weaving

Chapter 1017 Blocking the knife in front of the general
In fact, the Ming Dynasty also had a military title system. In addition to the first merit of beheading the enemy's head, there were also such things as extraordinary merit, first merit, and secondary merit.

However, since the mid-Ming Dynasty, due to the unscrupulous level of overreporting and false reporting of military achievements, the imperial court had no choice but to return to the "first merit" that was not valued very much before.

Compared with the extraordinary, first, and second skills, the first skill is the simplest and clearest, and it is also the most difficult to cheat and fake. After all, the enemy's head is the real material, and it cannot be faked at all.

But in this way, its disadvantages have gradually become fully highlighted. First of all, it is reflected in fairness.

The confrontation between the two armies is not a brawl of gangsters. When the army is fighting fiercely with the enemy, the organization, discipline and cooperation of the soldiers are extremely important.

You must know that the enemy was killed by the joint efforts of all the officers and soldiers, who shed blood and sweat together. Why should the enemy's head be given exclusive access to the enemy's head when it comes to credit?

This way of recording merit by highlighting the first merit can easily shift the attention of the soldiers from killing the enemy to cutting the head.

As the saying goes, "fighting a battle well is not as good as winning the first level"!
Based on this, over time, there will inevitably be many people on the battlefield who do not work hard and only stare at the enemy's head. Once an enemy is chopped to the ground, they will immediately swarm up to grab the head to claim credit, even at the expense of killing each other. .

However, the more serious thing is more than that. Once they start to fight for the enemy's head, it will definitely cause chaos in their own army, thus making the soldiers lose their organization.

Once the formation becomes chaotic during the fierce battle of the army, basically there is only one outcome of defeat, and the only thing left to be slaughtered.

Whether it is the Japanese pirates who once ran rampant for a while, or the northern captives, the eastern captives and slaves, and even the rogue bandits such as Chuangxian often take advantage of this weakness of the Ming army, using dead bodies, single small groups of soldiers, or throwing away some gold and silver. After inducing the Ming army to take the initiative to disrupt their own army formation, they counterattacked and defeated the Ming army in one fell swoop.

Secondly, it is this kind of military merit that is judged by capturing the enemy's "head" will also induce an extreme evil behavior-"killing the good and pretending to be meritorious"!
Because the enemy's head is military merit, as for how and where it came from, it is difficult to be truly and effectively supervised.

So a very real question arises, that is, whose head is easier to obtain, compared with the enemy or the common people?
The answer is extremely cruel-naturally, the resistance of the common people is weaker-and the head is easier to obtain.

It is precisely because of the various drawbacks of the first-level meritorious service system that those court generals who guard one side have quietly modified the system of "first-level meritorious service".

It is no longer just based on the first level to discuss military merit!

Although when the generals ask for merit from the imperial court, they still repay the merit based on the number of heads, but on the battlefield, it is strictly forbidden for the soldiers under their command to cut off the enemy's head privately, and those who dare to commit crimes will most likely be killed on the spot .

The main purpose of their doing this is to strengthen the discipline on the battlefield, so as to improve the organization of their own army and the rigor of the battle formation, so as not to create opportunities for the enemy to break through their own army formation.

So, how are their military exploits calculated?
It is to return to the "combat merit system" again, and use the squad as a unit to distribute the captured enemy heads according to the actual combat performance of each team.

Those who performed poorly on the battlefield would not be given heads, and even some punishments would be given, while those who performed well would get more heads of the enemy, and then each team would share the head rewards equally in a big way.

In fact, Zhang Cheng has been doing this in his own army ever since he came out of Zhenxuan Town North Road. Every time the enemy's head is captured in battle, it is only used to show his merits to the officials and the court.

In his army, the achievements of each battalion and each department in each battle are approved according to the comprehensive performance of each team, bureau, division, and department on the battlefield.

Before the battle, Zhang Cheng would give clear military missions to each department, not general military orders like other generals, so the Xuanfu Army could better assess the performance of each battalion and department on the battlefield, and combine the established missions to complete Circumstances to verify performance.

As for the rewards after meritorious deeds, in addition to promotion, silver rewards, land rewards, house rewards, tax exemption, and corvee exemption, etc., Zhang Cheng also added some rewards such as forgiveness and redemption according to the rules of the Qin Dynasty, and meritorious deeds. crime regulations.

Promotions, silver rewards, land rewards, etc. are all easy to say. Repayment means that you can use your military merits to offset your crimes; redemption means that you can use your military merits to help your parents, brothers, sisters, etc. to atone for sins and avoid punishment.

And crediting meritorious deeds is a bit special. It means to record one's military merits in the roster and not receive rewards for the time being, thinking that it will be used to offset crimes in the future. It is more similar to the feeling of saving money in a bank.

This series of military merit reforms greatly aroused the enthusiasm of Xuanfu army officers and men to obtain military merit, but rewards and incentives alone could not last long.

In the Xuanfu army, the penalty system corresponds to the military rewards. Zhang Cheng has stricter requirements on his subordinates. meat, but the military rules and disciplines are also stricter than other towns.

It was under Zhang Cheng's system of generous rewards with one hand and punishment with a big stick with the other, coupled with excellent equipment and well-drilled, that made the Xuanfu army he led become the strongest army in Ming Dynasty.

Now, he even found that the soldiers and civilians under his rule are all proud to be a soldier under his command, even if there is a male in any household who serves under Yongning Bo's command, it is their capital to show off.

Not only has the public's view of officers and soldiers changed, from the initial contempt to the current admiration, even the heroes in the Xuanfu army have been worshiped by the soldiers, and they have become the objects they scramble to emulate, and secretly vowed that they will do the same next time. You have to work hard to kill the enemy and get a medal back.

…………

It was precisely after seeing the great role played by the medal that Zhang Cheng remembered the military rank system of later generations.

Military rank is a kind of honor for soldiers. The military rank system is based on comprehensive factors such as the officer's position, seniority, contribution, and ability as the evaluation criteria, and the promotion of generals is determined based on this.

At the same time, the military rank system can further straighten out the allocation relationship of officers, greatly enhance the sense of responsibility and honor of officers and soldiers, and improve the quality of officers, so as to strengthen the command, management, support and coordination of the army. .

However, for the officials and generals of the Ming Dynasty at this time, the military rank system is still a bit ahead of schedule.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty also had a system of scattered ranks and honored officers, which is slightly similar to the military rank system of later generations, but it is completely different.

The loose ranks of the Ming Dynasty belonged to honorary titles, referring to the grades of officials without fixed positions, and the false titles conferred at the same time when the official position was conferred, which is very similar to the military ranks of later generations. .

Moreover, there are both civil and military ranks in Ming Dynasty's San ranks and Honored Officers. For example, there are 43 ranks in Wen San ranks, [-] ranks in Wu San ranks, ten ranks in Wen Xun ranks, and [-] ranks in Wu Xun ranks.

It is not only divided into civil and military, but also has a variety of names and complicated operations. The biggest problem is that no matter whether it is a loose rank or an honorary officer, it is a national treasure, and it is not something that Zhang Cheng can use to award his subordinates at will.

Therefore, he thought of using the military rank system of later generations to further enhance the sense of honor of his subordinates, match the positions, seniority, contributions and abilities of the generals, and strengthen the command, management and security of the subordinates.

However, this move of his made everyone faintly worried, fearing that he might be suspected of setting up official names and conferring official positions privately.

The reason why everyone has opposing opinions is also for the good of Zhang Cheng!
After all, they are now tightly tied to a vine. As the leader of the team, Yongningbo Zhang Cheng, his every move has a bearing on the honor, disgrace and survival of the entire team.

Those who have already obtained vested interests naturally do not want Zhang Cheng to take risks again, so as not to affect their own vital interests and life and death.

Of course, there are also a large number of people who have already worshiped Zhang Cheng extremely, and have even developed an extremely trusting psychology. They firmly believe that Yongningbo is the "greedy wolf star" from the sky, who came to save the people from suffering.

Ever since Zhang Cheng went to Yu Province to aid in the suppression of the rebellion and came back from the great victory, the legend about "killing the wolf" has become popular in Xuanfu.

Folk rumors say that Zhang Cheng is the first star of the Big Dipper, the "Greedy Wolf Star".

These are the characters and abilities possessed by Zhang Cheng, which coincides with the original destiny of the greedy wolf star. Moreover, he behaves differently between good and evil, acts a little extreme, and has a sense of moodiness.

In this way, isn't it true that Zhang Cheng is the reincarnation of "Greedy Wolf"?

There is another saying that after the reincarnation of Tanlangxing, once he meets Jiyao, he will be the master of wealth and glory, and he will definitely be able to completely control the military and political power in the future, and his reputation will shake the world!

This is also one of the reasons why the officials under his command are willing to risk their lives to follow.

People even rumored that Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, Luo Rucai and his ilk, together with Wang Er, Wang Jiayin, Wang Ziyong, Gao Yingxiang and other thieves who had been put to death before, were described as the "Seven Killing Stars" with the spirit of killing the Lord of Heaven. World.

They were sent by the heavens to punish the world. That's why they were able to spread across thousands of miles and wreak havoc in more than ten provinces of Ming Dynasty.

As for why this happened, there are different opinions. It is difficult for ordinary people to see the truth. Some of them say that God is testing Emperor Zhu Ming, while others say that God is punishing Emperor Zhu Ming so that the people will suffer together.

Some people even say that this is the prelude to a change of dynasty...

The reason for saying this is because it is rumored that Huang Taiji, the slave chieftain of Liaodong, came into the world from the "Pojun Star". .

It is precisely because of this that the Tartars were able to attack Daming several times with a corner of their land, and repeatedly penetrated into the important areas of the Jifu of the Ming Dynasty, plundering impermanence, causing chaos to the heaven, and walking around the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

"Seven killings, greedy wolves, and breaking the army", when these three stars meet in the three directions of the palace of fate, it is the so-called "killing and breaking the wolf" pattern. "The great world is coming.

These contents are recorded in "Ziwei Doushu". The ancients believed in these principles of astrology and fate with great sincerity, and never even doubted them, so they derived the saying "The world will inevitably change hands, and it is irreversible." "The rumors came out.

Although this kind of legend has only been spread in the Xuanfu, especially in the North Road folks, people are extremely convinced and convincing, and even under the guidance of caring people, they compared Yongningbo Zhang Cheng to the famous ZTE general Fen of the Tang Dynasty. Yang Wang Guo Ziyi.

Because of the above, two factions of opinion formed in the front hall of Chicheng Castle General's Office, one of which advocated to act cautiously, and it is not appropriate to set up another name, so as not to arouse the suspicion of the imperial court, which would be detrimental to the brave army.

The other faction is dominated by military officers and generals, who unswervingly support Yongningbo's decision. Although it is not clear what the military rank system is, they can understand one thing clearly.

That is, when this military rank is first appointed, it will match the official position of each general, but the official position is limited and cannot be continuously promoted. However, the military rank is different, because the military rank can be continuously promoted, and the level of military rank will affect each general. How much military pay does a person receive.

Although for all the generals here, the military salary is no longer too much temptation, they have already realized the freedom of wealth, but honor is indeed an existence that they cherish extremely.

Just imagine, everyone is a military officer, and the monthly salary of the infantry commander is slightly less than that of the cavalry commander, but this is already a public matter, and everyone has no objection.

But once the military rank system mentioned by Uncle Yongning is implemented, everyone will be the commander of the infantry or the commander of the cavalry, but my rank is slightly higher than yours, and even the monthly salary is a little higher than others. What an honor will this be?

Monthly salary is a small matter, but face is a big matter!
What's more, after listening to Uncle Yongning's detailed explanation, in the future, the chief of armor must be selected among the top soldiers, oh, that is, the top sergeants, and the top sergeants are the elite of all soldiers, and there are also sergeants and corporals .

In this way, it will be clear at a glance how many sergeants, sergeants, and corporals there are in each armor, team, bureau, and division. It provides great convenience for deploying soldiers and commanding operations.

Although Jin Xinpeng, the commander of the Yongning Guard, did not strongly object to this, he still could not be completely relieved. He said with suspicion: "The general's move is really beneficial to our brave army, but I am afraid that it will be held by villains. Bewitch and criticize in front of you."

He then continued softly: "If rumors of these people's attacks spread into the palace and are heard by the emperor, it may be detrimental to the future of the general."

Zhang Cheng also knows that what he said is true, and the worries of the officials under his command are precisely here. Once the privately established official titles are spread, people will leave excuses to criticize him. unfavorable.

However, Zhang Cheng's personality of "knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, but preferring to travel to the mountains" is revealed again.

With a very relaxed expression on his face, he said lightly: "The 'military rank system' is helpful to motivate our soldiers to fight in front of the battle and strive to make meritorious deeds first. I think it is feasible, and the generals also think it is feasible. Implement it within.

As for the future?But now there is no need to worry about it, it is nothing more than 'soldiers come to block, water comes to cover up' that's all, if the emperor asks about this matter, benbo will bear it all by himself and will not drag everyone down.

You don't need to worry about this! "

Only after Yongning Bo Zhang Cheng finished speaking, Zhang Guangda, the new leader of the Qinglong Battalion, was the first to stand up and walked to the middle space. I will be willing to be driven by the general, go through fire and water, and will not hesitate to stand in front of the general, and will not change until death!"

Led by his exemplary behavior, Zhang Guodong, Chen Zheng, Wu Zhizhong, Wei Zhice, Li Jiyu, Wang Yuanjing and others followed suit one after another. Liu Minshen is not willing to be left behind.

In a blink of an eye, the hall was full of people kneeling down in darkness. Only Lin Fangping, the deputy general of the Weiyuan Battalion, was still lying on the rattan chair and expressed his loyalty loudly because of his injuries.

(End of this chapter)