At this moment, Ji Xiyao poked his head out from the camp. Seeing Han Qian, he hurried over ingratiatingly and asked with some reluctance, “The five thousand newly made soap bars have all been delivered. Do we really have to distribute them all in the first batch to the wounded soldiers?”
In this era, oils and fats were still luxury goods. The lye soap produced by boiling them and mixing with wood ash sold in Jinling and other major cities as rare commodities that the wealthy scrambled to purchase. Yet Han Qian wanted to distribute them free to the wounded soldiers, which Ji Xiyao found extremely wasteful.
In traditional military camps, who would consider soap as an essential military supply?
“Why not? Not only should we, but we must watch over every wounded soldier to ensure they develop the habit of washing their hands and bathing with soap!” Han Qian said.
To reduce the spread of epidemics and further prevent wound infections, the personal hygiene of the soldiers was truly an issue that needed serious attention.
Han Qian currently lacked the resources to provide soap to the entire army. On one hand, supplies were not yet abundant and plentiful enough for that step, and some concepts might not even be understood by people like Zheng Hui and Zhang Ping. But for the medical camp, Han Qian could still make the decisions.
After these wounded and sick received treatment, the vast majority would return to the military ranks. But Han Qian only needed them to remember this gratitude in their hearts, to remember how different the medical camp he established in the Wuling Army truly was…
Therefore, in terms of supply allocation, Han Qian prioritized the medical camp and tried every means to increase nutrition for these wounded and sick.
Han Qian led Xi Ren and Ji Xiyao into a tent.
Xi Ying’s fifth son, Xi Shepeng, lay on the sickbed. Seeing Han Qian enter, he turned his face away.
Ten days ago, when Xi Shepeng led his troops to scale the southern wall of Yuanling, he was not only struck by several arrows, but his left arm was also broken by an enemy general’s iron mace.
Xi Shepeng was fortunate to survive. The arrow wounds on his body were not critical, and though an arrow had pierced through his cheek, it miraculously did not damage any vital areas. His broken arm had been set and fixed with plaster, though it was still too early to tell how the wounded arm would heal.
Han Qian called Du Yiming over and had him, who had learned bone-setting techniques from his father, first remove the plaster from Xi Shepeng’s broken arm to check for wound infection and whether the broken bone had shifted out of alignment, then reapply fresh plaster.
After bustling about, Han Qian instructed the two concubines who had come specifically to care for Xi Shepeng:
“I am using new methods to treat General Xi’s broken bone, which has a seventy to eighty percent chance of healing. But if the care is inadequate and there’s the slightest negligence, it could leave lasting complications. For the next two months, you must watch over him day and night, and absolutely do not let his broken arm collide with hard objects. Of course, if he feels a slight itching sensation at the wound site, that means the broken bone is healing, so there’s no need to panic.”
The Xi family had lost three sons directly to Han Qian’s schemes, and during this forced advance attack on the city, Xi Ying had lost another son who died atop Yuanling’s walls. Xi Shepeng could not possibly harbor no resentment toward Han Qian. But as a warrior who prided himself on his martial prowess, he feared being left disabled. Hearing Han Qian instruct his wives and concubines, he couldn’t help but prick up his ears to listen…
Han Qian then instructed Ji Xiyao to use the newly modified medical ships to transport the three hundred or so seriously wounded soldiers in batches to Linjiang County for further treatment.
Emperor Tianyou had explicitly ordered that the New Policy be limited only to Xuzhou and not expanded to Chenzhou.
This was not because Emperor Tianyou wanted to restrict the influence of him and his father. After all, if the New Policy were to be implemented in Chenzhou, it would necessarily be carried out primarily by Zheng Hui as the Governor of Chenzhou. Han Qian suspected it was more likely that some contents of the New Policy, after reaching Jinling, had already caused some panic in the court.
The integration of native and immigrant registration was one thing – this would trigger strong backlash from the native major clans, but was limited to the Wuling Five Streams region and the counties of the former Qianzhong Commandery. But among all the civil and military officials in the court, which family didn’t hold several thousand or tens of thousands of acres of fields and estates, or hundreds or thousands of slaves?
The New Field Tax Policy was truly cutting at their lifeline.
During the削藩 campaign against Tanzhou, many things could be done expediently in order for Xuzhou to consolidate forces capable of restraining Tanzhou. But to rashly attempt extending the New Field Tax Policy beyond Xuzhou at this time would be courting disaster.
Han Qian had no desire to do things that offended everyone and drew universal condemnation, provoking the nerves of the Jinling officials and the powerful clans throughout the realm.
Even for emerging institutions like the medical facilities, he established them in Linjiang County, and even went so far as to have Ji Xiyao modify two medical ships to transport seriously wounded soldiers who were temporarily difficult to cure and return to the ranks back to Linjiang County for treatment.
At this moment, Zheng Hui sent someone over requesting Han Qian to enter the city for a council.
Ma Rong had fled back to Wuling County with his defeated remnants. Next, besides preparing to continue military operations along the Yuan River toward Wuling, they also needed to begin relief efforts for the common people of Yuanling.
Ma Rong was not Xi Shetao. Before leading his defeated remnants to flee, he had burned almost all the grain stores in the city to ash. Except for the clan relatives and their family members who could return to their home villages, there were approximately eight to nine thousand common people in the city without even half a measure of stored grain.
Additionally, all the county government offices of Chenzhou needed to be operational, plus the damage to agriculture from the warfare needed immediate restoration. Chenzhou required at least an additional six to seven thousand shi of millet and grain each month.
The ten thousand shi of millet grain donated by the native major clans of Chenzhou led by Xi Ying could at most support Chenzhou for a month and a half.
This was the disadvantage of not implementing the New Field Tax Policy.
Otherwise, just by collecting the back autumn grain from the past two years, Chenzhou could collect at least over a hundred thousand shi of grain. Not only would there be no need to worry about funds and provisions, the Wuling Army could even continue recruiting and expanding its forces.
Of course, never mind Emperor Tianyou’s decree – the Zheng clan itself was a major clan of Huangzhou. Unless the situation reached a critical emergency, Zheng Hui would not be able to implement the New Field Tax Policy in Chenzhou. Sometimes directly apportioning funds and grain would be far less sensitive than implementing the New Policy.
For military campaigns, it was still necessary to procure grain locally as much as possible. If they couldn’t procure it, sending troops to seize it was also normal practice.
“I can squeeze out about three thousand shi of grain per month for relief, but the grain should not be distributed directly. Instead, we can have these people in need of relief participate in repairing the city walls and constructing the docks,” Han Qian said.
Han Qian always advocated work relief. On one hand, such charitable favors would not earn much gratitude. On the other hand, he didn’t want to spend large sums of funds and grain separately for repairing Yuanling’s city walls and docks.
The warfare had continued into the third month. The Wuling Army had conscripted eight to nine thousand men and horses, with cumulative casualties of over three thousand. Including death and injury compensation and merit rewards, the funds and grain spent daily flowed like water.
Even though before the war, Xuzhou had prepared one hundred thousand shi of grain and over thirty thousand strings of cash for this year’s military expenses, it might not sustain them much longer.
After all, the basic grain rations for the eight to nine thousand men of the water, infantry, and supply camps required fourteen to fifteen thousand shi of grain monthly just to maintain.
Zheng Hui had commanded troops in warfare for many years and naturally understood that war was a bottomless pit. But that Han Qian could still squeeze out another three thousand shi of grain monthly at this point greatly surprised him. He thought that anyone commanding troops in warfare, with Han family father and son managing military and administrative affairs, could probably be said to be comfortable to the extreme.
Being able to squeeze out this much additional funds and grain was mainly thanks to the restoration of commercial trade with the counties and tribal settlements upstream along the Yuan River.
On one hand, cloth, iron goods, and Yandang Spring produced by the workshops, along with tea and medicinal materials purchased from villagers, could be continuously sold, exchanging for spices, mules, horses and other goods to bring back to Xuzhou, then purchasing grain from villagers. On the other hand, Xuzhou also restored tax income from salt, tea, iron and market and harbor taxes.
These two combined, Xuzhou could provide an additional four to five thousand shi of grain monthly.
Currently, with Chenzhou’s entire territory recovered and commercial trade with Chenzhou restored, this income could continue to increase.
Discussing subsequent military operations against Tanzhou, the tribal battalion commanders represented by Xi Ying hoped Han Qian could provide more armor and weapons for the recruited soldiers. Han Qian spread his hands and said, “It’s not that Han Qian is stingy, but His Majesty does not permit it.”
Xi Ying’s old face flushed red, unable for a moment to think of any words to refute Han Qian.
Xuzhou had abolished corvée labor. The Wuling Army implemented a recruitment system. When soldiers enlisted, not only did they receive regular rations, but each month they also received additional military pay worth one shi of grain. Besides armor and weapons, military uniforms, shoes, socks and all other daily necessities were also provided by the military.
Chenzhou had not implemented the New Policy. Part of the tribal battalions consisted of private soldiers held by various clans, while another part was drawn from tribal households with corvée obligations. The military only provided necessary rations and a small amount of essential supplies. Not only did soldiers need to provide their own swords, bows, armor and weapons, but even camping tents had to be shared among squads of soldiers.
Therefore, although Han Qian supervised logistics and supplies, even captured armor and weapons were all sent to the supply camp for repair, he had no obligation to provide fine armor and weapons to the tribal battalions.
Han Qian could hand over command authority of the Wuling Army to Zheng Hui, so neither Zheng Hui nor even Zhang Ping could speak for Xi Ying on this matter. Even if they wanted to speak up, it would not accord with the regulations.
“What if we pay funds and grain to purchase them?” Xi Ying asked, swallowing his anger.
Tribal soldiers were valiant in battle – this had been repeatedly verified long ago. But the disadvantages of being poorly equipped with armor and inexperienced in using war machines had caused Xi Ying piercing heartache over these past months.
The native tribal population of Chenzhou numbered nearly fifty thousand, with males between sixteen and forty-five years old totaling fourteen to fifteen thousand. But the most elite four thousand among them had permanently closed their eyes during these months of warfare.
The tribal battalions would continue to participate in attacks on Wuling and other cities. At this point, every casualty would make the Chenzhou clans weaker.
Xi Ying did not want to make strong demands of Han Qian. He knew the Chenzhou clans lacked that qualification. But he thought that even if they had to buy them, they must properly equip the tribal battalion soldiers with armor and weapons.
“That’s easy to discuss. As long as it doesn’t violate His Majesty’s decree, even half-buying half-gifting is acceptable,” Han Qian said with a smile.
He still counted on the tribal battalions to continue contributing in the upcoming warfare, so he had no intention of making things too difficult.
Twelve hundred sets of leather armor and two hundred sets of iron lamellar armor, all stripped from enemy soldiers’ corpses and repaired with parts pierced through or slashed open in battle replaced – he only wanted to collect twenty thousand strings of cash from the Chenzhou clans.
Calculated out, each set of armor cost just slightly over fourteen strings of cash, and also came with a large batch of straight-spine sabers, iron spears, large shields and other weapons.
As for more refined armor and weapons, if the Chenzhou clans wanted them, that was also possible.
A refined steel war spear cost ten strings of cash, an iron-cutting saber twenty strings, a set of refined steel lamellar armor two hundred strings, a wheeled scorpion ballista two hundred strings per unit. Whirlwind catapults were easy to replicate – though they looked massive, a complete set of components only cost ten strings. An iron caltrops cart cost one hundred strings.
Other military medical supplies: miasma-dispelling wine ten strings per bottle; wound-cleansing salt ten strings per ten-jin package; pure alcohol ten strings per bottle; suture thread ten strings per large package; wound-cleansing gauze one string per package of ten rolls; bone-setting plaster four strings per hundred jin…
As long as the Chenzhou clans needed them, even the new two-deck oared war sailing ships with ramming prows could be sold, at five thousand strings each.
And other bulk materials – Xuzhou could also supply them cheaply. Lime at five hundred cash per thousand jin, coal at two hundred cash per thousand jin; crude iron material at eight hundred cash per hundred jin, refined iron material at eight strings per hundred jin. If the Chenzhou clans needed them, including cloth, Yandang Spring and so on, prices would absolutely be thirty to fifty percent lower than market prices.
Even if the Chenzhou clans wanted to construct water mills, linked water-powered trip hammers, wind mills, or more rapidly build houses, Han Qian could provide teams of craftsmen.
Zheng Hui and Zhang Ping looked at each other, not understanding what Han Qian was up to – was he trying to suppress the combat effectiveness of the tribal battalions or support their combat effectiveness?
The Chenzhou clans had also suffered greatly in vitality this time. Besides losing over four thousand elite tribal soldiers, the supplies previously concentrated at Jimingzhai, Chenyang City and even Yuanling City had all successively fallen into the hands of the Wuling Army and Tanzhou forces. Xi Ying, after consulting with other major clan chiefs of Chenzhou, decided to purchase as a package deal fourteen hundred sets of armor, one thousand iron spears, five hundred large shields, two double-deck oared war sailing ships, twenty wheeled scorpion ballistas, twenty sets of refined steel lamellar armor, twenty thousand jin of refined iron material and other supplies, totaling expenditure of over forty thousand strings of cash.
The armor and weapons sold as a package to the tribal battalions were war spoils captured on the Yuanling battlefield. The funds and grain obtained from selling this batch of armor and weapons were recorded as military funds, actually equivalent to merit rewards for the tribal battalions’ combat performance this time.
Only because the tribal battalion soldiers had mainly been pushing scorpion ballistas close to the city walls to fight, and in the later stages the tribal battalions were nearly shattered and lacked the strength to follow the Wuling Army’s main force in charging into the city for close combat with enemy troops, naturally the war spoils collected in the city had nothing to do with them.
Otherwise, if they had stripped this armor from the corpses themselves, they absolutely would not have turned it in. But now if they wanted to obtain this batch of armor and weapons, they had to exchange it for funds and grain.
The additional weapons and military supplies purchased by the Chenzhou clans, including the two war sailing ships, were counted as Han Qian’s private sales, but the funds and grain were still advanced to prepare for subsequent warfare…