Chapter 1199

Su Fan is very clear about exactly how many administrative personnel the Taiping Dao will need in the future. It is just like the massive number of administrative personnel in the nations of later ages.

In ancient dynasties, even in the Great Song, which was plagued by redundant officials and staff, the number of administrative personnel was far less than in later times.

It is not that the administrative personnel of later times had less ability, but rather that administration was divided more clearly, making it much more convenient to handle problems.

And having professional people do professional work is also more suitable.

In ancient history, during the Ming and Qing dynasties, some scholars who studied only dead books passed the imperial examinations and became county magistrates; however, ninety percent of such scholars were useless when they went to serve as officials.

A group of people who studied only dead books had no experience at all, and later, the role of the private secretary even became a profession.

In the 21st century of later ages, the nation learned precisely from these lessons.

The disciples of the Taiping Dao who are currently out preaching have been doing so for several years; in some villages, preaching is not just about preaching, as many have even replaced the functions of village elders and neighborhood heads.

After such tempering, returning to study systematically is very similar to the re-education of government personnel in modern times.

Of course, the current disciples of the Taiping Dao certainly cannot accept the vast amount of knowledge that administrative personnel in later ages do.

But even so, they are far more capable than those village elders and neighborhood heads; with the experience of tempering, plus systematic study, their growth in the future will be even faster.

These disciples will become the middle management of the Taiping Dao in the future. Once the Taiping Dao enters the struggle for supremacy, many of them can be filled into the captured county cities; the county magistrates, county officials, and all the clerks in the county offices will soon be filled by these people.

The reach of the Taiping Dao can even extend to local villages.

This can lay a tremendous foundation for the Taiping Dao. The Taiping Dao does not need those top-tier talents; as they capture city after city, these grassroots disciples can fill the roles, and they can soon govern a county or a commandery slowly.

This can provide the Taiping Dao with a solid foundation and a robust logistical force.

To conquer the world, besides an army, there is food.

As for talent, it is of course important, but in Su Fan's view, as long as the army is commanded properly and uses overwhelming force to crush the enemy, there is no need for any schemes at all.

Schemes are things that are only employed when forces are evenly matched or when one's strength is inferior to the opponent's.

When one's true strength is sufficient to crush the enemy, there is no need to consider anything else; a straightforward and upright approach is enough to make the opponent despair.

The Taiping Dao is preparing to do just this in the future: build a powerful army and a massive logistics system to crush the enemy with absolute force.

The construction of an army, besides the soldiers, involves the logistics sector, which mainly consists of two major parts: food and weapons.

As for these two, food goes without saying; all these years, the Taiping Dao has been purchasing and storing grain.

At the same time, they are constantly reclaiming wasteland, because the Taiping Dao has Daoist priests who practice cultivation and can cast spells to ensure favorable weather for the crops.

This valley has developed two or three million mu of land, and the annual harvest is nearly 1.2 million shi of grain.

An ordinary soldier in the army consumes at most one hundred shi of grain a year, and that is with unrestricted eating and unrestricted training.

Ordinary local troops consume less than fifty shi of grain a year because they do not train much.

Only the elite troops at the borders consume large amounts of grain.

The army in this valley of the Taiping Dao has already been built up to fifty thousand, all of whom have trained for three years; it is not to say that their training volume is the same as the People's Liberation Army of later ages.

But it is definitely the one with the highest training volume in the Liu Han Imperial Court. Besides grain, there is also meat; the army's supply has always been very sufficient.

Therefore, this fifty-thousand-strong army, with Su Fan's experience, naturally has an extraordinary momentum, not much different from the elite troops at the borders.

The only difference might be that they have had fewer combat experiences.

According to Zhang Jiao's introduction, this fifty-thousand-strong army has also seen blood, frequently going out to pursue and suppress mountain bandits and outlaws.

But they have not fought any hard battles; after all, the combat power of mountain bandits and outlaws is limited.

This fifty-thousand-strong army established by the Taiping Dao has indeed swept the mountain bandits and outlaws within a radius of a thousand li around the valley clean.

This also made the several county cities within a radius of a thousand li peaceful for a time, which can be considered an unexpected result.

Jizhou is developed, but it has also attracted countless monsters and demons, and there is no telling how many mountain bandits and outlaws there are.

Moreover, Jizhou is under the Taihang Mountains, and these Taihang Mountains of the Jiuzhou stretch for more than tens of thousands of li, with numerous mountain ranges.

Many mountain bandits and outlaws run into the mountains to build strongholds, leaving the government troops helpless.

The valley where the Taiping Dao is located is a branch of the Taihang Mountains, and the highest mountain peak nearby is over three thousand zhang high; in a previous life, that would be almost the highest peak.

However, in the Jiuzhou, it can only be considered medium-sized.

The highest Kunlun Mountain range in the Jiuzhou is a full thirty thousand zhang high; of course, this is the Kunlun of the Jiuzhou.

In fact, the Kunlun of the Primordial Three Realms goes without saying.

The Taiping Dao headquarters, this valley, after more than thirty years of transformation, is no less than a city.

It has a population of over eight hundred thousand, and this population growth will only increase.

As for whether the valley will be insufficient, with over eight thousand square kilometers, theoretically, even thirty million people could live there.

The magic city of Earth in a previous life was only six thousand square kilometers, but the population reached twenty or thirty million.

Of course, Su Fan also knows that this requires other places to provide food resources.

And the productivity of the Taiping Dao has not reached the high level of later ages.

But two or three million is still more than enough.

And if the valley is not big enough, then just open up the mountains and land to expand it; originally, this valley did not have eight thousand, at most five thousand, but in recent years, Zhang Jiao has used supernatural spells to open up the mountains.

It is not impossible for cultivators to move mountains and drain seas.

Su Fan can even change the world of the Jiuzhou like this.

Now the valley has only over eight hundred thousand people; besides the fifty thousand elite troops and fifty thousand reservists, the rest are either farmers tilling the land or workers in various factories.

In recent years, the Taiping Dao has also cultivated over one hundred thousand workers; although most are illiterate, cultivating craftsmen is not that difficult.

These will be the foundation for the Taiping Dao to build industry in the future.

At present, it has only been a few years; in the next few decades, expanding to the Jiuzhou of the world will definitely not be a problem.

Zhang Jiao introduced the army to Su Fan, and Su Fan was also very satisfied after seeing it.

Fifty thousand elite troops, including twenty thousand in the firearm army, with a full four thousand cannons, and the remaining thirty thousand are heavy infantry.

As for cavalry, except for a few officers, the Taiping Dao has not yet involved itself with cavalry for the time being.

However, Zhang Jiao also knows Su Fan's influence in the North, so he is not worried; in the future, with the Zhang family joining in the North, the Taiping Dao will not lack cavalry.

Moreover, as firearms become more and more powerful, cavalry, in the eyes of Zhang Jiao and the others, is just an ordinary army.