“Our destination!” A glint flashed in Uchiha Tenxiu’s eyes. “We’ll set Snow Country as our initial target, passing through Land of Rain and Bird Country as our route!”
“Regarding Bird Country, there are some matters that I might only confirm once we arrive there, whether they align with my expectations!”
Uchiha Tenxiu spoke thoughtfully, seemingly concealing some secrets that piqued Uchiha Sakurako’s curiosity.
But no matter how much Uchiha Sakurako pressed him, Uchiha Tenxiu still didn't reveal a single word.
“Hmph, then I’ll just watch and see what kind of secrets you can find there,” Uchiha Sakurako turned her head away dismissively, pondering the possible secrets.
Regarding this.
Uchiha Tenxiu smiled wryly, still saying nothing.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell Uchiha Sakurako, or that he didn’t trust her; it was simply that Uchiha Tenxiu didn’t know how to begin. After all, the matters concerning Bird Country were deductions Uchiha Tenxiu had made from the plot of his previous life, which was why he set it as a target.
However, no matter what, these deductions, in the eyes of everyone else in the Ninja World, were nothing more than absurd, fantastical guesses. Even with eighty to ninety percent of the evidence, there was still a 10% chance it could just be an illusory facade.
If the prediction was wrong,
it would instead undermine his authority.
Therefore, Uchiha Tenxiu consistently maintained this mysterious attitude, refusing to answer no matter how much he was questioned.
...
The next day, the weather was clear.
The charred granary and Tianshou Pavilion of Ōtomo were exposed to the entire Harvest City. Everyone was filled with uncertainty and immediately retreated into their homes, fearing being caught in the coming storm. As a dominant force in the northwest region of the Land of Fire, Ōtomo held the power of life and death over ordinary people, and with the Land of Fire and Konoha Village as their backing, they were usually untouchable.
Now, with their Tianshou Pavilion and granary burned down, their impending wrath was imaginable.
Naturally, no one dared to cause trouble at this time; everyone obediently stayed home and slept.
At the same time, Ninja from the Tianshou Pavilion sent messages early in the morning, sealing off the entire city, prohibiting anyone from entering or exiting, and preventing communication between the city's interior and exterior. Additionally, groups of outer-city samurai were arranged to conduct extensive searches, beginning to deal with any potential thieflike presences.
Even petty thieves who usually got away with minor offenses suffered greatly at this time, each one beaten half to death.
While most people in the city were confused, anxious, and unaware of what had happened,
twenty kilometers outside the city, a thousand people, carrying their luggage, had gathered.
Upon closer inspection,
apart from a few Ninja and samurai holding katanas who maintained serious expressions, the other ordinary people’s eyes were filled with resentment and unwillingness. However, when their eyes unconsciously glanced at the weapons of the Ninja and samurai, they instantly retracted their gaze, suppressing all complaints within their hearts.
Uchiha Tenxiu and Uchiha Sakurako were also at the forefront of the crowd, observing everything with a scrutinizing attitude.
“These are the people you plan to take? They look disorganized; it seems impossible to control them!”
Uchiha Sakurako scoffed, “How about we just forget it? I can use a secret technique to erase their memories, and taking only these Ninja and samurai would be enough, what do you say?”
Facing Uchiha Sakurako’s mockery, Uchiha Tenxiu remained unmoved and said, “Don’t worry, soon, I’ll be able to organize them into an elite force that can act on their own. It won’t take more than a few minutes!”
Beside him,
Uchiha Sakurako’s eyes were full of disbelief.
Currently, besides everyone from the inner city, there were also the families of rogue Ninja and elite samurai who needed to be taken. This added a full three hundred people, bringing the total to one thousand two hundred thirty-five people.
However, Uchiha Tenxiu didn’t mind. More people were good; more people meant a larger scale. With enough people, there would be enough talent, enough labor to control, and enough labor to sustain his future hegemony.
There was nothing more to say about that.
Therefore, when he noticed the additional three hundred people in the morning,
Uchiha Tenxiu immediately accepted them without a word.
At that time, Uchiha Sakurako’s face turned dark. She clenched her fists and gritted her teeth, but in the end, she said nothing.
However, with more people, the entire situation began to become chaotic. Fortunately, there were still 35 Ninja and 150 elite samurai standing around them to maintain order, ensuring they dared not run or move around. Coupled with the poison they had already been fed as a warning, it was clear that no one would resist.
Of course, where did Uchiha Tenxiu get so much poison?
With 1235 people, just controlling them with Chakra curse marks would waste a lot of time. Uchiha Tenxiu didn’t have that leisure. As for poison, there’s no need to mention it; if he really fed them that, the annual antidote would be a considerable expense and quite troublesome!
Therefore, the so-called poison was nothing more than fake medicine!
But even so,
it was enough to control them.
“Very good. Next, everyone will register by household. Koike Junichiro, you will handle this,” Uchiha Tenxiu commanded coldly.
“Yes, Sir!” Koike Junichiro said respectfully from the side, quickly taking out paper and pen to begin registering the crowd.
Once the registration was complete,
Uchiha Tenxiu made a second arrangement: “From now on, to prevent anyone from falling behind the team, we will implement the Baojia system. Every ten households will form one Baojia, every ten Baojia will form one Village Team, and every ten Village Teams will form one Town Camp.”
Uchiha Tenxiu explained the meaning of these arrangements, fearing they wouldn't understand them.
However, it was clear that Uchiha Tenxiu spoke clearly and explained simply; everyone understood it in one go.
Then, under Uchiha Tenxiu’s direction, these people were organized into Baojia households.
With thousands of years of historical and cultural heritage, even a primary school student understands some of the so-called power arrangements.
First, military and political separation.
Separate those responsible for logistics from those responsible for the military. Each is responsible for a specific goal and cannot interfere with the other's actions.
Thus, a system of checks and balances and opposition emerged.
And he himself could exercise the power of arbitration as a judge.
Next,
the people present were organized by family, with ten households forming one Baojia. Each Baojia had a Bao Zhang and a Jia Zhang.
Ten Baojia formed a Village Chief and a Captain. The Village Chief managed the Bao Zhang of one hundred households and logistics, while the Captain managed ten Jia Zhang and the able-bodied men from ninety households.
Above ten Village Chiefs and Captains, a Town Chief and a Camp Commander were established. The Town Chief managed ten Village Chiefs, while the Camp Commander managed ten Captains. This step-by-step control instantly created a hierarchy for the over 1,000 people in the entire camp.
At the same time, there was also a very subtle targeting.
Among them, the Bao Zhang was responsible for the daily necessities of ten households, while the Jia Zhang led one adult male from each of the ten households for guard duty. This deliberately separated the adult household heads from their families.
This way,
during marches, even if they wanted to run, they couldn’t.
It was also impossible to abandon their families and run alone.
Secondly,
Uchiha Tenxiu’s arrangement was clearly designed to militarize these thousand-odd people. The so-called Baojia system was essentially a military farming model, providing them with a hierarchy while also gradually drawing these ordinary people into the role of “officials.”
And in the entire operation of human society, officials with management authority are arguably the most yearned-for roles and goals for ordinary people from the lower strata!
Uchiha Tenxiu dared to say,
out of 100 people in this world,
99 people would try every conceivable method to become officials.
Those who don’t want to be officials,
are very few.
Even the minor managers in electronics factories value their management authority more than anything else, forgetting their own class all day long and selling their lives for the enemy.
And that is enough to show the beauty of power.
And now,
Uchiha Tenxiu simply divided these people into various ranks, without needing to personally manage them.
Soon,
people would naturally step into their respective roles.