Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Chapter 1252 – Personnel Adjustments
The submissions of Song, Qin, and Tang brought a great quantity of population and officials, providing an extremely stable source of manpower for the dynasty’s expansion in Africa.
Putting off the Africa appointments till today was partially due to such considerations.
A day ago, the Imperial Court had decided to shift over a total of 10 million civilians from Handan City, Xiangyang, Xianyang, and Chang An to the Africa Governor-General House. They would bring over China’s advanced agriculture techniques to focus on developing Africa.
At the same time, the Imperial Court also wanted players to move over.
For this, the Africa Governor-General House worked together with the Imperial Court to establish a list of welfare policies like a year of tax-free agriculture, free cows, tools, and more.
The goal was to start a huge construction wave in Africa as soon as possible.
Apart from economical and agriculture development, Ouyang Shuo also placed a lot of attention on spreading Chinese culture. Hence, he instructed the Science, Education, Culture, and Health Department to work with the governor-general to set up schools there.
Any region under the Africa Governor-General House would have its official language changed to Chinese.
Ouyang Shuo hoped to use these two to three years of time to let a third or more of the African people and 90% of the school age children learn Chinese and how to write it.
He wanted to have Chinese civilization take root in Africa.
This was not totally impossible.
In the Nanjiang Governor-General region, this had already been pushed out. Maybe because Southeast Asia had deep roots with Chinese civilization, but learning and writing Chinese had already become the local trend.
Official schools all used Chinese and passed down the philosopher classics.
As they spread Chinese culture, they would also absorb the local culture to make it a part of the Chinese civilization.
The collision and mergers of cultures made Chinese civilization shine ever more brightly.
Chinese civilization was about to step onto the world stage.
To support the development of Africa, Ouyang Shuo instructed the Imperial Court to directly hand over 30 million gold.
This was something that was totally unprecedented.
The 30 million gold was not directly given to the governor-general house. Instead, it was used by the Great Xia business bank and Great Xia agriculture bank to flow into Africa.
These funds were enough to let these two banks gain a stable footing in Africa.
The financial organizations of the nine countries that were destroyed were bought over by the two banks. Following set standards, they were opened to the public to stimulate the financial market.
Hence, the two banks could absorb the spare cash of the African locals to support the second and even third rounds of development in Africa, forming a positive cycle.
30 million gold was far from enough for the huge Africa continent.
…
As they developed the Africa continent, the Africa warzone was also adjusted under the supervision of the Privy Court.
Taking down nine countries within half a year was an exceptional achievement. Under the leadership of Baiqi, the four legion corps had become a pack of killer wolves, sweeping Africa.
Baiqi’s nickname of Asura spread across the entire Africa, terrifying everyone who heard it.
After fighting so many successive wars, it was unavoidable that there would be a few tough ones. The four legion corps had suffered losses of varying extents. With the permission of the Privy Court, they replenished their troops with the surrendered soldiers.
After all of the legion corps were replenished, many troops still remained.
Due to that, to strengthen the African local’s recognition of the Imperial Court, Ouyang Shuo instructed them to disarm one of the four legion corps to form the bailiffs and defending division.
The empty spot would be filled up by war prisoners.
After this adjustment, the percentage of African native soldiers to foreign soldiers was around 20%, at around 250 thousand.
In the future, this would become the standard.
For every governor-general house, the local soldiers must reach 20% to maintain stability.
Apart from increasing the native civilian recognition of the Imperial Court, they could also reduce the animosity of the surrounding countries because the Great Xia Army would not be filled with purely foreigners.
…
The scorching hot sunlight shone into the Imperial Reading Room, signaling that time was being lost.
Just now, Ouyang Shuo and the three ministers had decided on the two spots for Provincial Governor. They planned to appoint Old Tang minister Zhangsun Wuji to the position of Tanzania Province Provincial Governor and promote Leizhou Prefecture Governor Yang Xiuqing to Mozambique Provincial Governor.
Zhangsun Wuji came from the Henan Zhangsun family and was raised by his uncle. When he was young, he was good friends with Tang Taizong. Later, they became in-laws. After Tang Gaozu started the coup, Zhangsun Wuji stepped forward to help, fighting alongside Li Shiming. He became his advisor and participated and planned the Xuanwu gate matter.
During the Zhuoguan years, Zhangsun Wuji held many important positions such as the position of Zuowu great general, secretary of personnel, and head of the secretariat. He was given the title of Zhao Duke and was the top official amongst the 24 in the Lingyan Pavilion. During the fight for the throne, he supported Gaozong and was appointed as a supreme government official, a Grade 3 official.
During Yonghui’s rule, he wrote the Tang Dynasty Code on the foundations of the Zhuoguan code, he also opposed Gaozong making Wu Zetian the empress. In the 4th year of Xianqing, Wu Zetian was framed by Xu Jingzong under the instructions of Wu Zetian and exiled.
Zhangsun Wuji served three dynasties in history and was a minister for 30 odd years. He was all rounded and a famous Tang Dynasty politician. He was a relative of the emperor and had a lot of power, but he did not misuse it. He was loyal to the royal family, putting his heart and soul into everything he did. He helped to form up the Tang Dynasty ruling system.
Such a talent with a massive influence on the Tang Dynasty officials could not be left within the country, so Ouyang Shuo decided to send him to Africa.
Zhangsun Wuji’s performance would determine his future.
Zhangsun Wuji was dispatched while Yang Xiuqing was promoted. Going from Governor-General to Provincial Governor seemed like just a small step, but it was actually like a carp jumping through the dragon’s gate.
Furthermore, Mozambique had a vast swathe of land and was connected to the Bantu Dynasty; it was a really important strategic position. Furthermore, it was rich in resources, and Africa was just being developed. Consequently, this position was all the more important.
Yang Xiuqing could be considered a long serving official of the dynasty, arriving during the Taiping Country era.
Ouyang Shuo promoted him to Mozambique Provincial Governor because he cared about old relationships and because Yang Xiuqing had the ability. Especially after he washed the remnants of the Taiping Country from himself; he was a really great talent.
With the Tanzania and Mozambique provincial governors selected, only the issue of Guanxi Province was left.
Guanxi Province included both Qin and Tang. It had Asura City, Fallen Leaf City, and two imperial cities. Furthermore, it was previously ruled by Qin and Tang, so its foundations were something that other provinces could not compare to.
The Guanxi Provincial Governor must be someone exceptional.
Logically speaking, top talents such as old Qin officials like Li Si or Wei Liao, or Great Tang officials like Fang Xuanling or Gao Shilian could fit the role. Unfortunately, their connections with the province were too deep. To prevent future problems, they definitely could not be appointed there.
In the end, it was best to shift a current provincial governor over.
Using this chance, Ouyang Shuo selected a few native Provincial Governors who had been serving for a longer time, including Huo Guang, Pei Ju, Wei Ran, Wufu, Fan Zhongyan, and West Gate Big Official.
All that remained were those who were appointed within the last one to two years.
Hence, one could see how fast Great Xia was expanding, getting more members and additions.
Out of the six, Wufu was the future Xijiang Governor-General and should not be moved. Meanwhile, Fan Zhongyan and West Gate Big Official had both been moved recently.
Even Pei Ju had just shifted over from Somalia Province in the 7th year.
As a result, only Wei Ran and Huo Guang were suitable for the position.
The Mongol Empire had not been dealt with, so the Imperial Court still needed Huo Guang to take charge of Liaojin Province. In the end, Wei Ran was left as the only choice.
However, the person that Ouyang Shuo was the most unwilling to choose was him.
He had a precedence of being greedy and abusing hus power. Although he had changed after Ouyang Shuo’s warning, a leopard could not change its spot.
This time, Ouyang Shuo faced a dilemma.
Zhang Tingyu said, “Your majesty, why don’t we appoint Wei Ran to Guanxi?” Leaving personnel arrangements unsolved was a huge worry for dynasties. In his eyes, as long as one compromised, everything would turn out well.
Ouyang Shuo kept silent. Currently, his brows were locked tight. After a long while, he said, “Some matters cannot be compromised. Let’s move Pei Ju over.”
Ouyang Shuo had great trust in Pei Ju.
Kou Zhun and Zhang Tingyu exchanged glances. Both had their own thoughts regarding this matter. Wei Ran’s bad past made him lose a chance to get to another level, making one sigh.
Ouyang Shuo was really stubborn and firm in the way he used people. From now onward, Wei Ran would probably be unable to rise and would remain at his current stage.
A worried look flashed across Jiang Shang’s eyes. His line of thought was in a different direction to Kou Zhun and Zhang Tingyu. Did his majesty stop the promotion of Wei Ran partially because his son-in-law Baiqi was rising up too high?
Jiang Shang did not dare to think much more about it, choosing to remain silent.
“The thoughts of an emperor are impossible to guess.” Sometimes, Jiang Shang was unable to figure out what the emperor was thinking.
Since they were going to move Pei Ju to Guanxi, Kou Zhun suggested they select Gao Shilian to take over the empty Yunnan Provincial Governor role. With that, Great Tang would have two Provincial Governors right away. They were truly filled with talents.
Gao Shilian was a minister of the Sui Dynasty department of rites. As he was implicated by Husi Zheng, in the 9th year of Daye, he was demoted to the secretary general of Zhuyuan County.
In the 5th year of Wude, Gao Shilian submitted to the Tang Dynasty and helped Li Shiming in the Xuanwu gate incident as the Yongzhou Governor. Afterwards, he was promoted and given the title of Duke of Xing.
In the 5th year of Zuoguan, he was appointed as the minister of personnel and was given the title of Duke of Xu. He was ordered to set up the Record of Clans and was awarded with the rank of secondary Grade 3. In the 12th year, he became the head of the important executive bureau of the government and held the post of chancellor.
In the 19th year, he was appointed as the imperial tutor to aid prince Li Zhi in running the country. When Emperor Taizong commissioned the Portraits at Lingyan Pavilion to commemorate the 24 meritorious officials of Tang rule, Gao Shilian’s portrait was included.
Hence, one could see that Gao Shilian was totally up to the task.
After discussing the choice of Guanxi Provincial Governor, the positions for Li Si, Wei Liao, and Fang Xuanling were next, which was another headache.
Let’s not mention Wei Liao, who was not that famous. Li Si and Fang Xuanling were top class talents even in China’s five-thousand-year long history. They were listed among the top 10 prime ministers.
The problem was that Great Xia did not have a place for them.
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