Chapter 75 Establishment of the Council of State
Chapter 75: Establishing the Council of State
Within a week of talking to Myron Garnerd, the Arda army struck out in all directions, turning over the territories of the four bannermen involved in the conspiracy.
Angelo and the others had already run away with their families, but the castles and manors they had left behind were all seized, the money they hadn’t had time to take with them was all confiscated, and Myron offered to give Paul the property the rebels hadn’t taken with them.
After the situation in Bairdine was basically stabilized, Paul left an infantry battalion to guard the city of Butua, and himself and Mellon led the other troops back to the lake town.
Since Bairdine will be “managed” by Alda’s administrative team from now on, the government orders will be issued from the lake town, and it is better for Mellon to stay there as well.
……
“Congratulations, Lord Earl!”
After Paul told Old Ford, Hansel and the others that Mellon had taken his advice and that the town of Lakewood would be in charge of Bairdings, they congratulated Paul.
It should be known that Bairdine is a real earl’s domain, with an area and population larger than Alda, and a city like Butua, which is still a city even though it’s a bit smaller.
At Hansel’s suggestion, the three quickly sought out Cameron for a detailed discussion.
Under the “guidance” of Ford and Hansel, the conversation reached the following result:
Myron Garrard, as the Lord of Bairdine, will be based in Lakewood, which will be the common capital of the two counts of Alda and Bairdine, and will unify the management of the two places;
Myron will participate as a key member in decision-making on various matters in Lakeheart, and his opinion will carry the most weight in matters pertaining to Bairdain.
At the end of the conversation, Hansel approached Paul privately to find out exactly what had happened when Myron had initially agreed to Paul’s proposal.
“Lord Graiman, I think Earl Garnard has had a similar idea for a long time, so when it was proposed by you he agreed to it in a heartbeat.”
Hansel said with a look of “I can’t hide it from you”.
Paul looked puzzled, “Impossible, right? And how did you know?”
Hansel said, “I talked to Count Garnard before, he is in a very bad state of mind, doubting himself, doubting others, and even doubting the world.”
Paul expressed his understanding, he had also seen a little bit of it that day inside Lord Butua’s mansion.
“The sudden estrangement of his father and the plotting and backstabbing of his bannermen may have put him in a ……”
Hansel paused to think of how to describe it, “in a state of delusional victimization.”
Paul nodded, “Well …… that’s possible, then?”
Hansel said, “With all due respect, I’m afraid he was also paranoid when he confronted you.”
Paul was very confused, “Why is that?”
Hansel explained, “Put yourself in his shoes and think about it, my father suddenly ignored me, my bannermen are trying to backstab me, my steward is trying to backstab me, all these people I usually trust are not kind to me, what makes my allied brothers special?”
“I suppose the Earl of Garnard is ready to hemorrhage money. A close relative gone, a close friend in rebellion, a direct army fighting in the south and not yet sure of its loyalty, and if you also have designs on him and he defies you ……”
“Especially with your army already in control of Bairdine, his fate is in your hands, and I suspect that the rhetoric of becoming a monk was also intentional, to purposely lure you into revealing your intentions.”
Paul did have some “ulterior motives”, but not the whole of Baldin.
He shook his head and said, “Myron wouldn’t be so intentional. Hansel, you’re still talking about people, aren’t you also looking at things with conspiracy theories?” Paul patted Hansel on the shoulder, “Look on the bright side, the world is still a beautiful place.”
Hansel’s face slightly reddened and cleared his throat to hide his embarrassment, “In any case, congratulations on taking down a complete earldom, it will be very beneficial to your future plans.”
Paul looked him in the eye and said, “It will also be great for your career.”
The two men smiled at each other.
Indeed, regardless of Myron’s sincerity, taking control of Bairdine had brought Paul great benefits, not just in the future, but in the present.
After Paul ordered the affairs officer to conduct the territory’s census earlier, he got this data: the entire Earl of Alda’s territory totaled around 60,000 people, distributed within 10 large towns and more than 50 natural villages, including Lakeheart Town and Fullan Harbor.
With the size of the current army of more than 1300 people, basically 40~50 civilians to support a professional soldier, if it is the ordinary soldiers of this era can be, but for the new type of army established by Paul, with the productivity level of this era is very reluctant.
After controlling Bairdine, this kind of pressure is gone, a rough estimate, the population of the Bairdine Earldom can be around 80 to 90 thousand.
In order to be able to manage the affairs of the two territories, Paul decided to set up an administrative organization called the “Council of State”.
After discussing with all the people, the Council will be temporarily divided into seven departments: the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Fisheries, the Ministry of Forestry, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Intelligence, with Old Ford serving as the chief administrator of the Council.
The head of the Ministry of Finance will be Ford Sr.
Hansel was invited to serve as the head of the Ministry of Agriculture, now the town of Lakeville is the most concerned about the food problem, when Paul’s invitation, a mouthful of agreed.
Cecil will no longer be responsible for forestry matters, full-time as the head of the Ministry of Intelligence, and the Ministry of Intelligence, although under the Council of State, but directly responsible to Paul himself.
The head of the Forestry Department would be Cecil’s former deputy in forestry.
The head of the Fisheries Department was to be the tax collector who had been responsible for taxing fishermen.
The head of the Ministry of Public Security will be Ruth Hayden, commander of the 2nd Platoon of the Internal Security Forces, who will be responsible for the formation of a force to be named “Police”.
The Ministries of Industry and Education would be under Paul’s personal responsibility for the time being, and he could not trust either of them.
Originally, the head of the affairs of the territory is basically in his own home office, there are things or need to meet only when the lord to run to the house. With the establishment of the Council of State, the improvement of various departments, as well as the increase in the need for confidentiality, it is clear that it is no longer appropriate to continue this way of office.
Therefore, a group of private houses near the lord’s residence were requisitioned for a fee, and after being repaired, they were to be used as fixed office space for various departments.
Paul also formulated the officer’s attendance system, from now on the departments will have to live every day to sign in and out of the hard life, late or leave early without reason will be punished.
In order to test the recently established “Wise College” teaching effect, as well as in order to find a number of ducks can catch up with the shelf to fill the gap between the various departments of the affairs officer, Paul decided to hold in the town of Lakewood to hold an examination, the examination is very simple:
One is writing ability, the ability to write a self introduction that can be read and understood, typos will be ignored for the time being;
Second is the ability to read, can read a long passage of more than eighty percent of the words, and can say the meaning of eight or nine not very much;
Third, the ability to calculate, can add and subtract numbers within one hundred, multiplication and division is not required;
The fourth is to be able to write one’s name incorrectly.
If all four of the above standards, very good, in the future you will be an honorable official of the Council of State, you can receive a fixed monthly salary to support the family.
After the news was put out, applications poured in.
(End of chapter)