White-robed Minister

Chapter 187 0185 [Checks and Balances Between Civil and Military Officials, Layered Decentralization of Power]

Only after successfully persuading Yu Longke's troops to surrender could the Tongyuan Army truly open up new possibilities.

Xu Lai held meetings for several days in a row to establish the relevant policy framework, and then hurriedly went to Qinzhou City. The specific implementation was left to others.

Hou Ke and Wang Shao, in particular, are both capable individuals who can stand on their own, so Xu Lai doesn't need to worry about them too much.

After arriving in Qinzhou City, he spent a day with Pianpian and Yu'er before visiting Cai Kang, Gong Dingchen, and Gao Zunyu.

Gong Dingchen, in particular, was there to take charge of the Tea and Horse Bureau.

The first batch of Sichuan tea has already been transported north and is estimated to arrive in Qinzhou in two months. How the Tongyuan Army and the Tea and Horse Bureau should cooperate and how to distribute profits are issues that Xu Lai and Gong Dingchen need to discuss.

Xu Lai stayed in Qinzhou City for five days. Every morning he communicated with civil and military officials, and in the afternoon he played with Pianpian and Yu'er to relax. He lived a very leisurely life.

One day, he was having tea with Gao Zunyu when he received the news and rushed home.

Two doctors were called.

One was Zhang Fu, who diagnosed Pianpian's pregnancy, and the other was the best lactation doctor in Qinzhou City (more professional than ordinary midwives).

Zhang Fu was a man, and under normal circumstances, he wouldn't personally deliver a baby. Instead, a screen would be placed inside the room, with the mother and midwife inside, while Zhang Fu would stand outside the screen.

This is a top-tier delivery setup, with an experienced male gynecologist who can offer midwives various advice in emergencies.

The midwife, her assistant, and the servants in Xu Lai's household all got busy.

Seeing Xu Lai pacing anxiously outside, Zhang Fu came out to comfort him, saying, "Master Xu, don't worry. You can go and rest first. Giving birth isn't something that happens in just one or two hours. I've already made the kind of forceps that you mentioned, and I've improved it twice. In the past six months, I've used forceps to deliver babies for more than ten women."

Xu Lai said, "Forceps and scissors need to be steamed or boiled first."

Zhang Fu was both amused and exasperated: "We know."

Xu Lai added, "The breast doctor and her assistant had to wash their hands repeatedly."

"They've all been washed," Zhang Fu said.

Before Xu Lai transmigrated, he wasn't a doctor, so apart from basic common sense like bacteria, he didn't dare to spout nonsense about anything else.

For example, using alcohol for disinfection.

Even if he developed the technology to distill high-proof liquor, it would have been difficult to determine the exact alcohol content in ancient times. Liquor with an alcohol content below 70% would likely have the opposite effect, whether used on women in labor or on soldiers' wounds.

This will increase the mortality rate of pregnant women and wounded soldiers!

Xu Lai moved a chair and sat under the eaves, while the shouts from inside grew louder. Zhang Fu didn't go in, but stayed outside chatting with Xu Lai, as if Xu Lai needed comforting more than the woman in labor.

From morning until nightfall, Xu Lai, who was about to become a father for the first time, remained somewhat anxious. His main concern was the lack of confidence in ancient medical technology; he wouldn't be worried in a modern hospital, where he could always opt for a cesarean section.

Seeing his appearance, Zhang Fu, in order to reassure Xu Lai, had the wet nurse and assistant wash their hands again, and the forceps and scissors were boiled again.

In the middle of the night, Zhang Fu heard shouts and conversations inside. He quickly went into the room and stood outside the screen to discuss the specific procedures with the breast doctor.

At the hour of Yin (3-5 AM), the cry of a baby was heard. Zhang Fu opened the door a crack and peeked out: "Congratulations, Master Xu, mother and child are safe and sound."

"call!"

Xu Lai breathed a long sigh of relief.

Before long, the swaddled baby was brought out. The skin was smooth, and the baby still had hair. The eyes were closed, and the baby's eyebrows and eyes resembled those of Pianpian, while the mouth and nose resembled those of Xu Lai.

Xu Lai kept laughing.

After daybreak, Xu Lai gave the doctor and his assistant, who were eating, a tip, then took a shower, put on clean clothes, and went inside to visit them.

He didn't dare to touch Pianpian and her son, afraid that he might have brought some germs with him, so he just sat half a meter away and watched them.

After twenty hours of fussing, Pianpian ate some porridge and drank a bowl of soup, and is now sleeping.

After a short nap, Pianpian was awakened by the baby's cries, and the wet nurse she had already hired rushed in. However, she didn't breastfeed the baby directly, but instead let the baby suckle at Pianpian's breasts first, since Pianpian's milk hadn't yet come in.

Only after the wet nurse took the baby to another room to feed did Xu Lai speak to Pianpian: "Thank you for your hard work."

Pianpian looked a little tired, but smiled and said, "The child is very beautiful."

"Just like you," Xu Lai said with a smile.

The two chatted intimately before gradually getting to the main topic. Xu Lai advised, "Don't squeeze out the colostrum and throw it away. It's not dirty; on the contrary, it can make the baby stronger."

"Really?" Pianpian didn't know any of this.

In fact, people in ancient times didn't know that seeing colostrum as thick and yellowish made them think it was unhealthy. Especially wealthy families, who resolutely refused to feed their children colostrum, causing the infants to miss out on the probiotics, growth factors, and immune-active substances it contained.

How did Xu Lai find out?

When he was in middle school, his parents responded to the national call to have a second child. It was during summer vacation, and he often went to the hospital, where he heard about it from the nurses.

Xu Laisheng, fearing that Pianpian wouldn't believe him, insisted that it was Lin Yi, who compiled the medical book, who said it. He was only at ease after Pianpian's lactation was successful and he personally watched her feed the baby colostrum.

Xu Lai's promotion document arrived at the same time as Gao Zunyu's job adjustment.

Another military commander named Liu Shunqing arrived, and Xiang Bao was also promoted to military commander.

This was a way for civil officials to restrain Xu Lai, creating a system of checks and balances between the civil and military officials at the front lines.

The current situation is as follows:

Cai Kang was the military commissioner, in charge of all military and political affairs.

Zhang Shouyue was the deputy commander of the cavalry and infantry, assisting Cai Kang in managing all the troops in the Qin-Feng Road. He also concurrently commanded the Qiang tribes in the western route, but this did not include the newly surrendered Qiang people.

Gao Zunyu was a military commander in charge of the garrisoned imperial guards. He also oversaw the Gouqin Feng Military Commission and was Cai Kang's deputy. He also concurrently managed the Qiang tribes in the western route, but only oversaw newly surrendered Qiang people.

Liu Shunqing was also a military commander, in charge of all imperial guards except for the garrisoned imperial guards.

Xiang Bao was also promoted to military commander, in charge of the archers of Qin Prefecture and Tongyuan Army.

Gong Dingchen was in charge of the tea-horse trade.

Wang Shao was in charge of the trade and agricultural affairs of Tongyuan Army.

Hou Ke, as the judge, supervised Xu Lai in the financial and judicial aspects of Tongyuan Army.

Xu Lai, the military governor and pacification commissioner, had his power fragmented and scattered.

Military power was divided among four military officers, all of whom were direct subordinates of Cai Kang. Even Wang Shao was nominally an official under Cai Kang.

If Cai Kang doesn't cooperate, Xu Lai won't be able to accomplish many things.

He's been put under a tight headband —

The emperor promoted Xu Lai by two ranks and appointed him as the Pacification Commissioner of the Border Regions. Unable to object, the ministers had plenty of ways to reduce Xu Lai's power.

What Xu Lai needs to do is to reunite these scattered powers through various means!

He even delegated all the specific tasks to Hou Ke and Wang Shao, and frequently traveled to Qinzhou City. While spending time with Pianpian and her son, as well as Yu'er, he repeatedly communicated with Cai Kang, Gong Dingchen, Gao Zunyu, Liu Shunqing, Zhang Shouyue, Xiang Bao, and other civil and military officials.

Oh, and there's also a eunuch who works as a messenger; he's the emperor's spy. Xu Lai gives this eunuch gifts every time he returns to Qin Prefecture.

Before we knew it, it was early November.

Winter wheat has been sown, and the young men of both the Han and Qiang ethnic groups in the Tongyuan Army have begun large-scale training before the snow falls.

Gao Zunyu, Zhang Shouyue, Liu Shunqing, and Xiang Baodu all took action, each summoning their subordinate troops to actively train.

Xu Lai didn't know much about military affairs, so he could only do his best to provide them with logistics, especially providing warhorses for Xiang Bao's troops.

All the good horses were taken by Gong Dingchen, leaving Xiang Bao's newly formed cavalry force with only what was left over from the tea-horse trade.

Xu Lai continued to run around aimlessly, trying his best to befriend the four military officials, and from time to time, he would hold up the "Complete Essentials of Military Strategy" and humbly ask them for advice on military knowledge.

I'm exhausted, both physically and mentally!

Before the first snow fell, four cannons, a large number of shells and gunpowder were transported to Guwei Village.

The imperial court still had some conscience, and entrusted these cannons to Xu Lai's control.

Xu Lai naturally assigned them to his own troops. He selected some clever archers to be artillerymen and put Bu Chao in charge of the artillery units.

Xu Lai recommended five civil and military officials to the imperial court.

However, before the end of the year, the imperial court only granted official positions to one civil official and two military officials.

Because Yu Shanyuan passed the imperial examinations multiple times, he was appointed by the court as a staff officer and acting official in charge of the Qin-Feng Road Tongyuan Border Pacification and the administration of the local government.

To put it simply, he was Xu Lai's confidential secretary.

Such positions could be filled by high-ranking officials at the front. If a commoner was recruited and the court did not grant him an official post, his staff would be demoted after the official left office.

Yu Shanyuan is currently a Juren acting as an official. If he wants to be promoted to a selected official, he either needs to serve for a certain number of years or make meritorious contributions.

Bu Chao and Zhao Long were granted the title of General of the Army—a military officer of unranked miscellaneous rank.

"Haha, I'm an official now!"

Upon receiving the official appointment document, Bu Chao couldn't wait to return to Qinzhou City and tell his newly pregnant wife.

Yu Shanyuan, however, had many feelings: "After twenty years of hard study, I can finally become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial civil service examination) and a regent. A regent is still an official, and I've finally made it through the tough times."

"There will be plenty of opportunities to expand our territory," Xu said. "There might be a war next year, and if we capture Weiyuan, we'll need even more manpower. Last month, I wrote to my old classmates in Guangzhou to see if any of them are willing to come and endure the hardship."

Yu Shanyuan laughed and said, "Those who are willing to come, who are not afraid of death or hardship, can all be given important positions."

Bu Chao asked, "How should I train my artillerymen?"

Xu Lai said, "A few craftsmen came with the cannons. You should learn from them how to operate the cannons. This can be done with math, but your math is really bad. Practice a lot and fire the cannons based on experience."

On the Tongyuan Army side, the initial framework was established last year, and there has been some progress this year.

Next year we'll get serious.

Xu Lai had long coveted Weiyuan Fort, which bordered Tongyuan Army territory, and the salt wells nearby. He had to send troops to take them!

Xu Lai was having a meal and chatting with Yu Shanyuan and Bu Chao when Hou Ke and Wang Shao both requested an audience.

Hou Ke said, "I just received news that Mu Zheng has built a city called Tabai and moved his stronghold from Kangubao there."

Wang Shao said, "This move is definitely because Kangubao is too close to Lanzhou, and the Western Xia army has built a fortified camp right up to Mu Zheng's doorstep. Although Mu Zheng has submitted to Western Xia, they are ultimately not on the same side. Mu Zheng has to be wary of both us and the Western Xia army."

"How about attacking Weiyuan Fort next year?" Xu Lai asked.

Wang Shao said, "That's how it should be!"

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