Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 338: Land Offering Agreement, Long People Rule Long

December, Ji County.

The north wind was fierce, and the flags on the city walls fluttered. Looking outside the city, the white snow was mixed with yellow earth, and the world was bleak and withered.

On the official road, cavalrymen carrying signal flags galloped past, leaving a trail of hoof prints. Beside the road, a few birds rested on the branches of dead trees, bringing life to the bleak world.

"How many days are left until the beginning of the new year?" Zhang Yu stood on the top of Ji County City, looking at the place where the troops had camped in the past.

"There are still more than twenty days left, and all the troops who have returned home will have returned home." Guo Tu replied.

Zhang Yu led an army of 40,000 into Long to fight, of which 30,000 have returned home, taking away not only the military baggage, but also the spoils and prisoners back to Hedong.

Although Longyou is stable now, whether it is because of winter or the aftermath of the war, few people travel to Jixian. The largest group of people entering and leaving Jixian are the leaders of various Hu tribes, nobles, and local tyrants in the counties of Longyou.

Zhang Yu's recent social activities were to appease and win over the nobles from various regions. In order to reassure everyone, Zhang Yu promised the Qiang and Di tribes who came to serve him hereditary and trade, but in return, the Qiang and Di tribes needed to pay taxes according to the corresponding laws.

In terms of hereditary official positions, Zhang Yu simply borrowed the chieftain system of the Song and Ming dynasties. For example, the surrendered Qiang, Di and Hu tribes were divided into three categories according to the number of surrendered tents: those with less than 3,000 tents were the lower category, those with 3,000 to 6,000 tents were the middle category, and those with more than 6,000 tents were the upper category.

Dao was originally a local administrative agency under the Qin and Han Dynasty state system, under the jurisdiction of a county governor or a vassal state. Now Zhang Yu still uses "Dao" as a local administrative region in local minority areas, and its leader is a hereditary official named "Tu Dao Chang", "Tu Dao Ling" or "Tu Dao Jun".

The chieftain was hereditary and was subject to supervision by the county governor. He paid taxes in kind according to the law. He was dispatched by the Protector of the Qiang and was responsible for conscripting the people of his tribe into military service or performing corvée labor.

For example, although the Xingguo Di tribe under Zhang Gui had tens of thousands of households, they were defeated by Zhang Yu and were very obedient to accept Zhang Yu's appointment. Yang Qianwan was worried that Zhang Yu would hold him accountable, so he first offered his own sister to Zhang Yu, and then respectfully accepted the official position Zhang Yu appointed. Zhang Yu saw Yang Qianwan's uneasy mind, said some words of encouragement and comfort, and gave him some Shu brocade.

Zhang Yu granted official positions to all other tribes and allowed them to trade. As for whether the tribes could pay taxes and perform military service in accordance with the law, it would be supervised by the Protector of the Qiang and the governors of the counties.

In terms of winning over the gentry, Zhang Yu did the same as before, directly recruiting the boss of Ji County and using his power to recruit talented county officials as officials. For example, Zhang Yu recommended Yan Wen, the prefect of Gui County, as the governor of Linwei County, and county official Jiang Jiong was transferred to Linwei County Magistrate, Zhao Ang was transferred to Jincheng Chief Clerk, Yin Feng was transferred to Linwei Chief Clerk, and Yang Fu was appointed as Yongzhou Official.

For other vacant prefectural governor posts, Zhang Yu transferred officials from Guanzhong to serve as governors, for example, Zhang Yu personally appointed Su Ze as governor of Jincheng, Zhang Ji as governor of Lintao, and Zhang Meng as governor of Weizhong.

Xiping County was split from Jincheng County. Zhang Yu followed Jia Xu's advice and appointed his father-in-law Guo Xian as the governor, temporarily allowing the Guo and Qu families to govern Xiping County.

Zhang Yu appointed people from Guanlong who were familiar with Longyou customs to govern Longyou, which not only reassured the Han people, but also the leaders of Qiang, Di and Hu tribes. After all, Longyou had complicated customs, and if scholars from Guandong were appointed, the cost of communication and governance would increase significantly. There was even a phenomenon that people who were not locals would be unscrupulous and corrupt when they served in Longyou.

If the people of Guanlong govern Longyou, the situation will be slightly different at least. This is because the locals will worry that improper use of the law will cause the Qiang and Di people to revolt, thus affecting their hometown. As for whether there will be indulgence of the villagers to do evil, it can only be said that for the purpose of maintaining stability in Longyou, the corresponding governance costs need to be borne.

"My lord, Zhang Lu's envoy Yan Pu is now in the hall!" the attendant reported.

"Let's go and see Yan Pu!"

Zhang Yu turned his gaze away from the scenery outside the city and said, "After we make peace with Zhang Lu, we will be able to return eastwards if there is no trouble in Longyou."

"promise!"

When they arrived at the government hall, Yan Pu had been waiting for a long time. When he saw Zhang Yu enter the hall, he hurriedly tidied his clothes and saluted.

"I am Yan Pu, courtesy name Zi Miao, currently serving as Gong Cao of Hanzhong County. I am here to pay respect to the General on the orders of the Lord!" Yan Pu presented a list of gifts and said, "I heard that the General has conquered Longyou, so Hanzhong County offers a small gift to Marquis Zhang." "No need for the gift!"

Zhang Yu glanced at the gift list and saw that the gifts were generous. He smiled with satisfaction and said, "Zhang Hanzhong is really thoughtful!"

"My lord will always remember the general's kindness in appointing him as the county governor!" Yan Pu said.

Zhang Yu nodded and asked, "I heard that Sun Jian is attacking Shu. I wonder what the situation is like?"

Yan Pu pondered for a moment and said, "Replying to Lord Zhang, Sun Jian attacked Shu this spring, defeated Baidi, defeated Pang Xi, and besieged Jiangzhou City. The victory and defeat are hard to tell for now. Now there are many disturbances in Bashu, and my lord is preparing his troops to protect the people of Han and Ba."

"good!"

Zhang Yu understood the purpose of Yan Pu's mission and said, "Zhang Hanzhong has the responsibility to protect the territory and borders. If the turmoil spreads to Hanzhong and Hanzhong cannot defend itself, we can ask for help from Longyou."

After a pause, Zhang Yu said, "To be honest, I will attack Hebei later. Bashu is in turmoil now, and it is difficult for me to suppress the rebellion for the court. Thank you for your hard work in Hanzhong."

Upon hearing this, Yan Pu was overjoyed and said, "I will report Lord Zhang's words to my master. From now on, I will pay tribute every year without interruption."

Zhang Yu thought for a moment and said, "I heard that Wudu and Hanzhong have water transport, which was opened when Yu Xu governed the county. I wonder if Lord Yan can let Zhang Hanzhong open a waterway so that Longyou and Hanzhong can trade."

Hanzhong and Wudu share the Han River for shipping. In the past, most of the commercial trade between Bashu and Longyou passed through Hanzhong and then went to Wudu by water, so the business along the Han River was prosperous. Now Zhang Yu wanted to open this waterway, under the pretext of trade, but in fact he wanted to control Hanzhong.

"This~"

How could Yan Pu not know what Zhang Yu meant? He suddenly looked embarrassed.

Seeing this, Zhang Yu softened his tone and said jokingly: "There are still big bandits causing chaos in the world, and merchants have not yet prospered. Let's pacify the bandits first, and then discuss the issue of water transportation."

Yan Pu pondered and reminisced about the past, then he cupped his hands and said, "If Lord Zhang can pacify the bandits in the Central Plains, I, Hanzhong, will open a waterway and offer land to Lord Zhang in surrender."

"Oh?"

Zhang Yu suddenly became interested and asked with a smile, "Is this Zhang Hanzhong's intention?"

Yan Pu said: "Although Zhang Hanzhong has not mentioned surrendering, if you pacify Hebei and Henan, you will control two-thirds of the world. The trend of unifying the world is unstoppable. How dare Zhang Hanzhong and I close the border and resist stubbornly instead of surrendering?"

Yan Pu was smart. In order not to make Zhang Yu angry, he took the initiative to give the conditions for Hanzhong's surrender, that is, Zhang Yu unified the Central Plains. In fact, if Zhang Yu could really unify the Central Plains, Hanzhong would most likely surrender without the current promise.

"Zimiao is really interesting!"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Since you have made an alliance, how can I be unwilling? I hope to see you again next time, and I hope you can serve me."

"my pleasure!"

(End of this chapter)