Dream of the Red Chamber: Start by gaining Zhao Yun's martial prowess, and be ennobled in a sin

It's important to know that the 20% that Jia Jing mentioned is quite a lot, although generals and officers would make up a portion of it.

However, when the money was distributed among the six thousand soldiers, each person received anywhere from tens to hundreds of taels of silver.

This was a rare treasure for ordinary soldiers, equivalent to decades' worth of military pay without food or drink.

This is also why soldiers are eager to win battles, not only because they can earn merit and save their lives, but also because they can receive a large reward for the spoils they capture.

I believe that once this money is distributed, the fighting spirit of the soldiers in the three border regions and four towns of the Northwest will be unprecedentedly high.

Niu Jizong and the others bowed and accepted the order again, their faces full of joy.

The battle resulted in the capture of the Northern Yuan royal court and the seizure of so much wealth that the generals, as commanders, were entitled to a substantial share of the spoils.

This was also the usual practice in warfare during the Han Dynasty. Apart from a portion of the spoils being handed over to the imperial court, most of the spoils were distributed to the meritorious soldiers according to their contributions, which was beyond reproach.

Jia Jing pondered for a moment, then continued:

"These prisoners were all put under good guard, especially Batu Mongke, the Great Khan Khatun Manduhai, the Grand Lama, the High Priest, and others."

"Although we have successfully captured Wolf Mountain this time, we will still need them to subdue the remaining forces of the Northern Yuan."

The Great Khan Khatun was the principal wife of Batu Mongke, and this Manduhai had a very high reputation in the Northern Yuan and even the Great Han.

She controlled the internal affairs of the royal court and the loyalty of several grassland tribes, making her a highly respected figure in the Northern Yuan.

The Grand Lama was the National Preceptor of the Northern Yuan Dynasty and the highest representative of Tibetan Buddhism in the northern grasslands. The influence of the religion is self-evident; just look at Iran in later generations.

The high priest is the spiritual leader of the primitive beliefs of the grasslands and is a very important figure on the grasslands.

Niu Jizong and the others straightened their faces and bowed, saying:

"Yes, Your Excellency!"

"Alright, you can make the arrangements now! Niu Jizong will immediately send someone to Yulin to report the victory."

"The 20,000 cavalrymen of Ba Shang camp should have arrived by now. Let them escort the prisoners and spoils."

"Suzaku, bring me the register of merits. I need to write a memorial to the court to report our victory and request commendations for you all!"

After the post-battle arrangements were made, everyone looked excited and strode away.

Jia Jing then got up and carefully examined the map. After pondering the subsequent battle plan, he began to write a memorial to Emperor Jingsheng.

……

More than two months later.

Shenjing City.

That spring, the capital city was exceptionally lively and festive.

Since February, news has arrived from the northwest that a coalition of hundreds of thousands of troops from the puppet Qing, Hunye, and Northern Yuan kingdoms has invaded, creating a critical situation.

The people of the entire capital city were initially somewhat panicked, thinking that this battle would be difficult and that the situation of the Han Dynasty might be dire.

Some gentry even felt that the Han Dynasty was on the verge of collapse and that the capital city of Shenjing was no longer safe. Many people began to plan to move to the Jiangnan region.

In the capital city, there were constant voices of negativity and aversion to war, and some people were filled with anxiety.

however,

Before the gentry and common people could take any action, the outcome of the war in the Northwest was far beyond what people expected.

Since the imperial court resolutely advocated war and dispatched Marquis Jingwu, Jia Jing, to command the border troops and take charge of the battles, the Han Dynasty has won one victory after another, as if it had been given a cheat code.

The urgent reports of victory, delivered by courier, came one after another from the Northwest to the capital, while cartloads of kills, prisoners, and spoils were sent to the city.

At first, many people in the city were skeptical, wondering if the good news was true.

When did my great man become so good at fighting?

Even though Marquis Jingwu was a rare general, and even though he had once won a great victory against the puppet Qing dynasty.

But after all, he had not been in the army for long, and this time he was facing a coalition of hundreds of thousands of troops from the three countries. How could he win so easily one after another?

Could there be something fishy going on here?

It was precisely because the Han Dynasty had not had many victories on the border in recent years that the people and officials of the Han Dynasty were temporarily unable to grasp the situation.

They were not used to receiving a report of good news every ten or twenty days, and even suspected that it was fake!

It wasn't until later, when tens of thousands of Northern Yuan soldiers' heads were captured in the Northwest and the Northern Yuan Khan Batu Mongke and others were escorted to the capital, and until the news of the great victory in the Northwest was published in the imperial gazette, that the news was finally revealed.

As if waking from a dream, hundreds of thousands of people in the capital city cheered and rejoiced!

And it was after the first report of victory and the box containing the head of Tuotuo Buhua were sent to the capital that the court officially issued an edict promoting Jia Jing, the Marquis of Jingwu, to the rank of First-Class Champion Marquis and promoted him to the rank of General Who Conquers the West, a third-rank official.

Subsequently, good news kept coming from the Northwest in March and April.

Under the leadership of Marquis Jia Jing, the Han Dynasty's border army not only destroyed the Northern Yuan, which had existed for hundreds of years, but also swept across all the small tribes and kingdoms on the grasslands.

The series of victories continued to cause a stir and generate heated discussions throughout the capital city.

For the past two months, the conversations in all the teahouses and restaurants in the capital city have revolved around the war on the northwest front.

Countless people are discussing the next military strategy of Marquis Jia Jing, and countless people are discussing whether the military might of the Han Dynasty has been restored to the level of the time of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Chengzu.

Countless people are discussing where the Marquis of Champion has reached now, when he will be granted the title of Duke, and when he will recreate the feat of Huo Qubing's legendary victory at Langjuxu.

For the past two months, everyone in the entire capital city and even the surrounding Sanfu region has focused their attention on the northwest and on Marquis Jia Jing.

Even Huo Qubing, the former general, regained his fame as a result, and the common people of the Han Dynasty repeatedly discussed and compared him with Jia Jing.

They would compare their achievements, their victories, their age, their martial prowess, their looks, and so on.

In the past few months, the most requested stories for storytellers in the capital city have been "The Biography of General Wei and General Huo" from the Records of the Grand Historian, as well as various unofficial histories and anecdotes about the former Marquis of Champion.

Whenever topics or stories related to the champion are discussed, the audience is guaranteed to cheer and receive countless rewards.

Even the imperial court made an exception and lifted the curfew.

After the retired emperor fled north, the capital city established a custom of a curfew at night, requiring every household to close their doors and windows, with only the sound of the night watchman's drum heard in the streets and alleys.

However, since the great victory in the Northwest and the destruction of the Northern Yuan,

Emperor Jingsheng personally issued an edict to lift the curfew for three months.

The imperial court allowed the people to celebrate the victory with drums and music, such as setting off firecrackers, hanging lanterns, and performing operas, to congratulate the prosperity of the Han Dynasty and the strength of its army.

So every night, the streets would come alive.

The lamps illuminated the main streets of the capital city as bright as day, and vendors selling food, groceries, and calligraphy and paintings lined the streets.

Countless people set off firecrackers, banged gongs and drums, and sang operas, but the Five City Garrison didn't care. Occasionally, they would even be pulled in for a drink.

Some say this is a sign of a "prosperous era," that the Han Dynasty has returned to its peak and is experiencing a revival.

Some say it was Emperor Taizu's divine intervention that sent down capable rulers like Emperor Jingsheng and competent ministers like Jia Jing to restore the Han dynasty.

This day was the fifteenth day of the fifth month in the tenth year of Jingsheng.

Just after noon, a rapid sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from outside the Zhengyang Gate of Shenjing.