Chapter 1049: Novelty

That was the rationale, though it all depended on whether the various parties could let it slide. The formation of the First Brigade was hardly low-key, but the arrangements in Shandong still left some leeway for everyone. That leeway, however, would only hold if they knew what was good for them.

After the First Brigade was formed and dispatched, a second order for expansion and reorganization followed: the Personal Guard Unit was expanded into the Personal Guard Brigade. But this brigade differed in scale from the First Brigade. The Personal Guard Brigade had two regiments. Ji Xiang served as Brigade Commander of the Personal Guard Brigade, concurrently holding the post of Regiment Commander of the brigade's First Regiment. Zhang Hubin was Regiment Commander of the Personal Guard Brigade's Second Regiment, concurrently serving as Deputy Brigade Commander of the Personal Guard Brigade. Both regiments consisted of one thousand pike retainers and four hundred firelock retainers, all fully armored. Zhang Hubin's Fourth Great Unit and Lu Da's First Great Unit were broken up, reorganized, and then expanded. Their garrison then shifted from Jing Mountain on the Yellow River's northern bank to the He Family Village on the southern bank. The Personal Guard Brigade's First Regiment remained near He Family Village, while the Second Regiment was stationed between the north of He Family Village and the Yellow River.

Many could understand the formation and structure of the Personal Guard Brigade. At the same time, everyone marveled at Zhang Hubin's meteoric rise—how he had so swiftly become Deputy Brigade Commander. Although his primary post was Regiment Commander, he truly lived up to his reputation as "First Among the Newcomers." Regarding the Personal Guard Brigade's structure, certain matters were tacitly understood by all. The First Brigade had Chen Sheng out in the field with overall command of its regiments, so its structure naturally had to allow him flexibility. The Personal Guard Brigade, however, was stationed right beside Zhao Jin, guarding the core of Xuzhou. This meant no single person could be allowed to hold too much power. No one said this was because Zhao Jin distrusted Ji Xiang; instead, in private, they remarked that Zhao Jin truly looked out for the brothers close to him.

The Brigade Commander concurrently held the post of First Regiment Commander, while the Second Regiment Commander concurrently served as Deputy Brigade Commander. Both men's retainer regiments were equal in strength, and the gap in their status was not large, which naturally prevented any one person from monopolizing the Personal Guard Brigade. Both regiments were modeled on the establishment of the First Brigade's First Regiment. Though the Personal Guard Brigade's total numbers were fewer than the First Brigade's, its combat strength was in no way inferior—this, too, was a form of balance.

The cavalry unit originally subordinate to the Personal Guard was detached and formed into an independent Mounted Retainer Regiment. Zhao Jin personally served as its Regiment Commander, with three Deputy Regiment Commanders appointed: Tao Gui, Xu Yong, and Bayin. These three Deputy Regiment Commanders concurrently served as Great Unit Commanders. Each Mounted Retainer Great Unit comprised three companies, totaling over nine hundred and forty riders. A Firearms Great Unit was also established, with Zhao Jin personally serving as Great Unit Commander and Meng Zhiqi as Deputy Great Unit Commander. Under it were six artillery companies, along with three firelock companies and three pike companies assigned to protect the artillery.

Lu Da's First Great Unit was expanded into the Fengpei Regiment, with Lu Da as Regiment Commander. It had ten companies of pike retainers and two companies of firelock retainers. Li Wu's Second Great Unit became the Suzhou Regiment, with Li Wu as Regiment Commander. It had eight companies of pike retainers and two companies of firelock retainers. Li He's Third Great Unit became the Pizhou Regiment, with Li He as Regiment Commander. Its establishment was identical to the Suzhou Regiment's.

The garrisons of the expanded regiments also changed. The Fengpei Regiment was stationed near the Xu Family estate at Jing Mountain. The Suzhou Regiment was stationed on the border between Xuzhou and Fengyang Prefecture. Li He's Third Great Unit, now the Pizhou Regiment, was stationed along the boundary between Xuzhou and Pizhou. Although all three were elevated from Great Units to Regiments, their autonomy was reduced; they now fell under Zhao Jin's direct command. Once this arrangement was made, those who had been fretting on Zhao Jin's behalf about overgrown subordinates and structural imbalances finally understood.

Judging by the expansions known so far, Zhao Jin had further strengthened his forces in Xuzhou. He now held the strength of roughly seven regiments, and judging by their equipment, they held an even greater advantage over the First Brigade. People had been worrying over nothing, fretting about these imaginary internal checks and balances for the Zhao Camp. But looking at the bigger picture, one thing became clear: if Yanzhou Prefecture and Xuzhou were viewed as a single entity, the Zhao Camp had deployed over ten thousand retainers there. In the surrounding region, only Beizhili to the north possessed enough troops to match them. What exactly was the Zhao Camp planning? To defend? Or to attack?

One force drew little attention. Beside Zhao Jin were two companies of retainers. These retainers were not on the establishment rolls of any brigade or regiment, nor were they all young men. Their equipment was excellent—even excessive. But these details were known only to insiders of the Zhao Camp. Sun Dalin was the Company Commander of one company, and Zhao Wan was the Company Commander of the other. These two companies constituted Zhao Jin's private guard force.

After this establishment was finalized, the Agricultural Reclamation Office, the Trade Office, and the Artisan Manufacturing Office began formally operating to the outside world. The Director of the Agricultural Reclamation Office was Cao Ruhui, who oversaw all the farming estates within the Zhao Camp's sphere of influence. To everyone's surprise, the Agricultural Reclamation Office also supervised the local militia within each estate. Everyone had previously assumed these militias would fall under the command of the local brigade and regiment commanders. The Agricultural Reclamation Office was divided into districts. Xuzhou naturally became the Xuzhou District. There were also the Suzhou District, the Guide District, and the area around Pizhou together with the eastern shore of Luoma Lake, collectively called the Huaian North District. In Shandong, there was the Yanzhou District. Each district had a District Head, and below the District Heads were the individual farming estates. Like the estate managers below them, the District Heads each had various specialists and support staff at their side.

Compared to the many newly coined titles in the Agricultural Reclamation Office, the Trade Office seemed more like a rebranding of several commercial firms subordinate to the Zhao Camp. Yunshan Trading and the Sun Family Trading were the main bodies of the Trade Office. Though their external names might differ, all the shops were now uniformly managed by the Trade Office. The Director was Zhou Xuezhi. The titles of branch managers, shop stewards, and accountants below remained unchanged. Apart from Yunshan Trading and the Sun Family Trading, there were a few self-contained entities: the Qingjiang Great Market, the Xuzhou Market and Salt Market, and the soon-to-open market in Jining, each with its own small setup.

After their establishment, the Agricultural Reclamation Office and the Trade Office were not completely separate but rather deeply intertwined. For instance, the former Yunshan branches everywhere were divided along urban and rural lines: those outside the city walls went to the Agricultural Reclamation Office, while those inside the walls remained with the Trade Office. The various trading posts and warehouses previously built by the farming estates for convenience—at Yutou Town by Luoma Lake and in Xuzhou City—also all became the property of the Trade Office.

Furthermore, the Director of the Agricultural Reclamation Office was based in Xuzhou, while the Director of the Trade Office was in Qingjiangpu. Inside He Family Village, however, a dozen or so accountants from each office worked in adjacent offices. They handled the accounting, exchanges, and transactions transmitted from all areas under Zhao Camp control, particularly the mutual accounting and settlement between the Trade Office and the Agricultural Reclamation Office.

Everyone connected to the Zhao Camp kept a very close eye on these two offices. Not everyone could take part in the life-and-death business of wielding blades and spears, but the matters of farming and trade—the business of making a living and a fortune—were relevant to every single person. Below each Office Director, whether it was the staff serving the Directors and District Heads, or the estate managers and shop stewards below them, a vast number of positions had suddenly opened up. A position meant pay, status, and dignity. Holding such a position meant sharing honor and disgrace, life and death, with the Zhao Camp, never to be separated again.

Those appointed to the various positions below the two Office Directors included men from Xuzhou and Pizhou, as well as men from the refugee farming estates. In fact, those from the refugee estates were slightly more numerous, as they had more experience. These men were mostly captured during the siege of Xuzhou or taken in during the year that followed, and had since become core backbone members of the Zhao Camp. Still, among the Xuzhou and Pizhou locals, there was a derogatory term for them: "Old Refugees." Talk aside, those who observed this realized that the Zhao Camp had thoroughly won over these refugees and transformed them into their own strength—and would likely digest the refugees in Shandong the same way.

Compared to the establishment of the Agricultural Reclamation and Trade Offices and the selection of their personnel, the formation of the Artisan Manufacturing Office drew far less attention. In everyone's mind, this Artisan Manufacturing Office was simply Master Jin giving his brother-in-law a position. After all, with his own family enjoying such wealth and splendor, he couldn't neglect his own relatives. People saw that the Artisan Manufacturing Office was full of profitable enterprises—an ironworks, a distillery, even a shipyard, and recently they were setting up workshops for spinning and weaving cotton. Whatever these produced could be sold for money. Even a tiny bit skimmed off the top would be a fortune.

Although having a trade could support a family, no one thought artisans were much nobler than tenant farmers. At best, they were just selling their skill and labor. If you wanted your child to have a respectable future, you either sent them to study letters and become a clerk, or to train in martial arts and earn merit. Learning a trade was only chosen when there was no other way out.

The Foreign Affairs Office had nothing to do with local matters, and the position of Treasury Superintendent was known to very few. For the sake of absolute security, it was not publicized, so no one paid it much mind. As for Wang Zhaojing's position as Superintendent, no one found it particularly strange either. Wang Zhaojing and the others might have taken the selection among themselves very seriously, but to outsiders, wasn't Wang Zhaojing essentially already in the position of superintendent? In these peaceful times, with no rebellion afoot, it wasn't exactly proper to call him Military Advisor or Chancellor.

All of the above were changes in titles and areas of jurisdiction—mostly just a new coat of paint or a few additions, things people were already doing. Those familiar with the Zhao Camp found nothing particularly novel. What truly piqued everyone's curiosity was the establishment of the Patrol Corps. The Patrol Corps' hierarchy was somewhat more complex than the Retainer Regiments. A Patrol Corps was divided into Great Units, Medium Units, and Small Units. There were also Mounted Patrols, Boat Patrols, Salt Affairs Patrols, and various other designations.

A Small Unit had twenty men, a Medium Unit sixty, and a Great Unit two hundred and forty. Eight or twelve Great Units formed a Patrol Corps. The Patrol Corps was the largest formation for patrols. A Patrol Corps Superintendent was appointed to command all patrols, and Zhao Jin himself assumed the post of Patrol Corps Superintendent.

Patrol posts and patrol stations were established at key points inside and outside the cities. They were responsible for local public order, capturing bandits, maintaining market decorum, executing the affairs of the Trade and Agricultural Reclamation Offices, gathering intelligence on their station areas, and so on. In summary, all the public duties previously handled by government clerks, constables, and runners, as well as by the local gentry and commoners, were now fully absorbed into the responsibilities of the patrols.

The Great Ming was governed jointly by officials and the gentry. The number of ranked officials, clerks, and runners was very small, while the unranked assistants and hangers-on were mostly accomplices in extortion. Many public affairs, even many matters that should have been handled by the government, were taken over by the local gentry. It was not that they were particularly public-spirited, but simply that someone had to do these things.

Thanks to old friends "Yuan Heng Li Zhen, Qi Sanwen, Wind Dragon King, Sui Xin Zi Wo 0" for their gifts. Thank you all for your subscriptions and monthly tickets. Thank you for your support.