By noon of the day, all the matters that should be arranged inside and outside Songshan City were arranged. Yang Zhen ended the military meeting and told the generals to disperse to prepare.

Zu Keyong's troops stationed at the Empress' Palace were going to the border with Yang Zhen this time, so Yang Zhen asked Lu Pinqi to send a cavalry team to temporarily take over the defense of the Empress' Palace.

Similarly, Yang Zhen also ordered Xia Chengde to send a group of cavalry to Rufenggang in Luhong Mountain to strengthen the defense of Rufenggang after Xu Changyong's main force followed him westward the next day.

The construction of the new Heishigang smelting shed built by the ironworks in Luhong Mountain has already begun. Wang Shoutang, Wang Sheng and his son appointed Liu Da, one of the capable men of the ironworks, to personally take charge of the Heishigang smelting shed.

At present, the ten men and horses newly recruited by Meng He in Rufeng Gang are responsible for mining and transporting lead and iron ore. After Xu Changyong, Li Ma and others left with their teams, there will not be enough people to guard Rufeng Gang and even Heishigang.

In Yang Zhen's memory, although there was no impression of the Tatars attacking the Songjin front in May or June of the twelfth year of Chongzhen, he still did not dare to take it lightly.

After all, the current situation has undergone some changes. In April, he led his troops to attack behind enemy lines and messed up the southern Liaoning area occupied by the Manchu Tatars. What if the Manchu Tatars couldn't bear it and raised troops to retaliate?

Rufenggang and the Empress's Palace are both the outposts of Songshan City. If the Manchu Tatars want to go east to Songshan, they must pass through the Empress's Palace. If the Manchu Tatars want to go west to Songshan from Jinzhou City, they must pass through Rufenggang.

Peak.

With these two outposts, even if the Manchu Tatars come to retaliate, Songshan City, Sailor Camp Sandbank, and Anchor Bay Boat Camp will have some time to give early warning.

Xia Chengde and Lu Pinqi both understand these principles, so there is no need for Yang Zhen to waste any words.

At the same time, now that the Assistant Camp Affairs Office of the General Military Mansion has been established in Songshan City, there is an office to manage all the people inside and outside Songshan, so this time Yang Zhen directly made it clear that he would lead his team to leave the General Military Mansion and leave.

During the period of Songshan Castle, all guard affairs inside and outside Songshan Castle were coordinated and handled by the Associate Camp Affairs Office.

The remaining generals had already experienced Yang Zhen's absence in Songshan City once, so no one had any objections this time. Only Zhang Degui, the advance battalion staff general in charge of the Assistant Battalion Affairs Office, felt the pressure.

After the military meeting in the lobby in the front yard of the General Military Mansion ended at noon that day, Zhang Degui first saw off the generals, arranged the horses and ammunition for Yang Zhen and his party, and then went to the inner courtyard of the General Military Mansion to see Yang Zhen.

"Sir! You will set off tomorrow. Do you think there is anything else you would like to say to the Assistant Camp Affairs Office? How should the Assistant Camp Affairs Office prioritize the affairs outside Songshan City?"

When Zhang Degui met Yang Zhen, he didn't need to be polite. He directly asked some questions in his heart and asked Yang Zhen for advice.

Yang Zhen had already known that Zhang Degui would come back to inquire, and he did have some things to explain to Zhang Degui alone, so he pondered and said:

"Two things, you have to pay attention to! One is a boy named Li Ji, who is responsible for supervising and inspecting the affairs of the Coordinating Camp Affairs Office. Ask him to choose from the people's Zhuang camp after Anqing and the old people in our advance camp.

Some personnel will work with you to assist the Camp Affairs Office in supervising and inspecting matters!"

When Yang Zhen said this, he saw a look of surprise on Zhang Degui's face. Without waiting for him to ask, he continued: "You must not have the intention to harm others, but you must have the intention to guard against others! I don't want to be in Songshan City

What kind of factory is there, Jinyiwei? This is just to prevent spies from sneaking into Songshan City and preventing someone in our team from stealing from others!"

Zhang Degui nodded repeatedly when he heard what Yang Zhenmo said, and responded: "It's because I was negligent in my humble duty! I was negligent! This matter should have been started a long time ago! If we had started to arrange it earlier, maybe there would be no such troublesome things as before!"

Seeing that Zhang Degui had understood what he meant, Yang Zhen nodded to him and said with a smile: "However, it doesn't sound good to talk about this matter after all. You don't want to make it public and just do it secretly! People who know about it will definitely

No more, just you and Li Ji are enough for now!"

Although Zhang Degui has never done this kind of thing, he has heard more or less about the activities engaged in by Dongxi Factory and Jinyiwei. Things like this kind of espionage, infiltration, and snitching are indeed not suitable to be carried out in public with great fanfare.

.

Thinking of this, Zhang Degui added: "It is indeed not appropriate to make it public, but if Li Ji wants to do this, he must have a name! Otherwise, he would walk around in and out of the city without a name in some places, and his name would not be justified.

Can’t go!”

After hearing this, Yang Zhen touched the stubble on his chin and pondered for a moment, and then said: "In that case, let's give it an upright name! - In this way, it will be called the Statistics Office, or the Statistics Office, General Soldier

Statistical Office of the Government’s Assistant Business and Operations Office!”

Statistics Office?! What is this name?!

Zhang Degui had never heard of such a name as a statistical office or statistical institute, and he had never seen such a functional office in the imperial court or in the previous guard office. So after hearing Yang Zhen's words, he was immediately filled with satisfaction.

Confused, he looked up at Yang Zhen, his eyes full of doubts.

However, this name sounds mysterious and ambiguous at first glance, and it seems to have some official meaning at the same time.

Seeing Zhang Degui's appearance, Yang Zhen knew that his statement was a bit abrupt. An old-school figure like Zhang Degui might not be able to understand the hidden secrets at the moment, so he smiled and added to him:

"The office I'm talking about means aboveboard, fair and upright. As for statistics, it means getting to the bottom of things, investigating, and finding out the situation! The statistics office is the place where we get to the bottom of things, investigate and find out the situation!"

When Yang Zhen said this, he smiled when he saw that Zhang Degui had some understanding, and then said: "Ask Li Ji to take charge of the affairs of this statistical office, and ask him to collect statistics on the people, women and children, barracks, and residences of the various ministries in Songshan.

Do it in the name of craftsmanship, ordnance, supplies, etc.!

"But you and Li Ji must make it clear that the name is the name, the reality is the reality, the face is the face, and the inside is the inside. Of course, you have to do the statistics of the various ministries, but you can't miss anything that really needs to be done!

"

When Zhang Degui heard this, he immediately understood. He suddenly realized in his heart and secretly called for a clever move.

With this ambiguous and paradoxical so-called public office, under the guise of statistics on the personnel, horses, barracks and accommodation, ordnance and supplies of various ministries, it is indeed very convenient for Li Ji and the personnel recruited by Li Ji to penetrate every corner of Songshan City.

The corner has gone.

"At the same time, you also told Li Ji that we must have strict requirements on the statistics office. It is okay to investigate various situations in the name of statistics, but if we find any findings, such as finding any suspicious persons or suspicious situations, we must first

Reports are coming, and no unauthorized actions are allowed! All spies and informants recruited by him from other departments must be reported truthfully!"

Yang Zhen was not willing to cultivate an underground team that was out of his control, nor was he willing to set up such a statistics office, which would eventually alienate all the people from him.

"Of course, Lao Zhang, you have never done any of those spying and spying activities that Li Ji did in the yamen. There are some things that you really don't understand. For things you don't understand, you must learn to delegate power. Therefore, the matters of the Statistics Institute

, just ask Li Ji to do it by himself! If he doesn’t understand anything, he can come to me directly in the future!

"Moreover, we have plenty of money now. The money that Li Lu got back from behind enemy lines with me last time has also been handed over to you. Don't be afraid to spend the money. If you keep it, it won't produce offspring. It's time to spend it.

Don’t save money! Allocate more money to the Bureau of Statistics and ask them to get started as soon as possible!”

Zhang Degui nodded repeatedly after hearing what Yang Zhen said. Although he has always been very stingy and reluctant to part with money, since Yang Zhen said this, he had to fully support Li Ji and support the affairs of the Statistics Institute first.

Li Ji is a new face in Songshan City. Not many people recognize him. If Yang Zhen hadn't promoted him, no one would know who he is.

Therefore, it is very difficult for him to develop informants among various ministries. Apart from using money to clear the way, there is currently no better way.

Yang Zhenyi said that Zhang Degui quickly understood this, and he also knew that the money should be spent. If it can be effective, then it will be worth spending any amount of money.

When this matter came to this point, Yang Zhen didn't want to talk about it any more, but instead turned to the second thing that Zhang Degui should pay attention to.

"The second one is that after I leave, the Assistant Camp Affairs Office will focus on the ammunition factory and ironworks, and will not stop work and production even for a day, including the black iron ore and pyrite in Heishigang and Hongluoshan, as well as

The nitrate soil in several caves and mines in Hongluo Mountain should be processed locally if it can be processed locally. If it cannot be processed locally, it should be transported back as much as possible!

"You must remember that sulfur, black tin, and saltpeter are crucial to our future battles to defend Songshan. The more the merrier, no matter how much we get back, we won't be too much!"

Zhang Degui didn't even mention this second thing. Moreover, the ammunition factory and the iron factory were two places directly under the jurisdiction of the advance battalion, and he was always in charge of it. Everything was easy to handle. He nodded repeatedly.

.

Next, Zhang Degui saw that Yang Zhen had finished talking about the two things he said, but did not mention the marriage with Qiu again, so he asked again:

"Sir! Should we wait until you come back to propose marriage to the Qiu family, or should we strike while the iron is hot and settle the matter as soon as possible?"

"What do you mean?"

"The meaning of my humble position is that since I have talked to Qiu Zhenhai today and they have agreed, we might as well finalize this matter as soon as possible. This time, my lord, you can take advantage of the opportunity to go to the border and ask someone to spread the news.
Chapter completed!