The Frontier Prince: Starting From Scratch

Three days of hustle and bustle.

Almost everyone in the Prince’s Mansion pitched in, and the recruitment of tenant farmers and personal guard was mostly wrapped up.

However, while the land was allocated, the recruitment for the personal guard didn’t go as smoothly.

“Your Highness, we’ve managed to recruit a little over 5,600 for the personal guard, but we’re still far from full capacity,” Chang Wei said, clearly troubled.

Though people continued to trickle in to sign up, he estimated that Yan Prefecture could only muster around 8,000 recruits at best.

“It’s already quite good,” Zhao Xu shook his head.

The population of Yan Prefecture was what it was, and able-bodied men were rare.

Most importantly, out of Yan Prefecture’s 380,000 households, at least 250,000 to 260,000 had been turned into vassals by various regional magnates through various means.

These people might yearn for the Prince’s Mansion, but with contracts binding them to the magnates, they could only look on with longing.

“Is that all we can do?” Chang Wei was unwilling to accept this.

With such a small force, not only would it be difficult to fend off the Beidi, but even suppressing the private soldiers of the regional magnates in Yan Prefecture would be a challenge.

“I never said we would only recruit in Yan Prefecture,” Zhao Xu suddenly smiled. “Leave the remaining recruitment to me. Your most important task now is to train the soldiers. That’s our guarantee for stability in Yan Prefecture.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Chang Wei replied, saluting with enthusiasm, as if a firecracker had gone off.

Then, he lifted his head, his square face covered in whiskers showing a pleading expression, “Your Highness, we have the soldiers now, but what about food, clothing, supplies, and armor and weapons?”

Zhao Xu couldn’t help but feel a pang of distress at his words.

The inevitable had arrived.

In ancient times, maintaining an army was a major expense for any country or power.

Sometimes, half of a nation’s taxes were spent on the military.

He couldn’t escape this rule either.

The Prince’s Mansion’s personal guard, these over 5,000 men, weren’t just numbers; they were over 5,000 mouths to feed.

“How much silver do we need?” Zhao Xu asked.

“According to the decree, the court has allocated the Northern Barrack in Yan Prefecture to the Prince’s Mansion’s personal guard. I checked it out; the barrack’s warehouse has armor and weapons for only about 1,000 men, and they’re all rusty.”

Chang Wei was prepared, pulling out a booklet from his pocket and presenting it to Zhao Xu with both hands.

Zhao Xu opened it and saw that Chang Wei had meticulously listed the required amounts of food, military uniforms, pay, and various armor and weapons.

This month’s expenses were estimated at around 40,000 taels.

Zhao Xu broke into a sweat. With only a quarter of the personnel, the monthly cost was 40,000 taels. At full capacity, wouldn’t it be 160,000 taels?

The silver he earned from selling the art of ice making wouldn’t last more than a few months.

“Indeed, the bigger the family, the bigger the expenses.”

Zhao Xu sighed, realizing he needed to find ways to make more money.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to maintain the army, and he’d be stuck.

He signed the booklet and stamped it with the seal of Prince Yan.

Zhao Xu said, “I’ll handle the armor, weapons, and military uniforms. You can go to Accountant Qin for the rest.”

“Yes,” Chang Wei replied, delighted, and went off.

Liu Fu and Zhao Xu were together.

The two were currently in the gatehouse of the front courtyard of the Prince’s Mansion.

Liu Fu said, “Ideally, the armor, weapons, and military uniforms for the personal guard should be handled by the Armory Office in Yan Prefecture. But now, with Zhang Kang in charge of the prefecture’s government office, he might inevitably line his pockets and provide substandard goods.”

Zhao Xu nodded. Such an important matter couldn’t afford any mistakes.

This directly affected the combat effectiveness of the Prince’s Mansion’s personal guard.

And as for the current government office in Yan Prefecture, he had no trust in it whatsoever.

“The current government office has essentially become a plaything for the regional magnates, filled with their offspring. If we rely on it to command Yan Prefecture, there will surely be interference. So, it’s better to start anew,” Zhao Xu mused after a moment of contemplation.

Liu Fu’s eyes lit up. Prince Yan and he were on the same page. Over the past few days of interaction, he had grown increasingly impressed with Prince Yan’s strategic thinking.

“I was thinking the same, Your Highness. If the old broom can’t sweep the floor, let’s get a new one. We can establish a private administrative office within the Prince’s Mansion for our own use. After all, the mansion isn’t counting on the government office to collect taxes for us,” Liu Fu suggested.

“Indeed, well said,” Zhao Xu chuckled.

The most basic function of the government office for the Prince’s Mansion was tax collection, something the corrupt office in Yan Prefecture couldn’t manage. As for implementing decrees, most of the populace in Yan Prefecture had become vassals to the regional magnates, leaving little room for governance. It would be better to set up a private administrative office to manage the people on the mansion’s lands. In the future, once the regional magnates in Yan Prefecture are dealt with, this office could take over the prefecture.

“When I was studying, I knew some scholars from humble backgrounds. They have talent but no path to officialdom, forced to make a living by selling paintings and calligraphy on the streets. If Your Highness doesn’t mind, I would like to introduce them to you,” Liu Fu proposed.

He had his own motives, not wanting to work alongside the offspring of the magnates.

“The Prince’s Mansion is in need of capable people, so that would be ideal.”

In the Dasong Dynasty, the divide between humble and noble families was widespread. Given the current situation, only these scholars from humble backgrounds could be relied upon to work diligently for him.

Liu Fu was delighted. “I will visit them right away and invite them to come.”

Zhao Xu nodded, then added, “While you’re at it, bring the head broker from the human brokerage in Yan Prefecture. Tell him the Prince’s Mansion has a big business deal for him.”

“Human brokerage?” Liu Fu was taken aback.

This brokerage dealt in the buying and selling of maids, specializing in human trafficking. He had met the head broker a few times. He thought Zhao Xu might feel the mansion was short on maids and wanted to purchase more. Without further questions, he went on his way.

After Liu Fu left, Zhao Xu also departed from the Prince’s Mansion. Since awakening, his activities had been mostly confined to the mansion, not even venturing to the nearby streets. Now, with everything proceeding in an orderly fashion, he found some time to explore.

“Whose courtyards are on either side of the mansion?”

Prince Yan’s Mansion faced west, with a wide street in front. On either side of the mansion were large courtyards, much bigger than the mansion itself. Sandwiched between these two courtyards, his mansion appeared rather modest.

“Your Highness, one courtyard belongs to the Dong Family, and the other to the Lv Family. Originally, these two courtyards, along with the current mansion, formed the true Prince’s Mansion, but…”

As soon as Zhao Xu stepped out, twenty guards accompanied him for protection. Chang Wei was busy with matters concerning the personal guard, so he had appointed his most capable subordinate, Xu Lie, as the new guard commander. According to Chang Wei, Xu Lie was not only a skilled fighter but also an excellent archer.

“But what…” Zhao Xu inquired.

Unlike Chang Wei’s straightforwardness, Xu Lie had a scholarly demeanor and spoke with elegance.

“But they were sold to the Dong and Lv families by Chief Steward Liang,” Xu Lie cautiously explained.

“Liang Cheng!” Zhao Xu frowned, recalling unpleasant memories. Liang Cheng was the emperor Zhao Heng’s most trusted eunuch. In recent years, Emperor Zhao Heng had indulged in pleasures, neglecting state affairs, leaving much power in Liang Cheng’s hands. Zhao Xu’s relocation to Yan Prefecture was largely due to Liang Cheng. Being a consummate opportunist, Liang Cheng saw Zhao Xu as a useless fool with no powerful family backing. In matters of Zhao Xu’s relocation, he was unscrupulous, focused solely on amassing silver, indifferent to Zhao Xu’s fate.

“Since they are part of the Prince’s Mansion, reclaim them. Send someone to the Dong and Lv families, and tell them I request their presence,” Zhao Xu instructed.