Jinting Han people

The King of Han did not receive Liu Zhen in the palace. It was probably because the weather had warmed up and the Jiangnan region was quite humid, making Liu Zhen feel rather uncomfortable. Therefore, recently, after dinner, he would leave Jianchang Palace and walk around the lotus pond dug by the palace's irrigation system, enjoying the cool breeze and watching the ripples in the pond. This served both as a way to relax and as a change of scenery for reflection.

The sky was not yet completely dark; the afterglow resembled the long tail of a white horse, and the ripples on the lake reflected the light, like a piece of amber with tears in its eyes. After Liu Zhen arrived with the palace maids, he saw several guards standing beside the King of Han, but he remained motionless, gazing at the dim ripples in the lake, like a silent sculpture.

Upon hearing of Liu Zhen's arrival, Liu Xian quickly calmed down. He smiled and waved for the other guards to disperse. Once only the two of them were left, Liu Xian adopted the demeanor of an elder, pulling Liu Zhen along as they strolled by the pond, asking him in a very kind manner about the details of his trip to Jiangbiao.

Facing the Prince of Han, Liu Zhen naturally spoke frankly. He first recounted the results of his trip, the content of their conversation, and the other party's performance. The trip had indeed broadened Liu Zhen's horizons, and he enthusiastically commented to the Prince of Han: "Lord Yanxian (He Xun) is forthright, Lord Lingchang (Xue Jian) ​​is decisive, Lord Shiguang (Lu Ye) is gentle and refined, Lord Ziliang (Min Hong) is elegant and refined, Lord Jiying (Zhang Han) is eloquent and fluent, and Lord Yongchang (Zhu Dan) is brilliant in his writing."

Judging scholars is a hobby for young people, but it's not something Liu Xian cares about. Among so many people, he doesn't really value many. After Liu Zhen finished speaking, Liu Xian pondered for a moment and then asked Zhou Qi, "Are you saying that Zhou Qi's attitude is hard to fathom?"

Liu Zhen answered truthfully: "Yes, when I visited Duke Xuanpei, he looked very unhappy. Among all the people, he was the only one who asked me to visit him a second time. But Duke Shiguang told me that Duke Xuanpei originally planned to rise up in response to Your Highness, but before he could succeed, Your Highness had already won a great victory. He is also arrogant, so he couldn't put aside his pride and wanted to delay for a while to see if Your Highness was sincere."

"Is that so?" Liu Xian smiled and muttered to himself, "Then it seems I'll have to meet with him properly."

Liu Zhen, however, did not hear clearly. He asked the Prince of Han, "What did Your Highness say?"

"It's nothing." Liu Xian changed the subject to one he was more concerned with, and asked, "During your trip to Jiangbiao, did you see what the fortified villages of the various tribes looked like? How many tribes did each tribe have? Do you have a good idea?"

After a century of chaotic warfare during the Three Kingdoms period, fortified villages (兣堡) were built throughout the Nine Provinces. However, the form of these fortified villages varied depending on the location and the specific needs. For example, the fortified villages in Sichuan and Chongqing were centered around religious beliefs, mobilizing believers to build Taoist temples in remote and dangerous mountainous areas, requiring extremely strategic locations. The fortified villages in Guanzhong and Longxi were built under the supervision of Deng Ai, situated on the edge of the basin, integrating military and civilian populations. When the Qiang and Di tribes were not causing trouble, people would leave the fortified villages to cultivate the land, and when they did cause trouble, they would retreat into the fortified villages for refuge. The fortified villages in the Central Plains resembled large manors, built by aristocratic families. While they lacked strategic locations, they had ample manpower and complete internal facilities.

Liu Xian had seen all of these, but he had no concrete understanding of the fortified villages on the south bank of the Yangtze River. He was eager to know how much power the Jiangzuo gentry held and how much control they had over the three Wu regions.

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhen was taken aback. Clearly, he had not considered the issue from this perspective. He pondered for a moment before replying, "Your Highness, although these Wu people mostly live in clans, I did not see many fortified villages on this trip. If I had to say, there were some Buddhist temples, but not many."

"As for the troops..." Liu Zhen found it even harder to answer. He could only give a vague reply: "I only heard Yanxian Gong say that he claimed that if His Highness gave the order to start an uprising, he could probably mobilize about a thousand able-bodied men."

Upon hearing this, Liu Xian was understandably startled. Liu Zhen might not have been as perceptive, but based on his own experience, he naturally realized the true significance of this number. A typical household could only provide one able-bodied man; He Xun's claim of being able to mobilize over a thousand meant that at least four thousand people would follow him. In the Guanzhong Plain, this was practically equivalent to a county.

Although the He family was a prominent clan among the gentry of Jiangdong, there were more than a dozen families of equal renown, and above them were the Gu, Lu, Zhu, and Zhang families. Moreover, these families were closely related, intermarrying and forming deep bonds. Therefore, their combined forces numbered at least 70,000 to 80,000, and possibly over 100,000. The arrogance of the gentry in Wu was probably comparable to that of the eight great noble families in Luoyang.

Under these circumstances, why would they need fortified positions? With the addition of Gan Zhuo, Gu Rong, and other troops who had joined the army, Jiangdong was probably already a unified entity from top to bottom, and the surrounding counties were all under their control.

This is not surprising. Although Sima Yan adopted a policy of suppression towards Jiangdong for a considerable period after the fall of Wu, forcibly dividing land among various ethnic groups and releasing their retainers through the land-grabbing system, the problem was that while these retainers had nominally left their former masters, the fall of Eastern Wu was too recent, and the influence of the scholars of the Three Wu regions remained. Now that the world was in chaos, Zhou Qi and his group easily regained control of their retainers by leveraging this influence, and further expanded their power by skillfully maneuvering among various factions.

Thinking of this, Liu Xian felt both pleased and troubled. On the one hand, Liu Zhen's trip had indeed been very successful; he now had the support of the Eastern Wu gentry and would be able to easily seize Yangzhou. On the other hand, the Yangzhou gentry had grown to such a level that they could not be underestimated. How to govern Yangzhou would be a major challenge, and there was no need to rush into anything before a plan was in place.

Thinking this, Liu Xian put the question aside and instead thought about the various political affairs in the court. With this in mind, he suddenly turned to look at Liu Zhen, staring at the young man, and smiled, "Yuan Gui, did you receive any gifts on your trip?"

Although Liu Xian's tone was amiable, his eyes were extremely serious, making Liu Zhen feel very embarrassed. His first reaction was, of course, not to admit it, but then he felt that someone might have informed on him. He then tried to think of reasons to defend himself, and finally came up with some embellished nonsense. But when he looked into the bright eyes of the Prince of Han, he couldn't bring himself to say the truth.

After hesitating for only a short while, he finally realized that he had given himself away and had no choice but to honestly admit, "Your Highness, I did receive a cartload of gifts, but there was no gold or silver, just some calligraphy and paintings."

Seeing Liu Zhen's cautious yet hopeful expression, Liu Xian's heart softened. He didn't press the matter further, but simply said, "You must be careful! Your father has built up a reputation over decades, not to be ruined by you like this. There are gods watching over us; it's said that people's actions are seen by their ancestors. I won't scold you now, but when you meet your father in the afterlife, what do you think he will think of you?"

Upon hearing this, Liu Zhen was filled with remorse and knelt on the ground, repeatedly apologizing to the King of Han.

Liu Xian sighed and continued, "I can pretend this never happened, but this is a one-time exception. You should hand over all those things to the Court of Justice first, and then build a hut for your father to observe mourning. I was also at fault in this matter. I should have waited until your mourning period was over before arranging for you to take up an official post, but this has harmed you."

"You should rest assured and observe the mourning period. Two years later, I will arrange for you to be a military agricultural colony commander in southern Hunan, starting with practical work. If you achieve some results, I will assign you to be the governor of a large prefecture. If you don't achieve any results, I will find you a sinecure in the capital to inherit your father's title. That will be a way of honoring your father."

This treatment was quite lenient, and Liu Zhen had nothing to say. He bowed again to express his gratitude and then took his leave of the King of Han. Liu Xian watched the young man's retreating figure until he disappeared into the darkness, then couldn't help but shake his head slightly. He then continued to stroll alone by the pond, thinking about the recent affairs of state.

Over the past four months, Liu Xian has indeed had a great deal to deal with. The war in Jingxiang was won, but the post-war arrangements have only just begun. If order cannot be stabilized and rule cannot be established on the acquired territories, a rise and fall like that of Li Chen and Liu Ni would not be surprising. Therefore, Liu Xian has been conducting administrative adjustments during this period.

The original system of Shu Han was based on the premise of directly governing Yizhou, mobilizing as much manpower and resources as possible from Bashu. However, in just over half a year, Shu Han's territory rapidly expanded from Bashu to the entire five provinces of Yi, Ning, Jing, Xiang, and Jiang, and in the future, it aimed to rule the entire south. The old system suddenly became inappropriate, and the existing reserve of officials in Shu Han was insufficient to support the operation of the entire southern administration. Therefore, after several conversations with Li Ju, Lu Yun, Zhou Yi, Wang Dun, and others, Liu Xian decided to make adjustments in three aspects.

Firstly, in military affairs, Liu Xian implemented a policy of streamlining the army and administration, prioritizing land reclamation.

Although the Jingzhou campaign lasted only six months, both sides exerted their utmost efforts. Liu Xian mobilized only 60,000 Shu troops for the eastern expedition, but there were still many laborers in Bashu (Sichuan and Chongqing) transporting grain and building ships, bringing the total number to over 100,000. The Jin army, on the other hand, was even more unrestrained, mobilizing over 200,000 troops, the number of whom was unclear due to forced conscription. The daily supply of grain and fodder to the front lines amounted to tens of thousands.

Under these circumstances, the people's strength in the southern states was exhausted. The people's surplus grain was almost depleted, and some fields were abandoned. Groups of women and children could be seen going up the mountains to dig for wild vegetables, and some bandits had also appeared in the area. All these phenomena indicated that the people urgently needed rest and recuperation. Just then, the new year arrived, and the scale of spring planting would determine the year's harvest.

With this in mind, Liu Xian decided to reduce the size of the army.

From Jingzhou to Jiangzhou, approximately 130,000 Jin soldiers were captured by the Han army or surrendered. Adding Liu Xian's existing troops, Du Tao's refugee army, and the troops remaining in Ba and Shu, the Shu Han force may have swelled to over 300,000. There is simply no need for so many soldiers at present, especially since their quality is uneven. Rather than letting them waste resources, it would be better to release them back to their fields to recuperate and recover.

After some calculations, Liu Xian ordered the surrendered 130,000 troops to be reduced to about 50,000. The discharged soldiers were given travel expenses and road signs to return home, while the displaced people were either directly assigned to cultivate wasteland or given work-for-relief programs to help build a new city in Yi'an. Liu Xian hoped this would prevent a famine this year and also strengthen his control over the army.

Since the plan is to reduce the military, the second aspect is to redefine defense zones.

Originally, Liu Xian established three major military commands in Yizhou, primarily to address military campaigns in different directions. Now that Nanzhong and Jingzhou are pacified, and Bashu faces no further military pressure in the east, the original three major military commands are no longer necessary. The new territory also means new defensive lines, so Liu Xian needs to make large-scale adjustments.

He first abolished all three major governorships of Yizhou, merging them directly into the Yizhou Governorship District, with Yang Nandi appointed as Grand Governor, commanding troops in Hanzhong. Liu Kun, the Commandant of the Capital Region, was reassigned as Governor of Yizhou, responsible for administration and logistics, and he and Yang Nandi jointly decided on the war in Yizhou.

As for the four newly acquired provinces, Liu Xian adhered to the strategy of "controlling the middle reaches and governing the four directions". He set up a minor governor in Jingzhou to control the key military locations, and set up a major governor outside Jingzhou to oversee the military affairs of the province.

Therefore, Liu Xian established three minor governorships in the Jianghan region: Xiangyang, Xiakou, and Baling, respectively, with Zhang Guang, Zhuge Yan, and Zhang Qi in charge. Wang Dun remained as the governor and governor-general of Jiangzhou; Liu Xian also had a candidate in mind for the future governor and governor-general of Yangzhou, intending to appoint He Pan.

In this way, the Han army basically gained control of the military order along the upper and lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

The third aspect is to re-attract talent.

Governing a country is all about employing the right people. Liu Hong won the hearts of the people of Jingzhou because he was good at using people and dared to delegate power. Now that Liu Xian has acquired such a large territory, he naturally needs to use the same method to stabilize the situation.

However, Liu Xian differed from Liu Hong in that Liu Hong was sent by the central government to assume his post alone, and like Liu Biao, he did not have much political burden. Liu Xian, on the other hand, also had to balance the interests of the various factions within Shu Han; otherwise, blindly promoting newcomers while leaving the older generation idle would also cause internal dissatisfaction.

With this in mind, Liu Xian divided the bureaucrats recruited this time into three categories.

The first category consisted of officials who surrendered and defected, such as Liu Fan, Xiahou Zhi, He Song, Jiang Chao, Liu Pan, and other former associates of Liu Hong, as well as the governors of Jiangzhou who surrendered in response, such as Hua Yi and Xie Chi. Liu Xian generally reinstated these individuals to their original ranks, but stripped them of their military power. For the few who needed to uphold the dual-system law, their territories were transferred laterally.

The second category consisted of Jin generals captured during the war, such as Tao Kan, Zhou Fang, Du Zeng, Cui Kuang, Wang You, and Han Song. Their battles against the Han army caused Liu Xian considerable trouble and created some resentment between them. To maintain military stability, Liu Xian chose to demote most of them and execute a few with poor reputations. Even though Tao Kan and Zhou Fang were highly capable and Liu Xian secretly admired them, he only appointed them as the governors of Zhijiang and Huarong, respectively.

The third category consisted of scholars from the Central Plains who came to seek refuge with Liu Xian. By March and April, several thousand people had arrived in Yi'an. Among those on the list Zhou Yi had given Liu Xian were Jiang Tong, Du Xi, Ruan Fu, and Le Daorong, who had all arrived, and they had mostly brought their families and clans with them.

These were indeed people of genuine talent and learning, and Liu Xian was naturally extremely pleased. He first sent people to help them settle down and establish themselves, and then arranged for these acquaintances to work in the three provinces, mostly as Gentlemen-at-Arms, to do some clerical work. After they had accumulated a certain network of connections and experience, and the political situation of the country had stabilized, he would then send them out to other places as appropriate.

Overall, Liu Xian's measures have been quite effective. Although there have been significant personnel changes in the court, it is clear that a stable transition period has begun. While there have been some minor disturbances in the provinces, they are not serious.

This was originally a good thing, but Liu Xian couldn't help but notice that with the increase in the number of scholars and the expansion of territory, the extravagant and frivolous atmosphere of Luoyang seemed to be spreading to Yi'an, and the generals and officials seemed to be developing a sense of complacency and disdain. As Lu Yun was building the new city of Yi'an, many people were engaging in large-scale construction outside the city, building manors. Gambling and idle talk were also becoming commonplace.

Liu Xian initially thought this was a natural scene of peace and tranquility, but he soon realized that the atmosphere of indulging in comfort was becoming excessive. It seemed that the great victory had made people lose their sense of crisis, or perhaps the masses abhorred war and naturally yearned for comfort. Recently, there had been signs of corruption in officialdom, and even Liu Zhen had been affected, secretly accepting bribes.

Thinking of this, even as Liu Xian gazed at the graceful lotus leaves by the pond, he felt restless, thinking to himself: "Small fortunes and complacency! If this atmosphere is allowed to continue, the soldiers will inevitably become weak. How will we then pacify the Central Plains? What will we use to fight those desperate armies? We must find a way to rectify this."

However, this is not something that can be accomplished overnight. At present, Liu Xian's most pressing concern is the ongoing battle in Guangzhou to the south. (End of Chapter)