February 21 of the second year of Gaia, the first day of the new year. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

The north wind was tight overnight.

The hustle and bustle of Chinese New Year's Eve has become a thing of the past, and the new year is coming.

The thin morning mist, in the wrinkled blowing of the north wind, churned up and down, like smoke. The mountain and sea city that slept all night, the morning mist was shrouded, like a light veil woven by clouds and mist, like a fairyland.

The central commercial street is like a heavenly market against the backdrop of smoke.

With the sound of roosters, Shanhai City began to wake up.

The city gates opened, and the merchants who had temporarily stayed overnight outside the city began to line up to enter the city. Mixed with the merchants, there are also scattered ordinary people, all of whom come to the market.

The central commercial street and the commercial district on one side were the first to wake up.

The guys in the store, under the command of the proprietor or the shopkeeper, removed the door panels of the shop, cleaned the floor, sorted out the shelves, and prepared to welcome the first customers of the new year.

From the first day of the Lunar New Year to the Lantern Festival, Shanhai City will hold a Mazu temple fair for half a month. Countless gentry and people from Quanzhou will come to Shanhai City again to participate in this grand event.

Not only that, the people of the prefectures and counties under Lianzhou County will also rush to Shanhai City one after another, either to visit relatives and friends, or to buy all kinds of goods.

The Mazu temple fair is no longer limited to worshiping Mazu, but has become a comprehensive grand gathering, which is the annual season of "big market and joy" for the people of Lianzhou County.

Along the Neicheng River and the central commercial street, it has become the most lively place in the city.

The flow of people is like weaving, shoulder to shoulder, the traffic is busy, and the grand occasion is unprecedented.

The cries of the vendors, the greetings of acquaintances, the occasional quarrels, the frolicking of naughty children, the whispers of little ladies...... The sound converges to form a scene of red dust and a hundred generations.

Shanhai City gradually has the atmosphere of a giant city.

**********

For Ouyang Shuo, the morning itinerary was all occupied by sacrificial activities.

Early in the morning, Ouyang Shuo, with the help of Zisu, put on the princes' dresses given by the imperial court, that is, the crown.

As the saying goes, people rely on clothes and horses rely on saddles.

With the addition of the crown, Ouyang Shuo's temperament has changed, and he really has the atmosphere of princes. In addition, the dragon and phoenix are auspicious, the blessing of the unicorn golden seal, and the power of the [Emperor's Road] derived from the "Yellow Emperor's Neijing".

Ouyang Shuo's majesty has risen in a straight line, and quantitative changes have finally led to qualitative changes. To describe it in a popular sentence, it is a domineering atmosphere, which is awe-inspiring, and mortals cannot see it.

The majesty of the prince has turned into substance, which is terrifying.

Wherever Ouyang Shuo passed, all the people in the Hou Mansion bowed their heads and saluted, with respectful expressions.

If it is said that the reverence of the people for Ouyang Shuo before came from Gaia's intentional guidance; So now, they are from the bottom of their hearts, full of awe for Ouyang Shuo, the prince.

Among the temples in Shanhai City, the Yellow Emperor's Temple, the Confucian Temple, the Wu Temple and the Mazu Temple require Ouyang Shuo to personally participate in the sacrifice. Temples such as the City God Temple and the Land Temple are sacrificed by the Shanhai Mansion.

As the place of worship, the Yellow Emperor's Temple is the top priority of the sacrificial activities. Ouyang Shuo specially invited the highly respected Jiang Shang to serve as a sacrificial wine and preside over this huge sacrificial event.

All civil and military generals with a certain status in the territory will participate in this sacrifice.

Early in the morning, the ministers lined up on the square in front of the Yellow Emperor's Temple.

Wenchen is on the left, and the military general is on the right.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Ouyang Shuo appeared on time.

The accompanying guards shouted loudly: "The prince is coming!" ”

"Meet the Prince!"

In an instant, hundreds of officials knelt down to greet him.

Ouyang Shuo, surrounded by the guards, walked through the civil and military officials.

Coming to the temporary high platform, Ouyang Shuo slowly turned around and faced the civil and military officials: "Zhuqing is exempt!" ”

"Xie Junhou!"

The hundred officials got up and saw the prince on the high platform, and their eyes froze.

The prince with the crown is awe-inspiring, not angry and arrogant.

Fan Zhongyan in the audience sighed with emotion. He is a veteran of the territory, and he has witnessed the growth trajectory of the prince all the way. A year has passed, and the young man who was still immature at the beginning has completed his transformation and truly become the co-owner of Lianzhou.

In Fan Zhongyan's heart, there was only relief.

A more mature and powerful prince clearly meets the expectations of all parties.

Even Jiang Shang, who was standing on the side, looked at Ouyang Shuo on the high platform, and he was emotional. The growth rate of this young prince is completely beyond his imagination.

Jiang Shang sighed that he was really old.

Zhao Kuo in the audience also had a complicated expression. He has accepted the appointment of the prince and is about to take up the post of deputy director of the Military Affairs Administration and director of the Operations Department, becoming the second largest in the Military Affairs Administration.

Its status is higher than that of Ge Hongliang, director of the War Preparedness Administration.

For the future, Zhao Kuo was full of confidence for the first time.

Father, look at it, the child will do a career in Shanhai City and complete the transformation.

Zhao Kuo thought silently in his heart.

For a time, hundreds of officials in the audience had different thoughts.

At this moment, Ouyang Shuo's ears heard a system prompt sound.

"System prompt: Congratulations to the player for having no clothes, after tempering, he finally derived the temperament of the princes and suppressed the Quartet. As a result, the loyalty of all talents in the territory will be increased by 10 points. ”

Ouyang Shuo looked at the civil and military officials below, but his heart was quiet.

He only hopes that this is a fresh start.

**********

Next, there is a huge festival.

All the way down the sacrifice, it was almost noon.

Take a little rest at noon, and in the afternoon, Ouyang Shuo will meet two groups of important guests.

The first group is the patriarch of the mountain barbarian tribes.

There are a total of 24 mountain barbarian tribes settled in Lianzhou, with a total population of 780,000. Tribes of all sizes, scattered in the vast land of Lianzhou, are an important part of the people of Lianzhou.

Just after the New Year, the patriarchs of all tribes came to meet the prince with gifts.

The venue of the audience was arranged in the main hall, and Fan Zhongyan, the director of administration, accompanied him.

The patriarchs traveled thousands of miles to Shanhai City, of course, not just to give gifts.

They have other demands.

In addition to the first Shanban settlements in the eastern suburbs, other Shanban tribes have missed the planting of rice in the second season of last year when they moved to the Lianzhou Basin.

Food shortage is a common problem for all ethnic groups.

Previously, Ouyang Shuo had promised to lend grain to all ethnic groups from the granary of the territory to help them tide over the difficulties. After the first rice harvest of the next year, the tribes will return the grain to the granary.

Therefore, since the beginning of the year, under the guidance of the local agriculture department, the mountain barbarian tribes have cultivated farmland and built water conservancy to prepare in advance for the next year's cultivation.

Along the Youyi River and the Lushui River, there are abundant water sources and fertile soil, and almost all the wasteland along the river has been reclaimed as farmland. In just one winter, Lianzhou County has added millions of acres of fertile land.

Because of the rapid increase in population, the battle of Lianzhou alone increased the population by 50,000 or 60,000. Not to mention, after taking the grassland, there are still a large number of herdsmen, waiting for the territory to feed.

Isn't the reason for the grassland coalition army to attack Shanhai City because of the lack of food in the grassland?

Now that the grassland has been taken, this burden naturally has to be carried by the Lianzhou Houfu.

The territory is also short of food. Every month, the Financial Services Department procures large quantities of food through major chambers of commerce.

Later, the Finance Department simply allowed major chambers of commerce to directly open rice shops and sell rice to the people. In this way, it is necessary to save the financial department in the middle of the turnover.

Some chambers of commerce even went directly to the grasslands with truckloads of rice to do business.

Merchants traded rice for furs and livestock in the hands of herders.

As a result, the Commercial Division has had to urgently develop a series of policies to regulate the business activities of the Chamber of Commerce.

If the chamber of commerce is not restrained, with the natural nature of businessmen to pursue profits, driven by profits, who knows what shocking things these chambers of commerce will do.

Because of the grain, Ouyang Shuo specially summoned Sun Yannong, director of the Department of Agriculture.

He gave Sun Yannong a death order, and the Department of Agriculture must ensure that in the second half of the second year of Gaia, the territory can achieve self-sufficiency in grain, and there is no need to purchase grain from the market to fill the hole.

To this end, the Finance Department has also specially prepared a financial allocation of 10,000 gold coins for a series of measures such as building water conservancy, purchasing agricultural tools, cultivating cattle, and building waterwheels throughout the territory.

The territory's financial revenue in January, Ouyang Shuo did not intercept a single gold coin.

The patriarchs of the Shanman tribe rushed to the Hou Mansion to meet them, naturally hoping that the Department of Agriculture would be able to give some tilt to the Shanban Autonomous Land in terms of industrial support.

After all, compared with the displaced people, Shanman is planting rice for the first time, and he is not adapted to the water and soil.

Ouyang Shuo gave a positive response to the demands of the patriarchs. He promised that the Department of Agriculture would give priority to the seeds, farm tools and cattle needed for spring sowing.

When the prince promised him, the patriarchs rejoiced.

"Thank you, Marquis!"

Ouyang Shuo nodded, but his face was impassive, taking advantage of this to make a "small request".

"Ladies and gentlemen! Ben Hou has a proposal, and I ask you to consider it carefully after you go back. ”

"Prince, please speak!"

As soon as they got the benefits, the patriarchs of all clans responded kindly.

There is a saying about the comer: take the hand short.

"To tell the truth, if the tribes want to truly integrate into the Lianzhou system, they need to keep pace with the times. The tribal system has its advantages and historical reasons, and Benhou will not comment. But when it comes to Lianzhou, it is becoming more and more out of place. As soon as Ouyang Shuo opened his mouth, it was an earth-shattering shock.

The patriarchs' hearts trembled, did the prince want to cut them?

Looking at the monarch who was in the first place and was as majestic as the top, the breathing of the patriarchs was a little difficult.

Ouyang Shuo smiled slightly, as if he had seen through the hearts of the patriarchs, and said, "You don't have to worry. The policy of Shanman's autonomy was Benhou's original promise and will never be changed. ”

"Whew~~~"

Patriarchs, breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as we still insist on the autonomy of the mountain barbarians and do not break through this bottom line, there is still room for negotiation.

Ouyang Shuo naturally wouldn't be so brutal, he continued: "Ben Hou's meaning is to distinguish the patriarch from the chief in the settlement, and not to engage in two-in-one. ”

In addition to Gushan County, the patriarch of the mountain barbarian settlements is the chief.

Fan Zhongyan once complained that Shanman's system is too easy to form a group.

Whether it is the tax officer of the Financial Services Department or the household registration officer of the Household Registration Department, if they want to really find out the details of the mountain settlements, they will encounter more or less obstacles.

Either the population is hidden, or the land area is hidden.

The root cause of this lies in the fact that the ethnic concept of the mountain barbarian tribes is too strong, and it is often the interests of the tribe that are higher than the interests of the territory. And when the two are irreconcilable, the contradiction arises.

Fan Zhongyan once proposed to Ouyang Shuo to implement administrative restructuring in Shanman settlements.

Ouyang Shuo has been shelving this proposal.

Ouyang Shuo knows too well what kind of obstacles and difficulties will be encountered here.

Undoubtedly, he needed an opportunity.

Now, it's a good opportunity. The tribes of the mountain barbarians have a desire for territory, coupled with the increasing majesty of Ouyang Shuo, the patriarchs of the tribes are also afraid in their hearts.

What's more, Ouyang Shuo agreed to their conditions first and gave the patriarchs of all clans a step down. At the very least, the various ethnic groups were not forced to agree under the oppression of the Hou Mansion.

At least, the prince was still consulting them.

And this is just a "small proposal".

Sure enough, after listening to Ouyang Shuo's proposal, the patriarchs were silent for a while. They are all elites in the clan, and they naturally hear the deep meaning of the prince's words.

After a long time, a patriarch, as a representative, got up and replied: "The proposal of the prince, I still need to return to the clan, please consult the great wizard." I believe that I will definitely give a satisfactory answer to the prince. ”

Ouyang Shuo nodded: "In this way, Ben Hou will rest assured!" ”

Fan Zhongyan sat on the side, and saw the princes and princes playing with the patriarchs of various clans between applause, with an inexplicable expression. The current princes are not only majestic, but also playing with all kinds of power tricks, and they are also at their fingertips.

And this is also a compulsory course that needs to be mastered as a qualified superior. (To be continued.) )