Translator: ryangohsff Editor: Nora
Chapter 925 – New Appointments
Shanhai City, Xia Palace.
Within the Imperial Reading Room, the first person that Ouyang Shuo met was Yunnan Provincial Governor Bai Hua.
The two of them were old friends, and Bai Hua had finally gotten her wish to become a Provincial Governor. She would take charge of the administrative matters of an entire province. Although she did not have absolute military power, she had strength that was equal to Chun Shenjun and the others.
As a Provincial Governor, she would take charge of provincial matters, ruling the troops and the people. She would take charge of civil servants and generals, protecting the border. This meant that the local garrison forces and reserve troops were under her control.
As for the warfighting troops housed inside the provincial border, they were not within her jurisdiction.
Although that was the case, a Provincial Governor could be considered the highest grade of official. Under the background of administrative and military being clearly divided, only a rare few officials could take charge of both.
Bai Hua was really familiar with Yunnan, so Ouyang Shuo naturally would not micro-manage her. He only raised the matter of Steel City, which was temporarily placed under her jurisdiction. He hoped that she would increase her support for it.
It was Bai Hua who asked, “The Privy Court ordered for us to prepare grain. Does the Imperial Court want to attack Chuanbei City-State in the near future?”
Ouyang Shuo shook his head. Bai Hua had guessed wrongly this time.
Since Di Chen arranged for people to poison Zhang Yi, Ouyang Shuo had wanted to teach Yanhuang Alliance a lesson. However, as Handan City was so far away, Ouyang Shuo had no choice; he could only target Swordsman City.
This time, he wanted to cut off a hand.
Ouyang Shuo did not try to hide anything, smiling, “It’s not Chuanbei City-State but Swordsman City.”
Long before the Battle of Somalia began, the Grand Council had come up with a huge military plan. The movable resources were not only for the dynasty army but also for their allies.
Without a doubt, Shanhai Alliance fighting the Yanhuang Alliance would involve the entire alliance regardless of who was fighting who.
Attacking Swordsman City would make everyone move, so one must be prepared to go all out.
Bai Hua was shocked, “Is it time to go head to head against them?”
As a previous member of the Shanhai Alliance, she craved to fight head on against the Yanhuang Alliance. However, she was also worried, as if they truly started to fight, neither side would rest.
Ouyang Shuo nodded, “Feng Wu has mentioned to me that they are planning some huge plot. They have not given up hope, and since they have been provoking us, they should not blame me for being heartless.”
Before which, Ouyang Shuo wished that both sides could have peace, and he did not want to really fight Yanhuang Alliance in case the strength of the entire China region was affected.
However, the small actions of Di Chen and the others made Ouyang Shuo realize that as aristocratic families, they had placed personal interests over country interests.
Although there were not truly countries after the federation was established, the reappearance of country versions in the game would ignite their passion and loyalty to their nation.
And such patriotism was something aristocratic families did not have and did not want to have.
Silver Hand was a cross country organization and only bothered about family interests.
Hence, even if Ouyang Shuo stayed his hand, Di Chen and the others would not yield and would continue to plan to stop him.
Realizing that point, why would Ouyang Shuo go soft on them? He wanted to cripple them and make them feel pain. If not, they would still think that the game was controlled by them.
Bai Hua nodded, “Good, it’s time to end it.”
Ouyang Shuo was not as optimistic as Bai Hua. As they say, a thin camel was still bigger than a horse. Di Chen and the others were not so easily crushed.
It was only the 4th year of Gaia, and Ouyang Shuo had more than enough time.
Before leaving, Bai Hua said, “Do not worry, I’ll take care of Yunnan for you.”
Ouyang Shuo nodded.
…
After sending Bai Hua away, Chuanbei Provncial Governor Fan Zhongyan walked in.
“Greetings my king!”
Fan Zhongyan gave a deep bow; he was unable to hide his emotions.
Before which, when he was moved to Guilin Prefecture, Fan Zhongyan had a quiet competition with Bao Shuya. Although Fan Zhongyan won, he could feel that the king was distancing himself from him.
Who knew that the king would still choose him to become the Chuannan Provincial Governor? Hence, he was really touched.
The meaning within was really complicated.
In the three years, although Fan Zhongyan had changed, Ouyang Shuo had changed even more.
The current Ouyang Shuo was not that small village chief but a ruler of a huge dynasty, the king of Great Xia.
If Ouyang Shuo needed to seek advice from him to learn how to lead back when Fan Zhongyan came to the territory, the current Ouyang Shuo was the absolute master.
Fan Zhongyan knew that, and he treated himself as purely a subordinate. He did not dare to think about anything else.
The two of them had a full hour long discussion around the planning of Chuannan Province. Based on the Ming and Qing Dynasty systems, Chuannan Province was a Zhili Province and had a huge position.
The Zhili Governor during the Qing Dynasty was the head of all eight Provincial Governors.
However, in the Great Xia Dynasty, Ouyang Shuo was not going to place emphasize on the position of Chuannan Province, and the Provincial Governor would be the same as the rest.
He would still be a primary Grade 3 official.
If Ouyang Shuo wanted to raise the rank of one Provincial Governor, he could just give him the rank of deputy minister of one of the four courts and promote him to secondary Grade 2.
This method was just giving one a fake appointment to raise his rank and treatment to make it easier for the official in question to do their job.
The four of them were just appointed and had not done anything remarkable, so Ouyang Shuo naturally would not give them such treatment.
…
After debriefing Fan Zhongyan, it was already 11 AM. He arranged for Huo Guang’s and Xun Yu’s debriefing in the afternoon.
At noon, Ouyang Shuo held a feast for the four of them.
To them, this was an utmost honor, and it showed their position in the Imperial Court.
There were hundreds and thousands of officials, and their positions were one of the highest few.
One could even say their positions were only lower than that of the four ministers and the Grand Secretary.
…
After the noon feast, Ouyang Shuo took a short rest before meeting Huo Guang.
His promotion instantly made the Huo family brothers the focus of the Imperial Court. The two of them, one was the guards commander, and the other became a Provincial Governor.
Such honor was one that everyone would be jealous of.
There were many rumors spreading. Some people even insulted Huo Guang; they said that he was filled with ambition and should not be given a high position.
All these matters were pressed down by Ouyang Shuo.
In history, although Huo Guang was a minister who fought for power, the execution of his family after his death should be a huge lesson to him.
Furthermore, Ouyang Shuo was not like emperor Xuan of Han. As the ruler who established the country, which minister would dare go up against him?
Regardless of who it was, if they had such a thought, they would be wiped out.
Huo Guang was a smart person. Coming to the wilderness and to Great Xia, he would not dare to have such thoughts.
Ouyang Shuo meeting Huo Guang was mainly to calm him down and to tell him to not worry.
When Huo Guang heard that, he was touched to tears.
…
The last person was Xun Yu.
Xun Yu knew about all the problems that happened during his promotion, but he did not show a single emotion on his face.
Ouyang Shuo, apart from instructing him about trade with Great Sui, also hoped that Xun Yu could use his family to recruit more Three Kingdoms talents.
For example, Guo Jia and Xun You.
The Great Xia Dynasty already had the power to allow aristocratic families.
When Xun Yu heard that, he nodded. His promotion showed the king’s sincerity and magnanimity.
Hence, both of them were happy with what was happening.
…
Although the debriefing had ended, the four of them would not leave the imperial city immediately. Although their appointments were settled, the Provincial Governor offices were still empty.
Like Yunnan Province and Minnan Province, where the governing area was at the original location where they were previously appointed, so it was easy to work.
But for Huo Guang and Fan Zhongyan, they had to move to a place they were not familiar with.
The four of them needed to stay in the imperial city to work with the Cabinet to build up their Provincial Governor offices. Ouyang Shuo had instructed the Cabinet earlier that the officials for the offices could be recommended by the Provincial Governor himself.
To make the offices better and to run the territory better, the four of them naturally needed to move people they trusted.
Apart from working with the Cabinet to choose officials, since the four of them were going to be posted out, they would not get to return often. They needed to visit the various Imperial Court offices to form relationships and get close to other officials.
For the administrative matters of the Provincial Governor office, they obviously had to go through the Imperial Court offices.
Ouyang Shuo could only close one eye to this. As long as there was no corruption, he would not care.
The four of them were all smart and would not do anything out of hand. If they really did, there were the Shanhai Guards and the Censorate keeping them in check.