I went to the temple after traveling through time, and he turned out to be a monk!

After Baizhi received the imperial edict of promotion, she had to say goodbye to Daning temporarily.

The day before she left, she asked Zhou Li again if he wanted to be promoted with her.

Zhou Li only had one hand left, and it was very difficult for him to peel peanuts while drinking. Bai Zhi peeled a full plate for him.

He drank calmly and leisurely, "I won't go. To be an official, you still have to have achievements. Daning is the first place that took me in. I will make achievements here. Sooner or later, we will meet again."

Bai Zhi knew what he was thinking and just smiled and said, "You are more down-to-earth than many people. Sometimes I wonder what you are after. You don't seem to want money, power, marriage, or children."

"I want what you want. I think I am the most extraordinary person in the world, admired and seen by others. It's not difficult to understand."

Bai Zhi understood and accompanied him for the last glass of wine, "I'll leave the tannins to you!"

Before leaving, the girls from Yinghonglou and Zhuo Rong saw Baizhi off for a long distance, all crying.

Li Yue is feeling better now. Bai Zhi feels the most sorry for Li Yue. She hugs her for a long time and asks, "Yue'er, what are your plans for the future?"

Li Yue had been in a state of stress for a while, and she would break down at the slightest touch. No one dared to ask her questions, and even tried to comfort her carefully. Only Bai Zhi asked her so directly about her future plans.

At this moment, Li Yue suddenly breathed a sigh of relief. The suffocating feeling of being dragged into the deep sea and unable to escape was finally relieved.

Li Yue looked at Bai Zhi. This was not the first time she had saved herself. The pain was indeed hard to forget, but if she didn't move on, she would be imprisoned forever.

"I also want to... make a gun. I have figured out many problems and wanted to put them into practice one by one, but I no longer have the chance." Li Yue boldly expressed her thoughts. She was sleepless day and night worrying about it during those days. Her mind was full of such problems, which could not be forgotten overnight.

The gun-making workshop was taken over by the imperial court, and they were also imitating the remaining guns. If Li Yue could join the research and development team, it would be like adding wings to a tiger. But she was still sick before, and no one dared to tell her about this.

Bai Zhi patted her chest and said, "Okay! You should take good care of yourself and wait to be an official in Beijing!"

Bai Zhi was determined to accomplish this task, as it would do more good than harm to the State of Chen, and she deserved to stand on a higher stage.

Bai Zhi went all the way to the Guannan Dao government office. There were three prefectures under the jurisdiction of Guannan Dao. Except for Cangzhou, Lingzhou and Fuyuan were the main battlefields during the war between Nanbeichen and Beinanchen.

It can be said that people are living in misery and all lives are suffering.

Cangzhou is adjacent to Chenjing and is the throat of Chenjing. Fuyuan is located north of Gonghe River and was originally under the management of the Northern Border.

Bai Zhi gradually understood Meng Ying's intention. She placed her in this place because she trusted her and thought she would not be self-reliant.

Second, I hope she can bring these three places back to life.

As for the third point, Fuyuan was specially included in the plan because she wanted to slowly achieve the integration of the north and the south and divide the power of the Mei family in this territory spanning the north and the south.

After I figured it out, I just felt overwhelmed and there is still a long way to go!

All the way, she was flipping through the booklet Meng Ying gave her, which recorded the family background, promotion paths, factions, and gossip and scandals of the high-ranking officials in the three prefectures.

I have to say that the content is very exciting. Bai Zhi read it with great interest, and it was a very happy feeling to catch people's little braids.

When I got off the boat at Gonghe Ferry, someone was already waiting on the shore. He was a military general, standing proudly and looking very impressive.

As soon as she saw that face, Bai Zhi felt it was very familiar. He must be Mei Boyang's biological son!

The general came forward to greet him, without any salute, but just nodded slightly, "Master Bai...Master Bai, I have been waiting for you for a long time."

He was still a little stuck and didn't even salute. Bai Zhi guessed that it was because it was the first time they were subordinates to a female official. She didn't dwell on it and just asked, "Who is the general?"

"Mei Yuxin."

"General Boyang's eldest son?" Bai Zhi smiled politely.

"That's right!" The young man held his head high, his eyes filled with a wild and cool expression, and even his tone was full of dissatisfaction.

Bai Zhi was in a dilemma. She didn't like the Mei family, but since she wanted to interfere in the political affairs of the Northern Territory, she had to use people from the Mei family. Otherwise, if they accused her of discrimination and stood up against her, it would be difficult to deal with.

Therefore, the past must be put aside for the time being. She wants this young man to be loyal to her. Only if he inherits Mei Boyang's title in the future can the integration of the north and the south be achieved.

As for building good relationships, she should be able to do so, so she was very talkative on the way to office.

"How old are you, young man?"

Mei Yuxin: “…Nineteen.”

"How is your father? Is he in good health?"

"……Good."

"Are you married?"

"without……"

"You know Jing'er, right? She's my daughter!"

"Uh... I know."

……

Bai Zhi felt like a weird aunt, but after chatting for a while, Bai Zhi still understood Wawa's personality to some extent. He was quite similar to Zhuo Yao, stubborn.

Anyway, we have to treat this arrogant young man with respect.

The road to office was extremely difficult and he encountered three rounds of assassination attempts along the way. Mei Yuxin was tasked with escorting Bai Zhi safely to her destination, and he did his job well.

Every time bandits attacked, Bai Zhi would scream in the carriage. When Mei Yuxin captured the bandits alive, Bai Zhi would flatter him one after another, "General Yuxin is so skilled!"

"Compared to General Boyang, he is a disciple who is better than his master, and he is not inferior to him at all!"

"From now on, I will rely on you to support Guannan Road! With a young man like you, I won't have to worry about anything in the future!"

She kept repeating one sentence after another. Mei Yuxin thought she was talking nonsense at first, but she kept repeating it. For a while, Mei Yuxin actually felt that she was invincible.

At the same time, he felt that this woman was useless. He had never seen any big shot like her. When something happened, she would just make a fuss and jump up and down. Only when she was calm in the face of danger could she be a big shot.

So he became more and more arrogant and contemptuous in front of Baizhi.

But all her understandings changed when she arrived at the capital of Lingzhou.

The governor of Lingzhou was named Xun Shen. As soon as he saw Bai Zhi, he gave her a show of power. When Xun Shen heard about Bai Zhi's arrival, he pretended not to know and did not send anyone to pick her up.

Mei Yuxin had heard of Xun Shen a long time ago. He was a useless coward and a fence-sitter. When the Mei family army invaded, he surrendered immediately. But when the Nanchen army was at the gates of the city, he switched sides again.

Bai Zhi was not greeted by Xun Shen, and Mei Yuxin was furious. "Sir, Xun Shen changed sides repeatedly during the chaos, accepted benefits from both sides, and played both sides. You have the right to dismiss him and punish him now!"

Bai Zhi was not at all flustered. She strolled around Lingzhou and ate, and kept persuading him, "Why should I dismiss him now? Your Majesty has only been on the throne for less than a year, and he said he would grant amnesty to the whole nation and forgive past mistakes. If I dismiss him now, wouldn't that be a slap in your face!"

"The past cannot be used to convict people. In the past, there were many people who protected themselves during the war. If they were forced to be in danger, would they just sit there and wait for death?"

"General Yu Xin, don't panic. If he is not a good official, he will be removed sooner or later! The important thing is..."

Bai Zhi stopped talking at this point. Mei Yuxin felt uncomfortable listening to half of what she said, and asked impatiently, "What's the important thing?"

"General Yu Xin, can you keep the secret for me? If the secret is leaked, I will be killed without a burial place!" Bai Zhi smiled cunningly.

"Of course, you don't trust me? I'm your personal guard! If anything happens to you, your cousin won't let me go!"

Bai Zhi was very satisfied. The ideas she had been instilling over the past few days had finally begun to show results. Sharing secrets was the ultimate weapon to turn enemies into friends. She had to use one secret after another to bind the interests of the two people together.

"The important thing is to make them give back all the money they have accumulated over the years!" Bai Zhi said, then turned around and walked away, saying, "When that day comes, General Yu Xin will be a meritorious official of Chen State, and even General Bo Yang will have to look at you with new eyes!"

Mei Yuxin suddenly realized something, and looking at Bai Zhi, she felt inexplicably dazed. It seemed that Bai Zhi was not as cowardly as she had imagined.

Bai Zhi secretly visited the Lingzhou City garrison and several officials in charge of practical matters, and then went to visit the Lingzhou governor.

Xun Shen greeted him with a smile as soon as he saw him, and apologized repeatedly, "Oh, Lord Bai, why didn't you tell me when you first arrived in Lingzhou? I was busy settling the refugees and didn't even know you were here. It was really neglectful!"

Mei Yuxin was so angry that she said, "Master Xun, we sent someone to deliver the letter five days ago, and you didn't know about it?"

“It’s not that I don’t know, it’s just that…” Xun Shen looked embarrassed.

"Oh? What's the truth? Lord Xun, please tell me about any difficulties you have?" Bai Zhi asked.

"I did receive the letter that day, and I sent someone to welcome Lord Bai. However, I was blind and didn't know that women could also serve as officials. That's why I missed Lord Bai..."

"Then after knowing that he had missed the opportunity, why didn't Lord Xun make amends and send someone to meet him? Was it because he failed to hide the evidence of accepting bribes? Or did he think that our Lord Bai was just an insignificant person?" Mei Yuxin became aggressive.

This young man is smart. Bai Zhi secretly gave him a thumbs up.

"This... what are you talking about, young general? We are sending people to check overnight to see if this Lord Bai is someone he sent. Right now, everything is in chaos, there are people pretending to be officials everywhere, and women can also rely on the power of their families to become officials. We can't trust everyone!"

Bai Zhi found this a little irritating and asked, "Didn't you receive the imperial edict?"

"Received! But there are rumors everywhere that Lord Bai is the biological mother of Prince Ning, so she must be the princess. We have never seen a princess serving as an official, so we can only confirm again and again whether this is an imperial decree, or someone is secretly fanning the flames and deliberately seeking personal gain..."

Bai Zhi laughed when she heard this, "Master Xun, do you think you don't recognize me as the governor?"

"We're just being cautious." Xun Shen said.

Bai Zhi's voice became louder. "Since you are so cautious, you should have known about the changes in the court earlier! The current emperor is young, and His Royal Highness Prince Ning is the regent and in charge of the government!"

"Since you know who's behind me, you should be more cautious! To fool me is to fool Prince Ning, which is also to fool His Majesty! Do you understand?"

Xun Shen couldn't help but feel the pressure from this voice, and he lowered his head quickly, "Yes, yes, yes! I have already verified it, so of course I should listen to Lord Bai!"

"That's good! Let's go, Lord Xun, and take a look at your military expenditures and taxes over the past two years!"

Bai Zhi flicked her sleeves, walked in front of everyone, and then led people to check the accounts.

Seeing how Bai Zhi was looked down upon, Mei Yuxin couldn't help but ask Bai Zhi, "Why don't you just use your official rank to pressure him? It's not like we don't have soldiers. If you borrow your cousin's power now, you will have to borrow it in the future. They will look down on you!"

"Just borrow when you need to! The most important thing is to get things done! Once I get things done, who would dare to say no!" Bai Zhi said.

Several days of review exposed problems of all sizes in Lingzhou.

There are quite a few aristocratic families who keep private soldiers, and corruption is everywhere, but now the imperial examination has not yet begun, and there are not a large number of grassroots officials to take over, so these people can only be retained.

Bai Zhi gathered everyone together, "As you all know, the country is just beginning to settle down, and there is a lot to be done, but the population of Chen country has been reduced by half. In order to protect the stability of the world, reorganizing the army is the top priority!"

"Therefore, I want to establish a new army in Lingzhou, but farming is equally important. To restore arable land, a large population is needed. Therefore, this new army cannot be recruited from farmers. Can you think of a solution for me?"

The officials below hesitated, "This... what can we do? Even if we want to recuperate, we have to wait ten or twenty years. How can so many people suddenly appear?"

"Oh? But I passed by the Nine Bends the other day and saw a wealthy businessman boating on the lake. There were also people rowing in the lake. There were quite a few people gathered on the shore! How many people would it take to fill up the Nine Bends? I can't count them. Sir Liu, what do you think?"

After looking around, Lord Liu said awkwardly, "Jiulianwan... maybe one mile long, surrounded by only one or two hundred people..."

"One mile? One or two hundred people?" Bai Zhi laughed out loud, "You are even less knowledgeable than I am!"

"I heard that the rich businessman's name is Zhou Kejin. He married a beautiful wife and had many children. It's understandable that he had one or two hundred people in his house."

Bai Zhi was so thirsty while talking that she took a sip of tea, but this pause made the people who were discussing the matter below dare not even breathe.

She finished drinking and then continued, "But!"

Bai Zhi suddenly laughed, and her smile was chilling. She raised her voice sharply, "Zhou Kejin supports three to five thousand people. Why is that?"

The people below were silent, and the only sound in the hall was their heavy breathing.

Bai Zhi paused here for a long time, and still no one answered. She then said with a fake smile, "Master Xun!"

Xun Shen shuddered, "Yes, yes... Sir... I am here..."

"Zhou Kejin is your brother-in-law, right?" Bai Zhi asked him, her eyes sharper.

"Sir, that's Zhou Kejin's adopted son. It's none of my business..."

"You only have to answer yes or no!"

“...Yes...Yes..." Xun Shen was sweating profusely and his heart was about to jump out.

Bai Zhi relaxed at this moment. "That's good! That's good! Lord Xun, please talk to your brother-in-law and ask him to do something good. He has so much money, why not use it to help the refugees and do good deeds? Supporting so many people makes him look like he's going to rebel. It scares me to death!"

Xun Shen wanted to refute, but he saw Mei Yuxin standing beside him ready to attack, and his legs weakened for a moment, "I...I...I will definitely convey it to you, sir!"

"Let's do this over there. Since this army is short of new recruits, ask your brother-in-law to hand over the people in the mansion. I'll give him credit for his contribution!"

"Not just Zhou Kejin, now as long as he can hand over the person, I will give it to him as credit!"

"But if I find out about you later, you will all be considered private soldiers and punished for treason!"

"It doesn't matter if you participated in the rebellion or not. Brothers-in-law like Lord Xun will be killed without mercy."

"Do you understand?"

After Bai Zhi said this, the silence in the hall lasted for a long time, and no one was willing.

It was not until Bai Zhi slammed the table so hard that her hand hurt that someone answered tremblingly, "Yes! The adults are right! We all understand!"

Bai Zhi didn't breathe a sigh of relief until they had expressed their opinions one by one.

She leaned forward and asked, "Do you know something?"

Everyone looked at each other and shook their heads.

Bai Zhi leaned forward again, her eyes firm and threatening.

She said in a deep voice, "The world has changed in Chen Kingdom!"