I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 754: All the Generals and Soldiers Are Promoted to Heaven

Not only did Su Yao receive honors and promotions for his close associates who had followed him early on, such as Guan, Zhang, and Zhao Dian, but he would naturally not treat unfairly those soldiers who surrendered.

In addition to the recruitment system, the imperial court directly dispatched the Twelve Guards, who became professional soldiers.

As for the local troops, Su Yao chose to copy the homework of later generations and set up military settlements and garrisons in the local areas, integrating soldiers and farmers. This would ease the financial pressure while preparing for the future stripping of the military power of local governors.

However, since Su Yao currently only controls the entire Liaodong territory and parts of the Liangjing Sili area, for the time being he can only say that he has set up a framework and is implementing it on a small scale.

For example, for those soldiers from Xiliang who surrendered, Su Yao first set up the Liangzhou Guard and Wuwei Guard for them.

For example, Zhang Ji and Li Lei were promoted to the rank of General of the Guard, which is the fourth rank. Land was first allocated to them around the capital for them to farm and settle there. After they re-established control over Liangzhou in the future, they would be allowed to return to their hometowns to start the task of building military settlements.

It is worth mentioning that land in the Central Plains is extremely valuable, and it was difficult to find so much extra land for tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers to settle and farm.

However, Dong Zhuo and the aristocratic families who had rebelled in the capital before obviously helped Su Yao a lot in this regard.

After their efforts, Su Yao quickly acquired a large piece of unowned land in the surrounding area after regaining Luoyang.

Although the local wealthy and powerful families once tried every possible means to create false certificates in order to take possession of the lands.

However, the one who stayed in the capital at that time was the great Confucian scholar Lu Zhi. This stubborn old man from Youzhou did not give those people any chance at all. He simply used iron-fisted methods to reject those false certificates one by one, ensuring that the land truly belonged to the court.

After Su Yao learned about this, he greatly appreciated Lu Zhi's decisiveness and loyalty. He knew that with this piece of land, he would have more bargaining chips to resettle the surrendered soldiers, and at the same time, it would bring more income and taxes to the court.

Therefore, Su Yao immediately ordered that the land be divided into several military settlements and allocated to the surrendered Xiliang soldiers for farming.

He also worked with Lu Zhi, Jia Xu, Xun Yu, Zhong Yao and others to develop detailed military farming plans and assessment standards to ensure that these soldiers could quickly adapt to their new lives and contribute their strength to the court.

The two capitals' Sili were like this, so naturally they would not ignore Su Yao's hometown in Liaodong.

There, as the area under Su Yao's deepest control, was the first place to implement the separation of military and politics.

For example, for Liu Bei, Xu Huang, Cheng Lian and other subordinates who stayed in Youzhou, Su Yao sent fast horses to promote them and explained the key points of the new law.

First of all, Su Yao promoted Xu Huang, the military commander stationed in Shanggu inside Youzhou Pass, to the rank of General of Shanggu Guard, a fourth-grade official.

Then, as for Liaodong outside the Great Wall, Liu Bei, the former magistrate of Xiangyang County, was promoted to the governor of Liaodong County, in charge of the politics of the county. He was responsible for promoting morals, settling lawsuits, and distributing taxes and labor service in order to educate the people. At the same time, he inspected his subordinates and made various statements.

Among them, the military power, which was the most crucial power of the prefect in the past, was not mentioned at all, and only the responsibility of arresting thieves was retained.

The divided military power was given to the former Sima Chenglian, who was stationed in Liaodong with Liu Bei. He was also promoted this time, but not to the Lieutenant General of the Guard like Zhang Ji and Xu Huang.

In order to reward this confidant who had followed Su Yao the earliest, and also to strengthen the control over the five counties outside the Youzhou Pass and the newly conquered Goguryeo region, Cheng Lian's official position was the same as that of the central guards, all of whom were the third-rank General of the Central Guards, in charge of the military affairs of the five counties, recruiting soldiers and setting up towns locally, establishing military guards, guarding the area outside the Youzhou Pass, and taking away the military power of the five county governors.

Later, when they received this news, Liu Bei, Cheng Lian and others were all moved to tears of gratitude.

"I will never forget the general's kindness!"

Liu Bei's voice was choked with sobs, tears glistened in his eyes. He took the official seal, tiger talisman, and sword handed over by the messenger, and bowed deeply in the direction of Luoyang:
"I will do my best to govern Liaodong and guard this important rear area for the general. I will never let the general down!"

The same thing happened to Cheng Lian, whose hands were shaking.

He knelt on one knee and shouted loudly:
"I, Cheng Lian, will follow the general till death!"

Led by everyone, the soldiers became excited and cheered loudly.

In this ceremony, in addition to promoting and awarding honors to meritorious soldiers, Su Yao did not ignore the grassroots officers and soldiers. In addition to the uniformly issued colonel and lieutenant intermediate military ranks, grassroots officers and ordinary soldiers also had their own ranks and rewards.

The minimum guarantee is at least three months of additional salary, and those who receive more may even receive direct land rewards.

For a time, the morale of the army was boiling and everyone was full of fighting spirit, as if they saw their own future glory and honor.

After this grand awarding ceremony, everyone knew that following Su Yao meant embarking on a bright road with a future full of infinite possibilities.

"Thank you, General!"

"Follow the general to the death!"

The shouts of the soldiers rose one after another, shaking the sky.

Su Yao stood on the podium, feeling the warm support and trust, his heart filled with pride and satisfaction.

He was quite pleased with the results of his major reform.

And just as Su Yao was reforming the army and setting up a new army, the controversy in the court became increasingly fierce.

Since Su Yao had been avoiding court and had not responded to the impeachment, in addition to the censors and other censors, more and more influential officials stood up to denounce Su Yao.

The atmosphere in the court was solemn, with ministers discussing the matter and voices of condemnation ringing in the ears.

"Su Yao has no respect for the emperor and changes the system without authorization. He is truly a traitor!" An old minister stood up angrily, pointing at Su Yao's seat and scolded him.

"That's right! He holds a large number of troops and monopolizes power. If this continues, it will become a huge problem!" Another minister echoed, his eyes full of worry.

"I don't know if you have heard that he wants to set up a military guard to deprive the governor of his military power. This is no small matter! How can he act arbitrarily without even consulting with others? Does he still have any respect for the court? He simply doesn't take us and Her Royal Highness the Princess seriously!"

Princess Wannian sat in the position of regent, looking through the noisy ministers and gazing outside the hall with clear and calm eyes.

She was actually very clear about Su Yao's reforms. When Su Yao summoned his confidants to discuss the military reform, he specially brought her with him, under the pretext of allowing her to learn and grow more.

To be honest, Wannian had not received any proper education as an emperor. Not only did she not fully understand the strange terms that Su Yao brought out from time to time, but she also only vaguely understood the various allusions that Xun Yu, Zhong Yao and others used to argue.

However, this did not prevent Princess Wannian from having stars in her eyes.

She could feel Su Yao's talent and ambition from the expressions and tones of his staff, and she also understood that everything he did was for the revival of the Han Dynasty and for the stability of the world.

At this moment, listening to the noise of the ministers below, she couldn't help but feel a nameless anger rising in her heart.

Princess Wannian gently patted the armrest of the chair, stood up, and glanced at the ministers sharply, and said in a cold and firm voice:

"My dear ministers, please be patient."

The court suddenly became quiet, and all eyes were focused on Princess Wannian.

The princess took a deep breath and continued:
"Everything that General Su Yao did was for the country and people of the Han Dynasty, and for the peace and well-being of the people. He reformed the army and established a new army in order to strengthen the country, resist foreign enemies, and ensure the peace and stability of the Han Dynasty."

"As for the establishment of the military guards, it is to strengthen the central government's control over the local areas, prevent the rise of local separatist forces, and ensure that the court's orders can be implemented smoothly. This is for the long-term consideration of the country, not personal desires."

"In an emergency, I will allow him to act first and report later. We will try it out locally and then gradually promote it nationwide. I don't understand why you are so obsessed with this. Don't you want the world to be peaceful?"

(End of this chapter)