The political structure of the Shangli Dynasty centered on the royal family Ji, and around the royal family were twelve princes like stars over the moon. Some of these princes were relatives by marriage with the royal family, and some were good generals and ministers who had made great achievements when the dynasty was founded.
, some even chose to join Shangli because they were the rulers of one country themselves.
Although the twelve princes share allegiance to the royal family Ji, the princes in their own territory are the rulers of one country. According to the laws of Shangli, the people who settled in the territory are regarded as "domestic people" who accept the governance of the princes.
Taking the Wu clan of Liyang as an example, the permanent population of Liyang City, the capital of its territory, alone exceeds 200,000. If we expand our horizons to the entire territory of the territory, this number will have to be doubled several times. Moreover, in other vassal territories,
Among them, there is definitely more than one prince with a population larger than that of Liyang Territory.
Although the twelve princely families are wealthy families with their own family backgrounds, they cannot govern the vast territory by themselves. Therefore, it is the most common way to select relatively outstanding talents from the people of the territory and entrust them with important tasks.
.These territorial citizens who swore allegiance to the princes' families and held positions in the consular offices were considered "retainers" of the princes.
Governing the territory requires many talents. These retainers and their relatives who possess various professional skills such as agriculture, animal husbandry, military and merchants, gradually formed a specific class called "gentry" through hundreds of years of inheritance and evolution. The gentry was regarded as
The outstanding elites among the people in the territory are regarded as ministers who are no more than the hands and feet of princes.
The important positions of the Liyang Territory and its subordinate departments are all held by the gentry. Regardless of their status, the treatment of the gentry is far better than that of the gentry. However, in comparison, the law of Shangli stipulates that the gentry has the right to move freely within the imperial territory, and the gentry can move freely within the imperial territory.
Changing the lord of allegiance is hardly considered something worthy of praise.
Precisely because the status of nobles was subject to various restrictions, there were a very small number of people who only served in the consular government as members of the consular government. Most of these people were proud of their abilities and were relied upon by the consular government as "guest ministers".
However, the guest minister is not a retainer of a prince, and he may leave at any time, which makes it difficult to entrust him with important tasks with confidence.
Hearing that Gu Chen took up the post of Young Supervisor as a guest minister, Li Ru understood why the boss asked him to stay put for the time being. But his understanding was limited to the guest minister's position. Why did Li Ru treat the newcomers so favorably?
Hard to accept.
"Please forgive me for being frank. No matter how young and promising he is, that person is only a quasi-creator at best. Is he really worthy of being so condescended by you, the master?" Li Ru raised his hand and gave advice to the lord. "A quasi-creator is the right person.
Being a young supervisor is already an unusual treatment, and on top of that, I am just a guest? If such ridiculous things are spread, not only will the retainers be shaken, but even the people in the world will laugh at me, Liyang Ruren!"
"If you want to laugh, just let them laugh, as long as it can be used for some purpose."
"What?"
"Compared to other masters, that guy is quite useful, isn't he? In terms of performance and potential, he has the value of letting people achieve this level." Wu Yan, who asserted in this way, ignored the surprised look of his deputy,
He played with the cigarette rod in his hand thoughtfully, and after a moment he raised his head as if deciding something.
"Forget it, that thing will probably be put into actual combat soon. It doesn't matter if you know it earlier."
As he spoke, Wu Yan stood up, glanced past the confused scribe next to him, and looked at Chang Xiaguan's corner.
"Let's go to the Pastoral Garden."
……………………
Liyang City is structurally divided into an inner city and an outer city.
Liyang built a thick wall in the outer city to prevent famine and erosion. As the last insurance for the subjects to escape when the outer city fell, the inner city also set up defense facilities and corresponding resources that were not inferior to the former. The inner city was only the outer city in area.
20% of the area, but compared to the area, its residents are much less, so the vacant areas are equipped with corresponding city defense functions.
What Wu Zhen calls "Pastoral Garden" is a piece of pasture land located in the northeast corner of the inner city.
The pasture is square in shape, with soft turf in the middle and rows of hard-shell shrubs unique to the southern barbarian jungle planted on the edges. These shrubs can usually grow to three or four meters high and produce brown nuts the size of eggs in summer and autumn.
The hard shells of these nuts are so strong that they are difficult to break open with a hammer, but they are a favorite of hammerheads. Therefore, the ranch has become an excellent place for domesticating hammerheads in the inner city.
In addition to domesticating hammerhead birds, the pasture is often blocked by dense shrubs and highly concealed, so it is often used as a venue for gatherings at the Summer Palace.
Li Ru followed Wu Yan towards the pastoral garden, but couldn't help being surprised by the patrols he encountered frequently along the way.
The patrol battalion is a security force responsible for maintaining law and order in the city. It is also responsible for suppressing riots and hunting down spies. The inner city has always had good security, so patrols are rarely seen. But this time the patrol took Hemuyuan
The adjacent streets were all blocked.
The patrol camp dispatched at least 800 people, which was almost the alert level for a gathering of princes. When approaching the gate of the pastoral garden, there were several groups of feathered cavalry patrolling along the way, and the security was even tighter. Li Ru couldn't help but secretly wonder what was worth it.
Such a big fight.
Seeing the lady in charge and the chief auxiliary officer approaching, the patrolling feathered cavalry stopped and saluted.
Wu Yan waved his hand to let them continue their mission, and tilted his head to explain to Li Ru.
"Since we got 'that thing', the Feather Cavalry Battalion has been practicing in the pastoral garden for five or six days, and there should be some results. Let's go and take a look."
"yes?"
Li Ru was even more puzzled and followed Wu Yan into the pastoral garden.
The pastoral garden is a facility for domesticating hammerhead birds in the inner city. It is also occasionally used as a venue for princes' activities. Therefore, it has maintained a relatively elegant atmosphere in the past, but now the environment of the pastoral garden has suddenly changed. There are many field barracks set up on the grassy slopes.
, there are several heavy combat equipment of different models placed next to the barracks, as well as a large array of rocks and rolling stones of unknown purpose.
If you look farther away, you can see several dark brown mud pools suddenly appearing on the grass in the distance. The mud pools are large and small, lying abruptly on the grass like scars dug out.
On a nearby mud puddle,
A group of soldiers with their soles wrapped in thick reed mats were rehearsing marching movements. Not far away from them, there were several hammerheads with rope saddles on them. They were trying to move a stone from the ground under the urging of their riders.
Pulled out of the mud.
"This, this is?"
Li Ru walked along the muddy road, and couldn't help but be stunned all the way. As the chief assistant of the government, he was not an outsider in military affairs, but he couldn't guess where the muddy ground came from, and he couldn't deduce it.
What is the drill in front of Yuqi Camp?
This question was answered soon.
"Ah, there, it looks like the drill has just begun."