Chapter 293: Founding the State (2)

Hearing these words, everyone's eyes lit up, because this meant that the current tribespeople of the Baifeng Tribe now possessed a special status that no one else could ever obtain. No matter how large the "Huaxia State" expanded in the future or how many people it ruled, the Baifeng Tribe would always be those same people and their descendants. Even without substantial benefits, their status and standing would always be distinct, providing a sense of pride.

Afterwards, Baifeng continued: "In the future, I will be the King of the state. My children will be the Royal Family and Royal Clan, the future rulers of the state, and also the future Tribal Chiefs of the Baifeng Tribe. My wife, Sui, will be the Queen, and Chinv will be a Concubine. You will truly become Subjects in the future; by then, there will be a stricter and more perfect system, including promotions, treatment, and your duties will all be more refined."

Of course, I also intend to give my citizens some good news. In the future, there will no longer be the status of Free Person. I will promote them directly to Citizens, allowing them to live and work stably in this state in the future. This includes them being able to participate in various selections, and their children will be able to receive an education. However, for now, priority will still be given to the tribespeople of the Baifeng Tribe; once the state is more prosperous in the future, everyone will be treated equally.

The status of Slaves will remain unchanged for now, though it can be relaxed slightly; they should strive towards becoming Citizens in the future. Those recruited later who have not been formally recognized will be called Drifters. They will not be allocated fixed housing or land, but they will not be required to make contributions; they only need to work hard and accumulate wealth to purchase them themselves.

Regarding the issue of property, this is also something Baifeng urgently needs to solve. Appropriately liberalizing privatization is something the state needs to do in the future. Becoming a state is different from a tribe. A tribe, at the end of the day, is a massive family where property and food can be distributed uniformly, but a state is a nation composed of many, many families. Uniform distribution is not impossible, but it would severely slow down the state's development speed.

Of course, it is different from the later ages where everything was waiting to be rebuilt and all resources needed to be concentrated to vigorously develop heavy industry and national defense. What the Baifeng Tribe needs to do now is to vigorously stimulate everyone's enthusiasm for labor and appropriately set aside a portion of wealth for individuals; only in this way can the newly established state be pushed to develop faster and better. Moreover, the current Baifeng Tribe does not have a need to pool all resources to push the development of any single item.

The construction of the New City and other large-scale projects can all be completed through hiring and labor apportionment; there is no need to engage in a Planned Economy.

As for currency, Baifeng still believes the timing is not yet right. Within a state, it is sufficient to continue using grain as an equivalent medium of exchange. As for trade with other tribes, grain is also a hard currency. In some dynasties of later ages, even when currency was issued, it was difficult to be accepted in the market due to insufficient public credibility.

Baifeng is waiting, waiting until the state is large enough, or rather, until the kingdom of the Central Plains—the future Xuanyuan—unifies the Jiuzhou, and it will not be too late for him to promote currency then.

Of course, Baifeng estimates he will not wait until Xuanyuan unifies the world and divides the Jiuzhou. He will choose the right time to return to the Central Plains. Zhuolu is a place name, but it actually does not differ much in meaning from "chasing the deer" (Zhilu). Chasing the deer in the Jiuzhou, the winner gets the deer. Baifeng also wants to participate in that war to see if there really are a wind-summoning Fengbo and a rain-bestowing Yushi.

The people from the Administration Department and the Finance Department felt their brains were about to stop remembering. The Tribal Chief said too much today, and the amount of information was too large. They remembered the latter parts but forgot the former. Going to ask the Tribal Chief again later would not be a good thing.

Thus, the veteran-level Shaman naturally bore the pressure and spoke up, asking the Tribal Chief if they could use pens to write down the things that needed to be done, otherwise they would not be able to remember.

Baifeng consented, and then Baifeng also thought that in the future, he should build a large meeting room, which is the Chaotang. Of course, he does not need everyone to kneel and bow to him every time a meeting or court session is held.

In the dynasties before history, everyone sat down to discuss matters, and there was no need to kneel to the Emperor and say nonsense like "Long live my Emperor, long live, long live" when holding court. That was a bad habit that emerged after imperial power became continuously concentrated.

Imperial power certainly needs to be respected, but there is no need to make the gap between ruler and subject too large.

A meeting room should be built, preferably like an Assembly Hall, with a large space. Baifeng will sit high in the main seat, and those who want to speak will take the stage to judge together. Each person will have a table, bring a pen and notebook, and write down what they need to pay attention to and what needs to be recorded.

Of course, Baifeng feels that the pen still needs to be improved. They cannot make fountain pens or anything like that now, and that quill pen thing should be forgotten. They use paper, not sheepskin, so they should properly improve the manufacturing process of the brush. Calligraphy, this treasure, must also be continued and left for future generations.

Paper can be bound into notebooks. They are currently using loose sheets, and perhaps they would record something one moment, and a light breeze would blow it away the next.

When everyone had a wooden board to pad their paper and began to record, Baifeng stopped telling them about the general direction and instead directly refined the tasks and arranged everything for them.

Militarily, the army needs to be reorganized, including discipline, military capability, and the selection of soldiers. Afterwards, Baifeng will personally spend time teaching and training them, and then the leaders of the Military Department must train according to Baifeng's standards.

The people of the Administration Department need to promote the matter of founding the state to the tribespeople in advance, as well as the changes after the founding, and they must also coordinate with the Finance Department, Construction Department, Industry Department, etc., to handle the enthronement ceremony well.

The items needed for sacrificing to Heaven and Earth, and all the procedures, must be planned in detail.

As for the ceremonial robes that Baifeng and Sui will wear, Baifeng will immediately bring out the samples, and then the people of the Weaving Department will work overtime to make them. Now that they are all skilled hands, plus the tools are handy, a few people working together will have enough time in one day.

Because the Coronation Robes Baifeng spoke of can only be called gorgeous and cumbersome in this era, looking at it in the long river of history, it really does not count for much.

Baifeng arranged everything properly, and then he sent everyone away to start preparing immediately.

The procedures for the sacrifice can only be arranged by Baifeng, because all sacrificial matters of the Baifeng Tribe are presided over by him, the Tribal Chief.

And regarding the sacrifice, Baifeng's biggest plan is to add a few characters to that stone.

After making the arrangements, Baifeng remembered that he hadn't told Sui and Chinv, but these matters didn't have much impact on them; it was just a change in status. The two of them had just felt that the bear paw was cooked and were thinking about asking Baifeng to see if it could be taken out.

And thousands of miles away, on the Dahe, the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe were testing their newly made Boat on the shore, only to see a boat drifting down from afar that looked very familiar to them.