At times like these, information can be purchased with money, and the stories and observations of the people can be pieced together. Once pieced together, many secrets cannot be concealed at all! They can be seen at a glance!
“Don’t stop this analysis method; you can continue. Also, record the specific information of each second-tier cultivator individually and make a file. This file needs to include all their information from birth to the present,” Lin Yang said earnestly.
Theoretically speaking, the more information there is, the simpler it is to govern! The downside is that it costs a lot and requires a lot of administrative staff.
"Well, let's set up an intelligence division for now. The head of the division will be a fifth-rank official, in charge of the entire six counties of Jiangdong! Below him, there will be ninth-rank spies in charge of a village, eighth-rank group leaders in charge of a township, seventh-rank regional leaders in charge of a county, and sixth-rank chiefs in charge of a prefecture."
"In addition, each ninth-rank spy can have some ordinary people under them as informants on the periphery. They don't need to be very professional; they just need to report on what they see every day. Also, there's no need to set up a whole team right now; we can build a framework first," Lin Yang explained in detail.
However, upon hearing his words, Guo Jia and Taishi Ci, who were standing nearby, were both stunned. It wasn't that forming an intelligence organization was wrong, but was it really appropriate to suddenly issue so many official titles?
You have to understand that in this era, on average, only one in a thousand, or even several thousand, people could become an official.
In the Han Dynasty, a typical village had at least a thousand households. Converted to population, in the Central Plains, that's at least twenty or thirty people per household! Four generations living together. In other words, for every twenty or thirty thousand people, there was only one official position!
A county has a magistrate, the head of the six branches, an official in charge of education, and, oh right, a county commandant who manages the army, also an official of the imperial court.
Therefore, in reality, those who made the decisions, those who managed the affairs, and those who did the work were all minor officials!
But if Lin Yang's plan is followed, how many officials will be needed? One ninth-rank official for each village, at least ten for each township! One hundred for each county, and for each prefecture? The entire six prefectures of Jiangdong?
This is simply ridiculous! Even with the guts and the money, this isn't the way to do things! Anyone who does this is either brain-dead or a king destined for ruin!
Upon seeing this, Lin Yang immediately realized what was happening. This wasn't his previous life; officials were highly valued here, and low-ranking civil servants weren't even considered officials! A police station chief was just a minor clerk! Only the head of the county's public security bureau could be considered a ninth-rank official!
As a result, a village-level intelligence officer was ranked at the same level as the county's public security bureau chief. What was he trying to do? Even the KGB, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and the Eastern and Western Depots weren't this arrogant!
"Ahem, I misunderstood. I misspoke. I misspoke. What I meant was that in Jiangdong, there would be no more distinction between officials. All minor officials would be promoted to officials, the ninth rank and the ninth rank."
"Then, the village chief would be an eighth-rank official. The township head would be a seventh-rank official, the county magistrate a sixth-rank official, and the prefect a fifth-rank official. As for you, Fengxiao, you are in charge of the entire situation, so you are a fourth-rank official. Of course, all of this is after the Wu Kingdom has been developed. Right now, it's just a framework," Lin Yang explained.
Upon hearing this, Guo Jia and Taishi Ci both nodded in agreement. "So that's how it is. You should have said so earlier. You made us all jump out of our skin."
By promoting clerks to officials, everyone was promoted! Therefore, these eighth-rank and ninth-rank officials were essentially the same as the former clerks. From this perspective, it's understandable that the intelligence chief managing a county's intelligence was equivalent to a former ninth-rank official.
Moreover, Guo Jia knew that those who governed the people were actually just officials. Whether it was a village head or an elder, they were all officials. However, according to the rules of the Han Dynasty, there was a vast difference between officials and clerks.
The vast majority of officials remained minor officials their entire lives. Since their future prospects were bleak, they had no choice but to collude with local tyrants and start lining their own pockets. Over time, this led to widespread corruption within the bureaucracy.
"Yes, officials and bureaucrats are treated the same, with no distinction between them. In addition, everything in Wu is starting anew, so there shouldn't be much resistance. Moreover, even if the lower-ranking officials object in their hearts, they won't have anything to say. It's really a good method," Guo Jia said with a smile.
Actually, the idea of unifying officials and their subordinates and implementing a single method for promotion wasn't unheard of in the past.
The problem is that these minor officials have long been in cahoots with powerful and influential families. They're rotten to the core, and since they're only after money, actual deaths are very rare.
Therefore, even if they know it's a malignant tumor, as long as the harm isn't significant, they just let it go.
“The integration of officials and bureaucrats into a unified management system is indeed excellent, but my lord, where will we get so much money?” Guo Jia asked seriously.
This isn't a problem that can be solved with a little money. In the past, the salaries of minor officials were pitifully low, almost nonexistent! They relied entirely on extorting money from the people to make ends meet. Suddenly, they became officials…
"I have a solution, don't worry! All you need to do is..."
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Chapter 3: The initial base with mountains, water, fields, and mines.
This time, Xiang Yu of Jiangdong was driven away by the experts of the Han Dynasty, and Lin Yang himself reappeared from the cave, so he could no longer disappear.
In this way, there was no longer any excuse to remain in Lujiang County. After all, what were the vassal state's troops trying to do by staying in the imperial territory for so long without any reason?
Do you want to rebel? No, at least not now. Therefore, after exchanging pleasantries with the Lu family, Lin Yang led his troops, the various craftsmen he had gathered along the way, and quite a few reckless young dreamers to Jiangdong.
(To be swayed by the newspaper and immediately get carried away with enthusiasm, following Lin Yang's team to Jiangdong—what else could that be but reckless daring? Of course, calling him a "dream-chasing youth" sounds better.)
However, in order to determine the initial main base in advance, Lin Yang separated from the main force. He took Guo Jia, Su Qing'er, and five hundred Imperial Guards to scout out the specific location ahead of time.
After all, Lin Yang's knowledge of the base came only from the wandering knight's descriptions, and he wouldn't feel at ease without seeing it for himself. It was, after all, the first base, directly impacting the future development of the entire Wu Kingdom, and therefore, he couldn't afford to be careless.
Soon, after several days of arduous travel, they finally arrived at their destination—the initial base Lin Yang and Guo Jia had discussed. If nothing unexpected happened, this should be it. However, they still needed to take a look and check it out.
Da da da
Accompanied by the sound of horses' hooves, more than five hundred people arrived like a whirlwind. Then, under the protection of guards, Lin Yang slowly stepped forward and appeared at the forefront to begin his observation.
Not only should we use our naked eyes to observe, but we should also use our spiritual eyes to see if there are any oversights, such as gold mines, silver mines, or even copper and iron mines.
"Not bad, this river is quite nice." Looking at the river in front of him, which was hundreds of meters wide, Lin Yang nodded in satisfaction.
Even at its narrowest point, this river is hundreds of meters wide, and more importantly, it stretches for hundreds of miles, directly connecting to the sea.
At that time, we can simply hire some people to dig out the reefs and strange rocks, and a valuable waterway will appear.
With this waterway, we can directly communicate with the Central Plains by water. Instead of, as we do now, if we need something, we first have to check if Wu Commandery or Kuaiji Commandery has it, and if so, we have to find out which company is in charge of the business before we can even start negotiating.
Moreover, transportation was also very troublesome. After all, it was only Jiangdong, and its level of development was far inferior to that of the Central Plains. Even now, there wasn't even a decent national highway connecting Wu Kingdom to Wu Commandery.
The paths are all narrow and winding, enough for one person to walk on. But what about large-scale supply transport? Using a spatial ring every time would cost a fortune!
Therefore, with this great river, we can build a dock to directly connect with the Central Plains, making it cheaper to buy things and faster to transport them.
“Indeed, this great river has a plentiful amount of water, and the water quality is also good. It’s more than enough to irrigate even millions of acres of farmland.” Guo Jia scooped up a handful of water, tasted it, and then said.
As a strategist from the classical feudal era, his immediate concern was the issue of food. However, Guo Jia was right; water is the source of life. Without abundant water, let alone farming, even basic shelter would be a problem!
“Coincidentally, there’s a plain here. If fully developed, millions of acres of land wouldn’t be a problem! More importantly, this place is located at the intersection of Wu Commandery and Kuaiji Commandery. One step back is Kuaiji and Wu Commandery, and one step forward is the wild and untamed land of Shanyue. It’s incredibly convenient no matter which way you go,” Guo Jia explained.
Upon hearing this, Lin Yang also began to observe carefully. What lay before him was indeed a plain, and there were few signs of development.