After Transmigration: Building a Kingdom in Turbulent Times

Zhao Hanzhang not only had the public housing assigned to Chang Ning redecorated but also generously allocated him a house in the county town, with a house servant assigned to him.

After all, she currently does not lack for laborers.

Even before assuming his official duties, Chang Ning could feel Zhao Hanzhang’s regard for him. Once he started dealing with county affairs, he felt it even more, as Zhao Hanzhang truly held nothing back and discussed all matters with him.

He hadn’t even had the chance to acclimate to this new master before being stunned by all the details thrown at him.

Looking at the data in his hand, he awkwardly asked, "What is this?"

"These are the people we need to arrange for," Zhao Hanzhang signaled for someone to hang up a simple map. The reason it was called a simple map was that it only roughly depicted regions with names labeled.

This was drawn by Fu Tinghan based on rough estimates, and the numerical areas were also roughly calculated. However, the areas of wasteland and official land were fairly accurate.

Zhao Hanzhang indicated for Chang Ning to look at the map. "We have decided to place people throughout Xiping County, allowing them to cultivate the currently abandoned lands and official lands."

The surprise on Chang Ning’s face slowly faded, and he calmly asked, "But?"

Zhao Hanzhang looked at him approvingly and continued, "But, there are no houses. We currently lack cold-resistant clothing, bedding, etc., and now we’ve run into the winter wheat planting season, which we must not miss."

Chang Ning asked, "So where are they living now?"

"In the wilderness," Zhao Hanzhang said. "Every day, after working in the fields and eating, they rest on the spot, governed by soldiers dispatched from the army, and they are quite obedient."

Chang Ning pondered, "It is now late autumn. Although it’s getting colder, it is still manageable. However, once the cold front moves south, the nights will be cold, and they can’t continue to sleep outdoors."

Zhao Hanzhang nodded in agreement and eagerly asked, "Do you have any brilliant ideas, sir?"

"No brilliant ideas," Chang Ning replied. "Like you, I suggest they build houses while concurrently farming and planting."

He directly rejected Zhao Hanzhang’s decision to build brick houses, saying, "Simply set up thatched huts first to give them a place to stay."

"But thatched huts aren’t warm," Zhao Hanzhang wanted to accomplish everything in one go. "I’ve already had a brick kiln built, and the first batch of bricks has been fired."

"But you’ve taken in so many people. Building a brick house requires about ten days for the same manpower, while a thatched hut only takes two days," Chang Ning said. "You must weigh the trade-offs. The priority is to settle people to stabilize their hearts. Brick houses can be built next year or even later."

Fu Tinghan added, "They can also be used as rewards later."

Zhao Hanzhang was open to advice. Although it might consume more manpower and time overall, building thatched huts was indeed a better suggestion.

She nodded in agreement.

Next was the main task—to point out resettlement sites within Xiping County and then divide people into teams to be placed at each site.

This was a massive undertaking with many trivial details. It wasn’t just a matter of issuing orders; otherwise, why hadn’t Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan put their plan into action even though they had thought of it two days ago?

Because if there’s a team, there must be a team leader.

Furthermore, each settlement point needs supplies, and those responsible for preparing, distributing, and transporting these supplies have to be arranged.

To ensure their loyalty to Xiping County—in fact, more accurately, to ensure their loyalty to Zhao Hanzhang—ideological education work also had to be noted.

Not to mention the various problems encountered during the resettlement process.

Issues like wanting to be in a team with someone or not wanting to be in a team with another are abundant.

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In a nutshell, Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan feared trivial matters.

With Chang Ning’s arrival, Zhao Hanzhang generously showed him all her plans and pushed all these trivial matters onto him.

She would just oversee the general direction, running around to spot issues and resolve some here and there.

Fu Tinghan also preferred to do calculations in the county government rather than being surrounded by people below, dealing with disputes.

After Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan finished designating resettlement points and marked a few with red ink, she said, "Pay particular attention to these resettlement points. The people sent there must be especially loyal. As for the others, they can be randomly assigned after mixing."

Chang Ning stared at those resettlement points. "What is this..."

"These are defense points," Zhao Hanzhang didn’t elaborate much, only saying, "Once these points are secured, there won’t be incidents of rogue armies slipping through, only to be discovered at our doorstep."

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They could also hold their retreat route, giving them an escape route if Xiping County couldn’t hold in the future.

Chang Ning watched for a while, unable to suppress his doubts. "You’ve recruited so many people, yet you only have 1,200 troops?"

"Yes," Zhao Hanzhang replied. "These 1,200 are elite soldiers. Once the county town is stabilized, I’ll leave only 200 troops in the city while relocating 1,000 to construct and train in a new military camp outside the city."

This way, she would always have a gap of 1,800 people, ready to recruit soldiers whenever necessary. Of course, whether they appear on the military roster would be her decision.

"Then what about these," Chang Ning pointed to the resettlement points, "what do they count as?"

Zhao Hanzhang replied with a half-smile, "Common folk, tenant farmers, long-term workers, or even nonexistent. They are civilians during farming times and soldiers during wartime, with only basic training during peace."

Although Chang Ning had long known the influential families could be ruthless, he hadn’t expected this extent. Following County Magistrate Chai, who secretly purchased some land and engaged a few tenant families to farm, he never dared to hide such a large number of people, especially since most of them were young and strong, fully capable of being soldiers.

Zhao Hanzhang, knowing Chang Ning was not Ji Yuan and had never dealt with such matters before, softened her tone, "Mr. Chang, you don’t need to deliberately distinguish them. To you, they are merely the people of Xiping County. You’re only responsible for their mundane affairs; as for other matters, Zhao Ju will handle them."

Production is managed by Mr. Chang, while military training is Zhao Ju’s responsibility.

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Chang Ning realized this, still somewhat puzzled. "Now that you, my lady, are the County Magistrate of Xiping County, even without imperial documentation, you’ve passed the Inspector’s notice. They are your subjects; why deliberately conceal them?"

Zhao Hanzhang sighed, "Because the taxes are too heavy."

A County Magistrate sighing over heavy taxes—what more could Chang Ning say?

After a moment’s silence, he tacitly approved of this matter.

Seeing their consensus, Zhao Hanzhang immediately smiled, "Then let’s start assigning people to go to resettlement sites to build houses tomorrow."

Chang Ning agreed.

But building houses isn’t something that can be done just like that, because there are so many houses to build at once. The wood is insufficient and must be freshly chopped, and the cut wood also needs to be dried.