11th month, 6th day, Ouyang Shuo finished his tour of the three prefectures in Lingnan and set off toward Guilin Prefecture. As the roads they used were all official paths, their speed was really quick.
In three days, Ouyang Shuo and his group reached Chiyou City.
In the 10th month of last year, the Shanhai City army had crushed the Chiyou Army at the border of Wuzhou Prefecture, slaying Chiyou. Ouyang Shuo had awakened the bloodline and was also crowned as the Barbarian King.
Wuzhou during that period of time was not peaceful, and there was a strong animosity around. The mountain barbarian nobles had enjoyed too many privileges, and there were too few humans in the prefecture. The economy was totally backward, truly a mess of a place.
Fan Zhongyan was appointed under those circumstances, and he moved from his role of Administration Director to help Ouyang Shuo run Wuzhou Prefecture.
A year had passed and Wuzhou Prefecture was now totally different.
During his entire journey here, Ouyang Shuo saw Han people and mountain barbarians coexisting peacefully. When he went past some counties, he even saw mountain barbarian men marrying Han ladies.
Wuzhou Prefecture was one of the first places that the mulberry and silkworm breeding strategy was pushed out to. On both sides of the roads, one could see mulberry trees.
Even the mountain barbarians accepted the farming culture of the Han Race and learned how to grow mulberry trees and breed silkworms.
Wuzhou Prefecture made use of the 100 thousand mountains to promote the medicinal herb industry. Based on the report from the Industry and Development Planning Department, Wuzhou Prefecture had become the biggest provider of herbs to the Medical Department.
For the territory to push out basic healthcare, Wuzhou Prefecture played a huge role in the matter.
The people were well off, and the place was really orderly and peaceful.
All things considered, Fan Zhongyan had done really well. He was like a magician, using just a year to bring about such amazing change.
The importance of civil servants to a territory could be seen from Fan Zhongyan.
For Shanhai City to successfully consolidate their power in just half a year, a lot of it had to do with the various governors.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo naturally wanted to stay a day when he passed Wuzhou Prefecture. Apart from seeing Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Shuo also needed to deal with some mountain barbarian matters.
Ouyang Shuo had not been doing his duty as a Barbarian King, only coming to Chiyou City for a second time after so long.
Chiyou City, Lord's Manor.
Ouyang Shuo inspected the life of the people under the accompaniment of Fan Zhongyan. No matter where he walked, it caused a huge frenzy as many swarmed the streets.
In Chiyou City, this Barbarian King had an unusually high prestige. To the mountain barbarians, the return of their king was a hugely important day.
Making use of the free time, Ouyang Shuo also met all the officials in the prefecture house to motivate and thank them. Based on the words of Administration Director Xiao He, the officials sent out from Wuzhou Prefecture could be ranked in the top three in the territory.
Out of the hundreds of officials chosen to go to Lingnan Prefecture, fifty came from Wuzhou Prefecture.
Just by thinking for a while, one would know that this was because of Fan Zhongyan, the Ex-Administration Director. In terms of developing talent, Fan Zhongyan was truly exceptional.
At noon, Ouyang Shuo accepted the feast invitation by a few of the medical herb groups. These herb groups were extremely rich and were giants amongst the territory herb organizations.
They could single handedly decide the prices of herbs in the market.
Ouyang Shuo naturally needed to give some face to these gods of fortunes.
In the afternoon, Ouyang Shuo listened to the prefecture reports. A total of two hours of this was a huge torture. After which, Ouyang Shuo took time to personally talk to Fan Zhongyan.
In the reading room, Fan Zhongyan was really emotional.
This was no surprise as Ouyang Shuo had praised Fan Zhongyan and the territory so much during the prefecture report. It was a huge honor for civil servants like Fan Zhongyan to gain the recognition of the Monarch.
"Xiwen, do you have any thoughts of changing your environment?" Ouyang Shuo's words were astonishing.
On the way here, Ouyang Shuo had been contemplating about the choice of Guilin Prefecture Governor. Xiao He had also sent a letter to ask him to make a decision soon so that Guilin Prefecture would be able to get up and running.
The first person Ouyang Shuo had decided on was now at Xingzhou Prefecture. He was at such a crucial place now. Naturally, Ouyang Shuo could not ask Pei Mo to return.
Thinking about it, he could only choose from other sources.
Guilin had a truly important strategic location that even exceeded that of Lingnan Province's Shaozhou Prefecture. It was also under the rule of the two City-States for a year, which made the entire situation extremely complicated.
Hence, Xiao He recommended that it was best to choose from the current governors.
Ouyang Shuo supported his suggestion. Although the two City-States had come to an agreement with Shanhai City, the friendliness on the surface could not hide the hidden workings beneath.
Ouyang Shuo's trip was also to sign agreements with the City-States.
Even Chuanbei City-State, which was first to accept the olive branch, did not return to their territories but remained at the border in the south.
The meaning within did not need to be voiced.
The two City-States were naturally wary toward Shanhai City. Everyone was clear that the so-called reconciliation was just a power play forced by circumstances.
In the future, any movement would cause Guilin Prefecture to become a battlefield. To say that Guilin was the pillar of the north of the territory was not an exaggeration.
Such a strategic land naturally needed a strong governor to work with the Leopard Legion Corps to make relevant battle preparations and defenses.
Fan Zhongyan, Tian Wenjing, and Bao Shuya; these three experienced governors naturally entered Ouyang Shuo's field of sight. Hence, Ouyang Shuo needed to make a decision and choose one out of the three.
Without a doubt, Fan Zhongyan was a good choice.
The model governor of the Qing Dynasty Tian Wenjing was similarly a suitable choice. Speaking of which, he was the first governor of the territory, the one with the most experience and ability.
The huge Qiongzhou Prefecture was ran really well by Tian Wenjing.
Relying on shipbuilding, salt, wood, and spice industries, Qiongzhou Prefecture became one of the most prosperous prefectures. Its income was even higher than Lianzhou Prefecture, which was just disbanded and second to only Shanhai City.
The rise of ocean trade would push Qiongzhou Prefecture to a whole new level.
Under Tian Wenjing's coordination, the Li Race people walked out from the mountains and entered the plains. As the negotiator with the mountain barbarians, Tian Wenjing's ability to deal with natives was even stronger than Fan Zhongyan.
Apart from those two, Xunzhou Prefecture Governor Bao Shuya was also a suitable choice. The person that Xiao He recommended was Bao Shuya.
Before becoming the Xunzhou Prefecture governor, Bao Shuya was the Leizhou Prefecture Governor. The Xunzhou he took over was similarly a tough task, and he was in charge of a place worst hit by Taiping Country.
In less than half a year, he had basically cleaned out the mess left by Taiping Country. Furthermore, Xunzhou Prefecture was the neighbor of Guilin Prefecture, so Bao Shuya understood the local situation and had a great understanding with the Leopard Legion Corps too.
These two points were the reason why Xiao He recommended Bao Shuya.
The three of them were all suitable choices, so choosing one out of them was really difficult.
Only when he reviewed Wuzhou Prefecture did Ouyang Shuo come to a decision and pick Fan Zhongyan. Not because of other reasons, just that out of the three prefectures, only Wuzhou did not need Fan Zhongyan present anymore.
Wuzhou Prefecture was already on the right path without any huge problems. Any governor would be able to run it well.
On the contrary, be it Qiongzhou Prefecture or Xunzhou Prefecture, they both needed their governors. The rise of ocean trading in Qiongzhou had just started, and it was at a crucial stage.
Xunzhou Prefecture held the role of connecting Shanhai City to Chuannan Province and was also the support of the Leopard Legion Corps.
Just based on these few points, Fan Zhongyan was the victor in this small race.
When Fan Zhongyan heard Ouyang Shuo's question, his heart could not help but shake. If it was not thanks to his calm temperament, he would have immediately showed his excitement.
It was not that Fan Zhongyan had any problems with his current position, but the role of Guilin Prefecture Governor involved too many things.
Fan Zhongyan had heard of the difficult task of running Guilin Prefecture.
He was the first Administration Director of the territory and used to lead all the civil servants. He heard that when merging with Kunming Prefecture, the Lord had raised up the idea of a Provincial Governor.
Out of the three provinces, the Yunnan Provincial Governor position definitely belonged to Bai Hua. The remaining two were tempting options.
Especially the Provincial Governor of Chuannan Province, it made one a Zhili Viceroy, one of the most important Provincial Governors.
More recently officials had spread rumors that the future Chuannan Province Governor would be chosen from the various Prefecture Governors.
Hence, the appointment of Guilin Prefecture Governor was really important.
The situation was really obvious, Guilin Prefecture played a key role in Chuannan Province; if one could rule it well, it would be a huge testament to their ability.
Hence, one would hold a huge advantage in the battle for the position of viceroy.
Some people even spread rumors that the person the Lord chose for Guilin Prefecture Governor would become the best choice for Chuannan Province Governor.
No matter how calm Fan Zhongyan was, his heart definitely shook when he heard those rumors. It was not that he was greedy for power, but it was sort of an innate part of being born in the Song Dynasty.
"Monarch, please arrange for me!" Fan Zhongyan said.
Ouyang Shuo looked into Fan Zhongyan's eyes, deep in thought. He had obviously heard of the rumors in the territory. Shen Buhai had suggested investigating those who spread the rumors but was stopped by Ouyang Shuo.
The role of Zhili Viceroy affected the entire core of the territory, so Ouyang Shuo naturally treated it with the utmost care. Those rumors were simply too childish.
But Ouyang Shuo was happy to make use of this to cause some friendly competition between the various governors.
Hence, Ouyang Shuo did not interfere nor did he make his thoughts known.