Yuan Yao came to the elder's hall to receive documents from his fief. He approached Yuan Ji, who sat behind a desk with a stalk of papers.
"Elder Shenbo, would please tell me where I can get my fief's records." Yuan Yao asked.
"The newly minted Lord Yuan Yao, come here. Do you see this stalk of papers? They are the records of your fief." Yuan ji replied while pointing to the stalk of papers on his desk.
"May I ask a question, Elder Shenbo?" Yuan Yao inquired, "If you are asking why your fief has so many records, don't fret." Yuan Ji assured him.
"It is because your fief is newly created." Yuan Ji continued his explanation. "Your fief was made of bits and pieces from various counties, and fiefs, and some abandoned land."
Then the fief was hastily created. Yuan Yao thought, but did not voice it openly. He bowed his head, "I'll graciously accept the responsibility the family has placed upon me."
Yuan Ji silently observed Yuan Yao, then he pushed the paper stalk in Yuan Yao's direction. "Some elders in the family would like to see you fail. This will be an administrative hell. As long as you even half succeed in running this fief they'll eat a handful of bitter pills."
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Yuan Yao returned to his manor. Upon his return he saw a number of people, previously absent, inside.
"Uncle Ji Ling, when did you come?" Yuan Yao cheerfully asked.
"I returned just before your granduncle's bloody return. After that I was busy with work. I came here to congratulate you on gaining a fief." He replied.
After that he pointed towards a tall, broadly built man. "He is called Wen Deng, a capable warrior. I'll lend him to you until the end of the war against Dong Zhuo. He can train the basic soldiers. Make good use of him."
The burly man stepped out, "This soldier meets the lord."
"Then I'll rely on you to build a capable squad of soldiers for me." Yuan Yao acknowledged him.
"Then I'll bid you farewell," Ji Ling said. "I have work to do."
After Ji Ling left Yuan Yao sat comfortably and looked around. He had gotten himself a warrior now, courtesy of Ji Ling. Being a scion of the Yuan family had its own benefits. He didn't need to search for talents incessantly; they would make themselves known to him, if not they would be introduced by his father or uncles. If only the current situation continued, he could kick his leg up and enjoy all the luxuries of being a rich dad's son.
He woke up his thoughts and surveyed his surroundings. Sima Lang was his friend and the primary advisor, Luyan Cheng could be used as manager of the fief, Wen Deng could be used to train new recruits, and Ren Liqiu, and Ren Liqin could attend him. He could live the life of a prince if only his fief wasn't such a Frankenstein's Monster.
"I want to appoint Wen Deng as Master of Gates, his responsibilities will be to train enough troops to protect the mansion, and solve any problem in the fief that needs soldiers. Are there any objections?"
Seeing that nobody talked, he pointed to the records he brought from the elder's hall. "These are the records pertaining to the fief. We should read it and form an idea as to the condition of the fief."
Both Sima Lang, and Luyan Cheng came forward and sat around him. They picked up a document each and started to read through it.
The documents in the stalk were pertaining to the household registration, tax collection, land ownership, and many other such documents. It detailed how much grain, on average, could be harvested from each village; how much taxes the mills, artisans, fishermen paid, and how much they paid in kind, and how much they paid in coins.
It also listed the name of each household, its head's name and how many people were in each household. There were also documents listing the tax obligations of each household, and how much they paid and if any more needed to be paid.
The documents were extensive and exhaustive in their details. They could get a rough picture of the fief with it.
Yuan Yao's fief contained parts of the other fiefs, where the documentation was thorough and exhaustive detailing everything. It not only recorded households and how many people were in each, and tax records of them, but it also recorded how many animals each household had, how many farm equipment and kinds, did they have any other kind of equipment, or any vehicles, all such things were recorded. On the other hand if it was not a previous fief such detailed records were absent.
Finally Yuan Yao picked up a parchment which was a memorandum written by Yuan Ji. He read it and saw that it was a list of important families, and forces within his fief.
In the east, along the Fenhe and Qinglong river, the He clan was the foremost family. With the marshy wetlands created by the joining of the two rivers, and the repeated flooding caused by these two rivers made the land here very difficult to farm. As such He clan were a clan of fishermen who primarily fished on the boats built by them. They would also ferry people across the rivers in key crossings of the fief.
In the north and west, the Han clan was dominant with their irritated fields. This family was the biggest grain harvester of the fief.
Another important individual was the county clerk, Zhang Rong. He served as a clerk for the last forty years, an elderly person with lots of experience. While he wasn't the clerk of the fief for long, Yuan Yao felt this elderly veteran was placed here to observe him, if not to make his life difficult.
He looked up from the heap of documents as he drank a sip of herbal tea. He was surprised that the sun hadn't gone down yet. There was still an hour before the sundown.
He looked at the two scholars that were single mindedly reading the documents. It seemed they also were going to finish in a short while. He waited for them to finish while slowly sipping the tea.
"Boda, didn't we finish reading the documents awfully quickly?" Yuan Yao asked Sima Lang as soon as everyone finished reading the documents.
"I felt that too, my reading speed has increased by at least two tenths." Sima Lang agreed.
Both of them looked at Luyan Cheng, who had a faint smirk on his face. "It is my skill. How do you like it?"
""You were born destined for paperwork!"" Both were astonished, and spoke simultaneously.
"Then let's exchange our insight. Since I read the memorandum that overviewed the situation I'll go first." Yuan Yao spoke. "There are two prominent families within the fief; one builds boats, another is a farming giant. There are four independent villages, and a market along the road to Nanyang."
Both scholars nodded, then Yuan Yao asked. "We definitely need to visit each of them after I go to the office in the market. Do you guys have any idea who I should meet first?"
"There will be resentments if you pick any of them." Sima Lang said.
"You shouldn't meet any of them first." Luyan Cheng spoke.
"Well, if I don't meet any of them, how will I know the full extent of the fief?" Yuan Yao questioned. "Even if I were to invite them here I would still eventually have to meet someone first."
"I didn't mean it like that." Luyan Cheng explained. "There is a shrine called Azure Dragon Crossing Shrine at the banks of Qinglong river. This shrine has a legend and is worshipped by most of the common folk in the fief. You can perform the land binding ceremony there and invite everyone. In that case everyone, without fail, will come there, and no one would accuse you of favouring any one clan as they have already met you. If any clan has failed to impress the lord it is their own incompetence not your bias."
He continued. "This will also give you prestige among some common folk and they would be ready to join the militia voluntarily."
Yuan Yao thought for a while and decided, "Then let's do it that way. Liqin, contact the clan astrologer, and have him pick an auspicious timing for the binding ceremony."