The construction of Daling River City was not a big problem. The Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty destroyed the original city wall, but the foundations were still there. Building Daling River City on the original foundation would get twice the result with half the effort. Unfortunately, Wu Zongrui had no control over the original city wall.

He was very dissatisfied with the construction of Linghe City and believed that the original city wall layout was too small.

It’s no wonder that when Sun Chengzong built Dalinghe City, he wanted to resist the attack of the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty. Dalinghe City was built as a military town and had no other functions, so as long as the city wall is tall and thick enough, it will be fine.

, as for whether the construction of the city is reasonable or not, it doesn't matter. Anyway, the army is stationed in it.

But Wu Zongrui had different ideas.

The three cities of Dalinghe City, Guangning and Xipingbao were indeed used as the horns to resist the attack of the post-Jin Tatars. They can be said to be the most forward positions. However, the three cities are not only important military towns, their commercial and trade functions are also important.

This shows that Wu Zongrui has decided to conduct commercial transactions with the Houjin Tatars and the Mongolian Tatars. The importance of these three cities will soon be reflected.

Once commercial transactions spread, the two cities of Guangning and Xipingbao were also the most cutting-edge commercial cities, while Daling River City existed as a buffer area for commercial trade.

Dalinghe City has been completely destroyed by the Hou Jin Tatars, including all the buildings. If it is rebuilt, a lot of money will be needed. Everyone knows the decline of Liaodong, and all the expenses of the Liaodong frontier army are completely

Relying on the money and grain allocated by the court, the most important thing is that there are no people in Liaodong. Due to the long-term invasion of the Later Jin Tatars, the farmland in Liaodong was deserted and the people fled, almost becoming a no-man's land. The key to commercial transactions is to have people, and the goods transported need to be

Someone buys it.

Wu Zongrui understood that it would take a long time to make Liaodong prosperous. The main tasks at this stage were, first, to defend against the attacks of the Later Jin Tatars and the Mongol Tatars, and the second, to fight against the Later Jin Tatars and the Mongol Tatars.

trade.

Now that there is a framework for the development of Liaodong, all construction must be carried out around this framework. There cannot be any ambiguity and must be completed to the letter.

The lack of money and food was not a problem for Wu Zongrui, because he had prepared for a rainy day and owned a bank.

The bank controlled and operated by Zeng Yongzhong has accumulated a large amount of wealth, which can be put to use at this time.

The budget for the construction of Daling River City and the reinforcement of Xiping Fort and Guangning City was quickly produced. A total of nearly 200,000 taels of silver were needed. Wu Zongrui sent his personal guards to Dengzhou and informed Zeng Yongzhong to raise enough silver taels immediately.

.

After all this work, Wu Zongrui still couldn't rest, and the next key task came one after another.

The eight cities outside the pass must be restored to normal operation and need to be managed by civil servants and officials. This requires dispatching a lot of officials to Liaodong.

After years of conquests, Liaodong has long been different from Guan Nei. There are almost no civilian officials, and most of them are military generals managing the place.

Except for Wu Zongrui, the governor of Jiliao, and Shi Kefa, the governor of Liaodong, the rest are Zu Dashou, Jin Guofeng, Wu Xiang and others. It is a joke to rely on these people to manage Liaodong. There are many deficiencies in their ability to govern the place, at least

It did not meet Wu Zongrui's requirements, so Wu Zongrui had to write a memorial to the emperor and the court to recommend talents.

The construction of administrative divisions in Liaodong has been completely disrupted since the Battle of Sarhu. The imperial court has no role in the division of Liaodong. According to the imperial court's wishes, the area under the jurisdiction of the governor of Liaodong is not only the area included in the Guanning Jin Defense Line. , also includes Liaoyang, Shenyang, Fushun, Tieling and Kaiyuan, which were occupied by the Tatars of the Later Jin Dynasty. These places were originally under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, but the actual situation is that the governor of Liaodong can only govern the areas left. A few cities such as Xiajinzhou, Ningyuan and Qiantun were all under actual control by the Houjin Tatars.

The arrival of Wu Zongrui and the Denglai New Army broke all this, but the area actually controlled by Wu Zongrui was the area included in the original Guanningjin Defense Line, and the rest was still controlled by the Houjin Tatars.

Therefore, when considering administrative divisions, Wu Zongrui sought truth from facts, abandoned the court's self-righteousness, and re-divided the areas included in the Guanning-Ningjin Defense Line based on the actual situation in Liaodong.

As an important town in Liaodong, Jinzhou has set up government offices, Jiliao Governor's Office and governor's office here. Jinzhou Prefecture governs Jinzhou County, Ningyuan County, Qiantun County, Guangning County, Dalinghe County, and Xipingbao County. , as well as Yizhou, the original Songshan, Xingshan, Daxingbao and other places were placed under the jurisdiction of Jinzhou County, the original Tashan was placed under the jurisdiction of Ningyuan County, and the original Youtun was placed under the jurisdiction of Dalinghe City.

One prefecture, one state and six counties, this is the administrative division of the Liaodong region controlled by Wu Zongrui.

Strictly speaking, this division is still somewhat inappropriate. For example, Dalinghe City and Xipingbao City do not need to set up county governments according to the areas they govern and the functions they perform. However, from a practical perspective, Wu Zongrui The importance of these places must be highlighted. Only by establishing a county seat can the radiation and leading role of these places be truly reflected.

Wu Zongrui also strictly defined the number of officials needed by the government. At present, Liaodong does not need too many officials. For example, in the Jinzhou government office, the number of officials is twenty, and for the remaining prefectures and counties, the number of officials is temporary. Limit it to about ten people.

Even so, the number of officials in Liaodong is always close to 200, including the officials in Jiliao Governor's Mansion and the Governor's Yamen.

It is unclear whether the emperor and the court will accept this expense.

Wu Zongrui didn't care. In his opinion, the salary of officials was not high at all. It could be said to be pitifully low. The salary allocated by the court was nothing at all. If Liaodong really developed, it would be able to afford the salary of officials.

Ji Liao Governor's Mansion, wing room.

Shi Kefa, the governor of Liaodong, had tiredness on his face and looked at Wu Zongrui silently.

"Brother Xian, you and I have just discussed that it is more appropriate to set up one prefecture, one state and six counties within the Guanningjin defense line, and it is also in line with the actual local situation."

"After you and I confirm this matter, I will write a memorial to the emperor and the court to recommend officials who will come to Liaodong to serve."

"The magistrate of Jinzhou is appointed by Chen Siyu, the magistrate of Jinzhou County is appointed by Dai Mingjie, the magistrate of Xipingbao County is temporarily represented by Niu Ben, the Denglai Navy is established at Youtun Wharf under the jurisdiction of Xipingbao, the magistrate of Guangning County is temporarily represented by Qiao Mingjun, and Yizhou The governor of the state is temporarily represented by Liu Ning."

"The selection of county magistrates in other places is decided by the imperial court, and we cannot arrange all positions."

"I thought that there were so few officials willing to come to Liaodong that the emperor and the court might not be able to send anyone. In the end, we still need to handle this matter ourselves."

Having said this, Wu Zongrui looked at Shi Kefa and smiled.

"The focus of Liaodong lies in two places. One is Jinzhou, which will become the core location of Liaodong. In the future, all human, material and financial resources will be concentrated in this place."

"The second one is Xipingbao County, Guangning County and Yizhou. Xipingbao County will be directly responsible for the commercial transactions with the Houjin Tatars, and Guangning County and Yizhou will be responsible for the commercial transactions with the Mongolian Tatars. Among them, Guangzhou The status of the military town of Ninghe and Xipingbao is equally prominent, so I considered letting Niu Ben and Qiao Mingjun act as magistrates of the two counties."

"As for Yizhou, its purely military role is greater. Let Liu Ning also serve as the magistrate of Yizhou, which can highlight the role of Yizhou and make Guangning County safer."

...

After Wu Zongrui finished speaking, Shi Kefa spoke with a puzzled expression.

"Sir, I am still a little worried. General Liu, General Qiao and General Niu are all military generals. According to the rules of the court, they cannot serve as civil servants..."

Wu Zongrui smiled and looked at Shi Kefa and spoke.

"Brother Xian, have you forgotten what we just said? From now on, all matters in Liaodong will be carried out in accordance with the orders of Ji Liao Governor's Office, whether they are officials sent by the emperor and the court, or recommended by ourselves Officials must be succeeded in place in accordance with the orders of our Ji Liao Governor's Office. As for the requirements of the emperor and the court, we don't need to think too much."

"According to the rules of the imperial court, military attachés and civilian officials are not allowed to communicate with each other. However, the situation in Liaodong is different. Xipingbao, Guangning, Yizhou and Daling River City are both important military towns and important trading centers. So we decided that the officials in charge of these cities must be under our direct control."

"Whether the emperor and the court agree is not our focus. The situation in Liaodong is different. Our purpose is to completely control Liaodong. As long as we can completely control Liaodong, we can expand the Denglai New Army in Liaodong. Strength, when the strength of the Denglai New Army really grows, the emperor and the court will not dare to point fingers at us."

"Brother Xian, I have said everything that needs to be said, and it can be said from the bottom of my heart. I don't care what you think, or whether you are willing to follow me to do things, but you have to remember one thing, you are now the governor of Liaodong. , Whether it is the request of the emperor and the court, or my request, Liaodong must work hard to build it."

"Officers from the Denglai New Army will serve as local officials. This will probably be the norm in Liaodong in the future. You are the governor of Liaodong. You need to adapt to this situation."

"Brother Xian, I don't have much time to explain these things to you. If you feel that these things are not in line with the rules of the court and the requirements of the emperor, you can say it directly. Don't worry that I will blame you..."

After saying these words, Wu Zongrui looked at Shi Kefa.

According to historical records, Shi Kefa had a weak character and was loyal to the emperor and the court. It would not be that simple if he wanted Shi Kefa to change his mind.

After Wu Zongrui finished speaking, Shi Kefa immediately expressed his stance.

"Your Excellency, I have made my attitude clear two days ago. Your Excellency will obey whatever you say..."
Chapter completed!