Chapter 2001: Enfeoffment

When the "camp-administration system" was mentioned, everyone's first reaction was to think of the "camp-field system" that had been implemented in the Great Han for more than twenty years, and many generals subconsciously furrowed their brows.

What was the camp-field system? Simply put, it was a low-cost production organization model organized by the government. Its benefits went without saying—settling displaced persons, restoring production, and during the unification wars, the military and civilian garrisons across the realm provided the court with massive amounts of grain and war materiel.

This source of income was something the court could not bear to part with for over twenty years. Although it had continuously lightened the burden on camp-field households in response to the changing times, it was only after the tenth year of Kaibao, with much reluctance and penny-pinching, that the camp-field system was truly, comprehensively, and thoroughly abolished.

And while civilian garrisons were abolished, military garrisons continued on. Along the various frontiers of the Great Han, there were still situations where farming and herding were carried out under the camp-field model. It was only that, under a different name, as a form of border-defense and training duty, with greatly reduced labor intensity and regular rotation, that it no longer provoked the kind of widespread resentment and repeated unrest seen from the end of Qianyou to the beginning of Kaibao.

Therefore, military garrisons on the frontiers remained an important supplement to the supply of the border troops. Relying solely on the court's grain and pay allocations plus the meager output of the border prefectures and counties would make the cost too high.

In the final analysis, the camp-field system was merely an emergency measure under special circumstances and specific conditions. Maintaining it long-term would inevitably breed contradictions and create problems. But in its early implementation, it had remarkable efficacy in settling displaced persons and restoring production, and it was often used in times of breaking down the old and establishing the new.

Given the predicament Anxi now faced, it was understandable that Liu Min thought of solving it through camp-fields. After all, to maintain the daily supplies for the Anxi military and civilian population, when external support was hard to rely on, tapping into one's own resources and carrying out large-scale production and development was also an inevitable choice. As long as agricultural and pastoral output increased, the problem would naturally be solved.

Logically speaking, with Anxi's post-war desolation and urgent need for recuperation, it was relatively suitable for implementing garrison farming. But it was equally undeniable that Anxi's situation could not be treated according to conventional logic.

In fact, at present, Anxi basically lacked the military and civilian foundation for implementing the camp-field system. Take the army for example—the composition of the Anxi army consisted mainly of the northwestern border troops, militia, and conscripted Hu tribal soldiers. Among them, aside from the Hu who fought for money, the rest had more so responded to the court's call, beating swords into plowshares to pioneer the Western Regions.

They came to Anxi, on the one hand, to obtain merit and wealth, and on the other hand, they were simply compelled by military orders and dared not disobey. But regardless of the reason, coming to Anxi to farm and herd was definitely not among their options, because most of them were property owners back home, basically all having their own fields and houses. If they wanted to farm, why would they choose to stay in Anxi?

In earlier years, Liu Min had also tried this. That was after the Battle of Kucha ended and the Han army swept south of the Tianshan Mountains. Considering the difficulty of transporting court supplies and providing military provisions, Liu Min had tried having the army farm on the spot in the basins of the Yunhu River and the Tuoshigan River. At the time, it provoked considerable grumbling in the army, and as the war against the Kara-Khanid state continued, it was ultimately abandoned.

It was easy to imagine that if the Protectorate Government raised garrison farming again, the attitude of the Anxi troops would likely still be resistant—perhaps even more intense than back then. The matter of enfeoffment had already been settled, and Anxi being carved out as a fief was only a matter of time. Moreover, news that the court had halted all western-expedition policies had already spread. Of the thirty thousand Anxi troops, how many were willing to stay and farm and herd alongside the Protectorate Government here? That was clearly an unknown.

From the perspective of the common people, whether Hu or Han, those willing to migrate far from home to Anxi had, frankly speaking, the goal of profit—greater benefits than at home. If the camp-field system were implemented, most of the output from their labor would have to be turned over to the government. And precisely that was the problem—not many people were willing to stay in Anxi and work for the Protectorate Government.

If they were destined to be exploited, at least at home they had their native soil and clans. Why would they travel a thousand li to Anxi, just for the hell of it? Having barely managed to recruit these citizens, how could the Protectorate Government possibly drive them away?

And if the current lenient, benign tax level were maintained, then simply preserving the status quo would suffice. There was no need at all to organize centralized garrison farming—that would only disrupt the initially formed official-civilian land tax relationship in the Suye and Guocheng regions.

Therefore, those who could truly have the camp-field system implemented on them were instead the surrendered soldiers and remnant populations of the Kara-Khanids and the Samanids. As second-class people, they were destined to be squeezed. However, a cleansing plan against these people had just been decided. Under such circumstances, how could camp-fields be carried out, and how could they be organized?

Of course, the Anxi generals in the hall would not think about the deeper layers behind it all—they just subconsciously chose to reject it. Yang City Commander Zhu Ju, who had come to Suye to report on his duties, said directly: "Camp-administration system? Your Highness, the soldiers came to Anxi to earn merit and honors, to pursue great ambitions. You're not going to make us go farm the land again, are you!"

Zhu Ju's words represented the question on everyone's mind in that hall. They all harbored the same doubt. In their view, Liu Min's so-called "camp-administration system" was probably just a renamed version of the camp-field system to preempt the soldiers' objections—in essence, still camp-fields, still them farming in Anxi.

Sensing the generals' concerns, Liu Min raised his hand in a calming gesture, smiled slightly, and said: "Everyone need not be tense. How could I make a decision that goes against the soldiers' wishes! Rest assured, the camp-administration I speak of is not that camp-field system!"

With that, Liu Min laid out the content of the camp-administration system that he and his staff had discussed.

With the goal of ensuring the secure supply of food for all the Anxi armies, it was necessary to develop productive forces and increase grain and livestock output. Therefore, garrison farming and herding were essential—of that there was no doubt.

The integration of soldier and farmer was the foundation—soldiers in wartime, farmers in peacetime was the basic characteristic of camp-fields. And the camp-fields Liu Min planned to implement naturally had variations on this foundation, such as in the distribution of means of production and the fruits of production.

According to Liu Min's plan, the various Anxi armies would be organized with the camp as the unit, establishing camp-administrations as the core of production organization. Each camp-administration would be allocated a corresponding number of farmers and herders. Of course, these farmers and herders would mainly be local natives (also callable serfs), while citizens who had migrated from the Great Han would basically exist as free persons.

At the same time, land would be demarcated for each camp-administration, and the Protectorate Government would issue a certain amount of livestock and tools, completing the primary distribution of the means of production, after which large-scale production could begin. Regarding the distribution of agricultural and pastoral output, the Protectorate Government would provisionally collect thirty percent, with the remainder owned by each camp-administration for internal free distribution.

Up to this point, compared to the exploitative camp-field system back home, there was not much difference. The main change was only that the exploited targets had been swapped to the local natives, with the proceeds shared between the Protectorate Government and the camp-administrations.

Such a camp-administration system, while having a certain appeal, was still not enough. The true core of Liu Min's "camp-administration system" required adding one more word—"administration."

"Administration" meant public office—a grassroots management institution that had emerged in the Great Han over the past years amid the evolution of the ward-and-market system. In cities, roughly one public office was established for every five or six wards.

Therefore, calling it "camp-administration" also meant that each camp-administration, besides being a military and agricultural-pastoral production organization, also possessed administrative management functions. Liu Min planned to entrust the camp-administrations with a series of powers that local governments held—governance, public security, taxation, law, education, fire prevention, and so on.

It could be said that this was a system akin to re-enfeoffment. Each camp-administration was a basic social unit, with the camp soldiers at its core. And as the Commander of a camp-administration, one held all power over everything under one's jurisdiction, including the power of life and death. This was prepared for those officers willing to stay in Anxi and strive.

The camp-administrations Liu Min established would, toward the Protectorate Government, basically only need to fulfill the obligations of paying taxes, defense, and answering conscription calls. If this came to pass, a large batch of "local emperors"—legally protected ones at that—would be born under Anxi's rule.

And what would be directly managed by the Anxi Protectorate Government would be the various cities, townships, counties, and free persons. The establishment of the camp-administrations would also be centered around the major cities, becoming "satellites" guarding them.

After Liu Min finished explaining his conceived "camp-administration" concept, the Hall of Diligent Governance fell into silence once again. Many people, including Prince Zhao Liu Fang, wore grave expressions, and some exchanged bewildered looks with one another.

This was completely a re-enfeoffment!