“So, do I have to reintroduce myself?” Feng Zi’s mood relaxed when he heard Ye Tao readily agree to his request. “Or does the governor already know my background?”

Ye Tao smiled noncommittally. He did indeed know the origin of this “madman,” Feng Zi, but in any case, it wasn’t good to conduct private investigations on someone you were on friendly terms with. Ye Tao said, “If you don't want to say, I'll just treat you as Feng Zi. There's no difference.”

With this unspoken understanding, Feng Zi continued to use this unique name and began to serve as a Dian Shu Cong Shi (Book Compilation Officer) in the Grand Canal Governor's Office. Basically, according to Ye Tao's understanding, this position was similar to the secretary-general of the governor's office. If Feng Zi was of average talent, the position would be extremely easy, because he would have several capable subordinates, half of whom would be selected through examinations. If Feng Zi had strong abilities, he would be one of Ye Tao's most important advisors, but it would still be easy. Apart from the occasional extremely important document that required him to personally handle it, the majority of the work would be done by his subordinates. Obviously, Ye Tao and Feng Zi were both very satisfied with this arrangement.

Ye Tao dared to boldly promote Feng Zi to such an important and critical position, naturally because he already had a considerable understanding of Feng Zi's background. Feng Zi's real name was Qu Fengzi. His grandfather was the former Yiyang Governor, Qu Xin, and his father, Qu Yan, was currently a Hubu Xunchashi (Ministry of Revenue Inspector), whose main task was to verify the accusations made by censors and officials against other officials, and also to supervise the censors and officials themselves, which was a very interesting and important position. Feng Zi's maternal grandfather, Feng Henian, was once the "chief physician" of the Dongping royal family—naturally, this "chief physician" title was also fabricated by Ye Tao for his own understanding. Perhaps because Feng Henian had snatched too many people from the clutches of the King of Hell, Feng Henian never had a son in his life. His only daughter married Qu Yan, and it was planned that Qu Fengzi would take his mother's surname in order to inherit Feng Henian's superb medical skills. However, when this matter was agreed upon, both Qu Xin and Qu Yan readily agreed, but now, Qu Fengzi was still Qu Yan's only son, and Qu Yan still felt that it was too unpleasant to let Qu Fengzi take his mother's surname. Now, what Qu Fengzi was actually called was really a question. Perhaps believing that taking his mother's surname would allow him to avoid the expectations of his grandfather and father for his career development, Qu Fengzi still preferred to take his mother's surname. However, this did not mean that he liked being a doctor. When his parents, grandfather, and maternal grandfather all began to put pressure on him, he ran away. Calling himself "Feng Zi" did indeed have a bit of a rebellious flavor.

The reason why Feng Zi was under so much pressure was because he did indeed have extraordinary talent. Although he wasn't known as a child prodigy in his hometown from a young age, he could almost memorize anything he saw, and he also seemed to have considerable understanding of various kinds of knowledge, synthesis, understanding of human relationships, and the matters between the officialdom and interpersonal relationships that his father, grandfather, and his maternal grandfather, who actually understood the officialdom very well, intentionally or unintentionally mentioned. In general, he was definitely a figure who could be entrusted with ideals. Except that he himself was unwilling to be placed with such heavy hopes.

A few days later, Feng Zi, as one of the members of the examination paper judging team, selected the candidates he needed from thousands of examination papers. And with this examination, which had never appeared in Dongping's history, the framework of the Grand Canal Governor's Office gradually became complete.

Lu Dan finally handed over the work of the Ye Residence's chief steward, also ending his history of holding the two positions of chief steward and guard captain concurrently. As a governor, Ye Tao needed to have a personal guard that was presentable in terms of military appearance and combat power. The captain of the personal guards was recommended by Liu Yong, the chief steward of the Princess's residence. The new captain of the personal guards was named Bi Xiaoqing, who was Liu Yong's younger brother and a disciple of Liu Meng, the chief of the Dongping Palace guards. He could be considered a prominent figure among the inner court guards. However, Bi Xiaoqing was still happy to come and be this personal guard captain, who was still hard to say whether he was important or not, under the instructions of Liu Yong and Liu Meng.

Since the Grand Canal Governor's Office would leave Danyang after its establishment, the positions of chief steward of the Governor's Office and chief steward of the Ye Residence had to be separated, which made it easier for Ye Tao and Lu Dan to find candidates. There was an old craftsman named Chu An who had been assisting Suo Yong in managing the Yi Zhan Lou, but his hands and feet were no longer very flexible, and he couldn't do carpentry work anymore. It was more than enough for him to manage the general affairs of the Ye Residence. If important matters arose, one of Ye Tao's senior brothers would always be staying in Danyang to handle them. As for the major events in the residence on weekdays, they would be handled by Dai Qiuyan, the young mistress of the Ye Residence who had not yet married. It was probably an unprecedented case for her to start managing the power of the residence before she even got married.

As for the Governor's Office, although there would be a relatively fixed central office location, Ye Tao would inevitably have to travel around within his jurisdiction with the progress of the project and the development of other affairs. The chief steward of the Governor's Office would mostly be a role similar to an "Xingying Zongguan" (Mobile Camp Manager). Therefore, after discussing with Ye Tao, Lu Dan, with the assistance of Chi Yun, persuaded Xu Hankang, a forty-year-old Jinjun (Imperial Army) Xiaowei (Lieutenant) who was about to retire, to take on the position of chief steward of the Governor's Office. Xu Hankang's entire family relied on him to eat, and the income from this position would obviously make him very satisfied.

After settling some key positions, the Grand Canal Governor's Office still partially implemented the flexible position system that had been tested and proven effective in the Blood Kirin Army. Each position had certain considerations for qualifications, seniority, and ability. The rules were very complicated but also very simple. Anyway, if you didn't do well, you'd be fired.

Shi Xiu, who proposed the construction of the Grand Canal, was now Ye Tao's deputy and the highest-ranking civil official under Ye Tao. However, before the Grand Canal Governor's Office began to enter a working state, Shi Xiu had already set off to key areas for more detailed exploration, and to combine the resources that could be used now to formulate project plans and local labor conscription plans.

The city that would rise after the completion of the T-shaped Grand Canal was undoubtedly the key to the Grand Canal river area. Although the canals in the three directions and the construction of the original Qingshui River, Luo River, and Xiaoling River waterways would extend very far, this key location of the current Su Feng Town could still well command these areas. Therefore, although it seemed redundant to move the Grand Canal Governor's Office to Su Feng Town, which was not very far from Danyang, in this era, the distance of one day's journey by an ordinary messenger was a considerable distance, so it was still very reasonable to deploy the Grand Canal Governor's Office in a forward position.

Although the Governor's Office was moved to Su Feng Town, Governor Ye Tao was unable to start working immediately and had to run between Su Feng Town and Danyang. The reason was that the Danyang Bell Tower was in its final sprint stage. Although his eldest brother, Guan Haishan, was on-site to guide him, he was still not very relieved. Moreover, there were dozens of Persian artisans sent by the Samir family to the Ye family workshop to receive training from Ye Tao. They contributed greatly to the final decoration stage of the Bell Tower, and now, Ye Tao was just about to combine the site to give them basic structural and engineering management courses.

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