Maturity

Strengthen internal governance, prepare the military externally.

Jiang Hao was the first to deal with the surrendered Shache soldiers.

He had several military commanders under him: Pang Xiong, Cheng Yong, Du Bin, Ke Ji, and Luo Weina. Each had originally commanded only a little over a hundred men, but now Jiang Hao planned to assign two thousand surrendered Shache soldiers to each of them.

The five were promoted directly from military commanders to captains, which already counted as becoming generals.

Cheng Yong still concurrently served as the head of the scouts.

This was both a reward and a test for them. If they could manage these two thousand men well, they might have even greater opportunities ahead. If they could not even manage two thousand men, then that would mean their abilities ended there.

Only those who could keep up would go farther.

Jiang Hao also won over a batch of Shache officials. After careful selection, he retained some who were familiar with local conditions and had them continue managing Shache's affairs. He appointed the former prime minister as Shache's prime minister to assist the Queen in handling government matters.

Naturally, he also placed his own people in certain positions.

For Shache, Jiang Hao intended to implement a policy of two centers and one basic principle. The two centers were firmly controlling the military and finances. The one basic principle was that as long as the Shache people did not rebel, they could govern themselves. That would make it easier for them to truly submit.

He issued a Legal Seal: Shache would be exempt from taxes for one year, with reduced taxes for two years. Refugees were encouraged to return home, and every effort was made to help them survive the winter.

After half a month of constant work, Jiang