“That’s right — when your families arrive in the future, this is where they will live. Along this river heading east, this stretch of land all the way to that earthen ridge over there — it all belongs to you. Once the people come and the land is cleared, I will come again with people from the county office to register your households in the records.” Zhù Qingjun said patiently to a group of veteran soldiers.

Suddenly one of the old soldiers asked, “Can you actually make that call? Will the county office listen to a girl?”

Zhù Qingjun had been organizing and explaining things to this squad of soldiers all morning, and her throat was dry from all the talking. When she heard this question, she did not feel particularly angry — she had heard similar words many times by now. She produced the same explanation she had given many times before: “The lord assigned this task to me, which naturally means I can settle you here properly. If you don’t trust me, you should at least trust the lord.”

Only then did the old soldiers nod and gradually disperse.

Zhù Qingjun picked up the water pouch at her waist and took a large swallow of cold water. The icy water hit her throat, and a cool freshness spread through her lungs and chest.

She folded up the map in her hands, swung up onto her horse, and rode back to the field office with several companions. The sky was darkening — the day’s work was done. She needed to go back and organize the day’s events, check in with Su Zhe and the others, and report progress.

Back at the field office, the lamps and candles had already been lit. They gathered briefly. Lin Feng said, “You’re back! We were just waiting for you. You always come back later than the rest — did you run into something difficult?”

Zhù Qingjun shook her head. “No.”

“Then let’s go — Chen the Elder is back! And Xiang the Second brought Little Xiang Yu along too, and Elder Brother Gu stopped by today to report — there’s definitely going to be extra dishes tonight!”

She looked into the main hall — four extra place settings had been added, and two more dishes had been added to what was being set on the table, bringing it from four dishes and a soup to six dishes and a soup.

Out on the road, Zhù Ying’s meals had become increasingly simple. There was always enough to eat, but the variety was not great. She ate the same as everyone else, and no one said a word about it. She herself felt that four dishes and a soup was perfectly adequate — so six dishes tonight counted as something of an extravagance.

Those who knew each other exchanged greetings. Gu Tong and Zhuo Jue were talking closely together. Gu Tong said, “How’s it been? You’ve learned a great deal, I imagine. I quite envy you! Being able to stay at Teacher’s side. I haven’t been able to hear her instruction for quite a while.”

Zhuo Jue was exhausted every single day, thoroughly worn out as a dead dog — though his eyes still held their brightness. But words had largely deserted him, because this work ruined one’s voice.

He said faintly, with what little breath he had, “These soldiers — their voices are so loud…”

To clearly explain things to and effectively organize a crowd of booming-voiced men, he had to raise his own pitch, day after day.

Gu Tong burst out laughing and clapped him on the back. “Tiring as it is, it’s worth it.”

Over on the other side, Chen Fang was talking with Xiang Le and Xiang An. Xiang An said, “Let Xiao Yu bunk with the Second.”

Xiang Le said, “Fine.”

Chen Fang said, “If I had a nephew, I should have brought him along!” with considerable regret in his voice.

He and Xiang Le had a shorter journey than Gu Tong, yet returned later. The two had spent time operating in the capital: Chen Fang saw his father and his wife’s family and caught up with friends and relations; Xiang Le met with Zhao Su and handled some matters for Zhù Ying in the capital. Taking advantage of the northern trip, Xiang Le had been secured an official title by Zhù Ying. When the news reached home, the entire Xiang family was overjoyed.

Xiang the Elder wasted no time — he sent his eldest son, Xiang Yu, off to the capital, instructing him to seek out his second uncle Xiang Le when opportunity permitted. After arriving in the capital, Xiang Yu first sorted out some of the family’s business affairs. He was thinking about purchasing several hundred shi of grain as a “military contribution” donated as a civilian gesture, and using that as a pretext to call on Xiang Le.

Then Xiang Le returned to the capital.

By the time the uncle and nephew arrived at the field office together with Chen Fang, it was already into the second month. Xiang Yu also gave a report on affairs in Wuzhou, Ji’yuan Prefecture, and the private estate, and had also brought along some letters and items from the estate. He was currently in Zhù Ying’s study giving his report.

The atmosphere was one of warmth and cheerfulness.

Xiang Le took a moment to say to Zhù Qingjun, “The old lady is worried and sent twenty more people over. They were all trained by Old Cavalryman Hou.”

Zhù Qingjun said, “Then our people will be even better off for numbers.”

As they spoke, Zhù Ying and Xiang Yu came out together. Xiang Yu’s face was bright with happiness — though he had not managed to see his friend Zhù Lian, now that he was here, there would be plenty of opportunities ahead! He went to pay his respects to Gu Tong and the others, and exchanged greetings with his acquaintance Lin Feng.

Zhù Ying said, “Since you’re here, you’ll work. It’s a good time — we’re short on hands. Oxen, seeds, farming tools — all of that needs someone to oversee.”

And then she looked over at Gu Tong. Gu Tong hurried to say, “Anything assigned to our prefecture — I can sort it all out! No need for them to go to extra trouble.”

Zhù Ying gave another nod, then said to Zhù Qingjun, “More people have come from home. Talk with A’Wen and A’Yin about how to arrange them.”

“Yes.”

“Let’s eat.”

The meal ended, and Zhù Ying was back to being busy. She summoned some of the northern youths and went over transport matters with them.

Steward Bao was back. He first reported to Zhù Ying on how things had gone when dealing with the main camp: “By what this official observed, since Marquis Zheng arrived, the morale and discipline have both improved greatly compared to before. The civilian laborers we conscripted did not suffer many losses either. In the past, there were incidents of officers and men lashing out at civilians when in a bad mood. Now they are actually polite to us. It’s all because of my lord’s standing.”

Zhù Ying said, “They were never supposed to take their frustrations out on the common people in the first place.”

Next came reports from several more stewards and clerks about the problems they had encountered. Then came a progress report from those overseeing the construction of grain storage facilities, and so on.

When the meeting concluded, Zhù Ying stayed behind alone to write official documents. Reporting to the Council of State and the Emperor was an unavoidable duty. As a special commissioner abroad, especially one who had obtained quite a range of powers and was also involved with the military, Zhù Ying submitted a memorial every ten days — two each time, each with a different focus.

For the Emperor’s memorial, she needed to ask after his health, show concern for his well-being, and convey her intention to share his burdens as a loyal official. Only then could she turn to the substantive matters: in addition to her work pacifying the north, she also wrote about matters at Marquis Zheng’s camp. She reported both the good and the bad — improved morale, soldiers still enduring great hardship, and so forth.

For the Council of State, she listed large amounts of data and progress updates, occasionally interspersed with another incompetent official or two she had dealt with.

She did not constantly petition the court for official appointments. For lower-ranking posts she made bulk requests to the court. For anything higher, she always negotiated individually with Steward Yao.

The lamp burned until midnight before it went out.

Outside the study, some of the northern officials who had just left a meeting were also talking among themselves in small clusters, walking and chatting as they went.

The great majority of them were serving in an official capacity for the first time. Steward Bao repeatedly reminded these young people: “What do you know of how rare a superior like this is?! Yes, it is tiring — but it is always worth it. The world is full of superiors who cause you trouble and then push the blame onto you! And they mistreat their subordinates on top of that. For us to have met this one — the opportunity has come.”

A distant nephew of Steward Bao’s, speaking quietly, said, “Uncle, do you think we don’t appreciate it? Look at how much has changed since the lord arrived — what, only a few days? The order in all four prefectures has improved, and there are no more people fleeing their homes.”

Another young man said, “That’s true — the lord is excellent in every way, except she shows too much favor to the southerners.”

Steward Bao looked at him — this was someone he did not know very well — and still said, “What northerners, southerners? They are all the lord’s people! If you set yourself apart into a separate faction, you expect the lord to indulge you? A superior is never pleased by subordinates who fight among themselves — they want us to pull together and get things done.”

The young man said, “I don’t mean anything by it. Gentleman Zhuo and the others are one thing — I can stomach even Madam Su and her barbarian tribal customs. But that Little Madam Zhù — I looked into it, and she is not the lord’s younger sister, nor her niece. She is someone the lord took in and gave a surname to. How can she be in a position to assign tasks to us?”

Zhù Ying’s background had naturally been looked into since her arrival. Zhù Qingjun’s origins were not particularly concealed or complicated. Same surname, not family — that probably meant a loyal retainer of some kind?

If it were a male retainer that would be one thing — but a female? The northern scholars found it a bit awkward.

Steward Bao said, “Then you all had better sharpen up. If you cannot outperform a young woman, what right do you have to complain? The lord needs people who can get things done.”

Steward Bao’s nephew said, “Administrator Chen is back now — it would be more fitting if he could take over from her.”

Steward Bao said, “Mind what you’re saying.”

The group walked on talking, growing more and more distant. Zhù Qingjun stepped out from behind a pillar, her hand resting on the hilt of her blade.

She walked at a measured pace to the outside of Zhù Ying’s study and said to the attendant at the door, “I’m here to report on how the new arrivals have been settled.”

Inside, Zhù Ying heard her voice. “Is it Qingjun? Come in.”

Zhù Qingjun entered the study, first stirred up the brazier to get the charcoal burning more brightly, and then said, “All settled. Men and women are housed separately. Their official dialect is not very good yet, so for now I am not giving them the more difficult assignments — they are helping with things in the field office. After a few days when they’re more familiar, I will ask for further instructions.”

Zhù Ying said, “Good. You always come back late — have you run into anyone giving you trouble?”

Zhù Qingjun smiled slightly. “Nothing worth mentioning. They see that I am young and always ask twice before they’re willing to believe me.”

Zhù Ying looked at her for a moment. “Hmm. If it ever becomes too much, come and tell me.”

“Yes.”

Zhù Qingjun went back and slept soundly through the night.

Early the next morning, she headed back out to the place she had visited the day before — a settlement that existed only in its earliest stage. It was far from the field office, as it should be when clearing new land. The veteran soldiers, though old and infirm by military standards, were still capable of things like building a simple dwelling.

Today Zhù Qingjun compiled their places of origin and noted whether they had any family members, to be gathered and summarized later so all of them could be brought over together in one go.

Things finished somewhat earlier today. When Zhù Qingjun rode back into town, the sky was still bright. She said to those behind her, “You all go ahead. I’ll wander for a bit.”

The others assumed that young women always liked to browse the streets. Everyone nodded and dispersed. Zhù Qingjun also dismounted, leading her horse slowly along the street.

The security of this area, where the field office was located, was excellent — even petty theft was rarer here than elsewhere. She walked without particular aim and presently came upon a mother and daughter clinging to each other and weeping bitterly. A woman nearby said, “You’ve cried long enough. Keep this up and the master’s household won’t want her anymore.”

Zhù Qingjun’s heart moved. She asked, “What has happened?”

The woman saw that she had a decent appearance and was leading a horse; her clothes had no patches; she wore a few ornaments. The woman replied patiently, “She already belongs to the master’s household. It’s just hard to part with them. This happens all the time. If you stay at home you’ll starve — at the master’s household, at least there’s something to eat. The body price has been paid, and the family can get by with it. Better for both parties.”

Zhù Qingjun said in a level voice, “How can there still be people starving? Weren’t taxes reduced?”

The woman said, “That’s right, they were — but this family ran into trouble. How can they hold out until autumn? And if the autumn harvest is bad, there’s nothing to be done.”

Witnessing a family in such poverty that they were compelled to sell a child — thinking that one body price could save the whole family — this was wrong. Because the person being sold also needed to eat. How long would that money actually last for the whole family?

Zhù Qingjun asked, “What is her body price?”

The mother and daughter both looked over, hesitating for a moment. Zhù Qingjun looked at the mother. Her features did not quite fit the look of a full northern native — close, but not entirely. The girl was twelve or thirteen years old, vaguely resembling her mother. Her appearance was ordinary, with no scars or distinguishing marks.

A girl like this would typically fetch only a few guan on the market. Zhù Qingjun felt around her person — she had not brought enough money. She reached behind her and pulled her braid from her back over her shoulder. There on the end of the braid were several small gold beads.

Zhù Qingjun first asked, “May I inquire who the buyer is?”

An elderly couple from a shop along the road said, “Seeing her cry like this, and since this young lady has a compassionate heart, we will not take her.”

Zhù Qingjun thanked them, then removed the gold beads and said to the mother, “Take this and hold on until autumn.”

By autumn, with a harvest to rely on, they should be able to get through.

She also gave the go-between a handful of coins as compensation.

The mother pulled her daughter down to kowtow to Zhù Qingjun. Zhù Qingjun helped the two of them up, led them away from the crowd of onlookers, and found a small tea stall to sit down in. She ordered some food and drink.

The mother’s accent was slightly unusual but her speech was clear enough. She kept expressing her gratitude without stop.

Zhù Qingjun watched the mother steadily and asked, “Where is her father?”

“Last month — just gone.”

Zhù Qingjun noticed neither the mother nor the daughter were wearing mourning. The mother said, “If you’re going to the master’s household, how can you go wearing mourning?”

Zhù Qingjun felt a pang of sympathy. She chatted with them for a while and asked various things. Only then did she learn that this mother was actually from the barbarian lands.

“When there wasn’t any fighting, we all got along well enough. Who would have thought — the children weren’t even grown yet before the fighting started…”

This woman had also been a farmer in the barbarian territory. When crops failed and she couldn’t make ends meet, and after a series of upheavals, she had married into the northern borderlands. Her husband’s family also had a few scant mu of land, and life was somewhat better than in the barbarian lands. She had managed to carry on this way.

“Is life in the barbarian lands very hard?”

“Hard,” the woman said. “The rent takes five parts out of ten. Things you grow yourself are sold cheap, but things you need to buy are expensive and hard to find.”

Zhù Qingjun talked with her for a long time.

In the north, the taxes set by the court were not high on paper — but once every added charge was tacked on, the final amount collected could reach half. Yet the barbarian lands were even more brutal: they levied fifty percent on the face of it, and then tacked on more after that, all on yields that were lower than in the north to begin with. Even in good years, life was pinched. When there was a disaster, people truly starved.

Not wanting to starve meant selling yourself into slavery. And slaves among the barbarians had it far worse than bond servants in the north. By the court’s law, a master who killed a bond servant still faced criminal consequences — there were many ways to evade the law, to be sure, but the law itself said it was wrong. In the barbarian lands, a master could beat or kill a slave with no legal consequence whatsoever; a sum of money settled everything. It was no better than the way the “Liao people” of old had treated their slaves — the only difference being that sacrificing slaves by bleeding them for offerings to the heavens was not quite so fashionable anymore.

And yet, for ordinary people, farming the land was still somewhat better than herding animals.

The barbarians kept cattle and sheep, but not everyone ate roasted whole lamb every meal, just as a farmer who tills the land could never expect to eat delicacies and mountain fare for herself — the ordinary farmer was certainly not the one who ate such things.

So while life in the north was hard, life in the barbarian lands was only harder still.

As for the notion of keeping a flock of sheep, lying in the grass under the sun, not having to work while the sheep grew fat by themselves, roaming freely wherever one pleased, carefree and unchained? That did not exist.

There were snowstorms. Livestock got sick. One moment’s inattention and everything died. All the constant moving about meant people were also more prone to illness.

So this woman had actually settled down with a degree of peace of mind when she married into the north. After her son died young, she gave birth to a daughter. Though the north had its share of hardships, the woman felt it was still a little better than the barbarian lands.

Unfortunately her husband fell ill and died, leaving her a widow — a barbarian woman at that — while the foreign tribe that had just raided the border was made up of her own people. She also had a daughter to care for. Life was clearly becoming untenable.

Zhù Qingjun asked, “What is the girl’s name?”

“Xiao Feng.”

Zhù Qingjun nodded, then asked the woman her own name, and planned to help them establish a female-headed household. A widowed mother and fatherless daughter — even in a region as generally decent in customs as the north, life would not be easy. She intended to help them.

She found a inn for the mother and daughter to spend the night in, and the next day brought them along and sorted out their household registration. She specifically borrowed someone from Gu Tong and had the man escort the mother and daughter back to their home.

Gu Tong was too buried in work to ask the details and simply agreed.

With the matter settled, Zhù Qingjun watched for a moment when Zhù Ying was free and came again to wait outside the study.

Zhù Ying was in the middle of flipping through a set of illustrated booklets from the capital that Xiang Yu had brought along. She put the booklet down and closed it.

Zhù Qingjun gathered her courage. “My lord, I… I would like to — request an assignment.”

“Oh? You no longer want the one in your hands?”

Zhù Qingjun shook her head. “I will finish it. Once the seeds are planted, I would like to take on the assignment of escorting grain supply convoys, or perhaps going ahead to scout the road to the border cities.”

Zhù Ying said, “Your reasons.”

Zhù Qingjun said, “The assignment I currently have is not bad — in Wuzhou it would go even more smoothly. Here, they have a stubbornness in their hearts. I… I know the roads. Out on the road, it feels more natural.”

“Is that all?”

Zhù Qingjun raised her head. Her gaze was entirely composed. “Among the people at your side, my lord, I am the unusual one. Everyone else’s presence has a clear basis — only mine does not. Everyone else carries an official title — I do not. Take Gentleman Zhuo — his background is impeccable, a proper scholar who came up through the right channels. Take Su Zhe — though she is a woman, she is a future tribal leader. They stand there with full legitimacy. Only I — a girl, of slave origins, who came to know this wider world only by chance and circumstance. Playing the servant or running errands and no one says a word. But if I am asked, like Su Zhe, to hold an official assignment and direct people, it invites all manner of doubts.

Even if I do it well — it amounts to nothing more than that. When Su Zhe and the others do it well, they can naturally be given bigger assignments in order. As for me — even if I do it well, you, my lord, will have an even harder time placing me going forward.”

Zhù Qingjun drew a deep breath. “With assignments connected to the main camp, it is different! When Heaven moves to claim a person’s life, it does not ask whether they are male or female, noble or common. When a blade kills, it goes in and that person dies, regardless. I want to be an official! Like Teacher, like A’Jie — I want to start from the clearest, most straightforward thing — putting one’s life on the line! The soldiers at Marquis Zheng’s camp charge to the front — so there is no reason I would have no chance.”

Zhù Ying said, “Hmm. Well said. But you cannot go alone — gather all the young women in the field office. None of them are delicate flowers. As for an official title — that I cannot give you yet. You will go in the name of the field office, acting under my orders. You are not permitted to act on your own authority. If you render merit, I will submit a formal commendation for you.”

Zhù Qingjun’s body stiffened, but her gaze was lit with excitement. She had always known Zhù Ying was lenient with them, even actively helping them. It was that knowledge that had given her the boldness to put forward such a request. But to actually receive approval still filled her with a delighted surprise.

“My lord!”

Zhù Ying gave a nod. “No one was born to be lowly. Go on — finish the work in your hands, then make a handoff with Xiang Yu.”

“Yes!”

Zhù Qingjun became busier than ever. She and Xiang Yu made a thorough tour of every village in their charge, then took on the receiving of some of the veteran soldiers’ families — there were also a number with no wives or children. She oversaw the construction of dwellings, got it off the ground, and then turned the matter over to Xiang Yu.

At just this moment, a communication came from Marquis Zheng to Zhù Ying: the barbarian forces were showing unusual movement, and he had shifted his troops and horses to a position thirty li closer to the border. He needed the grain supply to be replenished.

Zhù Ying dispatched Zhù Qingjun to escort the grain supplies north to the border.

Zhù Qingjun led several dozen women in charge of the convoy. Along the way, people inevitably pointed and stared, but she paid them no heed. Apart from these sisters, every person in the escort team had been selected by her — all were veterans she herself had settled, all familiar faces.

After Zhù Qingjun set out, the court sent another person to Zhù Ying with an imperial edict.

This time the visitor was Yu Qingquan. He arrived travel-worn and dusty, and the moment they met, he said to Zhù Ying, “Congratulations.”

Zhù Ying said, “Are you praising me?”

Yu Qingquan smiled. “Of course. An edict has arrived!”

The field office hurried to prepare. Yu Qingquan assumed a solemn expression and formally read the edict — the Council of State was additionally appointing Zhù Ying as Commissioner for Land Reclamation.

Zhù Ying received the edict, and she and Yu Qingquan sat together to chat. Zhù Ying also offered Yu Qingquan her congratulations. He was no longer a censor — his seniority had accumulated enough, and he had been assigned to the Ministry of Personnel.

Yu Qingquan said, “Originally both His Majesty and the Council of State were worried the turmoil in the north would spread — who could have imagined you would handle it all so brilliantly. Chief Minister Wang said it — for work like this, only you will do! Before I left, I saw Minister Dou — he even praised you, saying he used to find it so wearisome to argue with that gang of military men. With you there, things are much easier.”

“If he isn’t cursing me, that’s already remarkable — he certainly hasn’t made things easy for me.”

Yu Qingquan laughed. “You were not easy on him either — all evens out.”

Zhù Ying said, “Tell him for me: even if the land is cleared, it will not be producing results anytime soon — it will take five or ten years at a minimum. The weather has not been favorable lately, and the people need time to recover before things can be sustained for the long term.”

Yu Qingquan said, “Very well.”

Zhù Ying let out a sigh. “What was originally something I was doing incidentally — something that could equally well be done or not done — has now with this additional appointment become something I have absolutely no choice but to carry through.”

Yu Qingquan said with a touch of envy, “I can see you take pleasure in it.”

“What can I do — I am compelled. If I’m to pacify things, how do I pacify them? And then Marquis Zheng culled all those military men from his ranks. Without food, without livelihood, that will not do. Minister Dou is so tightfisted — asking him to keep allocating money and grain to maintain a stream of displaced people, he would devour me whole. No choice but to think of my own way out.”

“But you have to actually be able to think of one,” Yu Qingquan said.

“Stop flattering me. How are things in the capital?”

Yu Qingquan said, “Quite all right. With Marquis Zheng going north, Zheng the Chief Minister has also settled down considerably. Things are reasonably peaceful at the moment, and the capital is calm. Now that the north is being held in check and it looks like it won’t spread, everything should be fine.”

Zhù Ying gave a nod. “Since work must be done, people must be used to do it. Let me put the land reclamation matters in order first, and I ask you to wait a couple of days so that you may carry my memorial back with you.”

“Gladly.”