Chapter 511: The Task for Yu

As for the other departments, it is enough to send a few people here and there, provided that the normal operation of the town can be maintained. In the future, once the town develops successfully, officials will naturally have to be selected from among these people; relying solely on parachute appointments won't work well.

Finally, after discussions with the Ministry of Personnel, twenty-four people were sent to the Ministry of Works alone. They are responsible for the initial construction of the town, saltpeter mine extraction, and similar matters; in the future, the management of the saltpeter mine will also require them. Baifeng only set this number after calculating the personnel needed for every aspect, and half of them are newcomers who have just graduated and started their jobs. Whether they are willing or not, they must go through this experience now.

Moreover, these newcomers are those with better grades, which can be considered Baifeng's special cultivation and test for them. When they return after achieving results, their progress will naturally be much faster than their peers who did not go.

The remaining Ministry of Works officials were selected from those who signed up themselves; each one is an expert in various aspects. After all, the construction of the town must be done by people with sufficient professional ability.

The other departments are the same, with a rough mix of new and old personnel selected. A total of more than forty people were chosen, and these people formed the initial foundation of the town.

Workers can sign up themselves; a portion of skilled workers is needed to go, with better treatment and higher wages. They act like masters, teaching skills to more tenant farmers. Whether these old workers want to return or stay in the town later is not a problem, because they have houses and land in Huaxia City; in common terms, their household registration is in Huaxia City.

As for those tenant farmers, their household registration is in the town. Even if they want to return to Huaxia City or go to Lema City, they can only stay for a short time because they have no place to settle and cannot stay for a long time.

The number of soldiers guarding the town was finally set at two hundred, because the initial planned population of the entire town is only over three thousand. Moreover, these soldiers belong to a rotation system; after guarding the town for a year or two, they can return to Huaxia, and then let the next batch of soldiers take over. Staying is also an option, and they can even obtain a position.

The most important thing is the position of the town mayor. He not only has to coordinate the development plan of the entire town but also has to concurrently hold the work of the Ministry of Revenue.

Baifeng does not need to discuss this matter with the people of the Ministry of Personnel; he can make the decision himself. So he decided to ask Yu about his attitude first. At this time, Yu's mood was also quite chaotic, because Sui had just urged him to hurry up and find a woman to start a family and have children, and had introduced many to him for him to choose from.

Yu also didn't know if he really wanted to start a family. If he said he wanted to, he felt inexplicably resistant; if he said he didn't want to, he felt a bit envious when watching his peers playing with their children.

Baifeng called over Yu, who was a bit distracted, and asked him directly: "I have almost finished selecting the government team for the town, and the position of town mayor concurrently serving as the Minister of Revenue is still vacant. Do you have any thoughts?"

Yu was startled and suddenly raised his head: "Me? Why me?"

Baifeng smiled: "What, are you unwilling? I even said this is a good opportunity for training."

Yu was speechless for a moment, stammering and repeating, "It's just... it's just..."

Baifeng asked him: "Just what? If you have any concerns, just say it. What are you afraid of in front of me?"

Only then did Yu sigh and express his thoughts: "Once I go to this town, it should take several years to build and develop successfully. According to your idea, the town mayor is also the position of the future Lema City City Mayor. However, I have no intention of being a City Mayor; I still want to stay by your side and learn."

Baifeng's expression was quite relaxed, and he said with a smile: "Actually, I wanted you to go and get some training, and then after you come back, you would be able to take over from Wu and become my substantive Prime Minister. As for the City Mayor, I have other candidates. It is precisely because this trip takes a long time, and you are getting older, and you haven't found a wife yet, that it will be even harder to find one after going to the town. There are few women, I guess you wouldn't fancy them, and you'd be too busy. I was just afraid you might have the idea of going to the town, so I came to ask you."

"It seems you don't have this plan, so stay then. I am just planning to hand over the Ministry of Revenue to Yulong to manage. You can help Yulong sort out the work now and gradually take on the duties of the Prime Minister."

Yu was extremely happy to hear this. He didn't feel he needed to go to the town to prove himself, and he didn't want to be that City Mayor at all. The position of Prime Minister was his goal. Now his power in the Shangshu Department is just a little smaller than that of the Prime Minister, he just doesn't participate much in decision-making.

So Yu nodded and agreed readily. As for who would be the town mayor, he didn't care, though he could roughly guess it was Liangji. Just as he was about to turn and leave, Baifeng called him back again.

"Has your Aunt Sui told you about finding a wife for you?"

Yu said somewhat awkwardly: "The Queen just told me, but, but..."

Baifeng slapped his hand on the table, making Yu's heart skip a beat. Baifeng said very sternly: "I don't care what reason you have, kid, and don't give me any more 'buts'. I am giving you an order: before the Autumn Harvest, you must marry at least one wife for me. You are so old, yet you don't know how to contribute to Huaxia. You are probably more aware than I am that Huaxia lacks population."

Yu said somewhat flustered: "Before the Autumn Harvest, this, is it a bit too fast? Can it be delayed a bit?"

Baifeng said in a tough tone: "It cannot be delayed, not even a little. Before the Autumn Harvest, at least one. If you have more, I have rewards. If you fancy a girl, go find her yourself. If you don't know anyone, let your Aunt Sui find one for you. If there is someone you like but you can't handle it, come to me, and I will speak for you. You are such a good young man, so many girls want to find you, but you, you keep dragging it out. Yulong is almost getting married!"

Yu instantly changed the subject and asked somewhat excitedly: "Yulong is getting married?"

At the same time, he turned his gaze to Yulong, who was sitting and working on the side of the office. Yulong was originally watching the fun with interest, but when the topic shifted to him, Yulong instantly blushed, lowered his head, pretended not to hear, and started flipping through documents.

Baifeng smiled wickedly again: "That's right. You don't need to worry about this; it will definitely be very lively when the time comes. But you kid, you are considered Yulong's big brother. If you don't start a family first, how can Yulong be ahead of you? Therefore, I will add one more requirement for you: you must start a family first before Yulong can marry. If your matter isn't settled, Yulong will have to drag it out too."

Yu opened his mouth in shock. When he turned his head to look at Yulong again in disbelief, Yulong's eyes were a bit vicious, as if saying: 'You hurry up and find a wife, don't force me to do it myself.'