Chapter 248 Assimilation Policy
The black bear's patrol area was vast, and Guan Yu waited in Chang'an for more than ten days but never saw the black bear return or pass by.

He could only head towards Chiyang, but unfortunately when he arrived, the black bear had already reached the outskirts of Xinfeng.

A curtain was set up on the northern slope of Mount Li.

When the black bear arrived, Ma Chao, Ma Dai and others had been waiting here for two days.

There was a blazing charcoal fire inside the curtain. Several guards wearing leather armor were squatting in the upwind direction, roasting lamb.

Black Bear opened the mud seal of a jar of rice wine, grabbed the mouth of the jar with his right hand and poured wine for himself and Ma Chao.

This is sifted rice wine. The clear wine is taken, mixed with brown sugar, and then stored in jars and sealed.

The wine has a sweet taste and the bitterness of alcohol is almost non-existent.

The two men drank from large bowls. Ma Chao was a little restrained at first, but after drinking seven bowls in a row, he became full of energy.

The black bear likes Ma Chao in this state, holding the wooden barbecue skewer and tearing the meat. The meat he chose is a six-month-old ewe, which has delicate meat with just the right amount of fat and a bit of chewiness.

"I don't want to be distracted by the north for the time being. My uncle wants to be the General of Crossing Liao. I think after he is promoted, you will take over as the Lieutenant General of the Xiongnu."

"It will take about three years, or at least two years, for me to launch an expedition against the Xianbei. During this time, your mission is to conquer the Qiang people in the three counties. If you have any questions, please tell me in person."

Ma Chao only started to eat the barbecue at this time. He had already drunk seven bowls of wine on an empty stomach and he could hardly bear it.

Without much thought, Ma Chao said: "It is difficult to exterminate the Qiang people. It would cost too much time and effort to exterminate them all. We can give them the remote mountain and wilderness. Even if they are gone, there will be others to settle there."

"Well, the cost of taxation is too high. I understand your concern. Do you want to combine taxation and conquest?"

"Yes, those who are willing to join the war, the strong ones will provide the men and horses, the weak ones will provide the horses, and we will take care of the strong ones' fields and herds."

Ma Chao put down the wooden stick and wiped the oil on his lips with a handkerchief. "Those who are unwilling to join the expedition will be killed. The tribes and ethnic groups of the Qiang people are scattered and have been rooted in the mountains and wilds since they moved eastward. They have been independent of each other for a long time. So for those who are willing to join the expedition, there is no difference between following me and following the rebellious Qiang."

They all go out to plunder, and as long as the income from plundering can meet these people's expectations, long-term cooperation can be achieved.

Ma Chao then said, "That's what I'm worried about. It's just like training a hawk or a dog. When you want it to be brave and strong, you need a bigger prey. Otherwise, there's a risk of it biting back."

Black Bear was not surprised and drank another half bowl of wine: "I will give you three years, actually only two years. This autumn and winter, I want the three counties to be stable; next autumn and winter, you must send 3,000 cavalry to follow me to conquer the Hetao tribes. In the future, you must gradually assimilate the Qiang people in the three counties, just like the Qin assimilation of Rongdi and Yiqu."

After more communication, the Qiang people from the three counties were already familiar with Chinese, and the next step was to make them familiar with the law.

When these people recognize the law and are willing to use it to resolve disputes, and when the government conscripts them for military service, corvee labor and taxes according to the law, they are willing to pay taxes and serve, and their assimilation is complete.

Ma Chao heard this and said, "General, Qin was able to assimilate the Rongdi Yiqu because the barbarians served in the war and were able to be awarded titles and land for their military merits. Naturally, they were willing to move from remote mountain areas to flat and fertile areas. In my opinion, if you want to assimilate the Shu Qiang within three years, those who have made contributions should be granted titles and land and houses, and allowed to move to Guanzhong, or receive land and houses in the three counties. "

Ma Chao picked up the skewer again, took a bite of it, chewed it twice and swallowed it. "Those who have permanent property have perseverance. When the cultivated Qiang receive the land and houses, and their husbands, wives and children work together to build their family business, how can they be willing to give it up easily? I think the general should implement the issue of granting titles and land and houses to those with military merit as soon as possible, so that I can also guide the wild Qiang."

Seeing Black Bear thinking, Ma Chao said, "Granting titles and granting land and houses for military merit is like a general's guard dog; the knights who are lured by looting and seizure are just a group of wild wolves, no matter how brave they are, and they will be a long-term scourge."

After hearing this, Black Bear nodded slowly. He just wanted Ma Chao to replace the vacant leadership position of the Qiang people in the three counties.

The Qiang people who migrated east from the three counties would follow the tribal leaders to go out and plunder. If they could win, they would do it on their own; if they couldn't win, several tribes would unite, swear an oath, hold ceremonies to eliminate hatred between each other, and jointly plunder externally.

Unfortunately, the Dong Qiang were severely beaten by Duan Xing, and were almost wiped out by the Xianbei when they went out of the border.

The Qiang people in the three counties have been recuperating for more than 20 years after suffering heavy losses, and their strength has not yet recovered. The resources in the mountains and fields of the three counties are enough to feed them, so there is no need to go out to plunder and acquire resources.

After joining forces with the Xiongnu to destroy several large tribes and a dozen medium-sized tribal gathering points, it became very difficult to wipe out the small and scattered Qiang tribes that were scattered across the mountains like dandelions.

Therefore, Ma Chao was able to replace the ecological niche of the Qiang leader. In peacetime, he mediated disputes among the Qiang people, hunted and captured Qiang horse bandits; in wartime, he took the Qiang people out to plunder.

As long as they can maintain their normal living order, defeat their enemies in war, and distribute the spoils relatively fairly, the Qiang people will be happy to follow.

Ma Chao could do this job, but he wanted to do it in one go.

Qiang people who performed well in the military were granted titles, land and houses, and moved to the plains, separating these outstanding Qiang people from the ordinary Qiang people.

Seeing that Black Bear had come to his senses, Ma Chao said again: "Grant them titles for their military merits and take the best out of them. Then exile the criminals. Within two generations, all the Qiang people can be converted."

"Yes, in the future I can place prisoners in various counties. The prisoners should be divided into two types. Those with serious crimes can be exiled to the Qiang people who followed the expedition to herd sheep and farm; those with minor crimes can be given to the Qiang people who were granted titles as slaves."

Having these exiled prisoners around day and night can allow Qiang children to be exposed to Chinese and help them learn faster.

Moreover, the Qiang people, like the Xiongnu and Xianbei, lived in a harsh environment.

If the exiled criminals grow up to be tall and strong, they may live a miserable life.

Black Bear agreed to Ma Chao's plan and raised his wine bowl to signal: "Do your best. I can help Liu Bao become Chanyu, so why would I be stingy with you? I have sworn an oath with the Xiongnu to let my relatives take on the position of Right Wise King. When the time is right in the future, you will be the leader of the right wing of the Xiongnu."

Ma Chao was slightly stunned: "The right wing is to be formed by the annexed miscellaneous Hu people?" "Well, in my plan, the Xiongnu will have five or seven wing. In ten years, the right wing should be in charge of the area around Helan Mountain. If we conquer the west in the future, the right wing will be the vanguard."

Black Bear smiled and said, "You Xian Wang concurrently serves as the General of the Western Expedition. I think you will like it."

Ma Chao raised his hand and scratched his beard with his index finger. He could not help asking, looking expectantly, "General, can this Right Wise King be hereditary?"

"What do you say?"

Black Bear asked back with a smile, but Ma Chao just laughed dryly.

The black bear then said, "It is not easy to appoint a king in the country. In the future, you will be given a King of Jiankun, King of Wusun, King of Daxia, etc., and your descendants will inherit the throne from generation to generation. The Right Wise King will control the Xiongnu for a long time in the future, and the throne cannot be passed from father to son. The famous kings of the various tribes in the Right Department are not included in this list."

Ma Chao nodded, raised the wine bowl with both hands to indicate, and then drank it himself, pouring the wine for himself: "General, if you give me the power, I will do my best to share your worries."

After that, he held the wine bowl with both hands and drank it all again, feeling very happy, and continued to pour wine: "May I ask, General, when will we attack Liangzhou?"

"No hurry, let Han Sui wait for a few years. He has sent an envoy to ask for forgiveness and put all the blame on Yan Xing."

Black Bear handed the cooled kebabs to the guard nearby, who took them away. Soon someone brought a plate of freshly grilled kebabs.

He picked up a string and blew on it, then bit off a piece to chew, and observed Ma Chao's expression: "Han Sui pushed the blame onto Yan Xing in order to clear himself. This is also to give Yan Xing a chance to work for me. If I agree, Han Sui will send Yan Xing's parents, family members, and relatives to me."

Ma Chao was silent for a moment, then said, "I have a blood feud with Yan Xing. I can never see him again and just treat him as dead. But Ayun will never forget this hatred. And Yan Xing has a similar character to me. As long as Ayun is here, he will not dare to return to his loyalty. If he gets the chance, he will definitely rebel."

Ma Chao still sentenced Yan Xing to death.

Black Bear chewed a few bites of lamb tenderloin and swallowed it, not caring about Yan Xing's life or death: "I will not take Yan Xing's life casually. After all, he is a warrior of Xizhou. If he has to die, he must die for a good cause. In the future, after Yan Xing redeems himself and serves in Guanzhong, he will be suspicious and uneasy, and someone will collude with him."

"I don't want to be distracted by catching the thief right now. Letting Yan Xing be the bait will save me a lot of trouble."

Black Bear looked up at the sky in the direction of Weibei and said, "There is no end to the internal thieves. Now is the time to use more people. One more person means more strength. If all the internal thieves are killed, we will have to kill our own people, which is not good."

Seeing Ma Chao's puzzled expression, he seemed to think that the traitors were all paid to eat the salary, and it was a waste of salary to feed these people.

Black Bear smiled and said, "I will call on the officials to cultivate their official land. Each official position will be allocated an official land from the public land. At least 20 acres, and up to 500 acres."

Ma Chao smiled strangely and said, "If these people were busy with farming and had fewer social activities, how much more food and fodder could be saved than the production of a thousand acres?"

Increase revenue and reduce expenditure, and increase production in both directions.

Black Bear also smiled and said, "Yes, let them be busy so that they don't have time to think of conspiracies. The other people can also farm and graze in peace and live happily."

After that, Black Bear picked up the wine bowl and said, "Don't drink too much. After this bowl, we'll say goodbye. I still have to go to Hongnong to see Gan Xingba."

"Yes, just one bowl."

Ma Chao also picked up the bowl, and the two of them smiled at each other and drank from their heads.

After drinking, Ma Chao patted his round belly full of water, put on his helmet, and stood up to send Black Bear away.

All the necessary communications have been completed, and he can now take up his post with peace of mind.

As for the system of awarding titles based on military merit, that was not something that a Huqiang commander like him should get involved in.

There is no problem with the system of conferring titles based on military merit; the problem lies in the implementation process.

Apply and modify some of them; and integrate them with the fortress system developed by Black Bear.

The emphasis of the fort system was to gather the common people in the earthen fort, and those who were awarded titles for military merit generally had larger residential areas and land properties, as well as allocated official slaves.

How to weigh the trade-offs is something that black bears need to consider.

Although Ma Chao had some ideas, his identity was different now.

If he were not an official, but a guest soldier with friendly forces or partners, he could naturally interrupt and express his ideas.

But now, this matter involving secondary distribution left him no room to speak at all.

What's more, the scope of influence of this matter is too wide, and Ma Chao does not want to offend the nobles, the powerful and the scholars.

Because of the military merit system, those who were directly oppressed were not the common people, but the famous and powerful people who occupied a large amount of production resources "without merit".

The powerful and famous could transform themselves and integrate into the system of conferring titles based on military merit, but they had already lost the opportunity.

Even if they wanted to bow their heads and join now, the new and old military officers who had followed Black Bear to gain military merits several times would instinctively resist the indigenous big families and powerful people.

(End of this chapter)