Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 41: Money, grain, land, and housing will be provided, along with a government job and a wife.

The Shizhu Tusi was a Han Chinese Tusi, and Ma Xianglin's ancestor was Ma Yuan, the General Who Subdued the Waves of the Eastern Han Dynasty. When his father, Ma Qiancheng, was unjustly killed in prison, he was still young. The Wanli Emperor ordered his mother, Qin Liangyu, to "act as the Pacification Envoy."

Ma Xianglin has now been promoted to Pacification Commissioner, but he still cannot escape the bloodline suppression of his mother. The chieftains of Shizhu, including Ma Xianglin himself, are still used to obeying Qin Liangyu's orders.

The Shizhu chieftain, with the Ma family at its core, integrated six tribes outside the mountains and seven tribes inside the mountains to jointly build a farming and warfare system of "thirteen tribes stationed in the mountains." Among them, Han Chinese and local people were half and half, intermarrying with each other and highly integrated, and had long been indistinguishable from one another.

The Tujia people of Shizhu did not spring from the cracks in the rocks; their predecessors were the infamous Wuxi Barbarians. The Wuxi Barbarians, persuaded by Ma Liang, followed Emperor Liu Bei of Han in his campaign against Eastern Wu and participated in the fierce Battle of Yiling.

After converting the White-Spear Soldiers of Shizhu into palace guards, Zhu Youjian discovered an unexpected bonus: this was a force with its own encrypted language. The White-Spear Soldiers were accustomed to communicating in the Tujia language and could understand Mandarin, but they didn't speak it very well. This greatly increased the difficulty for outsiders to corrupt and win them over.

He also directly ordered the White Guards to build their camps around Jingshan Hill north of the palace. This area was within the imperial city limits and was originally part of the camps of the three major military camps of the capital. As part of the palace's defense line, no one was allowed to live around it, and it was deserted for miles around, further reducing the White Guards' contact with the outside world.

People often resort to psychological self-consolation when faced with things they can't handle but deeply hate. These days, the White-Handed Guards have several nicknames: the Flat-Nosed Army, the Mute Guards, and the Big Spear Soldiers.

In the past, the palace guards mostly carried weapons such as waist knives while on patrol. Now, the White Pole Guards patrol with four-meter-long spears, which looks very intimidating and makes people reluctant to get close.

When on guard duty, the white gun barrels stood tall, as tall as three people, which looked very impressive. Zhu Youjian felt that he had become a "Sultan," and coupled with the Shu people's custom of wrapping their heads with white turbans, he looked even more like one.

The methods for winning people over are nothing more than the same old ones: money, land, official positions, and on top of that, wives—it's practically unbeatable! Zhu Youjian really could afford to provide wives; the palace maids were driven almost mad by sexual repression. On one side were vigorous young men, and on the other were resentful women who had been confined in the deep palace for many years—it was a perfect match.

Most of the White-Spear Soldiers heading north had no families. After the Battle of Hunhe, every family in Shizhu wore white mourning clothes. Now that the emperor was mobilizing troops again, everyone had prepared for the worst: if fathers and sons joined the army, the fathers would stay; if brothers joined the army, the brothers would stay; if they were married and had children, they would stay. Those sent to Beijing were just a group of young bachelors.

To their surprise, they didn't have to go to the battlefield; instead, they became members of the Emperor's personal guard. Although they still couldn't return home, this outcome was already very good for them. The Emperor's personal guard—so many people wanted to be that kind of person but couldn't!
"Xiang Galu, it's time for your shift change. You'd better hurry up and find a wife, or they'll all be taken!" A white-pole guard walked over with a ruddy face and said.

"I...I'm a little scared..." the young soldier named Xiang Galu hesitated.

“What are you afraid of? You’re not even afraid of killing thieves, why would you be afraid of women?! Let me tell you, these girls are all as beautiful as fairies, even the chief’s daughter isn’t that pretty. We have three thousand brothers, there might not be enough for everyone, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you miss out!” Peng Ali said with a hint of exasperation.

Upon hearing this, Xiang Galu became anxious and hurriedly rushed towards Jingshan with his big gun.

"Xiang Galu, right? Don't be nervous. Listen carefully, the Emperor said that your wife wants you two to be mutually attracted, and you can't force her. Let me remind you, if you want a girl to be with you, you have to be sweet-talking first. Go on, and when you find her, come with your wife to get the marriage certificate."

"Banner Chief, I can't speak Chinese!" Xiang Galu was so anxious when he heard that he had to speak again that he was almost in tears. He was always bad at talking.

"Really? Come on, I'll teach you. Now repeat after me: 'I like you; you're so pretty, sister; I'll be good to you; be with me, okay...'"

He'd been cramming for the last minute, but when the time actually came, Xiang Galu's mind went completely blank. He immediately took a liking to an older woman; he remembered his mother saying that when looking for a wife, you should find someone older, with rounder hips, so she'd be good at bearing children. He finally mustered the courage to approach her, but he couldn't manage a coherent sentence, his face turning bright red.

Fortunately, the older ones are considerate. The palace maid thought that Xiang Galu was decent-looking, and although he was a bit slow, it wasn't unacceptable.

"My name is Li Yuniang. What's your name? Can you understand what I'm saying?"

"Mmm-hmm-hmm." Xiang Galu nodded repeatedly.

"How old are you? I'm already twenty-eight, an old maid. Are you really willing to marry me?"

"Mmm-hmm-hmm." Xiang Garu continued to nod.

“Then let’s go sign the document,” Li Yuniang continued.

"Mmm-hmm-hmm." Xiang Galu nodded repeatedly.

"Sigh!" Li Yuniang sighed deeply, her heart filled with helplessness. How could she have fallen for such a wooden fish-shaped blockhead?

“Xiang Galu, ten, seventeen years old.” He gestured with his hands as he spoke, “Sister, sister, I like you, I will treat you well.”

Pfft! Li Yuniang laughed until tears streamed down her face. In the end, she took the initiative to grab Xiang Galu's wrist and dragged him to get the marriage certificate.

"I... I already have a wife?!" Xiang Galu was dizzy, feeling like he was dreaming.

Zhu Youjian didn't simply send the palace maids away. They were still required to serve in the palace, with two three-day breaks each month to allow them to go home and have children. This wasn't a one-off deal, but rather a way to firmly bind the palace guards to the imperial family, making them think about their wives and children before causing trouble.

As for the fear of not being able to completely shut down both inside and outside the palace, turning it into a sieve? Wasn't it already a sieve? Now is actually the time to be careful; the White-Pole Guards don't give face to anyone except the Emperor. Naturally, those who married off didn't include Zhu Youjian and his wives' personal maids.

Considering the couple's demanding work, a childcare center and vocational school will also need to be built in Baiganwei. In another ten years or so, when these children grow up, it will be even more remarkable!
Ma Xianglin didn't join in the fun. He already had a wife, and the couple had a very good relationship. Most importantly, for some reason, the Ma family had married wives who were all incredibly capable fighters. The emperor wanted to send him two palace maids as concubines, but he didn't dare to accept them.

Ma Xianglin was helpless. After the emperor's actions, his subordinates probably wouldn't follow him back to Shizhu. They were truly too happy to leave. The emperor was shameless, openly undermining him without any restraint. Bah, shameless!
Zhu Youjian provided the White Pole Guards with a small plot of land in Jingshan for each of them. Farming was out of the question, but they could build houses. The palace provided the building materials, and the soldiers built their houses by helping each other.

Each soldier received seven dou of rice and three liang of silver per month. Equipment could be repaired without costing the soldiers themselves. The White-Pole Guards were directly under the emperor's command, and were not required to bow to officials. If they violated the law, the authorities had no right to prosecute them; Zhu Youjian intended to ensure they were not coerced by anyone.

(End of this chapter)