dognovel Chapter 521 Generous Rewards, All Promoted
Chapter 521 Generous Rewards, All Promoted
Guan Xing was very efficient; he visited all the clients and placed the contracts on Zhuge Liang's desk before nightfall.
Zhuge Liang casually flipped through a few pages of the contract, and was stunned by the amount. The price Guan Xing signed was more than 30% higher than he had expected; Guan Xing was incredibly ruthless.
The key is that he managed to sign all of them successfully, which is really strange.
Although shocked by the contract's price, Zhuge Liang had no intention of correcting it. Who the hell complains about having too much money these days?
People's enthusiasm is directly proportional to the amount of money. Seeing that there was money to be made, Zhuge Liang was so excited that he sobered up. He approved all the personnel and materials that Guan Xing needed with a stroke of his pen and told Guan Xing that he would personally follow up on the payment and guarantee that the amount in the contract would not be less than a penny.
Guan Xing wanted this, so he went back to his tent, wrote a plan for making bricks, and threw it to Ma Zhong of Shu (hereafter, the words "Shu" and "Wu" will be added before "Ma Zhong" to distinguish them), and asked him to lead people to build a brick and tile factory outside the city.
Ma Zhong of Shu was one of the Five Tiger Generals of Shu Han. During the Battle of Dangyang, he made great contributions in cooperation with Xia Tong. Guan Xing then transferred him from Zhuge Liang. As for Ma Zhong of Wu, he is currently under Shen Yi's command.
After a night's rest, at dawn Guan Xing led Zhang Bao, Jiang Wei, and three thousand troops to set off again, heading west along the Yangtze River to Wushan to cut timber.
The primeval forests of Wushan are incredibly rich in timber resources, with a wide variety of precious woods such as ginkgo, lotus-scented trees, yew, and golden nanmu. Moreover, because the area is remote and undeveloped, the mountains are full of ancient trees that are over a hundred years old, making them excellent materials for building houses and making furniture.
More importantly, it was convenient to transport. You could simply cut down the trees and throw them into the Yangtze River, and the timber would float down to Jiangling City on its own.
It's worth mentioning that some types of wood, because their density is greater than that of water, will not float on the surface of the water, but will sink directly to the bottom like a stone. However, this does not pose a problem for Guan Xing. He simply binds the wood with a density greater than that of water together with bamboo, which has a density less than that of water.
While Guan Xing was logging in the mountains, the others were not idle either. You should know that the Shu Han rulers and ministers, led by Liu Bei, were a startup team. Teams emphasize division of labor and cooperation. No one can do the work alone. Everyone has to serve.
With Guan Xing gone, Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang began the work of maintaining stability in Jiangnan. The first thing to do was to reward those who had contributed to the war effort, and all those who had made meritorious contributions were promoted and given a raise.
The governor of Kuaiji, Xie Chong, and the magistrate of Kuaiji, Cheng Li, were transferred to Jiangling by Liu Bei and given important responsibilities because of their experience in land reform. The new governor of Kuaiji was Wang Hong, the magistrate of Nan Commandery, who rebelled after Mi Fang surrendered the city but was imprisoned by Sun Quan for three years after his defeat.
Kuaiji Commandery was the most thoroughly ravaged by Guan Xing. All the gentry were overthrown, all the land was divided equally, and class contradictions were completely eliminated. In addition, the Wushang Steel Plant was a major weapon, so the new governor of Kuaiji didn't have to do anything. Even if he lay at home and slept all day, his achievements would automatically come to him.
It's important to understand that one's position determines one's perspective. When aristocratic families are at home, they like to oppose the government and protect their family's interests. However, if they become local officials, they will suppress aristocratic families to protect the government's interests and gain political achievements for themselves. But officials from aristocratic families know best how difficult aristocratic families are to deal with. So no matter who they are, when they are the head of a family, they hope that their family is as strong as possible. But when they become local officials, they hope that the aristocratic families under their jurisdiction are as weak as possible. To put it simply, it's a double standard.
The power of the gentry in Kuaiji Commandery is now negligible, and even the problem of the Yue tribes within its borders has been completely resolved. All government affairs are in good order. As long as one goes to Kuaiji, one can easily accumulate political achievements. Under such circumstances, the position of Kuaiji Prefect naturally becomes a coveted prize. However, Liu Bei did not consider anyone and firmly gave it to Wang Hong, the Sima of Nan Commandery who had served three years in prison for him.
In addition to promoting and ennobled all of Guan Xing's loyal followers, Liu Bei also appointed Wang Fu as the governor of Yangzhou, stationed in Jianye and in charge of all military and political affairs in Yangzhou. He also appointed Xin Fei as General Who Pacifies the East and Marquis of Shicheng, under Wang Fu's command, to guard the south bank of Ruxu and prevent the Wei army from invading.
Xin Fei was the first person to respond to Guan Yu after Guan Yu's defeat at Maicheng and his escape to the Dabie Mountains. He deserved this reward for his timely help. Other bandit leaders in the Dabie Mountains besides Xin Fei also received their due rewards.
Shen Yi was appointed General Pingnan and Marquis of Yushan to guard Chaisang, while Zhou Xun was appointed General Zhenhai and Admiral of the Navy, and together with Xin Fei, he defended the Yangtze River.
In addition, all the officials of Eastern Wu who were captured by Guan Xing and others who surrendered voluntarily were put to new posts in Yangzhou, Jingzhou, Jiaozhou, Yizhou and Liangzhou. All the gentry of Yizhou were transferred out and scattered throughout the Jiangnan region like a shower of flowers.
Other Wei generals captured during the Northern Expeditions included Xiahou Ba and Hao Zhao, as well as You Chu, the governor of Longxi Commandery, who surrendered voluntarily.
Hao Zhaoyou was a surrendered general of Cao Wei and naturally did not want to fight against the Wei army. Moreover, because he had lived in Liangzhou for a long time and often dealt with ethnic minorities such as Qiang and Di, Liu Bei sent him to Nanzhong.
Hao Zhao was appointed by Liu Bei as the Governor of Yijiang, succeeding the current Governor of Yijiang, Zheng Ang, in guarding the southern region. Zheng Ang was transferred back to Jiangling for another assignment. You Chu was appointed as the Deputy Governor to assist Hao Zhao. Xiahou Ba, being a relative, did not have to go to the border to suffer and continued to enjoy his life in Jiangling after his promotion.
Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang used the reshuffling of officials to carry out a complete reshuffle of the officialdom in Jiangnan. After this work was completed, even if Sun Quan was released back to Jianye, he probably wouldn't be able to make any waves.
However, this task was too tedious, as the interests and emotions of all parties had to be taken into account. Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang exhausted countless brain cells and almost went bald before they finally finished.
By this time, eighteen days had passed since Guan Xing went to Wushan, and Shu Ma Zhong's brick and tile factory outside the city had been completed and put into production.
That noon, Zhuge Liang, who was dizzy from all the work, finally finished his tasks and invited Liu Bei to come and take a look when he heard that the brick and tile factory had started production. Liu Bei readily agreed. Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who had also heard the news, came to join in the fun. The four of them, along with their personal guards, went out of the city to inspect the brick and tile factory.
The brick and tile factory is located 30 miles south of Jiangling City. At present, it is a makeshift operation with no courtyard walls or dormitories, only two brick kilns and some living tents.
Shu Ma Zhong had finally received a task, so naturally he wanted to work first and enjoy himself later. Besides, even Liu Bei and Sun Quan were setting up tents, so how could he dare to improve his working conditions before starting work? Therefore, he got straight to work as soon as he arrived.
When Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang arrived at the brick factory, they saw that both brick kilns were emitting black smoke, and people were bustling about nearby. Liu Bei stroked his beard and said, "These brick kilns look quite big, but I wonder if the bricks fired from them will be strong?"
Zhang Fei said in a muffled voice, "Why say so much? We'll know once we go in and see for ourselves."
As soon as they finished speaking, Shu Ma Zhong led his men toward them, and the four of them quickly fell silent.
Shu Ma Zhong ran up to the four men, greeted them one by one, and invited them into the factory. Pointing to two piles of bricks, he said, “These are blue and red bricks that I fired according to the instructions of Prince Anguo. Blue bricks are more durable and can be used to build city walls, palaces, or even pave roads. Red bricks are more brittle and easier to break than blue bricks, but they are cheaper and suitable for ordinary people to build houses. There are also blue tiles, but the kiln has not yet been built, so there are no finished products.”
Zhang Fei glanced at the two piles of bricks and sneered, "Blue bricks are sturdy, but how sturdy can they be? No matter how sturdy they are, they can still be slapped."
After saying that, he picked up a few bricks and wanted to demonstrate how to break bricks with his bare hands. He crossed the bricks, held one end with his left hand, and spread his right hand out as a palm. Using his palm as a knife, he chopped down hard on the bricks that were hanging in mid-air.
Then, the imagined breaking of the blue bricks did not happen. Instead, Zhang Fei's old face contorted in pain, causing Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhuge Liang's lips to tremble.