Chapter 280 Another meeting
Zhou Houfang secretly made up his mind, his usual signature smile appeared on his face, and he went to greet him from a distance: "City Lord!"
By this point in the journey, Xu Zhenying had already asked someone to send his grandmother Huang and the others back, and only took the civil servants to the government office.
Seeing Xu Zhenying looking at the government office, Qian Zhenniang smiled and said, "City Lord, I received your battle report last month. We now have eight cities, and the number of officials must have increased significantly. I was afraid that the officials below wouldn't even have room to sit when they came to report on their work, so I took the initiative to expand the government office."
Zhou Houfang added, "Xingyuan Prefecture will be our administrative center from now on, so it needs to be more imposing. However, we will strictly control the expenditure of money, so please rest assured, City Lord. The words on this plaque are left blank. Let's discuss and wait for the City Lord to come back and write the inscription!"
Xu Zhenying nodded and looked at the government office which had already reached a considerable size, thinking that this would be the place where she would realize her ambitions in the future.
"Although it's not magnificent, it's elegant and practical, and suits our style very well. It's good that you can think ahead." Xu Zhenying smiled and comforted the two people who made unauthorized decisions. "It's just that my handwriting is ugly, so forget about the inscription. Mr. Lin!"
Lin Han stood up and frowned, saying, "Alright, I know you want to order me around. Just tell me what you want me to write."
Xu Zhenying chuckled twice and pointed at the plaque hanging above him, saying, "Simplicity is the only truth. Just write 'Southwest Government Affairs Hall'."
"Government Hall? Why does it sound like a restaurant?" Old Lin retorted mercilessly.
Xu Zhenying didn't feel embarrassed by being refuted in public. Face was the most unimportant thing to Xu Zhenying.
Instead, she took advantage of the situation and simply threw in the towel: "Oh, it doesn't matter what it's called. You know what I know anyway, and that's all I know. Let's leave it at that for now about the plaque. If Mr. Lin has any good ideas, you don't have to let me know. You can just write the words and have the craftsmen mount the gold on it."
At the mention of the word "it doesn't matter", Elder Lin was so furious that he almost jumped up and scolded Xu Zhenying: "It doesn't matter again! It doesn't matter again! I've taken on so many royal titles along the way, and you said any of them didn't matter! I discussed the rituals of offering sacrifices to the heavens with you, and you said it didn't matter! Now, writing inscriptions on the political halls of these eight prefectures is such a serious matter, it might even be recorded in history, and you said it doesn't matter! My God, what exactly does it matter to you! All you do every day is government affairs! Government affairs! Government affairs! You don't know how to enjoy life at all. Which person in power is like you?!"
Mr. Lin's complaints made everyone present feel a little embarrassed.
Zhou Houfang was a little surprised. This Old Lin... had a bad temper. He actually dared to embarrass the city lord in public!
It is estimated that only in Jinzhou Prefecture, only the city lord and his officials would dare to speak to the city lord like this!
However, Xu Zhenying didn't seem to mind at all, and he was like a dead pig that was not afraid of boiling water.
She dug her ears and laughed twice, "Well, Elder Lin, you're old, don't get angry. Okay, okay, it's just about deciding the title of king. Can I choose today?"
Elder Lin almost jumped up. He knew what Xu Zhenying was thinking the moment she saw her eyes twitch. He roared in anger, "If you dare to draw lots to decide, I'll go back to Bianjing City!"
At this point, someone burst out laughing.
Most people were excited.
The Xu family was somewhat out of touch with the situation.
Xu Huiming was the first to ask, "City Lord, are you ready to declare yourself king?"
Xu Zhenying helplessly spread his hands, "If I don't become king, Old Lin might have to pack up and go back."
In fact, Xu Zhenying wanted to say that everyone under him was eager to achieve success, and he was afraid of letting them down if he didn't become king.
Team cohesion and centripetal force are very important.
Instead, Old Lin glanced at Xu Huiming indifferently. If Xu Huiming was not Xu Zhenying's brother, Old Lin probably wouldn't have wanted to even give him a glance.
Xu Zhenying's brother is a man, looks smart, and is a scholar!
If this person is not careful, he may become the person most likely to backstab the city lord.
Therefore, Mr. Lin naturally disliked Xu Huiming.
"The King of Zhoushan dared to claim the throne when he only controlled three prefectures. Now, the two Li kings have been defeated and only have six or seven prefectures left. The city lord controls eight states, so his claim to the throne is inevitable. Does Master Xu have any advice?"
Xu Huiming is a bit stubborn.
It's not that he didn't notice that he went to Shouzhou and was idle at home after returning. It's also that he didn't notice that the people around Xu Zhenying had an ambiguous attitude towards him. Some of them respected him like a royal relative, while others were naturally hostile to him.
Especially at this moment, when he was scolded by Mr. Lin in public, no one around him came to help him.
Even though he asked this question out of curiosity, people immediately assumed his intention was something else. This also shows that becoming king was not really Xu Zhenying's original intention.
The achievement of following the dragon is right in front of him. If he asks this question, it will be regarded as a sign of disapproval, and he will inevitably be isolated.
Xu Huiming felt bitter in his heart, but a smile appeared on his face. "Not at all. It's just that becoming king is a matter of great importance, so naturally I have to be fully prepared."
"Let's not talk about becoming king for now. I've been away from Jinzhou Prefecture for a long time. Let's talk about government affairs first."
Everyone had guessed that Xu Zhenying would immediately deal with official business as soon as he returned to the city, so the government office was cleaned up inside and out, especially the large conference room, which was doubled in size to accommodate one or two hundred people.
There was no extravagance in the decoration of the government office, and there was not even any decoration at all, only some flowers, plants and trees.
The most eye-catching thing is that there are so many places to sit in the government office.
There were so many people coming to visit Xu Zhenying every day that they had to take numbers. Qian Zhenniang had no choice but to proceed according to the actual situation, reduce all unnecessary decorations, and focus on practicality and frugality.
Fortunately, Qian Zhenniang managed to guess Xu Zhenying's thoughts this time.
In fact, Xu Zhenying's thoughts are very easy to guess. There is no imperial power involved. He just works hard, thinks quickly, and tries not to add burden to the finances.
The group walked into the government hall in a happy atmosphere, talking and laughing.
It has to be said that since the expansion of Xu Zhenying's city, there have been more smiles on people's faces, and their determination to follow him has become more resolute, creating a good atmosphere of working together.
Xu Zhenying also thought about it secretly.
It's the same as buying stocks.
Everyone buys when prices rise and not when prices fall.
Since her stock was about to make a lot of money, naturally some people would follow suit crazily.
Xu Zhenying walked in front, Qian Zhenniang led the way on the side, and introduced the new government office to everyone.
Zhou Houfang took advantage of this opportunity to meet with the four new secretaries.
"This meeting hall looks really grand. Although it's a bit simple, it's elegant. It can accommodate more people in the future."
"You don't understand, this just showcases our pragmatic approach to government. Take the Zhou Dynasty emperor, for example. His palace was a magnificent palace, built with the blood and bones of the people! I wouldn't even live there!"
"That's right. We ourselves started out as poor people. Even if we become rich in the future, we must not forget our original aspirations."
Zhou Houfang immediately said to Qu Min, "Secretary Qu, the two rooms on the right are our secretarial offices. One is for duty, and the other is for office work."
Chang Yuanshan and the others looked at it and it seemed to be much larger than the government office of Xingyuan Prefecture.
A group of people walked into the large conference room while talking. The conference organizing committee had already arranged everything, and everyone took their seats in turn.
The newly appointed secretaries saw that Zhou Houfang had put away almost all the name cards, including their own.
This plaque represents the seating order, but it also tacitly represents the level of position and the degree of closeness to Xu Zhenying.
Being able to implement this seat card well and avoid being criticized is an extremely profound art.
Several secretaries couldn't help but look at this colleague they had never met before differently.
As expected, none of the people Xu Zhenying chose were vegetarians.
Even though he heard that Zhou Houfang's performance in the clerk assessment was not satisfactory, the city lord had a keen eye for talent and believed that this woman must have something extraordinary.
A room full of people, seemingly lively and friendly, actually all have their own ulterior motives.
Where there are people, there are rivers and lakes.
What's more, Xu Zhenying now has so many people under his command.
"Alright, everyone, calm down. Glory always belongs to the past. Now is not the time to rest on our laurels. Don't forget, we're still at war in the east, and there are people suffering from a recent plague in the west. We need both people and money everywhere. The revolution hasn't succeeded yet, and we still need to work hard!"
Xu Zhenying's words immediately calmed everyone down.
Everyone sat in their seats, and the conference room was now full.
"There are people here that I brought from Xingyuan Prefecture, as well as elderly people from Jinzhou Prefecture. Is there anyone you don't know? Let's get to know each other first, so that it will be easier to work."
As the new secretary of Xu Zhenying, he naturally needs to be willing to take responsibility.
Chang Yuanshan stood up and introduced himself.
Then came Qu Min, Jiang Chaoping and Pang Xiaohua.
Next came Zhao Qiaonian and others who came from Bianjing City to seek refuge.
Zhou Houfang keenly discovered that everyone seemed to treat Zhao Qiaonian differently.
As a personal secretary, how could I not know the people around the city lord?
She then quietly asked about Qu Min.
Qu Min directly said that Zhao Qiaonian and Ming Xiaoshuang were similar. Both of them had a life-and-death relationship with the city lord a long time ago. Zhao Qiaonian left in the middle and only came to join the city lord not long ago. Therefore, his treatment was far inferior to Ming Xiaoshuang.
Everyone introduced themselves one by one before officially starting the meeting.
The secretaries had already sorted out the recent key tasks and placed them on Xu Zhenying's desk. Xu Zhenying took advantage of the time when the new and old employees were getting acquainted with each other to quickly familiarize himself with the materials.
Because the research institute is still researching movable type printing and faster paper production methods, Jinzhou Prefecture tries to use paper as sparingly as possible.
After reading it, Xu Zhenying handed the materials to several secretaries around him.
Although Chang Yuanshan and his friends all came from Jinzhou Prefecture, they had been away from Jinzhou Prefecture for a long time and still needed time to familiarize themselves with the government affairs of Jinzhou Prefecture.
"Everyone's time is precious, so let's discuss the most important matters first. First, the latest battle report: King Ming of the East has ordered his second-in-command, Ji Rufeng, to lead 100,000 men to attack us from the east. This shows that our siege has indeed become a thorn in the side of some people. All firepower will now be concentrated on us. King Zhoushan of the West is severely weakened and may not be able to spare time for a year or two. However, we must pay attention to whether King Ming, the Great Zhou Dynasty, and the two Li kings will launch a desperate counterattack. How many soldiers do we have available at this time?"
Liu Dazhuang went to the west, and Mo Jinchun temporarily took over the work of the Military Affairs Department.
"There are 70,000 to 80,000 regular troops. Those recruited from various places, captured, or surrendered are temporarily counted in the reserve force, and the estimated number is 120,000."
When Mo Jinchun said this, not only the Xu family, but everyone in the entire hall was shocked.
The main reason was that Xu Zhenying's conquest of the city was so rapid that the subsequent registration and sorting work could not keep up. They just kept pushing forward and had no time to get the specific data.
Now after hearing what Mo Jinchun said, they suddenly realized that they were actually a behemoth with 200,000 soldiers!
Many people's hearts were boiling.
Zhou Houfang also looked thoughtful.
Xu Zhenying's face showed no emotion. "How is the reserve force's combat effectiveness?"
Mo Jinchun frowned slightly, "It doesn't meet the standards of our Jinzhou Prefecture, but with some training, it won't be a big problem to deal with Prince Ming."
"Okay, then try to select as many talented individuals as possible and focus on training them. The war in the east is urgent, but not urgent either."
Everyone looked surprised, wondering why Xu Zhenying suddenly changed his attitude.
Mo Jinchun smiled knowingly, then slowly explained to everyone, "The research institute has made significant progress in firearms research, and they're now able to achieve stable mass production. This time, the city lord has approved twenty firearms for the eastern front."
At this moment, everyone in the room was going crazy!
That's crazy exciting!
"Really? Then firearms can be mass-produced?!"
“Not only that, the performance is relatively stable.”
"Oh my God! I'm afraid there will be no one in this world who can rival us! What Ming King! What Great Zhou Dynasty! They will all kneel down and beg for mercy when they see this firearm!"
"No, we have to send someone to protect the people in the research institute!"
"These twenty firearms are probably worth a million soldiers! Zhou Heng is quite lucky. As the first person in the Zhou Dynasty to be struck by a firearm, his name will surely go down in history, right?"
"Oh, have you forgotten who that was? There was a general under the Li Kings, guarding the Xiangshui Prefecture. That was our first shot!"
"Oh, yes, yes! I remember that unlucky guy was blasted away more than ten meters by a firearm. I'm afraid the people in Xiangshui Prefecture are still talking about it!"
"Isn't Zhou Heng unaware of our firearms? If he knew, he certainly wouldn't send only 100,000 troops to attack us!"
"How would he know? Zhu Kui, the city defender, has surrendered and is currently serving as a reserve in the Jinzhou Prefecture military camp! Who would tell Zhou Heng? This is even better; we can catch them off guard!"
Some people are still outside the situation.
For example, Mr. Lin, Qi Er, Zhao Qiaonian, Xu Huiming, Miao, and even members of the secretariat.
This firearm is almost a secret known only to high-level circles.
Others only knew that the research institute was researching a very powerful weapon, and most of them only heard the deafening sound of the earth shaking from the West Mountain from time to time.
There was even an outrageous rumor in the past that it was Xu Zhenying’s dojo!
The reason why the sky and the earth were shaking was because Xu Zhenying was casting a spell!
Although Mr. Lin was old, he was as curious as a child. Seeing everyone cheering, he immediately pulled Ming Xiaoshuang aside and asked, "What's going on? What are firearms? Why are people so excited?"
Even Qi Er, Zhao Qiaonian and the others looked over.
They were eager to integrate into the Xu family's political team, so they had to understand everything that happened in Jinzhou Prefecture.
Ming Xiaoshuang's eyes narrowed into a line, "Firearms! Just like that cement, it's also a magical object from outer space!"
When several people heard Ming Xiaoshuang compare this firearm to cement, they instantly knew what kind of magical weapon this firearm was!
"Firearms are weapons that can blow down city walls, split mountains and carve roads. Used in military operations, they can make us truly invincible!"
Mo Jinchun, who was standing next to him, added, "Not only that, this firearm can even blow up a mountain! Minister Jiang reported back earlier that the first firearm was quite stable. It only took a single charge of gunpowder to blow up the walls of Xiangshui Prefecture, killing hundreds of enemy soldiers. Some were even sent flying dozens of meters into the air, their bodies instantly blown to pieces!"
Old Lin shuddered in shock, and when he raised his hand he realized that his forehead was covered in sweat without him noticing.
"A divine object! It truly is a divine object!" Elder Lin's voice trembled, but his eyes sparkled, as if he had become a dozen years younger. "Sure enough, the City Lord is a celestial being sent by Heaven to save the people of the Great Zhou Dynasty from disaster! With this divine object, why should we fear the Zhou Dynasty's 500,000-strong army?"
Qi Er and Zhao Qiaonian looked at each other subconsciously, and then saw a hint of certainty and madness in each other's eyes!
Xu Zhenying...with such strength, such brains, such means, and such a broad mind, he is bound to conquer the world!
Seeing that everyone under her was so excited that they were almost dancing, Xu Zhenying couldn't help but smile, but she still knocked on the table to stop everyone.
"Alright. That's why I said the war in the east isn't urgent. Let Jiang Yongkang test the effectiveness of these firearms first. Don't let him attack too hastily. Take it easy. If we move too fast, the Great Zhou Dynasty will definitely turn its firepower against us. The triangle is always the most stable. We must maintain this three-legged situation for the time being. What we need most right now is governance and management. If we don't manage the conquered areas well and don't make the people follow us wholeheartedly, then this land will not truly belong to us!"
The secretariat immediately began to record the key points of today's meeting.
And obviously, Mr. Lin was almost fainted by these words!
He came from a prominent family and, relying on his family's merits, was able to gain a foothold in the Zhou Dynasty. However, due to his arrogant and unruly character, he disliked the intrigues in the officialdom, so he was kicked out early and had to shut himself away to study.
He originally thought that his life would have such a messy ending.
But God was kind to him, allowing him to read the textbooks of Jinzhou Prefecture, letting him know that there was such a fairy-like figure in the world, allowing him to realize his ambitions in his youth before his life was over!
How lucky I am!
He just felt that this meeting made him so excited that he almost fainted!
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