Chapter 310: A New Atmosphere

()ps: Requesting monthly tickets

After Liu Pojun, Mo Huaiwen stepped forward, saluted Chen Xin and the others, then began reading out the civil affairs personnel appointments.

The Civil Affairs Department is under the overall management of Liu Minyou, with the Advisory Office, the Inspectorate Bureau, and the Security Office directly under it, and under it are the Industry and Commerce Division, the Garrison Farming Division, the Education Division, the Personnel Division, the Finance Division, and the Construction Division.

Mo Huaiwen cleared his throat and said loudly: "The Garrison Farming Division is responsible for garrison farm construction and garrison household registration management. Under it are the Household Registration Office, the Grain Tax Office, the Water Conservancy Office, the Fisheries Office, and the Agricultural Research Institute. The chief officer is Mo Huaiwen, concurrently serving as Deputy Head of the Civil Affairs Department, with temporarily granted special authority to mobilize garrison farm militia of up to one thousand men."..

After he finished, he bowed to the whole assembly. The civil affairs side was in an uproar, especially some of the old garrison farm chiefs from Wendeng, who had thought Xu Yuanhua would continue to manage the garrison farms. The Garrison Farming Division was the most powerful department in civil affairs, and the largest population in Dengzhou Garrison consisted of garrison households; clearly Xu Yuanhua had lost his position as the second-in-command of civil affairs. Some people secretly observed Xu Yuanhua's reaction, but saw him applauding with a face full of smiles to offer congratulations.

After this appointment was announced, most people in civil affairs breathed a sigh of relief. Word of the organizational restructuring had been circulating for a month, and the greatest uncertainty on the civil affairs side had been the Garrison Farming Division. Many of the civil affairs personnel present had previously visited either Xu Yuanhua or Mo Huaiwen, pledging allegiance in advance to secure a stepping stone for promotion. To fight for the greatest benefit, picking a side was essential, and most people had favored Mo Huaiwen.

Those who had chosen Mo Huaiwen's side were now beaming with delight, while those who had sided with Xu Yuanhua secretly cursed their bad luck. Mo Huaiwen calmly continued reading, and the subsequent appointments held few surprises..

The chief officer of the Finance Division was Wang Daixi, under whom were the four offices of Taxation, Appropriations, Budget, and Accounting, controlling the money chest of Wendeng. Her authority was immense; even people of Mo Huaiwen's and Song Wenxian's standing always greeted Wang Daixi with beaming smiles and dared not lightly offend this Goddess of Wealth. Otherwise, just the two hurdles of budget and accounting would wear a person to death. With such status, this twenty-year-old old maid was now even less likely to be taken as a wife.

The Education Division, under which were the Basic Education Office and the Vocational School Office, would establish over a hundred garrison household schools, three vocational schools, and one university. The chief officer of the Education Division was called Bo Bo, a native of Wendeng whose ancestors had produced a Provincial Graduate, and whose family had once been well-fed and clothed. However, he himself held no examination degree; he failed the Licentiate exam. He was quite interested in strange machinery and such, and his family's standard of living gradually declined. Later, relying on this craft, he entered the workshop. Afterward, he was admitted to the first science and technology class, and after graduation he taught the new literacy class in Wendeng. He was someone Liu Minyou considered suitable for Wendeng's education system.

The chief officer of the Industry and Commerce Division was Xu Yuanhua, under whom were the Industry Office, the Commerce Office, and the Industrial Research Office. Xu Yuanhua rose with poise to greet everyone; as the most senior civil affairs official, he still received a warm response.

The Construction Division was responsible for building large public projects such as roads, drainage, and ports. The chief officer was Zhang Erhui. From the time he arrived in Weihai, Zhang Erhui had been helping Tang Zuoxiang at the workshop, and only in the fourth year of Chongzhen was he transferred to oversee road construction. He had repeatedly requested a transfer to the military but had never gotten his wish, and this time he was again kept in civil affairs by Liu Minyou.

The Inspectorate Bureau supervised all officials. It was directly under the jurisdiction of the Civil Affairs Department, and its chief officer was called Gao Xiang. He had previously been an ordinary inspector who had continuously corrected over ten instances of land allocation violations, and was thus chosen by Liu Minyou.

Another very important one was the Personnel Division, responsible for all civil affairs official appointments. Its chief officer was Wu Youdao, who also concurrently served as the head of the Civil Affairs Department's Advisory Office, making him part of the new power faction.

The last were Zhou Laifu and Wang Erya of the Four Seas Trading Company. The other shopkeepers of the Four Seas Trading Company were not qualified to attend the assembly, because most of them were stationed elsewhere, and spreading the internal system outside Dengzhou Garrison was not a good thing. Liu Minyou would separately preside over the reorganization of the Four Seas Trading Company. There was also Tang Zuoxiang from the workshop; the workshop was transferred to the Industry and Commerce Division, while the cigarette factory, as the most promising industry, was placed directly under Liu Minyou.

After the appointments were announced, the power structure of Dengzhou Garrison became clear. The people sitting in the room were all those who had been assigned to the various divisions this time, and they were all eagerly waiting to find out exactly which division they belonged to, beginning to ask around among those nearby.

Chen Xin rapped on the table. After the room fell silent, he swept his gaze over the room full of subordinates. This was the skeleton with which he would control a population of hundreds of thousands and an army of tens of thousands in the future. The lower-level officials would be his nerve endings. Only a powerful organization could unleash the greatest mobilization strength, and what supported this organization was the power and resources granted to each level. Much of this power and resources conflicted with the existing structures of society, which was the fundamental reason his system constantly clashed with surrounding powers, and also why he was deeply wary of the wavering of people like Lu Chuanzong.

He had deliberately placed Lu Chuanzong's battalion at the not-too-distant Mount Shimen, while the other two company commanders were stationed separately at Zhaoyuan and Laiyang. Among them, the Zhaoyuan unit was understrength, and Laiyang was cut off by the garrison of Dengzhou's Guard Battalion. Judging by the tight control of Dengzhou Garrison, no general had the foundation to rebel, but a small number of trusted followers would certainly exist. Chen Xin deployed them this way also hoping not to give them the opportunity to make mistakes.

If this system could not be kept tight, then the various corrupt practices of the late Ming officialdom and society would rapidly erode Dengzhou Garrison. By that time, even if Chen Xin wanted to change things, he might not be able to do as he wished. Therefore, he needed to suppress these signs at their very inception. As long as these organizational structures entered normal operation, he would have more methods to deal with those who wavered, without necessarily having to physically eliminate them.

Chen Xin spoke flatly: "What Director Liu and Director Mo have just read out is the new system of our Dengzhou Garrison. Military and administrative junior officer appointments will proceed with the reorganization plan, to be carried out by the Military Affairs Division. The chief officers of each civil affairs division must immediately begin improving their own regulations, arrange the appointment recommendations for the positions under their jurisdiction, and report them to the Personnel Division. Within half a month, they must have their personnel structured, clearly delineate personnel responsibilities, and begin handling official business normally. The establishment of new divisions will inevitably have imperfections that need your improvement, but the broad framework is set. Each division must strictly fulfill the duties within its own scope of jurisdiction. If cooperation from other divisions is needed, report to Director Liu of the Civil Affairs Department for coordination. If you squat in the latrine pit, you must shit. Those who hold a post and eat without working are not what our Dengzhou Garrison wants, nor do we need to wait for the year-end performance review. On ordinary days, once it is verified that someone handles affairs incompetently or fails to follow orders, this official will find someone capable to replace them. From the small fishing village of that year to the powerful Dengzhou Garrison of today, you have also transformed from refugees into managers governing a domain. There will surely be greater achievements in the future. I hope we will all realize great ambitions together with Dengzhou Garrison. Let us all encourage one another."……

Over the next half month, Dengzhou Garrison passed in a flurry of busyness. Batch after batch of appointment and dismissal orders were issued. Personnel everywhere were being transferred and reporting for duty. Each division set up temporary offices on the east side of the parade ground. Originally, there were many large unoccupied mansions in the city, but Chen Xin believed being inside the city was too conspicuous, so he had all the offices set up near the parade ground, using the military camp as cover. Liu Minyou, on the other hand, required them not to be scattered, to facilitate inter-division communication.

Garrison farms, the cells of the system, were being intensively established. Troops everywhere were also on the move and needed barracks built. The silver in Liu Minyou's accounts flowed out like water. During this half month, neither Liu Minyou nor Chen Xin had a moment of leisure. Many office workflows needed to be confirmed among the divisions, such as what level of approval was needed for appropriations above a certain amount, and how to delineate matters that overlapped between divisions. All of this required decisions from Liu Minyou and Chen Xin. Every day was an endless series of meetings.

The military's institutions had been relatively well-established before, so Chen Xin's pressure was somewhat less. He even had time to make a special trip to Laiyang to inspect the mobilization division's assembly training base.

Liu Minyou, on the other hand, was so busy he was run off his feet, immersed in piles of documents every day. The chief officers of the various divisions were in much the same state as Liu Minyou. A new department always had many inexplicable problems, and there was no shortage of wrangling with other departments. However, under the pressure from their superior Liu Minyou, they could only work overtime to get things done.

On the twenty-ninth day of the sixth month, as soon as Liu Minyou arrived at his office, his Advisory Office head Wu Youdao handed over the day's schedule. Liu Minyou took one look and saw five meetings arranged. He sighed helplessly.

Silly Monk helped bring steamed cakes and buns for the two of them. This was a welfare benefit Liu Minyou provided to the Civil Affairs Department: free breakfast, only available before work hours, to encourage people to arrive at the office early to work.

Liu Minyou was unassuming, and Silly Monk was used to it. The three of them each found a place to sit and ate steamed cakes with rice broth. Liu Minyou even used this bit of time to glance over the planning documents for the vocational school.

Wu Youdao still had that mysterious look about him. After he finished eating, he wiped his mouth, looked left and right, and said in a low voice: "My lord, there is a meeting today that will be difficult to conduct."

Liu Minyou flipped through the schedule in his hand. "Which meeting? Is it the one Huang Side is attending?"

Wu Youdao slapped his leg. "Exactly that one. His Propaganda and Education Bureau not only wants to station propaganda officers in the garrison farms, but also wants to place instructors in the vocational schools, demanding that twenty percent of the garrison farm and school performance evaluations be allocated to the Propaganda and Education Bureau. Wouldn't that mean they're managing the garrison farms?"

Liu Minyou grabbed the brush on the table and crossed out that item. "I have nothing to discuss with Huang Side. I won't attend this meeting. You and Mo Huaiwen go. In any case, I absolutely do not agree to this matter. He can send propaganda officers if he wants, but the propaganda officers will be evaluated by the garrison farm chiefs and school principals. Just tell Mo Huaiwen that."

Wu Youdao managed personnel and also had partial authority over garrison farm chief evaluations. He naturally did not want the Propaganda and Education Bureau meddling in the garrison farms. He swallowed a mouthful of bun and agreed: "This humble one will remember. This humble one rose from being a garrison farm chief myself. A garrison farm chief's work is already tedious enough. Look, they have to deal with the Garrison Farming, Personnel, Inspectorate, Mobilization, Industry and Commerce, and Construction divisions, none of whom they can afford to offend. Isn't that enough for him? This humble one will go deal with him. I'm not afraid of that Huang Side; all he does is spout grandiose talk."

Liu Minyou looked at the other four meetings. There was a routine finance meeting, two meetings for the Construction Division, and the last one was for the Industry and Commerce Division, with the topic being the expansion of the original general store.

"What is this general store meeting about? Why is Dong Yu attending?"

Wu Youdao had just finished eating. He wiped his hands on his clothes and opened his briefcase, another new product from Wendeng that Wu Youdao found very useful. He looked over the materials for a moment and said: "It was proposed by Dong Yu. He believes that with the increased number of troops, and worrying that there will be more and more battles in the future, it will be difficult to resettle disabled soldiers who are discharged. He requests that shops in the garrison farms give priority consideration to disabled soldiers. The application was sent to the Advisory Office, and this humble one forwarded it to Xu Yuanhua."

"Oh." Liu Minyou pondered for a moment. This was not the first time Dong Yu had raised this matter. Now, besides the general stores, various other shops in the garrison farms were also beginning to multiply, especially in some favorably located garrison farms. For example, the three garrison farms near the old camp actually had populations far exceeding five Company Commander. The last census counted six thousand people around the Third Farm. Relying on a single general store was naturally insufficient. "Then what did Xu Yuanhua say?"

"He said to invite you, my lord, to attend and set the tone."

"He is the chief officer of the Industry and Commerce Division himself. Does he have no pending proposals, just waiting for me to set the tone?"

Wu Youdao hurriedly said: "He does have some. He proposed two motions, roughly to reserve thirty percent. Incidentally, he also proposed another motion to expand the internal general stores, which would create more shops."

"How to expand?"

"Previously, the general stores only served within the garrison farms. Now that credit has been established, outside civilian households are willing to sell their grain to our stores and also willing to come here to buy commercial goods. However, for those far away, it is quite inconvenient, and some simply don't come, losing a lot of business for no reason. He said they could expand to the various cities, guard battalions, and large market towns of Dengzhou and Laizhou."

Liu Minyou nodded. "That is a good idea. These general stores drove so many grain shops in Wendeng out of business. Originally, we feared over-expansion and too many conflicts with the local authorities. Now, with the prestige of Dengzhou Garrison, those local officials and gentry no longer dare to make trouble for us. We can set them up as chain stores, directly operated in large places, privately contracted in small places, with priority given to those with family members serving in the army."

Wu Youdao quickly took notes. Liu Minyou remembered something and asked Wu Youdao: "How is the gold from Zhaoyuan coming along?"

"Yesterday, Mo Huaiwen went to a meeting on the military side. It was reportedly chaired by Lord Chen. This matter is being handled primarily by the military. I'm afraid they are about to make a move."

Liu Minyou frowned. "Why is the military managing this again?"

"They said it would be transferred to civil affairs after it is taken. However, our side hasn't clearly stated who will manage it. Mo Huaiwen worked overtime last night to draft an application and ran over in the middle of the night to give it to this humble one, saying he hopes to place mining affairs under the jurisdiction of the Garrison Farming Division, to facilitate the use of manpower. There is some logic to this. Garrison Farming has the most people; transferring people from various farms would eliminate the need for dedicated miners, saving a sum on labor costs."

Wu Youdao had an excellent memory and was very organized. He rummaged through his briefcase and quickly found the application to hand to Liu Minyou. Liu Minyou glanced at it casually. It listed many reasons, talking about facilitating comprehensive manpower allocation, busy and slack farming seasons, and so on. In short, it expressed the hope of incorporating it into Garrison Farming. Naturally, everyone wanted a piece of the gold mining operation. Even with oversight, there were always benefits to be had, at the very least an increase in power. At the year-end performance review, this income of over a hundred thousand taels would certainly greatly enhance the leadership's favorable impression.

Liu Minyou now recalled that mining affairs seemed not to have been planned for. Mo Huaiwen had just finished a meeting yesterday and immediately thought to write an application, rushing to submit it in the middle of the night, precisely to fight for jurisdiction over mining. Liu Minyou muttered: "Logically, the Industry and Commerce Division should manage this matter."

Wu Youdao heard clearly and immediately echoed: "Who says it isn't? Aren't miners just workers? It's exactly right for the Industry and Commerce Division to manage it. The main business of Garrison Farming is farming. There aren't even any garrison farms over in Zhaoyuan. It's inappropriate for this matter to go to Garrison Farming."

Liu Minyou rolled his eyes. This Wu Youdao was quite good in terms of organization, diligence, and memory, but he had no firm stance in handling matters, always agreeing with whatever he said. Just as he was about to reprimand him a few words, the guard at the door knocked and said loudly: "Director Xu of the Industry and Commerce Division has arrived."

Liu Minyou and Wu Youdao exchanged a glance and said in unison: "The one after the gold mine has come."

"Have him wait in the main hall for a moment. I'll go see him after I finish eating." Liu Minyou rubbed both sides of his head and sighed, "When will I ever get a moment of peace." (To be continued.)