Chapter 15 Unexpected

To everyone's surprise, Ye Tao didn't wait to participate in the tactical strategy preparation meeting. Instead, he left Tan Weiming a short note and slipped away quietly while they were meeting. In the note, Ye Tao claimed that firstly, he was no longer a member of the Blood Kirin Army, and participating in specific tactical strategy discussions would be a major conflict with his authority. Secondly, he didn't understand military affairs. Rather than making random suggestions, it would be better to coordinate the logistics and production of the Blood Kirin Army… In addition, he would ensure that Suo Zheng would report to the Blood Kirin Army within a few days.

When Tan Weiming, both amused and annoyed, announced that Ye Tao had already set off to return to Ninghe Town and read the short note aloud, everyone felt helpless and somewhat unconvinced. While Ye Tao wasn't a practical military officer familiar with military affairs, claiming to not understand military affairs was obviously an act of shirking responsibility, laziness, and disrespect for the facts. However, everyone was very familiar with Ye Tao's personality, and they really couldn't get angry.

Didn't understand military affairs? Then how did Ye Tao lead the Blood Kirin Army in maneuvering with the Xiling army in the space between Xunshan Pass and Bai Shi City? How did he formulate the overall battle plan that almost annihilated the entire Xiling army within the country's borders? At the very least, how did Ye Tao build the Blood Kirin Army from scratch and establish a fairly complete system for it if he didn't understand military affairs? And how did he make the entire Blood Kirin Army extremely loyal to him through repeated lectures and exercises? Was this something a person who didn't understand military affairs could do?

From the ruler Tan Xiaopei, the Imperial Guard Commander Cha Ziming, Grand Commandant Chi Xianping, General Zhuo Mang, Blood Kirin Army Supervisor Dai Yun, all the way to almost everyone in the Blood Kirin Army, believed that the Blood Kirin Army's style of emphasizing details, preparation, and striving for perfection was almost a replica of Ye Tao's personality. And yet, Ye Tao said he didn't understand military affairs? Everyone could only stare at each other in disbelief at Ye Tao's excuse and continue the discussion.

Naturally, Dai Ye and Dai Ji were a little puzzled. Wouldn't it be better if he wasn't a member of the Blood Kirin Army? He gets a share of the military merits, but none of the responsibilities… Could it be that Ye Tao's nature was so indifferent?

Ye Tao not only left during their military meeting, but also, in order to prevent them from coming up with any reason to keep him near Danyang, he hurried towards the Sufeng Town-Ninghe Town line, without even stopping at Tiecheng. Two days later, while Chi Lei was leading the first batch of five hundred scout cavalry to Yunzhou with the guidance of elite clan soldiers from the Dai family who escorted Dai family women and children to Danyang to carry out preliminary preparations, Ye Tao had already returned to Ninghe Town. There wasn't much waiting for him to do in Ninghe Town. There was only a large group of people who had been taught the Murder game by Tan Weixin in the past few days and were tirelessly setting up "killing schemes."

Tan Weixin was bored. It just so happened that a large group of people around her were the same. The rules of the Murder game were so simple, but it was endlessly fun to play. At first, everyone was worried that even "killing" Princess Consort in the game wouldn't be good, but after a group of people got carried away, they no longer cared about these things. The people participating in the game included Tan Weixin's two maids, Sisi and Qiaoer, Dai Qiuyan and Sophie, as well as Feng Zi, a guy who was extremely fascinated by this kind of intellectual game, Liu Yong, the chief steward of the Princess Consort's mansion, and many other people who were randomly pulled in to join the game and make it more lively… Later, even Luo Ming was dragged into it. Ye Tao didn't expect this situation. However, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it.

Perhaps it was because such a game allowed a group of people participating in the game to temporarily put aside the differences in their status and sit together laughing and making noise happily. Or perhaps, Ye Tao of this era was about to experience his own professional burnout period once again. After he had exhausted all the tricks and done almost everything he could do in this era, although there were still many plans and things to do in front of him, either they were beyond his ability, or they were too simple to be worth his effort. He didn't fantasize about becoming the kind of person with grand ideals who could "revive a fallen state and continue a broken lineage." Naturally, he couldn't become one of those who could "pluck chrysanthemums under the eastern fence and leisurely see the Southern Mountain." What should he do in the future?

Some interesting news came from the Seven Seas Trading Company. With the strong support of the Samir family, the Seven Seas Trading Company finally gained a firm foothold in Nanyang (Southeast Asia). Dongping and Chunnan still maintained their "ally" relationship. Although a big merchant from Chunnan had bribed pirates, Grandpa Qi, who was originally a pirate, didn't stay put either. Because of the presence of powerful naval weapons such as Huoxing Dan (Martian Bullets) and Meng Huo You (Fierce Fire Oil), as well as the support from the Samir family who had been operating in Nanyang for many years, the Seven Seas Trading Company finally occupied a region called Xieyin Islands (Silver Discharge Islands) by the locals after several fierce battles with the "pirates" and established a supply port. Although the location was a bit remote, this step was of great significance. The spices entering Dongping from the Nanyang - Xieyin Islands - Yicheng Port line had greatly motivated the members of the Seven Seas Trading Company to continue their ambitions to expand and develop. New types of warships and armed sailing ships were also being actively built on Crescent Moon Island. For Ye Tao, these could certainly allow him, who had an unconditional share of the profits in the Seven Seas Trading Company, to get a small amount of money, but the greater significance was that he could finally buy pepper steadily and continuously.

Cooking wasn't Ye Tao's forte, but at least he knew roughly how pepper could be used, and the chef brought by Tan Weixin wasn't unfamiliar with things like pepper, which was currently classified as a spice rather than a seasoning. One thing led to another, and the little bit of pepper that Qi Zhentao sent allowed them to enjoy themselves quite a bit.

But some people didn't want to let Ye Tao relax so easily. Although Ye Tao's departure clearly stated that he didn't want to participate in the military decision-making related to Yunzhou, Tan Weiming still kept sending Ye Tao the intelligence on Yunzhou obtained by the Blood Kirin Army through the Dai family, through the relationship networks of various families, and through the interior guards, as well as the war preparations of Xiling and Beiliao. The progress of the various preparations being made by the Blood Kirin Army were also listed in the documents and sent to Ye Tao for his review.

Talking about being invincible, but being powerless to do anything… This was Ye Tao's so-called military accomplishment. A large part of modern management science was derived from military systems. It wasn't difficult to integrate these systems with modern enterprise systems into the army. In terms of military theory, modern people who possessed a massive amount of information could naturally collect enough information to supplement their knowledge as long as they had a little interest in this area, and use it as a topic of conversation when communicating with their friends and fellow enthusiasts. But none of this meant that Ye Tao really understood military affairs. At least, he hadn't really led troops himself. If he had played not only a role of giving ideas but also had to take on the work of managing and operating the army in the vast space of Xunshan Pass and Bai Shi City, he would have shown his timidity long ago. And on the top of Bai Shi City, he was just a desperate guy relying on strong armor and quick reflexes. If his comrades hadn't protected him in time, he would have died on the city wall long ago… Ye Tao clearly knew these things. In this era where everyone easily tied military theory, weapon research, management science, and the vast concept of military affairs together, who could he explain these issues to? Perhaps, only Tan Weixin.

Tan Weixin didn't care about these things. On the contrary, she somewhat indulged her younger brother's behavior of constantly harassing Ye Tao with various military situations.

"The army in this era is probably not as simple as you thought before, but it's definitely not as complicated as you fear. Why are you unwilling to give it a try?"

Perhaps it was because every woman hoped that her husband or lover would be a remarkable character, or perhaps it was just that Tan Weixin hoped that the two of them together could at least barely be considered omnipotent… Or perhaps, Tan Weixin hoped that they could create a world of their own in this era of intense turbulence on the continent. Perhaps, it was just that Tan Weixin had too many things she couldn't try because of her weak body, and she placed the part of her hope that she could never fulfill on Ye Tao.

Tan Weixin couldn't stay idle after all. During these times of rest in Ninghe Town, because there were a large number of guards around her, and safety was definitely not a problem, Tan Weixin ordered the guards in her mansion and a portion of the guards in Tan Weishi's mansion to investigate the basic situation of various places within the entire Canal Governor's Mansion's jurisdiction, including farmland and its ownership, mountain and forest types, minerals, fishery resources, human resources, local geography and local chronicles, and whether there were any relatively famous products or particularly special things that were difficult to see elsewhere… These tasks weren't the guards' forte, but Tan Weixin didn't specify a specific investigation time, leaving them plenty of time to play freely. The guards absolutely didn't dare to violate the instruction of "absolutely not harassing the local people," but Tan Weixin still set a relatively generous spending standard for the guards to receive for the investigation. For the guards who had been in a state of tension, this could probably be considered a vacation opportunity.

After Ye Tao came back, he also approved of Tan Weixin's approach. In the name of the Canal Governor, Ye Tao sent letters to officials in various places to report the situation in detail, and also sent several circuit envoys to assist the investigation in various places.

The scope of jurisdiction of the Canal Governor's Mansion wasn't just the canal waterways, but also included a fairly large area of land along the waterways. The canal could revitalize the economy of the entire area, but this required vision and funds. Sometimes, some changes that were very promising and could greatly improve the living standards of local residents only needed a very small initial impetus. And now, both Tan Weixin and Ye Tao had such energy. And coincidentally, they also had some spare money in their hands.

This part of the spare money came from a somewhat strange source. There were many bridges on the entire canal waterway. According to the original plan, preparations were made to start building these bridges after the entire canal was completed, but Ye Tao changed this plan. Due to the sectional construction of the canal, although some groundwater and rainwater inevitably gathered in the excavated canal, the entire canal didn't form an overall runoff. Building bridges directly under this situation was much easier than building bridges after the canal formed a runoff. Naturally, a portion of the budget could be saved. After seeing this portion of the saved funds, Deputy Governor Shi Xiu once suggested returning the funds to the Ministry of Revenue for other projects, but after discussing with Tan Weixin, who knew the current state of the Ministry of Revenue's finances, Ye Tao decided to use this portion of the funds to build some road systems that would connect the towns around the canal.

According to the original canal plan, some towns were still a bit away from the canal. Ferry crossings and transfer ports were to be set up along the canal, and then roads were to be used to connect the ferry crossings with the towns. After the plan was revised, the plan for these main roads was greatly expanded. A ground road parallel to the canal would connect a series of towns, forming a ground transportation route. This road would pass through many smaller villages, and outposts would be set up in those villages. In addition to being responsible for daily local security work, these outposts also had the responsibility of maintaining the roads.

The second part of the road was to connect the villages and towns that deviated from the main canal area, and even some private manors in relatively key locations. The construction standards of this part of the road were relatively low, but it would greatly strengthen the Canal Governor's Mansion's control over the entire area.

A water and land transfer hub of a certain scale would be built at the southernmost point of the canal, where the canal and the road met. The initially determined location of this water and land transfer hub wasn't far from the border between Chunnan and Dongping. There was originally a town called Xiewang Town and two or three small barracks distributed along the border. After the completion of this water and land transfer hub, Xiewang Town, which was only half a kilometer away from the hub, would soon become a place where Chunnan and Dongping merchants gathered for trade, and it would inevitably become prosperous. Due to the alliance between Dongping and Chunnan, Ye Tao ordered that except for a small camp and two outposts maintaining mountain training on the border, the remaining barracks would be merged into the water and land transfer hub. This water and land transfer hub would greatly promote trade between Dongping and Chunnan during peacetime, and once the two countries turned hostile in the future, it would become a bridgehead for Dongping's water and land attack on Chunnan.

After this part of the plan was reported, Tan Xiaopei and several ministers fully approved it after a little negotiation. This series of construction projects didn't require additional funds from the Ministry of Revenue, but it could greatly promote local development. And once war broke out, these road projects would become an important part of ensuring the smooth logistics of the Dongping army.

Another issue was the opening of the postal system to the public. Currently, the only service in Dongping that could provide mail and package delivery was Federal Express, which was funded by the Inner Court. Due to Federal Express's strict system and personnel management, it had established a transportation service network between the major cities of Dongping within a few years, and it also had Federal Express transportation routes going south to Chunnan and north to Yunzhou. Some people in the Federal Express branches set up in various places had begun to use their brains to extend the mail delivery business to within 100 kilometers of cities with Federal Express branches. Although this part of the business was far from being the mainstream of Federal Express and the fees were quite expensive, the business had never stopped. Even Xiling and Beiliao had Federal Express that could open up smuggling routes, and even develop armed smuggling businesses. If merchants who had a relatively good relationship with Federal Express were included, Federal Express could almost send letters from anywhere to anywhere.

Compared to Federal Express constantly tapping its own potential, Dongping's current postal system was quite backward. The postal system, which only shouldered the task of delivering official documents, required the Ministry of Revenue to allocate a large amount of funds to maintain it every year. With urgent military intelligence already being transmitted entirely through carrier pigeons, and the 300 kilometers-per-day express and the 200 kilometers-per-day express already seeming quite slow, Tan Xiaopei ordered the Ministry of Revenue to reform the postal system so that it could bear more functions. And the Ministry of Revenue issued a document to solicit the opinions of governors and governors in various places.

Tan Xiaopei had summoned Zeng Man and others to inquire about the possibility of establishing a nationwide postal system based on Federal Express. Tan Xiaopei didn't regard Federal Express as a private industry owned by the Inner Court, but was considering nationalizing Federal Express. It would indeed be costly to establish a nationwide postal network from scratch, and the usual maintenance costs would be astonishing. However, Tan Xiaopei stated that the existing postal stations could be handed over to Federal Express, but required Federal Express to take on the task of delivering court documents from now on… Zeng Man hesitated for a long time, and finally stated that this was very difficult. Federal Express had a part of the responsibility of collecting intelligence from various places, and there was nothing more ironic than letting an intelligence agency be responsible for delivering letters.

After researching for a long time, Tan Xiaopei finally couldn't make up his mind to change the postal system that had been operating smoothly in this way for many years, but he still asked the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of Personnel, and the Ministry of Works to send people to understand the operating methods of Federal Express and study the possibility of reforming the postal system.

It was natural that Ye Tao and Tan Weixin wouldn't be happy about the news being brought back to Ninghe Town, but for the civil and military officials of the court, it was a huge change. Even if the important ministers of the court knew something about the connection between Federal Express and the Inner Court, the fact on the table was that the court was learning from a big merchant. This issue of face made many people feel unacceptable. However, in the bustling discussions, the concept of a cheap channel that could allow ordinary people to communicate with their relatives in distant lands, and could enhance the cohesion of the country, was recognized by everyone. Although this problem couldn't be solved by court measures for a while, Tan Xiaopei wrote a letter to Tan Weixin in private, hoping that Federal Express could be cheaper in delivering letters, and provide letter-writing services in the branches in the city, and be able to strengthen the construction of the communication network…

Under this situation, Tan Weixin had no choice but to reply agreeing. However, Tan Weixin also clarified some of her own views: Federal Express couldn't maintain the contradictory states of collecting intelligence and delivering letters at the same time for a long time. Tan Weixin proposed two options: one was that Federal Express would strip away its intelligence-gathering functions and merge with the Interior Guard system, which was also presided over by the Inner Court, to form a professional intelligence agency, allowing Federal Express to become a professional postal and logistics agency, gradually strengthen the official and authoritative background of Federal Express, and fully take over all of Dongping's postal systems and replace the existing postal system in the future. The other option was that Federal Express would develop a group of people who specialized in this work while developing the communication network over several years, and then transfer this part of the manpower and network to the existing postal system when conditions were ripe to promote the reform of the postal system, while Federal Express would still maintain the functions of transporting goods and parcels, and collecting local intelligence. Both of these ideas left enough time for Tan Xiaopei to think about which one was more suitable for Dongping's development, but the most basic concept of personal privacy mentioned by Tan Weixin in the document, the proposed management rules involving the reading of letters in intelligence collection, and the idea of establishing a specialized intelligence function organization really made Tan Xiaopei's eyes light up.

Tan Xiaopei had always had a lot of opinions about the Interior Guard system's work in intelligence collection. The ambiguity of responsibilities, the ambiguity of the agency's affiliation, the disconnection between the direction of intelligence collection and the court's major policies, and other problems had been giving him a headache. And the expenses of the Interior Guard system were constantly rising with the growth of Dongping's power and the demand for intelligence on enemies and potential enemies. Even if the Inner Court could tolerate the expansion of this part of the expenditure under Tan Weixin's efforts over the years, it wasn't a long-term solution after all. Moreover, it was easy for the ministers in the court to feel uneasy if the intelligence agency was completely controlled by the Inner Court and controlled by only a few people in the royal family.

But when Tan Xiaopei asked Tan Weixin what preparations were needed to establish a professional intelligence agency, Tan Weixin said that she wasn't familiar with this kind of work and still hoped to let people who were more specialized in this area express their opinions. Although Tan Weixin suggested that the Army Chief Clerk Nie Rui, the Inner Court Executive Zeng Man, and the current Interior Guard Chief Cao Pojun negotiate on this matter, Tan Xiaopei nodded secretly at these candidates, but Tan Weixin's shirk clearly reminded him of Ye Tao's "excessive modesty" that Tan Weiming had complained about several times. However, in Tan Weixin's reply, she threw out two extremely interesting ideas: establishing a central archives bureau and establishing a standardized confidentiality classification system…

Tan Xiaopei believed that Tan Weixin really didn't know much about intelligence matters, and Ye Tao was indeed a layman in many military matters, but sometimes what was needed was precisely that unfamiliarity of these two exceptionally talented people, the need for them to be able to break away from the original framework to think about problems, analyze problems, and solve problems, and even just the fact that they could always lower their stance and constantly make corrections in the face of repeated disputes by admitting their mistakes and acknowledging the opinions of people in different positions. With these, they didn't even need to really understand everything. This was the way good leaders should work.

"Hehe, in the final analysis, they still want to be lazy." After carefully considering the actions of these two people, Tan Xiaopei came to this conclusion. He couldn't easily urge his daughter to work. He knew how deeply the rejection of the monetary reform strategy had hurt her, but Tan Xiaopei didn't have so many scruples about Ye Tao.