For the Demon-Suppressing General who was consecrated in the ancient Heavenly Court, as well as other Heavenly Lords in the Thirty-Three Heavens today, the regulations for opening the mansion are definitely not like those set by Zhou Bai.
At the very least, the official ranks he granted to his subordinates are valid within the control of the mortal General's Mansion, because every real subordinate officer of the Demon-Suppressing General's Mansion is a true heavenly being.
It's just that now that the Heavenly Court has given Heavenly Lord rewards in the Heavenly Merit Monument and allowed him to open a mansion, some unreasonable practices can be tolerated.
Otherwise, if a general's palace does not have reasonable territory development, how can it rely solely on the army and itself to have the confidence to destroy the warships invading the mortal world.
When it comes to disbursing this part of the official fortune, there is no obstacle from heaven.
Destiny: You will be granted the title of Heavenly Lord and Demon-Conquering General. In a short period of time, you will receive direct support from heaven's luck.
Zhou Bai is not sure how long the short period will be, so he can only seize the time and get more luck from heaven.
Qiu has no fault with the powerful rural people who agree to set up the General's Office in the township. Those who don't agree will go and stay with the Zhao family.
Act vigorously and resolutely, sweeping away all injustices.
Fortunately, the inner palace had already recruited thirty-nine talents and fifty-six children. Except for some outstanding performers, they were directly retained in the sixth room of the central office.
The rest of the scholars and Tong Sheng were sent down to the countryside to serve as officials. The chief officer of the township department was the township chief, with an official rank of Zheng9pin. The township chief was a Zuo Erguan, with an official rank of Congjiupin.
In addition, the township inspections also started from the ninth rank. This was the position reserved by Zhou Bai for the wounded and meritorious soldiers, and it also paved the way for the popularization of the militia system.
The township chiefs and township magistrates are all scholars, while Tong Sheng serves as a township official.
If you want to ask whether these famous scholars are willing, you can only say that they are grateful to Zhou Bai. In a central dynasty like Daxu, scholars and young students would never have the opportunity to become officials.
The lowest rank, from the ninth rank, can only be done by recruiting people, and there are no one knows how many scholars and officials in the county government are waiting in line.
In less than three days, the ten townships in the north of the county have been sorted out. These are all areas controlled by the original Cangshan Alliance families. At this time, they naturally support Zhou Bai's approach.
Others don't understand the strength of the Zhou family. Don't they understand that the little autonomy they lose is just a cloud in the face of a strong threat of force.
The Yan family, a township clan that was once famous in the north of the county, failed to keep up with Zhou Bai's development. Now it has completely declined and can only live by guarding a few manors and ancestral fields.
What's more, Zhou Bai is very kind to his own people. He, Lu, Kong and other hometown families will all have children who will serve as county officials in Nanxiang.
Although they are "officiating in another place" and are not appointed by the imperial court, they are officials and officials after all, and they have the luck and treatment they deserve.
The various chaos coming from other counties have made many people in Pingcang County think that it would be safer to follow the General Fumo Mansion.
In the past three days, the General's Mansion has begun to get on the right track and is gradually operating.
After Zhou Bai's resignation form was handed in, the county magistrate Shou Heng huddled in the "county office" in pursuit of pleasure, never leaving the door or stepping out of the door.
This saves the General's Mansion a lot of effort. They don't do anything to him, and they can still keep their reputation if they don't make a fuss.
That night, Shi Hongmao and Yu Chang visited Zhou Bai together.
"Mr. Shi, Mr. Yu, you two still look good and strong."
"I heard that when the army came to the city, you went to the south gate in person to surrender the guard?" As soon as they met, Zhou Bai started talking very familiarly.
Just the subtle connotation of the words made the two old foxes realize that this was a direct bargain.
Both sides understood the purpose of the meeting at this time. It was nothing more than to continue to fulfill the previous agreement and to surrender to the General's Mansion at any price.
Or to put it another way, how much benefit was paid in exchange for Zhou Bai's blessing and getting on this big ship.
When Zhou Bai came up, he got straight to the point and pointed directly at the core issue of Shi Yu's family. You have no successors. Think carefully about how to speak.
"General, what do you say? This is not the benefit of old age, but old age without blessing."
"We were not firm before and we should pay the price, so you look down on us?"
Shi Hongmao and Yu Chang had already thought about this situation before coming, but now they were very frank, as if they were at the mercy of Zhou Bai.
When he was young, he won the same imperial examination, and then became the county magistrate and the official in charge of the capital, and his reputation was endless.
But for the sake of the continuation of the family, now that he is old, he has to be shameless and talk down to Zhou Bai, a "young junior".
Zhou Bai was quite emotional, and stopped trying to figure it out. He said directly: "Although the weapons made by the two families for our demon-suppressing army are a bit expensive, they still have merit. In addition, when the army entered the city, you switched sides in time and cooperated to appease the people. I can see it. In the eyes.”
"So the General's Mansion gives you two choices. The first one is to hand over 50% of the family property. From now on, the General's Mansion will ensure that the inheritance of your two families continues, and each generation of family heads will give a ninth-grade dutiful position to support you."
Shi Hongmao and Yu Chang looked at each other. This condition was actually very good, because judging from the current situation of their respective families, as long as they died, no one would take the lead.
The first generation has fallen into disgrace, the family power has shrunk across the board, and the industrial assets have declined significantly; the second generation has become a rural family, and can still provide the seeds of fame and fame for studying; but the third generation, if there are not a dozen talented people, or a juren , then the family status of the township family may not be preserved.
This is fundamentally determined by the foundation of the two families. The Historian family has a coexistence of forging inheritance and farming and reading inheritance, but there are very few Wenhua seeds, so it is forced to have no choice but to return the foundation of the family industry to forging.
The situation of the Yu family is similar. Wenhua Seed has a fault, and they can only rely on the industry of searching for ore, buying ore, and mining to support their family.
"The first choice is already very suitable, so may I ask the general why the second choice is?"
They are all dedicated officials, and they know the importance of official status. Each generation has a ninth rank, even if it is a false position, it can preserve the inheritance of a township.
This was the initial establishment of Zhou Bai's foundation, and then they put in a lot of effort to give them an opportunity to spend money to buy "hereditary".
Zhou Bai smiled and took a deep look at the two elders: "How much you donate your family property depends on you. There will be no honorary positions in the future."
"The Historian selects a master craftsman to join the workshop, and then I will appoint the young clan leader of your family, Shi Changxing, as the head of the eighth-grade workshop. Other outstanding clan members can also serve as officials."
"The foundation is in the early stages, and the financial gap is huge. From now on, the area under the jurisdiction of the General's Mansion will be exclusively engaged in salt and iron. For the Yu family, I will give you a salt and iron house as a manager. He is also of the eighth grade. With your family's Yu Wang, I think it is very suitable. .”
The two choices were immediately clear. After a little thought, the two old foxes knew what Zhou Bai meant.
The first option is pure trading. Even if Zhou Bai becomes a big business in the future, Shi Yu and his family will just hold on to a ninth-grade hereditary position.
The second option is to ask them to work for the General's Mansion and invest all the current main elites of the two families in exchange for two important chief positions, catching up with Zhou Bai's current core subordinates.
The first choice is stability, and the second choice is to trade a generation for a chance to ride a boat.
"General, we choose the second one." Shi Hongmao and Yu Chang replied firmly.
They didn't take a chance last time, resulting in no two positions in the core of the General's Mansion. This time they want to be more thorough.
Zhou Bai nodded slightly, and then handed the two of them a list of talents needed by the General's Mansion.
The master craftsmen needed by the Tiangong Institute, the management talents needed by the Salt and Iron House, and the official positions they obtained are all marked.
Including the eighth-rank chief ministers Shi Changxing and Yu Wang, two township chiefs and township prime ministers, and more than ten officials and magistrates.
Although Shi Hongmao and Yu Chang were old foxes with deep thoughts, they were still overjoyed when they saw the treatment given by Zhou Bai.
Just now, even if they die now, the family is still a real county magnate, and there is no need to be bullied by others.
"My family, the Shi, is willing to hand over half of our family wealth to support the General's Mansion in resisting the enemy. In addition, the family's blacksmith shop will give priority to building the weapons needed by the Demon-Suppressing Army, ensuring both quality and quantity."
"Although I don't know where you got the name of Heguang, since Heguang has become the director of the Salt Iron House, he can no longer engage in the iron ore business. Therefore, my Yu family is willing to hand over the control of all the mines in the family to the General's Mansion. Yu Jiaerlang can run it for you."
As expected of a person who had been a capital official, he knew how to avoid hidden dangers and the benefits given away were all Zhou Bai needed at the moment.
"The two elders will not regret their decision tonight, and the Shi family and the Yu family will also rise in the hands of Shi Changxing and Yu Wang." Zhou Bai was in a good mood and made a promise to them.
】
This is really not just talk or nonsense. The two families have no successors. This is just from the perspective of fame and status.
Because Shi Changxing and Yu Wang, the two most outstanding members of the two families, were only scholars, not candidates, and were not even qualified to be selected as candidates by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
There was no need for Shi Hongmao and Yu Chang's official connections. They tried to build connections, but none of their descendants reached the threshold.
But for Zhou Bai, the heirs of the two families happened to be suitable talents, and his destiny was also a destiny that could be cultivated by the county's wealthy family.
They failed to pass the examination because they were distracted and did not concentrate on the examination.
Xuanyiwei conducted a detailed investigation on them. Shi Changxing liked to study the forging secrets passed down from his family since he was a child, and he was a natural master craftsman.
Yu Wang was also influenced by his family education. He was quite proficient in mining and liked to participate in the management of the family industry.
However, Yu Wang is talented in reading, and he failed to pass the examination because he likes to write about taboo issues in policy papers.
For example, during the Xiangxing period, the national fiscal revenue was getting smaller year by year, but under Emperor Xiangxing's cover-up policy, the court turned a blind eye.
Yu Wang didn't know that he, who was worried about the country, even answered the "stable" policy question on reform.
In the third rural examination, which was also his last, Yu Wang wrote the Treatise on Salt and Iron, but was dismissed as a waste paper.
Not only do we need to reform, but we also need to compete with the people for profit. How can we not be deposed by the reviewers who know the affairs of the imperial court?
This incident was widely circulated among the scholar circles at that time, and we should take this as a warning not to violate the court's bottom line.
And this is also the reason why Zhou Bai chose Yu Wang. Daxu does not specialize in salt and iron, but General Mansion does.
Salt and iron monopoly has been implemented by dynasties before. It is a means of increasing fiscal revenue and achieving immediate results.
In addition, salt and iron are important military supplies. After exclusive control, it can substantially weaken the neighboring Jin Kingdom.
If you want to buy salt or iron, you have to buy it at a special market, and the price control will be in the hands of the General's Office.
Of course, Daxu did not implement this system because of the lessons learned from the previous dynasty. As the salt and iron franchise lasted for a long time, disadvantages would emerge.
For example, ironware is bitter, the price is unfair, the officials in charge abolish public laws and seek personal gain, and force farmers to smelt iron and boil salt, etc.
But what Zhou Bai wanted was the initial period of establishing the business, using the salt and iron franchise to enrich his finances.
After the new dynasty was unified, it was too late to abolish the salt and iron monopoly and give way to the market.
Even though the money plundered from the grassland has greatly enriched the treasury, when he moved to Pingcang County to officially open the government, the money was like flowing water and could not be stopped.
The never-ending purchase of grain, as well as the purchase of armor and weapons from various places at high prices in order to collect the five thousand demon-defying army, had already spent more than half of the treasury.
Once the stall was opened, money had to be spent everywhere, and the daily consumption was somewhat unbearable. Who said that the General's Office was actually performing its duties on behalf of the Pingcang County Government.
The initial investment for the establishment of 24 additional townships and township governance, including official salaries, is a huge expense.
There is also the salary for the five thousand members of the Demon-Suppressing Army. Officers are not included. Ordinary soldiers only get one tael per month, which is 60,000 taels a year.
The logistics and finances required to raise five thousand people are not on the same level as raising five hundred villagers.
Therefore, Zhou Bai could only accept the silver donation from the Shi and Yu families by default, and confiscate the huge wealth of the Zhao family.
Only then can he push forward the urgent things that need to be done, including the recruitment of the third battalion of county soldiers and the reorganization of inspection troops.
Those who fail to meet the requirements will be given severance pay, and those who meet the qualifications will be temporarily incorporated into the garrison and rural patrols, and will receive salaries according to the first-class treatment of the Demon-Suppressing Army.
The next day, Shi and Yu's family turned over their property and accepted the appointment of Zhou Bai, the demon-conquering general, in the main hall of the general's mansion.
When the news came out, Chen Gu, the chief clerk, signed off at the county government office and the Chen family announced that they would turn over the autumn grain produced in the 25,000 acres of family land.
Zhou Bai appointed Chen Gu as the deputy director of the official office of General Fumo. Chen Yun, who was from the eighth rank and had just passed the scholar examination this year, was appointed as the ninth-rank township chief.
If you hand over your family property and get food, you will get an official position?
For a time, the gentry in the city and the townships and tribes in the south of the county followed suit one after another. Large amounts of money and grain flowed into the general's mansion. The long-vacant warehouse of the county government actually seemed to be filled.
On September 25, the 47th year of Xiangxing, the selection and streamlining of soldiers was completed.
The third battalion of county soldiers, numbering 1,500, was reduced to 800. Among them, 300 cavalry were merged into the command of Gao Hu, the demon-suppressing army. The other battalion, 500, existed as the garrison of Pingcang County.
Duan Dehou, the former patrol inspector, was appointed as the commander of the eighth-grade garrison, and Xu Yun, the former county lieutenant, was appointed as the eighth-grade logistics officer of the Demon-Conquering Army. This was at his own request.
It turned out that his family was really a general, and had guarded the frontier for generations. Later, the family was moved to Shenjing and settled, and it was not until Xu Yun's generation that he was activated.
Zhou Bai had a face-to-face conversation with Xu Yun and found that Xu Yun was not only a very talented person, but also a rare and humble person in Ping Cang. He was also very familiar with military theory, but lacked practical experience.
It's a pity that Xu Yun has had too little training and is currently unwilling to join the official battle order of the Demon-Conquering Army. He only wants to become a logistics officer.
Zhou Bai was unwilling to force him, and after asking him a few questions about military ration calculation, transportation, and storage, he formally appointed him as a logistics officer.
However, in order to better cultivate and make better use of this slippery talent, Xu Yun was also appointed as the director of the military room, responsible for strategic and tactical planning counselor.
The formation of the garrison was completed, and the 700 people who were laid off from the county soldiers and the county's patrol troops were screened again, and 500 of them were qualified and sent to the new military camp at the foot of Cangshan Mountain for training.
In addition, the township administration in the townships in the south and north of the county has established Jiangjunfu Township Office, and at least one township chief and township prime minister is in place.
Twenty-four disabled veterans from the original Zhuang Ding camp were appointed to inspect the township department, and all were in place, and militia recruitment was gradually implemented.
At this point, the entire Pingcang County was completely under the jurisdiction of Fumo General's Mansion. In addition to some unimportant tasks arranged by the General's Mansion, the county government was only responsible for docking matters with higher-level government agencies such as prefectures and counties.
While Zhou Bai was staying peacefully in the county town these days to consolidate his foundation, the fact that he was granted the title of General Subduing Demons by Heaven and established a government in Pingcang County spread throughout Bei'an and even other counties in Dingzhou.
However, neither the prefectural government nor the county government showed any more concern after knowing that Zhou Bai had not raised a rebel flag and was only stationed in Pingcang County as General Fumo Mansion.
There were only a few letters from Cai Feng, the left counselor, whose words were all testing whether the alliance between the two was still valid, and he wanted to win over Zhou Bai as a political alliance.
Another example is that Peng Li, the inspector of Dingzhou, asked Zhou Bai in a more formal official letter why he resigned. This can tell whether the court is upright.
Finally, there was a letter from Qi Hua. He first expressed congratulations, and then mentioned that he should be careful of foreign warships. These foreign enemies have amazing combat capabilities.
The news about the warships arriving in Dingzhou was also collected by Xuanyi Guard.
In order to prevent widespread panic and keep the local situation stable, the specific battle conditions were closely covered up.
However, both the prefecture and the county have dispatched a large number of troops to carry out encirclement and suppression, and at critical moments, Taoist priests have also been mobilized.
There are countless casualties, and there are many people and many eyes, so how can we cover up the situation?
On September 11th, five warships from the Qingxu Realm arrived in Dingzhou. Four of them only took a covert defensive posture on the first day, and only the one from Longfeng County started aggressively.
Unfortunately, a general-class warship arrived in Dingzhou. The general-class ship opened its hatch on the first day and dispatched the main force. In just half a day, a county town fell.
Most of Hecheng's soldiers and civilians were killed or injured, and the rest were used as slaves to mine resources for the general ships under the leadership of the pioneers.
The next day, Longfeng County realized the seriousness of the matter and dispatched the main force of 10,000 county soldiers to rush to the lost county.
The hundred-member Taoist priest group, led by Yin Shen Zhenren, took the lead, and a fierce battle broke out between the two sides.
On that day, a fierce battle broke out between the two sides, and most of the hundred-man Taoist priest regiment was lost. The Yin Shen Taoist official was hit by the ship's main gun and died on the spot.
The mysterious death of Master Yinshen shocked Dingzhou.
Before the 10,000 county soldiers arrived at the battlefield, they were frightened by the news and turned back. They hunkered down in the county town and asked the governor for help.
When the news spread, the counties and counties that originally wanted to take action against the warships within their jurisdiction were immediately frightened.
After three full days of delay, on September 15th, Yang Shen Zhenjun of Dingzhou Prefecture personally led a group of Taoist priests to Longfeng County.
They carefully surrounded the admiral's ship, and the two sides began a small-scale trial exchange of fire. It was three days later that it was determined that the admiral's ship would not have a second shot for a short time.
Governor Lei Haomiao distributed the information on the military-level warships in the Tiangong Monument to all counties and counties, strictly ordering local governments to destroy the warships at all costs.
If the ship's energy system is repaired and the ship's operation adapts to the suppression of world rules, it will be even more difficult to deal with.
However, in the past few days, the warship has initially collected some resources, and the information about the landing location has been basically clear.
Before the counties dispatched troops, the main force of warships was dispatched to directly attack the county.
On September 19, Yangyuan County of Bei'an County fell. More than 100,000 people surrendered, and they were all driven into the countryside to harvest autumn grain.
On September 20, the Taoist regiment directly attacked the warship itself. As a result, the warship sailed directly to Yangyuan City, using the county seat as a fortress and intimidating the remaining people as a shield.
On September 22, 15,000 county soldiers besieged Yangyuan City but failed, and the two sides fell into a confrontation.
In general, the warships did not carry enough sequencers and ordinary soldiers to pose a great threat to the county's superior force.
But other careerists in various places in Daxu were restless and took advantage of the turmoil to cause trouble.
The bold ones rebel directly, while the prudent ones bring powerful troops to demand fame and status from the court.
On September 25, Sun Yucheng, with the strong recommendation of the minister Bu Yuanzi and his staff Lin Ren, launched a rebellion and took control of the county on the grounds that the county governor Yin Mu was mediocre and could not protect the country and the people.
Half of the county fell under the control of the Sun family in an instant, and the remaining county soldiers, combined with county magnates like the Qi family, could only hold two urban areas.
The morale of the troops on the Yangyuan front line was in great confusion. The county soldiers had no intention of fighting and made a lot of noise.
The situation has suddenly turned into a bad situation. What will happen to the Demon-Suppressing General's Mansion...
