stubborn thief

Li Zicheng readily accepted his fate of becoming a civil official in the Marshal's Mansion.

Especially after witnessing the Second Brigade's coordinated gun and artillery assault on the city.

At this moment, he not only felt that Liu Chengzong's decision to send him to the military office was not an act of suppression, but even believed that this civil official position was obtained entirely through connections made in his early years.

Civil officials are good.

Civil officials do not lead troops; by not leading troops, they avoid showing weakness, and by not showing weakness, they avoid losing face.

As for suppressing the bandits, let's follow the Grand Marshal's instructions and let Lieutenant General Li Guo lead the men. He still has a long way to go at the Marshal's Mansion.

Li Zicheng truly realized that he had judged a gentleman by the standards of a petty person.

Liu Chengzong clearly didn't care about his elite troops at all; in fact, to some extent, they were a burden to the large, well-organized, and well-equipped Marshal's Army.

Especially given that the Marshal's Army already had many obvious burdens, the arrival of the Vanguard Battalion only made the situation worse.

Of course, this was just Li Zicheng's conjecture, and it was also the consensus among the marshal's generals.

However, Liu Chengzong did not consider the rebel army to be a burden.

In fact, he was always exceptionally enthusiastic about Li Zicheng's arrival, and this enthusiasm was a genuine expression of his feelings.

On the very day Zhou Qing began excavating the tunnel from Haichao Temple to the eastern city wall of Yulin.

Liu Chengzong then formally established the order of the rebel army, ordering Li Guo to be appointed as the battalion commander, and He Jin, Guo Yingpin, and Tuo Yangkun as captains.

This appointment of officials was mainly for the purpose of maintaining stability, because Li Zicheng's rebel army was essentially a smaller version of the Marshal's Office... He Jin, Guo Yingpin, and Tuo Yangkun were originally leaders of the allied forces with Li Zicheng.

They were all brutally beaten in Yunyang, leaving only a little over a thousand men from the four battalions. Their organization was in disarray. Since the adjutant had already appointed Li Guo, the three captains could no longer be appointed to the Chuang Camp faction. They could only be assigned to He, Guo, and Tuo.

Li Zicheng's subordinates, such as Tian Jianxiu and Liu Zongmin, could only serve as battalion commanders.

In reality, this still couldn't properly balance the official positions after the four armies merged, because before these people were crippled, there were nearly a hundred of them who had led more than five hundred soldiers as platoon leaders.

Liu Chengzong valued these people highly; they were not only the elite troops of Li Zicheng, Guo Yingpin, Tuo Yangkun, and He Jin's four battalions.

Many of these people are from Mizhi. Liu Chengzong grew up in the Mizhi County government office with his father. He lived in Mizhi for longer than he did in Yan'an. These people were also his fellow villagers and descendants.

He wasn't Zhang Xianzhong, nor was he on par with Li Zicheng. Their interactions were mutually threatening and stressful, but he felt no pressure dealing with either of them.

In terms of military strength, troop strength, military skills, talent, and prestige.

Even in terms of looks, Liu Shizi, who had been well-nourished since childhood, was much more handsome than the other two.

What pressure could he have?
Therefore, Liu Chengzong simply gathered them together and ordered Li Zicheng, Li Guo, Guo Yingpin, Tuo Yangkun, and He Jin to each recommend three literate officers to be sent to Xincheng Academy. The six junior officers were to be assigned to the Tiger Guard and Feathered Forest Battalions.

Only then were the vanguard battalion dismantled and divided as needed, achieving a result that satisfied all parties.

Liu Chengzong couldn't help but look forward to the future. In a year or two, these generals who had broken into the marshal's army would officially become the new blood of the marshal's army, further strengthening the army's reserve of officers and generals.

In the following days, accompanied by a loud bang on the east wall of Yulin, the tunnel of Haichao Temple was dug, supported, and set on fire, finally causing the city wall to collapse and create an opening more than ten feet long.

Under Liu Fangming's command, the army piled up sandbags at the collapsed area and rushed into the city through the breach.

It was at this time that a letter from home in Xi'an Prefecture arrived in Liu Chengzong's hands.

The letter was written by Liu Shizi's elderly father.

The matter is a matter of national importance.

My old friend Liu Chengzong, the drought has struck again.

Apart from a little snowfall during the Spring Festival, neither Qingyang nor Fengxiang in Shaanxi Province has received a drop of rain this year. Now, one is suffering from locusts and the other from drought.

In Hanzhong, things are still the same as before, with torrential rains and flooding affecting more than 100,000 mu of farmland.

The prefects of the three prefectures were almost going crazy, and they also brought along Luo Rucai, the brigade commander of Hanzhong. His brigade commander, Zu Chengyong, had his guerrilla battalion stationed in Ningqiang, but the camp was destroyed by a flash flood. More than 200 people were swept away by the flood. Moreover, the granaries of the Hanzhong Prince's Palace were leaking, and the soldiers' food was about to mold.

Enraged, Luo Rucai grabbed a knife and rushed to Xi'an, storming into the Ministry of Rites to demand an explanation of who had built the granaries in Prince Rui Zhu Changhao's palace, threatening to kill the person in charge.

Of course, he couldn't kill the steward of the Prince's Palace. The stewards of Ruifan had all been sent to Taimeng Guard north of Tianshan after the war. The granaries in Taimeng were solid once frozen, so they weren't afraid of leaks.

Of course, when Liu Chengzong saw these messages, he was completely calm and composed.

He was already used to droughts, floods, locust plagues, and epidemics, so he simply gave a few words of criticism, telling the prefect to exterminate the locusts, repair the water conservancy projects, and find ways to avoid floods so as not to drown himself.

However, not all of the Hanzhong Group under the Marshal's Office were such fools.

Prefect Jiang Yingchang did a great job. Only a few months into his term, he took time out of his spare time to revise and edit the "Hanzhong Prefecture Gazetteer" from the Wanli era, making changes to the land, wasteland, population, and taxes that had been identified.

Statistics show that the counties of Hanzhong Prefecture have over 9,890 hectares of cultivated land, 4,206 hectares of wasteland and eroded fields, 59 mu of sandy and silted land, and a population of 111,334.

The estimated tax revenue is 59,934 shi of grain in its original form and 49,945 liang of grain in its equivalent form.

In his official document, Jiang Yingchang put it that way, concluding with a request for the Marshal to make the final decision.

Langguan Zhao Jifang looked left and right but still couldn't understand. He asked, "General, is Prefect Jiang asking you to make a decision about revising the local gazetteer? Why does he seem a bit resentful?"

Zhao Jifang's official position was Langguan, responsible for Liu Chengzong's personal documents, which was originally a very low position in the Marshal's Mansion.

It wasn't that this official position was low in status or had little power; in fact, in terms of paperwork, he was the real chief minister of the Marshal's Office.

However, because he was with Liu Chengzong, he saw the most arrogant and domineering people in the Marshal's Mansion every day, and no one took him, a mere scholar, seriously.

However, as the Marshal's army embarked on this eastern expedition, he used a roasting fork to deflect a flying knife thrown at Liu Chengzong at Guangwu Camp, which elevated his status. Now, even Zhang Xianzhong would address him as Mr. Zhao.

However, Zhao Jifang was still young, so it was normal that he couldn't understand Jiang Yingchang's letter.

Liu Chengzong understood immediately and laughed easily, "Deciding on what? Military supplies. It's perfectly normal for Prefect Jiang to have grievances. He's held a grudge against me ever since I first met him, haha!"

As he spoke, Liu Shizi became happy and said to those around him, "I never thought that back in Heshui County, I would actually find such a capable official!"

He himself had little expectation of Jiang Yingchang. This man was indecisive and lacked the means to accomplish great things; he was not an official capable of doing great things in this era.

Jiang Yingchang was an unlucky scholar who ended up as the magistrate of Heshui. He didn't do a particularly good job, unable to cooperate with the local gentry nor able to resist them, and accomplished little. If Liu Shizi had been even a little more ruthless and had a little less discipline in his troops, he wouldn't have survived that year.

Later, Emperor Chongzhen recognized his talent and promoted him to the position of prefect of Pingliang. This was due to Liu Chengzong's success in defeating the local powerful families in Heshui County and taking away the bandits from outside. Even a dog would have made a difference in the following year.

Even after arriving in Pingliang, he didn't accomplish much; he was just a figurehead occupying the position of prefect.

Sending him to Hanzhong as prefect was simply because it was difficult for others to work with Luo Rucai.

Luo Rucai was different from Zhang Xianzhong. Zhang Xianzhong was evil and generally wouldn't have conflicts with civil officials; Luo Rucai was ruthless, and if he teamed up with a tough civil official, things might really get out of hand.

However, during his months as the prefect of Hanzhong, Jiang Yingchang performed quite well without any obstacles.

Holding Jiang Yingchang's official documents, Liu Chengzong smiled at Zhao Jifang and said, "This Prefect Jiang has done a much better job in Hanzhong than your elder brother did in Xi'an!"

Zhao Jifang's elder brother, Zhao Jichang, was a Juren (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations) and was promoted to Prefect of Xi'an by Liu Chengzong while serving as the magistrate of Xianyang County.

Zhao Jichang did not do badly either; he was decent and paid attention to education, given that he had previously served as an instructor in Jiexiu County, Shanxi Province.

But Jiang Yingchang was different; by the time he arrived in Hanzhong, he was already very familiar with the work of a prefect.

Moreover, perhaps because he had been working in Shaanxi for a long time and was more familiar with the chaotic nature of the Marshal's Office, he re-edited the Hanzhong Prefecture Gazetteer at the beginning of his tenure.

Compiling local gazetteers was not, strictly speaking, a task that the prefect was required to perform.

Even if someone wanted to fabricate a story, they would usually have to ask officials such as the prefect or assistant prefect to submit a report to the imperial court and obtain permission before they could fabricate one.

But the Marshal's Office is different; they're lucky if there's someone willing and capable of writing it.

In this way, the Marshal's Office central government can have a preliminary understanding of local taxes, household registration, and land.

If each prefecture can do this well, then the budget for the next year of the entire Marshal's Office can be easily prepared, and the Ministry of Revenue can allocate funds, thus connecting the whole system and forming a situation of sustainable development.

Instead of the current situation where they are robbing Peter to pay Paul, and the entire Marshal's Mansion is just getting by.

"Jifang, write a few letters and send them to Hanzhong Prefecture first. Tell Jiang Yingchang to have people carefully measure the land and population. Don't just copy the figures from the Wanli era. Measure the land accurately. Tell him not to worry about the garrison; there will be results soon."

"Let Luo Rucai fully cooperate with Prefect Jiang to survey the land. The extra troops have no food, so transfer two battalions to Xi'an Prefecture for food."

After saying that, Liu Chengzong frowned and said, "I will also write him a letter and tell him to find someone at the gate of the military camp to whip him thirty times. If this idiot dares to act impulsively again and rush into my office with a knife, I will smash his head into his stomach and kick him to Taimeng Guard."

"No need. There's also that even dumber Zu Chengyong. He's so badly acclimatized that he's set up camp at the foot of a mountain that was washed away by a flood. Let him and Luo Rucai whip each other thirty times under the gate. I want to see them alive or dead. After they've been whipped, go and bring all the soldiers back to me."

Zhao Jifang quickly took out the paper and pen she carried with her, and wrote it down with a charcoal pencil.

Then Liu Chengzong continued, "And there's that letter from Jiang Yingchang. Hanzhong floods every year, inundating hundreds of thousands of acres of land. This is not a good thing. Let him find a solution. After the floods recede, he should inspect various places and repair the water conservancy projects."

Liu Shizi originally didn't value Hanzhong Prefecture much, but he thought that since it produced tea, bringing it under his control would at least give him a tea-producing area.

However, when Jiang Yingchang presented him with the local gazetteer, he had no choice but to take it seriously.

In terms of population, land area, and tax revenue, Hanzhong ranks only after Xi'an Prefecture and Fengxiang Prefecture, excluding Xining Prefecture.

Xining Prefecture implemented the equal land purchase tax system, which was not considered normal.

At present, Hanzhong Prefecture has more than 1.4 million mu of cultivated land and wasteland combined, including a lot of paddy fields that can be planted with rice.

However, the annual floods are not necessarily a bad thing in this year.

This is precisely because Hanzhong has abundant water resources. However, decades of neglect in water conservancy since the Wanli era have blocked the waterways and channels, leaving no place to draw or store water, which is why there is such a situation of annual rain and severe flooding.

Therefore, it is necessary to dig reservoirs, repair ponds, and build sluice gates, which is a series of huge projects.

Liu Chengzong estimated that if this matter were to be carried out, Jiang Yingchang, the prefect of Hanzhong, would never be able to finish his term.

But what remains the same is that if it is successfully completed, Xi'an will gain a stable source of food supplies.

After all, Liu Chengzong couldn't really rely on Sichuan, which was further south, for supplies. Even if taxes were levied in the future, the grain would have to be stored locally, and at most, silver would be transported in exchange for silver.

Hanzhong is different. If water conservancy projects can be carried out, it is not too far from Xi'an. Establishing a military grain processing center to process raw grains can provide considerable support for the Marshal's army.

As for the issue of the stationed troops, which was Chiang Ying-chang's biggest grievance, Liu Cheng-tsung considered it the least of his worries.

Each of the garrison brigades under the Marshal's Office was stationed in two prefectures, except for Luo Rucai's newly formed Hanzhong Brigade, which was stationed in only one prefecture. This was mainly because Liu Chengzong sent him there to capture Hanzhong.

But now it's easy to fight. The problem is that the tax revenue of Hanzhong Prefecture is not enough to support the 12,000 troops stationed here.

Even if Hanzhong Prefecture did not retain, develop, or repair the troops, the meager amount of taxes collected would not be enough to support an army of such size.

This was nothing to Liu Chengzong; if there was no food, he would just send two battalions back to Xi'an Prefecture for meals.

Compared to this matter, Liu Shizi was more concerned about the local history of the entire Marshal's Mansion, so he simply wrote a letter to his father in Xi'an Prefecture himself.

He proposed that the counties under the Grand Marshal's Office inspect the population and land, draw maps, compile them into local chronicles and submit them to the respective prefectures, and then the prefectures would compile them into local chronicles and submit them to Xi'an.

In this way, the population and land under the entire Marshal's Office are clear at a glance, and the central government offices can also keep track of the taxes levied in various places.

The most crucial thing is that Liu Shizi knew what he was doing.

He also wanted to know exactly how much farmland, population, and troops he had under his command.

With these lands and people, could he afford to support his large army by collecting normal taxes?

Of course, most importantly, he wrote home to let his parents know that he was safe and sound, that the expedition to the Xingan Mountains had been won easily, that he had been exposed to wind and sun on the road, but that he had eaten well and had not lost weight, but had actually gained a little weight.

Thanks to the Later Jin dynasty, they brought back many Liaodong specialties, including thousands of gold bars and even more wild ginseng from Liaodong.

Soon, a letter was written and sent by the Imperial Guard to the post station.

Liu Chengzong clutched Jiang Yingchang's letter, his eyes reflecting the burning city of Yulin, and he was filled with pride.

He knew it was time to transform the Marshal's Mansion into a normal government entity. (End of Chapter)