Across vast Qingzhou, the wind swept over patches of gold and boundless ears of wheat.
Luo Yan still wore his crimson official robes, but now a sword hung at his waist. He had gradually grown a beard, and his face no longer held the restless liveliness of years past. He looked thoroughly composed.
Looking at the heads of Qingzhou Gentry and Powerful Clans before him, he asked with a ringing laugh, "Have all the sons of your families set out with the army?
"This great war will be the founding war of our Zhao State.
"Those who earn merit in this war will enjoy prominence in our Zhao State hereafter. Otherwise, they will fall into decline.
"This is my heartfelt care for Qingzhou as its governor. Do you all understand?"
At Luo Yan's insistence, every male aged fifteen and above from Qingzhou Gentry and Powerful Clans had to accompany the army and earn merit on the battlefield.
Before them all, Luo Yan chatted and laughed pleasantly, looking most affable.
In the Zhao State as it stood, what Luo Yan said was true.
With Zhao State's founding, its political base naturally remained the great aristocratic clans. Every feudal lord in All Under Heaven was the same in this regard.
But under the system Luo Yan had devised, regardless of a family's previous clan prestige, all aristocrats and powerful gentry had to take their places in the hierarchy according to their contributions.
Even the Lü Clan and Han Clan had to stand at the back of the line without merit, let alone these local magnates of Qingzhou.
In Luo Yan's eyes, giving them the chance to join the army, contribute grain, earn merit, and prove themselves was a favor to them.
Of course, there was actually another purpose, one not fit for