Pan Yun stood behind them, watching Xue Shao teach her disciple. She nodded in satisfaction. It seemed she had made the right choice in coming here—Xue Shao was even better at teaching disciples than she was.
Heilongjiang was sparsely populated. Most settlements were tribes, and some tribes stood close together while others lay far apart. Some had good relations with one another, while others did not.
Some were families bound by generations of friendship; others carried feuds passed down through generations.
Back when Heilongjiang was still the Nurgan Commandery, each tribe ruled itself. It was only because the Jurchen tribes were relatively powerful that the other tribes, willingly or unwillingly, obeyed the Jurchens.
But after the Imperial Court abolished the loose-rein states and changed the Nurgan Commandery into Heilongjiang, their dragon's head was forcibly decided for them.
Xue Shao was Heilongjiang's first Provincial Administration Commissioner, while Pan Yu served as Commander-in-Chief. One governed civil affairs, the other commanded the military.
Because of Pan Yun, the Imperial Court had initially wanted to separate the two. After all, Xue Shao and Pan Yun were close. The court naturally had to worry that the two might join hands, with military and civil administration growing too harmonious. What if they rebelled?
But Heilongjiang had only just abolished the loose-rein states, and the tribes were still far from convinced. At such a time, rather than playing a balancing game here, it was better to seek cooperation and mutual benefit.
Moreover, there were not many high-ranking civil and military officials in court who could work together in full accord. Xue Shao and Pan Yu had never worked together before, but Pan Yun stood between them as a bond. It was better to give the two a try.
Thus, after careful deliberation, the Grand Secretariat recommended them