On this day, Ye Teng called Chen Gong and asked about the government affairs under the rule of Tianma City.

Chen Gong said: "My lord, at present, the best developed of our forces is the territory of Tianma City, followed by Yanmen County, Zhenbei City, and finally Changshan Kingdom.

"The common denominator is that due to the large amount of capital invested by the lord, as well as Zhen, Mi, Cai and other major merchants and many small businesses to do business and trade under our rule, so all kinds of commodities are relatively rich, there is no shortage of categories, and the price is not high, which is close to the rich Jingzhou, Yuzhou and other places.

"As of last month, our fiscal spending is still well in excess of tax revenues, but if we continue to do so, we will be able to break even by August this year.

"According to normal calculations, by then, we will have a financial balance of about 6 million gold coins. The reason why the large amount of money given by the lord is roughly spent is because we have invested a large amount of money in three channels.

"One is Changshan's financial investment. In the process of post-war reconstruction, a large amount of money was spent on disability pensions, defense facilities, investment in people's livelihood, infrastructure construction, and industrial investment, while fiscal revenue was almost none.

"The second is the hoarding of raw materials such as grain and herbs. Up to now, we have hoarded nearly 20 million gold of grain and herbs in various places, and as long as they are not damaged by foreign invasions, even if we count the foreign conquests of no more than 100,000 elites all year round, we will not be able to eat all this grain ourselves for five or six years according to our production and consumption ratio. Of course, if Shangdang County and Taiyuan County are counted, it will be a different matter. There will be no shortage of herbs for alchemy in the short term.

"The third is investment in education. It's going to be a lot of money that needs to be invested on an ongoing basis, and it's going to produce not taxes, but people. Therefore, from the perspective of fiscal calculation, there is only input, not output. ”

Ye Teng nodded and said, "It seems that the situation is not bad." What about other aspects, such as local industries, such as talents, such as mutual satisfaction between major businesses and us, such as people's hearts, and so on. ”

Chen Gong replied: "The best is the people's heart. With our large investment and conscious publicity, the people under the rule of our Tianma City are very high, and the ordinary people have indeed lived the highest standard of life in history, and now, at least there is no famine under our rule!

"The second is merchant satisfaction. Merchants of all sizes have enriched their products in various places, greatly improved people's living standards, increased tax revenues, and cooperated with our various government decrees, and we have given them as much support as possible, so mutual satisfaction is quite high. Especially the Zhen family and the Mi family, sometimes I feel that they are similar to the business houses we set up ourselves, and they do their best to do everything they order!

"On the industrial side. At present, the main output under our rule is animal husbandry in Zhenbei City and Tianma City. Our cattle, sheep, and war horses have not only brought us a large amount of financial revenue, but also enabled the people to quickly have surplus money and promoted the development of consumption. This is also an important reason why the Han people brought back from the grassland and the millions of women of different races are gradually returning to their hearts—they are still doing the work they used to be good at, and their lives are richer than before.

"The second is shipbuilding. Since the territory has been building ships without interruption, the Hutuo River, the platform on which the navy can exert its force, is too small after all. Therefore, in accordance with your instructions, our shipyard is operating at full capacity to train talents and accumulate technology, and at the same time, a part of the merchant ships and warships are sold to foreign countries in exchange for a lot of economic income.

"The third is alchemy. The alchemy cooperation with allies that began not long ago will definitely bring a lot of income, although those incomes may not be gold coins, but high-grade pills.

"The fourth is the grain trade. Although we use the channels of cooperative merchants to help our allies purchase food, we have no original intention of making profits. However, Mi Zizhong's suggestion is not unreasonable, if our side is completely obligated to help, this matter will not last, after all, our government has also invested manpower and material resources. So in the end, we still took a 1% commission, and the allies also expressed their understanding, and their purchase price was still a lot lower than the market price anyway. Although the proportion is not high, because the amount is too large, it is not without a small supplement to our finances.

"Otherwise, at best, we remain self-sufficient. The majority of external procurement is grain, herbs, ores, and timber.

In terms of talent. Life and career talents are still improving, and they cannot be regarded as lacking. What is lacking is mainly the talent of the bureaucracy. At present, our contingent of officials can only ensure the smooth operation of government affairs under our current rule, and we have a long way to go in order to make up the contingent of officials in Taiyuan and Shangdang counties. ”

Chen Gong shook his head.

Ye Teng pondered for a while and asked, "Are those small families and small families willing to use their talent teams for me?" ”

Chen Gong said: "We have already done this. Although they inevitably have a side of consideration for their own families, as long as supervision and management are strengthened, the negative impact can still be controlled within an acceptable range. Today, these officials account for about 30% of all the official ranks, and we can't do without them! ”

Ye Teng pondered for a moment, his tone was slow, and he slowly reflected and concluded: "A good system can educate bad people into good people, and a bad system can make good people become bad people!"

"Sometimes I sit and reflect, and my previous view of talent may have been a little too narrow. Overkill, overkill, too much emphasis on family background, and rejection of family will make us lose a lot of opportunities to obtain talents.

"We are still in a stage where we are short of talent. In other words, we are still in the stage where talents pick us, not us pick talents, are we not qualified to pick the fat and the thin?

"Therefore, in the future, the talents of the family can look down on us, and we can't look down on them. After all, there are still many talents among them, as long as they are willing to defect, we should welcome them with open arms!

"Of course, we are principled. On the issue of cracking down on corrupt officials and corrupt officials, we can never compromise or make concessions!

"Under this premise, we do not discriminate against the poor or the family, and treat them equally and equally.

"I hope that in the future, the officials under the rule of Tianma City will only be divided into capable officials, honest officials, mediocre officials, and corrupt officials, regardless of their origin and origin.

"The officials are not afraid of my strictness but afraid of my integrity, and the people are not afraid of me, but they are afraid of me! As the supreme chief executive of Tianma City, Gongtai must lead by example! ”

Chen Gong got up and saluted, and said: "The palace must work hard to meet the expectations of the lord, from now on, there will only be capable officials, honest officials, corrupt officials, and mediocre officials in his eyes, and no longer stick to family prejudices!" ”

Ye Teng returned the salute slightly and continued: "On the issue of talents, we must have a mind from all over the world, and we must not have the narrow concept of small circles and small classes!"

"You and I not only have to set an example for ourselves, but also teach all the Taishou, the prime minister, the long history, the county order, etc., to uphold this concept of employing people.

"I believe that as long as we adhere to the concept of employing people from all over the world, and insist on attaching importance to and investing in education, we will have a day when there will be no shortage of officials and talents in the future, even if our territory will expand several times!" ”

Chen Gong nodded heavily and said, "Be taught!" ”

Ye Teng smiled: "In the short term, I have to think of other ways." I just have a free day today, so I ask the public to visit Cai Weng with me, and I believe he will be able to help him a little more! ”