Star Trace Gate

At night, Haishi.

Inside the Shangyu County government office, Ren Ye was drinking sobering tea and staring at the scenery in the courtyard, feeling a little uneasy.

After the banquet, all the guests went back to rest, but he and Brother Huang stayed alone to clean up the "mess" after the victory.

The battle was won, but the headache-inducing finishing work made the two men feel a little breathless.

Inside the room, candlelight flickered. Brother Huang sat beside him and calculated all the account books, household registers, and various official documents of Shangyu Jiudi. Then he sighed deeply, "Oh, damn... I want to withdraw my shares."

Ren also squinted at him and said, "Comrade No. 2 shareholder, why are you backing out again?"

"Am I backing out? Come, take a look at these figures. If we keep going, this famine won't be over even after three hundred years." Huang picked up the teacup and said excitedly, "It's fine if you've screwed my generation, but we can't screw our grandchildren, right?!"

"Don't panic, there will be endless descendants." Ren Ye comforted him, "Tell me one by one."

"call."

Huang Ge let out a long breath and said patiently, "Let's not talk about the small things for now, let's talk about some big things that must be solved right now. First, after summarizing the two household registration books of Qingliang Prefecture and Shangyu Jiudi, a rough estimate shows that there are about 750,000 registered civilians, of which 240,000 are military households. This can really be called a nation of soldiers. This situation is very dangerous and unhealthy. The four taxes of the military households are all exempted. With so many households, you won't be able to collect taxes later, and you still have to pay salaries and food to those who have been recruited into the army. In our current situation, you have a hard time supporting me, so how can you afford to support so many military households?"

Ren Ye frowned and said, "Shangyu Jiudi is the southern gate and border of Daqian. The court there may not have thought about how much tax can be collected from such a place. It is a policy of using rich land to support military land."

"But we can't do that. We have to develop. These military households will drag us to death." Brother Huang shook his head.

"Reduce the number of military households, reduce it as much as possible, to a level that you can calculate the cost." Ren Ye looked at him and replied, "We don't have cash, so we can promise the future. For example, those who voluntarily give up their military household registration can be exempted from taxes for two years, and be allocated good land, etc., as a way of appeasement."

Huang thought for a moment and said, "At present, the number of soldiers in Qingliang Prefecture, plus the prisoners captured from Shangyu Jiudi, is more than 100,000. How should we deal with them?"

"Cut it off." Ren replied without hesitation: "Only keep 50,000 elite soldiers, plus nine places and Qingliang Prefecture, recruit 4,000 officers and soldiers in each place to ensure that there will be no chaos. If you still think it's too much, you can also adapt to local conditions and deal with it specifically. Occasionally, a region has more or less officers and soldiers, which is not a big deal."

"If we lay off so many people, what will happen if something goes wrong? They have become accustomed to eating government rations." Brother Huang asked again.

Ren Ye held his chin up to think, and suddenly two figures popped up in his mind. He smiled and said, "Haha. Nothing will go wrong. I have two talents in this area, and one of them is very famous in the local area. They can do this personally. In short, we must cut the army, because our path is different from that of Daqian. The place is so small that we can only raise elite soldiers."

"Okay." Brother Huang quickly took notes and had already started thinking about how to lay off people.

"What else is the big deal?" Ren Ye asked.

"Also, we have expanded Shangyu to nine areas, which means a large number of vacancies for administrative personnel. If we continue to use officials from Daqian, there will be certain risks. After all, they were forced to surrender, and if they do something to you secretly, it will be very uncomfortable." Brother Huang reminded.

"Talent training cannot be rushed, it has to be done step by step." Ren Ye pondered for a while: "Let's recommend first. After I use those two people, let them recommend a group of people to use first, and then you can select some reliable people from Qingliang Prefecture, promote them one by one, and disperse them to various places. But the specific solution to this problem still needs to bring a complete solution from our world."

Huang blinked his eyes and said, "Civil service exam? I'm familiar with this!"

"Yes, the civil service examination." Ren also blinked: "Once this matter is over, I will travel to the migration star gate again, and find an opportunity to kill two more "professors" and "old scholars" to form an academy and a cabinet team."

"Before you kill them, I suggest you negotiate the price first. Tell them that they will definitely be resurrected, and if they agree, they have to pay. This will save me time on 'extortion'." Brother Huang suggested carefully.

"Okay." Ren agreed immediately.

Huang made a brief calculation: "It costs money to promote and train officials; it costs money to cut the army and reduce the number of military households. What kind of bullshit blessed land and wonders are you going to create later... Alas, I really don't understand this account."

Ren Ye looked at him and said, "Don't you tell me, have you thought about selling the property?"

"Yes, take a look. This is the framework of the plan I drafted." Brother Huang pulled out two pieces of paper from a pile of case files.

It must be said that when it comes to domestic affairs, Brother Huang is really comparable to Fengchu and Wulong. He is highly efficient, has many ideas, and most importantly, he can be completely shameless.

Ren Ye pointed at the "plan" and said, "Finish this first. I need to go to Suzaku City."

"What's wrong?!"

"You have to have a selling point when you sell pre-sale properties. Is it a school district property or a property for immortality? There should be a reason, right?" Ren Ye bared his teeth and replied, "The three wonders and the blessed land are the selling points. However, I don't have a direction now, so I need to go back and ask the master to give me some advice. Once I'm sure, you can plan around the wonders and the blessed land, so that you can sell it at the highest price."

"Fuck! Why didn't I think of that?" Huang was stunned: "You are so talented."

"We are poor. When we are poor, we think of change." Ren Ye shook his head helplessly and asked again: "It is almost the end of the year. How much tax revenue can Qingliang Prefecture generate?"

"Roughly speaking, four or five million is not a problem." Brother Huang replied: "However, compared with what we have to do, it is just a drop in the bucket. Don't you have to train the Earth Dragon Army in the later stage? That... that consumption, I don't understand, anyway, it must be quite terrifying."

"Before you travel to the Star Gate next time, I will give you three million to pacify the Nine Lands first." Although Ren Ye is stingy, mean, and likes to cheat, it's all for this small broken family. Even if he sees the "big market" falling so much, he still wants to go all in.

Huang was in awe when he heard this: "If you can give me three million... as long as I have a son, I will definitely sign a share subscription agreement with you. The kind that requires payment first...!"

"That's it."

Ren nodded as well.

……

After the two of them finished chatting, Ren Ye rushed back to Qingliang Mansion overnight, and then left from there and returned to Zhuque City.

Soon, he arrived at Wangyue Pavilion and met his master Lin Xiang.

Ren also sat cross-legged on the couch and got straight to the point: "Master, there is something I don't understand, so I came to ask for your advice."

"Say!"

Lin Xiang nodded slightly.

Ren Ye reached out and took out two pieces of paper from his bosom, handed them over respectfully and said, "The Star Gate Report for Frontier Storm this time has a lot of content, and it's hard for me to finish writing it in a short time. So, I'll just write about the changes after entering the third level first, and you can take a look."

"Ah."

Lin responded, holding the paper in one hand and looking at it carefully.

Inside the pavilion, a faint fragrance spread. The master was looking at a two-page report, while Ren was looking around to see if there was anything valuable that he could easily steal.

Soon, Minister Lin put down the paper and asked softly, "Are you here to ask me about the three wonders and the blessed land?"

"Yes."

Ren Ye immediately turned around and nodded, "Disciple has no experience in this kind of thing, and I don't know what the standard is to be considered a wonder and a blessed place."

"In short, a building that can bring about strange phenomena in the world is considered a wonder; a building that can revive the spiritual energy of a mountain and water and help people become enlightened is considered a blessed place." Lin Xiang replied briefly: "Haha, in fact, without the reminder of the Heavenly Dao, your master would have suggested that you build three wonders and blessed places."

"What a coincidence?" Ren Ye grinned and said, "Then please tell me where should I start."

Lin Xiang was dressed in a red robe, sitting cross-legged on the ground, patiently guiding, "You must first build a statue of the Human Emperor riding a horse on Shangyu at Zhentian Pass. It should be at least thirty feet high, standing tall against the sky, and the base should be made of the remnants of the Northern Expedition Army. When it is completed, you just need to put a ray of thought into the statue."

When Ren Ye heard this, he immediately said shyly, "Master, this is not a good way to promote personal worship... I am very thin-skinned."

"The statue is worshipped by tens of thousands of people. Watching the ceremony can solidify the purple energy in your body." Lin Xiang explained: "This will help you perceive the heaven and earth, and slightly promote your third stage of Qiyun Dragon Transformation."

Ren Ye heard this and his tone suddenly changed: "Go! Disciple is not doing this for fame and fortune, but only to transform into a dragon and improve his combat power."

"The second building is a blessed place, named 'Nine-bend Qingxiao Palace'." "Lin Xiang continued: "You choose the highest peak in Shangyu County and build Qingxiao Palace on the top of the mountain. In the palace, enshrine the Nine-bend Qingyun Bamboo and the Styx Treasure Bottle to receive the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Build Qingxiao Pond behind the palace, and try to get as much extremely cold water as possible to fill the pond. "

Ren was also a little puzzled and said, "Qingxiao Palace, I can understand it. But what is the function of this Qingxiao Pond?"

"Didn't you tell me before? The soul of the white python was obtained by Nanjiang, and the soul of the white python did not recognize the royal family of Nanjiang." Lin Xiang said: "Can't you exchange this soul with the six earth dragons? After obtaining this soul, you can place the white python spirit egg in this mountain to nurture it. When the blessed land is built, you can raise the white python in the Qingxiao Pond. When the green bamboo grows up and spreads towards the sky, the cold pond will produce mist, and the white python will turn into a dragon. The two will complement each other. Then this blessed land may even enter the first level of immortal land, with endless blessings."

Ren Ye understood instantly, clasped his fists and said: "Master, you are so talented, I admire you."

"The third building is a wonder, named 'Four Directions Carrying Platform.'" Lin Xiang ignored the other party's flattery and said softly: "Qingliang Prefecture is the place where your dragon rises, so build this platform on Qingliang Mountain to worship the Dragon Tripod. This will consolidate the country's destiny, prove the way of heaven, and show the ambition of unifying China. In the future, when you expand your territory again, this platform will also be upgraded and slowly turned into a dragon vein, with Qingliang as your capital. This will help you gather the destiny of the world and add to your body."

"I understand, I understand." Ren Ye listened to Lin Xiang's words and instantly had an idea of ​​the planning of his territory in his mind.

"Seven days, within seven days. I will ask the Ministry of Works to draw the construction plans for the three wonders for you." Minister Lin thought carefully and said, "The materials used will also be listed one by one. However... these three wonders will probably require a lot of money to support them."

"Support?!" Ren also pretended to have heard wrongly: "Thank you for your support, Master. I just don't know how much you can support?"

Lin Xiang was stunned and said with a smile: "I can't support it at all."

"Master, I just saw that incense burner on the left, it's pretty good. Can I buy a share in it?" Ren Ye asked politely.

"No." Prime Minister Lin shook his head.

Ren also gritted his teeth, clasped his fists and said, "Then I have nothing to say. I can only wish Master to pay with his life in pieces!!!"

"Haha." Lin Xiang smiled and said, "I'll take your good words."

"Humph."

Ren also stood up and left.

Minister Lin sat on the couch and shouted, "Give me the Star Gate report within five days."

Ren Ye turned back aggrievedly: "Master, you really can't support me at all?!"

Minister Lin looked at him and said, "When will you come back to those nearly 200 fourth-rank fellow disciples?"

As soon as the voice fell, Ren Ye froze in place, his eyes excited and said: "I am ordered to raise funds, and I will return it after slaughtering!"

"brush!"

Lin Xiang instantly pointed to the door.

"Slip away, slip away."

Ren ran away happily, his gratitude and admiration for the master in his heart overflowing like the Yellow River, uncontrollable...

He had fully understood what the master meant. Not only did the other party support him, but he also thought of ways to benefit the nearly 200 fourth-grade warriors.

What is a leader?

This is what a leader is.

……

late at night.

Inside the dungeon of Qingliang Mansion.

A strong general looked at the food brought by the jailer and shouted, "I won't eat food given out of pity! Get out, get out!"

Opposite him, another veteran sat on the ground, saying in disbelief: "How did I get in? Why am I in a place like this? Little King Huai is a demon...!"