When Chen Zhongbang heard this, he naturally accepted the order. He slowly stood up and took a step forward, ahead of everyone else.
"In the six months since my lord took the exam, all the foundations of the inner government have been greatly developed, and they are all within the scope of the plan."
"With my lord's permission, I will now inform you of the internal affairs of the Imperial Household. This is both a summary and a guide to the future direction. Please correct me if there are any mistakes."
"First of all, in terms of finances: there are 5,900 taels of gold, 315,700 taels of silver, 113,000 taels of copper coins, and other treasures such as pearls and jade worth 10,000 taels of silver. The total amount of silver is Five hundred thousand taels.”
Hearing this amount, not only everyone in the inner palace exclaimed, but even Zhou Bai was still shocked when he heard this number again.
What is this concept? In the previous life, Blue Star's central fiscal revenue at the end of the Ming Dynasty was less than 4 million taels, but the operating income of his inner government could actually exceed 10% of the revenue of a dynasty.
Of course, this comparison may not be appropriate, but it also shows that Zhou Bai is on the right track. By dumping goods on the grassland, he can accumulate a lot of wealth in a short period of time.
"Ahem."
Everyone was very excited, but the report meeting still had to go on. Zhou Bai coughed twice to calm down the situation and signaled to continue.
"Secondly, in terms of acres of grain, the inner government has 10,000 acres of flat fields and 100,000 acres of developed mountain fields. After harvesting and continuous purchases, each manor now has a total of 50,000 shi of rice, 10,000 shi of wheat, including rice and sweet potatoes. The potatoes (potatoes) are not yet mature, and due to storage time issues, priority has been given to the winery for brewing potato wine."
"Preliminary calculations show that this food is enough to feed 5,000 people for a year. Even if we maintain high-intensity training or have marching combat missions, it will be enough for half a year."
This food reserve made the officers who were listening blankly blush. There were only a few of them now. Could it be that they wanted to expand the army according to the standard of 5,000 people?
"Finally, there are all kinds of reserve talents. The Lord is recruiting them along the way. In addition, there are 123 young students, 51 scholars, and three candidates who have come to apply in the past six months."
"After preliminary testing and investigation, there are a total of fifty-six qualified children, thirty-nine scholars, and one scholar."
In fact, it stands to reason that the talents selected by the imperial examination system must have talents that match their fame and status.
But Zhou Bai, a grassroots team, needs not only talent, but also reliability and loyalty.
The internal government system is currently not equipped to accommodate all kinds of monsters, ghosts and snake gods, just like Zhou Bai did not accept the "great talent" Lin Ren.
This so-called test investigation is a background investigation conducted by Xuan Yiwei, looking at his usual conduct, what his purpose is, whether he is a spy placed by Zhou Bo, etc.
The elimination rate is so high, not because there are too many people with evil intentions, but because many people see the Zhou people living in the countryside and feel that there is no future and leave alone.
Come here admiringly, but often leave disappointed.
Only those who truly admire Zhou Bai and want to start a business will stay.
"The overall situation of the inner palace is as above. Please let me know."
Chen Zhongbang didn't even look at the information in his hand. He summarized various situations with intuitive numbers. It was obvious that he was already familiar with them.
"Thank you sir."
Zhou Bai nodded slightly to Chen Zhongbang, and then said to the others in the hall: "Next, everyone will report individually and see the results of the past six months."
The first person to report was Wang Liangtian. He never dreamed that he, a farmer, could be favored by his master and become the "field envoy" of the Agricultural Bureau.
When it comes to work enthusiasm, Wang Liangtian is ranked first, and no one dares to be ranked second.
Even though many things require knowledgeable subordinates to handle them well, he is very popular and has always been very stable in his position as the field envoy.
"My lord, the Agricultural Bureau's chemical fertilizer production is very mature, but raw materials such as manure and urine are too scattered and difficult to collect, resulting in insufficient output.
"Fertilizer raw material collection points have been set up in twelve townships, with dedicated personnel responsible for them. All manure men in the county have also cooperated with the inner government, and all raw materials will be transported to Hongni Township. Fertilizer will be used for planting next spring. spread to all acres.”
"Due to the tight sowing time this year, out of the 100,000 acres of mountain fields, 70,000 acres are planted with sweet potatoes, and 15,000 acres are planted with potatoes and rice."
"In addition, eleven types of suitable hybrid rice seedlings have been screened out. Just wait for the autumn harvest to be compared, and the seeds of No. 1 hybrid rice can be sown next year."
After Wang Liangtian attended night school in Neifu for a year, he could not only recognize some common words, but also speak clearly in his reports.
After hearing this, Zhou Bai was very satisfied and said to Wang Liangtian: "The Agricultural Bureau has successfully completed the plan for the beginning of the year. Envoy Wang and all staff should be rewarded according to their merits. I ordered the Agricultural Bureau to give third-class collective merit, and each person will receive an additional three Monthly salary."
"Also, I heard that several of the descendants of the royal envoy's family are good at farm work. They do not shy away from relatives when promoting talents. They should all work on the manor."
Not to mention Wang Liangtian's profuse gratitude, the Tiangongyuan who reported next did not give Zhou Bai many surprises.
Because Tiangongyuan still has no qualified candidates to take charge.
In Zhou Bai's opinion, the director of Tiangongyuan should not only be somewhat literate, but also be interested in developing new things, and it is best to be a master craftsman.
But which scholar doesn't want to focus on the imperial examination and instead join the "side branches", so this suitable person has never been found.
Unable to make do with it, Zhou Bai had to let others take over first. Now the person in charge of Tiangongyuan temporarily is Yan Lie.
Facts have proved that Yan Lie is indeed unable to achieve much. He can only complete the tasks that can be completed step by step.
For example, he completed the task of providing farm tools needed to open up acres of land. Whether it was buying or making, Tiangongyuan did not delay the agricultural bureau's rush to plant.
The only new product that can be mentioned is the first-generation paper armor completed by Tiangong Institute based on Zhou Bai's theory, and there are nearly a thousand pieces in stock, which is enough to complete the equipment of the existing Zhuang Ding.
When iron armor is too expensive, leather armor has insufficient defense, and there are no channels to obtain it, what kind of armor should be equipped for Zhuang Ding in the future has always been a big headache.
The emergence of paper armor will become the mainstream armor for dealers in the future. Even if it is not durable, it is low cost and has strong defense, which is a must-have advantage.
Because of the presence of Zhijia, even if Tiangongyuan's performance was not outstanding, Zhou Bai awarded Tiangongyuan three months' salary.
There should have been a heavy reward, but the technical content of the paper armor was too low to reward him too much. The words he left to Tiangongyuan almost gave him the trick.
It can be made by covering the bone with hard cloth and stuffing it with paper tendons.
Detailed version: First, beat the paper into a wheel, fold it into a thickness of three inches, hammer four nails into each square inch, and then cut it into a nail.
Although Zhou Bai didn't want his soldiers to go to war wearing paper, this was the best armor Zhou Bai could think of.
The other thirteen armors of the Tang Dynasty, such as Mingguang, Guangyao, Xilin, Shanwen, Wuchui, etc., or half-body plate armor or full-body heavy armor, cannot be owned under the current conditions.
After Tiangongyuan, Qiao Da, who was in charge of the wine shop, reported that this person was also like Wang Liangtian, one of the few civil servants who had not been ranked in the imperial examination and was promoted to this place.
The reason for choosing Qiao Da was simple. He was a heavy drinker. His family had been running a small winery for generations, so he was very familiar with the art of making wine.
Of course, the key is because his family is located in Hongni Township, and his son studied in Zhou ethnic studies, so he is an "honest" person who knows the basics.
It was the first time for Qiao Da to participate in such an occasion, so he was a little timid, but thinking that one day he would also be able to use his talents, he became bolder.
He stepped out from among the civil servants and loudly reported: "Back to my lord, the winery has fully mastered the liquor brewing process. In addition, three new grain wines brewed from potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes have been added. The wine cellar now contains three types of spirits. Thousands and two hundred altars.”
"Currently there are only nineteen wineries, and the autumn harvest is coming soon. I want to apply for expansion... Lord, it's not that I don't work hard at brewing, it's just that the wines are sold too fast. You have to be aware of the details."
Zhou Bai smiled and said nothing, staring at Qiao Da, who was sweating profusely, and then said: "Why are you nervous? You are a meritorious official. The name of Zhou's Cangshan Wine is well-known in the grassland."
"If you are a wine addict, then I will reward you with a pot of spiritual wine and increase the salary of all winery craftsmen for six months. And I agree with your suggestion. If the number of wineries is not enough, then we will increase it to thirty."
While Qiao Da was still in a daze, Zhou Bai had already taken out the spirit wine from the storage ring, flew out of his palm, and landed in Qiao Da's arms.
He can turn wine into wine out of thin air, and he can also control the wine pot in the sky. The Lord is indeed a heavenly being!
This scene made everyone below stunned. Hearing about it is not as good as seeing it with your own eyes.
“Thank you, lord, thank you, lord!
"Qiao Da was overjoyed and kowtowed repeatedly to express his thanks.
He couldn't help but open the gourd lid, and the rich aroma of spiritual energy and wine instantly spread throughout the hall, making everyone envious.
Zhou Yuan and other generals licked their lips, as if they were thinking about whether to ask Zhou Bai for a drink later or to grab Qiao Da's pot.
"Qiao Da, don't drink too much spiritual wine. You can give them some after mixing with water, so as not to miss it. Remember to summarize it after drinking. You have to think about how to brew spiritual wine if you get the spiritual rice fruit in the future."
The reward of spiritual wine pushed the enthusiasm for reporting to the peak, and one after another, they tried to explain their achievements as much as possible.
For example, the red mud clay that Zhou Qi is responsible for has been sold all over Bei'an County, and three red mud mines have been opened in the Hongni Township area.
The bookstore that Zhou Rui is responsible for has now opened stores in every county and city in Dingzhou, relying on the light of Suihan's poetry collection.
Even because Zhou Bai won the first place in the second grade of middle school and became famous all over the world, even families from other major states came to discuss cooperation in opening the Zhou Family Bookstore.
Of course, there is no way to prevent piracy of Suihan's poetry collection, but the Suihan collection published by Zhoujia Bookstore has Zhou Bai's "private seal", and it is possible to buy an autographed collector's edition, which makes many readers willing to spend more money .
In addition, manors, other purchases and sales, and the grassland trade routes that Zhong Wei is responsible for are also reported one by one. The most noteworthy ones are the trade routes.
As a child, Zhong Wei was agile and flexible, so he put Zhou Bai in charge of the grassland trade routes.
But apart from communicating with Huyanhe, as well as commodity prices, accounting, etc., all other matters on the trade route are handled by Zhuang Ding.
It must be mentioned here that the political structure of the Prairie Golden Kingdom is now divided into two, with the Southern Jin Kingdom and the Northern Jin Kingdom confronting each other.
The original king of the Jin Kingdom finally died before Emperor Xiangxing, and Hu Yanxiong, the eldest prince who established himself as the supervisor of the country, succeeded to the throne.
Hu Yanxiong's plan was successful, but he was not very happy. All this was because of his dear brother, Hu Yanhe.
When the Jin Kingdom went south last year, Hu Yanhe received support from Daxu. He recruited troops in Cangbei County, broke into the hinterland of the Jin Kingdom, waited for opportunities, and made the imperial edict of Emperor Daxu public.
The imperial decree declares to the world that Hu Yanxiong, the eldest prince of the country, is a traitor and a traitor, and is the culprit who poisoned the old king.
This was a heavy blow to Hu Yanxiong. He abandoned Cangbei County, which was about to be captured, and returned to kill Hu Yanhe.
This campaign lasted for more than half a year. Hu Yanhe seemed to be chased in a panic, but he gradually gained a foothold.
With a steady stream of supplies from the Daxu Trade Route, more and more tribes were willing to follow Hu Yanhe, because he had food, wine, and clothing. Having enough food to keep out the cold was what the grassland people valued most.
If the stalemate persists for a few more years, the North and the South may have to change their offensive and defensive positions. Hu Yanxiong's high-pressure policy will only be effective if the people can have enough to eat.
In this way, Huyanxiong occupied the fertile area south of Yinshan Mountain, while Huyanhe occupied the barren area north of Yinshan Mountain, gradually encroaching on the southern territory.
There are two passes on the grassland trade route, one is through Cangbei County, and the other is the long grassland transportation.
At present, half of Cangbei County is still occupied. Opening up half of the trade routes in Daxu and opening up half of the trade routes in enemy-occupied areas have paid a huge price.
Secret trails, buying off border troops on both sides, passing by force, etc.
The grassland transportation in the second level is not bad, because every time the caravan passes, Hu Yanhe will launch an offensive to attract the attention of the Southern Jin Kingdom.
】
But if they were discovered, the villagers would have to fight their way out. The business experience in the past six months was much more cruel than the Qing Cangshan campaign.
Zhou Bai turned to look at the current number one military commander, Zhuang Dingying's deputy battalion commander Zhou Yuan, and said: "Zhou Yuan, tell me about the situation here."
Zhou Bai punched his chest three times with his fist, solemnly performed a military salute, and then reported seriously: "Back to my lord, Zhuang Ding currently has a full force of 500 regular soldiers, all of whom have experience in suppressing bandits in Cangshan and fighting on the grassland. There are also 4,500 reserve soldiers. Hundreds of them, including 1,500 who have completed three days of training and have combat experience, and 3,000 who have trained three times a month and mastered basic combat techniques."
"Well, I don't really care about the clan soldiers and the mountain camp."
Zhou Bai waved his hand, indicating that he didn't blame Zhou Yuan, it was his intention.
There are three hundred people in the mountain camp and two hundred clan soldiers and servants. One is used to protect Cangshan's foundation and the other is used to protect the family's ancestral land. Naturally, they cannot be left to Zhou Yuan.
The method of checks and balances is also to consider the ministers and subordinates.
Gao Hu stood up and reported at the same time: "Lord, there is a capital of cavalry with a total of one hundred people. Currently, each person is only equipped with one horse."
"The cavalry is too difficult to train. There is only one coach, Lao Huang, and it is impossible to train them. It is difficult for the cavalry to develop combat effectiveness in a short period of time."
Unlike Zhou Yuan, Gao Hu was straightforward and even stated clearly that he had no fighting ability.
"I have made my own decision on the cavalry side. On the Zhuangding Camp side, starting from now, the reserve militiamen will all prepare for war according to the drills of the regular soldiers. It is required that they can be expanded to 5,000 troops and horses at any time."
"Gods are not only heavenly beings who practice Taoism. Everyone here is my confidant. You should understand something from what you see and do in daily life."
As soon as the words were revealed, the atmosphere in the hall suddenly became strange and silent.
Zhou Bai took a deep breath and said sternly: "The troubled times are coming. Whether it is to protect yourself or to gain the supreme wealth, please come with me!"
As soon as these words came out, excitement and determination appeared in everyone's eyes. The Lord's ambition is indeed more than just one family.
In the lobby, the ups and downs of various fortunes began to consolidate as people's hearts stabilized.
