Liu Mo's lecture lasted for an hour.
Ouyang Shuo sat upright in the seat of honor, calmly observing the reactions of the ministers in the hall. Some were interested, some were confused; some were truly listening attentively, and there were also some who appeared to be attentive, but were actually just dealing with it.
The industrialization of the territory would not be smooth sailing.
Ouyang Shuo did not follow the usual practice of setting up a new organization to promote the industrialization of the territory. It was still handled by the Industry and Development Department under the General Administration of Finance.
The only change was that an old expert from the 7th Research Institute would be transferred to the Industry and Development Department as the Deputy Director. He would be responsible for coordinating the work of the Protectorate of the Southern Border and the 7th Research Institute.
Ouyang Shuo did not choose Liu Mo. This sworn brother of his was a pure technological geek and would not be able to do such a thing.
Liu Mo retreated and the court continued.
The lecture was only the beginning. It was also to demonstrate Ouyang Shuo's will as a king. The officials in the hall were all smart people and could naturally understand the deeper meaning behind it.
Next, the 7th Research Institute would carry out similar literacy campaigns throughout the territory. Only by unifying the knowledge of the entire territory could the industrialization of the territory be sped up.
...
"Shanhai City has just been promoted to a third-rank city and has a population shortage of a million people. I want to fill this gap in half a year. Does anyone have any objections? "Ouyang Shuo threw out another difficult problem.
As soon as he finished speaking, the officials looked at each other.
"May I ask why the lord is in such a hurry?" Xiao He stepped out and asked.
Shanhai City had been promoted from a second-rank city to a third-rank city for a year. In the eyes of the officials, they could follow the prescribed order and there was no need to rush things.
"When Shanhai City is promoted to a capital city, it will be the opportunity for the territory to establish a nation." Ouyang Shuo did not hide his ambition and announced his plan for the first time to the officials.
The officials were excited and some of the old officials even had tears in their eyes.
The concept of a nation in ancient China was very important. It was one of the symbols of the unification of the world. Without a nation, the old officials always felt that something was missing and were unable to unite the will of the country.
To the territory, establishing a nation was a groundbreaking event.
Ouyang Shuo's announcement in front of everyone caused an uproar. To the officials, this was the best explanation and commendation for this court meeting.
All the doubts he had just now were swept away.
The ministers burst forth with even greater enthusiasm than Ouyang Shuo's and worked together to solve the population shortage problem.
"Your Majesty, this humble subject thinks that we can transfer some people from the various counties to Shanhai City." The one who spoke was Du Quan, the Director of the Household Registration Department of the Internal Affairs Department.
The Department of Household Registration was in charge of the population, so it naturally had the most right to speak. In this kind of court meeting, as a young official, Du Quan could not help but want to show off.
"You can't!" Unexpectedly, Xiao He immediately objected. "Such an action is no different from killing the goose that lays the golden eggs to catch the fish. The population of each county has been growing slowly, and it's not easy for us to catch our breath. How can we just transfer them around? "
In the wilderness, apart from the refugees that spawned, there was almost no natural growth. After playing the game for ten years, even if the natives had already accelerated their growth, it was only enough for one generation of babies to grow into adults.
Xiao He's words made sense.
Throughout the entire territory, only Shanhai City, Cliff Mountain City, and Ocean-Suppressing City could continuously spawn refugees after using the Village Creation Token.
The only special thing was that North Sea City was a subsidiary city.
Then there were the cities that used the Integration Token, including Lianzhou County's Tianfeng City, Yi Shui County, and Duanren City. Finally, there were the overseas cities like Lion City, Friendship City, and Base City that could spawn refugees.
Compared to the territory's seven counties, the hundreds of cities were really few and far between.
Du Quan's suggestion was indeed inappropriate.
"This …"
Du Quan's face turned red, and she did not know how to refute.
Seeing this, Wei Yang frowned. Du Quan's poor performance made him, the Director of the Internal Affairs Department, lose face.
Even so, Wei Yang still had to help Du Quan out. "Chief Xiao's words make sense, but they are not absolute. Your Majesty, this humble subject suggests that we transfer an appropriate number of people from Lianzhou County's North Sea City, Tianfeng City, Yi Shui County, and Duanren City to Shanhai City. In addition, the population of Ocean-Suppressing City can also be transferred. "
As the Director of the Internal Affairs Department, Wei Yang obviously had a good grasp of the territory's population distribution. He did not mention Cliff Mountain City because the population of Cliff Mountain City had to cover the entire Qiongzhou County, so it was not appropriate to transfer them.
"Feasible." Ouyang Shuo nodded. He did not take the secret confrontation between Wei Yang and Xiao He to heart. He said lightly, "This matter will be led by the Internal Affairs Department, with Lianzhou County and Ocean-Suppressing City cooperating."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Lianzhou County Chief Wei Ran and Ocean-Suppressing City Chief Song Wen stepped forward to receive the order.
However, compared to Song Wen's calmness, Wei Ran's expression was somewhat stiff. Transferring a large number of people at once would make Lianzhou County's status even lower than Shanhai City's.
This was the disadvantage of being an official under the Emperor.
"Relocating the population is like tearing down the east wall to pay the west wall. It will not solve the root of the problem. Does anyone have any other suggestions?" The shortage of one million people could not be solved with just a few immigrants.
Moving 200,000 people out of the five cities was already the limit.
"This humble subject suggests that we go to Royal City to recruit people." Wei Yang answered this question in place of Du Quan.
"How do we do that?"
Shanhai City had already gone to Royal City several times to recruit talents. However, they only recruited technical talents or civil and military officials, so the number of people they recruited was not huge.
However, they had never gone to Royal City to recruit the basic population on a large scale.
"Let's use this industrial revolution as an opportunity." Wei Yang had a sharp mind. He was one of the ministers who had the most thorough understanding of the prospects of the steam engine and the loom.
In an instant, Wei Yang applied what he had learned.
The revolution that the loom would bring to the textile industry was disruptive. With the loom, there was no longer a need for professional technical talents to weave cotton cloth. As long as the commoners were diligent enough, they could take up the post with a little training.
This would greatly reduce the industry's barriers to entry.
This would definitely be very attractive to the commoners of Royal City.
"We can give it a try." Ouyang Shuo did not deny it. "The Census Department will be in charge of this matter. Other than immigration, they will also be responsible for their resettlement."
"If that's the case, why don't we take this opportunity to upgrade the Census Department?" Wei Yang suggested.
"What do you mean?" Ouyang Shuo remained calm.
This was the first time that a minister took the initiative to propose a restructuring of the territory's structure.
It was very meaningful!
Ouyang Shuo could not guess whether Wei Yang came prepared or improvised.
"The current Census Department's responsibilities are too narrow. It is only in charge of the territory's household register. The welfare, labor, customs and other matters related to the household register are all outside the system." Wei Yang explained very clearly.
"Therefore, I suggest that the Census Department be upgraded to the Civil Affairs Department. It will be in charge of household register, civil army, customs, rural labor, general labor, rehabilitation, disaster relief, village pavilion chief, elderly, widows, orphans, control the poor, encourage farming, confer nobility, respect for filial piety, ban extravagance, ban generous burials and other matters."
The term Civil Affairs Department had existed since ancient times. Compared to the Civil Affairs Department of modern society, although there were differences in terms of work, the basic matters had not changed for thousands of years.
Wei Yang's suggestion hit the nail on the head. Ouyang Shuo's eyes lit up.
"What does Minister Xiao think?"
Ouyang Shuo did not immediately make a decision. As the chief of the administration, Xiao He still had the right to speak on the restructuring of the organization.
It would not be appropriate for Ouyang Shuo to bypass Xiao He in the court.
After a long period of experience, Ouyang Shuo had a more thorough understanding of the rules of the court.
"Chief Wei's words make sense. I agree!"
Xiao He did not hesitate and directly nodded in agreement. He did not pester endlessly. Although this would increase the authority of the Civil Affairs Department, Xiao He did not hesitate when it was time to lower his head.
"Alright, the matter is decided!" Ouyang Shuo immediately made a decision. "The specific organization and structure will be discussed by the two of you. Today, we will only discuss one matter. Does anyone have a recommendation for the chief of the Civil Affairs Department? "
Du Quan's performance was obviously not enough to advance further. It was already good enough that he could maintain his position as the chief of the Census Department under the Civil Affairs Department.
Therefore, no one thought that Du Quan would be promoted.
The Lord's words had once again proved this point.
Ouyang Shuo had been away from the territory for half a year. The territory was not a pool of stagnant water. In the past half a year, there were a few historical talents who came because of the reputation. Some of them had been arranged to stay in the posthouse, waiting for Ouyang Shuo's decision.
Those who were not arranged to stay were naturally great talents.
Although Ouyang Shuo asked this question, the only ones who had the right to speak were Xiao He and Wei Yang. One was in charge of the appointment and inspection of the territory officials, while the other was the chief of the Civil Affairs Department.
Even the chief of finance, Fan Li, could not intervene.
This time, Wei Yang came prepared. He did not hide anything and directly submitted a recommendation. "Reporting to the Lord, this humble subject recommends a person. He is Pei Yun, who came to seek refuge with my clan brother, Pei Ju."
"Pei Yun?" Ouyang Shuo tried hard to recall the historical records of Pei Yun.
Like Xing Province's County Chief Pei Ju, Pei Yun was also born in Hedong Wenxi's Pei Clan. He started working as an official in the Chen Dynasty and was appointed as a General and Commander of Xingning.
After the Chen Dynasty was destroyed by Sui, Sui Wen Emperor Yang Jian made an exception and promoted Pei Yun to the position of Yi Tong. After that, Pei Yun served as the provincial governor of Yang, Zhi, and Di Provinces.
After Sui Yang Emperor Yang Guang ascended the throne, he appointed Pei Yun as the Grand Minister and then the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
In the 14th year of Daye, the Right Garrison General Yu Wenji and Sima Dekan started a mutiny in Jiangdu to kill the Emperor. Pei Yun was killed along with Sui Yang Emperor and the other ministers.
Compared to his brother Pei Ju, Pei Yun was slightly more lackluster.
The only political achievement he could bring out was probably the reform of the household registration system.
When Pei Yun was the Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the lack of household registration among the people was a serious problem, which seriously affected the imperial court's financial revenue and hindered the development of production. It became a major social problem at that time.
Because Pei Yun had been a provincial governor for a few years, he was more familiar with the inside story. Therefore, he proposed a set of measures to verify household registration, which was also known as the "judging by appearance" method. After these measures were put into practice, they received very obvious results. Four hundred and forty-three thousand soldiers were added to the accounts, and one million six hundred and forty-one thousand five hundred new residents were added.
Even so, Pei Yun was not considered a good official.
Pei Yun catered to Sui Yang Emperor's liking and did many things that brought disaster to the country and the people.
In order to cater to Sui Yang Emperor, Pei Yun expanded the Yue Fu on a large scale. He changed the old system of Emperor Wen and expanded the Yue Fu to more than 30,000 people for Emperor Yang Emperor's enjoyment.
After being promoted to the position of Imperial Censor, Pei Yun was involved in secrets and destroyed the legal system. He used words to convict people and exonerate them. He had absolute power over people's lives and made arbitrary decisions, which facilitated and deepened Sui Yang Emperor's autocratic rule. As a result, evil people became crafty and became friends.
Therefore, Ouyang Shuo naturally had to be cautious when using Pei Yun.
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