Tiger Owl

Chapter 88 Military Field System
The next morning, Gan Ning arrived at Xunyang County, which was Gan Ning's stronghold in Jiangbei. It controlled the western part of Lujiang County, occupying about 30% of the land in Lujiang County. To the south was a corner, and the main part was the Dabie Mountains in the north, which occupied a large area. Taishi Ci led 15,000 men to garrison Xunyang County.

At this time, Xu Sheng from Pengze County also received orders and rushed to Xunyang County.

Taishi Ci and Xu Sheng came out of the camp to greet him, and the two bowed together, saying, "This humble general greets the lord and the military advisor!"

Gan Ning nodded and asked with a smile, "Is there no training today?"

Taishi Ci bowed and said, "Reporting to my lord, the training has just ended."

Gan Ning arrived at the main tent and said to Xu Shu, "Let the strategist speak!"

Xu Shu then told the two of them about Sun Ben's occupation of the three counties north of the Yangtze River and his likely attack on Xunyang.

Gan Ning continued, "Sun Ben has just taken over the three prefectures, and he needs to handle many internal integrations personally. I estimate that he doesn't have time now, and the earliest he can send troops is next spring. So you should make good use of the upcoming winter to strengthen your training, especially combat training and physical training. Then, Military Advisor Xu will be stationed in Chaisang, and he will provide intelligence assistance so that you can know yourselves and your enemies."

"Yes, sir!" The two bowed together.

Xu Sheng then cautiously asked, "Does the lord believe that Pengze is also Sun Ben's target?"

Gan Ning said calmly, "I believe that Sun Ben's desire for Yuzhang County far exceeds that for Lujiang County. Once he discovers that the Pengze army is supporting Lujiang County, he is likely to launch a surprise attack on Pengze County. Therefore, I have asked Military Advisor Xu to be stationed in Chaisang to coordinate the cooperation between your two sides in the battle."

Xu Sheng nodded silently. He understood his lord's meaning. If Sun Ben attacked Xunyang County, he would also send troops to support him, but he also had to guard against Sun Ben's sneak attack on Pengze.

Gan Ning then laughed and said, “I have a suggestion. General Taishi can make a big show of transferring 10,000 troops to Pengze County, leaving only 5,000 troops to guard Xunyang, thus deceiving the enemy’s spies. Then, quietly transfer the 10,000 troops back to the north bank of the Yangtze River, but do not enter Xunyang County. This way, the enemy will think that there are only 5,000 troops in Xunyang County.”

Taishi Ci immediately bowed and said, "This humble servant will certainly make arrangements according to my lord's suggestion!"

Gan Ning nodded: "I'll leave this battle to the three of you!"

As the lord, Gan Ning also needed to give his subordinates the opportunity to take charge independently.

Xu Shu stayed in Xunyang to discuss military matters with Taishi Ci and Xu Sheng, while Gan Ning returned to Nanchang County. Soon, Taishi Ci followed Gan Ning's advice and transferred 10,000 troops to Pengze County.

Gan Ning arrived in Nanchang County in the morning. He did not return to his residence, but went back to the government office first. As the lord, he was considering not only military and economic matters, but also the overall strategic direction. Of course, he also had to inquire about some important details.

Inside the official residence, Gan Ning listened to reports from Lu Su and Jiang Wan. Lu Su was in charge of military affairs, while Jiang Wan was in charge of political affairs.

However, they were both talking about the same thing today: the arrangements for soldiers' families. Currently, fertile land is divided into three categories: private land, government land, and military land.

During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, soldiers did not receive military pay. Although they received rewards for fighting, there was no war most of the time, so how did the soldiers support their families?

Every feudal lord was racking their brains for solutions. Most feudal lords used land and tax exemption as methods, which were quite effective. This involved the issue of land sources. Feudal lords needed their own territory. On the one hand, feudal lords had to collect taxes to support their armies. On the other hand, feudal lords had to give a portion of land to the families of their soldiers, which was equivalent to a disguised form of military pay.

After all, land was the easiest resource for feudal lords to obtain, but the land was not directly granted to the soldiers' families. Instead, it was first converted into military fields and then distributed to the soldiers' families for cultivation.

Why not distribute them directly to the soldiers' families? This raises a crucial question: what if a soldier surrenders to the enemy?
Once soldiers surrender to the enemy, the authorities will definitely reclaim the military farmland; no warlord will support the families of enemy soldiers.

Gan Ning is currently following the mainstream practice. His soldiers first change their household registration to military households, and each household is allocated 20 mu of military land. If a family has two sons who are in the army, then they will have 40 mu of military land. Not only are they exempt from household tax and land tax, but the local government is also responsible for helping them cultivate and harvest. Ordinary people perform corvée labor by doing this kind of work for the military households.

In the north, twenty mu of farmland couldn't support a family, but in the south, especially in Jiangnan and Jingxiang, a dozen mu of good land could feed a family. If a soldier died in battle, not only would he receive a pension, but the military land would also be converted into private land and given directly to the family of the deceased. At the same time, they would be exempt from taxes for life. Otherwise, why would soldiers be willing to fight for you?

Training alone cannot solve the problem; we also need to address the soldiers' concerns and let them know that even if they die in battle, their families will still receive private land. This will motivate them to fight to the death.

The fundamental reason why Liu Bei suffered repeated defeats and no one was willing to follow him was that he had no territory and could not implement the military land system like Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Sun Quan. He also could not guarantee the safety of his soldiers' families. Soldiers and strategists who followed him could not see a future, and in the end, they were separated from their wives and children. Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, and Zhao Yun all became old and still had not married.

When Liu Bei was in Xuzhou, he met Chen Qun and Taishi Ci. Why were they unwilling to follow him? When Liu Bei was in Jingzhou, why were Sima Hui, Shi Guangyuan, and Cui Zhouping unwilling to pledge allegiance to him?

Everyone wants to be a founding hero; no one wants to die with their ruler. Just like everyone wants to work in a profitable company, no one wants to work in a bankrupt factory. Seeking advantage and avoiding harm is human nature.

That's a bit of a tangent. What Lu Su and Jiang Wan are reporting now is that after the Battle of Xiakou, Huang Zu confiscated all the military farmland of the surrendered soldiers and demanded additional taxes. The families of the surrendered soldiers had no way to survive, so they began to flee in groups to Wuchang County. The escape was easy; they could cross the river in a small boat. Huang Zu's navy was completely annihilated, and the Yangtze River was now filled with Gan Ning's navy.

Lu Su and Jiang Wan then faced the problem of settling these family members.

Lu Su said, “We have land. There is enough land in the heart of Wuchang County. We have just built a few new county towns, so why not settle the families of these deserters in these county towns, and then cultivate military fields around the county towns and allocate the land to them so they can start farming next spring.”

Gan Ning nodded. "You can arrange this matter. I'll just remind you of a few details. First, how should the grain subsidies for soldiers' families be arranged from now until next summer harvest?"

Secondly, there's the question of whether to cultivate the wasteland first or build the city first, and when to start sowing winter wheat. If we wait until next year to distribute the land, the winter wheat harvest might be delayed, so it's best to distribute the land now and not delay it. If the army's help is needed, I can approve it.

Third, it's September now, and winter will be here in two months. How will they overcome their difficulties getting through the winter?

At this point, Gan Ning tapped the table and emphasized, "In short, we must consider the details and do things in advance. We can't wait until something goes wrong to try to fix it, or it will seriously affect morale."

The two bowed together, "We'll go make the arrangements right away!"

Jiang Wan left first, but Lu Su still had something to say to Gan Ning.

Lu Su hesitated for a moment, then added, "There's one more thing, which might be a private matter!"

Gan Ning smiled and said, "What is it? Strategist, just say it!"

Lu Su hesitated for a moment before laughing and saying, "Actually, it's just a small matter. She's still young, and she should be more mature when she gets older."

"Is the strategist talking about me?"

Lu Su nodded. "A young heroine has emerged from Nanchang County. She is known for her chivalry and fighting for justice. Many wealthy families call her the Purple Fairy Demoness. My lord should know who she is now!"

Gan Ning chuckled, "Did she cause trouble?"

"No major disaster has occurred, and no one has died, but it's a real headache. The county government has filed complaints against me, and some powerful families have also filed complaints against me, begging my lord to restrain her and stop her from overstepping her bounds and making judgments for the government."

Gan Ning smiled and nodded, "I understand!"

I reckon Xiao Qiao has gotten herself into serious trouble, otherwise Lu Su wouldn't have complained to me.

(End of this chapter)