Chapter 1642: Training Ground

As for Zhang, who arrived at Huaxia City before Baifeng and was waiting for further instructions, Baifeng's instruction to him was to go and wipe out one more small tribe this year, then return.

Because it was already too late in the year, it was impossible to attack Shenhu; no matter how one looked at it, there was not enough time. However, with the captured Slaves to point the way, it was still feasible to attack the surrounding small tribes. Wiping out one, or at most two, would also be a good thing for Huaxia.

Therefore, under Baifeng's arrangement, Zhang went out to battle once again. The Slaves he brought back were, naturally, auctioned off according to the original plan to those small Nobles and the Landlord class who needed Slaves.

As for the Soldiers who followed him on the expedition, Baifeng had the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel jointly verify their merits to ensure that everyone could be given sufficient rewards. The list of rewards would be released in advance so they would know what their rewards were. If anyone had objections, they could raise them beforehand for re-verification; at the year-end assembly, the rewards would be officially granted and announced to the whole country.

This time, there was a major change: the granting of surnames. Many Soldiers did not have merits that reached the level of being granted Nobility or a surname. However, in order to push forward the One-Family-One-Household System in the future and to achieve a more detailed and perfect socialization, Baifeng decided that those who were close to the standard for a surname should also be given one. For those who did not reach the standard for Nobility, their current treatment would be improved and they would be promoted to ensure that Nobility remained sufficiently valuable.

It was during this time that Huaxia granted over seventy surnames at once. Of course, among these surnames, many people shared the same one. As long as it was discovered during the household registration audit that these people had close blood relations, or indeed were close kin, they would use the same surname.

A major screening was also conducted; as long as they possessed blood relations within three generations, they could use the family surname. After Baifeng pushed this forward, the number of people in all of Huaxia with surnames reached nearly half in an instant. These people could also unite themselves through their surnames; in the future, even if they went to another place to reclaim wasteland, they would choose to be with people of the same surname, because they would subconsciously feel that those with the same surname shared the same ancestor and were all farmers.

Furthermore, they had to strictly observe the hard rule that blood relatives within three generations could not marry. Previously, it was only when they went to register for marriage that they would know if the two could marry, but now, as long as they had the same surname, they would have to be cautious when they first met.

Baifeng also did not fix it so that they were forbidden from changing their surnames themselves. A person who possessed a surname could, after one generation, choose whether or not to change it, but they could only change it to a reasonable new surname. This was considered a push for the diversification of Huaxia's surnames; the more surnames there were, the greater the benefits for this society. Of course, too many was not good either, as it increased management difficulty, so the surnames to be changed also had to undergo an audit.

The surname systems in the world were nothing more than a few types. Many still had no surnames, just a combination of their own name plus their father's name, or even their own name plus their house's name, which made the verification of bloodlines quite difficult.

There was another situation where the whole country was originally composed of Lowly Slaves, and no one had a surname. Then, they suddenly entered a new era where everyone had a surname, but they did not know what their surname should be, so they directly used the great surnames of the country's Nobles, such as Jin, Park, Li, or Cui, making the Nobles' surnames no longer noble.

Then there was the practice of making them up randomly, using whatever they saw, plus the practice of taking the husband's surname, along with other messy situations. Perhaps in a few decades or a hundred years, the people of their entire country would only have one surname.

The surname system used by Baifeng had been tested by time and was the most reasonable; as long as the power of the powerful clans was restricted, there would be no problems.

At the same time, Baifeng also went to see places further away, such as Xiao Town, which was now developing quite well. Baifeng had already seen the potential for building Villages in its surroundings, and in the future, people brought from the Shennong Clan could be distributed to the land near Xiao Town to reclaim wasteland.

Then there was Suiren City. As the King of Huaxia, this was Baifeng's first time setting foot in such a distant territory of his. Baoxi also led the people of the Suiren Clan to pay respects to Baifeng, thoroughly establishing Baifeng's ruling status.

Baifeng spent a few days in Suiren City, conducting inspections and planning, providing Suiren City with a bright future. Coupled with Baifeng's always seductive speeches, the people of the Suiren Clan were all filled with longing.

In the Winter, Baifeng also took a trip to the Western Development Group to plan for its future. Baifeng had high hopes for the Western Development Group; it could not only exist as an agricultural and pastoral town, but it also had to shoulder the heavy responsibility of opening up the West. Therefore, agriculture and animal husbandry were the foundation, but they could not be everything; it had to continue to expand and become a true city.

Furthermore, in the future, there must be a large army stationed in the Western Development Group, a large military Battalion. Such a border city was the most in need of a large number of troops. If there were such conditions, the Slaves captured would not need to be painstakingly brought all the way to Huaxia City.

Baifeng stayed until Zhang finished fighting and returned, and when the Snow had already begun to fall, he took Ce with him to return and attend the meeting.

Although the few people from the Western Development Group had already achieved certain results and could leave the Western Development Group to return to Huaxia City to take up posts, only one doctor, Yuzhu, was willing to return; the others were all prepared to remain in the Western Development Group to continue developing their careers.

After all, if they returned to Huaxia City, it would be difficult for them to obtain such great power to continue to display their talents. But in the Western Development Group, everything was up to them. Moreover, Ce heard from Baifeng's words that a garrison base would be built here as early as next year, to train and station troops on this vast land.

Furthermore, there was no rush to attack the Wulenge Tribe, because according to Zhang's news, the people of the Wulenge Tribe could run, hide, and scatter; it was impossible to completely wipe them out in a few or a dozen years. Even if their Shenhu Tribe was wiped out, it would be useless, because they would form other tribes on their own and continue to live as nomads.

This indeed reminded Baifeng that unless he had the ability to make nomadic peoples stop being nomadic, it would be impossible to completely solve this trouble. For thousands of years, nomadic peoples had been the greatest trouble for the dynasties of the Central Plains, and naturally, they would also be Baifeng's trouble.

Therefore, Baifeng simply changed his strategy. Since it was impossible to completely wipe them out, he would nibble away at them bit by bit. There was no rush to wipe out the Shenhu Tribe. Now, he would establish a military region in the Western Development Group. Every year, the new recruits would be brought directly here for major training, with the goal of attacking the Wulenge Tribe, letting them engage in direct combat.

A permanently fixed enemy would be their whetstone. Furthermore, Huaxia would not accept the surrender of the Wulenge Tribe; they could only become Lowly Slaves. This decision would not change.

Additionally, a Horse Farm must be established here. The lush Grass and the open land were very suitable for the drilling of Cavalry. Moreover, the existence of wild horses had been discovered here, and it was still possible for the Cavalry to capture wild horses again and expand the strength of the Cavalry.