The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 144 Planning its Politics

In the blink of an eye, the New Year is approaching.

The construction of the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion was rushed, and the main hall of the mansion and Wang Wen's official residence were finally repaired before the New Year.

Wang Wen was able to move into his official residence before the New Year, finally having a home of his own in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Previously, Huang Xingde's home was his home.

From then on, his home became Huang Xingde's home.

As the saying goes: Those in positions of power should fulfill their responsibilities.

After moving into the General's Mansion, Wang Wen began to take charge of its affairs.

After careful consideration of the future plans for the General's Mansion, he finally decided to follow the model of the Police Department and divide the entire General's Mansion into two parts in terms of business and functions.

One group is similar to the police, responsible for handling cases involving demons and monsters, including receiving reports, investigating, collecting evidence, tracking, and other preliminary work. In the future, it may follow the example of different police departments and be subdivided into different departments such as water, land, demons, and ghosts.

The other part is similar to the armed police. They do not engage in any frontline work on a daily basis, but only train, train and train some more to ensure that they have sufficient armed forces to support the police department at any time, as well as to launch large-scale campaigns such as destroying mountains and temples and attacking demon caves.

The two departments each have their own strengths, and the personnel can move between them, which is beneficial to the career development of the subordinates and ensures that their talents are fully utilized; at the same time, there is enough room for advancement, which stimulates the subordinates to give full play to their initiative.

In addition, it can ensure that the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion can stand on its own within the Demon-Slaying Division system of Huainan Road, and that its investigations and handling of cases are not subject to the constraints of the Demon-Slaying Divisions of other prefectures...

Yes, Wang Wen's main purpose in doing this was to ensure that the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion was an independent entity, not subject to the control of the Demon-Suppressing Divisions of other prefectures.

The imperial edict by Emperor Hongtai promoting him to the position of Demon-Slaying General of Huainan Circuit did not explain in detail what he could and could not do as the Demon-Slaying General of Huainan Circuit.

However, based on the title "General Who Subdues Demons in Huainan Circuit" and the fact that the General Who Subdues Demons' Mansion was of a higher rank than the Demon Suppression Divisions of other prefectures in Huainan Circuit, it can be inferred that Emperor Hongtai positioned the General Who Subdues Demons in Huainan Circuit as equivalent to the "Huainan Provincial Armed Police Force for Subduing Demons".

But Wang Wen was clearly unwilling to be just a clueless brute who commanded his men to risk their lives only to benefit others.

If he only acts like a brute, where will the humane merits of governing the local area come from?

He braved wind and rain, but in the end, he received no credit from the imperial court and no hard work from the gods. What was he after?

Just to have the title of "General Who Subdues Demons of Huainan" hanging on his head, to make him look impressive?

Wang Wen is way past that silly age...

Therefore, he had to ensure that the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion had both a weapon and eyes and ears.

He wants both credit and good deeds!

That's the kind of tough guy Wang Wen is!

Besides this reason for not being afraid to openly confront the imperial court and the Demon Suppression Divisions of various prefectures in Huainan, Wang Wen also had a secret thought that he couldn't reveal.

That's a matter of personnel and staffing.

The Demon-Slaying General's Mansion is an army unit with a full complement of 2500 officers and soldiers.

To be honest, Emperor Hongtai was already a very bold and generous emperor to give such a small figure from humble origins such a large army.

But which general would complain about having too many soldiers under his command?

Wang Wen was no exception.

But if one wants to acquire more military power through legitimate promotions...

Even though he knew very little about the current state of the Great Zhou court, he could guess that it must be very, very difficult!
It's not a question of how many merits one needs to achieve to get promoted; it's a question of how no matter how many merits one achieves, it's highly likely that one will only receive a title but not a permanent position.

After all, military power is an extremely sensitive issue in any dynasty or generation.

As the old saying goes: "The mistakes of those who came before should serve as lessons for those who will follow."

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the chaos caused by the military governors at the end of the Tang Dynasty was just yesterday...

Apart from the legitimate path of gaining merit and promotion and acquiring military power, any other way of secretly increasing one's troops, whether it is raising family generals and retainers or expanding auxiliary troops, is just self-deception.

Besides increasing the court's distrust of him and attracting various criticisms, it did not have any positive effect.

Therefore, openly asking yourself for a promotion and a raise is absolutely the stupidest thing to do!

Since doing it openly doesn't work...

What about doing it secretly?

My subordinates are going to investigate the demons and monsters hiding among the people, and I'll even pay out of my own pocket to train a few informants to help them gather information... That's reasonable, isn't it?

Those temporary workers were local gang leaders, and they employed a group of thugs to do their bidding... That makes sense, doesn't it?
Yes, yes, they do have a bit too many informants, but these informants have no job, no power, no salary, and no organization. At most, they are just day laborers... Is that taboo?
What? You're really going to stick to this?
Okay, we know we were wrong, we'll change it right away, and we won't care about anything else from now on!

Go tell the demons and monsters yourselves!

As clever as Wang Wen was, he certainly didn't want to send his Demon-Suppressing Guards down to the prefectures and counties to engage in such low-level activities as gangs; that would be too taboo!
He simply planned to assign the title of "Special Commissioner of the Demon Suppression General's Mansion" to all the Demon Suppression Guards who were about to be assigned to the prefecture and county levels, so that they could exercise the legitimate supervisory power of the Demon Suppression General's Mansion.

Then, he spread the word within the Canal Gang that any local heroes who assisted him as a commissioner of the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion in fulfilling his duty of slaying demons and monsters would have the opportunity to participate in the selection of reserve officers for the General's Mansion...

The commissioner from the General's Office who went down received strong support from local forces.

Rising stars in local power have also found a good way to be formally employed and secure a position.

He gained a large number of fresh blood for the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion, which could be used for metabolism.

If any major changes occur, his Demon-Slaying General's Mansion can always mobilize tens of thousands of armed men...

Wouldn't it be wonderful if everyone had a bright future?
All I can say is... it's right to be sensitive about things like military power!

It seems that Chinese men are born with both a peaceful and restless gene in their bones.

The reason for saying "behave peacefully" is that the vast majority of Chinese men genuinely desire stability, and they will not take the step of "acting out of a fit of rage" unless they are truly desperate to survive.

The reason they are restless is that the vast majority of Chinese men have the seed of "making things bigger and stronger and creating new glories" hidden in their genes. They are just waiting for the spring breeze to come, and this seed will sprout and break through the soil.

Military power is not a spring breeze, it's dung...

Just like Wang Wen, he really doesn't have any unrealistic ambitions now.

But this did not prevent him from subconsciously strengthening his foundation and accumulating power.

Although he never even considered what use accumulating this power would be.

But regardless, since there's an opportunity, let's focus on making it bigger and stronger!
As for what happens next...

talk about it later!

...It's late at night.

Wang Wen, dressed neatly, sat upright in the main hall of the general's mansion, with an oil lamp lit, sketching on a piece of white paper with a charcoal pencil.

The blank sheet of paper was filled with various organizational structures, some with checkmarks and others with large crosses.

For example, after general classifications like armed police and police officers, there are checkmarks.

The sub-departments like Ghosts and Monsters and Demons are marked with an X.

He deliberated for a long time over every checkmark and every cross, considering whether they were suitable for the Great Zhou Dynasty and the current Great Zhou.

He remembered that a master of feigning ignorance once said that taking too big a step can easily lead to trouble.

For example, given the current situation where all the Demon Suppression Guards lack a clear understanding of demons and monsters, it would be easy to make mistakes by making subdivisions like "Ghosts" or "Demons".

While the general division between the armed police and the regular police is feasible to some extent, it needs to be adapted to local conditions based on the current situation in Da Zhou to truly implement it.

For example, police officers responsible for obtaining firsthand information on cases involving demons and monsters must rely primarily on Taoist cultivators, as only they possess sufficient adaptability to handle cases involving demons and monsters of unknown depth.

As the main force for handling cases involving demons and monsters, the People's Armed Police must select as many people as possible who are skilled in martial arts and further promote martial arts. This is not only because martial arts skills can be mastered quickly, but also because a military force composed of martial arts practitioners can better leverage collective strength.

He couldn't entrust these matters to outsiders; he had to handle them himself.

But he didn't find it boring, because every stroke he made was about the future of many people and the life and death of countless people.

This is the taste of power...

"Thorn."

Suddenly, a loud bang was heard, and a golden bolt of lightning burst from his palm, blasting the charcoal pencil into a cloud of ashes.

He merely glanced at it, then casually picked up the damp towel from the table and slowly and meticulously wiped the dirt off his hands.

The reason why Lei Fa went out of control was because he had raised the "Lightning Thunder Fist" to the sixth level in a few days and completed the "law" part of this Xuanmen martial arts technique that combines martial arts and magic.

The remaining part, "martial arts," involved practicing techniques and refining the body. He was worried about the unknown impact it might have on the "Nine Tribulations Returning to Origin Body," so he didn't dare to start practicing.

Even though he had only cultivated to the sixth level, the situation he had previously worried about still occurred: energy conflict!
After the Lightning Thunder Fist was upgraded to the sixth level, the thunderous electricity within his body, which had been suppressed by martial arts true qi and ghost magic power, suddenly began to tremble.

Although still far behind Thunder and Electricity, it was still no match for his martial arts true energy or his ghostly magic power.

But this fellow was always dissatisfied and resentful. Whenever he saw that the other man was relaxed, he would fearlessly attack the lower dantian where the martial arts true energy was located, and the purple palace where the ghost magic power existed, just like Don Quixote charging at the windmill with his spear.

As a result, they were bounced out by martial arts true energy and ghost magic power... just like before.

Wang Wen has been so exhausted by the power outages caused by Thunder Electricity these past few days that he's almost numb.

In other words, he is now forced to remain celibate; in the past...

He picked up a sharpened charcoal pencil again, but after staring at the Xuan paper on the table for a moment, he put the pencil back down.

"There shouldn't be any major changes!"

He muttered to himself, as if discussing something with himself: "With the General's Mansion as the main body, and the Divine Palace, Ghost Mansion, and Hongze Lake Water Mansion as the auxiliary bodies, we will control the entire Huainan Dao Spirit Illusion Realm through a three-pronged approach!"

"Later, we'll choose another location within the manor and erect a mountain god temple there as well. Let's see if we can reap the benefits of the general's manor by using the dynasty's title of 'Manifesting Sage, Righteousness, Martial Prowess, and Spiritual Might Duke'."

He pondered to himself, "The title 'Manifesting Sage, Righteous and Courageous Martial and Mighty Spiritual Duke' was obtained by the three sects of talismans jointly requesting it from the imperial court. And his relationship with Maoshan is no secret. So, it shouldn't be taboo for him to set up a mountain god temple in the general's mansion, right?"
Just as he was pondering this matter, the voice of Master Hunkun suddenly rang in his mind: "Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, the Maoshan Hunshi Master has revealed his true spirit... Junior brother, can you hear me? Can you hear me?"

He couldn't help but smile, thinking to himself, "Speak of the devil, and he appears."

He skillfully picked up the tea from the table, poured it onto the table, drew circles with his hands, and chanted the incantation for the Water Mirror Technique.

A moment later, the disheveled old face of Master Hunkun appeared in the water mirror: "Senior brother, your water mirror technique has come at just the right time. I was just about to contact you."

As he spoke, Master Hunkun grinned, revealing his only remaining front tooth, and chuckled, "Junior brother, guess where I am right now?"

Wang Wen laughed: "You're so old, why are you still acting like a child? Where are you?"

Master Hunkun chuckled smugly, "At the foot of Mount Huangshan!"

Wang Wen immediately understood and laughed, "You went to Huangshan to offer thanks to the gods?"

Master Hunkun nodded and said with great interest, "That's right. This time, Venerable Wu saved two or three hundred lives from the three sects. We can't neglect him. This time, the ceremony to thank the god will be led by Longhu Mountain, with the Luotian Grand Ritual held to commend Venerable Wu... Junior brother, is there anything you want me to tell Venerable Wu for you?"

Wang Wen was not very interested, but he still pretended to think for a few moments before speaking: "Just ask Wu Zun Shen what kind of offerings and fruits he would like to eat on the first day of the Lunar New Year, so that I can make arrangements in advance."

Hunkun Zhenren: ...

He wanted to teach Wang Wen a few words about not being so casual with the gods, but when he thought about the relationship between Wang Wen and Wu Zun, he felt that it would be nosy of him to say such a thing.

The old saying goes, "Don't let strangers interfere with relatives."

"By the way, you just said you had something to discuss with me, what is it?"

He then asked a question.

Wang Wen laughed and said, "Senior brother may not know this, but the imperial court has promoted me to the rank of the Fourth Grade General of the Huainan Circuit for the Suppression of Demons. The Emperor has also granted me the power to establish my own government and command. Junior brother is now a high-ranking official in charge of 2,500 Demon-Suppressing Guards!"

Upon hearing this, Master Hunkun's face lit up with joy. He raised his one arm, clenched his fist, and bowed in congratulations: "Congratulations, Junior Brother, may your career soar to great heights!"

But Wang Wen, who was carefully observing the changes in his expression, noticed that there was not much surprise in his eyes, and thought to himself, "Just as I thought."

His promotion to Demon-Slaying General was indeed due to the support of the Maoshan Sect!

However, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. They were family, so why be so formal? "Well, my general's mansion is all set up, but it still lacks some skilled people to maintain its appearance. Senior brother, do you think our Maoshan Sect has any junior disciples who are free and willing to come and train?"

"Harmful……"

Master Hunkun casually waved his hand: "I thought it was something important. It's just a small matter. Can't you, as my senior uncle and grand-uncle, make a decision? Why do you have to bother this old man?"

Wang Wen felt a warmth in his heart, but he still smiled and said, "Isn't it you who is the sect leader? Of course I have to discuss it with you first before I can go and discuss it with my junior disciples..."

Master Hunkun: "You can make your own decisions regarding personnel matters in my Shangqing Sect. As for Longhu Mountain and Gezao Mountain, I will take care of those matters for you!"

Wang Wen: “Huh?”

Hunkun Zhenren: "What? You owe Wu Zun Shen a favor, but you don't have to repay the favor you owe my junior brother? The old man isn't dead yet!"

Wang Wenchong gave him a thumbs up: "It has to be you, senior brother!"

(End of this chapter)