The Demon Lords

These tenant farmers were, in reality, the "subjects" of the great families. Their retainers, political influence, and even their private armies, all fundamentally stemmed from the population of tenant farmers on their lands.

This was akin to the later-era adage, "What belongs to the public is easily wasted, but what is one's own is treasured."

To imperial court officials, the common people under the court's rule were much like public property. However, once these people became tenant farmers on a great family's land, they were considered private property, and attitudes towards them naturally differed.

Furthermore, Yan State had prospered in trade in recent years, benefiting from the Silk Road. Unlike Qian State, which struggled to effectively levy commercial taxes, the Yan State's imperial court—though its control over local regions wasn't particularly strong—had already secured substantial financial supplements from these business taxes. Consequently, the pressure of survival for ordinary people under Yan rule was indeed considerably less than in the other three states.

This matched Zheng Fan's first impression of the spirit and demeanor of the common folk near Green Willow Fortress when he had first arrived.

"I just wonder what the officials and literati of Qian State would think after learning about this," Zheng Fan said.

"My lord, this is actually understandable," Blind Bei replied. "Things like culture are rather remote for the lower classes. They might not grasp grand principles, but they know how to vote with their feet. There are similar records from the Song Dynasty, where its people voluntarily renounced their Song citizenship to flee to Liao and become subjects there."

"Yan State is not Liao," Zheng Fan reminded.

"Yes, my lord is correct."

"Zuo Jiqian guiding all these refugees to his Jitui Fort to be settled," Zheng Fan continued, "he's probably trying to make as good a showing as possible before Hui Wenzu takes office."

The appearance of these refugees is, in itself, a meritorious achievement. It's proof that the Mandate of Heaven and the hearts of the people lie with Yan, not Qian. Hui Wenzu hasn't even taken office yet, and it's as if a wave of political accomplishments has already come knocking at his door.

But this also means several thousand mouths to feed every day. Therefore, only Zuo Jiqian, with the Zuo Family's financial backing, dares to lead these refugees to his Jitui Fort and take on the responsibility of sustaining them.

It's tantamount to the Zuo Family spending money to cultivate a political achievement for the new regional commander, Hui Wenzu. Zuo Jiqian probably hopes that Hui Wenzu will consider this and go easy on him regarding his previous military failures in Qian State.

"We don't want these people, do we?" Zheng Fan asked, looking at Blind Bei.

Blind Bei shook his head and said, "If they were all able-bodied young men, we might consider taking them. But with so many elderly, weak, women, and children, let's not compete with Zuo Jiqian for this chance to show off."

"Exactly. After all, Zuo Jiqian's 'chicken leg' fort has plenty of chicken legs to go around."

Actually, in terms of financial resources, Green Willow Fortress, with the Sixth Prince's backing, truly had no reason to fear Jitui Fort.

Firstly, the construction of Green Willow Fortress was already complete. Although there were still some minor details needing repair and improvement, these could be handled with a bit of tinkering and patching once the spring thaw arrived. The fortress itself was capable of absorbing more people. Furthermore, Zheng Fan was well aware that his fortress's storerooms held not only extra weapons and armor but also abundant grain reserves.

The Sixth Prince was truly magnanimous. He either held back completely or, when he acted, he showered you with overwhelming support.

Blind Bei even mentioned that people from the trading company had passed on a message, inquiring why their side wasn't expanding its forces. This was clearly a hint from the Sixth Prince.

For a fortress under the command of a Commander, the imperial court typically only covered the military pay and provisions for five hundred men. However, if you had the capability to support eight hundred or even a thousand men, the court would generally turn a blind eye. Such was the prevailing custom in Yan State at the time.

Moreover, the imperial court's main attention and primary conflicts were still focused on the great clans. It was common for these clans to have tens of thousands of tenant farmers under their control, and they could easily muster several thousand, or even tens of thousands, of private soldiers if they wished.

However, Zheng Fan had always intended to pursue an elite troop strategy. Gathering a large number of motley soldiers was, frankly, of little significance.

It would be better to wait patiently for the Yan Emperor to move against the great clans before expanding. The people from these clans were, firstly, of high caliber and, secondly, would be eager to achieve merits after being exiled and reassigned. Who knows, perhaps he could even recruit some truly brilliant talents later on. Wouldn't that be far more useful than relying on these peasant soldiers just to swell the ranks?

"Actually, your subordinate feels something is amiss," Blind Bei said. "In previous years, it was common enough for people from Qian State to flee to Yan State seeking a livelihood. But this year, after my lord provoked Qian State before winter, logically, even if the Qian border army is incompetent, they should still be capable of maintaining control within their own borders. And with numerous Beacon Forts lining the frontier, small groups might sneak across, but for several thousand people to cross over all at once like this... there might be a hidden ploy by Qian State involved."

The hidden ploy he referred to likely meant spies, and possibly quite a number of them.

"Setting aside the quality of Qian State's border army," Zheng Fan commented, "their Silver Armored Guard, at least, left a decent impression on me. Plus, they even assign wives to their men."

"Heh," Blind Bei chuckled. "Actually, your subordinate believes Zuo Jiqian is likely aware there are definitely 'time bombs' among them. But right now, he's chosen to gorge himself first and worry about potential indigestion later."

"Alright, enough watching. Let's head to the post station and wait for Fatty Hui."

Zheng Fan decided it was best not to make a grand affair of meeting Comrade Deep Sea ahead of schedule, so he only took Blind Bei and Xue Three with him, without any troops.