Tiger Guards

Chapter 668 Changes in Status
Before long, Xinpi's still-warm head was presented to Han Shu on a platter.

Han Shu sat upright on the chariot, trying his best to imitate Zhao Ji's posture. Behind him was a guard holding a white embroidered canopy with black patterns.

"After cleaning, send it to the Grand Tutor's camp by fast horse."

"Here."

Just as the county official was about to agree, Han Shu raised his right hand and added, "Identify Xin Pi and Zhao Rong's personal guards and officers from among the prisoners, and send them to the Grand Tutor's camp for interrogation."

"Here."

The officer agreed and immediately gestured to the soldier carrying the tray.

Han Shu then turned to look at Chang Mao, who had come to help in the battle: "A Mao, the war in Liangzhou is about to be settled, and we will return to Hedong around the end of the year. Have you decided on your courtesy name yet?"

“My original name was Wensheng, but the Grand Tutor felt it was too indecisive, so he gave me the name Yuchun.”

As Chang Mao spoke, he took out a rolled-up piece of paper from his waist pouch and unfolded it for Han Shu to see. It contained four characters written by Zhao Ji: "Chang Mao Meets Spring".

Seeing the rough edges and dirt at the folds of the paper roll, Han Shu frowned: "Keep it safe and have it framed when you get back. This was bestowed by the Grand Tutor himself; how can we treat it lightly?"

"Okay, I'll listen to Brother Wenbai."

Chang Mao folded and rolled up the paper again and put it back into the leather pouch at his waist. Han Shu frowned as he watched, but was too lazy to say anything more.

After Chang Mao finished fastening the leather pouch with copper buckles, he took the initiative to say, "Gao Yanglong has also chosen a courtesy name; his name is Chengfeng."

"Gao Yang riding the wind?"

Han Shu muttered to himself, feeling that Gao Yanglong's surname was already quite powerful, and the meaning of the name "Chengfeng" was somewhat unworthy of Gao Yanglong.

Besides, the Gaoyang clan has a long lineage. Even now, though they are in decline, their lineage is still evident from their surname, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Han Shu then said, "Grand Tutor still cares for you more. Mao means flourishing, and spring is the season when things grow strongest."

Chang Mao grinned and then asked, "Brother Wenbai, do you think Heng Fang might become a general after this battle?"

Of the original thirteen people in the Five Offices and Eight Garrisons, Wei Gu, one of the Five Offices, had to keep a low profile due to his family background. His subsequent promotions were also hampered by the fact that several officials in the Secretariat held a grudge against the Wei family. As a result, Wei Gu, from a powerful clan, was very slow to rise in rank and could not enter the central government's official system, thus he could not be appointed as a county magistrate.

So for all these years, Wei Gu has only been in charge of the armory and mines in Pingyang.

Of the eight garrison commanders, Heng Fang was promoted the slowest.

Considering Heng Fang's age of twenty-three, his promotion was actually not slow, given that he was acting as the acting commander of a separate department and temporarily in charge of the officers and soldiers of three battalions stationed in Jicheng.

He simply cannot be compared to people like Jia Tong, Xiang Libao, and Ximen Jian. However, even if Heng Fang was guilty of failing to protect Zhang Chang after this battle, he should still be promoted.

Above the camp commander is the transitional commander of a separate division, and above that is the commander of a division; then comes the commander of troops, the commander of troops, the miscellaneous commander, and above that are the generals of the general ranks, the miscellaneous generals of the middle rank, the deputy generals, the partial generals, and the miscellaneous generals.

In the campaign against the various barbarian tribes, many people were promoted three ranks after the battle for their merits.

It was quite common for junior and middle-ranking officials to be promoted in this way. Han Shu was promoted from a military commandant to a general with a miscellaneous title.

In fact, those who reached the rank of miscellaneous captain or above were basically in charge of their own troops, either commanding five battalions or seven battalions.

No one can control or command other generals unless they are generals of high rank or generals of great importance.

Only the military supervisors, guards, or commanders appointed by Zhao Ji could oversee and supervise the several generals stationed and acting together.

Then there's the regional commander-in-chief like Xu Huang, who naturally has some miscellaneous captains and low- to mid-ranking generals under his command. But outside of wartime, a commander-in-chief like Xu Huang only has the authority to supervise his troops and, incidentally, to inquire into and oversee the administration of local counties and prefectures.

Xu Huang could investigate and punish, but he did not have direct personnel management authority.

But power is something that is very easy to cross the line and to be colluded with.

Therefore, the extent of Xu Huang's power as the Governor of Shuofang depends on his personal actions.

Unlike the Five Cao and Eight Garrisons, Xu Huang joined the group later, which made him inherently incompatible with the ever-growing and mainstream Tiger Warrior team.

Chang Mao is now concerned about Heng Fang because he feels that Heng Fang will break the previous spheres of influence of various factions and rise up with the two counties in the south of Hedong.

He disliked Heng Fang and the Tiger Warriors south of Zhongtiao Mountain because they were slow-moving and missed the first few fierce battles.

Without that kind of life-and-death experience, Chang Mao would really find it hard to accept these people.

It wasn't just Chang Mao; the Tiger Warriors who had fought in the bloody battle generally disliked these Tiger Warriors from the south who later enjoyed a life of luxury.

The more Chang Mao disliked Heng Fang, the more concerned he became about Heng Fang's post-war promotion.

Chang Mao is currently only a Leopard Cavalry Commander, equivalent to a Commander-in-Chief, with two bars and two stars on his armband; after the war, he will be promoted one rank to a miscellaneous Commander with two bars and three stars.

Both the Commanding Captain and the Commanding Colonel have two bars and two stars; the difference lies in the composition of their troops.

The Commandant of the Army led the regular troops, while the Commandant of the Army led the troops of the prefectures and counties, which belonged to the local forces.

As for those with two bars and one star, and an official rank of 1,000 shi, they are the commanders of separate departments, commanders of departments, and commanders of battalions.

Seeing Chang Mao's curious expression, Han Shu thought for a moment and said, "Chang Mao, you are now the Grand Tutor's bodyguard, so you don't need to worry about these things. In my opinion, Heng Fang will be able to command a part of the troops after the war."

Whether it's the Colonel's Department or the General's Department, they are both strategic units, equivalent to a prefecture or kingdom, with their own separate financial expenditures.

Unless they are extremely unlucky, strategic units like the Colonel's Department and the General's Department, once established, will not be easily disbanded.

The only ones easily dismissed are the commanding officers and captains. As the intensity of war decreases, the miscellaneous commanding officers will also be dismissed, leaving only a few regular officers such as the nominal commanding officers.

Even the various subordinate generals and lieutenant generals' units would be reduced... This was the military system of the Later Han Dynasty. A typical example was that there were few standing field troops, which were only expanded when needed and reduced after the war.

This approach seems beneficial to the finances and the people's recovery, and it would be perfect if the war were small in scale, short in duration, and infrequent.

Once the scale and frequency of war continue to expand, various political problems will arise. Even among civilians, the large number of veterans with field combat skills who are wandering and scattered in various places will become a greater destabilizing factor.

Regardless of whether the military strategy and army building ideology of the Later Han Dynasty are followed in the future, as the intensity of war decreases, the positions of Commander-in-Chief and Commander-in-Chief will definitely disappear completely.

These temporary combat units were created because of the lack of mid- to high-ranking military officers, given the available troop strength and operational needs.

With a sufficient reserve of mid- to high-ranking military officers in the future, there will naturally be no need to do these things anymore.

However, other colonel and general units will inevitably be weakened, which is something that generals and colonels instinctively resist.

If we were to return to the military system that Zhao Ji originally envisioned, other generals or captains would have no right or confidence to speak out!
Han Shu was also pondering the situation of Heng Fang while simultaneously considering the potential changes in the military system after the war.

Previously, he had followed Zhao Ji and naturally hoped that the entire army would be under Zhao Ji's sole command.

But now, he is somewhat reluctant to give up the power that comes with being a general.

(End of this chapter)