Dengzhou. ∮，

The war that took place at the junction of Anqing County and Yuanshan County did not seem to have affected this bustling city. Although there was already a mess on the side of Yuanshan County, the storage of Daqingguan kept a qiē disturbance out. Just one pass separates the north and the south into two worlds.

There is not the slightest chaos here, only singing and dancing.

The only thing that can directly feel the atmosphere of the war is the "Songjiang Official Daily", which can be seen everywhere in the three counties of Songjiang. This newspaper, which had unconsciously sold more than 20,000 copies, became the largest newspaper in the southeast of the empire and even in the entire Qianyuan. Although a year after the establishment of the Songjiang Official Daily, the Southeast Business Federation founded the Songjiang Commercial Daily, and other later scholars also founded more than a dozen newspapers one after another, but the sales of these newspapers were not as large as the Songjiang Official Newspaper!

In particular, with the gradual integration of Tokai-gun into the Songjiang system, this newly opened market is rapidly opening up to the three counties of Songjiang. The official newspaper of Songjiang, which was already well-known here, has seen explosive growth with the promotion of the government. In just two weeks, sales skyrocketed by more than a thousand copies.

That's a staggering number.

After all, literacy in feudal times was a big problem, and more than ninety percent of the people could not read newspapers. Even in Songjiang, where the Department of Culture and Education was established for several years, Chen Wu has invested a lot of money in promoting education, and now it is only a slight improvement. But even so, the annual investment of hundreds of thousands of gold coins, including the construction of the school, the hiring of teachers, the free provision of pen, ink, paper and inkstone, and the subsidy of tuition fees, have helped Chen Wu win a good reputation for attaching importance to education.

The only thing that makes those gentlemen feel sorry is that what Songjiang School teaches is a bit deviant. Traditional poetry books are only a small part.

But it doesn't matter. Who said that only Chen Wu was willing to invest so much money these days.

The topic is a little further away. Back to the impact of the Middle Route Army War on Songjiang's economy. In fact, the great battle that occurred in Tongshan Pass did not have no impact on Songjiang's economy, and it can even be said to be very large, but it has not been reflected for the time being. You must know that Tongshan Pass is just stuck in the transportation hub in the central and eastern parts of the empire, and has a very important strategic position. Once the area was blocked by the war, the commercial activities and exchanges between Matsue County and the central and eastern parts of the empire were blocked.

If you want to get through, you have to take the risk of walking an additional seven or eight hundred kilometers. Detour from the north-south border of Anqing County.

In addition to this direct impact, the war-leading outcasts, bandits, and deserters also had a great impact on the safety of the caravans. According to the judgment of the Songjiang Military Finance Bureau and the Southeast Chamber of Commerce, if the war in the middle lasted for more than three months, the business of Songjiang would be reduced by at least 10%. If the war lasts more than a year, the impact will be further increased.

The reason why we haven't seen the impact for the time being is because of the delay, and the new market in Tokai County.

This prefecture and county, which is comparable in size to Songjiang, has not only brought about an increase in the amount of official reimbursement in Songjiang, but also a huge market. Various traditional goods of the three counties of Songjiang and foreign maritime trade of Donghae County. With the integration of the two sides and the further opening of the market, the sales volume has increased. A certain amount of time compensated for the effects of the war on the Middle Route Army, a short process that would reach saturation in the coming months, and then gradually return to normal.

Of course, the return of Donghai County is not all good, and there are also things that make Songjiang and Chen Wu feel worried.

Like, the salt pans!

Five years ago, in addition to a small amount of salt from the best green salt, ninety percent of the salt eaten in the three counties of Songjiang was sea salt from Denglai, Donghae County. Subsequently, after Chen Wu took Ninghai, he developed the Yinggehai Salt Farm, and used light and dark means to recapture all the salt markets in the three counties of Songjiang in less than a year. The entire salt industry in Denglai Haiyan has suffered a heavy blow, and almost thousands of salt workers have lost their jobs as a result.

Before Donghai County was integrated into Songjiang, Chen Wu naturally didn't need to think about the matter of Denglai Salt Farm. But now, with Tokai-gun also incorporated into Matsue's system, the salt workers of the Denglai Salt Works, who had long been dissatisfied, began to make a fuss.

They demanded that the Songjiang Army cancel the additional salt tax on Denglai Sea Salt, and treat Denglai Sea Salt and Yingge Sea Salt equally!

There was nothing wrong with this request, it was nothing more than to let Songjiang Army level out a bowl of water. But the Yinggehai Salt Farm, which has enjoyed benefits for several years and developed into a behemoth in a short period of time, is no longer dry, and they know very well how huge the salt market for more than 10 million people under the entire Songjiang system is. Even if a household only spends a few copper coins a month for salt, it is millions of gold dollars a year!

The demands of the salt workers of the Denglai Salt Works directly violated the taboo of vested interests.

For this reason, the two salt farms almost failed to fight the lawsuit to the Thai King's Mansion in Dengzhou, and no one refused to back down.

Leave it alone, the salt industry in the feudal era was a profiteering industry, and it was also an industry that could absorb a large number of laborers. One mishandling can directly affect the livelihoods of thousands of salt workers. But if it is management, how to manage it is also a problem. If the subsidy is simply abolished, it is likely that the two salt farms will compete to lower prices in order to seize the market, causing a vicious circle!

Since the huge salt works were directly related to the local government's political performance, the case soon involved Denglai and Hualien Mansions, and finally even alarmed Chen Wu himself.

In the end, Chen Wu signaled to the Finance Department to come up with a plan for each of them to play 50 boards. Cancel the preferential treatment of Yingge Haiyan Farm, and let the sea salt of the two salt farms compete on an equal footing. However, there is a minimum price for the salt. In this way, the farther the salt is sold, the higher the price will be due to the freight, and eventually the two salt farms will reach a certain equilibrium.

Of course, this regulation is limited to the four counties of Songjiang. Originally, Denglai Haiyan was sold to other counties, but Matsue would not interfere. If Yingge Haiyan Farm is willing to compete and engage in low-price dumping, Chen Wu can't control it, anyway, in the end, it is another market.

………

The case of the salt farm is just a microcosm of Donghai County's gradual integration into the Songjiang system.

In the eyes of many Songjiang officials, the greatest significance of this county is to provide them with an excellent opportunity to advance. Everyone knows that with the completion of the administrative reform of the three counties of Songjiang and the gradual consolidation of their rule, there are not many opportunities for the three counties of Songjiang to live. Like at the beginning of the Matsue Army. It is becoming more and more rare for any official to be promoted by skipping the ranks. If you rely on normal qualifications and administrative evaluation. I don't know how many years it will take to mention it.

But the attachment of Tokai-gun. It has made many people's eyes shine.

You must know that after the administrative reform of the Songjiang Army, the departments have been very different from the empire. In particular, the newly established Ministry of Industry and the Press and Distribution Bureau, although they were the first of their kind, everyone can see that the King of Thailand attaches great importance to them in the past few years, and they are very important departments. And once Donghai County is reformed, the most likely thing is to transfer backbones from the three counties of Songjiang to fill in the past, and most of them will be promoted to the next level on the spot!

Huang Chen was a member of the group who was transferred to Donghai County.

The son of a small nobleman whose hometown is in Shanxian County, Yuanshan County. At first, after reading Matsue's recruitment order, he took the initiative to apply for a job, and finally became a criminal investigation file clerk of the Internal Affairs Bureau. Later, in the mining of the iron ore in Crooked Head Mountain, Huang Chen's family also made a lot of efforts. After pitting the local forces of Yuanshan County, the whole family moved to Dengzhou.

In this matter, Songjiang actually owes Huang Chen.

Although he was given a credit at the time, it was unrealistic to want to be promoted quickly. This opportunity in Donghai County, the high-level leaders of Songjiang took this into account and sent Huang Chen to Denglai Mansion. The original position was directly promoted to a whole level. Became the archival clerk of Tenglai Province. From a small class of clerks, and finally to the entire Den Lai Province archives clerk. has become a middle-level official with a very important position, which has to be said to be a leap in his career.

For this obvious promotion, Huang Chen is naturally twelve points satisfied. Especially when he heard that His Royal Highness the King of Thailand was behind him, his gratitude and loyalty in his heart were even more achieved.

After completing the handover of duties in Dengzhou, I drank a celebratory wine with my former colleagues, packed up my bags as soon as possible, rented a carriage, and went to Denglai in the East China Sea in high spirits.

The arrival of new officials naturally means the dismissal and transfer of a large number of former officials.

After nearly 10,000 Songjiang troops occupied the four provinces of the East China Sea except for Bohai Province, the local officials of the entire East China Sea could no longer set off any storms. Even if there is dissatisfaction, you can only accept it obediently. Some resigned and fled, while others simply followed the former governor Zong Han and retreated to the Bohai Autonomous Territory. Although such a large-scale adjustment would inevitably bring chaos, as the process was gradually completed, Tokai County would be completely integrated into the system of the Matsue Army.

Not just in the civilian system, but also in the military.

In fact, in Chen Wu's original plan, in the process of taking the East China Sea, he would take over the two garrison brigades in the East China Sea and the East China Sea Division together. But after Qian Mingde loomed a hand inside, the former governor Zong Hanlin forcibly withdrew a complete garrison brigade. This move, which was equivalent to cutting meat from Chen Wu's hands, naturally made him very dissatisfied, but it was limited to the agreement with Qian Mingde, and it was not good to openly enter Bohai Mansion to face Zong Hanlin's opponent.

Only the Songjiang Army, which had entered the Bohai Sea, could pull out some of its men and block it to the north of Denglai, which borders the Bohai Autonomous Territory.

It is a kind of surveillance, and it is also a kind of Cheng dù to express Songjiang's dissatisfaction!

Fortunately, although the army lost one brigade, the East China Sea Division still fell into the hands of Chen Wu completely. After being appeased and rewarded by the previous time, the hearts of the East China Sea masters, who were still a little uneasy, temporarily settled down. Thanks to the fact that the personnel were not transferred, and the expenses of the salary and silver remained the same, the Donghai Division became the least affected force in the entire Donghai County. Not only did the original operation continue, but even the newly built warship was launched as scheduled without delaying even a day.

Such a calm invisibly gave many East China Sea division soldiers an illusion. That is, although the King of Thailand attaches great importance to the development of the sailor, he does not mean to meddle in the East China Sea division. This behemoth with intertwined interests and many internal factions, even if it changes its master, is still an independent small kingdom as before!

Before being personally recruited to Dengzhou by Chen Wu, Zheng Cheng, the commander of the East China Sea Division, also had such suspicions.

It's just that after he saw Shi Liang, the commander of the Ninghai Division, the director of the Quanzhou Shipping Division, and the King of Thailand, Chen Wu, who had just brought the Ninghai Division back from Northern Luzon, he didn't feel so anymore.

At this meeting, which consisted of only a few people, Chen Wu clearly told Zheng Cheng that the East China Sea Division was going to carry out a large-scale reorganization.

The first is the stripping of the business and the slimming of the bloated water master!

Like the Quanzhou Shipping Division, the merchant ships under the East China Sea Division will be separated from the sequence of the Naval Division and transferred to the management of the Changding Shipping Division. At the same time, the integration of large and small shipyards in Terrai Province, together with the maintenance, maintenance and construction of new ships by the East China Sea Division, was unified and separated into the duties of the Harbour Master.

In this way, the East China Sea Division will be the same as the Ning Sea Division, only need to undertake operations and escorts, and will not need to worry about other messy things.

It not only effectively enhances the combat power of the East China Sea Division, but also minimizes the corruption space of the East China Sea Division, and strengthens the management of the East China Sea Division in disguise.

As for streamlining and layoffs, needless to say, the huge establishment of the East China Sea Division can compress at least 10,000 people. This figure can be increased even more when we take into account the elimination of a number of old ships and small boats that are not very useful. The money saved in this way can be used to improve the treatment of the officers and soldiers in the current service, and then improve their morale.

"Governor...... His Royal Highness the King of Thailand. ”

After only listening to the beginning, Zheng Cheng, the commander of the East China Sea Division, sweated on his face, and in shock and nervousness, he even called the wrong title. After quickly changing his words, he hesitated and said: "It is true that the East China Sea Division has too many personnel, but will it be ...... to lay off 10,000 people at once?"

He really didn't expect that Chen Wu would not move, and his movement would be such an earth-shattering handiwork. If this decision is announced, I am afraid that the entire East China Sea Division will make a mess!

"What? Is it hard to do? Chen Wu couldn't see any expression on his face, only a faint dissatisfaction in his tone.

"10,000 people...... Could it be too much? The task of the East Sea Division is very heavy, and it is necessary to always be on the lookout for the Ocean Sailors of the Lena people. Moreover, with the sudden dismissal of so many people, how to resettle them is also a big problem. Zheng Cheng tried his best to consider his tone, for fear of upsetting the King of Thailand: "Please think twice, Your Highness!" ”

"I know that the task of the East China Sea Division is very heavy, but is the mission of the Ning Sea Master light? The entire war in Northern Luzon was all about Ninghai divisions running back and forth, and I didn't see them crying out for hard work. The reduction of 10,000 people in the East China Sea Division was carefully calculated by this king, and even so, the reduction of Cheng Dù was still inferior to that of the Ning Sea Division. As for the issue of personnel placement, it is natural that this king and Denglai Mansion are concerned, and Admiral Zheng does not have to worry about it. ”

At first glance, it sounded like Chen Wu was just stating a result, but Zheng Cheng clearly heard dissatisfaction and unshakable determination from it.

He was silent for a moment, having no choice but to agree.

After this compromise, the second point that followed, the personnel transfer arrangement for the East China Sea Division, will naturally not be a problem. (To be continued.) )