m and order. Su Jinpa bit her lip."Sis, what are you thinking about"Supingbei commanded a team of soldiers to carry tree trunks felled nearby to their designated positions. He turned his head to Su Ji...Chapter 851: It’s Hard to Make Money

This time, Zhou Ping'an finally wore a grave expression on his face.

He didn't give an answer right away, but frowned and pondered for a moment.

Li Chen wasn't in a hurry to urge him.

If you want the people below to do things well and for good, you definitely need some patience.

And the truth is, this matter is not easy to handle. To be frank, not only can the Eastern Palace find no one besides Zhou Ping'an to handle it, even if Li Chen went himself, it would be a challenge.

Why is it that, in both feudal times and modern times, the imperial court rarely sends officials from the capital to govern provinces Every time an official is sent to a province, it causes quite a stir

Because any political sphere will have its own unique political ecosystem.

Local officials, when faced with parachuted-in officials, naturally band together to resist the newcomers in order to protect their own interests.

If everyone is from the same place and has worked together for a long time, they will know each other well. When there are mutual benefits involved, it's naturally easier to get things done and communicate better.

If someone is airdropped from the capital, it means they will inevitably disrupt the local political balance. No local official would welcome that.

What's more, Li Chen tasked Zhou Ping'an with controlling the flow to Nanhe, and he had an extremely short timeframe to do so.

Although Li Chen didn't say it explicitly, Zhou Ping'an, with his intelligence and acumen, also knew that "extremely short" wasn't a metaphor or an exaggeration; it meant literally very short, short to the point that it might only be a few days.

After a moment's thought, Zhou Ping’an said: “If Your Highness wants this minister to have complete control over Nanhe and make it obey the commands of the East Palace and the imperial court, at least six months will be needed.”

Li Chen nodded, it was understandable.

In fact, being in charge of a local government and fully controlling the area within half a year is an extremely terrifying thing.

A typical magistrate would probably not even know all the members of his own staff after six months, let alone officials like county magistrates and prefects.

And who among those capable of serving as a provincial governor is incompetent

Each and every one of them are top figures of this era, they definitely wouldn't be foolish enough to make a mistake.

It is precisely for this reason that Zhou Ping'an's abilities are terrifyingly apparent.

"But half a year is definitely beyond what Your Highness would allow, so the humble servant can only take a step back. First, ensure that Nanhe won't cause trouble at important times, and second, ensure that when things truly become unmanageable, Nanhe won't hold us back."

Li Chen said, "Then it's the same as Xishan Province."

Zhou An said sincerely, "I am not a god, and I don't have the means to directly control people's hearts. This is already the limit of what humans can achieve."

"How long will it take" Li Chen asked.

"Two weeks."

Zhou Ping'an readily spoke, "If Your Highness can allow me to command all the Dongchang Jinyiwei in Nanhe and provide me with one million taels of silver, I can shorten this timeframe further."

“The East Factory matter is easy to handle, I'll have Chen go through with it to help you.”

Li Chen frowned and said, "Just one million taels of silver, it's not easy to handle."

Heaven have mercy, Li Chen is most in need of money right now.

Whether it's the imperial court, money changers, or building academies, all of these things require money.

All of this is out in the open. In secret, Su Zhenting went to win people over. Does that take money Maintaining those pre-positioned armies takes money, doesn't it

One could say that Li Chen's daily expenses are astronomical now.

If it weren't for the fact that the construction of both the bank and academy was nearing completion, with the bank even able to operate smoothly under Liu Family’s management, Li Chen would have gone bankrupt long ago.Chapter 678: Imperial Edict