Chapter 99: Imperial Edict
Editor: Atlas Studios
After five days, the refugees either mortgaged their land or signed themselves off as slaves to the squires to obtain the capital to survive.
After obtaining the grains, everyone began to pack up and go home. Their houses had been burned down, and it was winter now. No matter what, they had to work hard to build a straw hut for their families to shelter them from the wind and snow.
Minister He and the others smiled until their faces were full of wrinkles. They smiled at Wu Shancai and said, “Thankfully, Magistrate Wu has helped maintain order these few days.”
Wu Shancai said absent-mindedly, “No, this is my duty.”
Seeing his solemn expression, Minister Liu asked, “Sir, is there something troubling you?”
Wu Shancai sighed. “The Lin’an Prefecture has settled the matter of the Jin soldiers attacking the city. The messenger from Xingyuan Prefecture will come to announce the decree today.”
“So fast?” Minister Liu was very surprised. When did the Imperial Court become so efficient?
“That’s right.” Surprised as well, Wu Shancai sighed and said, “I wonder how many people will be affected this time.”
Actually, what he wanted to say was that he didn’t know if he would be replaced. Would he be fired or demoted? But no matter how hard he tried to find out, he failed.
The unknown was always scary. Thinking that the outcome would be revealed in a while, he felt even more uneasy. Even though Minister He and the others had just sent him a lot of silver, he was still unhappy. Very unhappy.
Minister He and the others looked at each other, their good mood affected as well. They had worked well with Wu Shancai, and they had invested a lot of money in him over the years. If he were to be replaced by someone else, they would definitely have to spend a lot of money to bribe him. They also needed a period of time to get used to each other.
However, no one expected that the 2,000 elite soldiers of Xingyuan Prefecture would come with the messenger and surround the prefectural capital.
Shocked, Wu Shancai’s legs trembled as he ran to look for Qi Xiuyuan. The latter also came out in shock. “Why is the messenger surrounding the prefectural capital?”
Wu Shancai asked with a trembling voice, “General, you don’t know either?”
Qi Xiuyuan frowned, and Wu Shancai’s heart turned even colder. “The emperor won’t fire us both, right?”
Qi Xiuyuan said angrily, “Who’s with you? If the emperor really deals with me because of the siege, I’ll deal with you first.” With that, he flung his sleeves and left.
Not in the mood to bicker with him at this moment, Wu Shancai hurriedly jogged after him.
The messenger and Dai Wei, who had brought the troops over, were already waiting in the government office. Strangely, Minister He and the others were also there.
Wu Shancai hurriedly jogged forward and smiled apologetically. “I didn’t know that the messenger and General Dai had arrived. I was negligent. Why don’t the two of you go into the residence to freshen up first?”
“There’s no need.” The messenger glanced at Wu Shancai condescendingly and said, “I still have to go to General Yuan after announcing the decree here. Let’s not delay.”
“Yes, yes. I’ll listen to you, sir.” Wu Shancai quickly got someone to set up the incense table.
Qi Xiuyuan asked Dai Wei coldly, “Why are you surrounding Xingzhou Prefecture, General Dai?”
Dai Wei snorted and turned his head away without answering. The messenger, who was treating Wu Shancai coldly, said to Qi Xiuyuan with a beam, “General Qi, no need to be anxious. This is something wonderful. His Majesty is helping you solve your worries.”
Qi Xiuyuan frowned. Minister He and the others, who were standing at the side, looked at each other with an ominous feeling.
Speaking of which, why was the messenger making them stay here while he announced the decree?
The messenger could read their confusion, but they weren’t important enough for him to answer. Hence, he merely gave them a half-smile.
The ominous feeling intensified.
The imperial edict was indeed here to solve the biggest problem for Qi Xiuyuan, but it also gave him another problem.
The Emperor classified half of the people in Xingzhou Prefecture as military households. Because of this war disaster, other than families with only sons and widows, all others were classified as military households.
This time, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue had reformed the military system. In the past, when one was drafted as a soldier, they would leave their hometown and join the army alone. Perhaps they would never return to their hometown for the rest of their lives. Other than the lieutenants and a small number of soldiers who had survived, very few people who were unmarried before joining the army could get married and have children. This was all because soldiers were poor. Some soldiers just wanted to eat their fill, while some soldiers were drafted.
The war in the country had been ongoing. In the past few years, many households had been conscripted into the army, but the royal family was extravagant and the treasury had always been empty. Not to mention Qi Xiuyuan, even General Yuan’s salary and rations had been deducted. Qi Xiuyuan had been a general for four years, but he had only given ordinary soldiers a salary once. As for the rations, they were considered lucky to be able to eat and drink their fill.
This time, the Imperial Astronomers had long predicted that the Hu people in the north would go south to plunder every time the weather changed. Therefore, as soon as the emperor received the news, he sealed it off. In fact, he was worried about the salary and rations of the various armies.
He still had to celebrate the new year, but there was no more money in the treasury. Once a war broke out, where would the rations come from?
Moreover, what would happen next year? What would happen the year after? Like the generals, he worried about the rations and military pay.
The emperor gathered Qin Fang and his trusted aides together and finally came up with a solution. He wanted the soldiers to fret about their own salary and rations.
The emperor planned to allocate a large plot of land for them to farm themselves. With a tap of the red brush-pen on the decree, tens of thousands of families in his kingdom became military households.
Every household would produce a young man to join the army while the remaining people would farm at the rear. 40% of the harvested crops would be handed to the army, and the remaining 60% would go to the military households themselves. The military salary and rations would come from the 40%. Whether there was enough rations would depend on the capabilities of the various armies.
The Emperor was washing his hands off of the matter.
When the emperor decided on this plan, the Jin soldiers happened to be attacking Xingzhou Prefecture. As a result, Mingshui County became heavily impacted by the disaster. The emperor did not want to waste time sending people to relief the disaster, so he directly made them all military households, tossing this problem over to Qi Xiuyuan.
Qi Xiuyuan was originally quite worried, but Wu Shancai, Minister He and the other ministers solved this problem for him.
It might seem to others that Wu Shancai, Minister He, and the squires had plotted against the refugees. In Qi Xiuyuan’s eyes though, it was them who had taken out grains to help him feed his future subordinates.
At this moment, looking at the pale faces of Wu Shancai and the squires, the anger he had been feeling for the past few days finally dissipated. Qi Xiuyuan was very happy, but he questioned the messenger coldly, “Even if the military system is changed, these military households won’t be able to harvest anything until next autumn. What are we going to do about the military salary and rations before that? Also, where do we get the seeds, farming tools, and plowing oxen after spring? I only know how to fight and not farm.”
The messenger felt awkward. He also knew that this matter was a little difficult for him, but this decree was personally issued by the emperor, and in the future, the various armies would follow this system. The messenger tried his best to speak as carefully as possible. “General Qi, the national treasury really can’t provide any grains now. Since the system has already been changed, you’ll naturally have to start raising the military salary and rations. This is the rule for all armies.” Seeing that Qi Xiuyuan’s expression turned even uglier, the messenger hurriedly added, “But don’t worry, General Qi. The Imperial Court will provide good seeds, farming tools, and plowing oxen. They will definitely arrive in Xingzhou Prefecture before spring.”