Late Han Zhao Tang

"After examining the meritorious officials, both civil and military, and recalling their achievements, I have tentatively identified twenty-eight officials. The list is here, and I request Your Majesty to make corrections!"

Guo Tu presented the list of twenty-eight meritorious officials of the Zixun Pavilion and said.

The list of meritorious officials of the Zixun Pavilion was compiled starting last year, but it was delayed for various reasons, and Zhang Yu even intended to postpone it. Now, as the year draws to a close, Guo Tu has finally reorganized it at Zhang Yu's instruction.

Zhang Yu wrapped his cloak tighter around himself and flipped through the list of names and catalogs.

Among the twenty-eight meritorious officials, Zhang Liao, Duke of Dai, was ranked first, followed by Zhong Yao, Duke of Xia, and Man Chong, Duke of Chen, in third place. The others, such as Xu Huang, Duke of Jin, Li Song, Duke of Zhao, and Yu Yi, Duke of Han, ranked fourth to sixth respectively. The dukes Gao Shun, Jia Xu, Du Ji, and Hao Zhao ranked seventh to tenth.

The eleventh to twentieth are Lü Fan, Xun You, Xu Chu, Shi Yi, Zhao Yun, Meng Ningzhi, Ke Bi, Sun Zi, Wang Chen, and Zhang Feng.

The twenty-first to twenty-eighths are Wang Ling, Guo Huai, Cheng Pu, Xin Pi, Yang Jun, Dong Zhao, Ma Chao, and Wen Pin.

Zhang Yu's gaze lingered on Wen Ping for a moment, and he asked, "Wen Ping has only recently been appointed, how come he has a name?"

Guo Tu said, "Your Majesty, because Wen Ping has rendered meritorious service in conquering the southeast and defending the border, I have temporarily placed him at the end."

Zhang Yu picked up his brush and crossed out the names in the memorial, saying, "There is no need to avoid suspicion since the memorial does not contain your name. Remove Wen Ping and you can be included. Ma Chao only has the courage of a common man, and his courage and strategy are comparable to Pang De's. He should not be included here, so I will remove him and let the King of Shanggu record him in the list of meritorious officials."

Guo Tu's ulterior motives are clear: Wen Ping is neither morally nor logically fit to be included in the list of meritorious officials. And since Wen Ping is unsuitable for the list, isn't Guo Tu himself the most suitable candidate?
After a moment's thought, Zhang Yu placed Zhang Yang ahead of Gao Shun, ranking him seventh among the meritorious officials. He then placed Guo Tu ahead of Xun You and behind Lü Fan, placing him thirteenth on the list of meritorious officials.

Furthermore, Zhang Yu rearranged the order of the meritorious officials, placing Guo Huai before Wang Ling, Jia Xu after Du Ji, and Hao Zhao after Gao Shun. After Zhang Yu's adjustments, the order of the twenty-eight meritorious officials in the Zixun Pavilion is as follows.

The top ten meritorious officials were Zhang Liao, Zhong Yao, Man Chong, Xu Huang, Li Song, Yu Yi, Zhang Yang, Gao Shun, Hao Zhao, and Du Ji; the eleventh to twentieth meritorious officials were Jia Xu, Lü Fan, Guo Tu, Xun You, Xu Chu, Shi Yi, Zhao Yun, Meng Ningzhi, Zhang Feng, and Ke Bi; and the twenty-first to twenty-eighth meritorious officials were Sun Zi, Wang Chen, Guo Huai, Wang Ling, Cheng Pu, Yang Jun, Xin Pi, and Dong Zhao.

"What do you think of this ranking?" Zhang Yu asked.

Guo Tu leaned closer and asked, "Wang Ling and Guo Huai are still in command of troops. What should we do if they achieve many merits in the future?"

Zhang Yu put down his pen and said, "This list of meritorious officials is limited to the civil and military ranks of the founding of the nation. If any minister makes extraordinary contributions in the future, he may be added to the Zixun Pavilion."

"The order of the ranks is more appropriate than what I have arranged. I wonder if Your Majesty would like to consider it? Or perhaps you could hand it over to the Ministry of Rites and have them draw the names of the ministers on cloth and enshrine them in the Zixun Pavilion?" Guo Tu asked.

Zhang Yu pondered for a moment, then asked, "Who is the painter?"

“Master Cai’s painting skills are renowned throughout the land. I wish to invite Master Cai to paint portraits of the twenty-eight meritorious officials of the Zixun Pavilion,” Guo Tu said.

Cai Yong was not only skilled in calligraphy, but also in portraiture. During the reign of Emperor Ling of Han, Cai Yong was commissioned to paint portraits of Yang Xi, the Marquis of Chiquan, whose family had held high-ranking positions for five generations, and to write an inscription praising him. Emperor Ling was greatly impressed by Cai Yong's outstanding skills in literature, painting, and calligraphy.

Now that the world has been in chaos but has just begun to recover, Cai Yong, over seventy years old, has, after more than twenty years of dedicated practice, achieved great mastery in literature, calligraphy, and painting, surpassing all others in the country. Only Zhong Yao's calligraphy and Wang Can's poetry can still be compared to Cai Yong.

Therefore, Guo Tu's request for Cai Yong to paint portraits of the twenty-eight meritorious officials was the most suitable choice.

Zhang Yu nodded slightly and said, "Let's follow what Gongze said and see if we can finish the painting next year so that you can all see it!"

"Yes, sir!" Guo Tu replied respectfully.

Time flies, and it has been half a year since Wang Hong passed away. Since the land survey work in Yang and Jing provinces was completed, it has finally been promoted in the Central Plains. In order to prevent a rebellion from breaking out in the Central Plains, Zhang Yu has also specially gathered troops to prepare for any eventuality.

However, due to the demolition of fortified villages and the gradual confiscation of weapons and armor, the land surveying has been progressing smoothly so far. After all, even if some powerful warlords are dissatisfied, with the generals leading troops and stationed in various prefectures, their dissatisfaction can be suppressed within a few days.

If last year was a year of initial peace and stability, then this year is the first year of great order and prosperity. A series of policies that benefit the people, such as light taxes and levies, tax exemption for rotating prefectures, and the freeing of slaves and the registration of households, were successively issued. Subsequently, in terms of administration, the two prefectures of Gui and E, along with the four prefectures of Jiangling, Chenliu, Taiyuan, and Tangxing, were established one after another.

Du Ji entered the palace at the appointed time to report the latest developments in the region to Zhang Yu.

"Greetings, Minister!"

When Guo Tu came out of the hall, he saw that Du Ji was already waiting outside the door, and he specially bowed to him.

Seeing Guo Tu holding a memorial in his hands, Du Ji greeted him, "Secretary Guo, how have you been lately?"

Guo Tu chuckled and said, "It's still about the Zixun Pavilion. I'd like to offer my congratulations to you, sir!"

In the imperial court, besides the major event of Wang Hong's death this year, the second most significant was the news of Zhong Yao's intention to retire. Everyone speculated about who would succeed him as prime minister, with Du Ji, as the second-in-command, being the most favored. Therefore, this year, all the court officials who met Du Ji offered him goodwill in order to avoid offending him.

Du Ji felt a pang of gratitude and said, "Congratulations! Secretary Guo has worked very hard today!"

"His Majesty is still inside the palace, awaiting Your Excellency!"

"please!"

"Your subject Du Ji pays his respects to Your Majesty!" At the request of his attendants, Du Ji hurried to the central hall and performed the rites of a sovereign before Zhang Yu.

"You may dispense with the formalities, Lord Marquis!"

Zhang Yu put down what he was doing and asked, "Did you come to the palace today for something important?"

Du Ji presented a memorial, saying, "Your Majesty, the Prime Minister is unwell today and has ordered me to present the matter of Jiaozhou on his behalf."

"How is the situation in Jiaozhou?" Zhang Yu asked while reviewing the memorials.

Du Ji said, "Since the implementation of the land occupation and household division order in Jiaozhou, more than 500,000 people have been reported as having land occupied and households divided."

"When did Jiaozhou become so populous?" Zhang Yu asked in surprise.

"According to the report from Lü Jiaozhou, since the decree was issued, there have been many powerful families who lured barbarians to the government, falsely claiming to be slaves, or had their retainers and followers surrender to the government. However, because it was in accordance with the rules, each ethnic group was willing to pay taxes according to the household quota, and thus land was granted according to the law." Du Ji said, "Not only that, Lü Jiaozhou also quelled the rebellion of mountain bandits and sea pirates within the prefecture, and more than 20,000 households were captured, and they have now all been placed in the three prefectures of Hepu, Nanhai, and Yulin."

The reason why the Shi brothers were able to rule Jiaozhou was that, apart from Shi Xie's outstanding abilities, most of the others were mediocre people. They only became nominal governors by relying on their status as fellow villagers, winning over the powerful Han people in various counties, and befriending the various ethnic groups.

Therefore, there were many bandits and pirates in Jiaozhou. For example, Wang Jin, a bandit from Zhenyang in Guiyang County, fled to the South China Sea to escape the war. He gathered his fellow villagers in the South China Sea, plundered and caused chaos. His army numbered as many as tens of thousands, and almost no one could control them.

Or perhaps there was a bandit named Qian Bo in Gaoliang of Hepu County. He was originally a local strongman, but took advantage of the chaos in Jiaozhou to seize control of Gaoliang County. He had more than 3,000 followers and called himself the Commandant of Gaoliang. In order to appease Qian Bo, Shi Yi sent someone to acknowledge Qian Bo's official position.

When Gao Shun first led his troops into Jiaozhou, he only sent troops to garrison the various prefectures in order to ensure a smooth handover. After he returned to the capital due to illness, Lü Fan took over as governor of the prefecture. Gao Shun then launched a campaign against Wang Jin, who was entrenched on a pirate island. Wang Jin was captured alive, and tens of thousands of his troops were taken prisoner.

Upon learning of Lü Fan's methods, Qian Bo realized he could no longer maintain his separatist rule over Gaoliang and thus switched his allegiance to Lü Fan. Lü Fan then used his title of county baron to acquire Qian Bo's more than three thousand retainers.

After the issues of Nanhai and Hepu counties were resolved, the Yi bandits of Yulin seized the remote Guangyu County. Lü Fan sent generals on a distant expedition, beheaded the Yi bandits, captured more than a thousand Yi families, and intimidated the barbarians of Yulin and other counties.

In Jiaozhi Commandery, there were powerful families named Gan, Huan, and Shi. Because members of the Gan family committed murder, Lü Fan pursued and severely punished them. However, the Gan family refused to hand over their accomplices, so Lü Fan used the pretext of plotting a rebellion to send troops to quell the Gan family's rebellion. He captured more than 3,000 households of followers and relocated them all to Nanhai Commandery.

Seeing this, the powerful clans of Jiaozhi were terrified, and the people were filled with anxiety. They hurriedly contacted each other to avoid becoming Lü Fan's next target. Lü Fan, however, had already considered the matter of appeasement. He used the pretext of the initial peace in the Central Plains to recommend the sons of various clans to Chang'an, thereby winning the submission of the local powerful clans of Jiaozhi.

Subsequently, Lü Fan sent troops to take control of Jiuzhen, similarly suppressing the strong and supporting the weak, and all the people he captured moved north to Hepu County.

After more than a year of campaigns in the east and west, all six prefectures of Jiaozhou were incorporated into the territory of the Tang Dynasty.

Zhang Yu was quite satisfied and said, "Minister Lü is skilled in both civil and military affairs, and his achievements are outstanding. His campaigns in the east and west have brought Jiaozhou under his rule. After a few years, he will spread his customs and educate the people, and the region will be happy!"

After a pause, Zhang Yu said, "I have heard that Rinan Commandery has lost most of its territory. I have asked Minister Lü to assess the military situation and see if we can recover the lost land. As for Zhuyaizhou, it has tens of thousands of Yi families. Let's see if we can win them over and bring them under our control."

"promise!"

Du Ji said, "I have heard that there is a sea island south of Jiaozhou, and perhaps even a barbarian country further south. Why not let Governor Lü of Jiaozhou send an envoy to make diplomatic exchanges and promote the prestige of the imperial court!"

"Can!"

If Zhuyai were to be established as a prefecture directly under the jurisdiction of the state, it would be virtually impossible under the current circumstances. However, it is possible to govern and rule through the hereditary appointment of tribal chiefs.

As time went on, the Central Plains population became abundant, enabling the migration of Chinese people to the islands. With the infiltration of Chinese civilization and the support of the central government, the indigenous people were plundered and incorporated into the local population, making the direct administration of Zhuyaizhou only a matter of time.

While the emperor and his ministers were engaged in a detailed discussion, Zhang Hang hurriedly entered the palace.

"His Majesty!"

Looking up and seeing Zhang Hang's anxious expression, Zhang Yu asked, "What is it?"

"The Emperor Emeritus traveled north to Yunzhong to pay homage to his ancestors, and on his return journey, he unexpectedly fell ill with a stroke in Hedong County!" Zhang Hang said.

"Has the imperial physician been sent to visit him?" Zhang Yu asked.

"Upon receiving the news, the Empress immediately ordered the imperial physician to rush to Hedong. The physician met at the Wei River," Zhang Hang said. "According to the messenger, the Emperor Emeritus is eating as usual and is preparing to depart for the capital tomorrow to recuperate."

Zhang Yu suppressed his worry. His father, Zhang Ji, was nearly sixty, considered elderly in an agrarian society. Aside from some leg problems, he rarely suffered from serious illnesses. His current minor ailment should be easily cured!

"Send the Crown Prince to convey my regards on my behalf, and report any unusual activity immediately!"

"promise!"

P.S.: The promised third chapter is late; there are two more chapters today. (End of Chapter)