Standalone Northern and Southern Dynasties

Chapter 378 Court Ceremony
Hou Jing happily left Baizhang Tower and told Li's daughter the good news.

The Li girl was naturally very happy. Although Yongle City was lively, it would definitely be more pleasant to go to Qinzhou.

In Yongle City, although Ms. Li could enter Princess Chenliu's inner hall, she was still invisible in front of the other ladies.

But when she arrived in Qinzhou, she became the lady of the governor's mansion and the most honorable person in Qinzhou.

What’s more important is that she can reunite with her husband in Qinzhou. Ms. Li also knows that giving birth to a son as soon as possible is the most important thing.

The two men chatted for a while, and the next day Hou Jing put on formal military officer's ceremonial uniform and went to Baizhang Tower to report on his work.

The atmosphere today is completely different from yesterday. Today, Su Ze leads the shogunate and the Government Affairs Hall to conduct performance appraisals of military generals and local officials appointed externally.

Su Ze sat upright in the Mingtang, while important officials from the Zhengwu Hall and the Shogunate sat below him, including Wang Sizheng, who were called in to take notes.

Don’t underestimate the identity of a recorder. Being able to sit in on the most important political activities is something many people would love to have.

Since this is a confidential matter, it is naturally impossible to let ordinary clerks do it. This is also where Jianxiu Lang Qinggui's nobleness lies.

Wang Sizheng and other inspectors had white papers spread out in front of them. All the conversation processes today had to be recorded and added to the official files of each person being interviewed.

Wang Sizheng is very clear that today's performance will determine the future fate of many people.

Hou Jing was the first to enter the Mingtang, and those who were not summoned waited on the side.

When he came in, he was also shocked by the scene.

After paying respect to Su Ze, the shogunate's military strategist Su Liang, as a military commander, began asking questions first.

Su Liang's questions were relatively mild at first, all of which were military issues related to the Battle of Qinzhou.

Hou Jing's answers became more and more fluent. He expressed his thoughts on military decision-making step by step, and the ministers present who understood military affairs all nodded.

But Su Liang's questions soon became acute.

"At the foot of Gangu City, 10,000 soldiers were mobilized for the siege today. Why did they continue to use the siege force when the fierce attack the day before had no effect?"

Hou Jing broke out in a cold sweat. He was eager for quick success when attacking Gangu City and used all means to capture the city. Su Liang's questioning made it difficult for him to defend himself.

Then Su Liang asked again:
"Digging tunnels is a normal operation in siege warfare, but why did they continue digging after the enemy discovered their tunnels? In the end, the enemy flooded the tunnel and the ground collapsed, resulting in the loss of 135 elite soldiers?"

Hou Jing only felt his hands and feet cold. He then remembered that every time he made a decision, there were staff members recording it, and all the processes were sent to the shogunate by military judges.

Hou Jing had no way to argue, so he could only say to Su Ze:

"My Lord, I was too eager to succeed and act rashly. Please forgive me!"

Are you admitting your guilt?
Wang Sizheng stopped writing. He didn't expect that the general who commanded tens of thousands of troops would plead guilty after just a few questions from Su Liang.

Wang Sizheng quickly realized that Hou Jing did not apologize to Su Liang, but to the entire county mansion and Su Ze.

The Duke of the County is so majestic and terrifying!
Wang Sizheng had a deeper understanding of Su Ze's prestige.

At this time, Su Ze said:
"It is impossible to make every decision clearly on the battlefield. Opportunities are fleeting. Who knows which order will break the city and which order will be useless?"

Su Ze's words set the tone, and the shogunate would no longer pursue the details of the military decision.

Su Liang also stepped in to admit his mistake, and Hou Jing then stood up with his body hunched.

He is also a smart man and understands that this performance report is a warning to him. He will let it go this time, but if he continues to fight for military merit without regard for human life, the shogunate will not be so polite next time!
After Su Liang finished asking questions on behalf of the Shogun's Office, Feng Shu asked a few questions on behalf of the Government Affairs Hall.

These questions about civil affairs basically assume a scenario and ask Hou Jing how to deal with it.

Hou Jing followed the idea he had communicated with Su Ze yesterday, and basically handled the matter from the perspective of suppressing local tyrants and protecting the interests of the self-cultivating soldiers.

Wang Sizheng, who was in charge of recording, frowned slightly, but Feng Shu only touched upon these questions briefly and did not ask any further questions. Su Ze also kept nodding slightly.

Wang Sizheng immediately understood Su Ze's idea. He was afraid that sending Hou Jing, a scoundrel, to Qinzhou was to dismantle the power of the Qinzhou aristocratic families and promote the system of granting land and military service.

Wang Sizheng secretly took note of this trend. It seems that he should be more careful in his interactions with the gentry in the future. The Duke of the County is not satisfied with the current situation where the local tyrants control the local area.

Feng Shu's questioning was very gentle, and after everything was recorded, Hou Jing passed the test.

Immediately afterwards, Su Ze announced his new appointment as the governor of Qinzhou and awarded him the official seal and robe on the spot.

Hou Jing felt relieved and was allowed to sit aside.

When reporting on his work this time, Yu Jin had already taken up the post of Governor of Huazhou and was sent by Su Ze to Huazhou to carry out an important task.

Southern Liang made some small moves in Yizhou again, and Yang Kan, the governor of Liangzhou, quickly returned to Liangzhou after the battle.

Su Ze was also very confident about these two people, so he did not summon them to Yongle City to report on their work. So the next person to come in was Murong Shaozong.

Li Cunzhen, who questioned Murong Shaozong on behalf of the shogunate, had a much gentler attitude overall.

After all, Murong Shaozong did not make any mistakes on the Jingzhou front, and the main problem was that it cost more money for Murong Shaozong to fight.

During the defensive operations, Murong Shaozong consumed almost the same amount of military rations as Hou Jing during the offensive operations, and the scale of the conscription of civilians was also larger than that of the other routes. There was even an incident due to the large-scale conscription of civilians.

Li Cunzhen was also a general who led troops to fight. He asked Murong Shaozong why he spent more money on fighting.

Murong Shaozong was also very frank. He explained his battle strategy of building up camps step by step and constructing fortifications bit by bit, and also explained the details of the money, grain and rice he had consumed.

The shogunate did not pursue the issue further, and the military inquiry ended.

Su Ze, who was sitting high up, looked at the two people below.

Murong Shaozong and Hou Jing were both generals he brought back from Luoyang when he returned to the Six Garrisons. They both started learning how to lead troops and fight at about the same time, but they developed two completely different styles.

Murong Shaozong's character is such that he can crush his opponents with money, grain and rice. Using him to fight in wars will not bring you any surprises, but there will be no problems either.

To put it simply, the more men and money and food he is given, the greater the results he will bring back in the end. When Murong Shaozong went to war, he used numbers and logistics to crush his opponents.

Hou Jing was different. The Battle of Nanzhong showed that Hou Jing was good at surprise attacks and creating opportunities. He could fight even if you gave him fewer soldiers than expected, and he could even win with fewer soldiers. However, he loved gambling too much. He would do anything to win and did not care about the lives of his subordinates.

Either win it all or lose it all.

All in all, both of them are flawed generals who need to be used on the right stage to achieve their greatest effect.

Next, Gao Hui, representing the Council of State Affairs, inquired about Murong Shaozong's future governing policies as the governor of Jingzhou.

Murong Shaozong's answer was similar to Hou Jing's, with the only additional point being that Murong Shaozong proposed to dredge the Zhengguo Canal.

In the previous Battle of Pucheng, Murong Shaozong had already realized the role of waterways.

The Zhengguo Canal had been in disrepair for many years and had lost its ability to irrigate. Murong Shaozong said:
"If the Zhengguo Canal can be repaired, the states along the canal will have a lot more farmland."

Gao Hui also asked with interest:
“How to unclog it?”

Murong Shaozong followed Su Miao's ([The costly and laborious Western Regions naval commander]) suggestion and said:
"The estuary into the Luoshui River was silted up, so we dredged the river and cleared the silt at the section where the Zhengguo Canal entered the Luoshui River."

Gao Hui didn't know much about water conservancy, so he asked:

"Is that all?"

Murong Shaozong shook his head and said:

"I have consulted Su Miao, the Minister of Works. Just dredging the section that flows into Luoshui can only prevent Zhengguo Canal from flooding during rainy days. If we want to restore the irrigation function of Zhengguo Canal, we need to rectify the entire river channel and invest manpower to maintain the operation of Zhengguo Canal."

After hearing this, the ministers in the Government Affairs Hall also became hesitant.

Water conservancy projects are huge projects. Now the entire Guanzhong area is in a state of disrepair and there are many places where money needs to be spent. If too much manpower and material resources are spent on repairing the Zhengguo Canal, the finances of the county government, which have just become ample, will be stretched again.

Murong Shaozong said:

"The main part of the Zhengguo Canal is still usable, and the repair process can be done slowly."

"Mr. Su suggested that we set up Douguan, or water conservancy officials, in the villages along the Zhengguo Canal to be responsible for the irrigation of the village."

"If each village wants to use the water from the Zhengguo Canal for irrigation, it needs people to keep the waterway open during the off-season. The role of the Douguan is to distribute water during the busy farming season, repair and dredge the canal during the off-season, and fight floods during floods."

"The County Duke's Office only needs to organize manpower to dig through the Zhengguo Canal into the Luoshui River, and the rest of the things can be done slowly."

After hearing this, all the ministers in the Government Affairs Hall breathed a sigh of relief.

If Murong Shaozong's plan was followed, the financial pressure would be much less, and rebuilding the Zhengguo Canal would create so much more fertile land, which would still be a great profit.

The situation in the Central Plains is changing rapidly, and the top officials in the County Mansion have judged that the past two years may be the last opportunity for stable farming.

Murong Shaozong finally said:
"But there is another problem. Zhengguo Canal spans Jingzhou, Yongzhou, and Huazhou. Jingzhou and Huazhou are fine, but what about Yongzhou?"

Yes, Yongzhou is theoretically still within the sphere of influence of Danyang Duke Xiao Baoyin, so it is definitely impossible to only repair the head and tail of the river.

Su Ze said:

"The Zhengguo Canal flows through the northern part of Yongzhou, right? This concerns the people. The Duke of this county will write a letter to the Duke of Danyang. He should be able to understand."

In fact, it doesn’t matter if Xiao Baoyin doesn’t understand. The northern part of Yongzhou has long been in secret contact with Su Ze, and the local people have long stopped listening to Xiao Baoyin.

(End of this chapter)