Chapter 582: Chapter 273: Establishing a County in Qianzhong_3

There was no other way.

There was a significant discrepancy between reality and his original strategy.

The plan to assimilate barbarian women and children by relying on stationed troops and the resettlement of single men, and then further assimilating the entire barbarian population, had encountered problems at the fundamental level.

No one wanted to come to the Southwest Barbarian Region?

‘Is life in Great Chu really that good? Those people would rather squat at home than come here and try their luck for wealth and nobility.’

Thinking of this, Lu Yuan also felt somewhat speechless, unsure whether to be angry or relieved.

However, whether angry or relieved, the problem still needed to be resolved.

Two months ago, around the end of September to the beginning of October, with the continuous stabilization of the front lines and the news of Zhou Qing breaking through Innate, the domestic situation stabilized as well.

As a result, it was highly likely that the territories now under control could be preserved and would not be lost.

Lu Yuan then ordered the establishment of prefectures and counties in the occupied Southwest Barbarian Region for unified management and assimilation.

His control area now roughly included the entire territories of the original Wuman and Nong Dong Kingdoms and their vassals, as well as the Hui Chuan Kingdom and its minor vassals.

These territories added up to about four thousand miles, and Lu Yuan divided them into eight prefectures: Jinxi Prefecture, Qianshi Prefecture, Eshan Prefecture, Fuchuan Prefecture, Nanbo Prefecture, Shou Palace Prefecture, Dongxie Prefecture, and Xixie Prefecture.

At the same time, the Qianzhong County was established with the territories of these eight prefectures.

With the establishment of one county and eight prefectures, along with the additional eighty affiliated counties, more than a thousand official positions suddenly became vacant.

Even though the prefectures and counties are still in the planning stage and many exist only on paper, the shortage of officials still reached more than five hundred.

So, in November of this year, as many scholars had guessed, the court indeed increased the number of recruits for the imperial examination.

However, they did not adopt the Enke method of selecting officials; instead, they directly increased the recruitment quota to five hundred people in the county examination held in November that year.

The scholars who participated in this year’s county examination were fortunate.

Due to the haste of the situation and the lack of prior publicity, only a little more than five thousand people participated in the examination across the three counties of the Chu State.

The one-in-ten admission rate suddenly allowed a large number of lucky individuals to become juren, obtaining the entrance ticket to be an official.

From this point on, they could become officials and truly become members of the ruling class, and their rise to success began here.

However, they were also unfortunate.

Because the positions taken by this year’s recruits were, in essence, over ninety percent assigned to the newly conquered and established Southwest Barbarian Region.

Here, chaos and countless barbarians still roamed, and the wars had not even stopped, making it an extremely dangerous place.

Serving as an official here was risky; one might be killed by barbarians emerging from nowhere or lose one’s life to the countless endemic diseases due to the unfamiliar environment and climate.

So, after the official positions were assigned, many newly-appointed juren assigned to serve in the southwest were so frightened by their official appointment locations that they would rather have their titles and honors stripped than go there to take up their posts.

Fortunately, there were not many of them, only about twenty or so.

After these people were dismissed from their posts and their honors stripped, some other jurens were still hesitant but chose to obey their assignments and go to the newly established prefectures and counties to take up their positions.

However, while some were fearful, others were delighted.

Serving as an official in Qianzhong County was indeed risky, but it was also a blank canvas with great potential.

With just a little achievement, one could quickly be noticed by superiors and be promoted across the ranks.

Thus, for officials seeking higher positions, coming to such places was more likely to fulfill their desires.

Zhao Xianzhi was one of these officials who came to Qianzhong County with this mindset.

Now it seemed that earning the recognition of the King of Chu indeed fulfilled his wish. As long as he could do things well here, he would have a bright future ahead of him.

…

After inspecting Qingshui County, Lu Yuan went to several other prefectures and counties to check on the local conditions, and the final results were generally satisfactory.

Not all officials, like Zhao Xianzhi, had the ability to handle various matters in the county in an orderly manner and also proactively helped the immigrants and indigenous people solve their livelihood problems.

However, it was time for a fresh start in the New Dynasty.

Although the abilities of the officials selected by Great Chu today might be somewhat lacking, their spirits were very commendable.

When they arrived in their official positions, they could fulfill their basic duties by following their superiors’ orders and execute their tasks properly without causing major disruptions.

And they were quite effective in pacifying the local indigenous people and immigrants.

As long as these officials followed the current situation and gradually implemented Lu Yuan’s policies, it was believed that within ten years, the counties in Qianzhong County would become largely stable.

After twenty years, more than half of this county would be transformed to the level of the Song State’s Jiuzhen County.

In another forty or fifty years, this place should be similar to the inland counties.

At most, there might only be a few rebels, similar to the former Five Poisons Sect and Shengmuiao who hid in the mountain forests and carried out guerrilla warfare.

But these issues were just minor ailments; while they might be painful at times, they would not affect the overall situation and could be tolerated and controlled.

So, after this round of inspections, Lu Yuan finally felt relieved and led his men back to the main camp at the front line.

Upon his return to the camp, he immediately ordered the drafting of a decree.

This decree was addressed to the Punishment Department.

The content was straightforward, ordering the Punishment Department to exile all criminals guilty of breaking the law in the country, whether they committed capital crimes or minor offenses like theft and fighting, to Qianzhong County.

Aren’t the people in the country afraid of the poverty and danger here and unwilling to answer the call to immigrate?

Thinking about it, Lu Yuan could not find any good solution to change the perception of the people in the country.

Because the truth was evident.

Compared to the interior, this place was indeed poorer and more dangerous.

So, since he could not find willing people, he simply gave up this approach and switched to coercion instead.

But the ones being coerced were not kind-hearted people – they were criminals.