Chapter 167: Yecheng System
"The general returns to the city~"

In front of the tower one mile away from the south gate of Yecheng, the messenger shouted to the tower. After the flag bearer on the tower confirmed the five characters "Great General of the Universe" on the dragon-patterned banner, he raised the yellow flag on the tower and lit up the Zuo Yu banners on several towers in the north.

There were no decorative patterns on the yellow flag. For the marching rebel soldiers, a yellow flag at their own checkpoints and cities meant that they could move forward normally. The Zuo Yu flag was a flag embroidered with a snow leopard pattern.

The Jin system attached the most importance to the Zuo Yu flag. Only the emperor and the princes of 100,000 households could hang the Zuo Yu flag when leading troops to war, and the materials used for the flag were also the most particular.

After the rebel army seized a large amount of military supplies from the Jin court, they used the Zuo Yu banner as a symbol of important figures. The General of the Central Army, the Governor of a county and above could all use this flag to lead the way. The rebel army would also use the Zuo Yu banner to indicate the presence of important figures when sending messages.

It was afternoon at this time, and there was quite a lot of people coming and going near the South Gate. The message from the watchtower gave the captain guarding the gate time to prepare. The armored soldiers allowed the people to pass quickly and began martial law inside and outside the city.

The rumbling sound gradually spread from afar to the vicinity of the South Gate. These hundreds of cavalrymen did not immediately enter the square city wall from the suspension bridge over the moat, but turned a corner and headed for a refugee camp east of the South Gate.

This camp was mainly used to house the people coming from the east. When there were dozens of households, they would be sent to the counties south and west of the Zhang River. During this period, the rebels would provide them with wheat porridge and other food rations.

After stopping his horse, Li Hao, dressed in heavy armor, jumped down. In front of him were Zhao Zhong and his subordinates who had hurried out to greet him after hearing the news.

The main responsibility of this former tenant, now the head of the Ministry of Households of the rebel army, is to compile the population that Wang Mi's troops have seized from Yangping County, Qinghe State, Anping State, Pingyuan State and other places in the east into the Yellow Book, and then distribute these people according to the vacant land in various counties in southern Ye.

"Zhao Zhong, the director of the Ministry of Revenue's Register Department, pays respect to the general."

Zhao Zhong, wearing iron armor, and his subordinates who were similarly dressed half-knelt in salute. The situation was still very tense. Although there was a fierce fighting in Luoyang City, the Jin court gathered the Xuchang Army and the Yamen Army who fled south after Sima Ying's defeat near Ji County in Ji County. Small groups of cavalry could always go to Yecheng, Dangyin and other places to plunder the population through the three defense lines of Qishui, Huanshui and Zhanghe.

Therefore, clerks like them had to wear armor when doing work outside the city.

"Where did Wang Mi fight?"

After signaling them to stand up, Li Hao asked as he walked.

After capturing Changle County, the Jin troops originally stationed in the four counties of Dongyu, led by Lu Yun, crossed the Yellow River one army after another and entered Puyang State and Linqiu City in Yanzhou, confronting the rebel army across the Yellow River.

The news that the Jin army was unsuccessful in the expedition and that King Chengdu, who was defending Yecheng, was killed in the battle spread quickly to the north of the Yellow River. The noble families knew that they would not get away with it, so around the beginning of spring, they used their private soldiers to force their dependents and tenant farmers to move southward towards Yanzhou and Xuzhou.

Although there were still many Jin soldiers in Jizhou, Qingzhou and other places, the gentry had lost their sense of security and would rather take their dependents to the south to redevelop their land than stay in their own fortresses.

This was a very bad phenomenon, meaning that a large number of Han people were forced to migrate from the north bank of the Yellow River to the south. So Li Hao sent out Wang Mi's troops, who had proven their loyalty, and ordered them to march eastward in a large-scale manner, capture the gentry who could not escape along the various ferry crossings along the Yellow River, rescue the households under their jurisdiction, and then send them to the vicinity of Yecheng.

The current Yellow River course was planned by Wang Jing during the Eastern Han Dynasty, and there has been no major diversion or breach in more than 300 years. The river course roughly runs from Xingyang in Sizhou to Qianchengkou between Qingzhou and Jizhou, which is located at the northern end of Shandong Peninsula.

"General Wang Mi is stationed in Yangping City. According to the messenger he sent, most of the Jizhou nobles who could not escape are in Yanzhou's Juancheng County, Yuncheng and other places heading south. General Wang Mi asked the general to send troops across the river to capture Juancheng and block this important ferry."

Zhao Zhong followed closely and replied behind the general.

Yangping County was a county under the jurisdiction of Yangping County, but the county seat of Yangping County was in Yuancheng, two or three hundred miles east of Yecheng.

"Don't rush to manage Yanzhou yet. Let his messenger enter the city. The General's Mansion will send him an official document."

The situation of the Jin court in Jizhou was only supported by the governors of various counties. Most of these governors were from high-ranking aristocratic families. Those who lived far away from home were still willing to defend the city, while those who lived close to home had probably moved their entire families south long ago, and their willingness to defend the city to the death was not very strong.

Li Hao's idea was to have Wang Mi divide his troops to garrison Yangping City and then advance eastward again until his soldiers were deployed to various river crossing cities east of Yangping.

Of course, Wang Mi could not accomplish such a move with just the 5,000 men under his command, but as long as they did not encounter the Jin army, which was far stronger than his, this rebel army would always grow in number and could also bring along civilians along the way. Although the army obtained in this way was not strong and it was difficult to train it into a strong army in a short period of time, it was enough to garrison important places and wait for Wang Mi to return with elite cavalry for support.

What's more, Wang Mi was from Qingzhou and Donglai County. As long as he led his troops to Qianchengkou, there would always be poor people from Qingzhou who would come to seek refuge with his fellow villager.

The purpose of doing this was not only to intercept the remaining aristocratic families from fleeing south, but also to isolate Qingzhou from Jizhou and Youzhou.

He Yan, the governor of Youzhou appointed by the Jin court, has already taken office. His predecessor Liu Bao was quite talented and managed Youzhou well, and also won over the powerful support of the Duan clan Xianbei. Therefore, He Yan followed the example of his predecessor and sent money and cloth to the eastern part of the Murong Xianbei and Tuoba Xianbei. He then transferred most of the Youzhou border troops to the north and east of Zhongshan County, and sent a small group of elite troops to plunder the population of the rebel army, making Li Lian, who stayed in the north, miserable.

The Qingzhou troops were previously under the command of Wang Yan, the governor of Qingxu. Wang Yan was usually stationed in Pengcheng, Xuzhou, while Guangxian, the capital of Qingzhou, was guarded by his nephew Wang Dun.

The Jin court recently appointed the King of Donghai as the Grand Commander of Hebei, and also gave Sima Yue the power of the Commander of Qingzhou south of the Yellow River.

Sima Yue's fiefdom, Donghai County, is located in the northwest of Pengcheng, the capital of Xuzhou. Wang Yan's nephew Wang Dao is a military officer under Sima Yue. The Wang family of Langya will most likely collude with Sima Yue, the King of Donghai. As long as Qingzhou and Jizhou are cut off, Sima Yue can only hide in Qingzhou and Xuzhou.

At that time, Zheng Qiu, the governor of Yanzhou, was from Kaifeng, Xingyang, Sizhou. His home was south of the Yellow River. His ancestors had been high-ranking officials such as the governor of Yangzhou and the Minister of Agriculture. After Sima Ying's death, he had neither the intention nor the motivation to lead his troops north to fight against the rebel army.

Zheng Qiu also had a younger brother named Zheng Yu, who was an official in Luoyang. It was said that the two brothers were determined to get into the mansion of Sima Jiong, the King of Qi. However, Sima Jiong was at the height of power. As the former confidant of the King of Chengdu, it was not easy for Zheng Qiu to change his allegiance.

Apart from the massive population loss, the situation north of the Yellow River was quite favorable for the rebel army. Li Hao only needed to concentrate on dealing with the Jinting Central Army and Xuchang Army from Henei County, Henan County, and Ji County, and he could slowly expand the territory in other directions.

After reaching Zhao Zhong's public house, Li Hao roughly reviewed the number of households in the yellow book, and then asked: "Wang Mi is a tyrannical person, his soldiers did not embarrass these people on the road, right?"

The style of the commander can easily influence the soldiers under his command. Take Li Lian in the north for example. As the commander often repaired the chevaux de frise and watchtowers himself, most of the rebels in this army built camps and cities. Although they were not good at attacking, they were more than capable of defending the city.

Wang Mi himself loved to slaughter the nobles. The gentry under his control had a shorter survival period than the male gentry who dug coal and chopped trees in Jingxing Coal Mine and Mianshan Lumberyard.

"No, most of the soldiers escorting the people were from military households, and they didn't abuse the people on the way. Every time we captured a fort in the countryside, General Wang would send people to kill three clans."

Zhao Zhong himself liked General Wang Mi's style very much. Due to his own experience, he wanted to send these nobles on their way personally.

"Wang Mi is too murderous. The male members of the noble families can be captured and used as laborers to fill the river when the city is attacked. The adult women can also be distributed to the brothers as wives and concubines. I am going to send a military supervisor, and you look for a candidate."

Now the rebel army has no shortage of land or armor, but only of able-bodied men. We cannot allow Wang Mi to continue causing trouble like this.

Zhao Zhong was overjoyed. Although he was in charge of many people, he had only been in office for a short time and was not good enough in cultivating his Qi. "General, there is no need for me to find someone. Why don't you let me, General Wang, who is in charge of the army, and also manage the people."

"You?" Li Hao was a little surprised by this self-recommendation, and then the general agreed.

Zhao Zhong and Wang Mi had completely different backgrounds. One was from Zhao County in the west of Jizhou, and the other was from Donglai in the east of Qingzhou. They couldn't possibly be of the same mind.

"Before the last expedition, I asked you to discuss the strategy of mixing Han and Hu peoples. How is it going?"

This is the main reason why Li Hao ran to this camp before entering the city.

"General, after discussing with my superiors, sponsors, and colleagues, I have come up with two resettlement strategies. The Hu people who have been converted by the Han people will be resettled in the ratio of five Han and five Hu households. Ten households will select a Han team leader. If one household escapes, the other nine households will be punished. The barbarians who have not been converted will be resettled in the ratio of eight Han and two Hu to prevent the Hu people from colluding with each other."

The sponsor he was referring to was Zhang Ren, Li Ju's housekeeper and servant.

Under the Nine-Rank System of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the recommender was called the sponsor, and there was a strong dependent relationship between the recommender and the recommended person.

This kind of relationship is similar to that between the chief examiner and the juren and jinshi in the imperial examination system of the Ming Dynasty, and is a natural reason for officials to stick together.

Zhang Ren originally followed Li Ju, who had also spent some time in the Jin court officialdom. This invisible rule was also introduced into the officialdom of the rebel army.

Not only Zhang Ren and Zhao Zhong, but also Fei Li and Lu Zhi who surrendered earlier had a similar relationship. It's just that the officials from the aristocratic families acted more covertly, while Zhang Ren and Zhao Zhong both came from poor backgrounds, and they followed suit and used the relationship as their sponsor to stick together.

"In my rebel army, there are only three levels of relationships: superiors, colleagues, and subordinates. There is no so-called sponsor." Li Hao reminded him.

Zhao Zhong was stunned for a moment, then he half-knelt on the ground and apologized sincerely.

After letting him get up, Li Hao asked a few more questions about the resettlement of the people, and then took Zhao Zhong and his personal soldiers into the city.

The original Governor's Mansion was transformed into the General's Mansion. The officials in Jingxing City moved there one after another, and the various government offices in Yecheng also resumed operations.

Except for Pingyang County and Taiyuan County in the west, the rebel army's territory has formed a three-level ruling framework of counties, counties, and Yecheng where the general's mansion is located. The counties have county magistrates and five hundred lords, the counties have prefects and colonels, and important checkpoints and cities are guarded by generals. It has become a real separatist regime.

Therefore, after the year, people kept submitting petitions requesting that the general be promoted to emperor and that the capital be established in Yecheng. However, Li Hao declined on the grounds that the territory was too small and there were strong enemies in the south.

This time when he came back, in addition to handling the normal government and military affairs, he had to sort out this matter clearly, paint the pie that should be painted, and give the rewards that should be given, so as to avoid being unjustified.

In the main meeting hall, all the civil and military officials in Yecheng have arrived. Unlike before when they knelt behind the desk, all the rebels sat on high chairs during the meeting. General Li Hao sat facing south, the civil officials sat in the east, and the military officials sat in the west.

The first row of civil officials were the brothers Li Ji and Li Huang, and Zhang Ren. After them were the magistrates of Ye County, Lu Zhi, and Handan County, Fei Li, and others. Zhao Zhong, the chief official, was in the middle of the civil officials.

The chief military general was Lu Rong. Fanyang was located in the northeast of Zhongshan County. The fact that Lu Rong was a member of the impoverished Lu family of Fanyang could not be concealed from anyone. After learning of his humble origin, Li Hao let Lu Rong stay in Yecheng.

All previous appointments of officials to the rebel army, except for county magistrates and prefects, were made by Li Hao according to the six ministries of the Ming Dynasty, with only the levels of Langguan and Zhushi.

During the Han Dynasty, the duties of the Six Ministries were divided among the Nine Ministers. During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, six departments were evolved, namely the Three Dukes, the Personnel Department, the Civil Affairs Department, and the Guest Department. This practice was later learned by the Joseon Dynasty, which created the Six Departments and Two Offices.

"The order of heaven cannot be without a ruler, and human gods cannot be without a master. The great general's power is feared throughout the country, and his kindness is great to the country. He should be promoted to the throne of emperor to reassure the people of the world." Li Ji took the lead in persuading the emperor.

Li Ji led his brothers' private soldiers to participate in many major battles and was awarded the military rank of General of the Central Army, but he was still in charge of the Yuhengsi, which was responsible for supervising the craftsmen who repaired and built armor and military equipment.

There were four to five thousand craftsmen in Yecheng who were under his supervision.

In terms of talent, Li Ji was far from being at the top among the civil servants. Those who came after him, such as Lu Zhi and Fei Li, were all famous for their talents and were capable of both handling government affairs and leading the army in battles.

However, he had made the greatest contributions among the civil officials and was more talented than most of the military generals, so the civil officials and military generals could only push him to be the first one to be persuaded to ascend the throne.

"What Yu Hengsi Langzhong said makes sense. The emperor of the Sima family is a fool, and those princes have the desire to steal but not the courage to do so. I think the throne of the emperor must be occupied by the general." Lu Rong was the second one to persuade the emperor.

Compared to Li Ji, his words were much rougher.

Afterwards, a civil official and a military general took turns persuading the general to ascend the throne, their core idea being that they wanted the general to become emperor.

Of course, when Li Ji took the lead in persuading the emperor to ascend the throne, a servant came to the general's desk carrying a crown with twelve tassels.

"You are planning to hurt me again?" After letting the main civil and military officials express their opinions, Li Hao interrupted the people behind him to persuade him, "Now the territory of the rebel army is less than two states, and Ji County and Henei County have gathered a large number of soldiers, ready to attack Yecheng in the north at any time. Sima Yue also holds the official position of the Grand Commander of Hebei, and will soon lead the troops of Qingxu to encircle from the east. It would be too time-consuming and costly to declare oneself emperor at this time."

Becoming an emperor is not something that can be accomplished by simply putting on some clothes. In addition to the complicated coronation ceremony, there is usually a general amnesty and numerous rewards. However, the tight finances of the rebel army simply cannot support a ceremony to become an emperor.

"But the rebel army's territory has already crossed states and counties. If he only has the title of general, it would be a disadvantage. In my opinion, it is better to add the title of king!"

Halfway through his words, Li Hao changed his tone.

There are so many people waiting to be conferred a title. Simply title him king and raise the ranks of civil and military officials, and everyone will be satisfied.

Li Ji, Lu Rong, Fei Li, Lu Zhi and others cheered for the king's wisdom. After they stood up and knelt, Li Hao told them his idea.

"Adding the title of king is secondary. The most important thing is to sort out the internal governance of the righteous army. Let's start with the six ministries!"

PS: Please give me recommendation votes and monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)