The World Online

In his office was piled a bunch of leather armor. There were belts, bracers, and boots. Although Little Mu was usually naughty, she was very serious when it came to crafting.

Ouyang Shuo picked up the armor pieces one by one to inspect them. The buffalo hide was sewn into two leather breastplates and four belts. The wild boar boss’s hide was sewn into four sets of knee and wrist guards, while the wolf boss fur had been used to make four pairs of boots. As for the wild dog boss’s fur, it had little value, so Mu Qing had made four quivers out of it.

It was a total of 18 pieces of equipment. Except for the leather breastplates, they were all silver class. The two breastplates were gold and dark gold levels, respectively. Ouyang Shuo guessed that Little Mu had broken through to Master Tailor when she had successfully crafted this dark gold piece.

Name: Guardian Bull (Dark-gold)

Type: Leather

Weight: 3 kg

Defense: 60

Toughness: 65

Maker: Mu Qingsi (with equipment naming rights)

Evaluation: Made by senior tailor Mu Qingsi from Grade 9 buffalo boss hide. Exquisite workmanship, reasonable design, excellent protection.

At this stage, the average player had black iron equipment, and occasionally one or two pieces of silver equipment. As for gold equipment, he figured that only the leaders from top ten mercenary groups had one or two random pieces, and considered them as their top treasures.

In the entire China region, there were probably not more than five pieces of dark gold equipment, basically all monopolized by lord players. Even if he had Little Mu try her luck again, she wouldn’t necessarily be able to craft another dark gold leather. There was a lot of luck involved.

Ouyang Shuo replaced the Brutal Guardian armor on his body with this Guardian Bull dark gold armor. Then he put on the belt and greaves. As for the bracers and boots, they were silver level and he kept the Brutal set he was wearing.

The rest of the armor he prepared to give it as rewards to the infantry squadron. Because the weapons workshop had no ability to forge iron armors yet, they were still light infantry. These leathers were suitable for their use.

However, it was not the time to reward them yet. One, they were still militia being trained up, and two, he hadn’t decided who the infantry squadron captain was going to be, so he didn’t know who to reward.

Having dealt with the equipment, Ouyang Shuo stayed in the office and didn’t go out again.

————————————-

The next afternoon, the low level test for meritorious services evaluation was completed and the results made ready.

In the Mayor’s office, Mr. Fan, Tian Wenjing, and Cui Yingyu, the Three Secretaries, had gathered to listen to the end of the year evaluation report.

Mr. Fan rose and saluted Ouyang Shuo. “This evaluation is mainly for the low level bureaucrats. The officers are not included as they will be evaluated by my lord yourself. As for the Security Division, that is no longer within the scope of this evaluation, nor is Beihai Village included.

“Therefore, this assessment is mainly aimed at the Agriculture Division, the Construction Division, and the Household Registration Division under the Administration Department; the Taxation Division, the Business Division and the Four Seas Bank under the Finance Department; and the Salt Pan Division, Combat Logistic Division, Resource Division, and Transportation Division of the Material Reserves Department.

“The evaluation mainly looked at two aspects,morality and ability. In the eight divisions under the three departments, plus the independent agency, there are a total of 64 low level administrative staff. Excellent ratings, there were 4. There were 18 people rated as Good; 39 rated as Qualified; and 3 rated as Poor.”

After listening to Mr. Fan’s report, Ouyang Shuo’s expression was solemn. From these evaluation reports, it was easy to see that the quality of entry-level bureaucrats was generally low. More than half of them were only qualified, only four were excellent, and three were poor. It couldn’t help but make him angry. He asked, “Who was rated poorly?”

“According to the reaction of the staff, the first person, Zhao Si, was rude, often abusive, and even whips the workers.

One of the shopkeepers of the meat shop for the Resource Division, called Sun Quan, often took meat buns home, and then blamed the others for the deficit.

The last one is the granary steward for the Resource Division. He was negligent in his duty, and under his ignorant watch, the grains were polluted by rodents, causing losses of thousands of grains.” Mr. Fan was clearly prepared, as the report was very detailed.

His face gloomy, Ouyang Shuo asked, “On the merit tests of these three, what is your view on their punishments?”

“The recommended measures of the Meritorious Service Division is to withdraw them from their duties and blacklist them from any posts for life.”

Ouyang Shuo obviously did not want to let off these scum so easily, and he sternly said, “This treatment is not far enough. Take them and have them to work on the walls and moat. They will be given only three meals a day. When the walls and moat are finished, so will their punishment.”

“In addition, I will punish the secretary for Construction Zhao Dewang for two months salary, and fine the secretary of Resource Division Du Xiaolan for three months salary. Furthermore, I remember the meat shopkeeper was originally appointed by the former deputy secretary of Resource Division, Zhao Youfang. He will and must also be punished. Zhao Youfang will forfeit six months of his salary, and he will be taken off the list for Secretary of Combat Logistic Division, only functioning as the deputy for now.”

Ouyang Shuo’s thunderous declaration tightened the hearts of all of them. Not only did he increase the punishment for dereliction of duty, he had further made their bosses accountable!

Director of Material Reserves Department Tian Wenjing was also apprehensive. Of the three being dismissed, two were under the Material Reserves Department, and was also connected to a secretary. As their director, he was naturally to blame.

Tian Wenjing arose, bowed deeply, and exclaimed, “For such a flaw being under the Material Reserves Department, please blame me!”

Ouyang Shuo waved his hand. “Director Tian, you were not here when the two were appointed. I am not going to extend the punishment to you for not knowing the culprits after learning the scope of the crime. Of course, I hope that the Directors will be able to correctly implement proper rules and conduct, and this will not continue to occur.”

Tian Wenjing nodded fiercely, saying, “Thank you, my lord, for your grace. I will certainly work hard to thoroughly rectify the Material Reserves Department, I will not fail my lord’s trust!”

Ouyang Shuo looked again to Mr. Fan, asking, “Who was rated excellent?”

“The first of the four people was in the Division of Agriculture, called Sun Yannong. He was responsible for water conservancy projects. This person was hailed by the farmers as loving to lead everyone in water projects, having both ability and political integrity.

“The second person was a planner in the Construction Division called Hao Jiancheng. The reason the moat project is proceeding so smoothly is due to this person.

“The third person is at the Four Seas Bank, a clerk named Yang Yun. This person gives thoughtful and careful service.

“The fourth person is in the Salt pan Division, called Shen Zhui. He has a deep knowledge of the salt pan processes.”

Mr. Fan’s comments were refined and sharply presented.

Ouyang Shuo slowly smiled on hearing this, and said, “Well, these are excellent talents, and should be promoted. As I have said, there will be penalties, and there will be rewards. I have decided to appoint Sun Yannong Agricultural Deputy Secretary; appoint Hao Jiancheng as Assistant to the Secretary for Construction; appoint Yang Yun as Hall Manager of the Four Seas Bank; and appoint Shen Zhui as Deputy Secretary of the Salt Pan Division.”

Mr. Fan was a bit overwhelmed, hesitating for a moment, and then bit the bullet to speak up. “My lord, I admit that Sun Yannong and Shen Chun are very good, but promoting two people directly to deputy secretary, is that not a little much? Appointment as assistant Secretary is more appropriate.”

Ouyang Shuo shook his head and replied, “Since these young people are so good, they should be boldly promoted to build a broader platform for them to develop on. As for the reason why promotions are so urgent, there are other considerations. But since you have asked, I will answer your question.

“First, the salt pans. From the day it was established, it has had no one looking over it full time. First, it was me, part time, and then you; it was always some other people from a higher level holding the concurrent post. Therefore, I have decided Shen Chuan is the person to cultivate in the Division at this time. If he can pick up the banner and run with it, then I will not hesitate to promote him again.

“For the Agricultural Division, it is a huge department, in charge of many affairs. With agriculture, forestry, and animal breeding under it, it is obviously difficult for secretary Zhao Dexian to handle it alone. Therefore appointing a deputy director is necessary. Not just these divisions, but the others, if there are talented candidates, you three directors can always recommend them to me. With the continuous expansion of the territory, it is necessary to increase the territory’s efforts to train a reserve of personnel. Give the newcomers some chances to create more possibilities for the territory.”

The three chiefs nodded, accepting Ouyang Shuo’s explanation. Ouyang Shuo had taken the time to explain all that because he didn’t want them to hold some doubts. Many of the things he wanted to do had to go through them. If they didn’t communicate well, this would produce bias when it came time to implement, which he did not want to see.

After dealing with the evaluations, the atmosphere in his office became much less tense.

Cui Yingyu laughed and said, “Big Brother, this is going to change the New Year slightly. Everyone is looking forwards for the rewards for their hard work, I hope you are ready to scatter some money around.”

Ouyang Shuo smiled and said, “I will be rewarding some people. It is time to set a standard. Mr. Fan, in accordance with the secretary’s findings, each secretary is to receive 1 gold coin, each deputy director 80 silver coins, each assistant 50 silver coins. For results on the evaluations, the bureaucrats will receive 1 gold coin for an Excellent evaluation, and 30 silver for a Good evaluation. For whoever compiled the statistics in the Treasury department, come to me and collect the reward funds.”

“What about the 3 of us?” Yingyu asked.

“You? You will not use these terms as a reward for you. Rest assured that I alone have prepared a reward. As for what it is specifically, wait until tomorrow when I announce it,” Ouyang Shuo quipped.

*[Long Taos]: side characters in Chinese operas who perform acrobatics and fight scenes

*[12.47 to 13.07]: don’t ask me about the tree sap