On the 5th of June, Shanhai County's operation to suppress the bandits finally came to an end.
The mixed brigade's ten-day operation to suppress the bandits had yielded a bountiful harvest. They obtained a total of 2,500 gold coins, 3,000 captives, and a large number of rations, supplies, and weapons.
As for the special items, aside from the heavy infantry commander's tally, they also obtained a territory's specialty scroll.
[Territory's Specialty Scroll (3): After use, the output of crops increases by 10%.
There was a total of six territory specialty scrolls. Shanhai County already obtained the second, third, and fourth scrolls. They still had not obtained the first, fifth, and sixth scrolls.
Of these, the first one increased the attraction rate of refugees, the fifth increased the army's leveling speed, and the last one increased the success rate of the territory's talents breaking through bottlenecks. All of these were extremely important.
The seized funds basically replenished the funds spent on the previous army expansion. Of course, the larger expenditure was the continuous increase in the army's pay.
Right now, Friendship Town paid for the vanguard battalion's pay, North Sea Town paid for the Northern Sea Fleet's pay, and Wolf Mountain's garrison camp did not pay. Hence, the main camp only needed to pay for the mixed brigade stationed in the northern camp and the city defense camp and the Divine Strategy Battalion stationed in the city.
Even so, Shanhai County's military expenditure reached 2,000 gold coins a month.
Of the three thousand captives, 250 of the pirates were sent to North Sea Town to become the Northern Sea Fleet's reserve soldiers. This way, the Northern Sea Fleet's Third Battalion's reserve soldiers were full. Once North Sea Town was promoted to North Sea County, these reserve soldiers would officially change jobs and form the Northern Sea Fleet's Third Battalion.
As for the remaining captives, aside from a small portion selected by the military and recruited into the reserve soldiers, the rest were sent to serve in the second city wall construction project. After the project was completed, these people would be sent to work in the brick kilns and pottery factories.
After the suppression of the bandits, the selection of the lord's residence's personal guards officially began. Before the selection, Ouyang Shuo announced that the personal guards' pay would be twice that of the other troops.
No good man could resist the temptation of glory and money.
Ouyang Shuo specially instructed Wang Feng to choose high-ranked elite soldiers who were not willing to change jobs to early-ranked generals. According to Ouyang Shuo's understanding, if Rank 9 elite soldiers did not choose to change jobs, they had a certain chance of advancing further and becoming even more elite soldiers.
In the afternoon, as Ouyang Shuo was reading, Tian Wenjing, the newly appointed head of the Internal Affairs Bureau, walked in.
"Sir, congratulations!" Tian Wenjing could not hide his joy.
"Oh, what's there to be happy about?" It was rare for this cold-faced chief to be so happy, so Ouyang Shuo was very interested.
"There's news from the Mystic Bird Tribe, saying that there's a small tribe that's really having a hard time. They're willing to bring their entire tribe down the mountain and settle down in our territory," Tian Wenjing said with a smile.
Ever since the extermination of the Gale Tribe, Tian Wenjing had been appointed by Ouyang Shuo as the lord's special envoy, fully in charge of the affairs of the mountain barbarians.
Some time ago, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was established and the head of the Material Reserve Division was replaced. This task was not handed over to the newly appointed head of the Resource Division, Shen Zhui. Instead, it was handed over to Tian Wenjing.
Ouyang Shuo considered that, firstly, it wasn't easy for Tian Wenjing to get familiar with all the tribes. If they changed him halfway, it would be a waste of effort. Secondly, the responsibility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs included the management of the floating population, so it would be more appropriate for the Ministry of Internal Affairs to be in charge of it.
After the Labor Day holiday, Ouyang Shuo decisively adjusted the policy regarding the mountain barbarians. On the one hand, the relatives of the barbarian warriors moved to Shanhai Town and settled down there. On the other hand, the barbarians were encouraged to go down the mountain, either to settle down there or to work in Shanhai Town.
Now, a month had passed, and this policy had finally paid off.
"Which tribe is it?" Ouyang Shuo asked.
"It's one of the eight tribes that agreed to cooperate with us in the third batch. Unlike the Mystic Bird Tribe and the three tribes in the second batch, the barbarian warriors and the grain subsidy were all one-time use. They could still get paid through the Wolf Mountain Mine. Therefore, once the grain subsidy is used up, we'll return to the precarious situation we were in before, "Tian Wenjing explained.
Ouyang Shuo nodded, indicating that he understood.
The Mystic Bird Tribe was the first barbarian tribe to cooperate with Shanhai County, and they also benefited the most. Not only did their tribesmen occupy the majority of the miners in the Wolf Mountain Mine, but their influence in the surrounding tribes also gradually increased. They replaced the exterminated Gale Tribe and became the de facto leader of this area.
The second batch of barbarians that cooperated with Shanhai County were three small tribes. It was also this time that the Gale Tribe rejected Shanhai County's friendship, laying the groundwork for their future extermination. The tribesmen of these three small tribes were also arranged to mine in the Wolf Mountain Mine. Therefore, their living conditions had already improved.
The third batch of barbarians that cooperated with Shanhai County was after the extermination of the Gale Tribe. These tribes were intimidated by Shanhai County's power and had no choice but to submit. In this batch, there were a total of two medium-sized tribes and six small tribes.
Because the Wolf Mountain Mine was already full, this batch of tribes only received a one-time subsidy. In the future, they could only rely on gathering herbs in the mountains in exchange for some food from Shanhai County. Their lives were very unstable. In addition, the tribe's most elite warriors had been selected by Shanhai County and recruited into the army. Therefore, it was even more difficult for the tribes to hunt than before.
Therefore, it was understandable that this third batch of tribes could not resist the temptation to go down the mountain. After all, no matter which ethnic group it was, they all had the idea of "not worrying about scarcity, but worrying about inequality".
If it was in the past, everyone was the same and lived a hard life. There was nothing to complain about or be envious of. However, because of the existence of the Wolf Mountain Mine, these tribes were imperceptibly divided into two parts, and the gap between the rich and the poor began to appear.
In addition, these tribes had tasted the sweetness of Shanhai County's food subsidy, which allowed their tribesmen to live comfortably for a period of time. Now that they were being beaten back to their original state, no one was willing to accept it.
In addition, Tian Wenjing kept adding fuel to the fire from the side. Finally, there were tribes that could not take it anymore and were willing to abandon the so-called barbarian tradition. They agreed to go down the mountain and settle down in Shanhai County.
After understanding the cause and effect, Ouyang Shuo became more and more confident in his Mountain Barbarian policy. In this, there was a drastic measure, followed by a carrot and a stick. It was really the policy of the foreign tribes to the extreme.
"How many people are there in this tribe?" Ouyang Shuo continued to ask Tian Wenjing.
"There are more than 1,800 people."
Ouyang Shuo nodded. Such a small number of people was considered a small number in a small tribe. "Let's settle this tribe in Pool Town. That place is closer to their homeland, so the difference should not be too big for them to adapt in a short time. In the future, the Mountain Barbarian tribes that will go down the mountain will also be mainly arranged in Pool Town. I will send an official letter to Pool Town, asking them to cooperate with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and do a good job in the selection and construction of the settlement. "
"Understood!"
"Yangon, you have handled the affairs of the Mountain Barbarians very well. I am very satisfied. However, we cannot be satisfied with the current situation. We still have to continue to increase our efforts in persuasion, especially taking this opportunity to persuade more Mountain Barbarian tribes to go down the mountain and settle down in Shanhai County. "Ouyang Shuo said in the end.
"Don't worry, Sir. I will definitely not let you down!" Tian Wenjing promised solemnly.
After Tian Wenjing left, Ouyang Shuo started to write an official letter to Zhao Dexian, the chief official of Pool Town.
In the official letter, Ouyang Shuo wrote that the Mountain Barbarian settlement would be built according to the standards of a first-class town. The settlement would be a purely agricultural settlement. They had to plan a large enough farmland area and reclaim it in time so that they could start sowing the second season of rice at the end of July.
Other than that, Pool Town had to provide sufficient farming tools for the settlement. The existing cattle could also be temporarily rented to the settlement to reclaim the farmland. They also had to send experienced farmers to guide the Mountain Barbarians in farming.
These Mountain Barbarians did not have any rice farming experience. The Ministry of Agriculture of Pool Town had to increase their support. This settlement must be made into a demonstration site to reduce the difficulty of persuading the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Pool Town also had to be responsible for the food supply of the Mountain Barbarians. In order to reduce the burden on Pool Town, the Ministry of Finance of the headquarters would give Pool Town a one-time financial subsidy of 1000 gold coins.
Coincidentally, Pool Town was in the process of upgrading the water conservancy facilities and building the city walls. They could be recruited into the construction site and paid according to the standards of the headquarters.
Finally, Ouyang Shuo mentioned in the official letter that Pool Town had to make an overall plan for the Mountain Barbarian settlement. This was to prepare in advance for the Mountain Barbarian tribes to go down the mountain and settle down there.
In Ouyang Shuo's official letter, he had considered all aspects of the matter and had specific instructions for them. It could be seen how much importance he placed on this matter.
After he finished writing, Ouyang Shuo called the Clerk Bai Nanpu and asked him to send this official letter to Pool Town immediately. Shanhai County had a fixed bailiff who was responsible for sending and receiving official letters between territories. There were a total of four bailiffs who were directly led by the Clerk Bai Nanpu.
After that, Ouyang Shuo got up and went to the Office of the Superintendent of Finance. He mentioned the matter of the financial subsidy to Ying You. This amount of money was naturally paid by Ouyang Shuo.
After deducting this amount of subsidy and the 500 gold coins used for the territory renewal, Ouyang Shuo was left with 2000 gold coins in his storage pouch.
Bing'er appeared in Ouyang Shuo's office punctually at six o 'clock in the evening. Calling her brother for dinner after work had become a regular routine for the little girl. During this period of time, Bing'er had completely adapted to life in Shanhai County.
In the Lord's Mansion, be it the officials of different levels or the servants, they all cherished and cared for the Lord's sister. In addition, Bing'er was originally beautiful, cute, well-behaved and sensible, which made her even more popular.
Especially Second Brother, he followed behind Bing'er the moment school ended. He was a complete stalker.
Today, Bing'er was wearing a Tang princess dress. The pink dress was embroidered with peach blossoms. She looked dignified and cute at the same time. This dress was naturally made by Qing'er. (To be continued.)
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