Two days after returning to the mountain, Gu Haotian visited the new and old leaders in the manor, also visited the new and old villages, and also went to the camps on the mountain to take a look, and finally made up for the thoughts of half a year.

It wasn't until the third day that Gu Hao entered the official state of work. In the Zhonghua Hall, he invited Wen Huanzhang, Xiao Jiasui, and Xu Guanzhong to discuss the affairs of the manor.

In the past six months, Liangshan Manor has undergone great changes, in addition to the people and things brought back by Gu Haotian from the capital, the manor itself has also made great progress.

The most significant change has been a massive increase in population. This year, the spring famine in Shandong, Henan, and Hebei was worse than in previous years, and Wen Huanzhang sent many people to recruit people in various places, and adopted Xiao Jiasui's opinion, focusing on young and strong. By the end of April, a total of 7,000 people had been recruited, of which 3,000 were of the appropriate age for the escort team, and 500 elite miners were also selected from Jinling Town, which means that the escort force could be expanded by 3,500 people at a time.

The caravan led by Duan Jingzhu had also returned from Liaodi at the end of April, and this time a total of 1,500 war horses were purchased, and more than 200 Liaodi youths were brought back. If you add the more than 1,000 war horses bought back by Mu Tuogang, there are more than 2,500 new war horses in the manor.

On weapons and plate armor, horizontal knives, swords, and spears were already in sufficient stock, and bows and arrows were slow to be made due to material and process problems, but this time the Jurchens were robbed of arms, and 1,000 longbows and 20,000 arrow clusters just solved this problem. Plate armor has been finished product, but it is still difficult to mass produce in full production, the weapons workshop has developed a kind of mixed plate armor, that is, the front chest and other critical positions of the leather armor are embedded with steel plates, after testing the defense effect is good, the five thousand pairs of leather armor that have been seized are currently being modified, and more than six thousand pairs of mixed plate armor can be obtained after all are completed, as for the other thousand pairs of iron armor, keep it for the time being, and it may not come in handy at that time.

It costs a lot of money and food. However, due to the huge income of the Sihai Commercial Bank at the end of last year, this time it has gained a lot from the Jurchens, not to mention that the original family background is very rich, and it is completely worry-free at present. Moreover, the winery on the mountain has been continuously expanded, and now has a monthly income of tens of thousands of taels. The cost of grain is very large, and the Gujia Commercial Bank is currently buying grain for the manor, but in a few months, the summer grain at Crouching Tiger Village and Lijia Daokou will be harvested, which can ensure that there are enough grain reserves in the manor.

The manor's defenses were also greatly improved. Two water villages in the south and north have been built, and now Xi'ao water village is being built. The Qianshan and the horse road around the mountain were all completed, and the three passes of the Qianshan Mountain and the seven military villages in the east, south, west and north were newly opened, and at least 7,000 troops could be garrisoned.

Others, such as the construction of road infrastructure, agriculture, commerce, fishery and animal husbandry, have all developed well.

A few people took a look at the current family background of the manor and found that it was indeed much richer, and everyone was happy, so they began to discuss the next development plan.

"The expansion of the escort force is a top priority, and now there is no shortage of soldiers, generals, and horses. I propose that the cavalry be expanded by 1,500 men and divided into five battalions, the infantry battalion should be expanded by 1,400 men and two more battalions, and the sailors should be increased by one battalion of 300 men, and the remaining places could be used for the training battalion and the guard battalion. ”

Xiao Jiasui is in charge of the Military Administration Department, and he has already envisioned the plan of the escort team, so he took today's opportunity to mention it first.

Wen Huanzhang, as the actual number two person in the manor, considered the problem more comprehensively, and he continued:

"The expansion of the escort force is the meaning of the topic, but the civil affairs should also be strengthened, the stall is bigger, the population is larger, and the affairs are also miscellaneous, if this side can't keep up, it will also drag down the growth of the manor." "What the two gentlemen said is very reasonable, not long after they first came, they have been in the capital, and there is no good advice, but these days, the capital has invited a lot of capable people to come back, but it needs to be properly arranged, and it is good not to let them down."

Xu Guanzhong came for a short time, and he was not familiar with the affairs of the manor, but he knew very well about these people brought back from the capital, so he was very concerned about their arrangements.

Gu Haotian listened carefully to the speeches of the three people, combined with what he had been thinking about in the past few days, and after thinking for a while, he said his thoughts:

"The manor is getting bigger and bigger, and the affairs are getting more and more complicated, and I have been thinking about the management and growth of the manor these days. The crude idea is to separate the management of civil affairs from military administration, and set up two new departments in civil affairs: one is the education department, which is responsible for the literacy teaching of the military and civilians in the manor and cultivating all kinds of useful talents; The second is the Finance Department, which divides the Logistics Office into two, and in the future, the Logistics Department is only responsible for the management of all kinds of materials, and the Finance Department is responsible for the distribution of income and expenditure of the manor's money and grain, that is to say, the Logistics Department has money and grain but has no right to distribute, and the Finance Department has the right to distribute but has no money and grain. In the future, if the escort unit is expanded, the military administration office will mainly be in charge of rewarding, relocating, and transferring the escort units, while the staff office will be in charge of recruiting, training, transferring, and planning the escort units, and the battalion commanders below will be responsible for fighting the war. The military, political, and civil affairs departments are responsible to the manor management office and obey its unified command and coordination. ”

Gu Haotian's idea of setting up this institution is a combination of ancient and modern, especially the management of the escort team, which copied the system of military management in later generations, but due to the limitations of many factors, it is destined to be only a four-like, but it has to be used, and it will be slowly improved in the future.

However, when the three men heard this, they fell into deep thought. Xiao Jiasui had previously been revealed by Gu Haotian that he wanted to separate the command and personnel rights of the escort team, and it seemed that he was about to start moving. Wen Huanzhang was not surprised by his disciple's new ideas, and only wanted to help him improve them. Xu Guanzhong's amazement, he thought of the position of the staff office, and his heart was both excited and deeply stressed.

"Three gentlemen, what do you think?" Gu Haotian asked after waiting for them to think about it.

"This is a very good proposal, but can you consider the candidate?"

Wen Huanzhang saw that the other two had no objections, so he expressed his support.

"I also have a plan for the candidate, and the three gentlemen will discuss it together. I want Xiao to let his brothers go to the Education Department, Zhao Ding brothers take over the Civil Affairs Department, Zhang Jiucheng is in charge of the Finance Department, as for the Staff Office? ”

As he spoke, Gu Haotian looked at Xu Guanzhong, in fact, the other two had already guessed that he was the best choice.

"I'm shallow in knowledge, and I'm new, so I'm afraid I can't do it."

Xu Guanzhong naturally understood what Gu Haotian meant, he hurriedly stood up and said modestly.

"Guan Zhong is talented enough to be competent, no need to be polite." Wen Huanzhang took his arm and pressed him back into position. He also said: "These arrangements are also safe, and the rest is the expansion of the escort team, Jiasui has already had an idea, how about the will of Haotian?"

"Mr. Xiao's idea is very good, I only have a little new idea, the martial arts hall has not yet been built, and the experience of the low-level officers of the escort team is all blank, I intend to set up an officer training camp first, and my senior brother Lin Chong will be the battalion commander, specializing in teaching combat skills in battle, and laying the foundation for the future martial arts hall. The leaders of the other newly established battalions, several heroes who came over from the capital this time are all suitable candidates, and Director Lao Xiao will communicate with them to draw up a list and discuss it again. ”

The expansion of the escort team, Xiao Jiasui has already thought very carefully, Gu Haotian has not changed much, as for the personnel arrangement, it is the responsibility of the Military Administration Department, he is happy, Xiao Jiasui is also happy, just two happy.

The four of them discussed for a long time, and when they came out of the Zhonghua Hall, Gu Haotian pulled Wen Huanzhang and said:

"Master, it's just noon, I want to invite Brother Xiao to have a meal, and you will accompany me."

"Haotian is thoughtful, and it should be."

Wen Huanzhang immediately understood Gu Haotian's intentions, so he went together.

Since returning to the manor in the capital, Xiao Rang has often been thinking about one thing, that is, whether he should continue to sit in the position of the director of civil affairs that he is in now? In the past, there were no scholars in the manor, and the tallest one of the dwarves pushed him to this position, and he was also at ease. After a few months in the capital, his vision widened, and he also felt his own shortcomings, and later Zhao Ding and Zhang Jiucheng also came up the mountain, these two people were a bachelor of Hanlin and a genius in the capital, Xiao Rang knew that he was obviously inferior in knowledge, so he thought about making Xian.

On this day, Xiao Rang was struggling with how to open his mouth to Gu Haotian, and suddenly saw the servant come to inform him to go to Liangshan Restaurant for dinner, so he hurried there, but when he entered the private room, he only found Gu Haotian and Wen Huanzhang, he was stunned for a moment, instantly understood something, and relaxed after a little regret.

After three rounds of drinking, Gu Haotian lowered his wine glass and considered how to speak, but Xiao Rang spoke first.

"Petty officials don't have to be embarrassed, but they are self-aware, the Civil Affairs Department is the first important place in the manor, there are many things, in the next scholar, I have never been in contact with government affairs before, and I have been working hard to do it, and I have been feeling the pressure recently, and now Zhao Ding and Zhang Jiucheng are two brothers on the mountain, just qualified for this position, and they will voluntarily let the virtuous under it, and there will be no complaints."

"Director Xiao Rang is the style of an ancient gentleman!"

Wen Huanzhang was greatly appreciative when he heard this, and then said: "Haotian did not ignore your old brother, now there is a new education department in the manor, which is in charge of talent training, although it seems inconspicuous in the manor at the moment, but you also know that we are not here, and in the future, this position will be like the Ministry of Rites of the imperial court, and the responsibility is very heavy, and it cannot be taken lightly." Haotian belongs to you, and is willing to take on this important responsibility. ”

Xiao Rang originally thought that he would give Zhao Ding and others a hand at most, to be a deputy director or something, but he didn't think that the petty official would arrange such a position for him again, although it is not as prosperous as the Civil Affairs Department at the moment, but as Mr. Wen said, if it is possible in the future, it will be extremely noble, and this position is exactly what he likes. The little officials are worried about me, an old brother! He sighed in his heart, and immediately saluted the two people in front of him and said:

"Thanks to the little officials and Mr. Wen for their love, Xiao Rang will live up to the trust." Gu Haotian was relieved to see that Xiao Rang was happy to respond, and the power dispute he was most worried about did not appear, so he breathed a sigh of relief, and then picked up his wine glass and said:

"Xiao let the brothers have a lot of arms, no one can do it, and the talent training of the manor will depend on you in the future, I salute you."

So the three of them drank a full cup together, and the original worries and gains and losses were all gone with the wind.