Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Looking at Captain Zhang's figure, Song Yingsheng shook his head repeatedly.

In his opinion, it was absolutely foolish for Captain Zhang to give up his hereditary official position in exchange for land.

With the existence of hereditary official positions, no matter what happens to the Zhang family in the future, there will be official positions to support them.

After Captain Zhang gave up, the Zhang family might be completely ruined when they fell into trouble in the future.

Song Yingsheng felt that if he were given a choice, he would never give up his hereditary official position.

Captain Zhang actually thought the same way. If possible, he did not want to give up his family's hereditary official position.

Unfortunately, the imperial court stipulated that all military officers and households must obey orders:
Those with strong combat capabilities were incorporated into new garrisons, as well as troops directly under the Protectorate.

Those with weak combat power migrated overseas and went there to open up territories for Spyker.

Captain Zhang was terrified of going to the battlefield and was neither willing nor able to be incorporated into the army.

He didn't want to move overseas, so he chose to give up his hereditary military position.

The imperial court maintained hereditary officials just to make them fight in the wars, but Captain Zhang was unwilling to even go to the battlefield, and he treated the hereditary nobility granted by the imperial court like old shoes. If the imperial court abolished them, it would be no pity.

The several hundred acres of land deeds he obtained were considered a buyout fee from the court - buying out the meritorious services they had previously rendered to the court.

The emperor granted his generation the status of public officials with the same intention of pacifying them and stabilizing the local area.

From then on, the Zhang family lost their hereditary official position and gradually became commoners.

Zhang Baihu's generation can still rely on his previous status to serve as a village head or a head of a village, but the next generation may have nothing.

There are many hereditary officials like Zhang Baihu, and about half of the hereditary officials in the garrisons choose to give up their military positions.

Twenty percent of the remaining half were retained and mixed with other garrisons to form new garrisons, becoming the new military and civilian garrison leadership to suppress the local situation.

Another 30% were forced to move overseas because of their weaker combat power, and were transferred to open up territories for Spyker.

They will be allocated at least a territory of ten li. If they have the ability, they can open up a larger territory as long as it does not exceed the territorial limit stipulated by the title.

This is an opportunity that many people would love to have, but Captain Zhang and others threw it away.

After sighing in his heart, Song Yingsheng led more than a thousand households transferred by Captain Zhang and embarked on the migration journey.

This time, he needed to send these people to Cangzhou safely. As long as the number of households that finally arrived was more than a thousand, he would be awarded a year's merit.

If he has made five years of merit, he, a civilian officer, will be promoted to a higher level immediately.

This was the reason why he participated in the emperor's military training and became a civilian officer.

For him, who was a member of the second list, he started from the ninth rank and had a six-year probation period, which was too slow for promotion.

It would be better to join the military and seek quick promotion.

Facts have proved that his choice was a good one. After completing a month of military training and mastering some military knowledge, he was sent to the Yansui Guard Office and was awarded the rank of eighth-rank guard captain.

This official position is already the same treatment as a top five Jinshi.

According to the appointment of officials to Jinshi this time, the top scorer in the first class of Jinshi was appointed as the sixth-rank editor in the Hanlin Academy, and the second and third place winners were appointed as the seventh-rank editor.

If a second-class Jinshi passes the examination and becomes a Shujishi, he will also be granted the rank of Zhengqi 7th-rank editor. If a third-class Jinshi passes the examination and becomes a Shujishi, he will be granted the rank of Congqi 7th-rank reviewer.

If these people were favored by the emperor, they could serve as officials of the Hanlin Academy and work in the Jiujuzhu or Zhongshuke departments, becoming the emperor's close attendants.

"In the morning, he was a farmer, and in the evening, he was in the emperor's palace." This was most evident in them. These officials were the most envied and were cultivated as potential prime ministers.

Those who failed to pass the examination for Shujishi were granted the seventh-rank official title of the second-class Jinshi, and could serve as governors in the court or as county magistrates in local areas.

The third-class Jinshi can only hold an official position of the seventh rank, serving as deputy director of the Ministry of Rites in the court, or serving in remote areas as acting county magistrate.

In comparison, the fourth-class Jinshi were inferior in rank and could only hold an eighth-rank official position, serving as a clerk in the Ministry of Rites or a county magistrate.

The fifth-class Jinshi were the lowest level, and could only serve as officials of the eighth rank, acting as county magistrates in remote areas, or serving as judges or chief clerks.

Because of this, the court proposed to make regulations for the three official positions of county lieutenant, judge, and chief clerk, allowing officials from the eighth rank to retain their ranks and hold the positions.

And because these three official positions were of the ninth rank, Song Yingsheng, who was ranked second on the list of the Ming Dynasty mathematics examination, was also qualified to hold the positions.

It can be said that if Song Yingsheng wanted a comfortable life, he could choose a safe place to be a chief clerk like some people from the vice list. With his ranking on the vice list, he was able to choose such an official position.

However, after his younger brother Song Yingxing was sent to Shaanxi, Song Yingsheng became interested in Shaanxi.

After learning about the situation in Shaanxi, he participated in the civilian officer training at the suggestion of his brother and transferred to the military.

This training session was also organized by the emperor himself and was held in the inner training ground. It mainly focused on formation training and the use of weapons such as Zhuge Crossbow, which were given to them for self-defense.

Those Jinshi or Fubang candidates who were in poor health and unwilling to be bound by military regulations were eliminated during the training.

Song Yingsheng passed the training and was awarded the rank of captain.

The starting point is the eighth rank, which is equivalent to a fifth-class Jinshi.

Moreover, the five-year probation period for civilian officers is close to the four years for Jinshi.

If you make military achievements, you can also reduce the number of trials.

The emperor's promise of rewarding one year of merit for moving one thousand households was their chance.

"Shaanxi is going to relocate 50,000 households this year, with 50 guard lieutenants leading the team."

"I can't let them outdo me. I must get the seniority award."

Looking at the military households and refugees transferred by Captain Zhang, Song Yingsheng muttered to himself.

To gain merit, it is not enough to just bring a thousand households. You also need to ensure that the escape rate and death rate on the migration route are below the average, otherwise your merit will likely be reduced.

If the refugees on the road fled or even riots occurred, they would not only not get any merit, but might be punished, investigated or even dismissed from their posts.

Therefore, Song Yingsheng cared a lot about the refugees under his command, and kept communicating with the military households who served as Jiazhang, looking for reliable people to serve as Baozhang to help him manage these people.

Li Sanshui, who was diligent, or rather dull and honest, was favored by him and became one of the village chiefs.

In addition to his own army, he now has ten other armies under his command. Song Yingsheng's task for him was to have at least one hundred households under his command.

If it is lower than this number, he will be held accountable.

If it is higher than this number, he will be given at least one hundred acres of land when he arrives at the local government.

For every additional household, we will get one more acre, and we will never go back on our word.

This made Li Sanshui take it very seriously. He held his weapon nervously, fearing that someone would escape.

The same was true for the captains under his command, because they were also promised land, one acre of land per household.

The same promise was made to the refugees: each household would be allocated 50 mu of land or 100 mu of wasteland.

These refugees were skeptical about this matter.

Li Sanshui, because his ancestors were military households, was allocated 50 acres of land that year, so he did not doubt it.

In his view, this was the court's relocation of the garrisons and redistribution of land, which was a good opportunity for military households like him who had lost their land.

After their explanation, the refugees changed from being unbelieving at first to being half-believing and half-doubting.

Next came the fear of being a soldier and worrying about suffering for generations.

Even though Song Yingsheng repeatedly assured them that their household registration was civilian and they only had to serve in the military, these people still did not let go of their worries and some of them fled from time to time.

Three families under Li Sanshui's command escaped, which made him very angry, and he severely reprimanded the head of the village who escaped - because the three families who escaped meant that he lost three acres of land.

The same was true for the captains, who kept a closer eye on the refugees under their command, fearing that they would escape and the extra land they had been allocated would be reduced.

Under their persuasion and measures such as collective punishment, most refugees accepted their fate and followed them in their migration, hoping to be able to get land in the military and civilian guards as they said.

After walking like this for more than ten days, they arrived in Shanxi.

The 110 households under Li Sanshui's command have become 105 households.

In addition to the three families that fled, there were two other families with small numbers of people who died on the way to migration.

This made him quite depressed, and he cried more sadly than when his parents died, because this meant that the land he could get was reduced by another two acres.

If the number continues to decrease and falls below 100, he will be held accountable.

This made Li Sanshui nervous, and he discussed with the ten headmen to arrange for the deputy headmen to take care of those households with only one or two people left. They must ensure their health to prevent the whole family from dying out.

But even so, deaths are inevitable on the migration route.

Especially after entering Shanxi, they could no longer drink porridge for free and had to work on the road to get food.

But the food is a little better. If you work hard, you can even eat dry rice.

Li Sanshui organized the able-bodied men under his command to work, and the elderly, children, women and children assisted. He even replaced several deputy captains and replaced them with those who were able to work.

As a result of his protection, he received more food. No one died of hunger, but some died of disease.

That day, Li Sanshui heard the news that the sick Yang Laowu could not hold on any longer and wanted to entrust his funeral affairs to him.

Li Sanshui hurried over and saw that Yang Laowu was only breathing. After seeing him coming over, he held his hand tightly and said:

"Captain Li, you are a real person."

"I am no longer able to do this, so I have to leave the two children to you."

He pulled his daughter and son over and asked Li Sanshui to take care of them.

Seeing that he was about to die, Li Sanshui naturally agreed to everything.

Even if Yang Laowu didn't say it, he had to take good care of these two people, so that the Yang family would not be extinct and the number of households would decrease again.

However, Yang Laowu was still worried, so he took his 17-year-old daughter Yang Dani and said to Li Sanshui:
"I only have this one daughter. From now on, I will ask Li Baochang to take care of her."

"I only ask Li Baochang to raise Erwa and get fifty acres of land."

Li Sanshui blushed when he heard this and quickly said it was not possible.

After all, he is nearly thirty years old and can be considered an old man. He has never had any thoughts about young girls.

However, Yang Laowu was very determined. As he walked along the way, he had already seen that Li Sanshui was an honest man and did not have the prestige of a village chief at all.

Although some people look down on such people, Yang Laowu feels very relieved.

As his illness became more and more serious and could not be cured, he had been planning to marry his daughter Yang Dani to him.

Facing Li Sanshui's evasion, the dying Yang Laowu tightly grasped his hand. Yang Dani and Yang Erwa knelt beside him, also looking at him pitifully.

This left Li Sanshui with no choice but to agree to Yang Laowu's request and agree to the marriage in the presence of other military households and refugees.

Seeing Li Sanshui and his daughter kowtow to him, Yang Laowu closed his eyes. Yang Dani and Yang Erwa burst into tears, but Li Sanshui wiped away his tears and arranged his funeral.

Thinking about the arrangements Song Yingsheng had given him, Li Sanshui blushed and asked his newly-wed wife Yang Dani:

"Father-in-law is gone. Do you think he should be buried on the road or burned to ashes?"

Yang Dani said:

"Burn to ashes!"

"I will take him all the way with me, to the Military and Civilian Guard."

"My father said that he wants to see Erwa get married and have his own land."

Li Sanshui nodded and immediately went to Song Yingsheng to report the matter. At the same time, the head of the Yang family was changed to Yang Erwa, indicating that the family still existed.

When Song Yingsheng heard that someone had died again, his mood was no longer as fluctuating as it was at the beginning.

Along the way, he has seen countless people die.

Of the more than 1,000 households and approximately 5,000 people he led, more than 100 have fled and over 100 have died so far, and more people may die in the future.

This made him doubt more than once whether the imperial court's order to migrate was right or wrong.

If the drought only occurred this year, the cost of making such great sacrifices and migrating would be too high.

He now cannot guarantee whether he will have a thousand households under his command when he arrives in Cangzhou.

However, he never expressed such doubts to his subordinates. After the training in the inner training ground, he knew that the most important thing in the army was to enforce orders and not to speak without restraint and shake the morale of the troops.

If he caused unrest among the people under his command because of his careless words, he, as a captain of the guard, would be in great trouble and might even be held accountable.

After asking about Yang Erwa's age, Song Yingsheng said:

"Yang Erwa is fourteen years old this year, and he is not yet sixteen years old and can become an adult."

"According to the court's rules, he doesn't have to serve in the army to have food to eat."

"But this family needs supervision. Who is willing to be his guardian?"

Li Sanshui said his name, Yang Laowu's will, and his relationship with Yang Dani.

Song Yingsheng looked at him in surprise, thinking about some of the bad things that happened among the refugees, and warned:

"Since you have already kowtowed, it means you are married legally."

"As a village chief, you should stick to your original intention and don't follow the example of some people who bully men and women."

"You know, this village chief is temporary, and there will be a new election when he arrives at the local area."

"If you don't do a good job, someone else will be chosen to replace you!"

Li Sanshui didn't dare to say it, thinking of the head he saw some time ago.

That man was also a village headman, but he was not as diligent as him. Once he got the power, he bullied men and women.

As a result, many of his group members fled, and the officer in charge was so angry that he executed him publicly and hung his head on a tree as a warning to everyone.

Because of this, Li Sanshui never had any evil thoughts. Yang Laowu also chose to entrust his children to him because of his honesty.

After talking about this matter, Song Yingsheng wrote a note and asked Li Sanshui to bring Yang Laowu's body to the next post station when he arrived.

There is a land temple under the City God Temple, and the temple keeper and priests inside will perform rituals for Yang Laowu and burn his bones into ashes.

He needs to make the urn himself, or find a piece of rag and wrap it directly.

Li Sanshui was a village chief after all, so he certainly couldn't let his father-in-law live in such a shabby state. He mobilized people to find wood and made several urns to hold the ashes of Yang Laowu and other dead people.

As the priests in the land temple chanted sutras for the afterlife, Li Sanshui and the others gradually calmed down.

Carrying the ashes of Yang Laowu and others, they continued to migrate eastward. (End of this chapter)