Chapter 517- Carrot on a Stick
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
10th month, 30th day, Chiyou City.
After numerous days of travelling by foot, Fan Zhongyan and his men finally arrived at Chiyou City under the protection of a military force.
When Ouyang Shuo received the news, he personally welcomed them at the city gate.
Only Fan Zhongyan could receive such special treatment.
The officials and minor officials that followed along numbered around three hundred, a huge lineup. Amongst which, there were some officials from the Nanjiang Governor-General House and also officials that the various Houses and counties recommended.
Other than that, there would be the fifty students from Xinan University who graduated early.
Three hundred people, their greatest similarity and strength was their young age.
Based on the information from the Administration Department, the average age of the officials in Shanhai City was less than thirty. Meanwhile, those that followed Fan Zhongyan here were even younger, with an average age of twenty-seven.
Leading such a young team to run an entire prefecture, Fan Zhongyan had heavy responsibility and foresight.
At noon, Ouyang Shuo held a feast in the Lord's Manor to welcome the group.
The officials that came along felt incredibly emotional and touched when they saw how much importance the Lord placed on them. In fact, they even teared up. Obviously, they would give it their all to help Fan Zhongyan run Wuzhou Prefecture well.
In the afternoon, Ouyang Shuo met Fan Zhongyan in the reading room alone.
After spending a week in Chiyou City, Ouyang Shuo had obviously been doing things; he had not slacked. He currently had a rough understanding of the situation in Wuzhou Prefecture.
Hence, before Fan Zhongyan took over, Ouyang Shuo was going to personally introduce and explain the matters to Fan Zhongyan.
Wuzhou Prefecture had a lot of land but very little people. As a result, they would only create four Houses here. As for the specific personnel arrangements, Fan Zhongyan and the newly appointed administration director Xiao He would discuss it.
As the territory continued to expand, the job of prefect appointment was slowly shifted under the jurisdiction of the Administration Department.
Unless it was some special talent that needed Ouyang Shuo to personally arrange them, he would not interfere.
Fan Zhongyan suggested that to reduce and remove the influence of Chiyou in the prefecture, they should change the name of Chiyou City.
Ouyang Shuo thought about it but decided to reject the proposal.
After they buried Chiyou in Devil's Slope, they had also buried all past grievances. Chiyou City held a special place in the hearts of the mountain barbarians.
As the Barbarian King, Ouyang Shuo had to care about their feelings and thoughts.
He needed to possess such magnanimity.
Since Ouyang Shuo did not mind, Fan Zhongyan naturally would not say anything more.
Rushing over, Ouyang Shuo had gained a rough gauge of the situation in Wuzhou Prefecture. Although things were much worse than he had expected, he had confidence in developing the prefecture.
This Lord and minister spent an entire afternoon in the reading room.
During their conversation, they settled future development structure of Wuzhou.
As they talked, Ouyang Shuo realized that choosing Fan Zhongyan as governor was truly a smart choice. The many development plans that Fan Zhongyan had thought of for Wuzhou Prefecture made his eyes brighten.
For example, to break the ice between the Han people and the mountain barbarians, Fan Zhongyan suggested they moved some of the mountain barbarians to Zhaoqing Prefecture.
Similarly, he would move some of the people from Zhaoqing Prefecture over.
With that, not only did they largely improve the population structure of Wuzhou Prefecture, the new Han race people could help remove the divide between the two races, killing two birds with one stone.
Ouyang Shuo was highly supportive of this suggestion.
After sending Fan Zhongyan away, he let out a long and comfortable sigh.
The next morning, Fan Zhongyan would officially be appointed. Him and his three hundred odd officials would be sent to the various Houses and counties to become the backbone of Wuzhou Prefecture.
His arrival had finally freed Ouyang Shuo from the heavy administrative workload.
Next, Ouyang Shuo would have to consider the problem of building the Wuzhou Prefecture Garrison Division.
Be it the Guards Division or the four mountain barbarian independent divisions, they could not stay here for long. They urgently needed to create the Garrison Division to maintain the peace in Wuzhou.
Within a week, Lin Yi had led the Guards Division to sweep up the entire Wuzhou Prefecture, removing all the other local powers.
The entire Wuzhou Prefecture was finally unified under one power.
Taking the chance, he captured another batch of mountain barbarian warriors.
Being inspired by Fan Zhongyan's idea, Ouyang Shuo decided that the Wuzhou Garrison Division would also be formed from a mix of both races, allowing them to keep each other in check.
Almost immediately, Ouyang Shuo wrote letters to both the Military Affairs Department and the Lingnan War Zone.
Based on Ouyang Shuo’s plans, they would take two regiments from the Zhaoqing Garrison Division and put them into the Wuzhou Garrison Division. The prisons of the Taping Country in the Mulan Stronghold would fill in the lack of manpower.
Apart from that, he would form another regiment from the Taiping Country army prisoners and place it into the Wuzhou Garrison Division. The remaining two regiments would be formed from the mountain barbarian prisoners.
With that, the Wuzhou Prefecture Garrison Division would have three sides that constantly monitored and competed with one another. Be it the Han people or the mountain barbarians, they could not abuse their power.
For major general of the Garrison Division, Ouyang Shuo ordered Er'Lai to choose from the mountain barbarian infantry regiment. The deputy major general would be one of the colonels from the Zhaoqing Garrison Division.
With that, they had a firm grasp on the Wuzhou Prefecture Garrison Division.
When they completed the division, Ouyang Shuo could lead his troops east into Xunzhou and take out Taiping Country once and for all.
Based on his estimations, these moves would not have any conflicts with the plans he made for the Dragon and Leopard Legions.
10th month, 1st day, Fan Zhongyan was officially in office.
The huge administrative machine had started working at high speeds.
This was when the people of Wuzhou clearly realized that Wuzhou was changing.
The mountain barbarians that had controlled the important departments were mercilessly swept out. Only those who were recognized and approved by the two intelligence organizations could obtain a job in the system.
Seeing Shanhai City officials move into Chiyou City and fill up all the important roles, the various mountain barbarian tribes panicked.
In just one morning, they had come several times to the Lord's Manor to seek an audience with Ouyang Shuo.
Seeing that the time was right, Ouyang Shuo agreed to meet them in the hall.
In truth, Ouyang Shuo would not fully suppress the various mountain barbarian tribes.
Shanhai City's policy toward other races also applied to Wuzhou. As such, Ouyang Shuo needed to remove the special privileges that the mountain barbarian tribe had enjoyed.
From today onward, any race would be treated equally.
Those mountain barbarians that were removed from their roles could apply once more. As long as they passed the test of the Wuzhou Prefecture Administration Department, they could be appointed.
Of course, the Han people in the prefecture could do the same.
Wuzhou Prefecture was incredibly big. If they just relied on the three hundred officials that Fan Zhongyan had brought, they would not even manage to keep Chiyou City running.
Hence, to rebuild the administrative system using a set structure, they needed a large number of officials.
Regretfully, the Han people living here were all normal people; there were no scholars around.
Such a situation surprised Ouyang Shuo, and he found it really weird. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about it.
Seeing that the Lord was not planning to wipe them out, the various tribe leaders felt a slight sense of relief amidst their feelings of loss.
"Greetings, my king!"
Within the hall, the various tribe leaders knelt down and officially recognized his position as Barbarian King.
Seeing all of them behave in such a manner, Ouyang Shuo did not know what to feel. He had used a series of plans and acts to finally make them yield and completely submit.
Within the territory, only Ouyang Shuo could have special rights.
The other people needed to obey his rule before they could survive within the territory.
This was the bottom line that Ouyang Shuo had drawn, and it could not be crossed.
From today onward, the special treatment of the mountain barbarians in Wuzhou would truly disappear. Of course, due to the existence of Chiyou City, Wuzhou Prefecture would still be the place where most of the mountain barbarians would gather.
In truth, the mountain barbarians in the China region were not solely limited to Chuannan Province and Lingnan Province. Other regions had mountain barbarians too.
At the very least, the Shu Area had a large number of them.
Who knows whether in the future his title of Barbarian King would work on those unknown mountain barbarian tribes.
They were simply born warriors.
No matter which tribe, Ouyang Shuo yearned for more of them.
"Please rise!"
Ouyang Shuo stood at the helm. His voice contained a threatening and mighty air without him even doing anything.
"Thank you, my king!"
The various tribe leaders got up one by one, and the way that they looked at him was now totally different.
Amidst the respect, there was a slight closeness.
Their gazes were highly similar to how the mountain barbarian soldiers looked at him.
No matter what, the mountain barbarian race had a new leader, so they would not really collapse.
"Within the Wuzhou Prefecture, why isn't there a single Han official? Do you know the reason?"
Looking down at these mountain barbarians, Ouyang Shuo suddenly recalled this problem.
Before Chiyou lost, these tribe leaders were his high level personnel. As such, they should have a rough idea of the situation.
As expected, Ouyang Shuo had asked the right people.
The various tribe leaders looked at one another, communicating through their expressions. In the end, the tribe leader with the highest standing stepped out and said respectively, "My king, I know the reason."
"Speak!"
"Because Chiyou doesn't like Han people, all the officials were kept within a secret prison."
"What?" When Ouyang Shuo heard this, he did not know what expression he was suppose to have, so he smacked his desk and asked, "Are these officials still alive?"
"Yes." The old tribe leader thought about it and decided to tell the truth, "However, their situation isn't good. Based on what I heard, some of them have died because they couldn't hold on anymore."
"...."
The actions of Chiyou truly left Ouyang Shuo speechless.
TWO Chapter 518- Pei Ju from Wenxi
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
On the west of Chiyou City, within a secret prison, Ouyang Shuo met the officials that Chiyou had locked up.
The gloomy and dark prison had humid floors. Cockroaches and rats were everywhere. In a small cell, there were hundreds of officials, all of them thin to the bone.
Currently, they were deep into autumn, but the officials were all wearing thin prison clothes, causing them to shiver.
When Ouyang Shuo saw this scene, his heart felt pained.
This batch of officials were the elite and essence of the territory, yet Chiyou actually treated them in this way.
Seeing the Lord's face like that, the head of the prison had beads of sweat form on his forehead. He was afraid of being scolded, so he rushed up and opened the cell doors.
Instantly, the sunlight shot into the dark cells, causing these ‘inmates’ to be unable to immediately react.
"All of you have had it rough!"
Ouyang Shuo did not care about the dirty water on the ground. He walked into the cell and bowed.
"...."
After being locked up for such a long time, their thinking had grown numb, and they could not react. The mountain barbarian tribe leaders standing behind Ouyang Shuo all had weird expressions.
"Fellows, this is the Lianzhou Lord, Nanjiang Governor-General. Wuzhou is now under his rule, and you are all saved." Royal Guards Captain Chen Dameng stood out and introduced Ouyang Shuo.
Instantly, the quiet cell broke into a series of low discussions.
Although they were unsure of Ouyang Shuo's identity, that last sentence was as clear as day. Their suffering had finally come to an end.
Some of the civil servants instantly cried.
Only an old man in the corner had a light glimmer in his eyes.
When Ouyang Shuo saw the situation, he knew that this was not the right place to talk. He immediately ordered men to bring this batch of civil servants to the Lord's Manor to wash up.
Then, they were to prepare good food for them and have the physicians check their health.
After being locked up for a long period of time in such a bad environment, for civil servants whose bodies were originally weak, such a torture would definitely leave behind some illnesses.
Based on the reactions of the mountain barbarian tribes leaders, there were tens of people who could not hold on and passed on.
Walking out of the prison, Ouyang Shuo's brows were locked tightly. According to his observations, after being locked up for so long, be it physically or mentally, they had all suffered huge pain and trauma.
In a short time, they probably could not be appointed.
The next morning, Ouyang Shuo welcomed all the saved civil servants in the main hall.
After nourishing their bodies and having a good rest, the colors of their faces had improved tremendously. Last night, they had heard of the changes in Wuzhou from the mouths of the servants.
Chiyou dying, Wuzhou changing Lords, Shanhai City moving in, and the mountain barbarians no longer having special privileges.
This series of changes left their mouth agape.
Now, they had a clear understanding of Ouyang Shuo’s identity.
"Greetings Lord, thank you for saving us!"
The hundreds of civil servants all kneeled down and bowed; it created a truly solemn scene. They were all willing to pledged their loyalties to him. After all, meeting such a Lord was a huge blessing to them.
"Please rise."
Ouyang Shuo raised his head and looked at the old man at the front of the row, deep in thought.
Last night, Ouyang Shuo had already instructed Fan Zhongyan to perform some preliminary research on the civil servants. He found that they were all real talents.
Twenty of them could become county magistrates, and three could even become prefects. Amongst which, there was even a big fish—the old man in front of him.
This old man was not some random nobody. Rather, he was a famous minister during the Sui Tang Era—Pei Ju.
Name: Pei Ju(Emperor Rank)
Title: Wenxi County Lord
Dynasty: Sui Tang
Identity: Shanhai City civil servant
Occupation: civil servant
Loyalty: 70
Command: 65
Force: 35
Intelligence: 75
Politics: 88
Specialty: wide knowledge and versatile talent (15% increase in administrative efficiency of territory, 25% increase in territory prestige, 20% increase in purity and honesty of territory, 10% increase in feel of territory)
Evaluation: Pei Ju, a politician, diplomat, strategist, and geographer during the Sui Tang era. His theory involves history and many other elements. He was loyal in his work and was always putting in all his effort, working late into the night for his Lord. He has a vast experience and spent many years working in administrative matters. Although it was a chaotic time, he did his work carefully and performed well.
On the topic of Pei Ju, some people might not know but in the written by master Huang Yi, Pei Ju was the name given to King Ya Shi Zixian in the imperial court.
Although this was only fiction, one could see the influence that Pei Mo had during that time.
Pei ju, his real name was Shi Ju. Born in Hedong Wenxi, he was the grandson of provincial governor Pei Tuo, son of Beiqi prince Pei Na. It could be said that he was born in a famous family.
Pei Ju who was born in Hedong, and he worked for North Qi, North Zhou, Sui Dynasty, and participated in the Sui destruction of Chen. During that time, he led three thousand soldiers to settle Lingnan and calm down the people. He was the vice minister of the public ministry, vice minister of the internal officials, vice minister of the minor official department, and more, before he was eventually given the title of Wenxi County Lord.
During the Daye years, Pei Ju was utilized a lot, along with Su Wei, Yu Wenshu, Pei Xi, and the like, they controlled the politics and administration. He helped the Sui emperor run the west region and helped split apart the Turks. After the jiangdu uprising, Pei Ju worked for Yuwen Huaji and was respected.
In the 4th year of Wude, Pei Ju surrendered to the Tang rule, taking up the role of attendant censor in the hall, Shuzi of the prince, vice supervisor of the household of the prince, and similar roles, and he was given the title of Anyi County Lord. He was highly recommended by Tang Gaozu and Tang Taichong. On the first year of Zhenguan, he passed away because of an illness at eighty years of age. His name was forever remembered in history and worshipped.
His entire life was magnificent, flying high and far.
On this topic, Pei Ju and Shi Wanshui were both ministers of the same hall, and they had a level of relationship.
During the 19th year of Kaihuang, Dulan Kehan and Datou Kehan worked together to defeat Qiming Kehan.
Qiming Kehan fled south to the Sui Dynasty and the emperor appointed Taiping Lord Shi Wanshui as the manager of the troops and Pei Ju as the elder of the army. Their mission was to strike out and attack the Turks.
Similarly, in the 12th month, Dulan Kehan was killed by his own subordinates and Datou Kehan took control.
20th year of Kaihuang, Shi Wanshui had broken through and succeeded in his attack on Datou Kehan. However, Sui Wendi wrongly killed him. Pei Ju's war records were not recorded because of that, and he was later asked to serve Qiming Kehan and promoted to government minister.
If it was other Lords, they might only pay attention to Pei Ju himself. Ouyang Shuo was different, as the part he cared about was where Pei Ju was born.
The Wei and Jin Dynasties, all the way till the Sui Dynasty, were times when the aristocratic families were the strongest. The most famous one was naturally the Guanlong Group that ruled the land.
The Guanlong Group originated from Wei Dynasty and grew big during the Sui and Tang Dynasties.
Sui Wendi was born of the Guanlong Group, and even the Tang Dynasty Li Ming who replaced the Sui Dynasty were all part of the Guanlong Group. This organization controlled all the strong martial artists and intelligent people in Guanlong Huhan, and everyone in the group would either become ministers or generals.
As Sui Yangdi wanted to destroy and remove this group, in the end, it cost him his name and reputation.
Apart from the Guanlong Group, Hebei Pei Family was also a huge aristocratic family.
Spanning thousands of years in China, they were a unique aristocratic family and was one of the longest lasting and most famous ones.
Based on what was recorded in the , the Pei Family had 59 prime ministers, 59 great generals, three empresses, and four concubines. Moreover, there were three thousand people ranked above grade 7 official, six hundred summoned by the king.
Just in the Tang Dynasty, they had seventeen prime ministers.
Flipping through just two scrolls of the Pei Family Genealogy, from Han to Qing, of the two hundred people, each one had made a contribution to China’s history. To finish writing all their contributions would probably take a humongous book. The Pei Family had numerous stars.
Such a huge and powerful family, Ouyang Shuo obviously paid attention to it.
Gaia was nearing the end of the 3rd year.
Based on the game progression after the first information piece, the 2nd one would be released soon. Moreover, this information piece would have a close relationship with the aristocratic families.
What kind of effect would the appearance of Pei Ju have on the territory?
Ouyang Shuo was temporarily unable to make his comment.
Ouyang Shuo judged Pei Ju and Pei Ju judged him in turn.
Any historical person in the wilderness would have definitely heard of Ouyang Shuo—this mighty Lord.
Pei Ju was summoned into the wilderness through a player Lord. He was also really confident and wanted to succeed in the wilderness.
Unfortunately, he was born in the wrong time. Before he could do anything, things changed.
After the Battle of Zhuolu ended, Chiyou moved into Wuzhou Prefecture. No one within the prefecture could stop him, and they were all removed one by one. It was also at that time when Pei Ju was captured and locked into the secret prison.
Being locked up by Chiyou, Pei Mo felt a sense of despair.
He did not expect a little more than half a year later, he would be saved.
The death of Chiyou, Qiyue Wuyi moving in.
Compared to his previous Lord, the man in front of him was many times better. However, the experience of being locked up made him downhearted, and he could not find any motivation or drive.
Both of them were smart people, and they did not have a deep conversation in the main hall, just showing themselves.
Last night, Ouyang Shuo had already thought of how to deal with these people in front of him. He decided to send them to rest up in Shanhai City. After he destroyed Taiping Country, he would arrange for them to take up jobs.
Of course, even if they recovered, Ouyang Shuo would not send them to Wuzhou Prefecture. No one could ensure that these people would not take revenge on the mountain barbarians for what Chiyou did to them.
Hence, the best choice was to move them away from Wuzhou Prefecture. Of course, their families would be moved together with them to Shanhai City.