Chapter 311: Personnel Arrangements

But mobilizing hundreds of thousands of laborers would undoubtedly increase the burden on the country,

and could even shake the foundations of his rule; one wrong move and he would follow in the footsteps of the Sui and the Great Yuan.

Furthermore, the dynasty was newly established; although under his hand the Great Song's resistance was negligible,

and it did not turn into a tug-of-war like the Three Kingdoms that reduced tens of millions of people to only one or two million,

it was still necessary to consolidate the foundations at this time, and it was not suitable to launch such a massive project.

It was a case of being stubborn and then betting on both sides.

Since the country should not be lightly moved, Zhang Jie naturally turned his gaze abroad.

The hundreds of thousands of captives from the Great Liao were all strong and healthy young men; in Zhang Jie's eyes,

they were no longer captives, but excellent coolies and consumables!

In his plan, just like the British Empire that would never surrender until the last Indian was dead,

he would work the Yellow River well even if he had to work the last Khitan, Western Xia, and Jin person to death!

Presumably, if they thought about how they could contribute to the future of the Central Plains people, they would also be moved to tears, right?

"Hui Zhi, go and register those captives; once the counting is finished, have them escorted back."

Zhang Jie thought about how to squeeze the Khitan and other foreign tribes,

while giving instructions to Qin Gui, who was acting as a recorder.

As a scholar of the Han Lin Academy, Qin Gui was particularly suited for such registration tasks.

"Your subject accepts the decree!"

Qin Gui bowed and accepted the decree, his heart surging with emotion.

Managing the Yellow River!

If this succeeded, he, Qin Gui, would likely leave behind a name for the ages!

Although the protagonist in this would inevitably be Zhang Jie, the Great Gan Emperor who led this event,

being able to leave his own mark on such a major event still made him unable to suppress his excitement.

Which scholar, or down to the common people, up to the high officials and nobles,

or even emperors and generals, did not want to leave a name that would last for ages?

Even Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, who laid the three-hundred-year foundation of the Great Tang and was described as having a dragon-like appearance and phoenix-like posture,

and a face like the sun and moon, did he not have records of changing the *Diary of Activity and Repose*?

Starting from the third year of Zhenguan (629), Li Shimin repeatedly requested to review the *Diary of Activity and Repose* and the *National History*,

claiming it was to "observe gains and losses, to warn himself."

In the thirteenth year of Zhenguan (639), he directly made a request to Chu Suiliang, who was responsible for compiling the *Diary of Activity and Repose*, but was explicitly refused.

He turned to pressure Fang Xuanling, who was supervising the compilation of the *National History*. In the fourteenth year of Zhenguan (640),

Fang Xuanling, Xu Jingzong, and others submitted the original records after deleting and modifying them.

Li Shimin was still dissatisfied after seeing the record of the "events of the fourth day of the sixth month" (the Xuanwu Gate Incident),

and demanded to "remove the flowery words and write the facts directly," which in essence was to downplay the bloody details.

Li Shimin interpreted the Xuanwu Gate Incident as a righteous act to "secure the state and benefit the people,"

and demanded that the historians modify it according to this tone.

The final version portrayed him as a loyal subject forced into self-defense, rather than a usurper who actively killed his brother.

"Brother Wenyun, go and collect information on officials and craftsmen skilled in river management,

and I will personally review it when the time comes."

Zhang Jie, unaware of the surging emotions in Qin Gui's heart, turned his gaze to Chen Wenyun after making arrangements for him.

Although those Liao captives were excellent coolies, most of them had never read books,

and having never done such work, they did not understand river management; they needed professional personnel to guide them,

such as drawing up design plans, writing out construction steps, and other such plans, and then have them carry out construction according to the data.

If he really let them roll up their sleeves and just do it, Zhang Jie suspected they could repair the good river channels until they collapsed.

"Your subject understands."

Knowing the importance of this matter, Chen Wenyun nodded solemnly.

"Your Majesty, what about me?"

Seeing that there was no arrangement for him in Zhang Jie's plans, Wu Yong could not help but get anxious.

This was a great achievement that would leave a name for the ages and shine in history,

how could there not be his, Wu Yong's, name in it?

Being a "Little Zhuge" or something, it wasn't as if he didn't have the ambition to surpass Zhuge Kongming.

"Beloved Minister Wu, you..."

Regarding the arrangements for Wu Yong, Zhang Jie was also in a difficult position for a moment.

Wu Yong was a former down-and-out scholar, and even after experiencing quite a few events,

he had grown quite a bit, but to really let him support a massive project like managing the Yellow River,

to say something that would hurt him, Zhang Jie really wasn't that confident.

Letting Wu Yong go and "lure" people up the mountain, playing some methods that were hard to speak of clearly,

such as killing people or raiding execution grounds, Zhang Jie was a hundred percent confident.

But this involved a massive project of tens or hundreds of thousands of people; he didn't have that ability, you know.

'His methods are treacherous.'

Thinking of Wu Yong's various schemes that had no moral bottom line but were sometimes exceptionally useful,

Zhang Jie thought of a position that was very suitable for him:

"Beloved Minister Wu, you will be responsible for supervision when the time comes."

"Your subject thanks Your Majesty for your immense grace!"

Wu Yong was overjoyed upon hearing this.

This position of supervisor was simply too consistent with his current job as a Censor.

He would not lose his current power, and he could occupy an important position in the river repair matter; it really couldn't satisfy him more.

Zhang Jie was also very satisfied in his heart.

Believing that with a Censor like Wu Yong, who had no moral bottom line, watching them,

the hands of those corrupt officials should be somewhat restrained, right?

If they still dared to stretch out their claws in such a major event concerning the national fortune and the people's livelihood,

then don't blame him, Zhang Jie, for learning from Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang,

and launching a major case that would cause thousands of heads to fall.

He, Zhang Jie, was just kind-hearted, not old and unable to lift a blade!

'These hundreds of thousands of captives are probably still not enough!'

After sending off Chen Wenyun and the others, Zhang Jie sat on the grandmaster's chair, supporting his chin with one hand, and fell into deep thought.

Even though he had "invented" machines like the steam engine,

human labor was still the most important labor force in the Great Gan now.

Repairing a Yellow River would conservatively require millions of laborers and coolies.

"Hmm, later I can consider carrying out a labor recruitment operation on the grasslands."

Zhang Jie stroked his forehead and silently made a decision.

As for whether this "recruitment" was voluntary or involuntary, it would depend on whether they were obedient.

If they were not obedient, the muskets in the hands of the Great Gan soldiers would make them obedient...

In the afternoon, Zhang Jie chose to go and inspect the prisoner-of-war camp.

He saw a circle casually drawn with wood on the grassland,

inside which were densely packed Liao army captives who had thrown away their armor, were dejected, and had lost their souls,

while surrounding them were Great Gan soldiers who were high-spirited and held their heads high.

They held weapons, vigilantly observing every captive.

And there were dozens of such circles.

"Beloved Minister Chao, you must guard them well; you cannot let them escape, I have great use for them."

Along the way, Zhang Jie instructed Chao Gai, who was serving by his side and responsible for guarding the prisoners.

"Your Majesty, rest assured; with my guard, not even a fly can fly out!"

Chao Gai patted his chest with a thunderous sound, his reply full of confidence.

He had specifically arranged the Maxim machine guns on the high ground,

ensuring that any escape or riot could be suppressed at will. ===== CHAPTER 312 =====