naturally prefer to promote ambitious young people."
Le Yin nodded in realization, seeing it was like civil officials electing an emperor, with two proper candidates now: either a culturally driven young boy or a belligerent, martial-focused youth. The officials would naturally choose the former—being easy to control is the key!
At this moment, someone said, "The Lan Family has a son excelling beyond his predecessors, famous from a young age, who improved engines and developed an impressive career. Could Lan Jianbo be president?"
The Lan Family patriarch shook his head, "Jianbo has a hollow reputation, is young with a hot temper, absolutely unsuitable for president!"
"Then what about young talents like Qin Le Yin, Zhou Bai, or Zhao Yao?" someone asked.
The patriarchs of the Qin, Zhou, and Zhao Families promptly said, "They are all mediocre people, hardly worth mentioning!"
"Who else besides them can be president?" Silver Blood Member A sighed.
"A suitable president should be an ambitious person with brilliant strategies, a mind for eternal plans, and controls emerging industries!" Silver Blood Member B declared loudly.
"So, who truly deserves such praise?" Silver Blood Member A inquired sharply.
Silver Blood Member B said firmly, "In my view, among all Silver Blood merchants today, only Jing Family’s young master Jing Zhengwei can be president!"
Upon hearing this while drinking tea, Le Yin was taken aback, and the teacup he was holding slipped from his hands, shattering to the ground with a crisp sound.
During the tumultuous storm, with thunder rumbling, the council hall was astir, and Le Yin laughed heartily, "The power of thunder, so overwhelming! Zhengwei is no more than a timid and cowardly person, unsuitable to be president!"
At this moment, however, Le Yin’s heart was cold as ice.
This was a setup against the Jing Family!