Taking advantage of the rare truce, Ouyang Shuo stayed in the capital and made partial adjustments to the structure of the court according to the development needs of the dynasty. The establishment of the Great Xia Bank was only the first step.
On October 10th, the Great Xia Transportation Department and the Asset Management Department were established.
These two institutions were not part of the Four Great Academies. Instead, they were parallel to the Industry Department and were directly managed by the cabinet. This arrangement was not only out of practical needs, but also to balance the power of the Four Great Academies.
The Four Great Academies held great power in the court. If they were too overstaffed, they could become a hindrance to the cabinet. In more serious cases, they could even cause government orders to be blocked.
It was because of this consideration that the two departments were not under the jurisdiction of the Four Great Academies.
The Transportation Department consisted of the Road and Bridge Department, the Water Transport Department, the Sea Transport Department, and the Railway Department. They were in charge of the transportation facilities of the dynasty. They were responsible for drafting and organizing the implementation of road and bridge, railway, river, and shipping planning, as well as coordinating the planning of the comprehensive transportation system and promoting the connection of various transportation methods.
The most eye-catching was the Railway Department.
With the accelerated industrialization of the dynasty, the construction of the railway was officially put on the agenda. The first phase of the plan was to build a line from Luofeng City in the north to Shanhai City in the south.
The Fengshan line traversed the five provinces of Hedong, Zhongyuan, Jingchu, Xiangnan, and Chuan Nan. It opened up the north-south freight channel of the dynasty and strengthened the control of the court over the provinces.
Although Jingchu Province was still under the rule of the Song Dynasty, it was a huge project to build such a railway that traversed the north and south. The difficulty was no less than building the Great Wall of China.
The court planned to open the whole line in three years.
It was because of the Fengshan railway project that the court wanted to set up a separate Railway Department.
The Asset Management Department, as the name suggested, was responsible for the centralized management of the enterprises established by the dynasty. This responsibility was previously managed by the Industry and Development Planning Department under the Finance Department.
This time, it was singled out not to reduce the authority of the Finance Department, but with the rapid expansion of the scale of the group, there was a need to set up a specialized and professional organization to manage it.
The Shushan Steel Group, the Huaxia Textile Group, the Huaxia Construction Group, the Cang Dragon Military Group, and the Eagle Bicycle Factory were all included in the scope of the Asset Management Department.
Only the Huaxia Shipping Group was placed under the jurisdiction of the Transportation Department.
Taking advantage of the opportunity of establishing the Asset Management Department, the Imperial Court would also carry out restructuring of the Chamber of Commerce, guiding the Chamber of Commerce to carry out the corporate reform, setting up the industry access mechanism, and examining the business qualifications.
This work was organized and implemented by the Commerce Department under the Ministry of Finance.
Great Xia's economy was prosperous, and the business atmosphere was relatively free. According to the Commerce Department's calculations, there were no less than 5,000 chambers of commerce registered in Great Xia.
Among them, the giants of the Chamber of Commerce, such as [Bai's Chamber of Commerce], [Cui's Chamber of Commerce], [Song's Chamber of Commerce], and [Yi Si's Chamber of Commerce] covered almost all industries.
As long as it wasn't forbidden by the imperial court, these super chambers of commerce were allowed to operate.
The Chamber of Commerce had already become a giant beast lurking beneath the surface of the sea. To the dynasty, this was a potential risk that could emerge at any time and affect the policies of the imperial court.
This caused Ouyang Shuo to be vigilant.
With the acceleration of industrialization, the power of capital would only become stronger and more unscrupulous.
What Ouyang Shuo could do, or rather, what the imperial court of the Great Xia Dynasty could do, was not to use violence to interfere. That would only destroy the business environment that they had painstakingly established and cause both sides to suffer.
The real solution to the root of the problem was to use policy guidance to regulate and restrain the monster before it even surfaced. It was a win-win situation.
The reform of the corporate system was the first weapon introduced by the Imperial Court.
Through the reform of the corporate system and the establishment of an industrial and commercial registration system, the operations of the chambers of commerce would become more transparent and easier to supervise.
The establishment of a business qualification review system could eliminate substandard products and raise the entry requirements of the industry. It was also beneficial for supervision and would not allow the chambers of commerce to swarm over and do whatever they wanted to earn money.
Apart from that, it was also beneficial for raising taxes and preventing the chambers of commerce from evading taxes.
All of these made Ouyang Shuo determined to push forward the matter with great effort. He had to complete the relevant reform and review before the seventh year of Gaia.
If any chamber of commerce dared to defy him, they would be blamed for Ouyang Shuo's ruthlessness.
In the short term, it would indeed affect the enthusiasm of the chambers of commerce and weaken their strength. But in the long term, it would further regulate the business environment of Great Xia. It would lay the groundwork for the next boom in business.
Economic development had become the top priority of the territory's construction.
…
On the eleventh, Ouyang Shuo came to the Privy Council office to attend an unveiling ceremony.
From that day forth, the Privy Council would set up a 'Monster Research Institute'. It would be in charge of researching monster combat techniques, as well as developing targeted weapons and equipment. It would also research on how to turn monster meat into high-grade military rations.
In October, the monster apocalypse did not show any signs of weakening. In fact, it was becoming more and more intense. According to the statistics of the Privy Council, the number of casualties at the camps near the monster nests was gradually increasing.
This caught Ouyang Shuo's attention.
Gaia was not playing house this time. The monster horde had become a major threat to the territory. It was even more brutal than the bandits and bandits in the wild. It was not an exaggeration to place great importance on it.
This was only the first year of the monster horde. Would there be any new changes next year?
Ouyang Shuo had no way of knowing, so he could only strengthen his defenses.
It was under such circumstances that Ouyang Shuo decided to set up the 'Monster Research Institute' to take the initiative. As the monsters were highly realistic, the research results would be helpful to Planet of Hope.
…
12th of October, Shanhai City.
In the royal study, Ouyang Shuo summoned the Director of Education, Culture, and Defense, Ouyang Xiu to discuss the upcoming reform of the education system. This was also one of the reforms that Ouyang Shuo placed the most importance on. It concerned the foundation of the dynasty.
The reform of the education system was similar to the reform of the bank and the chamber of commerce. It was all to speed up the process of modernization.
As the dynasty's territory continued to expand, the Southwest University China Hall and the Military Lecture Hall could no longer support the need to nurture high-level talents.
The reform had to be carried out.
Ouyang Shuo decided to rename [Southwest University] to [Jingshi University], [Army Martial Lecture Hall] to [Army University], and [Navy Academy] to [Navy University].
It was not just a name change. Jingshi University and Military University would also be moved out of the royal city. They would find another place to build a larger university campus that occupied a larger area to meet the needs of the expansion of the school.
The royal city was too restrictive. It was not suitable for the free and open academic atmosphere of the university.
Apart from that, Ouyang Shuo also decided to build another 'Imperial Capital Normal University' in addition to the three universities. It would be used to nurture teachers and talents for the reform of the education system.
In the future, other specialized universities would be built, such as the 'Imperial Capital Academy of Arts'.
In the long term, when the time was right, they would also build local universities in some of the central cities, such as Luoyang, Quanzhou, Chengdu, and other places to further improve the education system.
This was the only way to satisfy the dynasty's need for talents.
While Ouyang Shuo and Ouyang Xiu were discussing the education plan, a guard suddenly ran in. "Your Majesty, the Shanhai Guards' intelligence station in the Mongolian Empire has sent you a red urgent message."
Ouyang Shuo was shocked. He knew that something major had happened.
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