In comparison, Shi Lei and Zu Ti were much more direct.
Shi Lei was a Hu person. He didn’t have as many concerns as the Han literati, so in his domain, the capable took positions. Zhao Hanzhang had even sent female county magistrates—a few more female neighborhood heads and female village elders was perfectly normal, wasn’t it?
He didn’t overthink it and directly let each village’s residents select for themselves, electing reputable people to serve as village elders. Among them were quite a few old women who had led them in fleeing disasters, or young women of outstanding ability.
In Shi Lei’s view, these straightforward women were much more useful than those male scholars who wore powder and paint.
Zu Ti was intentionally increasing the proportion of female neighborhood heads and female village elders. “Women are meticulous and can discover subtle details when managing affairs. Moreover, because the Grand General is a woman, they have a certain spirit in their hearts and will find ways to implement all court policies properly.”
Zu Ti chuckled softly and said, “The court and localities have always had a relationship of both assistance and opposition. The court must assist localities in governance, and localities must give back to the court, but where there are interests, there will be competition.”
“Therefore, court policies have always been difficult to reach villages and neighborhoods.” Zu Ti said to the thoughtfully listening Zhao Shi, “Traditionally, court policies only reached the county office, but the Grand General has established neighborhoods and villages, selecting village elders and neighborhood elders to assist neighborhood heads in managing localities. With academies nearby to help policies reach the people, localities are no longer places where neighborhood heads and local magnates can have the only say.”
Young Zhao Shi suddenly understood and grasped the concept. “Academy students have the responsibility to read official documents and promote policies. Common people are mostly illiterate, and neighborhood heads are mostly local magnates who serve themselves or are recommended to the government office, so the common people in villages and neighborhoods get most of their information from them. But now with academy students, it’s different.”
“With policies clearly communicated and village elders and neighborhood elders having channels to report upward, the court can participate in local governance and it’s no longer just local magnates having the only say.”
Zu Ti smiled and nodded. “Correct. The Grand General’s land equalization policy can gather all the people in the realm who have lost their land. These people will pay taxes to the court, support the nation and protect their families. What the Grand General wants is for policies to reach everywhere, letting all the people of the realm know her thoughts and benefit from her policies. Zhao Shi, you should go out on inspection now and make sure each area can fairly select village elders and neighborhood elders, solidifying this channel for policy communication.”
Zhao Shi solemnly assented, “Yes.”
After Zhao Shi had walked far away, Zuo Min asked, “Commissioner, isn’t the Zhao clan now the biggest local magnate? Does this mean the Grand General wants to move against the Zhao clan?”
Zu Ti glanced at him and said, “If you can’t think properly, think less to avoid burning out your brain. Right now, the Grand General and the Zhao clan have aligned interests. How could she move against them? And the Zhao clan won’t openly defy the Grand General over such matters.”
Wasn’t it you who said this policy was meant to deal with local magnates monopolizing localities?
Zuo Min seemed to understand but didn’t quite grasp it.
Zu Ti turned and left. But what if an entire province bore Zhao Hanzhang’s mark—wouldn’t she then be the biggest local magnate?
In Yuzhou… the governor was Zhao Ming, but going down from Zhao Ming, who didn’t regard Zhao Hanzhang as their lord? As long as she didn’t place herself in opposition to Yuzhou, she could use Yuzhou like her own arm. How stupid would she have to be to think about moving against her own arm and cutting it off?
Zu Ti’s and Shi Lei’s neighbor, Beigong Chun, thought much less. He just honestly implemented Zhao Hanzhang’s policies. When one directive came, he would pass it down, having Huang An and Linghu Sheng fully devote themselves to local affairs while he went to negotiate trade with Tuoba Yilu and, incidentally, inspect the border to consolidate border defenses.
Regarding Beigong Chun, Linghu Sheng was much more at ease—not as exhausted as when facing Liu Kun. He had complete confidence in General Beigong’s military ability.
Moreover, Beigong Chun was different from Liu Kun. He was generous to his soldiers but stingy with outsiders, not believing Tuoba Yilu could gain any advantages from him. So he confidently went with Huang An to manage local administration.
He knew that trading with Tuoba Yilu was the Grand General Zhao’s intention. Although deep in his heart he very much wanted to reclaim the Dai Kingdom, he also knew that the court currently needed to cooperate with the Tuoba Xianbei, so it was inadvisable to start a war.
This time, Beigong Chun brought his daughter Beigong Tuanyuan on his border inspection. This name was one Beigong Chun gave his daughter after crying when their family reunited. Before that, she had no name and was just called Beigong Daniang.
The name Tuanyuan represented not only his hope that their family would always be together in the future, but also that his Xiliang soldiers could all reunite with their families. He… still wanted to lead the Xiliang Army back to Xiliang to reunite with their families.
However, that wasn’t possible right now. First, he would guard the border and serve the nation. Later, when he retired from military service, he would definitely take everyone back to Xiliang for a reunion.
Beigong Tuanyuan was thirteen years old this year. Before coming to the Central Plains, she had learned cooking from her grandmother and mother, learned weaving cloth and making clothes, and also learned herding and farming. As for writing, she had learned some characters from her mother, but didn’t know many.
After arriving in the Central Plains, she was arranged to study at the academy.
In the academy, she learned that the outside world was so wonderful, and the world in books was also so wonderful.
Calculating the time, her parents had been reunited for quite a while. Last year in the second half of the year, both her parents worked very hard, but her mother still hadn’t gotten pregnant with a younger brother for her. Seeing her mother so worried she could barely eat, she even thought about taking advantage of the New Year celebrations to try getting her father a concubine.
Her mother said that if the concubine also couldn’t get pregnant, then the problem was mostly with her father, and she could give up hope.
Beigong Tuanyuan couldn’t bear to see her mother so aggrieved. Just as the Grand General’s news about reforming the female household system and inheritance law arrived, Beigong Tuanyuan immediately went to find her father and told her still-unfamiliar father, “Father, I want to become a general like the Grand General.”
Beigong Chun was only briefly stunned before nodding. “Good. You’re tall and strong. I heard from your mother that you can herd three hundred sheep by yourself and can even kill wolves, so clearly your archery and riding skills are good.”
Seeing that her father didn’t object, Beigong Tuanyuan immediately pushed further. “Father, I also want to inherit your property and glory.”
Beigong Chun was slightly surprised. After a moment of silence, he said, “That depends on your ability. My glory isn’t limited to just the Xiliang Army.”
If it were before, Beigong Chun naturally wouldn’t think he could achieve much glory. Being able to lead his brothers back to Xiliang alive would be good enough. But now, he felt that as long as he worked hard, he could definitely be enfeoffed as a marquis or minister.
Zhao Hanzhang trusted him, relied on him, and would certainly make good use of him.
So his future glory would definitely be substantial. If his daughter wanted to inherit all this, being “a general” wouldn’t be enough.
Beigong Tuanyuan was delighted and immediately promised, “Father, I definitely won’t disappoint you!”
From that day on, Beigong Tuanyuan stayed by Beigong Chun’s side, practicing martial arts and studying. Beigong Chun even recruited a team of female soldiers for her to train personally.
On this border inspection trip, he also wanted to take her on a bandit suppression mission to let her test her skills.
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