398 Picking up a Burden (1/2)

After listening to Baiqi, Ouyang Shuo thought about the matter and said, ”Men!”

”Present!”

”Bring a group of men over to Yanluo County. Bring Yanhuo Yaonie and Bao Shuya to Leishan City.”

”Yes, lord!”

Fan Zhongyan's eyes focused, ”Lord, are you going to make Leishan City the main governing area of Leizhou?”

”That's right!”

Out of the five Houses, Leishan City and Yanluo City were both located in the middle of Leizhou, so both were suitable. However, compared to Leishan City, Yanluo City was better built.

It was totally unexpected for the lord to choose Leishan City.

The governing body of an entire prefecture was really important.

Ouyang Shuo did not bother to explain his decision and said, ”Receive my orders, Bao Shuya will be the Leizhou Prefecture governor, Zang Wenzhong the Lianzhou Prefecture Broken Blade House prefect, and Zhou Haichen will move over to become the Leishan House prefect.”

A light bulb lit up in Fan Zhongyan's mind, so that was the reason.

Bao Shuya taking the position of governor was not too unexpected. He had ample ability to rule a Prefecture. Of course, this was partially due to the territory lacking talents.

Even so, they had to appoint him away from Yanluo County. As a result, they had to sacrifice Yanluo County and not choose it.

Governance was just so cruel.

At the same time, the lord sent Zhou Haichen, who he trusted, to Leishan House. He would keep an eye on Bao Shuya.

He trusted him but also kept a lookout on him.

It seemed contradictory, but it was a genius idea.

Ouyang Shuo continued, ”The other four prefects will be chosen from Leizhou civil servants. Of the twenty-two county magistrates, half will be from Leizhou, while the other half will come from Lianzhou.”

”Yes, my lord!”

With that, they had solved the local interests, while promoting officials from the main camp at the same time. Some of them would also bring over the ruling methods of Lianzhou Prefecture.

Based on Fan Zhongyan’s words, Leizhou Prefecture had a group of decent officials. They were appointed roles in their original territories and were the right hands of their lords.

Ouyang Shuo would naturally make use of these officials. Of course, he could not avoid the most basic criss-cross appointment. Apart from that, the Internal Affairs Department would strictly investigate and monitor them.

At this point, Ouyang Shuo had settled the prefecture matters in just a few sentences. It might seem casual, but he had actually already set up the basic structure and principle.

The Administration Department would perform the necessary tasks. Fan Zhongyan certainly had the ability to implement these matters.

After discussing the official matters, financial director Cui Yingyu took over.

Ouyang Shuo raised his head. When he saw Cui Yingyu's bitter face, he roughly guessed that the economic situation looked bad.

”Originally, the economy of the Leizhou Prefecture could be called barely passable. However, this whole battle made the situation worse. Without mentioning the destruction of the territories, the worst part is that the lords brought all their gold with them when they left. Now, there is not a single copper left in the treasury of all the Leizhou territories.”

After she spoke till this point, she sighed, ”The Financial Department roughly calculated that a hundred thousand gold is needed to restore the economy and infrastructure.”

As her words landed on their ears, everyone present gasped.

Ouyang Shuo's face also grew darker and darker.

Shanhai City had already spend over a hundred thousand gold even before the Battle of Leizhou started. In addition to the compensations to the families, the expansion of army and the retrenchment of soldiers would require another huge sum.

Ouyang Shuo thought that he could obtain a gold mine after occupying Leizhou. Who would have thought that he would receive a burden instead?

”Is it really that bad?”

Cui Yingyu nodded affirmatively, ”This is also the most conservative calculation. Apart from repairing the cities, if the five Houses need to expand and build outer walls, it would look even worse.”

The five Houses definitely needed to expand. Especially Leishan City, which would become the prefecture grade governing city. If it did not reach a hundred square kilometers, it could not take the role.

When she saw Ouyang Shuo's face turn cold, Cui Yingyu carefully said, ”Of course, the economy of Leizhou is pretty good. As long as we tide past these times, the financial income is really sizeable.”

”Additionally, Leizhou is besides the sea and can replicated the well-developed ship building and salt industries. We can also move over industries like the colored-silk.”

”That's not enough.” Ouyang Shuo shook his head, ”Only moving over industries is not going to cut it. The Financial Department must develop the territory’s potential and develop new industries and open new sources of income.”

”Understood!”

Ouyang Shuo's expression relaxed slightly, ”At this point, we can only try to raise funds. We will borrow all the necessary gold from the Four Seas Bank. If it is not enough, let's just obtain the needed gold from the various Chamber of Commerces.”

As the Four Seas Bank continued to grow and develop, they had started to hold a huge amount of savings.

Ouyang Shuo's so-called borrowing used the future income of Leizhou Prefecture as down payment. He would also return the money with a certain amount of interest.

It seemed preposterous, but it was a normal action in modern day society. Four Seas Bank treasurer Meng Zhida was a huge financial personnel, so he could definitely handle this matter.