Tiger Guards

Chapter 476 Last chance

Later, in Jiangyi City.

Zhao Ji did not enter the city directly, but instead climbed the city wall to look out into the distance.

The large tracts of military farmland within the river mouth area on the western outskirts of Jiangyi have all been harvested in autumn, and the official tenants have also harvested their crops. Now, many flocks of sheep are grazing freely.

Cattle and horses are mostly kept in captivity during autumn and winter because they are too large to go out foraging and sustain their own energy needs.

Therefore, they are kept in captivity and fed dried hay; this also makes it easy to collect cow and horse manure, which, after being dried, can replace hay bales as a fuel substitute.

The ashes after burning can also be used as fertilizer.

The magistrate of Jiangyi was none other than Hu Ban, the filial son from Hedong County last year.

Hu Ban was not a member of the Tiger Guards; he was originally a county official who temporarily served as the magistrate of Wenxi County for a few days as an emergency measure.

After being recommended as a filial and incorruptible official, he underwent examinations by the government and was transferred to the Right Office as a Gentleman of the Palace. Soon after, he was transferred by Zhao Ji to Luodu as a Gentleman of the Palace, and then sent to Jiang County as a magistrate.

Wei Ji was recommended as an honest official at the same time. He also went through the government's assessment, was transferred to the Left Office as a middle-ranking official, and then promoted to the position of Minister of Personnel. He was then recruited by Zhao Ji as a military advisor.

November is approaching, and it's time for the annual accounting season to begin again.

Although the clerks from each prefecture only went to the Ministry of Agriculture's office to go through the formalities, the candidates for the position of filial and incorruptible official were also reported together each year. The assessment and implementation were completed in two months, and they would start working in the three departments in January of the following year.

The quota for candidates for the civil service examination was reported by each prefecture, and Zhao Ji and Zhao Yan were in charge of the review.

Zhao Yan was in charge of the counties of Sizhou, while Zhao Ji, the governor of Bingzhou, was in charge of the counties of Bingzhou. He also oversaw the military and political affairs of Liangzhou, and the candidates for the civil service examination in Liangzhou had to be selected by him.

As for the government's assessment, with Minister Zhao Wen present, even filial sons with lower levels of education could pass relatively easily.

The selection criteria for the "filial piety and incorruptibility" system emphasizes character. Incorruptible officials possess administrative skills, making the assessment naturally more difficult. Those who pass often start as junior officials or senior officers in the three departments. As for filial sons, you cannot expect them to have high cultural literacy, so after passing the assessment, they can only start as junior officials.

Some tests for filial piety are even conducted entirely through oral question-and-answer sessions; those who can answer correctly pass.

As Zhao Ji walked along the city wall, he saw various temporary camps on the south bank of the Fen River and both banks of the Hui River. These camps housed prisoners of war who were being gradually reorganized and awaiting assignment, as well as migrants.

For example, the population of Chen was forcibly abducted by Sun Ce, and Zhao Ji took over them as their savior, bringing them to Hedong and Taiyuan for resettlement.

Those former subordinates of Prince Chen who were willing to serve would be incorporated into county or prefectural soldiers, and their families would be settled together as reserve soldiers for the Tiger Step Army.

If you are unwilling, you can register as a household member and still have priority in applying for military service in the future.

Ordinary people of Chen were assigned to government-owned tenants and resettled in scattered locations.

The common people of Chen were generally divided into these three categories, while other prisoners of war were generally classified into two classes. Most of them were demoted to government slaves, and only the families of soldiers who escaped from Yan County were registered as households, and they were also resettled in scattered groups.

As for being directly selected as county or prefectural soldiers, these former subordinates of Cao Cao did not have this opportunity.

This suppression lasted at least two years for some people from poor families and martial arts backgrounds.

After observing for a moment, Zhao Ji descended from the city tower and went to the military camp in the city for the banquet.

On the streets, the Tiger Steps Army stood guard along both sides of the street, and there was no need to check the houses and rooftops in the city.

The city had already searched every household for bows and crossbows, and Zhao Ji would not ban bows and crossbows from the people. What he banned were the horn crossbows circulating among the people, which were also known as the large yellow crossbows, a powerful weapon.

Military crossbows such as powerful crossbows and heavy crossbows are not actually prohibited; in fact, last year the restrictions on armor for military households were lifted, allowing military households to keep light armor such as shields and two-piece armor, and there are no restrictions on helmets.

The restrictions apply to heavy armor, full-face helmets, and battle spears.

Spears and halberds that are shoulder-high or slightly higher are also not prohibited.

However, bows and crossbows, as well as light armor, spears, and halberds, were prohibited in cities; but military settlements and villages near cities were not subject to such restrictions.

Officials, civilians, and scholars in the city were only allowed to carry short weapons such as swords and knives.

The only troops in the city capable of being fully armed were the county soldiers and the Tiger Step garrison.

Even the county soldiers were redefined as the county's anti-bandit patrol force, stationed outside the city on weekdays to suppress bandits and cooperate with the security forces at passes and fortifications to patrol roads and suppress bandits in the mountains.

Without orders from the prefecture or a higher authority, county soldiers were not allowed to enter the city.

In this way, the prefectural governor is more like a supervisory and financial management unit, and cannot interfere with the counties by force.

At the same time, the command of the county troops was taken away from the county governor, and the county commandant and captain who commanded the county troops were directly under the shogunate.

Even if the imperial court tried to win over the prefects and appoint new prefects, it couldn't sway the prefectural troops. With the prefectural troops not participating, and each county having its own military settlements and garrisons, creating a system of checks and balances, who would be willing to voluntarily join the ranks and respond to the prefect?

Under Zhao Ji's plan, the prefectural soldiers and the county soldiers operated on two parallel lines, with neither being superior to the other.

The way out for county and prefectural soldiers was to be selected into the Tiger Infantry, accumulate merits and be promoted to military officers, and embark on an official career; rather than county soldiers being promoted to county soldiers and county soldiers being selected into the Tiger Guard.

Whether they were county soldiers or prefectural soldiers, they had no possibility of promoting or expanding their own ranks of military officers.

The selection and promotion of military officers could only be done by the Grand Marshal's staff.

The system is designed in this way, but its implementation will take time and require gradual adaptation from all parties.

Jiangyi could be considered a model county, so Zhao Ji felt very safe walking on the streets.

The military camp in the city is where the game of shooting cakes at the gate took place last year.

Liu Qubei waited there, watching Pei Xiu and Jia Kui follow Zhao Ji on either side. Seeing the three of them chatting and laughing heartily, Liu Qubei felt reassured, thinking that he should be able to reap the benefits of the war against the Lu Shui Hu and the Bei Di Hu.

He didn't lack slaves and herds of beasts; what he lacked was military merit and a recognized position within the Grand Marshal's office.

"This humble prince pays his respects to the Grand Marshal! I apologize for failing to greet you from afar."

Liu Qubei quickly stepped forward about twenty paces and bowed deeply to Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji quickly stepped forward to help him up, carefully examining Liu Qubei's face: "Your Excellency is a guest from afar, and I am the host. How can a guest welcome the host? It's been half a year since we last met, and Your Excellency has grown even more robust."

"Thanks to the Grand Marshal's virtue, my people have been able to settle down and make a living. They have been busy farming and herding, while I have been idle and have become bloated and no longer agile. I hope the Grand Marshal will give me a chance to serve the country so that I can get rid of this excess fat."

Qu Bei bowed twice with his hands clasped, and while speaking, he went to look at Jia Kui.

Jia Kui stepped forward and advised Zhao Ji: "Grand Marshal, the Right Wise King has always regretted not being able to follow you to punish the traitors. Now that the Right Wing is approaching peace, I believe that if we were to attack the Hu tribes of Beidi and Lushui, the Right Wing would be their neighbor and would be a great help. We should not leave them idle."

Zhao Ji nodded and cupped his hands to Liu Qubei: "Now that the people under the Wise King are settled, when I raise an army to march west, the Wise King can lead my separate army."

"I am willing to serve the Grand Marshal!"

Liu Qubei spoke in a loud voice, his gaze sweeping over the densely packed officers and captains behind Zhao Ji, and continued, "It is truly my honor to fight alongside the Grand Marshal!"

We will definitely have to use force in winter. We must completely take over Shangjun, Beidijun, and Andingjun on the west bank of the Yellow River.

Only by annihilating and conquering the mixed Hu people living in these areas can we absorb about 200,000 slaves.

This is a group of slaves who are even lower in status than the existing government slaves. With these slaves at the bottom, the other government slaves and tenants will have a much better time.

Slaves acquired through military conquest are the best lubricant for the operation of the empire's gears.

The captured animal herds can meet the demand for animal power during next year's spring plowing, thus providing a general guarantee for next year's agricultural profits.

Most importantly, it provided a place for those involved in the war to eat.

If you don't want to go hungry, you have to work hard. The honors and achievements gained from recovering lost territory are important, but these things can't be eaten.

People will starve to death if they don't eat. Zhao Ji would rather have three to five thousand people die in battle than have more people starve to death.

As for the attitudes of the northern Hu peoples and the Lu River peoples... that's not important.

Population integration is a trend. Our area is relatively civilized, and eventually everyone will be able to have enough to eat.

If left unchecked, the racial conflict will become increasingly acute, eventually leading to generations of blood feuds and countless deaths.

They might even resort to cannibalism on a large scale in order to achieve integration between populations.

Although the mainstream cultures of the Xianbei, Xiongnu, and Qiang people also opposed cannibalism, these major groups were able to annex various messy smaller groups, which maintained all sorts of strange customs and traditions.

Now in his high position, Zhao Ji has access to a wide range of information, albeit often in a chaotic manner.

There are many legends of cannibalism.

After conquering the Lu River and the Northern Hu this winter and recovering the three commanderies, the next step is to investigate the different tribes and ethnic groups of the Xiongnu, dig out the few cannibalistic tribes, and carry out a targeted purge.

This year is also the last window of opportunity for free action. If the issues of Lushui and the northern Hu tribes are not resolved, Liu Xie, Lü Bu, Yuan Shao, and even Liu Zhang, Liu Biao, Ma Teng, and Han Sui will actively intervene if we want to take action again.

(End of this chapter)