Once Gu Ji, Tian Hong, Ye An, and the others had come ashore, Ye An began arranging their itinerary.
"Let's go to Yashan Commandery first. The Provincial Governor's Office of Qiongzhou Island is located there, so we can pay a visit to Provincial Governor Xue first and hear his suggestions about our itinerary." Ye An immediately explained this to the two men.
"Provincial Governor? Isn't it a Prefect? What kind of position is a Provincial Governor?" Tian Hong asked curiously.
The You Fu and Dashu they had met before were both Prefects. They could manage a territory as large as a commandery, along with several cities. Thus, they had always assumed that in the Han Tribe, aside from the Chieftain, the most powerful officials were the various Prefects. But what exactly did this Provincial Governor who had now appeared do?
Seeing this, Ye An immediately began explaining it to the two of them.
"In our Han Tribe, the smallest administrative unit is the Li-Lu, also called a village or settlement. The names differ from place to place, but they all mean the same thing: an administrative unit made up of dozens or hundreds of households.
"Above a village is a county, or county seat. Its chief official is called a County Magistrate or County Magistrate, depending on the size of the county. They generally manage one city along with the villages surrounding it.
"Above a county is a commandery. The chief official of a commandery is called a Prefect. They manage several cities or several counties. Generally speaking, that's the highest official you know of—but it actually isn't.
"In the Han Tribe, there are also provinces above the commanderies. They're divided according to geographical location. For example, this island is called Qiongzhou Island, and its administrative name is Qiongzhou. Geographically,