Chapter 354: Incognito Private Inspection

In the next few days, Jia Jing mainly stayed at Dong Fu to handle official business.

He simultaneously arranged Embroidered Uniform Guard affairs in places such as Jiangnan and Shandong, especially further inserting personnel into the White Lotus Sect in Jiangnan.

He also dealt with various matters of the Twelfth Regiment Camp and the capital region military affairs.

At the same time, he had to receive the never‑ending flow of founding‑lineage martial heroes and the Jia Family's old relatives, ascertain their conditions and attitudes, and hold separate talks with them.

Time quickly reached June 23rd.

Although a light rain fell last night, today the heat still steamed.

On the official road heading southwest from Shenjing, the dust was baked by the sun into a fine white powder; horse hooves raised plumes of smoke.

The crops on both sides of the road were sparse, the leaves curled at the edges as if scorched by fire.

Jia Jing rode a blue‑coated horse, wore a half‑worn stone‑blue robe, a scarf on his head, bore no sword, and only a white, moon‑shaped pouch hung at his waist.

From a distance, he looked like a scion of a noble family out on a journey.

Xuanwu followed at his right hand, dressed in black cloth, a sword at his waist, with a stern face and vigilant eyes.

Jia Cong, Jia Huan, and Jia Lan each rode horses behind, with bows and arrows slung on their backs.

Although they were young, their horsemanship was quite good, evidently the result of diligent practice in the clan school.

Yesterday the clan school granted a ten‑day agricultural break, suspending lessons, and they were on holiday at home.

And Jia Jing had said a few days earlier that he wanted to chat and share thoughts with them, so he took the opportunity of today's field visit to inspect the surrounding farmland and military households, bringing them along.

Reading ten thousand books is inferior to traveling ten thousand miles; letting them see the livelihood outside with their own eyes will benefit them more than empty lecturing.

The three youths all wore plain blue robes, their head scarves fluttering slightly in the gentle breeze.

Jia Huan still had that unflattering look of one shoulder higher, one lower, with low, furrowed brows and a sour expression,

Even though he tried his best to sit steady on the horse now, he still seemed somewhat awkward.

He looked at Jia Jing ahead, his gaze tinged with a hint of excitement, and in a small, duck‑like voice whispered:

"Jia Cong, Jia Lan, what do you think Third Brother is taking us to?"

Jia Jing is now the person he admires most and wishes to become; being able to follow him out today stirred an inexplicable excitement in Jia Huan.

Of course, the most important thing is that Baoyu couldn't come, but he did!

"I don't know either, but Third Brother is such a person that wherever he goes there must be his own reasoning; we just follow behind, watch carefully, and learn!"

Jia Cong's tone was full of respect, and his gaze toward Jia Jing was also fervent.

Among the three, he and Jia Jing are half‑brothers sharing the same father, so he naturally feels a bit closer.

Jia Lan, meanwhile, pressed his lips together, his back straight, his gaze fixed on Jia Jing's silhouette, saying nothing.

Ahead, Jia Jing gradually halted his horse, scanning the surrounding fields.

Logically this should be the farming season, yet most of the fields here are barren, and there are few people in the area.

Some traces of canals and ponds remain, but because this year's rain was scarce, water levels fell, and many places that no longer receive water have become silted and abandoned.

Shuntian Prefecture, as the fertile land beneath the Son of Heaven, administers five prefectures and twenty‑two counties.

They are, respectively: Tongzhou and Changping Prefecture overseeing Shunyi, Miyun, Huairou counties; Zhuozhou overseeing Fangshan county; Bazhou overseeing Wen'an, Dacheng, Baoding counties; Jizhou overseeing Yutian, Fengrun, Zunhua, Pinggu counties.

There are also four prefecture‑direct counties and two attached‑city counties; the whole Shuntian Prefecture has continued as the capital region since Emperor Chengzu moved the capital.

Shuntian Prefecture's terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast.

The northwest is mountainous, with Tianshou Mountain north of the city and Xishan west of the city, part of the Taihang Range; the southeast is a low‑lying plain with many rivers, lakes, and marshes.

The main water systems include Lugou River, Gaoliang River, West Lake, Nanhaizi, Jiulong Pond, and so on.

The prefectural capital's Daxing and Wanping, as attached‑city counties and the most concentrated imperial estates of the Da Han Empire, have fertile land and are the prime targets for Shenjing's aristocrats.

Liangxiang, Gu'an, and Fangshan lie on the plain before Xishan, with fertile soil and convenient canal transport.

Tongzhou, Wuqing, Xianghe, and Baodi are prefectures along the Grand Canal, with fertile land and easy water‑land transport, making them key farming zones.

Since the founding of the Da Han Empire, the lands under Shuntian Prefecture have had good soil, ample water sources, and decent harvests.

But in recent decades, due to natural and human disasters, plus military households fleeing and neglected irrigation, these once‑good fields now appear largely barren.

According to the Yellow Register, Jia Jing knows that at the founding of the Da Han Empire, Shuntian Prefecture's total farmland was 582,000 qing.

Three years ago, after a survey, the cultivated area was only 99,000 qing, with some newly added or surveyed plots; nearly five‑sixths were missing, showing how much land had been abandoned or concealed.

By the roadside, Xuanwu rode up to Jia Jing and said with emotion:

"Lord Guogong, if we could return these encroached lands to the military households and common folk, and repair these canals and ponds, this whole area would be excellent fertile land!"

Jia Jing nodded; his purpose was to see firsthand what the Guard Post system had become around Shenjing.

And under the pretext of auditing the Guard Posts' farmland, military households, and troop numbers in the capital region, to verify the land holdings of each martial hero and compile solid evidence of encroached farms.

Using this as a foothold to reform Shenjing's aristocracy, which is relatively effective and safe.

Jia Jing looked at the sun‑bleached white earth wall and low eaves ahead, furrowed his brows slightly, and asked:

"Is that Liangxiang Camp ahead?"

Xuanwu nodded and replied:

"Among Shuntian Prefecture's twenty‑four Guard Posts, Liangxiang has one; ahead is the village where the military households gather."

Jia Jing said:

"It looks almost deserted, a bit desolate!"

Emperor Gaozu of the Da Han Empire instituted the Guard Post system with the original aim of creating a million‑strong army that cost the court not a single coin.

He once said, "I raise a million soldiers without costing the people a single grain of rice."

From a systemic design perspective, compared with the previous dynasty, it indeed had its merits.

First, it embeds soldiers in agriculture, making them self‑sufficient; the Guard Post system tightly integrates military defense zones with farming units.

Each Guard Post, according to prescribed ratios—e. g., on frontier lands 'three parts guard the city, seven parts farm'—allows soldiers to both defend and cultivate their allotted fields.

This model requires no extra court stipends, greatly easing the imperial treasury's burden.

Next, the hereditary soldier system of the Guard Post was implemented, ensuring a stable source of troops.

Guard Post soldiers are hereditary; once enlisted, their families serve as soldiers generation after generation.

This secured a stable and continuous manpower base for the court, and by relying on land grants and mobilization, it quickly established a huge military force.

Finally, the Guard Post system dispersed deployments, strengthening control over localities.

The court established Guard Posts widely at important locations nationwide, forming a tight defensive network.

This not only effectively defended the territory, but also facilitated management and mobilization by the court through the Five Military Governor's Office and the Ministry of War.