Chapter 273: The Eight Prefectures Of The Northern Frontier, Gansu Governor
The Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry advanced eastward, decisively defeating over 100,000 elite troops of Western Xia in the Hexi Corridor. Soon after, the entire Hexi region fell into their grasp.
The battle report of this campaign reached the Southern Song Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, and Western Xia, shocking the courts and populace of all three nations, and abruptly changing the situation.
Within Western Xia, the land was filled with wailing and desolation, the ministers in the court were panicked, and the common people, supporting the elderly and carrying the young, fled in droves.
Western Xia, whose national power was already declining, faced the danger of collapse after this heavy blow.
Helpless, its ruler and ministers could only pin their hopes on their suzerain state, the Jin Dynasty, hoping it would remember old ties, send troops to punish the Northern Frontier, and help Western Xia recover the Hexi Corridor.
Meanwhile, on the Jin Dynasty’s imperial court, the ministers who learned of this news were in an uproar.
The Northern Frontier’s power rose swiftly in the Western Regions like a prairie fire, not only threatening the Jin Dynasty’s northwest border defenses but also shaking its dominant position in the north.
The once impregnable defensive line now seemed precarious under the Northern Frontier’s threat, causing the Jin Dynasty’s court and people to worry intensely.
In contrast, the Southern Song Dynasty, weak in military affairs despite its cultural flourishing, actually doubted the Northern Frontier’s resounding military achievements.
On the imperial court, the scholar-officials either stubbornly insisted on their views, claiming the battle reports were false, or cited classics to debate the pros and cons of forming an alliance.
On the issue of whether to ally with the Northern Frontier, they split into two factions, each holding their ground, arguing endlessly on the court without reaching a conclusion, leaving only noisy echoes in the hall.
While the three nations were still immersed in shock and debate, the Northern Frontier Army had already achieved its strategic goal and was preparing to return to the Northern Frontier.
But before that, Li Xiao still had several important matters to arrange in the Hexi Corridor.
Building Tiger Wolf Pass, reforming the Hexi Corridor, migrating common people to bolster the Northern Frontier, and most importantly, ‘dividing the fields’.
Zhou Erniu was originally just a commoner from Wangshe Village south of Zhuoluo City.
When the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry looted Hexi, he and his entire family, along with most of the villagers, became captives, forced to embark on the migration road with their meager belongings.
After more than ten days of arduous travel, they finally arrived at Liangzhou City.
But before they could recover from their exhaustion, a burly Northern Frontier officer with a face full of fierce flesh strode into their open-air camp.
This man’s gaze was sharp as a knife, a cavalry saber at his waist, pacing back and forth among the captive group, eyeing the crowd as if inspecting goods for sale.
He was Zhai Daya, deputy centurion of the Northern Frontier Army. Seeing Zhou Erniu and the others looking like honest farmers, he became furious.
“How come they’re all a bunch of crooked melons and cracked dates? Isn’t there even a few sturdy men?”
The officer in charge of escorting crossed his arms and chuckled, “Farmers—how many sturdy ones are there?”
“Any slightly sturdy ones were already drafted into military service by the Xia Kingdom; they’re waiting in the front captive groups right now.”
“Damn it, no good.”
Zhai Daya spat a thick glob of phlegm: “Later I’ll talk to the chiliarch, need to get a few more prisoner soldiers for old Zhai.”
He yanked open his coarse collar, revealing a ferocious arrow scar on his chest, and strode toward the crowd.
“Which village are you from?”
He grabbed a man’s collar; the other’s knees buckled, nearly collapsing.
“From Liu Wang Village.”
“Is that your kid back there? Bring him out together, stand over there.”
Before the words finished, he turned to another captive: “And you?”
“I’m also from Liu Wang Village.”
“Go back and squat.”
Soon, Zhai Daya came before Zhou Erniu and asked as usual.
“Which village?”
“Wangshe Village,” Zhou Erniu said nervously.
Zhai Daya sized up Zhou Erniu’s build, nodded slightly, and waved his thick palm casually: “Your family too, over there.”
Zhou Erniu’s family could only stand on the other side. His wife held the child, her pale face bloodless, voice trembling: “Hus-Husband, what’s this? Are they going to kill us?”
Zhou Erniu forced himself to stay calm, his Adam’s apple bobbing with difficulty, and shook his head gently: “Don’t overthink it.”
“If these barbarians wanted to kill us, they would’ve done it back in Wangshe Village. Why go to all this trouble, spend so much grain, to bring us to Liangzhou?”
“Didn’t they say they’d divide fields for us? Maybe it’s now.”
Though his words were wild guesses, they unexpectedly touched on the truth.
It was indeed dividing fields.
Only, it wasn’t random and disorderly, but each centurion first conducting a selection.
Because when people first arrive in a strange environment, they instinctively seek familiar people to band together.
If people from the same village or same clan were allowed to cluster, it would easily breed local powers; under clan solidarity, officials sent by the Northern Frontier would become figureheads, and orders hard to enforce.
Thus, a strict order of “mixing sand” was issued—when dividing fields and households, people from the same village could not be grouped into the same squad, and brothers and kin must be forcibly scattered.
At this moment, Zhai Daya’s seemingly casual selections in the crowd were actually, under this iron order, pulling out each household individually, denying them the chance to band together, making it easier for him to manage and control.
Soon, more than twenty households were pulled from the line, with one able-bodied laborer counting as one household, even if alone.
Soon after, Zhai Daya took them to other camps to select more, quickly gathering two hundred households.
Of varied backgrounds: Hexi common people like Zhou Erniu, civilian laborers captured from Hedong.
Also original residents of the Hexi Corridor, and even captured Xia Kingdom soldiers.
Zhai Daya gathered these two hundred households together, mounted on his horse, and shouted loudly:
“I’m called Zhai Daya!”
“From now on, I’m your centurion, but this old man prefers you call him deputy chiliarch!”
Spittle flew with his roar: “Doesn’t matter if you were from the Xia Kingdom or wherever before—from now on, you’re all Northern Frontier subjects!”
“Obey this old man, work honestly, pay rent, pay tax, serve in the military, and I’ll guarantee you a peaceful life!”
His rough words came one after another, but Zhou Erniu inexplicably felt reassured—in chaotic times, such blunt threats actually gave people a sense of security.
The surrounding common people shrank their necks, but hope slowly kindled in their eyes.
“This old man will take you to divide fields—all follow me!” Zhai Daya whipped his horsewhip and rode forward.
At the end of the line, Zhou Erniu’s wife clutched the child tightly, voice trembling: “Husband, are we really getting land?”
Though the Northern Frontier Army had promised before, without seeing the fields, their hearts were never settled.
Now it was good—the Northern Frontier Army was really dividing land for them!
Light shone in her eyes, her cracked lips quivering: “Back home it was fifty percent rent, here only twenty percent…”
Zhou Erniu’s throat bobbed, murmuring: “From now on, our family can eat our fill.”
He took a deep breath, his steps unconsciously quickening.
Behind him, a man muttered over and over “Lost out, lost out,” his face full of regret.
“If I’d known they were really dividing fields, I’d have dragged out my wife and kids no matter what!”
His family had fled into the deep mountains when the Northern Frontier Army came, thinking they’d escaped disaster, but unexpectedly missed a chance to turn their lives around.
Now alone, he gazed at the vast fields, feeling utterly empty—one man with two hands, how many mu could he till?
Similarly downcast were the civilian laborers separated from family and the lone captured soldiers.
But fortunately, among the captives were many women who had lost husbands, who could gradually come together to live in the future.
By afternoon, the crowd dragged their pitiful belongings to an abandoned village.
A white flag had already been planted here, written with simplified Chinese characters ‘Reclamation Group, 832’.
Reclamation Group was the transitional name Li Xiao gave these migrants, and 832 meant Eighth Myriad Household Commander, Third Chiliarch, Second Centurion.
That was the designation for Zhou Erniu’s reclamation group.
Zhai Daya on horseback pointed his horsewhip casually at the village and roared: “Don’t care what this dump was called before—people all ran to the Northern Frontier for a living. From now on, it’s our turf.”
“One room per household—not enough, build your own adobes. The fields outside the village all belong to our centurion group.”
At this point, he paused deliberately, seeing countless eyes light up in the crowd: “Twenty mu per household—not enough, rent more!”
“Every year, pay twenty percent rent and twenty percent tax to the Great Protector’s Mansion, all miscellaneous levies exempted!”
Before his words finished, the crowd was in commotion.
Zhai Daya raised his voice: “Those who reclaim wasteland, one mu rewards one string of cash; newly reclaimed fields, no rent or tax for ten years!”
These words were like a boulder crashing into a deep pool, startling the common people into an uproar.
“They’re really dividing fields for us, and only collecting forty percent rent and tax!”
“Heaven bless us, Buddha bless us—we’ve finally come through the bitterness to sweetness.”
Their previous rent and tax were exorbitantly high; they could only desperately work on rented fields from landlords to barely keep the family from starving.
But now, forty percent rent and tax greatly lightened their burden.
Especially for households without able-bodied laborers, sixty percent grain retention was simply lifesaving.
In the crowd, a white-haired old woman dragged her young grandson and knelt with a thud, saying excitedly: “Heaven has opened its eyes! Buddha has shown spirit! The Great Protector has a bodhisattva heart—may he live a hundred years!”
Soon, Zhai Daya had them line up to receive fields, waving his horsewhip and shouting: “One by one, report your number and get your fields!”
A hunched man from Hedong pushed to the front, Adam’s apple bobbing: “I-I rent fifty mu!”
Madness burned in his eyes; as a civilian laborer under Western Xia, he had nothing, and now he wanted to grasp all the land he’d never seen in his life.
Zhai Daya’s eyebrows twisted into an inverted eight, sizing up the man: “You alone?”
“Yes, yes, just me.”
He was from Hedong, conscripted by Western Xia as a civilian laborer; his wife and kids were back home, so naturally a single-person household.
Zhai Daya sneered: “With your scrawny chicken build?”
“One man reclaiming fifty mu? You think the Great Protector’s rules are farts? If the fields go to waste, your head’s gone!”
Li Xiao would not tolerate farmland being wasted; he’d anticipated this.
“First, twenty mu for you.”
Zhai Daya snorted coldly, then nodded to the squad leader behind him.
The other mounted a war horse directly, ran a hundred steps sideways, and a hundred steps lengthwise.
And stuck wooden sticks in the ground to mark.
One step was about 1.5 meters, crossing 150 meters.
This measurement wasn’t absolutely precise, and had to account for terrain undulations, but twenty mu was definitely generous!
Dividing fields was a massive workload, and the Northern Frontier didn’t have enough manpower for meticulous division.
But fortunately, men like Zhai Daya were ordinary farmer origins and knew a bit about measuring land.
So Li Xiao had rough boundaries set for each chiliarch and centurion’s farmland, then let centurions and captains handle per-household division.
“This is your land.”
“Farm it well, pay rent after harvest, the rest enough to feed you for ten years!” Zhai Daya laughed heartily.
The man nodded repeatedly: “Thank you, Deputy Chiliarch Lord, thank you, Deputy Chiliarch Lord.”
He grinned, and grinning turned to tears.
Twenty mu, and able to keep sixty percent grain each year.
At 200 jin per mu yield, that’s 2,400 jin.
One man couldn’t finish it, absolutely couldn’t.
So the man decided: find every way to bring his wife and kids over, rent another twenty mu.
Life in the Northern Frontier was good.
Soon it was Zhou Erniu’s turn for fields.
His family was large: besides himself and his wife, three children.
So he rented fifty mu.
Then that squad leader mounted again and ran; at the count, he directly stuck a sharpened wooden stick in the ground.
All four corners marked—this was Zhou Erniu’s family’s land.
Horseback encirclement—very wild.
The sun high, the dividing site bustling with voices, shouts and laughter mixing with the scent of turned earth.
On a distant earth mound, one man and one woman stood quietly.
Watching the scene below, Da Ya was calm, while Su Renli was full of dejection, a mournful expression.
“My land!”
“Our old Su family’s estate, gone just like that.”
Su Renli said bitterly, squatting on the ground aggrievedly, face full of reluctance.
Zhou Erniu and others excitedly measuring land didn’t know that the fertile farmland under their feet, soon to be theirs, was once Su Renli’s heart’s flesh.
But now, the fields had changed hands, becoming industry under the Great Protector’s Mansion.
Da Ya sighed lightly, squatted down, patted her husband’s shoulder: “It’s come to this—what use is reluctance? Can the land grow legs and run back?”
Her gaze swept the distant ruins, tone calm: “Look at those in the city—how many great families were looted clean, couldn’t even save their lives.”
“We’ve only surrendered fields; thanks to Hu Zi’s protection, everything else is intact—already very fortunate.”
Su Renli nodded heavily, Adam’s apple bobbing: “I know, I know…”
His voice choked: “But this land was passed down generation after generation—I… I just can’t accept it!”
Armies of this era were bandits; whether Song Army or Jin Army, even Northern Frontier Army, each more arrogant and barbaric than the last.
Looting common people was routine.
So when Liangzhou City fell, the people inside suffered greatly.
Li Xiao only ordered no city massacre, but turned a blind eye to soldiers’ private looting.
After all, Li Xiao’s approach was to rally the broad masses of common people, overthrow the rich merchants, wealthy commoners, officials, etc., in the cities.
Divide their money to reward the troops, divide their land to benefit the people.
So many acquaintances around Su Renli had their family fortunes looted clean, reduced to ordinary commoners, even squeezed out by others due to past status.
But Su Renli’s family, thanks to Wei Xuan’s protection, only surrendered fields—everything else fine.
Quite lucky indeed.
“Never thought in my lifetime, I’d have to rely on my brother-in-law’s protection…” Su Renli shook his head and sighed.
“Hu Zi is my blood brother; him making something of himself and protecting us is only right!” Da Ya huffed proudly.
Thinking of her long-unseen sister, her eyes softened: “Wonder how little sister is doing in the Northern Frontier—really want to see her soon.”
With that, Da Ya stood, patted dust off herself: “Don’t mope. You’re a juren scholar after all, with ink in your belly.”
“In a few days, I’ll talk to Hu Zi, get you a document clerk position.”
“Your build can’t handle military household duty, but Da Pang, swinging knives and guns all day—might really earn military merit in the army, make a name!”
“Might even buy back the Su family ancestral fields.”
Finished, she pulled Su Renli up, mounted, and headed toward Liangzhou City.
The couple returned to the city, tidied up, then took their three children and left home, heading to the former prefect’s mansion, now the Northern Frontier Great Protector’s temporary headquarters.
But they arrived early; when they reached the headquarters, the sun was still high, and Li Xiao was discussing important matters with Northern Frontier officials and generals.
In the main hall, the setting sun slanted in, stretching Li Xiao’s shadow long.
He wore a thin round-collared robe, sitting ramrod straight at the head, face stern, deep eyes conveying undeniable dignity.
Below, Camp Cultivation Department Staff Officer Gao Zhongyi stood with hands down, reporting to Li Xiao: “Great Protector, the migration of Hexi common people is proceeding steadily.”
“Currently, outside Liangzhou City and Ganzhou City, there are still over 400,000 common people.”
“This official has discussed with Jiu Meng’an Sima, Zhang Canjun, and others, already organized over 200,000 of them, to be sent off in batches to the Northern Frontier…”
In this eastern expedition against Western Xia, the Northern Frontier Army captured over 700,000 military and civilian personnel from the Hexi Corridor, Hexi, and Hexi Valley combined.
Many were sturdy men.
From the defeated Western Xia Army and grain-transporting civilian laborers.
For these over 700,000 common people, Li Xiao had already planned their allocation.
500,000 would be migrated to the Northern Frontier, leaving 200,000 to garrison-farm in the Hexi Corridor.
But such a massive population migration was no simple task.
It involved all aspects of work.
First was grain assurance; though the Northern Frontier Army seized nearly 700,000 shi of grain from Ganzhou-Liangzhou granaries, Yuanchuan Granary, and the defeated Western Xia Army.
Facing this huge population, it was still barely enough.
So Li Xiao rationed grain for these common people.
Adult men six taels per day, adult women five taels, elderly and children four taels.
This ration was about the same as their usual intake—couldn’t fill them up, but at least wouldn’t starve to death; on the road, they could forage some food themselves.
Note that in later North Korea, per capita grain ration was even less than three taels.
Li Xiao was far more benevolent than the Three Generals.
Besides grain, escorting the common people was another challenge.
Every group of common people needed a team of Northern Frontier Cavalry for management.
So at Liangzhou City, the 500,000 had to be organized by myriad household, chiliarch, centurion units.
Now, 300,000 common people were already en route to the Northern Frontier, via Heishui City and Dunhuang City routes, escorted by Second Division and Sixth Garrison.
Next, Li Xiao would personally lead First Division to escort the final 200,000 to the Northern Frontier.
After hearing Gao Zhongyi’s report, Li Xiao nodded slightly, very satisfied.
His subordinates’ officials weren’t exceptionally outstanding, but they accomplished tasks well.
“Good, you’ve done very well.” Li Xiao looked at Gao Zhongyi and praised generously.
Then to all generals in the hall, he said gravely: “In this era of constant warfare, population is the most precious resource, the foundation of the Northern Frontier’s rise.”
“Without common people to farm, granaries will empty; without subjects to garrison borders, iron cavalry are rootless trees.”
He murmured lowly, voice carrying irrefutable conviction.
“Though my Northern Frontier possesses vast territory, sparse population leaves great fertile lands wasteland; only by gathering people from all directions can we turn wasteland into granaries, refugees into strong army.”
“So, do not take these Hexi common people lightly.”
“On the migration route, minimize casualties—do not exceed twenty percent.”
Hearing Li Xiao’s words, the generals and officials in the hall all placed hands on chests and shouted in unison: “We obey the Great Protector’s teachings.”
After discussing migration matters, Li Xiao’s gaze swept over Zhang Xinghua and others, saying gravely:
“The Hexi Corridor is the Northern Frontier’s throat, Silk Road hub; now in our Northern Frontier’s hands, it must be utilized.”
“And Ganzhou and Suzhou are the Hexi Corridor’s jewels.”
“This Protector decides to take the two prefectures’ intent, establish the Hexi Corridor as Gansu Prefecture, incorporating it into the Northern Frontier’s eight prefectures.”
Words fell, everyone in the hall shouted: “Great Protector is wise.”
Establishing the Hexi Corridor as a prefecture was already decided; today just announced publicly.
After all, this place was too important—connecting east-west, thriving commerce, fertile soil suitable for farming and animal husbandry.
Such a feng shui treasure land, the Northern Frontier must rule it long-term.
Thus, besides Jin Prefecture, Great Desert, Yin Mountains, North Sea, Eastern Sea, Yili, and Seven Rivers, the Northern Frontier now had an eighth prefecture.
Gansu!
“The Hexi Corridor, since Emperor Wu of Han opened the frontier and Ban Chao pacified the distance, has been imbued with Han Dynasty spirit, though later often renamed.” Li Xiao continued.
He rose and went to the map, fingertip tracing Liangzhou, Dunhuang, etc.
“Now, my Northern Frontier establishes Gansu in the Hexi Corridor—the Hexi towns’ names need changing.”
“From today, restore all Hexi towns to ancient names!”
“Liangzhou reverts to Wuwei; Ganzhou to Zhangye, Suzhou retains Jiuquan.”
The towns remain under Gansu prefectural government.
But in the short term, they certainly wouldn’t regain past glory.
Because massive population migration to Northern Frontier left only 200,000 in the entire Hexi Corridor for farming and herding.
Towns lost their original function; countryside instead surrounded the cities.
However, with war’s end, those who fled into mountains would gradually emerge.
And Northern Frontier Army would frequently sortie from Tiger Wolf Pass to continue looting Western Xia population.
In short, Hexi Corridor population would slowly increase.
Hearing the hall echo with “Great Protector is wise.”
Li Xiao nodded slightly, continued: “With Gansu established as prefecture and counties, some rules must change.”
“This Protector intends to newly establish a border-sealing position in Gansu, called ‘Governor’, overseeing Gansu civil affairs.”
1. Song system: one jin = sixteen taels; for readability, here ten taels.
2. Referencing Hongwu era mass migrations; migrating to Northern Frontier feasible, though some (mainly elderly, weak, sick, disabled) die en route.
