1322 - 1331
Chapter 1322: Making Decisions
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Kangzhou Province was a major province in Peacewest Military Region. Peacewest Military Region Headquarters was located in Kangzhou City the capital city of Kangzhou Province. After Peacewest Military Region was turned into a theater of operations, all the authorities in Peacewest Military Region adapted to the system of the theater of operations. The Agricultural Administration in Kangzhou City also became a powerful hub which was responsible for the logistics of the entire theater of operations. Therefore, Zhang Tie's field headquarters was set in the Agricultural Administration in Kangzhou City.
Like the judicial authorities of Taixia Country, the agricultural authorities of Taixia Country were also classified into 6 levels. The supreme agricultural authority was called the Agricultural Ministry under the leadership of the agricultural minister. Those on the level of the military region were called agricultural administrations; those on the level of the province were called agricultural temples; those on the level of prefecture were called agricultural yamen; those on the level of the city were called agricultural agencies; those on the level of the country were called agricultural center. After Zhang Tie was appointed as Weiji General, all the officials in the agricultural authorities of Peacewest Military Region from agricultural administration to agricultural center became Zhang Tie's subordinates. Additionally, the main officials of all agricultural authorities in Peacewest Military Region would become Weiji envoys and directly follow Zhang Tie's order.
Agricultural authorities were previously important among those authorities in Taixia Country. In the theater of operations, logistics counted most besides combat. Weiji General who could make arbitrary decisions would rule all the agricultural authorities in Peacewest Military Region and take control of the industrial and agricultural production as well as the distribution and transportation of various materials across the theater of operations. Actually, Zhang Tie's power was even much greater than the director general of the Agricultural Administration of Peacewest Administration. He was only close to the commander of Peacewest Military Region.
The moment Zhang Tie got off the airboat, he had seen a lot of people in red, green, blue and purple official uniforms bowing deeply to him at the same time. Zhang Tie glanced over them and found that there were over 200 people at present. All the main officials of agricultural authorities on provincial and prefectural levels in Huanzhou Province, Kangzhou Province, Ningzhou Province and Military Province had already arrived. Besides these officials, those main officials in the Peacewest Agricultural Administration were at present.
It was grand. Among these people, the lowest rank was Class VII director of agricultural yamen; the highest rank was Subordinate Class III director general of the Peacewest Agricultural Administration, which was also one level inferior to Zhang Tie.
As it was his first time to be greeted by so many officials of Taixia Country, Zhang Tie felt strange. He suddenly felt that he might be destined to be related to the agricultural authorities of Taixia Country. After killing Han Zhengfang, he was greeted by so many agricultural officials of Taixia Country. That was too dramatic!
'Am I born to conquer people in the uniform of agricultural authorities of Taixia Country?'
Watching this scene, Zhang Tie couldn't help but mutter inside.
"Get up…"
"Thank you, general!" Over 200 people answered in unison before straightening up their bodies.
"This Agricultural Administration is so large!" Zhang Tie looked around as he found the Peacewest Agricultural Administration covered vast land. The square in front of him was greater than 800 m in both length and width. It could hold 5-6 airboats at the same time. The square was surrounded by red walls, green tiles and trees. Behind the shades of those green trees, Zhang Tie saw a lot of houses and the well-carved auspicious beasts Chiwen on the ridges of those houses, which looked pretty magnificent.
'Those houses should be the workplace of the officials of Peacewest Agricultural Administration. My residence should be behind this square.'
"From now on, all the affairs in the Peacewest Agricultural Administration would be chaired by general. We all will follow your lead!" The official in the front of the team of officials opened his mouth.
"You must be Director General Lu Yanyu!"
As Zhang Tie said it, he moved his eyes onto the official in the front of the team who was at his 60s given his look. In a vermilion and purple uniform and a jade belt being embroidered with auspicious clouds, which was attached with a pair of dragon-shaped golden hooks, this man should be the director general of Peacewest Agricultural Administration. Agriculture was the foundation of the country. Additionally, weather counted most in agriculture. Only the director general of agricultural administration of military region could wear a jade belt which was decorated with dragon-shaped golden hooks and auspicious clouds. As only that person's uniform was matched with them, he must be the director general of Peacewest Agricultural Administration.
After Zhang Tie became Weiji General, the director general of Peacewest Agricultural Administration became Zhang Tie's assistant. What Zhang Tie had not imagined was that Lu Yanyu was not even a knight. He had just lit over 600 surging points and was still far away from being a knight. However, after thinking about it for a second, Zhang Tie immediately understood that there was no mandatory request on the cultivation base of the officials in Taixia Country except military titles such as provincial governors and Cheji General, which people below knight were not qualified to compete for. Therefore, it was nothing strange for Lu Yanyu to be the director general of Peacewest Agricultural Administration although he was not a knight.
"Yes, this humble official is Lu Yanyu!" The official answered calmly. After throwing a glance at the 3 walnuts in Zhang Tie's hand, he slightly lowered his eye light in a serious and distant way.
Zhang Tie was adapting to his newly grown strength by fiddling with those walnuts. If a playboy who butchered fowl and walked a dog every day did it, they would definitely feel that he was fickle. However, when it was done by Zhang Tie, everybody at present felt that Qianji Hermit had great confidence and was steadfast; otherwise, he couldn't be so relaxed. After seeing their main general behaving in such a calm way, all the other officials gradually felt reassured.
'A man who could be my grandpa given his age is going to be the assistant of this young man. Of course, Lu Yanyu couldn't be completely calm inside; however, as Weiji General was appointed by the commander-in-chief, Lu Yanyu couldn't say no to it. Additionally, I'm not here to win popular support from these officials. I've got something more important to do. Therefore, I don't care what Lu Yanyu and the other officials who are stealthily glancing at me with amazed looks think about it. It's fine if they could accomplish the tasks that I've assigned to them as it's their commitments. I will award them too. However, if they played any motherf*cking trick with me, I would not blink my eyes even if I had to chop off all of their heads. After being accustomed to the mountains and seas of corpses, hundreds of people are nothing but sh*t. What I want to do could never be easily destroyed by anyone.'
Zhang Tie didn't care what these officials thought and whether they were complete or not. He only wanted the result. By then, Zhang Tie finally understood why big figures should have a breadth of mind; because a decision of Zhang Tie would influence the fates of tens of billions of people, even more. By contrast, the life and death, honor and humiliation of hundreds of people became trivial.
"Have all the Weiji envoys in Peacewest Military Region arrived?" Zhang Tie asked Lu Yanyu straightforwardly.
"The 4 Weiji envoys of the agricultural temples in Huanzhou Province, Kangzhou Province, Ningzhou Province and Military Province have been here; all the Weiji envoys from the 219 prefectures in the other 4 provinces have also arrived, except Zhao Shixian the Weiji envoy of Yuan Prefecture in Huanzhou Province, Dianbo the Weiji envoy of Gonghe Prefecture in Kangzhou Province and Qinshuren the Weiji envoy of Sihuan Prefecture in Military Province!"
"Why?" Zhang Tie asked calmly.
"Zhao Shixian the Weiji envoy of Yuan Prefecture, Huanzhou Province is too old. As he was busy arranging refugees for a few months, he has already fallen sick and been on bed for many days. He couldn't trek for a long time anymore. He's receiving medical treatment and recuperation at home. Dianbo the Weiji envoy of Gonghe Prefecture, Kangzhou Province suffered obstacles in his airship on the way to Kangzhou City. As a result, he had to land in the wilderness; he couldn't find any traffic tool for the time being; therefore, he's late. Qin Shuren the Weiji enjoy of Sihuan Prefecture, Military Province encountered dike breaching in Yongshui River on the way here. As many villages and towns are inflicted by the flood and over 500,000 people were in trouble, Qin Shuren used his airship to transport refugees in the emergency. Therefore, he's late. The 3 people have already sent a message to me…"
"Zhao Shixian passed out due to tiredness after arranging refugees for a few months. He's serving the country at his full effort. He deserves the award. From today on, Zhao Shixian will be promoted to a higher official rank. When he recovers, assign him to the Peacewest Agricultural Administration and let him be responsible for the prison. As for the Weiji envoy of Yuan Prefecture, Huanzhou Province, I will select someone else who's strong and young!" Zhang Tie glanced around all the others as he continued, "Dian Bo's excuse is too ridiculous. If he's had people check his airship in advance, how could such an emergency arise? As Dian Bo is indolent and not good at managing his subordinates, I don't think such a person is suitable to the position of Weiji envoy because this position is too important and military demands don't allow any negligence. I will remove him from office from now on. Now that Qin Shuren is providing disaster relief, let him stay there and save people first. After finishing that, he could return to Sihuan Prefecture directly. Send what we will negotiate about today to him in terms of documents. Additionally, as Military Province didn't suffer any flood until today, the Peacewest Agricultural Administration should assign someone there to investigate the dike breaching. If it was caused by people, punish them severely…"
The 3 prefectural Weiji envoys who had not arrived faced utterly different fates only after Zhang Tie's brief words. Zhao Shixian promoted to a higher official rank and would be responsible for the prison of the Peacewest Agricultural Administration; Dian Bo's official post was directly removed. Qin Shuren was easily released. After tasting Zhang Tie's decisions which were made in such a short period, all the officials at present including Lu Yanyu felt their hearts racing as they started to show their reverence to Zhang Tie sincerely…
Chapter 1323: The Principal Task
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
"How many official fields in total in Huanzhou Province, Kangzhou Province, Ningzhou Province and Military Province?" Zhang Tie asked as he drank in the banquet hall.
"There are 13.8 billion mu official fields in the 4 provinces!"
"As many commoners and major clans have been evacuating from the 4 provinces since the second half of last year, isn't the farming of the official fields influenced?"
"Since demons started to invade us, one batch of people have been evacuated from the 4 provinces. Some fields indeed became deserted in the second half of last year. The land prices in the 4 provinces are also plummeting. However, all the official fields in the 4 provinces are taken over by border residents of Taixia Country. Those border residents don't have the right to migrate casually; therefore, the farming of official fields is not influenced!" Lu Yanyu answered fluently.
Half of the dinner held by the Peacewest Agricultural Administration for Zhang Tie had passed while the fluorite lamps in the lobby were gradually lit. When Zhang Tie had dinner with them, he didn't put on airs at all. They just toasted each other. Starting from the main officials of the Peacewest Agricultural Administration, all the Weiji envoys proposed a toast to Zhang Tie by turns. Zhang Tie accepted them all. After having the toast proposer report his name and official rank, he would have a drink with each of them. Therefore, Zhang Tie had drunk kilos of liquor in a short period although using a small cup. After seeing their Weiji General having such a great drinking capacity, the dining hall became fervent while all the Weiji envoys finally became reassured.
After having kilos of liquor, Zhang Tie's face turned redder while his eyes turned brighter. However, he didn't look like being drunk at all. He then started to inquire about public affairs when it gradually turned quiet in the dining hall. Only Zhang Tie was talking with Lu Yanyu in the dining hall. All the other Weiji envoys were just listening to their talk quietly in their own seats.
"How do you dispose of the deserted fields?"
"A part of deserted fields are for sale. The others are allocated to the commoners who're still staying in the theater of operations by the agricultural authorities across the Peacewest Military Region according to the decrees in the theater of operations. When there's not enough labor force, only by inputting more agricultural machines into fields so that people could manage more fields has the agricultural authorities across the military region solved the problem of the greater part of deserted lands."
"Have these provinces suffered from a crop failure last year?"
"Yup, many official and private fields in Huanzhou Province, Kangzhou Province, Ningzhou Province and Military Province suffered a crop failure last year, causing a panic in the area!"
"How do we solve the supply of grain seeds this year?"
"This year, all the grain seeds for the official fields in these provinces are directly allocated by the Imperial Land Bureau from other provinces through airboats and airships. We could sow them in the spring. We won't use the grains storage in the 6 top warehouses in each city!"
After hearing that, Zhang Tie finally became reassured. As long as the grain seeds in the 4 provinces were safe, he would not worry about anything else.
He was worried about the grains supply within the 4 provinces. Even though he had Castle of Black Iron, the grains storage in Castle of Black Iron was far from meeting the demand of the over 10 billion mu land in the 4 provinces. If the grain seeds in the 4 provinces met any problem, the garrisons in these provinces would not have food timely. By then, even Weiji General couldn't deal with it. If grains were transported here from other provinces, the enormous freight, materials consumption and human resources would be a problem. They couldn't even have enough food, not to mention fighting demons. No matter what, the corps of Taixia Country couldn't eat human fleshes like demons.
Thankfully, Xuanyuan Hill also realized the severe outcome if there was any problem with the grains in Peacewest Military Region at this critical moment. Therefore, the Imperial Land Bureau was responsible for solving the deficiency of grains in the 4 provinces.
The grains produced by the Imperial Land Bureau were the best in Taixia Country. All of them were basically provided for the imperial households and the dignitaries in Xuanyuan Hill. Additionally, the agricultural base of Imperial Land Bureau was under strict administration. Each link was under strict control. Neither they would purchase grain seeds from outside nor allow the demonized grains to flow in their fields. Therefore, the grains under the direct control of the Imperial Land Bureau would be the last unsafe grains across Taixia Country when the country was facing grains disaster as a whole.
As all the items provided by the Imperial Land Bureau were privileged. Many people might abhor privilege the moment they heard it. However, privilege might play a great role in some cases instead of being always bad.
"But…"
After finding that Zhang Tie became reassured, Lu Yanyu slightly revealed a worried look after hesitating for a second…
"But what?"
"But the grains provided by the Imperial Land Bureau could only meet the demand of 13.8 billion mu official fields in the 4 provinces this year. After this year, the Imperial Land Bureau would not allocate any more grain seeds to us. We have to deal with it ourselves!"
"Won't we solve it with enough grain seeds?" Zhang Tie fiddled with his cup as he asked Lu Yanyu while slightly squinting his eyes.
Gritting his teeth, Lu Yanyu replied, "The grain seeds provided by the Imperial Land Bureau should be safe. However, many official fields in the 4 provinces had suffered a crop failure last year; the soil over there had been destroyed by demonized grain seeds and tend to harden. We're having big trouble in recovering the fertility of the soil. None of the Weiji envoys in Peacewest Military Region could guarantee a bumper harvest in the official fields this year. It's not that this humble official is afraid of difficulty and adversity; it's actually a problem facing all the Weiji envoys in the 4 provinces. They're all very worried about the yield next year. We expect to notice the general in advance!"
After hearing Lu Yanyu's words, all the Weiji envoys at present nodded inside with a worried look. Lu Yanyu's words were what they wanted to say too. If there was any problem with the grains production this year, the grains supply of the army would be influenced; by then, many people's heads would be chopped off.
Zhang Tie was also clear why commander-in-chief insisted on appointing him the Weiji General; because the grains harvest of the official fields in the 4 provinces determined the stability of the entire theater of operations. They were not allowed to make any mistakes regarding grains production. As long as the 4 provinces suffered a crop failure once again, even the Imperial Land Bureau would be unable to help them. The Imperial Land Bureau must have thought twice before providing them such a large quantity of grains. They would barely assist them for another time as they didn't have such a regular grains storage even as the Imperial Land Bureau.
Therefore, the principal task of the Weiji envoys in the theater of operations this year was to guarantee the production of grains in the 4 provinces.
Chapter 1324: Order of Balancing Awards and Punishments
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
As grains supply was the principal task facing all the Weiji officials in the theater of operations, Zuoqiu Mingyue, his Weiji envoys, even ordinary people were paying special attention to it. Of course, Zhang Tie himself would treat it seriously. Thankfully, Zhang Tie had long prepared for it. He had started to make arrangements in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory since Taixia Country started to suffer a crop failure as a whole last year. Now, these arrangements would be available. Meanwhile, the bumper harvest in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory last year made Zhang Tie very confident. Besides, the over 100 million mu official fields in Ninghe Prefecture that he had taken over for less than 1 year also welcomed a big harvest.
The harvest of the over 100 million mu official fields in Ninghe Prefecture also shocked the entire Northeast Military Region. Because the other fields in Ninghe Prefecture continued to suffer a crop failure or reduction of crop production since the second half of last year; only the official fields that Zhang Tie had taken over registered a marvelous reversal, revealing a sharp difference with the other fields.
Under the multiple means of Zhang Tie, the over 100 million mu official fields under Zhang Tie's name gained a bumper harvest of soybeans in late August since sowing them in June. The autumn wheat that was sowed in this September also grew well and was expected to make another harvest.
With such an experience and background and the relief from Fire-Dragon Territory and Ninghe Prefecture, Zhang Tie had long been confident about the grains production in the theater of operations.
Besides the resources that were available in the Northeast Military Region, the key to the grains production in the theater of operations still lay in the theater of operations. Therefore, after the banquet, all the officials in Huanzhou Province, Kangzhou Province, Ningzhou Province and Military Province instantly left like sheep being whipped by Zhang Tie's order.
Zhang Tie arrived at Kangzhou City on January 11. On the next day, over 200 provincial and prefectural Weiji envoys hurriedly left there and returned to their own official residence to preside over things. As there were only a bit more than 2 weeks left in January. On February 2 when the dragon would raise its head legendarily, according to the farming calendar, the earth would thaw and recover its vitality. All the plants would start to grow vigorously. The spring plowing almost started from February 2. As the new grains had been delivered to the 4 provinces, all the farming officials hurriedly returned to preside over spring plowing and seeds delivery.
If it was in peacetime, spring plowing was just a common work; the provincial and prefectural farming officials would not be so hurried and anxious about it.
However, it was different this year. Because the first order of Zhang Tie the Weiji General was "Order of Balancing Awards and Punishments".
As for the order of awards and punishments, from this year on, the Peacewest Farming Administration would count the average grain production per mu official field within the 4 provinces. After that, they would determine whether to award or punish the provincial and prefectural Weiji envoys in the 4 provinces based on the average grains production per mu. If the grains production per mu official field of a prefecture or a province was higher than the average, the provincial or prefectural farming officials would be awarded in terms of monthly compensation, one-off payout or convenience in qualification assessment and promotion. By contrast, those farming officials whose official fields were lower than the average would be severely punished, even be chopped off their heads. When there wasn't any natural disaster, if the grains production per mu official field under their governance was lower than 80% of the average for consecutive 2 years or 60% of the average that year in the theater of operations, the farming officials would be beheaded.
For instance, the average grains production per mu official field in the 4 provinces counted by the Peacewest Farming Administration this year was 3,000 kg, if the grains production per mu official field in a prefecture of Military Province was lower than 1,800 kg, the Weiji envoy of this prefecture would be beheaded; if the grains production per mu official field in a prefecture of Ningzhou Province was lower than 2,400 kg, the Weiji envoy of this prefecture would almost be beheaded. If the average grains production per mu official field in this prefecture next year was lower than 80% of the average grains production per mu official field across the theater of operations, the Weiji envoy of this prefecture would be beheaded for sure.
The same principle suited the provincial Weiji envoys of Huanzhou Province, Kangzhou Province, Ningzhou Province and Military Province too. If the average grains production per mu official field of a province didn't reach any requirement, the provincial Weiji envoy would be beheaded.
Soon after Zhang Tie released his order of balancing awards and punishments, besides some officials of Peacewest Farming Administration who were slightly relaxed, all the provincial and prefectural officials hurriedly left Kangzhou City after the dinner.
As Zhang Tie threatened these officials with the order of balancing awards and punishments, these officials also threatened the officials in farming agencies and farming centers. Therefore, all the officials in farming authorities across the theater of operations went into action and started to be busy preparing for the coming spring plowing.
…
On the afternoon of January 12, Zhang Tie was strolling on the ridge of the crisscrossed fields which covered 300,000 hectares outside Kangzhou City…
After hearing that there were 300,000-hectare official fields outside Kangzhou City, Zhang Tie became interested. He then appointed Lu Yanyu to make a field investigation of the official fields in the theater of operations. They didn't take any airboat; instead, they just left Kangzhou City with some bodyguards by cars.
When they arrived here, Zhang Tie told the driver to pull over; after that, he got off the vehicle and started to stroll on the ridge of the fields, carefully followed by Lu Yanyu.
At the end of the year, there was small snow outside Kangzhou City. After slightly making up the earth, it soon disappeared. By mid-January, it was still a bit cold outside Kangzhou City. However, when the sun came out, it became a bit warm.
Zhang Tie was still fiddling with 3 walnuts. After ending the dinner last night, he had returned to his residence in Peacewest Farming Administration. Over last night, he ate another 17 fruits of redemption from the gratitude of golden uangs through his "illusory movement". As a result, he increased 1,000 more kg strength. Therefore, he had to continue to adapt to his newly increased strength.
After Zhang Tie released his order of balancing awards and punishments last night, Lu Yanyu turned more silent today. If not being asked, this farming administrator of Peacewest Farming Administration would never utter a word.
There were two things in Lu Yanyu's sleeve. He was pinching the corners of the two things and was considering whether to take them out at this moment. When people's own interest was involved, they would always hesitate…
Chapter 1325: Being Confident (I)
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
As Lu Yanyu was thinking about something; he didn't notice that Zhang Tie had stopped at the riverside until he walked 2 more steps forward and surpassed Zhang Tie. Therefore, Lu Yanyu's face blushed at once as he explained, "Ahem…ahem…sorry about that, this humble official was thinking about something…"
Zhang Tie looked at Lu Yanyu with a faint smile which made Lu Yanyu feel that he was naked and Zhang Tie had completely known what he was thinking about. Even the 2 letters of appointment might have been seen clearly by Zhang Tie.
Zhang Tie's eyelight made Lu Yanyu's heart race.
Of course, he did not call Lu Yanyu only to make an investigation here with him. As Lu Yanyu had ruled Peacewest Farming Administration for many years, he was a qualified local tyrant. Zhang Tie couldn't be a good Weiji General without the help of this assistant. Given the current situation, one was the main official as powerful as a dragon that swam across the river; the other was an experienced and influential local power. If the two parties coordinated with each other, it would be more beneficial. Zhang Tie really didn't want to play any hide and seek game with Lu Yanyu as it was not allowed by the holy war. He just wanted to talk with Lu Yanyu sincerely.
Through yesterday's observation, Zhang Tie also found that Lu Yanyu was shrewd and able; instead of being cunning. Additionally, Lu Yanyu had great prestige among all the officials in the farming authorities of Peacewest Military Region. Therefore, Zhang Tie determined to have a good talk with Lu Yanyu today. By the way, he wanted to draw Lu Yanyu over to his side.
"Mr. Lu, how long have you been serving in the farming authorities?" Zhang Tie asked.
"This humble official served as the clerk of the farming center of Xiaqu County, Yuzhou City, Tieling Prefecture, Military Province at the age of 23. It's been 64 years now…"
"Were you only serving the farming authorities over the past 64 years?"
"Yes. I'm the only official who promoted all the way from exiled Class III to subordinate Class III in the farming authorities of Peacewest Military Region. I've almost experienced all the posts in the farming authorities of Peacewest Military Region!" Lu Yanyu said confidently when he mentioned his experience.
Zhang Tie let out a sigh. 'Lu Yanyu is almost as old as my grandpa. It really makes him a bit embarrassed to be my assistant. However, this decision was made by the commander-in-chief. It has nothing to do with age.' "Across Taixia Country, very few people might be able to promote to subordinate Class III all the way from a grassroots official like Mr. Lu. After hearing Mr. Lu's experience, Zhang Tie shows great reverence to you. If Ms. Lu had no talent, you could never get such opportunities!"
"I'm overpraised. Besides being appreciated from all the superior officials, I'm just a bit diligent and meticulous!" Lu Yanyu said flurriedly after hearing Zhang Tie's praise, "By comparison, Weiji General's experience is more admirable…"
Waving his hand, Zhang Tie replied, "I'm just a bit lucky. I can't match you in many aspects!"
"You're so modest, it makes this humble official flurried…"
"Nothing to be flurried about. Who dares to say that he's almighty? Even Meng Shidao dares not say that he has richer experience in farming authorities than you…not to mention me." Zhang Tie said without any scruple, "In Kangzhou City, any farmer would be more proficient in farming than Meng Shidao. I'm afraid that any roadside pie pedlar would make pies better than Meng Shidao. Dare Meng Shidao to say that he could make embroidery better than an embroidered woman?"
After hearing Zhang Tie talking about Meng Shidao who was said to become the prime minister this year, Lu Yanyu closed his mouth instantly. Zhang Tie could casually comment Meng Shidao based on his social status and the hostile relationship between him and the Gobbling Party without any scruple; however, Lu Yanyu dared not do that. However, after hearing Zhang Tie's words, Lu Yanyu's heart pounded as he felt that Zhang Tie might not be as scheming as how he imagined. Zhang Tie today was utterly different than the one he met yesterday. Therefore, Lu Yanyu became puzzled as he wondered whether Zhang Tie was sounding out his intention or was indeed innocent.
"Do you feel that I was sounding out your intention?" Zhang Tie asked Lu Yanyu as he threw a glance at him.
"Ahem…ahem…" Lu Yanyu became a bit embarrassed at once as he said, "This humble official dares not think about that. As the crown prince's master is in a high position and is going to take over the position of prime minister, each of his action is related to the well-being and safety of Taixia Country, this humble official can't comment casually!"
"Haha…" Zhang Tie burst out into laughter, "Well, now that you're inconvenient to talk about Meng Shidao, let's talk about public affairs. How do you feel about the order of balancing awards and punishments that I released yesterday?"
"It's a very good order…" Lu Yanyu answered with a bit solemn look, "The word balancing is the essence of this order. If the farming officials were just awarded or punished due to the grains production in their own official fields, if the figure of grains production was too high, the subordinates would definitely blame you about it; therefore, the figure might be changed. As long as Weiji General killed someone or punished someone due to this, you would not escape from being commented as too strict to your subordinates; if you set it too low, it would not work effectively. Besides influencing the supply of the logistics in the theater of operations, the public would criticize you that you don't understand how to be a Weiji General or you're too benignant like a woman. It would ruin your reputation. If the figure was neither high nor low, it would be hard to mobilize the officials in the theater of operations. With this order of balancing awards and punishments, you could avoid from being blamed by the public. Even if Weiji General killed someone later on, nobody would criticize that you're too rigid. Later on, all the farming officials across the theater of operations have to compete with each other at their full efforts on solving the grains production problem facing the theater of operations being affected by this order. From now on, all the officials might be striving for implementing the methods to raise yield without the order of Weiji General. This order of balancing awards and punishments is really marvelous and considerate. This humble official admires it very much."
Zhang Tie burst out into laughter. Lu Yanyu was indeed an experienced official who had been in the officialdom for 6 decades. Besides being sharp-eyed, his words were also pungent…
Chapter 1326: Being Confident (II)
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
"Whether the order of balancing awards and punishments could be properly executed lies in the supervision of the Peacewest Farming Administration. I have to extend my thanks to you for your work!
"It's this humble official's responsibility. Of course, this humble official would try his best to do that!" Lu Yanyu slightly bowed toward Zhang Tie as he said, "The official fields in Taixia Country are all Class A Level I. They're all fertile. All the official fields have been registered in brochures. In wartime, all the grains produced by official fields should enter warehouses after being weighed for military purpose. No province or prefecture could make misregistration about the quantity of grains production per mu official field. Even if they make misregistration on the figure, the provincial and prefectural officials couldn't conjure grains of the void to make up for the vacancy. There're strict and unified regulations on the categories, quantities and proportions of the crops from the official fields of each province which were planted according to farming seasons; mainly potatoes, corns, rice and wheat. Farmers couldn't plant whatever they want. The only concern is that some low-level officials might casually alter the areas for some crops in official fields; for instance, sowing more potatoes as potatoes are high-yielding. They would use the yield of potatoes to replace that of rice and wheat. In order to solve this problem, we could adopt the following solutions, the Peacewest Farming Administration assign inspection team to investigate it among all the 4 provinces and have them hand in the report about the yields and proportions of different crops in the official fields of the 4 provinces each season and scrutinize the provinces and prefectures so as to ensure that they could plant crops according to the requests in the wartime and offer a reward to commoners who could report illegal behaviors!
Zhang Tie nodded inside as he sighed with emotions, 'No wonder Lu Yanyu has been in the farming authorities for so many years, the moment I released my decree, Lu Yanyu was clear about the tricks the subordinate officials would play and he worked out the solution to prevent from the possible problems. This man is very able. If he found me trouble, I would be terribly defeated.'
"Mr. Lu, do you know why commander-in-chief wants me in this job?
"Commander-in-chief is the military god and pillar of the country. Weiji General also has your own considerations. Qianji Hermit is well-known across the country. Additionally, this humble official was told that Weiji General has some secret methods to turn stone into gold only by touching. Commander-in-chief must know about your talents…"
Zhang Tie replied with a smile, "No crap, the reason why commander-in-chief appointed me as Weiji General lies in grins and Fiery Oil!" Zhang Tie said. After a second, he pointed at the vast area of farmland in front of his eyes as he sighed with feelings, "As long as there're grain seeds, it would be too easy for me to make them high-yielded fields. Even if these farmlands were destroyed by demonized grains, I could still have them recover their fertility!"
After hearing Zhang Tie's words, Lu Yanyu's eyes sparkled as he said, "This humble official was told that the over 100 million mu official farmlands that suffered a crop failure in Ninghe Prefecture, Northeast Military Region before won a harvest last year once again!"
"The harvest over there benefited from the 3 solutions!" Zhang Tie erected his finger as he further explained, "The first solution was to keep the grain seeds free from being contaminated; second, the earthworms in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory which were mutated species that I brought from Waii Subcontinent, they're very effective to recover soil's fertility; third, restore the destruction that demonized crops brought to the soil. Demons and Heavens Reaching Church are very insidious and vicious. When they had Taixia Country suffer crop failure as a whole, they didn't forget about using demonized grains to destroy the fertility of the arable lands. However, every poison could be detoxified. Now that the poison could be made, its antidote could also be produced. The trick of demons, though being vicious, was also solved!"
Hearing Zhang Tie's words, Lu Yanyu's face turned solemn. After Zhang Tie finished his words, Lu Yanyu went off to the roadside field and held a piece of hardening soil before coming to Zhang Tie's front. He then rubbed the piece of soil by two hands so that Zhang Tie could see it carefully, "General, look, this official field also suffered a crop failure last year. Although the crops in the field have been burned and irrigated, the soil here still tends to harden. After being dried in the sun, the soil would be like mud which's dug out of the earth. Demonized crops could reduce the number of microorganisms and flora and their structures. When all the microorganisms and flora were destroyed together with their structures, this farmland would never recover its fertility no matter how many fertilizers we used. It would be as useless as filling fertilizers into the sand. Additionally, the soil would provide increasingly fewer nutrients. Therefore, the soil would become less available for growing crops. It is similar to that when people used too many fertilizers in their farmlands before the Catastrophe. General, I'm longing for your solution!"
Lu Yanyu's eyes turned a bit eager in the end because this problem was the major problem that almost faced 1 trillion people across Taixia Country.
"The earth under our feet is the real treasure land!" Zhang Tie sighed with feelings, "The grains, the silk, the linen and the instruments that we use all come from the earth. People couldn't live without it. The earth breeds everything to raise people; however, it gets nothing in return. What a shame! Actually, as long as we know how to extend our thanks to the earth, we will solve the problem of hardening soil easily!"
"How to extend our thanks to the earth?" Lu Yanyu's heart raced as he felt Zhang Tie was talking about his enlightening and insight about the greatest law between the heavens and the humans.
Zhang Tie looked into the distance as his voice sounded a bit reminiscent, "I remember when I was in Waii Subcontinent at a young age, I lived a poor life. My mom sold rice brew to help my father survive our family. Rice brew was fermented in a sealed terrine. After a terrine of rice brew was sold out, there would be some remains in the terrain. Therefore, after I cleaned up the terrain in the terrain, I would water the flowerpots and parterres using the water which contained leftover rice brew. Gradually, the plants in the flowerpots and parterres grew brilliant. At that time, I didn't discover the marvelous effect of the water containing leftover rice brew!"
"An old man lived next to our home. He was an engineer in Blackhot City. After retirement, he liked to do gardening to kill time and cultivate his taste. In the beginning, the old man used some civilian means to make fertilizers by using broken bones and phosphate ores as phosphate fertilizer; carnallite and nitrate as potassic fertilizer and boiled, moldy beans and overdue edible oil which have been sealed for a period as nitrogenous fertilizer!"
"One day, when I left school, I coincidentally saw the old man taking a pot of withered flower out of his house and put it onto the garbage collection can outside. I saw how it opened its flower right on the window sill of the old man. It was very beautiful. However, it gradually started to die. After the old man left there, I ran over there as I noticed that there was still a tender sprout at the root of the withered flower. Therefore, I brought the flowerpot back home and planted it in our own parterre. "
"As the old man used too many fertilizers inappropriately, the mud at the root of that flower had been hardened and become completely like a sun-dried mud brick. You couldn't even break it by hands. It didn't have anything to do with nutrients. The soil was even harder than that we see in front of us as the microorganisms and flora had almost been completely destroyed by the natural fertilizers made by the old man…"
When Lu Yanyu heard Zhang Tie talking about the hardening soil flowerpot that he picked on the way back home, his heart raced at once. 'Could he��'
After throwing a glance at Lu Yanyu, Zhang Tie continued, "I planted the withered flower together with the hard soil at the root of the flower into my parterre. After that, I would water them with water containing leftover rice brew whenever I have a chance. Guess what?"
"You saved it…" Lu Yanyu said out of his excitement.
"Right. I saved the flower. More than that, the hard soil at the root of the flower also got its breath again!" Zhang Tie replied with a smile, "It's just an experience of mine. After saving that flower, I didn't think too much about it; nor did I think about making a fortune in this means. Not until Taixia Country was suffering a grain shortage as a whole and most of the soil across the country was destroyed by demonized crops and hardened did I have a try with a fluke mind. I found some hardened soil, I sowed some grains in it. After that, I watered them with water containing leftover rice brew. I've not imagined that it indeed worked. Later on, I spread this method across Ninghe Prefecture…"
Zhang Tie explained it calmly as if he was talking about something trivial. However, as for Lu Yanyu, Zhang Tie's words sounded as earthshaking as thunders. He didn't recover his composure until a few seconds later. Because Zhang Tie had already told him about the solution.
This was a great secret that could influence numerous people and defuse the current land crisis facing Taixia Country. Taixia Country had tried so many methods; however, none of them could be as effective as Zhang Tie's method. It was out of Lu Yanyu's imagination that Zhang Tie could share this secret with him so frankly.
Lu Yanyu's voice started to tremble, "General, whether the substance in the water containing the leftover rice brew is as same as that in the all-purpose medicament or not…"
Chapter 1327: Being Confident (III)
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
"How could it be as advanced as the all-purpose medicament?" Zhang Tie almost burst out into laughter.
"It's not as advanced as the all-purpose medicament. It's not even as fine as rice brew!" Zhang Tie shook his head as he added, "Commoners could casually make a barrel of it by fermenting their deserted green leaves, roots and stems, peels, kernels with ferment and water. Some people have already started to do it since a long time ago. Commoners liked to call it environmental ferment. However, I'd like to call it earth pulp. Only after irrigating a bit of earth pulp with water into farmlands will we gradually recover the quantity and structure of the destroyed microorganisms and flora, even better than before. This is how we extend our thanks to the earth…"
Zhang Tie had not imagined that what he did occasionally in his teenage years could remind him of its great value when Taixia Country as a whole was facing grains crisis. Even Zhang Tie wondered whether this was the God's will or not. Only irrigating a bit of ferment with water into the soil in which the microorganisms and flora had been destroyed could they recover the level of microorganisms and flora to its original level. However, the ferment being irrigated into the farmlands didn't pose a high request to people. People could make it easier.
The land gifted people happiness and richness and people should return the earth with the pulp——green leaves, roots and stems, fresh food and peels all come from the nutrients in the earth. After turning these things into ferment which contained a large number of microorganisms and probiotics and returning them to the earth, the mysterious energy and mysterial circulation would be established. In accordance with the great law, the microenvironment which was destroyed in the soil would be fixed. Additionally, the soil would be more fertile.
The thing in the container that Zhang Tie took to Ninghe Prefecture was actually ordinary ferment. The reason that Zhang Tie treated it so seriously at that time lay in that he had a simple thought inside——he wants to arouse the attention of people by this trick so that this simple yet efficient method could be spread across Taixia Country as soon as possible and the influence of the demonized grains could be reduced to its utmost extent.
However, Zhang Tie had not imagined that the demon army had invaded Taixia Country before his method took effect. Therefore, all the people in Taixia Country were attracted by the war in Peacewest Military Region. As a result, what he arranged with his full efforts at Ninghe Prefecture didn't arouse too much shock.
However, gold would always glitter. With the coordination of No. 1 earthworm, the "earth pulp" made by Zhang Tie took effect in the official fields of Ninghe Prefecture soon. Benefited from it, the soil of the official fields in Ninghe Prefecture soon recovered its fertility and even got a big harvest in the second half of last year. Because of this, commander-in-chief appointed Zhang Tie as Weiji General.
"General…why do you talk about this to me?" Lu Yanyu couldn't help but be thrilled although he asked Zhang Tie calmly, "If the general doesn't tell me this secret, you could arouse a greater shock and win a greater reputation for sure. You could even win countless wealth…"
Zhang Tie replied with a smile as he shrugged and watched Lu Yanyu with shiny eyes, "What do I need such a great reputation for? As for wealth, do you feel that I lack money? As a knight, even the position as one of the top three counselors of Taixia Country is not as practical as forming one more chakra. I'm not interested in the career of officials. As Meng Shidao is going to be the prime minister, I won't find trouble myself. If not being called by the commander-in-chief, I also had methods to do something in grains and Fiery Oil. I didn't want to be Weiji General at all. The reason why I called you here is that I wanted to have an honest talk with you so that you will know that what I'm pursuing for in Peacewest Military Region doesn't conflict with your pursuit. As my assistant, I hope you could help me sincerely. If you give me a hand at this critical moment, you're actually helping Hua people and the Taixia Country as a whole…"
Lu Yanyu finally changed his look as understood why Zhang Tie called him here. With a bitter smile, he watched Zhang Tie, "General, you have your plans. Without my help, you could also do your job well whether on grains supply or Fiery Oil…"
Before Lu Yanyu finished his words, Zhang Tie had waved his hand to interrupt him, "I know what you want to say. It's not difficult for me to do that. However, I would feel more relaxed if I handed it over to a completely reliable and able assistant. At least, I won't play boring tricks with those people on my side as Weiji General. As the frontline is still fighting, many people are dying every day. I don't want to stay here quietly. My time is precious. I've already done what I needed to do in Peacewest Military Region in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory. I don't feel like repeating it myself. Am I clear?"
"Clear. But I wonder why the general chose me?"
"Because of your ability and moral standards. Is that enough?"
"What if I refused your good intention, general?"
"If you dare to refuse it, I will find an excuse to kick you off, have you retire in advance or behead you so as to scare the others. After that, I will find another one from the Weiji envoys in the Peacewest Farming Administration and the other farming authorities who was a bit able and ambitious and would like to serve me sincerely. If one is not enough, I will find two; if two is not enough, I will make it three. As there're so many envoys, I don't believe in that I couldn't find someone proper. At your position, I will give him only two choices, serve me sincerely or die…"
Zhang Tie didn't mind telling him about his plan to behead Lu Yanyu if the latter didn't agree with him. That was so imposing!
After gazing at each other quietly for a short while, Zhang Tie's eye light remained as firm and calm as a mountain; however, Lu Yanyu's eye light was a bit complex. After a few seconds, Lu Yanyu suddenly let out a deep sigh as he moved a couple of steps backward and bowed deeply towards Zhang Tie once again, "From today on, Lu Yanyu would definitely exert my utmost effort to assist the general sincerely!"
Zhang Tie burst out into laughter as he helped Lu Yanyu straighten up his body, arm in arm and said, "That's great…"
After making his decision, Lu Yanyu felt much relaxed. The moment he wanted to take out the two letters of appointment from his sleeve, Zhang Tie waved his hand towards him as he said, "You can determine the new Weiji envoys of Yuan Prefecture, Huanzhou Province and Gonghe Prefecture, Kangzhou Province by yourself. As you're familiar with it more than me, don't need to ask me about that on these trivial things…"
Lu Yanyu's heart palpitated. Closely after that, he revealed a bitter smile as he thought, 'Qianji Hermit is really something and unpredictable. What I am considering carefully is nothing but sh*t in his eyes…'
Chapter 1328: Making an Inspection Tour in the Theater of Operations
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Although work did not always make people pleasant, people had to do it. The more important the position was, the more limits there would be. In many cases, people had to deal with it in high spirits in order to fulfill their obligations.
On the second day since Zhang Tie finished his talk with Lu Yanyu beside the field, he had started an inspection tour across Huanzhou Province, Kangzhou Province, Ningzhou Province and Military Province with Lu Yanyu by airboat.
Besides inspecting the official fields, Zhang Tie paid special attention to some major mines and large industrial complexes and plants in the four provinces.
Besides grains supply, Weiji General and Weiji envoys should also be responsible for providing armies with weapons, leather belts, military uniforms, kettles, sabers, swords, helmets, steam tanks, armored vehicles and military vehicles in the theater of operations.
Within days, the total population of the Taixia corps within the 4 provinces of Peacewest Military Region reached almost 480 million, including that from the top 4 armies of Taixia Country and the provincial armies in Peacewest Military Region. It was absolutely not an easy job to meet the demand for logistic equipment from so many soldiers.
Thankfully, Taixia Country was deeply rooted with a powerful state power mechanism on its back. Therefore, the military demand from almost 500 million people was not difficult to meet across Peacewest Military Region, which contained over 100 Class A major cities based on equipment manufacturing industry, thousands of large- and medium-sized mines and metallurgical production bases, tens of thousands of industrial production plants and over 10 billion mu official fields, more than 7 billion people were still serving the corps in the theater of operations. Besides, there was a sound ground and air traffic network and perfect logistics operation as well as guarantee mechanism. All this made Taixia country confident to confront with demons in the western theater of operations.
The airboat moved very fast. Without any stop, it could fly almost 12,000 miles a day.
It only took Zhang Tie less than 7 days to travel across the entire Peacewest Military Region. During that short period, Zhang Tie understood a truth——the holy war was definitely not only between human knights and demon knights but related to everyone.
In a metallurgical base of Ningzhou Province, Zhang Tie saw an old, experienced technician who had retired for many years. In order to contribute to humans in the holy war, he returned to the workshop and taught some apprentices to make quality steel works as well as supervised the duration and quality of each furnace of liquid steel.
In the farms of those official fields of Military Province, Zhang Tie saw many foreign border men who had settled down in Taixia Country being driven indignified after hearing that demons had been invading Taixia Country and were going to destroy their homeland once again.
In a small city of Huanzhou Province, Zhang Tie saw all the households being busy making belts and special steel buttons on caligas, male or female, old or young.
In an arsenal which produced steam armored vehicles in Kangzhou Province, Zhang Tie saw the factory directory and main engineers directly moving their homes into the production area. They had already made a military pledge to guarantee the quality of the products…
Within 7 days, Zhang Tie saw too many similar people, most of which were commoners. Everybody was exerting their utmost efforts on their own posts for the sake of the holy war.
After 7 days' inspection, Zhang Tie finally understood how big his power was as Weiji General.
Within the 4 provinces, over 5 million officials on different levels would follow his order directly. Any of his orders would influence over 7 billion people who served the logistics system of the theater of operations. All the 68,772 official and non-governmental industrial and mining enterprises would follow his order. This year, he could allocate 5.6 billion gold coins for the logistics system of the theater of operations as a whole, half of which would flow into official enterprises while the greater part of the rest would be used to purchase various quartermaster materials and equipment in terms of bidding. Those who were qualified to participate in the bidding were all major clans from the 4 provinces in the theater of operations. Wherever Zhang Tie was, he would always be escorted imposingly by local major clans like a local emperor.
Besides, Zhang Tie could allocate enormous resources. For instance, he could allocate 64 airboats and over 200,000 airships and numerous ground vehicles. Additionally, all the railways, trains, inventory, distribution and transfer of materials in the theater of operations were at his discretion.
With such great power, he could definitely hoodwink the public in the rear end of the theatre of operations.
After acknowledging the situation facing the theater of operations, Zhang Tie finally understood why Lu Yanyu had a complex feeling when he saw Zhang Tie at the beginning.
As for people who loved power, such great power would make them feel like being in the paradise and vigorous all over just like having taken drugs. By contrast, as for Zhang Tie, such great power only made him feel a bit peacockish within a few days. After that, he was still deeply impressed by those ordinary people who were working in common posts. Because Zhang Tie saw his parents and the other Zhang Tie who had no Castle of Black Iron from those commoners.
Through the inspection, Zhang Tie didn't get lost in the illusion brought by power; instead, he strengthened his belief.
On January 20th, Zhang Tie and Lu Yanyu returned to Kangzhou City after the 7 days' inspection. On the same day, soon after Zhang Tie returned to Kangzhou City, the 2 airboats from Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory had landed in the square of the Peacewest Farming Administration of Kangzhou City.
…
With a smile, Zhang Tie watched the opening hatch doors of the two airboats while fiddling with the 3 walnuts as usual.
When the hatch door of the first airboat was opened, Zhang Tie's elder brother, Li Tao, Lu Yishan and Sun Qiming got off one after another, followed by many people.
At the sight of Zhang Tie, Zhang Yang revealed a smile too. The others were slightly shocked at the sight of the two rows of imposing bodyguards in golden armors and that man who was waiting for them with a smile in the Class III official uniform of Peacewest Farming Administration.
Zhang Tie didn't want to put on airs. However, in this case, even though he didn't put on airs, the great qi field among those people behind him had already implied everything. Across Taixia Country, perhaps only major officials on the level of commanders of military regions could have a subordinate Class III official wait for them on his side with a kind smile.
…
"Thanks for coming from afar…" Zhang Tie told his elder brother with a smile.
"Pleasure. It's only a couple of days' trip by airboat even from Youzhou Province…" Zhang Yang smiled as he looked at Zhang Tie from his head to his foot. After that, the two brothers exchanged a glance with each other silently.
After Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang finished greeting each other, Li Tao and Lu Yishan hurriedly moved forward to hail Zhang Tie.
"Master!" Li Tao and Lu Yishan called Zhang Tie at the same time with an exciting and awe-struck look. The two people had not imagined that Zhang Tie could be directly promoted to such an influential figure in the western theater of operations of Taixia Country only after coming to the theater of operations for less than half a year.
1 month ago, when the news that Zhang Tie was appointed as Weiji General of the Western Theater of Operations by Zuoqiu Mingyue reached Youzhou Province, the entire Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory even the entire Youzhou Province had been shocked. As Zhang Tie's myrmidons, Li Tao and Lu Yishan were more excited. Zhang Tie's rising position also indicated their rising positions. Since Zhang Tie was appointed as Weiji General in the theater of operations, it indicated that Zhang Tie's influence had reached out of Northeast Military Region and Zhang Tie had officially become a top-class figure among major clans and knights in Taixia Country. At the sight of Zhang Tie, Li Tao was a bit reserved more or less; however, Lu Yishan had been so excited that his face was red with excitement.
"Hmm!" Zhang Tie nodded toward them with a smile as he continued, "You had done a good job in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory these days. I've already heard about that. Hopefully, you could contribute to the Western Theater of Operations of Taixia Country with the ability that you presented in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory…"
"It's owed to the great leadership of the madams in Ironheart Palace. As the master called us here, we would certainly not shrink from any sacrifice!" Li Tao said after exchanging a glance with Lu Yishan. As Lu Yishan was a bit clumsy in remarks, he just nodded on one side. The two people both knew that Zhang Tie would like to put them in important positions this time. By following up Zhang Tie, the two people would definitely reach new heights in their lives and undertakings in Peacewest Military Region. As long as they did a good job at Zhang Tie's request, the so-called vanity and wealth would come for them naturally.
Zhang Tie nodded as he was very satisfied with the two people's attitude.
After Li Tao and Lu Yishan finished their talks with Zhang Tie, Sun Qiming took in a deep breath before moving one step forward as he greeted, "Hermit!"
"I wonder whether my junior sister apprentice Lv Shasha would blame me for separating you from her in a short period!"
Although Zhang Tie was joking, given his tone, he didn��t treat Sun Qiming as an outsider at all. As his words sounded somewhat familiar, Sun Qiming felt a bit thrilled as he cupped his hands toward Zhang Tie and said, "If hermit needs me, it means that you're trusting and favoring our Sun family. Before setting off, my wife warned me to finish the tasks arranged by hermit carefully; additionally, my wife also asked me to relate one sentence to hermit——hermit should take care of yourself on the battlefield. All the senior and junior sister apprentices of hermit on Hidden Dragon Island are still contacting each other. They all hope to watch hermit's imposing look by forming a sword dance in front of them once again…"
The junior sister apprentice who once liked crying had already been a mother and wife. In case of gossips, since Zhang Tie exposed his real identity to the public, he didn't meet that junior sister apprentice privately anymore although being in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory. After hearing that those senior and junior sister apprentices were still contacting each other, their expectations and wishes to him, Zhang Tie had a complex feeling at once…
Chapter 1329: Zhang Tie's Fundamental Forces
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
The memories of the experiences with those senior and junior sister apprentices made Zhang Tie silent for a second. Closely after that, Zhang Tie watched Sun Qiming seriously as he slowed down his tone, "I'm not treating you as an outsider, don't be estranged…"
Sun Qiming nodded as he moved back to one side.
All the people getting off the second airboat wore grey-green military uniforms of Fire-Dragon Corps. All of them looked very handsome. There was a pattern of a pair of wings being composed of steel gears on their hats. Besides, there was a special pattern on their armband, namely, a thunder hawk flashing across clouds.
The emblem on their hats indicated that they belonged to Fire-Dragon Corps. The armband of thunder hawk carried a special meaning in Fire-Dragon Corps, namely, these people were air cavalries who had been able to drive airplanes through strict training.
Over 4,000 people got off the 2nd airboat, led by Zhang Su, Zhang Tie's cousin. Some of Zhang Tie's disciples such as Liu Xing were also among the crowd. As they wore military uniforms, they were not eye-catching at all. Perhaps only those who were familiar with Liu Xing and the other indoor disciples of Zhang Tie could notice the thrilling mood of them.
Those people getting off the 2nd airboat were very quiet. However, they all carried a strong qi field and great arrogance. Because of the special temperament, Lu Yanyu couldn't stand throwing more glances at them.
"Mr. Lu, what do you feel about my soldiers from Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory?" Zhang Tie turned around and asked Lu Yanyu with a smile.
"The top 4 armies of Taixia Country are well-known as they all have great arrogance and strong killing intent; however, I feel they could not match these soldiers in front of us!" Lu Yanyu told Zhang Tie seriously after observing those soldiers who had got off the 2nd airboat. Lu Yanyu was not trying to flatter Zhang Tie; instead, he really felt that these soldiers of Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory were special.
"You're right, Mr. Lu. They're all the best soldiers of Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory. If there's no knight on the battlefield, these people could easily eliminate a corps of 500,000 people!"
After hearing Zhang Tie's words, Lu Yanyu was shocked once again. However, he knew that Zhang Tie wouldn't joke with him on this issue. Therefore, when Lu Yanyu looked at those soldiers once again, he turned a bit solemn and exploring…
In the silence of most of the people, Zhang Su strode to the front of Zhang Tie before making a military salute to him. Closely after that, he reported loudly and seriously, "Corps leader, the thunder hawk instruction unit of Fire-Dragon Corps have already gathered up. What should we do now?"
"The officials stay here. All the other soldiers took a rest first!"
"Yes sir!"
Without Zhang Tie's order, Lu Yanyu threw a glance at someone. Closely after that, a staff of Peacewest Farming Administration started to arrange those people to take a bath and rest. After introducing Lu Yanyu's identity to them, Zhang Tie instantly took the remaining people to his headquarters for a meeting.
Besides these people who came from Youzhou Province, dozens of officials in charge below Lu Yanyu within the Peacewest Farming Administration had arrived. It was Zhang Tie's first time to hold a meeting since he promoted to Weiji General…
In the lobby of his headquarters, Zhang Tie was sitting in the main position while fiddling with 3 walnuts. There was a bronze tiger-shaped desk in front of him, on which were a row of arrows that indicated general's command. It was a huge map of the theater of operations as wide as 10 m and as high as 5 m behind Zhang Tie. Rows of bodyguards were standing behind Zhang Tie and on both sides of the lobby of the headquarters in an extremely solemn manner.
Lu Yanyu was sitting on the left side of Zhang Tie's bronze tiger desk together with the other officials in charge of Peacewest Farming Administration while Zhang Tie's elder brother and the others from Youzhou Province were sitting on the right side of the table. As all of them had seen the world, they just waited for Zhang Tie to speak meticulously while lowering their heads.
"Mr. Lu, please make an introduction about the battle situation facing the western theater of operations and the Weiji affairs within Huanzhou Province, Kangzhou Province, Ningzhou Province and Military Province!" Zhang Tie opened his mouth.
"Yes, sir!" Lu Yanyu then stood up. He spent 10 minutes in introducing that to those at present before sitting down.
Even though it was their first time to come to Peacewest Military Region Headquarters, they had also acknowledged the overall situation facing the western theater of operations after hearing Lu Yanyu's introduction.
Within days, the news that demons and Heavens Reaching Church founded Heavens Reaching Empire in Yezhou Province, Wuzhou Province, Zhuzhou Province and Yinzhou Province which were occupied by demons had been delivered to provincial officials. As it gradually turned warmer, demons' offensiveness slowly recovered. By contrast, Taixia Country which had seen hope also became more positive. Under the guidance of Zuoqiu Mingyue, the commander-in-chief of Taixia Country, the armies and knights of Taixia Country were evacuating Wuzhou Province, Zhuzhou Province and Yinzhou Province orderly while fighting demons. They determined to weaken the sharpness of the demon corps step by step through the strategy of exchanging space for time. The strategical purpose of Taixia Country in the western theater of operations was to ultimately prevent demons' vanguards from crossing Helan Mountain Range and Weishui River so that they could confront with demons for a long time.
Additionally, it seemed that demons didn't have the ability to devour Taixia Country as a whole in a short period. Given the motive that demons assisted Heavens Reaching Church to establish Heavens Reaching Church, demons were using Heavens Reaching Church and Heavens Reaching Empire to gradually collapse Taixia Country's internal forces.
Facing such a battle situation, the Weiji affairs in the four provinces in the rear end of the western theater of operation became especially important. Grains and materials counted most. Furthermore, Lu Yanyu also clarified the problems facing grains production and equipment in the four provinces.
Those from Youzhou Province all moved their eyes onto Zhang Tie's elder brother. At this moment, Zhang Yang should be the first one who opened his mouth on Youzhou Province's side. As was expected, only after being silent for a few seconds, Zhang Yang had stood up and told Zhang Tie.
"After hearing Mr. Lu's words, we've already known the situation facing the theater of operations. If the general has any arrangement, just tell us about that. We're here to solve the problems!"
Chapter 1330: The Decisiveness of Jinwu Business Group
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
As Zhang Tie was the Weiji General of the Western Theater of Operations of Taixia Country, even Zhang Yang should call him general in the headquarters instead of calling him younger brother.
Of course, Zhang Tie understood it too. After throwing a glance at Zhang Tie, he instantly noted, "Now that you're all clear that you're fetched here for tasks, I will put it straight. As I'm in charge of the logistics affairs in Huanzhou Province, Kangzhou Province, Ningzhou Province and Military Province, I've got an all-around plan within these days. I need your help. The following issues were to be solved: first, the insufficiency of all-purpose medicaments in the theater of operations; second, the production of Fiery Oil; third, the training of air forces in the theater of operations; fourth, the provision of armed equipments driven by Fiery Oil; fifth, the grains production in the theater of operations. If we could solve the 5 issues, I will never regret being Weiji General."
As Zhang Tie expressed, he stood up and came to the front of that huge map of the theater of operations behind him. Closely after that, he gave out a cluster of green light by his finger toward the map.
The green battle qi, with the attribute of wood among the five-elements battle qis, carried a brilliant light. However, under Zhang Tie's control, it was not destructive at all; nor did it destroy that map. It was just like the laser pointer before the Catastrophe for the sake of Zhang Tie's narration.
It was the manifestation of turning one's battle qi into physical shape. Knight's visible battle qi had a very terrifying striking strength. In case of Zhang Tie's battle strength, his battle qi could easily penetrate through metals like gold, copper and iron and kill powerhouses below knights as easily as killing livestock. It was the first time for these people at present to see Zhang Tie putting this trick to use in such a smooth and harmless way.
It was the manifestation of the high-level realm of cultivation base by turning one's battle qi into physical shape and making it destructive. But it was just the necessary result of constant cultivation. Conversely, if one wanted to use his powerful battle qi in physical shape freely without causing any damage, it would require an amazingly high request on one's controlling force just like that it was hard to make an irregular stone into an aesthetic sculpture by an alchemist's bomb, though it was easy to destroy a skyscraper by an alchemist's bomb.
Everybody at present was shocked by the green light on the map emitted by Zhang Tie's finger so much that they almost forgot that Zhang Tie was going to say something.
At the sight of their amazed looks, Zhang Tie realized that this trick seemingly shocked them too much. Therefore, he could only pretend to cough twice to attract the others' attention before opening his mouth.
"First, all-purpose medicament plays a remarkable role in the theater of operations. However, the supply falls far short of the demand for all-purpose medicament from Jinwu Business Group. Since I was promoted to Weiji General, I've investigated the number of all-purpose medicaments stored by all the corps in the theater of operation in the past half a year and found it was less than 50 million vials in total. That is to say, almost 1 of 10 fighters in the theater of operations could use one vial of all-purpose medicament. This situation needs to be changed. After contacting Commander-in-Chief Zuoqiu lately, I won a full confirmation from commander-in-chief toward the function of all-purpose medicament on armies of Taixia Country. According to the materials allocation reports handed by all corps, there has been a huge demand for all-purpose medicament among corps. Each corps would like a bit more. Nevertheless, our supply always falls short. In order to solve such a sharp conflict, I hope that Jinwu Business Group could provide at least 300 million vials of all-purpose medicament to the theater of operations by the end of this year. This figure should reach 1 billion in the next year. In order to guarantee that each fighter in the theater of operations could carry at least 2 vials of all-purpose medicament, the figure should reach at least 2 billion 3 years later…"
Zhang Tie pointed or circled with his cluster of green battle qi on over 20 places of the map as he said, "These places have advantageous natural resources within Peacewest Military Region. They could provide vegetables and fruits all the year round; additionally, they are abundant in medicinal materials. I hope to see at least 10 all-purpose medicament bases within the four provinces by the end of this year. Half a year later, I hope these bases could provide all-purpose medicament to the theater of operations. Because of the relation between Jinwu Business Group and I that you all know, in case of suspicion, I wish Jinwu Business Group could reduce the purchasing price of all-purpose medicament to its minimum extent in the theater of operations!"
"To defend demons and safeguard Taixia Country, everybody is responsible for that. As a member of Hua people, Jinwu Business Group would definitely live up to general's expectation. I've taken 17 managers here. All of them will go for inspection across Peacewest Military Region for building all-purpose medicament bases. Within this year, Jinwu Business Group would establish 17 bases within Peacewest Military Region. Before these bases were officially available, Jinwu Business Group would allocate its resources across Taixia Country and guarantee the demand of Western Theater of Operations for all-purpose medicament first. Within this year, we will provide at least 500 million vials of the all-purpose medicament for the theater of operations!" Zhang Yang expressed solemnly at this moment, "As for the purchasing price of Weiji General's Mansion about the all-purpose medicament of Jinwu Business Group, I will call it one gold coin per vial. This is definitely the lowest price in Taixia Country!"
After hearing Zhang Yang's words, all the officials on the side of the Peacewest Farming Administration changed their looks. The purchasing price of all-purpose medicaments within the theater of operations last year was 3 gold coins a vial, which was already very cheap compared to that in former days; however, it still couldn't meet the demand; Zhang Tie's promise meant that Jinwu Business Group would give up hundreds of millions of gold coins' profit a year.
Hundreds of millions of gold coins was an astonishing figure. In the future, this figure might become over 1 billion gold coins. After hearing Zhang Tie's elder brother, those people who admired Zhang Tie's good luck made head or trail of the case at once. It was rather Zuoqiu Mingyue's good use of people than Qianji Hermit's good luck. By having Qianji Hermit as Weiji General, the Zhang brothers would feel ashamed to make money from the theater of operations any more. Zhang Tie would save an enormous amount of money for the theater of operation on the item of government procurement of all-purpose medicament alone. Who else could have such an amazing ability? Therefore, the others were not qualified to compete for this position of Weiji General…
Chapter 1331: Zhang Tie's Arrangement
Translator: WQL Editor: Aleem
Zhang Yang's decisive attitude on providing all-purpose medicament was astounding; however, from the other perspective, even though the purchasing price of an all-purpose medicament was one gold coin per vial, Jinwu Business Group would also make an astronomical amount of money in the theater of operations each year in the future. How many major clans in Taixia Country could make hundreds of millions of gold coins a year?
As the holy war further went on, all-purpose medicaments would win an increasingly bigger market in Taixia Country. If it kept going on like this, Zhang family would be the richest family in the world only in a few years…
The officials of the Peacewest Farming Administration were sensitive about figure and money. Therefore, they were calculating the revenue of Jinwu Business Group in the future inside as they changed their looks toward Zhang Yang. They were watching Zhang Tie and Zhang Yang like watching the bright future of a rising top sect in Taixia Country. As Zhang Tie took up the position of Weiji General of the theater of operations and was going to marry the daughter of Lord Guangnan, Zhang family was growing more like a top clan in Taixia Country. Money, power, influence and human relationship, all these were expanding in an amazing way…
"Fine, now that Jinwu Business Group has such a plan, Mr. Lu, you will be responsible for collaborating with Jinwu Business Group from now on…" Zhang Tie immediately fixed the thing after his elder brother expressed his opinion.
"All the corps in the theater of operations are longing for the all-purpose medicament. This humble official will definitely select able subordinates and accompany the boss of Jinwu Business Group to carry out an investigation across Peacewest Military Region and coordinate with the local forces so as to build all-purpose medicament bases as soon as possible…" Lu Yanyu stood up as he said solemnly.
Zhang Tie nodded. Lu Yanyu then sat down once again. Zhang Tie's eye light then fell onto Li Tao as he said, "Li Tao…"
"Here I am!" Li Tao instantly sprung up from his seat after hearing his name.
"Although you're my myrmidon, as you were responsible for building all the Fiery Oil Bases in Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory, nobody knows Fiery Oil Base better than you across Taixia Country!"
"Thanks for your trust and cultivation, master!"
"That's because you're trusted and worthy of cultivation. I want you to be in charge of the production of Fiery-Oil in the entire theater of operations. I will appoint you as the supervisor of Weiji General's Mansion. You will have the full right to manage the production of Fiery Oil within the four provinces. There are over 10 billion mu official fields within the four provinces. Corns would be planted on all of these official fields this February and be reaped this June. I want you to guarantee that at least 200 Fiery Oil bases are available and would meet the primal demand of the theater of operations by this June, can you do it?"
Li Tao flushed abnormally. At the same time, he took in a deep breath as he chested out, "This humble man would like to make a military pledge to guarantee the work!"
"Fine, I will allocate an airboat to you for traversing across the theater of operations. Additionally, you will have 20 bodyguards of mine. Here's my token arrow 1 . You could chop anyone below provincial Weiji envoys within the theater of operations before reporting the case to me…" Zhang Tie said in a muffled voice. Meanwhile, he withdrew a token arrow from the tiger-shaped table. At this moment, a bodyguard walked to him and took his token arrow before handing it to Li Tao.
Li Tao bowed as he held high his hands over his head and received Zhang Tie's token arrow meticulously. Closely after that, he looked at Zhang Tie and asked him loudly, "This humble man has a question. As only master's family could benefit Fiery Oil across Taixia Country, may you tell me about the property rights of the new Fiery Oil bases within Peacewest Military Region and the purchasing price of Fiery Oil in the future?"
After hearing Li Tao's question, all the officials of Peacewest Farming Administration pricked up their ears.
After considering about it for a second, Zhang Tie made a decision, "Divide the property rights of all the Fiery Oil bases within the Peacewest Military Region into 10 parts. Fire-Dragon Bounty Territory would only take 3 parts; the rest 7 parts would be allocated to these officials and commoners who were still standing fast in the theater of operations as an award. Concretely, the local officials of the place where the Fiery Oil bases are founded will possess 30% of its shares; non-governmental major clans could possess 30% of its shares; the managers and workers of the Fiery Oil bases would possess 10% of its shares. The purchasing price of Fiery Oil within the theater of operations should not surpass 60% of its sales price outside the theater of operations!"
Many officials in Taixia Country came from major clans, which meant that Taixia Country didn't forbid officials' clans to engage in business. When Zhang Tie mentioned that local officials could possess 30% of the shares of the Fiery Oil base in their territory, the eyes of all the officials from Peacewest Farming Administration sparkled.
When Taixia Country's officials took bribes or feathered one's nest at public expense, they would be punished to eat gold. Therefore, very few officials in Taixia Country dared take bribes and make profits for his family members with the convenience of their positions. In this case, although officials had nice salaries, most of the officials; especially medium- and low-level officials were not rich, not to mention luxurious. Even Mr. Lu's family couldn't match that of major clans across the theater of operations as he had about 1,000 relatives and servants to raise at home. By contrast, his compensation was not enough.
The profit of Fiery Oil was open to the public. Otherwise, the major clans across the theater of operations would not scramble for that. By promising local officials 30% shares of Fiery Oil bases, Weiji General was gifting money to the officials within the theater of operations. How could those officials at present not long for such a reasonable and legal wealth? Additionally, all the officials at present were in major positions in the Peacewest Farming Administration and were incisive, the moment they heard Zhang Tie's words, they had known that Zhang Tie was gifting them money. "A waterfront pavilion gets the moonlight first!"
After hearing Zhang Tie's words, the officials at present immediately realized that Weiji general quoted the purchasing price of Fiery Oil too low. 80% of its sales price in other places outside the theater of operations was okay; however, he made it 60%.
At the sight of the looks of those officials of Peacewest Farming Administration on his side, Lu Yanyu let out a sigh inside, 'Without my assistance, Weiji General could also easily buy over all the officials in Peacewest Farming Administration with his human relationship, wealth, power, dignity and the trust of commander-in-chief while having no interest in wealth and power himself. What an amazing person…'
After hearing that Li Tao was assigned with such a vital position by Zhang Tie and crowned with eternal glory, all the people at present realized that the meritorious deeds of Li Tao were destined to be recorded on the local history within the provinces, prefectures even the entire Peacewest Military Region as they all watched Zhang Tie with widely opened and shiny eyes and pricked up their ears to listen to Zhang Tie's following arrangements…