Chapter 469: Encouragement of Garrison

Before nightfall, Zhen Mi lay on the couch thinking about today's events.

Feeling a little uneasy, he stood up and opened the bedroom door. Two female officers on duty were reading under the lamp. At this moment, they stood up together and said, "Madam."

Zhen Mi came to the side of the lamp and sat down. A female official lit the other wicks on the lampstand, then stepped back with her hands folded. The two stood side by side.

Seeing the two men being reserved, Zhen Mi also realized that her attitude was a bit stiff, so she adjusted her mood and asked, "Have you two heard what the young master said today?"

A female official raised her head slightly and said: "I was serving nearby and heard some of it. I also told my sister about it."

Another female official also spoke up: "Yes, I also heard Qiaomei talk about this."

Seeing that she was hesitant, Zhen Mi said, "If you have any thoughts, tell me all."

"Yes, I think this statement is not very wise, and it should be a joke for the Lord."

The female official lowered her head after she finished speaking, and Zhen Mi nodded slowly: "I also feel that it is inappropriate, what do others think?"

The younger female official felt that she was being asked, so she answered first: "Many sisters think this is a good thing. From now on, Madam's authority will increase, and the rewards we can get for serving her on a daily basis will also be generous. In the future, when outsiders send gifts and ask for an audience, we may also be able to get some benefits."

"I see."

Zhen Mi said softly, "The gift list submitted by Cui Lin should be handed over to the warehouse of the shogunate and returned to the public for distribution."

The two female officials looked at each other, and the older one said, "Tomorrow morning, I will deliver it to the warehouse officer."

Zhen Mi thought for a moment and said, "Make a list of all the gifts received during the first month of the lunar year and the gifts given to each household, and send them to the warehouse after they are ready."

This made the two female officials react. They were horrified and nodded in agreement.

Only in Dongxiang there are various incomes and extra rewards; but in Xixiang, it is a bottomless pit for Ma Yun. The things given to Ma Yun by the Ma brothers and father and son have always gone to Ma Yun without giving out, and he has never shown off.

When Zhen Mi stayed up here to celebrate the New Year, all the wives of officials who were qualified would come to her place to celebrate the New Year together.

Although she was simple, it was very expensive for thousands of women to gather together.

She was receiving gifts and giving out rewards at the same time, and the gifts were circulating around her.

During this process, apart from saving some exquisite jade artifacts, there was no other benefit.

On the other side, Black Bear stayed overnight in Xixiang. Generally speaking, the atmosphere here in Ma Yun is more open, unlike in Dongxiang, where Zhen Mi has to maintain the dignity of the eldest lady, and some things cannot be done around Zhen Mi.

But it’s different in Xixiang, the Ma family seems to have a more professional attitude.

As the sky gradually brightened, Black Bear got up at the sound of roosters crowing and opened the window. A cool breeze blew in, and the smell in the dormitory became much more comfortable and fresh.

After taking a look at the densely packed legs on the kang, he walked out of the dormitory expressionlessly, went behind the wooden screen in the outer room, raised his hand and took out the goose feather pen that had not been used for a long time, and wrote on it: Three meals a day.

If nothing goes wrong, I may not be able to remember how many children I have, let alone grandchildren.

Time is precious and we can't waste too much of it in Xixiang.

The marriage with Cai Zhenji also needs to be put on the agenda, and the one from the Yuan family also needs to be resettled.

After the establishment of Hebei Trading House, the ties between concubine Yuan and Hebei will become closer. If she continues to be neglected, Hebei will be dissatisfied.

Many things can be adjusted from within the family, and external forces will naturally change accordingly. Once the matter with Cai Zhenji is settled, and Cai Zhaoji is allowed to serve as the editor-in-chief of the New Book of Han, the resistance will be much smaller.

Only with Cai Zhaoji's intervention could the word "haojie" be completely branded on the face of the powerful Gao Di.

Thinking about it, Black Bear reached out to the dormitory following his senses, called back his clean robe, simply put it on, swung the pendulum, and went down the stairs.

There were new wooden clogs at the stairs. He stepped on them and the sound of the clogs spread to the outside of the corridor. Fa Zheng, who had been dozing off, immediately woke up and took a tray of heavy documents from Yang Xiu.

The servants who were in charge of daily life went in first. When Fa Zheng and the others came in, Black Bear had already finished a simple wash and was sitting cross-legged behind the table, eating multi-grain porridge with a silver spoon.

Some bright red wolfberries are sprinkled inside as garnish, and it looks great.

After he finished his meal and rinsed his mouth with tea, he waited for the servants to clear away the dishes and chopsticks before Fa Zheng handed him a plate of official documents.

Then Fa Zheng sat down, picked up the tea bowl and took a sip.

Seeing Fa Zheng's tired look, Black Bear said, "The distance between Xixiang and Dongxiang is fifty miles. Xiao Zhi can't stand the journey back and forth?"

"That's not the case. I just went to bed late last night."

"Ah."

Black Bear reached out and picked up the document at the front, which was a list of the death-defying soldiers from the two counties of Taiyuan who had met the required number of beheadings in a series of wars in Hexi and were no longer registered.

If the suicide soldier's military merit is qualified, his two direct generations will be pardoned from slavery.

However, there are still some follow-up issues to be resolved in this official document, such as whether these people who need to be returned to their hometowns as civilians or granted titles, or whether there are other resettlement treatments or requirements. These all need to be re-determined.

Previously, there was only an incentive to escape from military service by making meritorious contributions, but only in this battle in Hexi did more than a hundred people reach the qualifying line.

However, Black Bear's mind was a little confused at the moment, so he asked Fa Zheng: "Xiao Zhi, how do you think we should place these people who have made contributions and escaped from the official ranks?"

Fa Zheng put down his tea bowl and said, "Your Majesty, I think they are well-versed in military discipline and are experienced warriors. It would be a waste of talent to release them to the civilian population. In my opinion, we should consult their opinions. Those who are willing to join the army can be transferred to other places. If they are not willing to join the army, they can be placed near various barriers to build fortresses and garrison the border."

After a pause, Fa Zheng continued, "Border counties are vast and sparsely populated, so we can give them extra private land quotas to encourage them to guard the border."

"Yes, it's based on the merit of beheading people. For every level of beheading, you can own 100 acres of land. The tax is 15%, and it will never change."

Black Bear said, and then picked up the list to check. He saw that the person with the highest number of beheadings was a man named Han Tao, who had beheaded thirty-seven levels. He added: "The limit is twenty levels. For every five levels above, you will be rewarded with one cow and one horse. For those above twenty levels, you can transfer them privately. When you reach five levels, you will be rewarded with cows and horses."

The size of private land owned by an individual cannot exceed 2,000 acres. This line must be set.

More than two thousand acres is three thousand acres, which is the standard for establishing a manor; once the level is reached, the amount of land will also meet the standard, and a manor must be established, separating from the original fortress and community.

After thinking for a while, Black Bear added: "Issue another decree to inform the military and civilians everywhere that the 15% tax is a custom under the shogunate. Today, the world is not settled, so the grain will be purchased and distributed in a unified manner. When the treasury has two years of accumulation, we will only implement unified purchase and equal distribution, and allow the people to save the grain and fodder they produce."

This is an order from the shogunate and does not need to be approved by the Shangshu Xingtai.

After he finished speaking, Wei Kang, who was sitting at the back, picked up a pen and started writing the draft.

Black Bear looked up and stared at the scene outside the door, thinking about what he had missed.

(End of this chapter)