Wang Zhenyu changed the subject: "Director Wan, I think your new recruitment and training should be implemented as soon as possible. The number of troops in our hands is still insufficient; As for the military academy, I suggest to temporarily slow down and follow the route of the instructional team. When the conditions are ripe, these officers from the instructional team can return to the furnace in batches. What do you think?"

  Wan Yao Huang immediately stood up and nodded in agreement. Wang Zhenyu continued to speak to Song Haomin, "Little Song, take note that your position is officially confirmed as my deputy officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Liu Xing has been transferred to be the deputy regimental commander and chief of staff of the First Regiment with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Zhou Lian has been transferred to be the deputy chief of staff of the Brigade Headquarters, also with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Li Zongren has officially been promoted to be the commander of the Training Battalion with the rank of major."

  Ye Zuwen looked at Wang Zhenyu with some surprise, he didn't quite understand what direct relationship these appointments and the two letters had.

  It doesn't matter anyway, but Wang Zhenyu is now the boss, and he can do things as he pleases.

  "Also, this time the young and strong men you brought back from Wan Chulang, I think we should still set up a mountain camp, directly under the command of the brigade. As for the Jingbei Command Center, it's currently an empty shell, my plan is to leave it that way, the brigade and the command center will have the same personnel, two signs are enough."

  After some thought, Wang Zhenyu turned to Chen Shao and said: "That Chen Shao, for now there's no official position available, so I'll have you take on the military rank of upper lieutenant consultant in my deputy commander's office. Later, I'll get Wan Zhizhou to give you a title that will allow you to handle affairs, is that okay?"

  Chen Shaoyi, who had always yearned to lay down his pen and take up arms, naturally agreed when he heard that he could become an officer. Moreover, in the few days since he had been in contact with Wang Zhenyu, he had also gradually come to understand Wang's personality. Although Wang always ended by asking if you were willing or not, that was just a polite formality; if you took it seriously, you would be in for a tragedy.

  Wang Zhenyu said to Xu Yuanquan, "Deputy Commander Xu, there's another matter that might require your and Chief of Staff Yang's planning. This time, the bandits invaded our territory, and the Divine Soldiers were also involved, causing us significant casualties. After the fact, everyone knows that the bandits destroyed our homes, and those collaborating landlords, corrupt officials, and old bureaucrats were eliminated by us. However, the Divine Soldiers... Although the captured Divine Soldiers are now undergoing labor reform along with the bandits, the religious forces behind the scenes still exist. I've thought about it for a long time - if these religious fanatics are willing to cooperate with our reforms, we can consider the matter settled. But if they remain stubborn and think they can maintain their original status, then let's send them on their way. After all, our bullets are running out, and we can ask Ye Weng for more."

  The last sentence was said with a smile, and everyone else laughed along too.

  Wang Zhenyu's mind was now estimating the importance of Hongjiang, this place was too crucial, no matter from which angle to look at it, ten Jingzhou prefectures were not worth one Hongjiang.

  It's better to take control of this place as soon as possible, otherwise all your dreams will be like a moon in the water.

  What if I mastered Hongjiang?

  Wang Zhenyu was indeed a vendor of steamed buns in his past life, and he immediately estimated:

  His own fleet could sail along the Yuanjiang River to the docks in Hongjiang, continuously exporting products from southwest China and importing products from other places. This import and export business generated huge profits. The domestic opium trade fell into his hands, and high-quality Yunnan soil had to go through his channels to enter the market, with even more astonishing profits.

  Finally, one can use the wealth of Hongjiang to develop industry and gain more wealth, train more troops, and gain more territory. This is simply a virtuous cycle of profit rolling in. And if you can't get Hongjiang, when the tens of millions of dollars in your hands are used up, the little capital you have now will naturally disappear without anyone else coming to attack it.

  Hong Jiang, the first step to contend for the world, he must find a way to take it out himself. Thinking and thinking, Wang Zhenyu picked up two letters again.

  After reading the two letters, Wang Zhenyu and others chatted for a while before dispersing. Reform can only be determined in a general direction first, and specific implementation still requires time. So although Wang Zhenyu was anxious, he also knew that governing the country is like cooking a small fish, and rushing things won't make them come faster. If he didn't want to end up like Wang Mang or Yang Guang, it's better to be steady and stable before a big opportunity arises. These days, he had thought about many things and met with many people, and Wang Zhenyu couldn't help but feel a wave of fatigue wash over him, and he actually fell asleep on the armchair. Song Haomin saw this situation and immediately ordered a woolen blanket for Commander Wang, then quietly retreated.

  Less than 500 meters away from Wang Zhenyu's bedroom, in a simple tool shed, two young people couldn't sleep.

  "Wenjiang, you're really getting an idea, if we continue like this, the two of us will definitely not be able to hold on." The speaker was a medium-built young man with a center parting and glasses perched on the bridge of his nose, although he looked no more than twenty-two or three years old. Despite his shabby clothes, he couldn't hide the air of book learning about him. His glasses had only one lens, the other being just an empty frame, which made him look a bit comical.

  However, this brother who was called Wen Jiang was not much better off. He was also of medium build and sported an eight-character mustache typical of the era. He too wore glasses, but one leg of his glasses had gone missing. Now, it was held together by a thin thread tied to one side of the frame and hooked over his ear.

  "Alas, Wen Hao younger brother, I also don't know what to do now. To say it's also not your fault, originally you should have gone to Beijing for work. But instead, I pulled you down to this poor and remote Xiang-Qian border area to conduct geological surveys, causing both you and me to suffer greatly."

  "Wenjiang, this is not the time to sigh. Compared to a month ago, things are much better now. To be strict, we are all under control in terms of zhèngfǔ. It's just that we were mistakenly thought to be in cahoots with those bandits, which is why we ended up repairing roads. Ah, Wenjiang, I managed to get some information out of the soldiers in charge of supervising us today. Apparently, their highest superior is in that large wooden house just a few hundred meters away. If we want to escape, it's likely that we'll have to go find this person."

  "You're crazy, so far away, you really dare to desert, one in ten will be shot as an escaped prisoner. Have you forgotten the fugitive who was beaten to death a few days ago? These soldiers are much more ruthless than those bandits."

  A moment of silence in the hut...

  The next morning, Wang Zhenyu found Chen Shao alone: "Chen Shao, I think this plan of yours can be implemented first."

  Chen Shao was suddenly somewhat excited, this is the first plan of his political career, and it's really worth being proud of to be able to implement it.

  But Wang Zhenyu signaled him to sit down first and continued: "This county council has been established, each county has its own, but the commercial town is the key point of the entire reform. I have already let Ma Xicheng and others organize the captured bandits to repair the road, with the intention of making the business road unobstructed. However, compared to the road conditions, the commercial town is the hub of the business road. So I want to hear your plan, how to execute this plan, do you have a feasible scheme?"

  Chen Shao, although not a military man by origin, is now wearing a military uniform as he works at the garrison headquarters. Everyone coming and going is in uniform. Chen Shao is also wearing a military uniform with the rank of lieutenant colonel. He organized his thoughts and said: "I plan to transfer twelve key personnel from the garrison headquarters, thirty-six key personnel from various counties, and invite some council members to form groups to promote this in each county."

  Wang Zhenyu shook his head and said, "To be realistic, I, who came from the future, have much more experience than you, Chen Shao. He counted on his fingers and said to Chen Shao, "You think about it, four counties, each with ten business towns, that's a total of forty business towns. With just these 48 core members, you can build everything at once? That's a bit too optimistic."

  Looking at Chen Shao's puzzled gaze, Wang Zhenyu smiled with a somewhat mature smile: "Actually, what is the foundation of a commercial town? It's commerce! With commerce, it will naturally become a town. My intention is that each county first selects a location with good conditions, a wide radiation area, and easy success for a commercial town. Then send people to specifically guide, plan, and layout, and also allocate the bulk of the funds for basic construction of the commercial towns in each county. As long as this model is built well, the surrounding people will taste the sweetness, others will see the effect, and the rest of the commercial towns will be easy to handle, right, Chen Shao?"

  Chen Shao's eyes lit up, and he nodded hastily. Wang Zhenyu smiled: "You go down yourself, right here in Zhili Province, personally take charge of building a commercial town, build it into a model town. Pay attention to respecting local merchants, discuss things with them when necessary, learn to use their funds and strength to do big things. Also, you need to be patient, being rejected is very normal, doing more work doesn't hurt, but don't blindly repeat yourself, instead understand where the problem lies. This is your first assignment, do it well, the 9th Brigade needs people like you."

  After seeing off Chen Shao and his party, Wang Zhenyu suddenly heard the sound of a horn coming from afar. It was the sound of road construction in the county town, used to coordinate the movements of the workers.

  Wang Zhenyu was in high spirits and after calling out to Song Haomin, he planned to go into the county town to take a stroll.

  Zhao Dongsheng was scolding a few undisciplined guards when he saw the commander about to leave and immediately followed with his men.

  A group of people walked straight to the Quyang Road, where more than 200 captured bandits were repairing the road. Wang Zhenyu had no intention of keeping idle people around, but since there were currently no mines to dig, the tens of thousands of captured people were naturally assigned to repair roads, which was also a way of making use of waste materials.

  Wang Zhenyu said to the chief engineer in charge of construction who accompanied him on the inspection: "Not only should the road be widened, but also the drainage facilities should be improved. We must achieve water pollution separation, otherwise regular cleaning of sediment will be very troublesome."

  At this time, a squad leader of the Huǒyǔè Brigade who was in charge of supervising the work recognized the person as his superior and immediately saluted and shouted: "Commander Wang is well!"

  The soldiers in charge of supervising the work all raised their hands to salute Wang Zhenyu, and Wang Zhenyu also smiled back. Just then, a sudden change occurred.