As an important border town in the Great Zhou Dynasty, Qinzhou also had trade responsibilities for trade, friendship, and exchanges with various foreign countries.

The governance in Qinzhou is also very different from that in other inland areas.

When ruling in Qinzhou, the main task was to reconcile the relationships among the various ethnic groups within the territory and to assimilate the foreign ethnic groups within the territory through culture.

Build cities and forts at important passways, strengthen exchanges with Tibetan tribes outside the territory, and enhance the military defense capabilities of the state capital.

Sheng Changbai was not very interested in participating in these tasks that should have been done by Zhizhou.

The main purpose of coming here is to understand the situation of the foreign races in the foreign countries. Solving some of the war horse problems is the basis.

The most ideal situation is to develop these people into Dazhou's mercenaries.

The administrative seat of Qinzhou is in Chengji County within the territory. After Sheng Changbai arrived, he first reported to the Yamen with his official badge.

I met the magistrate and some of the officials who stayed in the government office and were on duty, signing letters to judge the official affairs of the government office, recommending military officials, Cao officials recording affairs and joining the army, managers joining the army, and sihu joining the army, etc.

Then he went to settle down in the back office of the Tongpan Hall. In the evening, he attended the reception banquet held by the state office and met several military attachés stationed in Qinzhou.

Even Sheng Changbai officially showed up in Qinzhou.

As the second assistant official who can supervise the prefecture, Tong San's first thing after taking office is to take over the treasury.

Check whether there are any problems with the accounts and whether all the materials that should be in the treasury are available.

Considering the national conditions of Dazhou, the difference is not big and is within the tolerance range.

Then Sheng Changbai simply checked the accounts without going into too much detail.

Even though a large part of the taxes of the Great Zhou Dynasty has been provided to the northwest, this place is still short of money.

Military spending on border defense is a bottomless pit that cannot be filled.

It is common here for the treasury to be embezzled.

After taking control of the treasury and doing his duty well, Sheng Changbai did not make any unnecessary moves.

In Qinzhou, it is better to familiarize yourself with the situation first and attend some gatherings of officials, businessmen, landlords, squires and literati.

After identifying all the important figures in Qinzhou City.

Sheng Changbai left Qinzhou City. The first step was to walk around his own territory and understand the specific situation.

Although Qinzhou is not low-level and belongs to the Jiedu State level, and the place is not small, with an area larger than the average state capital, there are only four counties within its jurisdiction.

The four counties of Chengji, Longcheng, Tianshui and Qingshui, and more places, were built with defensive fortresses.

The construction of these forts in strategically located locations began during the Renzong Dynasty.

It was also during the Renzong Dynasty that Xixia rose to power and established its political power.

Then Xixia invaded Zhou Dynasty and beat Han Zhang to a bloody head.

Zhou Dynasty's strategy in the northwest shifted from active exploration to passive defense mode.

Defense means building fortresses and constructing a complete line of defense.

Anyone who calls it a stronghold has a perimeter of nine hundred paces for a large one, and five hundred paces for a small one. Those who call it a fortress have a perimeter of one hundred paces for a large one, and a hundred paces for a small one.

Anything greater than 900 paces has broken away from the level of a fortress and can be called a city.

It took about thirty years for the Zhou Dynasty to build hundreds of forts for military purposes in the northwest, all over Qinzhou.

Even the smallest standard fortress has a circumference of more than 100 meters.

In the Zhou Dynasty where productivity was insufficient, forts were built on terrain like Qinzhou.

A single fortress cannot be considered a small project, let alone the ones built everywhere in Qinzhou.

Putting aside the cost of the huge garrison, these projects alone represent a huge expenditure.

This is also an important reason why Dazhou's finances are becoming more and more difficult.

Because of the agreement signed between the Great Zhou Dynasty and the Liao Kingdom, the Great Zhou Dynasty could not build military forces on the northern border.

The northwest region was where the Zhou Dynasty built the most military forces.

Qinzhou is also the place with the most military construction in the northwest region.

It was actually quite shocking to see these forts built on traffic thoroughfares and in dangerous terrain, with people carrying them on their shoulders.

But just from the surface, you can see that the project is as difficult as a miracle, and you can know how much sacrifices were made by the court and the people during the construction process.

The cost is quite high, but the defensive capabilities are not that good either.

Sheng Changbai spent half a month and returned from a brief inspection of Qinzhou, and Zhizhou approached Sheng Changbai.

After all, there are two people working on a team, so they always need to communicate first.

"Yushi Sheng, I wonder what your impression is of our Qinzhou folk customs?"

Zhizhou was also called Sheng Changbai Yushi, and he was also Sheng Changbai's position as censor, which was not taken back by the new emperor.

The second-in-command of the Central Supervision Department is also Sheng Changbai’s most prestigious position.

The new emperor is still interesting enough, and he retains his identity as censor. In the northwest, Sheng Changbai has the confidence to be worthy of anyone and do what he wants to do.

"It is definitely different from the folk customs in Bianliang and even the south. The folk customs in the northwest are still much more generous."

Being on the border, we face threats to the survival of foreign ethnic groups at any time. Han Chinese and foreign ethnic groups live together and influence each other.

Qinzhou can be regarded as the most martial place among the places that Sheng Changbai has experienced in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Not only are the people good at martial arts, but the frontier troops here are also braver than the Forbidden Army in Bianliang.

The Zhou Dynasty's policy of rotating the imperial army to guard the border still had some effect.

The Bianliang Forbidden Army in a peaceful environment was obviously much less powerful than the Forbidden Army on the border.

Of course, there are probably more than 300,000 troops stationed in the northwest region, that is, the entire Shaanxi province.

The forbidden troops here actually account for less than half.

In addition to the Xiang army who are responsible for doing chores and handymen, the northwest also has its own military force.

It can be said that most of them are Xiangyong composed mainly of local children.

These rural warriors can also be said to be the most powerful force in the northwest, the famous "Western Army" of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

In recent years, the combat effectiveness of the Western Army has been no less than that of ordinary Forbidden Army commanders.

If the Imperial Guard is not reformed, it will continue to be corrupt and desolate.

It is only a matter of time that these warriors from the northwest will surpass the Forbidden Army in combat effectiveness.

"This is a border state after all. The people and the army are always facing the threat of Xixia bandits. It is naturally different from other places."

The magistrate of Qinzhou, whose surname is Wang, is in his thirties and under forty, and is considered a key training target of the court.

After all, a place like Qinzhou is an important border town, and the imperial court has always been very cautious in appointing and dismissing officials in Qinzhou.

Han Zhang, who is about to retire to the second line now, also served as the magistrate of Qinzhou.

Among the many civil servants in the Song Dynasty, Wang Zhizhou was considered to be one who knew the military.

After becoming a Jinshi more than ten years ago, he has been working in the northwest region.

He understands military affairs and the northwest, so he can take on the important task of knowing the state of Qinzhou.

Judging from his resume alone, Wang Zhizhou is indeed more suitable to serve as Qinzhou Zhizhou than Sheng Changbai.

This Wang Zhizhou has nothing to do with Sheng Changbai's social circle, has no connection with Uncle Wang's family, and is not an old official of the Hai family.

How good the relationship is depends on Sheng Changbai himself.

"Qinzhou's soldiers are indeed quite elite."

Sheng Changbai said in agreement.

Judging from Sheng Changbai's personal observation, the current northwest army's combat effectiveness is not bad at all.

The reason why he was always at a disadvantage in the confrontation with Xixia.

In addition to the absolute advantage of cavalry over infantry, they can still run away if they cannot be defeated.

Dazhou's command of the army was also key.

Every time a small group of Xixia soldiers invaded, it was just the first one to catch Da Zhou by surprise.

After Zhou Dynasty reacted, Xixia would not be able to take advantage easily.

In some local areas, it is common for Xixia soldiers to suffer losses.

But when there was a large-scale battle between the two sides, Zhou changed his command, and the army lost its autonomy and was often at a disadvantage.

"Although our Western Army is far inferior to the Forbidden Army in all aspects and treatment, its elite level is no worse than others." After serving as an official in the Northwest for more than ten years, Wang Zhizhou has obviously developed feelings for the Northwest and regards himself as a Northwester.

"It's only been half a month since Sheng Yushi arrived in our Qinzhou. What do you think about our Qinzhou?" Wang Zhizhou continued.

"Ming Gong has managed Qinzhou well. I'm a newbie here, so I don't have any opinions."

Sheng Changbai couldn't speak directly, so he had to be polite and humble every day.

"When Sheng Yushi was in charge of the trial in Xuzhou, he achieved great achievements. I have heard about some of them. I still hope that Sheng Yushi can use his talents to benefit our military and civilians in Qinzhou."
To be continued...