Lord: Start with a book of Water Margin

Chapter 536 Official appointment
After unifying their steps, Zhao Zhen asked, "Since you all agree that we should remain independent of the imperial court, each state should also have someone to act as its own. Do you have any ideas?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Wu Yong, who had been observing everyone's expressions, stood up first, unfolded a long bundle beside him, and said, "Sir, I have a rough atlas of mountains and rivers. Please come and have a look."

Zhao Zhen asked Guihua and Bohe, who served him, to unfold the atlas for everyone to see. On the atlas, all the cities, mountains, and rivers in Jingdong Road were marked one by one.

Wu Yong pointed at the atlas and said, "Sir, the place we are occupying now straddles the two roads of Jingdong, and is long and narrow from east to west. Fortunately, it is surrounded by the sea on three sides, so the east, south, and north do not need to be heavily guarded. However, the west side and the areas under the jurisdiction of the court must be guarded more to prevent the court from taking advantage of them."

Everyone listened and nodded repeatedly.

Wu Yong continued, "We occupy most of the eastern part of Jingdong. The four states of Deng, Lai, Wei, and Mi do not border the outside world. We only need to govern the local area and guard against pirates."

"The five states of Qing, Yi, Yan, Yun, and Liangshan are all on both sides, bordering the imperial court. Kouzhou is even deeper into it, and the capital is in the hands of Gao Qiu's brother Gao Rang. Therefore, these places must be heavily guarded, and the prefects must be people who are familiar with military tactics."

Zhao Zhen listened, pondered for a moment and said: "Military Advisor's words make sense."

"Qingzhou has always been a strategic location for military strategists, and it is also the seat of the prefecture. This place must be heavily armed to guard against Zibo Prefecture and Hebei Prefecture to the west. Yizhou must not only guard against Xuzhou, but also the Huaiyang Army and Huainan East Prefecture to the south. The same is true for Yan, Yun, and Liangshan. So let's first decide on the prefectures and prefecture officials for these five places."

"But do we also have to put Lu Zhi in Qingzhou?"

Everyone heard this and started talking about it.

Those who agree with this view think that Qingzhou is surrounded by water on three sides and faces a mountain on one side. Yidu is a strong city and is located in the center of Kyushu. In addition, the people of Qingzhou are strong and brave, making it the best place for government.

Those who disagreed thought that Liangshan had been in business for a long time, and Liangshan Marsh was connected to various rivers, with smooth waterways, and had unique advantages in defense. The people of Liangshan were in favor of this, and this was better than anything else.

After hearing this, Zhao Zhen was in a dilemma.

Liu Hui Niang said: "Sir, Song has five capitals, why don't you set up two capitals?"

Liu Guang scolded: "Hui Niang, this is an important matter, you should just listen carefully, how dare you speak nonsense!"

Wu Yong said: "No, what the young lady said is not without reason. Liangshan and Qingzhou both have their own advantages and disadvantages. It is reasonable that Qingzhou is half a level higher than the surrounding areas."

Zhao Zhen heard this and made a decision. Although Qingzhou was good, he was not in a hurry now, after all, Liangshan was the foundation.

At that moment, Zhao Zhen said, "Then we will set the two places as the seat of government. Liangshan and Yunzhou will be merged into one, and from now on it will be changed to Liangshan Prefecture. The prefectural government will still be in Yunzhou City, and Liangshan County will be the western government. My father-in-law Cheng Wanli will be the prefect of Liangshan Prefecture, and Wang Gongren will still be the magistrate of Liangshan County. The prefectural government of Qingzhou will still be Yidu, and it will also be the eastern government. My father-in-law Liu Guang will be the prefect, and Xu Huai will be the judge, and they will be stationed in Linzi City."

"Yanzhou invites Xiao Rang to be the prefect, Mizhou invites Kong Hou to be the prefect, Xu He to be the acting prefect of Yizhou, Shi Gugong to be the acting prefect of Dengzhou, Wei Fuliang to be the acting prefect of Laizhou, and Hu Cheng to be the acting prefect of Weizhou."

"Military advisors Wu Yong and Zhu Wu are also in charge of confidential documents and participate in military decision-making and intelligence transmission. Pei Xuan is in charge of the affairs of the road and local military and political affairs. Jiang Jing is in charge of the Changping Department, in charge of the Changping Warehouse and the Charity Warehouse, regulating grain prices, and supervising local disaster relief. Du Xing is in charge of official affairs and is in charge of accounting."

"Xu Qingniang, Wang Lun, Sun Zheng, He Chong, Zhu Hongji, and Madam Lu will continue to serve as county magistrates in various states. The remaining counties should also promote talented people to take up the posts. Those who are not qualified enough should serve as county magistrates or chief clerks concurrently, and should not be allowed to take up high positions suddenly."

"Half of the former Liangshan Prefecture officials, including the officials of the Ministry of Personnel, the Secretary ...

"Chen Xizhen and Gongsun Sheng are Daozheng, Qiao Daoqing is deputy Daozheng, Guanghui is monks, Lu Zhishen, Wu Song, and Deng Yuanjue are deputy monks, and Fan Rui, Wu Jiao, Yuantong, and Yuanguang are meritorious envoys. You monks and Taoists, in addition to your duties as monks and Taoists, each of you will also take on the title of inspector, and you can go around and investigate the people's sentiments. You only have the power of investigation, not the power of judgment and punishment." "We are just starting out, and there are not enough officials in various places. When the imperial examinations are held in the golden autumn, we will send people to fill in various places, and complete the positions of Tongpan, Tuiguan, Canjun, Xiancheng, Zhubu, and Xianwei in various prefectures and counties one by one. What do you think?"

After listening to Zhao Zhen's arrangements, although they had already expected promotions, they couldn't help but feel excited when they heard Zhao Zhen appoint so many officials in one breath.

Xu Qingniang stood up and saluted, "My husband, we have made all the arrangements, why don't you make the arrangements, Huiniang?"

Zhao Zhen smiled and said, "In addition to Wu Yong and Zhu Wu assisting in the official documents of various prefectures and counties, Hui Niang will naturally also participate. This [Female Zhuge] is always by my side to give me advice and suggestions."

Hu Cheng said: "Brother-in-law... uh, sir, I have never governed a region before. Now that I have been promoted to the governor of Weizhou, I am afraid that I will make mistakes."

Zhao Zhen said: "Weizhou is adjacent to Qingzhou and it is a small state. You have been the military officer for a long time and have handled the affairs of the state properly. Now there is a shortage of manpower in various places. You will be the acting governor of Weizhou. If you can't do a good job, you will be replaced."

"After you take office, you can select talented and virtuous people. Once they pass the examination, they can be appointed as officials. After all, it is still early to hold the imperial examinations, and the government affairs of various places cannot be delayed."

"As for the garrisons in various prefectures, they will not be moved for the time being. I will discuss this with military advisors Wu Yong and Zhu Wu, and we will make further adjustments after Song Jiang of Qingzhou is recruited."

"If there is no objection, after today's banquet, all the brothers will hand over their duties and then go to take up their posts."

Xiao Rang said, "I have something else to ask you, sir, please make a decision as soon as possible."

"Please speak, Mr. Xiao."

"As the saying goes, if the name is not right, then the words will not flow. Sir, you should have an official document to pass it down." Xiao Rang said.

"That's right." Everyone agreed.

Zhao Zhen said: "In this case, please ask the new scribes Wu Yong, Zhu Wu, and Liu Hui Niang to write the appointment, and I will use the seal."

As he spoke, Zhao Zhen asked Buddha's Hand to bring out the [Tianzheng Seal] that he always carried with him, and showed it to everyone, saying, "This seal is the seal of Zhu Hongji, the Tianzheng Emperor of another world. How about stamping all the official documents issued by me here with this seal?"

"Sun and Moon forever?" Chen Xizhen said.

After listening to this, Zhao Zhen nodded and told the origin of the seal.

Everyone unconsciously turned their eyes to Zhu Hongji who was sitting below.

Zhu Hongji said, "I have already surrendered to you, sir. If this seal can still be used for this purpose, it will not be a waste of this fine jade."

Xiao Rang said, "Sir, you have a seal of Zhao Zhen carved by Master Guanghui. Why don't you use it as well? Later, I will ask Brother Jin Dajian to make another seal for you, imitating the six seals of the emperor."

(End of this chapter)