White-robed Minister

Chapter 209-0207 [Zhang Shangying's Doubts]

To strengthen the "commander's authority," the General Affairs Division usually does not have assistants, and the staff can be equipped by themselves.

Moreover, officials from the capital, selected candidates, and commoners could all serve as staff members. As long as the court granted permission and the individuals involved were willing to accept, the governor could arrange the staff however he pleased.

Take Fan Zhongyan as an example. He served as a military commissioner several times and invited Zhang Fangping, Ouyang Xiu, and Du Mo to serve as his chief scribes.

When the three were invited, their identities were respectively a government official, a selected official, and a commoner. However, only Zhang Fangping accepted the invitation, while Ouyang Xiu and Du Mo both declined.

Xu Lai is now assembling a team for the Military Strategy Office, and of course he's inviting his acquaintances.

The team configuration is as follows: First Secretary: Wang Shao.

Judges: Liao Zhenggu and Zhang Shangying.

The Director of the Accounting Department: Ding Zhengchen and Gong Fugui.

Officials: Li Shen, Wen Zhonghe, Guo Shen.

Wang Chunzhong was appointed to oversee the affairs of the central and municipal governments and concurrently manage public affairs.

Yang Shu was in charge of recruiting foreign tribes, building fortresses, and overseeing public affairs.

Yu Shanyuan was appointed to oversee immigration, land reclamation, and other related matters.

Among these people were officials whom Xu Lai had met in Yingtian Prefecture, fellow Jinshi graduates of the same cohort as Xu Lai, a group of fellow townsmen, and locals who had voluntarily pledged their allegiance to him.

Xu Lai even brought Gong Dingchen's son, Gong Fugui, along.

All of the above positions are temporary.

When Xu Lai steps down as military commissioner, this team will be disbanded, and most of the relevant personnel will be promoted. Those without official titles will be granted positions by the court if recommended by Xu Lai.

Xu Lai also wrote letters to invite his contemporaries, including Zhang and Peng Ruli, but they all politely declined.

Zhang Shangying was actually a bit confused. Among the many Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) of the second year of the Zhiping era, he was not very close to Xu Lai.

Two years ago, he was serving as the registrar of Tongchuan County, and inexplicably he was promoted to county magistrate.

He thought it was his brother Zhang Tangying who was helping him, but Zhang Tangying denied it and guessed that Xu Lai had spoken up for him.

Six months ago, his elder brother Zhang Tangying told him to accumulate seniority first, and that he would be promoted when the court began to carry out major reforms. He also told him to cooperate with Wang Anshi in implementing the new laws.

His brother was a staunch reformist and had recommended Wang Anshi.

This time, Zhang Heng was removed from his post as Vice Commissioner of the Three Departments and reassigned to be the Vice Commissioner of Transport in Shaanxi. The person who succeeded him as Vice Commissioner of the Three Departments was Zhang Tangying, who helped Wang Anshi control financial power.

Zhang Shangying was doing his job as a county magistrate honestly when he received a letter from Xu Lai without really understanding what was going on.

Then I'll agree.

He returned to his hometown of Chengdu from Yuzhou, settled his wife and children there, bought a blue donkey, and set off with two attendants.

While crossing the Sichuan-Shaanxi plank road, Zhang Shangying encountered a group of fellow Sichuan natives. Upon asking, she learned that they were from Qiongzhou.

His family owned an iron mine, and he was sending his young wife to Qinfeng Road to get married. Her husband was Yang Shu, who was the same age as him.

Moreover, Yang Shu's older brother, Yang Xun, was also in the group.

Yang Xun traveled all over the country that year. First, he went to Kaifeng to be promoted to a military rank. Then he went to Chengdu to help his younger brother prepare the dowry, delivered it to his brother's fiancée's home in Qiongzhou, and then escorted the bride to Qinzhou City.

The wedding can only be held in a different location, otherwise it would be delayed indefinitely.

In addition, Yang Xun himself was to serve as a military officer on Qin Feng Road and become the chief of the newly built fortress.

When Zhang Shangying, Yang Xun, and Yang Shu's fiancée arrived in Qinzhou, the winter solstice had already passed.

This year, Qinzhou experienced early snowfall, with two light snowfalls already.

Zhang Shangying encountered a group of people on the way and asked curiously, "Where are you all going?"

Most of these people were dressed in tattered clothes.

But the leader was dressed reasonably well and carried weapons: "I enlisted to be an archer in Xihe, and these are all my fellow villagers. They belong to the common people, and they can get land in Xihe."

Zhang Shangying asked, "It's such a long way, and they didn't even provide a winter coat?"

The archer laughed and said, "We'll distribute the clothes when we get to Qinzhou City."

"What about the resettlement allowance?" Zhang Shangying asked.

The archer said, "The resettlement allowance was given in Fengxiang. Not a single penny was deducted, and each person was even given an extra 500 coins to buy provisions for the journey."

I heard that once we reach Qinzhou City, we can receive additional rations.

Zhang Shangying looked at it more carefully: "Aren't there any officials escorting you?"

"What kind of officials do you need?" the archer retorted.

Zhang Shangying was confused by the question.

If archers and immigrants were conscripted over a distance of hundreds of miles, they would surely all escape halfway through the journey if no officials were sent to escort them.

Zhang Shangying continued to question, but the archer could not give a clear answer.

The archer said, "Anyway, we're all here voluntarily, and there's no deduction from our resettlement allowance. If anyone dares to run away halfway, the government will actually take back their resettlement allowance from their family."

Zhang Shangying looked at Yang Xun, who was traveling with her, and Yang Xun was also completely confused.

Have the officials of Fengxiang Prefecture all become more enlightened, that they don't take the opportunity to cut back on taxes and rations?

Let's start with the normal operating procedure:

Step 1: The imperial court ordered the prefectures and counties to recruit archers and immigrants. However, no money or grain was allocated; instead, the local governments were left to raise the funds themselves.

The second step: State officials convey the task to the county magistrates. Usually, only a portion of the funds and provisions are raised, and the rest is left to the counties to raise themselves.

The third step: County officials procure provisions and assign the head of the household to be in charge of conscription. Officials take the opportunity to embezzle money and provisions, and the conscripted people can only go on their journeys hungry.

What's going on this time?

Xu Lai, through the Market Exchange Office located in Gongzhou (Tongyuan Army), asked merchants to help him exchange the flying coins of various prefectures and cities.

Then, a clerk was dispatched to each prefecture, escorted by a soldier, to carry the flying coins to the local area to exchange them for copper coins. This clerk and soldier were also responsible for liaising with the prefecture officials and distributing resettlement allowances to archers and immigrants in the prefecture city (or capital city).

To prevent clerks and soldiers from withholding funds and to motivate them, Xu Lai made the following regulations: For each archer or civilian household arriving in Qinzhou City, the person in charge would receive a commission ranging from 15 to 40 coins, depending on the distance. Anyone who dared to withhold the resettlement allowance and rations would be exiled to Hezhou to work as a tenant farmer for the archers!

The clerk must be overjoyed!

If three to five hundred people from the prefecture they are in charge of arrive in Qin Prefecture, they can earn around 10 strings of cash in commission alone. If one or two thousand people arrive, the commission—hehe.

Moreover, when they are sent out on missions, they receive a food and lodging allowance in addition to their regular salary each month.

And what about the local state and county officials?

The two levels of government each contribute a portion of the funds and provisions. Previously, they relied on deductions to make money, but now they no longer need to deduct because they don't have to contribute any money at all. The more immigrants sent to Qin Prefecture, the more money and provisions they spend on paper, but the more benefits they can actually receive.

Not only would they receive money and grain, but officials would also have achievements in immigration!

In some rural areas, the landlords even started causing trouble.

Those self-sufficient farmers who were part-time farmers and part-time tenants often owed landlords a huge debt and the government a huge tax debt.

Since taxes couldn't be collected, county officials took the opportunity to trick them into immigrating, promising to wipe out their tax arrears. They then made them sell their remaining land to landlords to pay off their debts, and then move their entire families to Xihe.

This would make it easier for the government to collect taxes in the future. Moreover, the large number of families migrating would make it easier for officials to profit from the migrants' income.

But many landlords were unwilling. The interest compounded, and they owed the landlords a fortune. Those few acres of dilapidated land were simply not enough to pay off the debt. Moreover, if these people ran away, the landlords would have to find other tenants.

So the landlords sent people to guard the resettlement allowance distribution point, hoping to steal the resettlement allowance that the immigrants had just received to pay off their debts.

Xu Lai's clerk stationed in the prefectural capital was naturally unwilling, because the immigrants would check the status of their resettlement allowances once they arrived in Qin Prefecture.

The state officials were also unhappy, as the landlords were hindering their ability to make money.

Various conflicts continued, and the government even sent archers to protect the immigrants who had not yet set off and to temporarily gather them together.

The immigrants who have already set off are unconcerned; at least two or three hundred of them are traveling together. If anyone dares to rob them, these immigrants will fight to the death.

Filled with doubts, Zhang Shangying arrived in Qinzhou City with the immigrants.

There was a camp outside the city, specifically responsible for receiving immigrants.

Zhang Shangying showed the notice board and followed the immigrants inside, silently observing the operations.

The clerk in charge of registration asked, "Where is the document from your hometown government?"

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The archer, standing at the front of the line, quickly produced his document: "Here."

The clerk copied down his name and place of origin, and then asked, "Did you receive the 10 strings of cash for settling down and the 500 strings of cash for travel provisions?"

The archer replied, "Received."

The official then asked, "Do you have a wife back home? Would you like to marry someone in this border region?"

The archer chuckled: "I want to marry her, I want to marry her."

The clerk filled out a new official document and had the archer sign and affix his fingerprint: "You are assigned to Anxiang Pass in Hezhou. There are several sheds there where you can collect winter clothes, shoes, hats, and rations. After collecting your supplies, wait to depart tomorrow."

The archer happily went over, and then a family came forward to register, surprisingly bringing their whole family and even their children.

The clerk frowned and said, "Why are there elderly and children again? The food rations for the elderly and children will be halved, and the land allocated to them will also be halved."

The family quickly replied, "That's fine, that's fine. When will the seeds be planted?"

The official said, "Once you arrive at your destination, you will be given the land according to the amount allocated to you. The seeds and oxen are loans to you. Don't worry, there's no interest. When you're plowing, you must take good care of the oxen; if they get thin from hunger, you'll be severely punished."

Zhang Shangying observed carefully and found that everything here was in an orderly manner, and there was no deduction.

it's wired!

Yang Xun, however, went to the Chengji County government office with his younger brother's fiancée.

Upon hearing that he was Yang Shu's elder brother, the clerk in charge of receiving him dared not neglect him and hurriedly took him to see the clerk. The clerk respectfully greeted him and then took him to see the county magistrate.

The newly appointed magistrate said, "Yang Jiezhi has been reassigned and is now working in Xizhou, where he is in charge of building fortified villages and pacifying the Qiang tribes in various prefectures of Xihe."

"Thank you for informing me!" Yang Xun said, cupping his hands in greeting.

Knowing that Yang Shu and Xu Lai were good friends, the magistrate suggested, "Xu Jinglue's family is in Qinzhou City. You may visit them first. I will send an official to take you there."

Yang Xun quickly thanked him.

The group went to visit, and Pianpian warmly received them.

Hearing that Yang Shu was about to get married, she even took out a treasure given to her by the emperor and asked Yang Xun to pass it on to Yang Shu as a wedding gift.

Yang Xun felt it inconvenient to chat with the women, so he took his entourage to the city to find an inn to stay in.

Yang Shu's fiancée and maid were invited to stay for dinner by Pianpian and will stay at her home that night.

That night, Yu'er, heavily pregnant, asked, "Are we really going to send that vixen to Xizhou?"

Pianpian said, "Amang (Xu Lai's son) is still young, and you are pregnant, so it's inconvenient for us to go. Sanlang is far away in Xizhou, and he doesn't even have anyone to serve him. It would be perfect for Miss Ding to go and take care of him."

Yu'er stroked her large belly and muttered to herself, "I wonder how long Sanlang will be an official in Xizhou. I'm afraid he won't be able to return to Qinzhou for three to five months."

"Alas, life in officialdom is always like this. My father used to go for years without coming home," Pianpian sighed.

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