Chapter 510: The Planning of the Small Town

In the end, Yulong followed Baifeng's advice and chose the first plan, deciding to manage the Ministry of Revenue, which was the most important department with the heaviest workload; as for the specific timing, Baifeng said that once the construction of New Town began and all officials took up their posts, he would let Yulong take charge.

Sui was a bit puzzled on the side; they had clearly been talking about her son and his wife, yet he had suddenly made a sharp turn to talk about other things. Sui no longer cared about political affairs at all now, because they had nothing to do with her. Her greatest pleasure was finding those noblewomen to chat and play with, and Baifeng had also given her a task: to display and show off the new products he had designed to those noblewomen.

Like various pieces of jewelry and new clothes, making those noblewomen envious, so that they would naturally urge their men to purchase them. In the end, forming a trend from the top down, Baifeng's plan to scrape up the surplus grain of these wealthy households was also proceeding smoothly.

After talking for a long time, Baifeng realized he hadn't eaten much, and there was still plenty of food on the table, but Chinv, Changle, and Miaoyin had already finished eating quietly and had all put down their chopsticks.

Baifeng then picked up his chopsticks and began to eat again; he hadn't eaten his fill yet, but after moving his chopsticks a few times, he still noticed that Yulong seemed somewhat uneasy.

Baifeng asked suspiciously, "Yulong, do you have any other questions? Eat quickly, talk while you eat; if you wait, the sun will set, and it will be pitch black once the lamps are lit."

Yulong then also picked up his chopsticks again, but before picking up any food, he just said somewhat shyly, "Father, about Zhi and me..."

Baifeng's chopsticks paused; so it was this matter. He had just stirred up the child's feelings, and then he had ignored it. This was indeed not very good for a young, naive child.

So Baifeng said to Yulong, "Yulong, don't be in a hurry. How about this: wait until you have smoothed out the affairs of the Ministry of Revenue, and then I will solve this problem for you. I will speak to Zhu personally. You don't need to worry; I believe Zhu wouldn't dare to promise his woman to someone else. You've waited for so many years, waiting a little longer won't hurt, right?"

Only then did Yulong heave a sigh of relief: "I will listen entirely to Father's arrangements."

But afterwards, Baifeng sighed and stared at Sui, saying, "Sui, find some time in these few days to have a good talk with Yu. This kid is already over twenty; other young men his age already have children starting to study, yet he is still alone. Every time I urge him, he says he is prioritizing his career and is not in a hurry for now."

He isn't in a hurry, but I am. He can be considered half a son to us; his biological mother has nothing to do with him anymore, but you must put your heart into this for us. Go and persuade him, find a few suitable young women, and let him take a look; it would be best if he got married sooner. If he still says he isn't in a hurry, I will remove him from his post; he can return to work only when he has married a wife."

After hearing this, Sui also sighed and agreed. Sui also had some maternal feelings for Yu; although not much, he had grown up by her side after all, and she should worry about him a little.

After Baifeng finished speaking, Yulong couldn't help but laugh out loud. He called Yu 'brother', but he hadn't expected that Yu actually didn't want to marry a wife, rather than his father not letting him. He also found it somewhat funny, but upon closer thought, a person as intelligent as Yu must have a mind and emotional perception far stronger than ordinary people. Perhaps his lack of interest in marrying a wife had something to do with the lack of maternal care in his childhood, or to put it bluntly, he just didn't trust women.

But after Sui glared at him, Yulong obediently began to eat his meal in large mouthfuls. Sui, however, was constantly pondering in her mind about young girls suitable for Yu. In any case, there were none the same age as Yu; no family's girl could drag it out until twenty before getting married. Only Zhi, perhaps, had dragged it out until sixteen to wait for Yulong.

The next day, Baifeng consulted with the people from the Ministry of Personnel to select suitable candidates for officials. For a small town, the 'two provinces and one chancellery' would certainly not be established; even Lema City didn't have them, because those were departments that existed only to serve Baifeng. Since Lema City and New Town had no king, naturally they would not have these departments.

As for the nine ministries below, Baifeng had no intention of establishing the Ministry of Rites, and Lema City didn't have one either. Currently, the Huaxia Ministry of Rites only had a few simple people, because there was almost no interaction with the outside world. The Ministry of Rites could be said to exist in name only; it was the most leisurely and least promising department in Huaxia. But Baifeng still maintained its establishment, considering the future. Usually, exchanges with the Suiren Clan, Xuanyuan Clan, and others had to be handled by the Ministry of Rites, but because the exchanges were basically just trade, there was nothing for the Ministry of Rites to do; it was all the work of the Ministry of Revenue.

The other eight ministries were all essential, especially the Ministry of Works, because Baifeng had established this town specifically to develop the Saltpeter Mine. Everything was centered around the Ministry of Works, so the Ministry of Works had to have the most people. The Ministry of Agriculture was equally important; they needed to find and open up land suitable for farming and grazing there. After all, relying entirely on the Saltpeter Mine might not allow a small town to develop reasonably and healthily; if the food source was unstable, the ability to resist risks would be too low.

The Ministry of War had to exist, and there had to be a hundred or so Soldiers; after all, it was remote, and safety and security work were very important. But since the population was too small, the number of soldiers didn't need to be too high; a sturdy city was what mattered most.

The Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health were also indispensable, but they didn't need to be on a large scale. The Ministry of Education wasn't even needed for the time being, because when breaking ground, there were no school-age children. Only when the town was well-developed, everyone was living and working in peace, and the birth rate was stable, would they consider establishing schools.

For the Ministry of Health, it was enough to just send two doctors over. The whole of Huaxia was short of doctors; it was impossible to assign many doctors to a single town. As long as they could treat simple injuries and illnesses, that would suffice.

The small town was not cut off from the two cities; if there were illnesses that couldn't be treated, they would go to Lema City, and if Lema City couldn't treat them, they would come to Huaxia City. It could be said that a tiered medical system had appeared in Huaxia naturally. Perhaps the people living in Huaxia City didn't even realize it themselves; they could easily enjoy the best medical services and education in all of Huaxia. They didn't have this concept; in their view, being able to eat their fill and live well was enough. The advantages of medical care and education would gradually manifest in the future.