Sweep Yuan

Chapter 252 Post-War Settlement Causes Trouble

The prolonged siege and psychological warfare had long made the officials and people of Jiangning realize that the city was bound to fall and that Shishan would inevitably take over Jiangning.

The defenders' will to resist was extremely weak. When Bian Yuanheng broke through Shicheng Gate (West Gate) and planted the red flag on the crenellations of the west city wall, the defenders' psychological defenses collapsed completely. Tongji Gate (East Gate) and Jubao Gate (South Gate) were also quickly breached in succession.

The Red Flag Battalion soldiers roared and surged in from three directions, quickly taking control of key points in the city.

Apart from the death of Danidasi, the Darughachi of Jiqing Road, who was shot by a stray bullet, and the Tongzhi Zhou Yungong, who was pushed off the city wall by the fleeing soldiers and broke his thigh, the other civil and military officials knew that the land and water routes of Jiqing Road had been captured by the Red Flag Battalion. They had no intention of breaking out and all chose to surrender to save themselves.

With the change of ownership of Jiangning City, Jiqing Road, with more than 216,000 households and a population of nearly 1.1 million, officially fell into the hands of Shishan.

Although Jiqing Road only governs four cities—Jiangning, Lishui, Liyang, and Jurong—its total population already exceeds the combined population of Luzhou Road and more than ten cities in Haozhou (Note).

If we include the Taiping Road Dangtu County that we have already captured, as well as the territory that we are about to expand, the population and wealth controlled by the Red Flag Camp in Jiangnan will soon surpass its base in Jiangbei.

In the agricultural era, having a population meant having food, soldiers, and taxes, which was the most fundamental aspect of "national strength."

Therefore, the Red Flag Battalion's focus naturally shifted from Jiangbei to the more prosperous Jiangnan region. On the day Jiangning City was captured, Shi Shan ordered the Marshal's Office to be moved to Jiangning City to accommodate the Red Flag Battalion's impending rapid expansion and governance in Jiangnan.

With such a large base in Jiangbei, we certainly can't just give up like that.

To this end, Shishan established the "General Administration Office of Jiangbei Routes".

Its jurisdiction included: ten counties in the entire territory of Luzhou Road (excluding Yingshan County, which was under the control of Xu Song), three counties in Anfeng Road (Zhongli, Dingyuan, and Huaiyuan), one county in Huaian Road (Wuhe), and one county in Anqing Road (Tongcheng), totaling fifteen cities.

He appointed Li Wu as the Wing Marshal and concurrently the General Manager of the Jiangbei Circuit, granting him the authority to establish his own government and give him considerable autonomy to oversee all military and political affairs in Jiangbei, so as to avoid having to cross the Yangtze River to consult the Marshal's Office for every matter, thus delaying precious opportunities.

He appointed Feng Guoyong as the Assistant Prefect of the General Administration Office and Xia Junxiang, the former Prefect of Wuwei Prefecture, as the Chief Administrator, to assist Li Wu in managing various affairs.

Of course, major matters such as military expansion, appointment of important officials, and tax adjustments must be reported to the Marshal's Office for approval first. Other important matters also need to be reported to the Marshal's Office afterward.

In short, the General Administration Office cannot control everything, nor can it truly be decided by Li Wu's word alone.

This is not because Shishan does not trust Li Wu personally, but because as the territory of Hongqiying gradually expands, there will inevitably be more and more civil and military officials who need to take charge independently in the future.

The boundaries of authority and responsibility between the central command and the frontline commanders still need to be explored, defined, and gradually improved through continuous practice. This is a process that any regime moving towards formalization must go through.

In addition to the fifteen cities under the jurisdiction of the General Administration of Jiangbei Circuit, the four counties of Qingliu, Lai'an, Quanjiao, and Liuhe in Yangzhou Circuit are located across the river from Jiangning City and are directly related to the safety of Jiangning. Therefore, the defense is still under the command of Fu Youde, the Commander of Zhenshuo Guard, and is directly under the jurisdiction of the Marshal's Office.

As for the more northerly Sizhou, Suzhou, Xuzhou and other places, which were nominally under the jurisdiction of the Xuzhou Red Turban Army under Sesame Li, Shishan granted them more autonomy.

For example, Peng Erlang's troops captured Xuyi County, the seat of Sizhou, in order to solve their increasingly severe food crisis.

Shishan did not interfere much with this.

He was keenly aware that with the relocation of the Marshal's Office to Jiangnan, the control over Xuzhou Road would inevitably weaken further. Furthermore, once the Red Flag Battalion had established a firm foothold in Jiangnan, the Xuzhou Red Turban Army's "historical mission" of serving as a bulwark against the main Yuan forces in Jiangbei had been largely accomplished.

More importantly, the Red Flag Battalion's strategic focus has shifted entirely to managing the Jiangnan region, and its strategy in Jiangbei is temporarily more conservative and defensive. It simply has neither the capacity nor the intention to invest too many resources and manpower in the distant Xuzhou area.

In this context, granting them more autonomy to flexibly respond to the local situation is both a necessary and pragmatic choice.

Such is the nature of power struggles in chaotic times.

If a leader of a power lacks the courage and boldness to "trust those he employs," and instead tries to tie the hands and feet of all the civil and military officials on the front lines, unwilling to delegate any autonomy, then stable expansion is impossible. In the end, he can only obediently remain a local warlord.

As for whether the various Red Turban Army units in Xuzhou would become too powerful and even break away from the control of the Red Flag Battalion, Shi Shan was not very worried about it.

Years of war have led to a sharp decline in the population of the Huaibei region (a considerable number of refugees migrated south and entered the Hongqiying area), severely damaging the agricultural base and causing widespread poverty.

In addition, the region is located in a strategically important area with no natural defenses. Whoever occupies this area will not be able to maintain a long-term independent status on their own and will inevitably need to rely on a more powerful force to survive.

Even if the Red Flag Battalion temporarily withdraws its forces north of the Yangtze River, it may be unable to make the various tribes in Xuzhou "live well," but it would be easy for them to "live very poorly."

Whether it's controlling provisions and trade, or launching direct military attacks, it's an unbearable burden for the various Red Turban armies in Xuzhou. Shi Shan believes that Yin Congdao, Sesame Li, Li Xixi, Xue Xian, and others are aware of their situation and strength, and should not have any unrealistic ambitions.

On the other hand, in order to stabilize the newly recovered areas in Jiangnan as soon as possible, Shi Shan also focused on selecting and appointing surrendered officials and local scholars with talent. In addition to Xia Yu and Sun Yan, whom he had recruited earlier, he successively appointed Chen Yu, Tao An, Li Duan and others.

Li Duan was born into a prominent family in Liyang Prefecture. His family had a long history of learning, and he was exceptionally intelligent from a young age. He was not only well-versed in the classics and history, but also proficient in mathematics. He was known for his talent in his hometown when he was young.

In the tenth year of the Zhizheng era, Li Duan passed the provincial examination in Jiangzhe Province and was able to enter officialdom, being appointed as the Commissioner of Taxation in Jiangzhe Province.

He was an honest and prudent official who vigorously promoted the policy of "land surveying and verification of property owners" during his tenure. He also cracked down on local powerful families' concealment of land and tax evasion, resulting in the best tax collection performance in his jurisdiction.

But precisely because of this, Li Duan offended the interests of too many gentry and powerful people, was impeached, and was "exiled" to Jiqing Road as the Provincial Tax Commissioner, responsible only for the tax collection of Jiqing Road.

When Jiangning City was besieged, Li Duan had just returned to his hometown of Liyang to visit relatives.

Subsequently, Liyang Prefecture was besieged by Hu Dahai's Bashanwei. He personally witnessed the Red Flag Battalion's strict discipline and its complete disregard for the common people, realizing that this army was completely different from the Yuan army and ordinary bandits, and that it might really be able to gain a foothold in Jiangnan.

After Hu Dahai captured Liyang, he cherished talent and personally visited Li Duan to explain in detail the Red Flag Battalion's governing philosophy and Marshal Shi's eagerness to recruit talent, sincerely inviting him to serve Marshal Shi.

Shishan was in dire need of talent proficient in tax collection, and after receiving Hu Dahai's strong recommendation, he immediately summoned Li Duan.

Li Duan was thirty-three years old at the time, in the prime of his life. Based on the enormous resistance he had encountered in implementing the "land survey" during his previous tenure in the Yuan court, he deeply understood the extreme complexity of clarifying the long-standing problems in taxation.

He believed that the Red Flag Battalion had just established itself in Jiangnan and its foundation was not yet stable. Therefore, it was best to be cautious and not to touch the deeply entrenched interests of the powerful and wealthy gentry too early. Thus, when he met with Shishan, he did not rashly bring up the matter of a comprehensive land survey again.

Instead, he cautiously proposed three suggestions that he considered more prudent and feasible, and that could increase tax revenue without causing drastic upheaval:
First, change the unreasonable policy of "the Yuan court levying grain tax on all land regardless of its fertility" (this led to many farmers with poor land abandoning their land and fleeing due to the heavy taxation). It is suggested that land be divided into three grades—superior, medium, and inferior—based on its fertility, and taxed at different rates to reflect relative fairness.

Secondly, for areas severely damaged by war, taxes should be waived for three years to allow for recuperation and restoration. For returning refugees whose houses have been burned down and fields lie fallow, the government should provide seeds, oxen, and tools to help them resume production and rebuild their homes.

Thirdly, any unclaimed wasteland abandoned due to war or flight, regardless of whether it originally belonged to the government or the people, would have its land rights transferred to whoever cultivated it to maturity (the Yuan Dynasty policy was that wasteland would remain with the original landowner, which discouraged people from making an effort to cultivate it). They would also be entitled to a three-year tax exemption to encourage land reclamation.

In Shishan's opinion, none of these three suggestions were particularly brilliant.

Because he had already begun exploring and implementing similar, or even more in-depth, policies in various parts of Jiangbei.

This also indirectly shows that Li Duan's understanding of the Red Flag Battalion was indeed not deep enough, and it also confirms another fact:
After several years of honing their skills, the management team of the Red Flag Battalion has taken initial shape. Apart from a very few exceptionally talented individuals, it is now difficult for ordinary people to come up with any innovative or groundbreaking governance strategies that would impress Shi Shan.

However, the core purpose of Li Duan's proposed strategies was to encourage production and allow the people to rest. This perfectly aligned with the urgent desire of the people in chaotic times for stability and the restoration of production, which was conducive to quickly stabilizing social order and gradually increasing the tax base.

The latter two, in particular, are for areas where large numbers of people have fled due to prolonged war, leaving large areas of land barren (such as Tongcheng, which was previously burned down by Yu Que, but Jiqing Road, where production order was not greatly affected, is not included).
All of these measures are based on long-term considerations, are highly feasible, and align with Shishan's governing philosophy.

Taking all factors into consideration, Shishan appointed Li Duan as the Registrar of the Marshal's Office, to assist Li Shanchang, the Registrar of the Household Office, in jointly being responsible for the vast and complex tax collection and management work in Jiangnan (the Yuan court adopted two different tax systems in Jiangbei and Jiangnan).

Chen Yu was a local scholar from Jiangning. He once served as a professor of Confucianism in Wenzhou. After witnessing the corruption of the Yuan court, he became disheartened and resigned from his post. He returned to the eastern suburbs of Jiangning and built a "Jingcheng Caotang" (Quiet and Sincere Thatched Cottage), where he devoted himself to the study of the Book of Changes and astrology, and became quite famous.

People at the time even privately referred to him as the "Prime Minister in the Mountains".

This man came from a branch of the Chen family in Jiangning. His strategy of "winning the hearts of the people, setting taxes, and establishing regulations" was insightful and well-received by Shishan. However, Chen Yu was of a quiet and unassuming nature and did not want to appear in public to take up a position. He only agreed to serve as a non-permanent doctor in the Marshal's Office so that Shishan could consult him and offer advice at any time.

Tao An was a scholar from Dangtu. He was the headmaster of Mingdao Academy in Jiangning at the time and was one of the leading figures in the local literary world.

After the fall of Jiangning, he volunteered to join Shishan and urged him to take the throne, saying, "The Mongol Yuan dynasty is tyrannical, and the whole world should fight against it. Marshal, you have occupied several strategic locations and repeatedly defeated the Yuan army. Your reputation is great, and you have become the leader of the anti-Yuan righteous people. You should take the throne to command the people and unite the hearts of the people."

With the Yuan army surrounding the Xu Song regime from all sides, Xu Shouhui's power was in grave danger, and Shishan had in fact become the number one rebel in the eyes of the Yuan court.

Given the current size of the Red Flag Battalion, the population it controls, and its "status in the underworld," it should stop fantasizing about any strategic deception of "building high walls, stockpiling grain, and delaying the proclamation of kingship." The whole world is watching you.

Even so, after careful consideration, Shishan still believed that it was not a wise move to declare himself king at this time, as it would easily make him a target of public criticism, and his internal system was not yet perfect. Therefore, he politely declined Tao An's advice to take the throne.

However, he still appreciated Tao An's talent and influence, and appointed him as the magistrate of Jiqing Road.

Just like with Li Xi, such a highly respected scholar is a banner for recruiting talents. Use him first, and if he has real talent and can handle the affairs under his charge properly, it is not too late to promote him in the future.

Having secured the support of the upper classes (whether "enlightened" gentry or incorruptible former officials), and with the common people gaining tangible benefits and hope through disaster relief and land redistribution, the Red Flag Battalion's takeover and management of Jiangning City progressed quite smoothly.

Before most of the Marshal's Mansion's institutions were relocated, many urgent civil affairs had already been sorted out, and social order on Jiqing Road was quickly restored.

During this period, Shishan also redeployed its river defense and city defense systems.

Regarding river defense, the main order was to build forts at key points on the Yangtze River, such as Qianzhou, Yanziji, and Caishiji, to coordinate with the navy and form crossfire, with the aim of completely controlling the Yangtze River waterway and protecting Nanjing.

In terms of city defense, the focus was on completing the projects that the Yuan Dynasty had not yet finished, such as continuing to build the Jubaomen barbican, repairing the bricks of the four city walls, and continuing to build the unfinished ramparts (which could not only deploy more garrison troops, but also be used as artillery emplacements in the future).

In addition, Shishan also plans to build a sturdy stone bridge over the Qinhuai River outside the west city wall, which will not only facilitate the entry and exit of the people of Jiangning, but also prevent enemy large warships from sailing directly under the city wall when necessary.

As for further large-scale expansion of the Jiangning city wall, transforming it into a super fortress that will never fall, Shi Shan has no such plans for the time being. In his view, as long as the river defenses are solid, Jiangning will not face much threat.

Given the current limited financial and material resources, priority should be given to expanding the military and improving people's livelihoods. We should not waste precious money and grain on a city that is destined to be unsuitable as the capital of a future unified dynasty (at least unsuitable as the sole capital).

During this period, each town and garrison also completed its post-war summary and submitted a list of officers and soldiers who had been commended and awarded.

The first batch of nearly 20,000 supplementary soldiers from Jiangnan are about to complete their basic training and begin to be assigned to various guards and battalions to cope with the troop dispersion and defense needs brought about by the rapid expansion of territory.

This expansion mainly involves increasing the organizational scale of the "town" level, from the original standard of one town governing two battalions to three battalions or even up to five battalions, depending on the needs of the mission and the capabilities of the commanding officer.

The Red Flag Battalion is in dire need of personnel, and newly promoted officers will generally be given substantive positions to fill the expanded units.

At this moment, on Shi Shan's desk was a stack of "List of Officers to be Promoted" recommended by the chief officers of various guards and towns.

As the Red Flag Battalion continued to expand, Shi Shan found it increasingly difficult to personally oversee the promotion of junior officers like the captain.

He intends to delegate this authority to the various guards and has instructed the Military Command to begin formulating new regulations for officer promotion, assessment, and training, which will be adopted in the next round of expansion.

Therefore, this will be the last time that Ishiyama personally approves the promotion of such a low-ranking officer.

He flipped through the pages very carefully, his eyes scanning over each name and its place of origin, achievements, and other information.

After a long while, Shi Shan's gaze lingered on the roster submitted by the Third Garrison of the Fujun Guard. He frowned slightly, looking at one of the names, and said to Deng Youde, the commander of his personal guard waiting in the hall:

"Summon Commander Zhou."

The Embroidered Uniform Battalion has been officially promoted to the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Although its authorized strength is only 1,500 people, which cannot be compared with other guards that often have thousands or tens of thousands of personnel, the rank has been raised after all, and Zhou Twelve, as the commander-in-chief, can finally hold his head high.

But he also knew that a promotion meant greater responsibility.

He had just arrived in Jiangning from Jiangbei yesterday to report on his duties when he was suddenly summoned by the Marshal this afternoon. He was a little nervous and hurriedly followed Deng Youde to the Marshal's Mansion. The hot and humid weather had soaked his clothes with sweat.

"Marshal! Zhou Twelve has arrived on orders!" Zhou Twelve steadied his breathing and clasped his hands in salute.

Shi Shan had just finished reviewing all the urgent documents and was standing up to stretch his slightly sore limbs when Zhou Shier entered. He immediately asked:

"You're familiar with all the military judges stationed in the Third Garrison of Fujunwei, aren't you?"

The Embroidered Uniform Guard was a small organization with special functions. All the military judges who were sent out were outstanding individuals personally selected or rigorously examined by Zhou Shier. They also had to rotate back to headquarters regularly to report on their duties. Zhou Shier naturally recognized them all and could even describe their characteristics.

But when the marshal suddenly asked this question, he immediately sensed something was wrong and cautiously replied:

"Reporting to the Marshal, this humble general recognizes them all! Even if there are any new additions, the files will certainly be familiar with them!"

Shi Shan picked up the "List of Proposed Officers for Promotion" from the Fujunwei military garrison from the table, handed it to Zhou Shier, pointed to a page, and said:
"Go and investigate this list yourself, especially this name. What's going on?"

Zhou Shier's heart tightened. He took the roster with both hands and quickly scanned it. Among the list of team leaders to be promoted, one name was clearly circled by Shi Shan in red ink: Zhou Dexing, native of Taiping Township, Zhongli County.

The marshal did not specify what he wanted to investigate, and Zhou Shier could not just leave like that, so he launched an investigation without fully understanding what was going on.

His mind raced, and he quickly recalled a crucial piece of information: Zhu Chongba, the garrison commander of the Third Garrison of the Fujun Guard, was also from Taiping Township, Zhongli County. According to the military command's usual practice of assigning troops, officers were not typically assigned to their own hometown. He immediately probed, "..."

"Does the Marshal mean Zhu Chongba?"

Shi Shan's expression remained calm as he said:

"Focus on the issue, not the person."

Zhou Shier felt confident and replied:
"I will finally understand!"

……

PS: According to the History of Yuan Dynasty, during the Zhishun era (1330-1333 AD), Luzhou Circuit had 31,746 households and 229,457 people; Anfeng Circuit (excluding the three counties of Haozhou, there were five other counties) had 17,992 households and 97,611 people. Guide Prefecture (whose administrative divisions partially overlapped with Xuzhou Circuit) had 23,317 households.

Jiqing Road alone has 214,548 households and 1,072,690 people.

According to this record, the total population of the more than 20 cities that the Red Flag Battalion actually controlled in Jiangbei was less than half that of Jiqing Road.

Even more outrageous is that the main area of ​​activity of the Yingzhou Red Turban Army—Runing Prefecture (Liu Futong never managed to occupy the entire territory of Runing Prefecture)—had a total of sixteen cities, but only seven thousand seventy-five registered households, averaging less than five hundred households per county!
While there is indeed a significant difference in population density between Jiangbei and Jiangnan, it's not to such an absurd degree.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Miao Daheng, the local tyrant of Dingyuan, to have gathered more than 20,000 people (even if they included a large number of the elderly and weak) after Guo Zixing had just caused a disturbance; and Liu Futong, who could conjure more than 100,000 soldiers from less than 7,075 households, must be a god who could turn beans into soldiers.

The compilers of the Yuan History also knew that this data was too outrageous, so they added four words before the number of registered households in Runing Prefecture: "number of households with money and grain".

This huge statistical difference stems from the two different tax payment methods in Jiangbei and Jiangnan, as well as the Yuan court's extremely weak control over local areas. Powerful gentry and local magnates occupied a large number of hidden fields and households, and they took 90% of the tax revenue, which was 10% of the court's revenue. Naturally, they dared to challenge the Yuan court at the drop of a hat.

(End of this chapter)