The World Online

After returning home, Ouyang Shuo took the purchased kumquat, narcissus, and peach blossoms and placed them appropriately around the room. With the fruitful kumquat, the fresh and elegant narcissus, and the cheerful peach, it seemed to make the room a bit brighter.

Brother and sister then simply ate dinner. After playing around for a whole day and running here and there, Bing’er was tired and went to bed right after dinner, not even bothering to wash up, really lazy of her.

Considering the time was still early, Ouyang Shuo didn’t log in, but instead went online and checked out the game forum.

There was no doubt that Shanhai Town had caused an explosion on the forums. As the first township in the world, not just in China, everyone was discussing him, and gossip was flying.

In order to attract attention, all the titles of the posts were actually longer than what was being written.

‘Mysterious man and little idiot, tell you about the real Qiyue Wuyi - Gossip Weekly interview.’

‘Embarrassing things from Qiyue Wuyi’s childhood - Buddy Ake interview.’

‘Is he the messenger of peace, or a tyrant of chaos? - Lianzhou Basin leader Huang Shiren interview.’

‘The secret of Shanhai Town - Scarf Decryption.’

‘Scary! Ugly Qiyue Wuyi and game goddess Bai Hua are dating! - Paparazzi Weekly.

‘From the bottom to the top, the history of the town of fortune - Entertainment Weekly.’

‘News! Qiyue Wuyi and Shenjun secret meeting - The Wicked Turn Special Report’

‘From the origin of species, to the Darwinian theory of evolution, and then onto Qiyue Wuyi - The Korean Descent.’

‘That night, I shared secrets with Qiyue Wuyi - Ami Interview.’

Ouyang Shuo really had to admire the imagination of these guys, spinning news out of thin air. Fortunately it was only published on a forum, not in a formal press release, or else he would have had to sue them for slander.

Putting aside the nonsensical gossip, there were also a few relevant posts.One of them by Bai Xiaosheng got his attention. The name of the post was “Big guess about the gold token, clues to Shanhai”, and was enough to attract his eye.

Bai Xiaosheng was clearly different from the general gossipers. He was not only well-informed, he even had some game insider information, as opposed to others who knew nothing.

He talked directly about the original intention of Gaia’s design for the gold-level village tokens, and then talked about how Shanhai Village took root in the frontier and quickly rose to prominence.

The whole post was based on so-called facts, and as it was spun out, it finally concluded that China’s gold-level token had fallen into the hands of Qiyue Wuyi, and that was the secret behind the rise of Shanhai Town.

Although the arguments were utterly ridiculous, almost diametrically opposed to what actually happened, the conclusion was actually guessed correctly. Ouyang Shuo believed that such a post would not long escape the heart of the people. It wouldn’t be long before the news of Shanhai being a gold token village would spread throughout China.

However, he would be prepared for anything that was to come. It was fine, let the world know, he was not afraid of being challenged anymore. Since it was almost time to log in, he ignored the news on the forum, directly closing his handbrain, and went into the game cabin. Once he logged in, it was already 8 AM in-game.

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At this time in the morning, people from the lower levels of government and apprentices from all the skilled trades had begun to assemble in the town square.

Going with Gu Xiuwen to Beihai Village were a full 55 people, in addition to the 250 salt pan workers. Beihai Village had been established and the population was already over 300, already exceeding the limit of a grade 1 village.

At 9 AM, the group officially moved out from the square, heading to the dock through the eastern gates. At the pier, more than forty fishing boats were ready. In addition to the people, the boats were also transporting the many basic materials prepared by the Material Reserves Department.

Ouyang Shuo led the officers to the dock for sending off Gu Xiuwen.

Originally he wanted to go with the crowd, and witness the establishment of the subsidiary village. However, he couldn’t as there were a lot of things waiting for him to deal with, and he didn’t have enough time. He had to spend his time very efficiently now.

After all, there were four days until New Year’s Eve, and a lot of things had to be set down in advance.

Everything that needed to be said had been said yesterday. Ouyang Shuo did not say any sensational words, but gave Gu Xiuwen a hard pat on the shoulder, smiled, and said, “Take care!”

Xiuwen nodded eagerly, bowing low and humbly to Ouyang Shuo in thanks. Behind him, the new Beihai villagers all bowed as well. Receiving their honor, Ouyang Shuo bowed back formally as well. Then, under the leadership of Xiuwen, they all boarded the fishing boats, one after another.

Watching the fleet of ships gradually row away, Ouyang Shuo turned to the officials behind him and said, “Okay, time to head back. There is a lot to do today.”

Back at the Manor, Ouyang Shuo called the three directors to the office to discuss something.

After greetings, Ouyang Shuo said directly, “Today I called you three here to discuss the establishment of a security team for the territory. Tell me about your views on this.”

Fan Zhongyan nodded and said, “Indeed, with the expansion of the territory, the population is rapidly expanding. Every day, we are adding 75 new immigrants. The security situation is getting more and more severe. Before fights and thieves start to spread, it is necessary to set up a team dedicated to enforcing territorial security.”

“I also agree, but is the security force going to operate independently, or exist under the army?” Cui Yingyu asked.

Tian Wenjing shook his head and said, “It is standard that the security team must be independent. The power of law and order belongs to the government. It should not be entangled with the military, otherwise there will be endless trouble.”

After listening to the views of his ministers, Ouyang Shuo was deeply pleased. Now he was allowing them to make more and more decisions, instead of making arbitrary rulings of his own. More and more often, he could listen to the views of the heads of the departments, and after collecting their views, make a decision.

After all, personal wisdom is limited, there would inevitably be omissions. Excellent lords learned to use the wisdom of the team. Not to mention, arbitrary rules in the long-term tended to breed complacency and closed minds, leading to unwillingness to listen to the views of others.

He smiled and said, “What Director Tian has said is very reasonable. Military and government affairs must operate independently. I thought about setting up a security team, but after listening to your views, I think that setting up a special division would be more logical and reasonable.

“The new division will be called the Security Division, it will be mainly responsible for the prevention, suppression, and detection of criminal activities; to maintain the order of the territory and stop disruptions to that order; to manage traffic and dangerous goods; and to guard important places and facilities.”

“Guarding important places and facilities, Big Brother is specifically referring to what places? Does this include the Four Seas Bank?” Yingyu was clearly interested in this description. There were treasures inside the bank, but no guards for now, this was something to worry about.

“Naturally, at this stage, it will include the Lord’s Manor and the Four Seas Bank as two places needing special guards.”

As the Chief Administrative Officer, Fan Zhongyan also considered the establishment of the division, saying, “In accordance with the meaning of the lord, the duties of the Security Division are heavy. I[a]n addition to general security duties, they would also be responsible for dangerous goods control, guards, and other work. What is sire’s plan on this division’s headcounts?”

“As for employees, we are tentatively aiming for 20. All members of the security division must be constables or detectives,” Ouyang Shuo replied quickly.

“Twenty people? This would be the largest current division. We cannot currently accommodate so many people in the Manor. In my opinion, it would be best to set up a special office for the Security Division.” Yingyu said with a smile.

Ouyang Shuo nodded. “Yes, I see your point. In front of the square, set up a courtyard specifically as an office for the security division. In addition, the security officers will be equipped with uniforms, weapons, and gear. This matter will be done by the Material Reserves Department.”

Tien Wenjing nodded, there would be no problems with that.

The next subject was the important personnel arrangements. Here, the three directors had inevitable doubts about who to recommend.

At this time, the concierge servant shouted, “Reporting to the lord, former militia member Li Tie, reporting as ordered!”

Everyone stopped in surprise.

“Send him in!”

A man in his early thirties entered the mayor’s office. Ouyang Shuo greeted him and told him to sit down. He smiled at Li Tie as he introduced him to the three directors.

Li Tie had been retired when he got injured. Fan Zhongyan and Tian Wenjing were not at Shanhai then, and naturally did not know of this. Even Yingyu wasn’t familiar with him because he was in the militia team.

Ouyang Shuo’s call had made Li Tie very excited. He naturally remembered the battle at the first bandit camp, and how he and Song Yi had been seriously injured and had to retire from the militia.

Just when the two had felt most depressed, Ouyang Shuo had personally come to the hospital to visit them and cheer them up. He had said that after the territory upgraded to a township, he would recruit them into the security team. Sure enough, the day after the upgrade, he had been summoned by the lord.

Ouyang Shuo smiled. “Li Tie is my recommendation for Secretary of Security, in addition to two others, Song Yi and Zhao Kui. They will be in charge of setting up the Security Division.”

Zhao Kui was injured in the second bandit camp battle and was forced to retire, with his left ear shorn clean off. The other three disabled cavalrymen were even more seriously disabled, and no longer suitable for security management work.

Speaking of odd things, the three backbones Ouyang Shuo had recommended were all missing something - Li Tie was blind in one eye, Song Yi had lost two fingers, and Zhao Kui an ear. None of them were perfectly intact.

History is often a joke. That is, these three wounded men, in the years following, would lead the division to its illustrious reputation. Lie Tie would be known as the One-Eyed Detective, Song Yi would be the Iron Hand, and Zhao Kui would be called The One Ear, together they would be the three gods of detectives in the territory.