Necromancer, summoning 055? What the heck?

Chapter 410 The Three Thousand Hires: A calculated scheme

Some things, once pointed out, will clear up the clouds and reveal the sun.

The reason Chen Mo had such a difficult decision before was mainly because he would definitely cherish and protect his own direct territory like a treasure. In principle, he would instinctively be more vigilant towards anyone sent by a third party.

After all, if you can't control or manage the bureaucratic agencies that actually carry out the tasks, what bizarre things can they do? History books are full of examples of disastrous consequences.

Tax collectors manipulated the system, and civil officials shirked responsibility. Small amounts of power, fermented at each level, were enough to distort government orders into tools of exploitation.

However, if people are sent to supervise and monitor, it is easy for new interest groups to form or for them to be gradually corrupted by the bureaucracy. As time goes by and personnel are replaced, it will eventually become an endless nesting problem, which will only increase internal friction.

After the Embroidered Uniform Guard came the Eastern Depot, after the Eastern Depot came the Western Depot, and after the Western Depot came the Inner Depot…

However, Liu Shuang's words were a wake-up call. Li Zelin had already provided Chen Mo with a very good example at the restoration plant.

One spy may be malicious, but what about a group of spies, especially those from opposing factions...? Can they still be called spies? No, they are all dedicated and mutually supportive employees of HanHai!

There are countless eyes watching you, always waiting to use your colleagues' mistakes to advance your own career. In this environment, who would dare to make a mistake?
As for whether these spies will get along well and protect each other, that remains to be seen.

Learn about the Prisoner's Dilemma!
At this moment, although it was late, Chen Mo still felt as if the sunlight had pierced through the thick clouds.

With the general direction settled, Chen Mo immediately sent a letter to his hometown. When it came to breaking down the plan, the bigwigs back home were definitely more professional.

The reply came much faster than he had expected. When Chen Mo carefully read the plan written in familiar Xia language, which was logically rigorous and rich in details, he saw a huge open conspiracy laid bare.

A day later, a high-level meeting was held in the grand central hall of the Hanhai City Lord's Mansion. The esteemed Chairman of the Xia Yue Alliance and Lord of Hanhai personally invited representatives from various forces to attend.

The towering dome was newly painted with patterns of stars, moon, white deer, and waves. The long obsidian conference table was so shiny it reflected the light. Envoys and translators from all sides gathered together, their eyes full of anticipation.

At the meeting, Chen Mo publicly stated, "If you want to send people to help, that's fine!"
However, some requirements must be met!
In addition, we have to spend some more money!

Upon hearing this, there was a moment of silence in the room, and the bigwigs from all sides present widened their eyes in unison.

What the hell?
Chen Mo calmly picked up the teacup, adopting the demeanor of a seasoned veteran cadre from Xia State, gently blew on it, took a sip, and then put the lid down.

"With the Western White Deer Plains now largely settled, there are countless affairs to manage in our territory, and the manpower of the Han Hai Territory is extremely limited. We are grateful to all our friends for their hard work and willingness to lend a helping hand to Han Hai. We, Han Hai, will remember this kindness!"

"Logically speaking, since everyone sent people to help me, I should be the one thanking them."

"But everyone is so enthusiastic, which makes it hard for me to choose!"

"They are all my good friends, and they have all helped Hanhai in some way in the past. It's inevitable that I'll show favoritism to some and not others!"

"So, after discussing it with the councilors of the territory, Helan came up with a good idea: we should be inclusive, but we need to set a small threshold."

Instantly, all eyes in the room focused on Helan. Helan's facial muscles twitched slightly, revealing his upper and lower teeth as he forced out a fairly polite smile.

Yes, that's right, it was my idea!
"Helan, tell everyone what's going on!"

"Alright, Your Excellency Chairman, distinguished guests, now I will briefly explain the relevant matters concerning the bidding project for administrative management positions at Hanhailing."

Tendering... or bidding?
The entire audience perked up their ears.

Heran brought out a thick stack of documents.

To be honest, when I first saw this plan, even Helan, a former high-end butler and now a veteran politician, felt a chill run down my spine.

In his mind, it was hard to imagine what kind of god was hiding behind his lord.

A god of product manufacturing, espionage, advanced firearms, and government affairs? What kind of nonsense is this...?

Or perhaps... a union of multiple gods?
Helan shook his head lightly, clearing his mind of the jumbled thoughts, cleared his throat, and began to report.

"First, we divided the bidding process for the entire government administration into three batches. The first batch, which is the pilot batch, will mainly explore the feasibility of this management method, summarize the experience and lessons learned, and lay a solid foundation for further expanding the scope of implementation."

Looking at the map hanging at the front of the conference room, Heran roughly drew a frame.

"In the first phase, we plan to open this area, namely Linhai County among the six counties of Bailu, as the pilot area for this bidding project, and start trial operation!"

"Within Linhai County, a total of 3,851 positions are open, which are divided into nine levels according to the Xia Yue Alliance's definition standards."

Next, Helan began to break down the points in detail, intentionally slowing down his speech.

"Among them, the village-level general management positions are designated as the first tier, with a total of 900 people employed; the village-level senior management positions are designated as the second tier, with a total of about 600 people employed. These mainly include village heads, deputy village heads, tax officials, farmland protection officials, inspectors, broadcasters, etc."

“The deputy township-level management positions are divided into three levels, with a total of 500 people employed; the township-level management positions are divided into four levels, with approximately 200 people employed. These include township garrison commanders, deputy township garrison commanders, stewards, clerks, chief tax collectors, treasury officials, and so on.”

"The deputy city-level management positions are divided into five levels, with approximately 300 employees; the city-level management positions are divided into six levels, with approximately 100 employees. These include the city lord, deputy city lord, county magistrate, registrar, patrol officers, and other relevant personnel in charge of various key city-level departments, etc."

"The deputy county-level management positions are divided into seven grades, with approximately 150 people employed; the county-level management positions are employed by approximately 21 people. These include county governors, prefectural governors, chief priests, inspectors, and heads of various county offices, etc."

"Finally, an additional 1,080 service personnel without official ranks will be hired to handle specific tasks related to transportation, communication, taxation, healthcare, and education, serving as a supplement to the service personnel in the pilot counties!"

"The specific positions, responsibilities, number of employees to be hired, and basic requirements have been compiled into an appendix. Any faction or tribe that is willing to actively participate in this bidding process can apply for a copy."

Each faction brought its own translator, and it took them quite a while to sort out the classification.

Next, we will discuss the specific requirements for the bidding process for this so-called project.

This is an extremely detailed document called the "Interim Measures for the Pilot Program of Recruitment and Management of Administrative Service Positions in Hanhailing Linhai County".

Although it's a bit awkward, Helan couldn't think of a better way to express the content at the moment, so he could only use it like this for now.

The document begins by stating clearly that it emphasizes complementary advantages and resource sharing.

[Given that talents from different countries possess diverse strengths and unique characteristics, and to ensure fair and efficient governance, foster complementary advantages, resource sharing, and promote better and faster development in the pilot areas, the basic principle is—"cross-appointment and departmental separation."]

The detailed rules stipulate that within the same administrative region, those who work together must be representatives from different factions, while in adjacent administrative regions, the chief administrative officer must be selected from personnel from different factions.

For example, if a town in Linhai County is guarded by Xiyue, then the deputy guard can only be chosen from other factions. The chief tax official, the chief security official, etc., must also belong to different factions than the guard and deputy guard.

Furthermore, as for other towns adjacent to this town, then unfortunately, the town garrison can no longer be assigned Xiyue people.

This is practically a color puzzle game... If one piece is red, the next one has to be blue, green, yellow, or purple, and you have to make sure that the same two colors don't overlap.

Helan now has to admit that it's fortunate there are enough forces that want to add sand to the Han Hai, otherwise this arrangement would be impossible to manage!

Of course, when these bigwigs heard this, everyone knew perfectly well that this was not a case of complementary advantages, but rather a mutual restraint.

But there was no other way; everyone had to put on a smile and offer their praise.

Next, there are the so-called direct and vertical management, dual-track system, performance evaluation of government officials, joint supervision, term limits...

Each item is accompanied by a long list of sub-clauses, implementation details, and explanations, making it virtually impossible to fully grasp the content within the short timeframe of this notification.

All the major factions submitted a "tender document" without prior agreement.

The staff from Hanhailing walked over confidently with a smile: "Hello, here is the tender document details. Each document costs thirty gold coins to process."

The price is obviously outrageously expensive, but for the various factions involved, this amount of money is certainly nothing.

After receiving the information, both Farrell and Colleen were dumbfounded.

This is a version written in Dongxia script, which I can't understand...

Fortunately, Han Hai Ling thoughtfully provides translations in multiple languages ​​for comparison with the original, and you can also learn Dongxia language along the way. Each language version costs only sixty gold coins.

Now that everyone has the materials, the following content will be much easier to understand.

For example, a series of detailed requirements for personnel selection and assessment.

For example, there are regulations regarding internships and formal employment. The details are too lengthy to list exhaustively, but one particularly noteworthy clause deserves special attention.

"If, during the pilot period, a high percentage of personnel from one faction are dismissed or even punished for violations of rules and regulations, then we have reason to question their sincerity in cooperation and their management capabilities. Subsequently, we will significantly reduce the number of managers recruited from that faction."

This is a clear warning: if anyone doesn't listen to the rules, they shouldn't come back.

When they first saw these conditions, some of the officials in the Han Hai Territory were quite puzzled. With such harsh conditions, why would anyone be so eager to come and throw their lives away?

This is because the mindset hasn't been adjusted.

For countries or forces that need to enhance their influence, people are not the problem, nor is money.

Just like on Earth, an official from a neutral international organization would be sought after by various countries, let alone someone who is in charge of managing the territory of another country.

Therefore, despite the stringent conditions and complicated procedures, all major forces responded enthusiastically.

Such a enthusiastic response was naturally within the expectations of the lord, or rather, the gods behind the lord.

Thus, the following category came about.

Helan cleared his throat, his voice slightly lower, as if he had a slight sore throat.

"What we're going to talk about next is mainly about costs and coverage."

"Originally, with your strength, Lord, there was no need to charge you any fees. However, several allies have expressed that the White Deer Territory has just expanded and is in dire need of rebuilding, with a large demand for funds everywhere. They have insisted on serving you, and you, Lord, cannot refuse their sincere wishes!"

The bigwigs sitting in the room began to subtly sized each other up.

Which bastard, or which few bastards, did such a shameless thing?
The Xi Yue proton squad? Very likely. Those guys were carefully trained by Xi Yue, but they've clearly forgotten their roots. It's said that now they're all single-mindedly trying to join the so-called "Torch Vanguard Team".

Judging by their enthusiasm, they probably wouldn't hesitate to sell their own fathers to Han Hai!
Elf?

It's also possible that, supposedly, the Queen's children, despite being significantly older than Liu Shuang, shamelessly insisted on the idea of ​​"the accomplished come first," calling her "sister" in an incredibly nauseatingly sweet manner...

The scene quickly turned into a large-scale game of guessing and suspicion, where everyone could be a suspect, but you could only guess, not ask.

In this atmosphere, everyone forced themselves to remain calm and listened to the following bidding arrangements.

"To demonstrate the sincerity of all parties in cooperation, to share the costs of organizing, training, and managing Hanhailing, and to establish necessary constraint mechanisms, the following expense items are hereby set up:"

"The first item is the cost of materials and registration."

"To obtain the tender details and job postings, a document processing fee of fifty silver coins is required for each set. Formal applicants shall pay a registration fee of thirty silver coins and an examination organization and review fee of twenty silver coins."

"The second item is the security deposit."

At this point, Helan's voice dropped even lower.

"The positions offered by Han Hai Territory this time are extremely important and crucial to the local people's livelihood. To prevent significant losses to the development of Han Hai's directly affiliated territories due to deliberate sabotage by certain forces, all those who are dispatched by a clearly identified force and successfully assume their positions must pay a certain amount of 'performance guarantee deposit'."

"The security deposit is collected according to the job level. The deposit is 20 gold coins per person for each level, and the deposit increases by 20 gold coins for each level. This security deposit will be fully refunded to the dispatching party after the personnel have no major misconduct, have completed their term of office and passed the review."

"If any of the dispatched personnel commits misconduct, corruption, dereliction of duty, or fails the evaluation during the period, we have the right to terminate the employment midway and the deposit will not be refunded. If the misconduct of the dispatched personnel causes significant economic losses, the territory has the right to pursue additional compensation liability!"

"Third, translation equipment costs. Considering that the personnel in the same regional management system come from all over the country, there may be language barriers and communication difficulties with local personnel. Therefore, the dispatching party should equip the management personnel with multilingual translators to ensure smooth communication in management work."

"If the sending party cannot meet the above conditions, then we can provide translation equipment, of course, in which case a corresponding translation fee will be charged..."

"Fourth, clothing and equipment costs..."

Fifth, pre-employment training fees...

"Sixth, remote communication fees..."

"eighth……"

Of course, Hanhailing doesn't just collect money without paying out; managers in every position receive a salary.

However, according to everyone's estimates, if they don't make any mistakes and their deposit isn't deducted, they would have to work a full term, which is about four years, to barely break even.

This is considered a standard "bring your own food" option, or a "deposit in installments, pay in full upfront" option with full upfront payment!

After Helan finished reading this long passage, a slight commotion and low whispers arose in the main hall of the city lord's mansion.

Who will be the first to express their opinion?

The young deputy envoy representing the heavens was the first to stand up, his voice loud and firm.

"The Sky Empire fully understands and supports all arrangements made by the Vast Ocean Territory! We believe this is a fair and visionary system, and Sky Empire is willing to actively participate and strictly abide by all regulations!"

Chen Ye, the chief envoy of the Sky Dome, was still busy running around for the lord in Xiyue and could not attend the meeting in person. Therefore, he entrusted the matter of attending the meeting to his deputy envoy who was staying at the scene. He made instructions in advance: no matter what my uncle says, you just agree, clap, cheer and support!

For the Sky Empire, the fact that, after hundreds of years, a group of people were able to enter the Eastern Continent openly and legitimately under the name of Sky Empire was a historically significant moment in itself.

If this task can be accomplished, His Majesty the Emperor of the Sky, Grand Secretary Chen, and even Special Envoy Chen Ye will all have a great opportunity to make a name for themselves.

This isn't about money!
Therefore, Chen Ye gave the order without any psychological hindrance, and the deputy envoy held up his hand without any mental burden.

Once someone took the lead, the situation became clear instantly, and everyone had no choice but to raise their hands and actively participate.

After all, if you get involved, the only loss might be a small amount of money. If handled properly, you might be able to recover the losses from other sources. But if you miss out, who knows what the elders in your family will think?

With that, the bidding briefing was a complete success, and tonight, our Chairman Chen can finally get a good night's sleep.

Unfortunately, poor Helan still had to work overtime; the windows on the top floor of the government building were brightly lit.

After downing his third cup of coffee, Helan shook his head from side to side and began to carefully plan the specific arrangements for the registration and review process.

This thick plan actually contains a portion of content that was not included in the distributed materials or announced at the "bidding" meeting, but existed as notes and annotations.

Helan looked closely and found it increasingly astonishing and shocking.

For example, why was the pilot program chosen to be located in Linhai County?
The document states very clearly that, firstly, Linhai County is adjacent to the eastern coast and is the furthest from the control areas of other forces. As long as the Hanhai Navy controls several important ports, even if the county's administrators and security forces become rebels, they will hardly receive any support from the outside world.

Meanwhile, most of the coastal prefecture is within range of one wave of attacks from the sea tribes. As long as the relationship between the lord and the sea tribes remains unchanged, no matter how chaotic things get, suppression will be a matter of minutes.

In other words, this plan was designed with the worst-case scenario in mind from the very beginning, and it included a contingency plan in case of a county-wide rebellion.

For example, apart from the prefect and a few officials directly under the prefecture being appointed by Chen Mo, the city lords and deputy city lords of various towns can be appointed by bureaucrats from other forces. This level of power is unprecedented, and once the literacy work in the territory is completed, it may very well be the last of its kind!

Can these people get things done while they're bickering with each other?
This requires clear objectives and strong oversight.

The document introduces a new concept called two-way review.

The first layer consists of a top-down audit and evaluation team led by Han Hai Ling and with the participation of members from multiple factions. This team regularly conducts audits of job responsibilities and reviews of work results in each region.

On another level, from the bottom up, a special agency will soon be established within the territory of Han Hai. This agency will not have any administrative power, nor will it accept members from any third-party forces. It will be selected directly from the grassroots and appointed and managed directly by the Han Hai lord.

This organization is called the Social Affairs Department, and the position is "People's Investigator" without a rank.

A name that sounds utterly powerless.

The job description was written in a long, dense string, but Helan immediately noticed Chen Mo's handwritten annotations within it.

That was Chen Mo's latest achievement in theoretical study—

"From the common people, to the common people!"

(End of this chapter)