Elena Wei's Silent Vigil and Shadows Over the Border Chapter 107

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the prefecture-county system was implemented. The chief official of a prefecture was called the prefecture governor. During the reign of Emperor Jing, the title was changed to the prefect. The chief official of a county was called the magistrate or the head. The county magistrate was the county governor if he governed more than 10,000 households, and the county head was the county head if he governed less than 10,000 households. The county lieutenant and the county magistrate were his assistants.

Outside of Chang'an, each county, regardless of size, had only one county magistrate. This was not the case with county lieutenants. Small counties had one lieutenant, while large counties usually had two lieutenants, the left and the right.

Shaling County was located at a strategic point, and had to face the Xiongnu in the north all year round. Whenever there was a war, the county officials would grab their knives and rush to the battlefield. Even the postmen under the pavilion, as long as they were a little old, had knife marks on their bodies, and they must have fought desperately with the Hu cavalry.

The county lieutenant was in charge of catching bandits and maintaining public order in peacetime, and in wartime he was a military marquis in charge of 500 frontier troops. Given the situation in the border counties, more often than not, the military marquis was the main job, and the county lieutenant was more of a part-time job.

After Evan Zhao received the official seal and sash, he followed Liam Wei's instructions and reported to the army first before handing it over to the official temple.