Chapter 186: 184 Military and Civil Adjustments (For Alliance Leader

The eighth year of Chongzhen, the twelfth month.

Zhao Han's military and civil administrative systems were both adjusted at the same time.

On the civil affairs side, administrative divisions were redrawn — not only were two towns cut from each county, but prefectures and counties were also redefined according to the territory actually controlled.

There were still only two prefectures —

Ji'an Prefecture provisionally governed seven counties: Luling, Jishui, Anfu, Taihe, Yongfeng, Wan'an, and Longquan.

Linjiang Prefecture provisionally governed six counties: Qingjiang, Xin'gan, Xiajiang, Xinyu, Fenyi, and Fengcheng.

These were all temporary and would certainly be adjusted again in the future.

On the military side, the army was expanded and war preparations intensified.

The Military Affairs Court underwent corresponding reforms, dividing into three courts: South, North, and Water.

Huang Yao assumed the post of North Court chief, with Linjiang Prefecture as his military jurisdiction.

Fei Ruhe assumed the post of South Court chief, with Ji'an Prefecture as his military jurisdiction.

Gu Jianshan assumed the post of Water Court chief, taking overall command of the naval forces.

At the same time, the upper limit for officers the Military Affairs Court could promote on its own was raised to the Picket Commander level (commanding roughly one hundred troops). For officers above Picket Commander, the Military Affairs Court could only recommend candidates, who required approval from the Military Affairs Bureau before receiving formal appointment.

As the army grew, this upper limit would be raised further in the future; Li Banghua believed it could go as high as Company Commander. That is to say, officers commanding fewer than a thousand men could be promoted by the Military Affairs Court on its own; generals commanding a thousand or more had to receive approval from the Military Affairs Bureau (the Ministry of War).

Army propaganda instructors were detached from the Propaganda Bureau (the Ministry of Rites) and merged into the Military Affairs Bureau (the Ministry of War) system.

Henceforth, assessments of military merit would be recorded and reported by army propaganda officers, with army generals and military judges jointly participating.

The rewards and punishments for the series of engagements during the recent raid by Yang Jiamo were also announced after verification.

The peasant soldiers of Qingjiang County, who tied down the enemy's main force, had rendered great merit.

Propaganda Officer Yang Mo, fearing no powerful foe, died a heroic sacrifice. His family was granted five mu of land and ten taels of silver. As he had never taken a wife, with the consent of Yang Mo's elder brother, a nephew was adopted by posthumous succession to continue his line.

Xiao Zongxian, for his capable command, was promoted by leap from squad leader to Picket Commander, granted three mu of land, awarded five taels of silver, and bestowed one suit of armor.

Peasant soldier squad leader Hu Dinggui, fierce and valiant in battle, was the very first to launch a charge when defeat seemed imminent, single-handedly slaying two household retainers and jointly slaying another. He was now transferred and promoted to regular squad captain, granted three mu of land, awarded five taels of silver, and bestowed one suit of armor.

All other peasant soldiers who fought to the end were transferred into the regular army, granted two mu of land, and awarded one tael of silver.

All peasant soldiers who died in battle were granted five mu of land and ten taels of silver. Those without heirs could adopt or arrange posthumous succession, so that the fallen heroes' incense might be continued.

All peasant soldiers who fled the field were each fined one mu of land and required to perform labor service at the county seat two months every year. During the service period they received only rations, no wages, for a term of five years.

Although Zhao Han's army was strict in meting out rewards and punishments, it was very cautious about granting land.

This was the first large-scale land grant, because the fighting at the time had been so desperate. A group of peasant soldiers with just over two months of training, wielding the crudest of weapons, facing several hundred household retainers clad in iron armor, charging forward into the arrows — it could practically be called a military miracle.

They had to be held up as models!

As for the land grants, after repeated discussion, a final resolution was reached.

Whether civil official, military officer, or common soldier, anyone who achieved exceptional merit could be granted additional land.

As for ordinary commoners, those who fought floods or droughts, built water conservancy works, or reclaimed wasteland could earn points for each stint of labor; when their points reached a set threshold, they could be granted land. In Wuxing Town, for example, many commoners had been granted one mu of land — land they had earned through their own labor.

However, no single person could hold more than one hundred mu of land in their name.

Once that amount was reached, no matter what merit was achieved, no further land could be awarded. They could be promoted in rank, they could be rewarded with money, but they could not be rewarded with land.

The twenty-first day of the twelfth month.

Zhao Han led his civil and military officers out through the northwest gate of Ji'an Prefectural City, followed by over two hundred soldiers bearing the spirit tablets of the fallen heroes.

The temple on Zhenjun Mountain, construction of which had begun early in the year, had now been converted into the Hall of Heroic Souls.

Miao — temples — had existed since the pre-Qin era as places for offering to gods or ancestors, and were by no means the exclusive domain of the Buddha and his monks.

From the time Zhao Han raised his army to the present, a total of 216 warriors had given their lives. This included those who fell ill and died on the march during Zhao Han's winter campaign, all counted among the fallen. It also included the naval soldiers who fell into the Gan River in fierce combat and were swept away, their bodies never found — they too counted as fallen.

Previously, the spirit tablets of the fallen heroes had been enshrined in Yongyang Town, borrowing the ancestral hall of a prominent family; now they were all moved here.

Their bodies were each buried in their home villages; the Hall of Heroic Souls enshrined only the spirit tablets.

Solemn all the way, with no music, the crowd trod through the snow up the mountain.

Many commoners had also come along of their own accord to watch the spectacle, but seeing the solemnity of the occasion, they did not dare speak out of turn.

Arriving before the Hall of Heroic Souls, the temple keeper was already there to greet them.

The unlicensed monks from the temple had long since been ordered to return to lay life. The licensed monks had been gathered up and sent off to Qingyuan Temple in Jishui County.

Zhao Han treated monks and Daoist priests equally, discriminating against neither, provided they did not go too far.

The keepers of the Hall of Heroic Souls were several soldiers disabled by wounds. Their entire families had moved here, their land allotments were also on Zhenjun Mountain, they drew a salary, and were responsible for cleaning, sweeping, and offering incense for the fallen heroes.

Hu Dinggui at that moment held a spirit tablet — it was his neighbor, and also a peasant soldier who had served under him. Hu Dinggui did not weep; he simply walked up the mountain path, recalling many things from the past.

In truth, there was not much worth recalling. The man whose name was on this tablet had often bullied him — after all, he was an orphan raised by his uncle.

At this moment, all that filled Hu Dinggui's mind was the image of that charge that day.

Over two hundred spirit tablets were placed one after another inside the main hall.

Zhao Han said not a word, merely standing solemnly before the hall. At the temple keeper's call, he bent his knees and knelt in the snow to kowtow.

The prohibition on kneeling and kowtowing only forbade kneeling to people.

One could kneel to Heaven and Earth, to ancestors, to parents. If you insisted on kowtowing to your teacher, so long as no official rank was involved, no one would stop you.

Many of the scholars present, including Pang Chunlai and Li Banghua, felt deeply conflicted at this moment. They had no good impression of military officers or common soldiers — it was not merely civil officials' disdain for military men, but stemmed from what military men had done over a thousand years.

In stark contrast, the officers and soldiers present were moved to a man, a few of them even with hot tears brimming in their eyes.

"Du-du-du-dah-dah-du-du-du~~~~~"

The suona horn repeatedly sounded the army call. Hu Dinggui, kneeling on the ground, heard that call and suddenly wanted to rise and charge.

"Rites concluded!"

Zhao Han slowly stood and led the crowd back down the mountain.

Returning to the city, Zhao Han summoned Hu Dinggui, calling him directly to his own home for a meal.

Hu Dinggui, so fearless and dauntless on the battlefield, was restless and uneasy before Zhao Han, sitting there as if he had nails growing out of his seat.

"Don't be afraid," Zhao Han said with a smile. "I hear you're only fifteen, and you've already killed three household retainers with your own hands?"

Hu Dinggui answered, "I'm sixteen now. I only really killed two. The third one, someone else was holding him down, and I stabbed him to death with a long spear."

Zhao Han asked again, "Have you ever studied?"

"My father can read and taught me a little. I can recite the Three Character Classic," Hu Dinggui said.

Zhao Han smiled. "After this military reorganization, as long as there's no fighting, the regular troops will have one rest day every five days, and the army will run study classes. The lectures are free. First, learn more characters — arithmetic is also extremely important."

Hu Dinggui nodded quickly. "Mm, I understand."

The army study classes covered four main subjects: Great Unity thought, literacy, arithmetic, and history.

The history wasn't proper history either — just various little stories: Su Wu herding sheep, Ban Chao pacifying the Western Regions, Huo Qubing holding the Fenglang sacrifice at Mount Langjuxu, that sort of thing.

Zhao Han took out a copy of The Great Unity Collection. "This book is for you."

"All right." Hu Dinggui accepted it with both hands and carefully tucked it into his chest.

……

Nanchang.

Governor Li Maofang was nearly going mad. The local gentry were enthusiastically raising troops, and even from the neighboring prefectures of Ruizhou and Nankang, many gentry were spontaneously raising troops to help in the fight.

The gentry had more or less figured out that relying on government forces alone made it impossible to defeat Zhao Han.

And so, a small number chose to proactively throw in their lot with Zhao Han, while many chose to raise troops and help fight. Among them, not a few saw this as an opportunity — by defeating Zhao Han and gaining military merit, the court might just grant them an official post.

In the span of a single month, the forces under Li Maofang's command had ballooned to over twenty thousand!

All of them were newly recruited village braves, utterly incapable of fighting, yet needing to eat every day. Li Maofang had no idea whether to be pleased or worried.

If this went on, before the rebels even came to attack the city, Li Maofang himself would collapse — because his grain supply could not support so many troops.

Ah, Wang Tingshi was still the reassuring one — worthy of having been a high court official. The two thousand village braves under his command raised their own provisions. What were all the other gentry doing? They came bringing only a few days' marching rations. Even if they were disbanded immediately, Li Maofang would still have to pay out a demobilization grain allowance.

"Report!!!"

Li Maofang also had scouts in Ji'an Prefecture, who sent messages via merchant boats.

Opening the secret letter and reading it, Li Maofang's face went pale with shock.

The rebels of Longquan and Wan'an had voluntarily submitted to Zhao Yan of Luling, and the two sides had joined forces to take Taihe County. Then, after the County Magistrate of Yongfeng died, the Registrar and Constable had brought over a thousand elite troops and offered up the territory.

Immediately after, Zhao Han expanded his army to eight thousand regular troops, with peasant soldiers beyond count.

Because the army was relatively sealed off, and the several hundred troops from Ehu had been broken up and mixed into the ranks, word that Zhao Han came from Yanshan had not yet spread.

Eight thousand regular troops, peasant soldiers beyond count…

Li Maofang felt his scalp go numb. He had seen Zhao Han's army and knew how formidable their fighting strength was. And he also knew now that Yang Jiamo's several hundred household retainers had been tied down by a bunch of peasant soldiers and failed to withdraw in time.

With that rebel Zhao expanding his army like this, there would certainly be movement within half a year. When that happened, how could Nanchang city be defended?

Fine, if they were utterly determined on defense, Nanchang could probably still hold. But what use was merely holding it?

The court kept pressing and pressing, ordering Li Maofang to quickly recover the lost territory, even making him set his own deadline for recovering the lost territory.

That's right — set a deadline!

The officers and troops of five provinces encircling and exterminating the roving bandits also had deadlines — it was equivalent to the Supreme Commanders and Governors signing a military pledge for themselves. This past summer, with the deadline approaching, the Governor-General of Five Provinces, Hong Chengchou, had no choice but to grit his teeth and advance. Although the fierce general Cao Wenzhao died, they still sent the roving bandits fleeing in all directions.

In truth, it was fighting that made them blossom everywhere — they split into countless small bands and shifted position. A single Governor-General of Five Provinces could not cope, so Lu Xiangsheng was made Supreme Commander of Five Provinces.

The Governor-General was responsible for the northwest theater; the Supreme Commander was responsible for the southeast theater.

As for Li Maofang, the bandit-suppression deadline he had set for himself still had a year left…

As the New Year approached, Li Maofang again obtained intelligence: the rebel garrison in Fengcheng County seemed to be down to just over a thousand men, and the rebels' naval force was nowhere to be seen.

Should he send troops to retake it — at least recover a city for once?

Li Maofang turned it over and over in his mind, but still did not dare make a move. He had already developed a psychological scar from being beaten.

But no matter what, it counted as good news — at least the rebels would not be attacking Nanchang in the short term.

Li Maofang announced that the rebels had already withdrawn, took out a sum of demobilization pay, and sent the newly recruited village braves home for the New Year. He told the gentry to drill their troops in the countryside on their own, and to gather the troops again when the rebels came.

Regional Inspector and Censor Chen Yuding's sixth memorial impeaching Li Maofang was at this moment also sent out along the Yangtze — Chongzhen would probably receive this pleasant surprise sometime during the Lantern Festival.

(End of chapter)