Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

With the salt tax money from Jiangnan sent by Yuan Shizhen, the court finally decided on the rewards for the meritorious soldiers.

In this war, Mao Wenlong gained the most. From May to now, he has obtained more than 1,800 heads.

Adding the more than 2,800 heads obtained before, the number of Jianlu heads he obtained has reached 4,600, only 400 short of 5,000 heads.

Zhu Youjian offered a reward for the Korean soldiers and civilians, one head granted citizenship of the Ming Dynasty, and ten heads granted the title of Ming Gongshi. Both were still civilians, but were eligible to become officers after studying in military academies.

If the number reaches one hundred, the title of a hundred households can be inherited, and the hereditary title of knighthood can be granted, and the military force of a hundred households can be owned.

One thousand hereditary thousand-household officers, granted the hereditary title of baron, can have the military force of a thousand-household officer.

Two thousand hereditary commanders, granted hereditary baronial titles, can command the military strength of two thousand households.

Five thousand directly granted to hereditary earls can have a guard force.

Because a reward of 5,000 households was offered for Hauge's life, Cui Nanyi, who shot and killed him, was directly awarded the title of Earl of Cijiang.

Although Mao Wenlong's contribution was not enough to be awarded the title of Earl, considering his previous achievements and the number of people killed and wounded in the two red flags, two white flags, and red-bordered flags, Zhu Youjian decided to grant him the hereditary title of Earl and the title of Dongjiang Earl, making the title of Dongjiang Earl worthy of the title.

Below him was Xie San, who shot and killed Shuotuo, and was awarded the hereditary viscount. And because he had gained a thousand households of merit in shooting and killing Haoge, his merit had now reached three thousand households, so he was directly awarded the second-class son, which was very close to the earl.

Next in line were Li Jiuchen, Zhang Song and others, who were granted hereditary baronial titles.

Hong Chengchou, who was in charge of the Korean War, also received the hereditary title of Viscount, because he captured more than 2,000 heads of the Jianlu in the entire Korean battlefield.

In order to encourage civil officials to make contributions and to help Hong Chengchou establish prestige in Korea, Zhu Youjian directly granted him the title of Viscount and asked the court to praise his achievements.

There was a lot of controversy between the Privy Council and the Lifan Yuan about this point. Because Hong Chengchou did not perform well in the last battle, the battle of annihilation that was originally planned was broken through by the Jianlu.

This means that his two thousand merits were all shared by his subordinates. The words used to confer titles were somewhat unconvincing.

Zhu Youjian said:
"Hong Chengchou played a role in the establishment of the Han vassal state and the submission of Joseon to the country."

"Although the Korean War was not completely won, it was a victory after all. Hong Chengchou, who led the war, should be praised for his achievements."

"In the future, when we implement the Ming Dynasty's system in Korea, we will also need to improve his status."

"For example, he could preside over the Joseon Nobles' Council."

Now the officials of Lifanyuan understood that the emperor wanted Hong Chengchou to unite the nobles of vassal Korea in his capacity as a noble and use the aristocratic parliament to limit the power of the Korean king.

In this case, Hong Chengchou naturally had to have a noble status. And the title could not be too low to avoid being looked down upon by the Joseon monarch and his ministers.

This made many people envy Hong Chengchou's good luck, and some people even vaguely realized that serving as prime minister in a vassal state in the future might be a shortcut to being granted a title.

Officials who originally viewed being a minister abroad as a dangerous career now began to be tempted.

In addition to the Korean battlefield, other battlefields also needed rewards.

The heroes who fought in the defense of Dalingh River in Liaodong have already been rewarded. The heroes of Jiangling Principality and Black Dragon Camp who raided the Khorchin tribe also submitted a list of meritorious soldiers after returning by boat.

The Privy Council also issued rewards, and Zhu Youjian conferred titles on meritorious soldiers.

Only the grassland battlefield has not yet ended. Man Gui is still leading the grassland coalition forces to sweep the old territory of Chahan.

The grassland people who were not from the Chahan tribe showed no mercy to the Naiman and Aohan tribes who had surrendered to the Jianlu. Not only did they fight with the men of these tribes, they also took away their cattle, sheep, horses, women, children, etc. and took them back as their own.

After the defeat at Khorchin, Lin Danhan lost his prestige and was unable to restrain them. In addition, he hated the Naiman and Aohan tribes, so he chose to let them go.

It can be said that even if Huang Taiji led the soldiers to rescue, the Naiman and Aohan tribes would still be destroyed.

Unable to bear the loss, the people of the two tribes have begun to seek refuge with Nengqi, Tujin, and Daiqing, who are also from the two tribes. These three have recruited many herdsmen, and together with those they brought to seek refuge with the Ming Dynasty before, the viscount titles they were granted have become well-deserved.

Count Zasai, who came from the Inner Khalkha tribe, also took advantage of the opportunity of the army's approaching border to recruit some people from the former Khalkha tribe.

Now that the Jianlu have withdrawn their troops from Korea, the imperial court has ordered them to return with their troops and herdsmen and settle in the west of Liaodong.

"Man Gui's contribution is also not small, he should be awarded the title of earl."

"He has made many contributions in Liaodong before, so he will be rewarded this time."

Zhu Youjian looked at the report about Man Gui's return with troops and said to his ministers.

Man Gui had previously been granted the title of hereditary commander-in-chief, which was equivalent to the title of viscount.

Although not many heads were taken this time, his contribution in presiding over the grassland war was indeed not small.

Zhu Youjian wanted to confer him the title of earl to encourage the military general to make meritorious services.

However, this reward is even more controversial than the previous reward given to Hong Chengchou.

After all, Hong Chengchou was only granted the title of Viscount, which was still a low-level title.

The earl was a high-ranking noble who could establish a vassal state.

Man Gui wanted to be directly conferred the title of Earl without having won any decent battles. Some people in the Privy Council could not understand this and strongly opposed it.

Zhu Youjian listened to the voices of the Privy Council ministers and did not expect that there would be so many people who opposed him.

However, after comparing the identities of Hong Chengchou and Man Gui, it gradually became clear.

Even though Hong Chengchou commanded the Korean War, he was still a civil official by birth.

Man Gui is different from him. He is a pure military general, and there is even a voice calling him the leader of the military generals.

Once he is conferred the title of Earl, Yang Zhaoji, Zhu Mei, Zhao Lushi, You Shilu and others will also have the opportunity to be conferred the title of Earl.

In this case, the power of the military generals is too great, and the civil officials of the Privy Council will naturally suppress it.

But the more this happened, the more Zhu Youjian wanted to make Man Gui a baron. If the generals were not given the opportunity to be granted a baron title, how could they fight bravely?
For example, this time he asked Liaodong to send troops to support, but the Liaodong troops were just bluffing and pretending to support. The hundreds of thousands of troops were almost just for show, allowing the Jianlu to plunder Korea and then withdrawing calmly.

If Man Gui were conferred the title of earl, those people like Zhao Lujiao, who thought that their previous contributions were not inferior to his, would think that as long as they made contributions, they would have the opportunity to be conferred the title of earl.

When they encounter a weak position in the Jianlu army again, they might take risks and seek opportunities to fight.

Zhu Youjian, who holds the power to confer foreign titles, made a forced decision:
"Mangui's ancestors once lived on the grasslands and got along well with the grassland people."

"Confer him the title of Earl of Shuntian and choose a fiefdom on the grassland."

"The tiger is as powerful and fierce as a tiger. Let them choose their territory to recruit herders."

“Also, give Man Gui the status of a minister to Mongolia, and let him help the various tribes to form a noble council, and then set up the Shuntian Noble Council in Chengde City.” Now the ministers had nothing to say, because the power to enthrone the Shuntian nobles and Chengtian nobles was something the emperor had already obtained.

Now that Man Gui was conferred the title of Shuntian like the nobles of the grassland, they had no right to object.

Some people could only secretly despise him in their hearts and regard Man Gui as a barbarian.

Zhu Youjian didn't care what they thought and decided:
"Man Gui was conferred the title of Duke of Dongping, a military official who followed the will of Heaven and promoted loyalty and strength, and was given an annual stipend of 1,000 dan of rice."

"We can open up a 300-li territory on the grassland, recruit herdsmen and establish a guard."

"In addition, I will grant you 10% of the shares of Shuntianfu Salt Company, a loan of 50,000 taels from Shuntian Bank, and permission to use our troops to open up fiefdoms on the grassland."

The purpose of such preferential treatment was to allow Man Gui to establish power on the grassland as quickly as possible and serve as a barrier to the north of the Great Wall.

Man Gui, who was born in the Ming Dynasty, was definitely different from those grassland tribes who only wanted to get rewards from the court. When the Jianlu wanted to take a detour through the grassland, Man Gui had to obey the court's orders and fight hard even if he had to kill all his soldiers.

In this way, the security of the Great Wall area will be greatly guaranteed, and the court will not need to continue to gather troops in the north.

Zhu Xieyuan, the commander of the Great Wall, certainly understood this. He secretly applauded the emperor's arrangement and said:
"With the Duke of Dongping outside the Great Wall, I will have more confidence when I am organizing my army."

"If any grassland people come to the Great Wall to harass us, we can ask the Earl of Dongping to capture them."

This is the helplessness of passive defense. People on the grassland often ride their horses to the Great Wall area to see if there is any chance to sneak in.

If the Ming Dynasty sent people to hunt down the enemy, they might not only fall into a trap, but they would also not be able to afford the horses and money and food consumed.

So before that we could only drive them away and guard the Great Wall carefully.

Now that Man Gui is in the north, the soldiers guarding the Great Wall have an easier time.

It is entirely possible to let Man Gui lead the troops to drive those people away. He can even issue a reward on the grassland so that those people dare not show up.

In the future, the Great Wall defense line will become increasingly secure, and may even move back north to reclaim old territories such as Kaipingwei.

After Zhu Xieyuan's speech, the others also understood this point. Naturally, they were not as fiercely opposed to Man Gui's title of Earl as before.

At this moment, many people began to admire the emperor's conferring of the title of Shuntian.

In the past, Ming generals like Man Gui had no chance of gaining a foothold on the grassland.

Not only was the imperial court worried about releasing them, but the Mongols on the grasslands would also exclude the Ming people.

However, after the title of Shuntian was conferred, Man Gui, who was also conferred the title of Earl of Shuntian, was placed on the grassland and was not so noticeable.

Man Gui has led the grassland coalition forces in battle twice this year. In addition, his father and grandfather once lived on the grassland, so some of the powerful people on the grassland regard him as one of their own.

It is also very likely that Man Gui would gain a foothold on the grassland and establish his own fiefdom, or tribe.

The same can be said for Hu Dawei and Meng Ruhu, the two Mongolians who surrendered to the Mongols.

After the three of them have successfully established themselves in the grassland, Zhao Lujiao and others can also allocate territories to them on the grassland. They can live together with various Mongolian tribes and check and balance each other.

When the number of grassland nobles who come from the Ming Dynasty reaches 30% or even half, the people on the grassland will no longer have the chance to resist the Ming Dynasty.

This is a long-term strategy to ensure long-term peace and stability on the grassland. A knowledgeable Privy Councilor will certainly support it.

Shen Yongmao, who had been reinstated as Privy Councilor and had already come to Beijing to take up his post, shouted at this moment:
"Your Majesty is wise and sees thousands of miles away."

"I congratulate the whole world and wish the grasslands long-term peace and stability."

Following his lead, other ministers also began to praise him.

Zhu Youjian looked at this long-lost scene and a smile appeared on his face.

When he first ascended the throne, he often heard people praising the emperor, but he was not too interested in it and did not make any special comments.

Later, perhaps because the ministers had figured out his temper or felt that his actions were no longer worthy of praise, this scene happened less and less frequently.

Only a minister like Shen Yongmao, who had just entered the court and had something to ask of the emperor, would follow the old practice and praise the emperor from time to time.

This made Zhu Youjian feel that sometimes he still had to reinstate some new ministers to prevent the court from being filled with old ministers who knew his temper well.

Shen Yongmao, who flattered the emperor a lot, naturally had something to ask for.

After being treated as a typical tax evader by the emperor, he knew that he had to make merit and obtain a title in order to keep the Shen family going.

He had previously donated a hereditary title of knight to his son Shen Chuanfang, allowing him to follow Hai Shuzu and others to establish a fiefdom in Southeast Asia.

This time, after the emperor allowed merchants who went out of the border to donate for titles, he also wanted to donate for the title of Shuntian and send a branch to the north.

In this way, the Shen family has a branch in Saibei and Nanyang, which is safer than before when they were all in Jiangnan. Moreover, they can share what they have and do a lot of business with each other.

Therefore, Man Gui, who was allowed by the emperor to establish a county on the grassland, was naturally his target for wooing. He needed Man Gui to help the Shen family gain a foothold on the grassland.

After leaving the court, he told his son about this matter, but his son, who had accompanied him to the capital, was unwilling to go.

They were used to the climate in the south of the Yangtze River, and even the capital was cold. How could they be willing to go to the frontier and endure the cold wind and fishy smell?

Shen Yongmao was annoyed by these useless sons, but he was too old to appoint any of them.

So after thinking about it, he chose to lure him with benefits and ordered:

"Take five thousand taels of silver and use it to invest in Liubiju."

"Let the owner of Liubiju use the money to buy salt and produce more pickles."

This was an opportunity to make money that he knew of since he was in the court.

After the emperor allowed the sale of salted fish, pickled vegetables and other pickled products on the grassland, the export of salted fish and pickled vegetables was bound to increase significantly.

The first batch of people who do this business will definitely make a fortune.

As a time-honored brand in Beijing and a store named after Yan Song, Liubiju is naturally a good choice for investment.

He directly took out five thousand taels and asked his fifth son Shen Tingfang to invest.

Shen Tingfang was extremely reluctant to be assigned such a task by his father, but he had to obey his father's order and could only take the money and go to Liubiju.

What he didn't expect was that he was not the only one who went to Liubiju to buy shares. Some people even came directly with money like him. (End of this chapter)