Chapter 73 Reward
The Mongols outside the city were controlled by a chariot camp operated by the eunuch Ji Yong, the military supervisor, while Li Hao's troops entered the city to rest.

Citizens who heard the news crowded on both sides of North Street, cheering and applauding. Some wealthy people even gave rice wine, dried meat and other items to the victorious soldiers returning from the northern expedition.

The mountain-like figure of General Li was certainly eye-catching, but after the appearance of dozens of pack horses hung with the heads of the Tartars, the onlookers could no longer take their eyes off him and cheers rang out one after another.

If the soldiers hadn't stopped them, the fanatical people would definitely rush forward and do all kinds of things to vent their anger.

When Li Hao led his troops to the general's mansion, he did not expect that the military supervisor eunuch Ji Yong and his eunuchs had been waiting there for him and had prepared a not-so-small gift for him.

After casually handing the gift list brought by a middle-aged eunuch to his cousin Li Tianyang who was following behind him, the young Jinzhou general slowly walked into his office.

The eunuch supervising the army, Zhu Mei, deputy general of the Right Army of Jinzhou, and Li Hao's subordinates entered one after another.

The General's Mansion was originally the garrison office of Jinzhou. After Guangning fell, the garrison office changed its name to Jinzhou Lieutenant General's Mansion. Until a few days ago, it was changed back to the General's Mansion.

The government office in a narrow sense is divided into three courtyards. There should have been a huge screen wall in the first courtyard, but it had been destroyed by the Eight Banners soldiers and has not yet been repaired.

The meeting hall is in the second courtyard and is the most spacious, with a width of five bays and a depth of three bays. It must have been burned down by the Eight Banners soldiers. The hall was blackened by smoke, but the building did not collapse. After replacing a few new beams and columns that were taken from somewhere, it was put into use again.

Li Hao's subordinates who followed in filled the second courtyard and the meeting hall.

"What do the officials of the Wei Office and the General's Office say about the recovery of Jinzhou and Youtun?"

There are government offices all around the general's mansion, including the Experience Office, the Tongpan Office, and the Guangning Zhongzuo Tunwei Government Office. It seems that no officials have moved in yet.

Zhu Mei, who was sitting at the top of the western side, replied, "Governor Yuan is busy with the matter on Juehua Island and has no time to take care of Jinzhou. Before I came here, I talked to the newly arrived Ji Liao Jing Lv Wang Zhichen. From what he said, he was going to let us recommend the guards in Jinyou and other places to serve as the first to ascend the battlefield and break through the enemy lines."

There were actually two ways to assess military merit in the Ming Dynasty. One was the military merit of being the first to ascend the battlefield, kill the general, seize the flag, and break through the enemy lines. The other was the military merit of chopping off the enemy's head, also known as the first merit.

Before Li Chengliang, the garrison commanders had the power to award merits. The commander-in-chief would evaluate and award part of the reward to the brave soldier who reached the top of the city first. After Li Chengliang, the power to award merits was completely taken away by the civil officials. Civil officials did not go to the front lines, and the military generals did not have extra positions, salaries, and rewards. Military merits were completely reduced to the first merit.

Because the brain can count, it is most suitable for quantitative evaluation.

"This minister of the king still has some conscience. I will leave for the south tomorrow, and I will confer the official title today. When I go to Shanhaiguan, I will ask the Jinglüe Mansion to prepare the brothers' official documents."

Although the soldiers who followed Li Hao had not fought many tough battles, the long-distance march of nearly fifty days had already worn out the bodies of many soldiers. If he did not reward them now, General Li was afraid that no one would be willing to follow him on expeditions in the future.

The old eunuch Ji Yong flattered the general and said, "General Li's ability to appease the soldiers is far inferior to mine. I will write a letter tonight and make sure that Liu Zhangyin, Wang Jinglue and others will recognize the good officials recommended by General Li."

He knew the situation and did not cause any trouble to Li Hao at all.

Looking down the hall and into the courtyard, the general had a rough idea.

"The most capable Cao was appointed as the guerrilla commander in my battalion. Huang Long, Zu Kuan, and Cao Bianjiao were given the rank of Dusi. The rest, including Wu Sangui, who followed me from Ningyuan, were all appointed as Qianzong or Bazong.

Li Yongxi, Li Yongshi, Li Youjie and others, although you are Dusi, Qianzong or something like that in Dongjiang, those are the positions given by Marshal Mao himself, and the court does not recognize them. In my hands, you will all be given the rank of Lieutenant General and placed in my camp. I will discuss your specific military positions when I come back."

Although Zu Kuan and others were born as servants of the Zu family, Li Hao had already promised them that they would follow him and not return to the Zu family.

"There are two guard commanders in Jinzhou. I think Li Tianyang will take one and Yang Shigong will take the other. Zhu Zhending will take the position of the guard commander of Youtun. The rest of the guard commanders, guard commander assistants, and other officials, as well as the guerrillas, commanders, captains, and battalion commanders, will all be given an honorary title."

According to the idea of ​​the civil officials, Jinzhou Xianfeng Town has a general stationed in Jinzhou, and the Western Association has a deputy general stationed in Youtun. Youtun is closer to the sea and has few fields under its jurisdiction. Li Hao has no idea and leaves it all to Zhu Mei.

There is more wasteland in Yizhou, Guangning. After stabilizing the area west of Sancha River and south of Liaohe River, a lot of official positions and land can be added.

"In addition to the rewards for the archery competition and the heads you cut off, each person who followed me from Ningyuan will receive four heads. The three Lis will each receive three heads. Wang Meng, Liu Tingxiang, and the officers in each team will each receive one head. All the officers and soldiers will each receive fifty taels of silver as a reward for following you all the way. In the future, you will also receive the salary for the servants, and the Mongolian soldiers will all receive monthly salaries."

Li Hao's troops plundered the land along the way. In addition to the small change each soldier carried on his body, they collected a total of 80,000 to 90,000 taels of silver in large pieces, which took more than 30 pack horses to transport.

There was a cheering atmosphere in the hall and the courtyard. The soldiers were quite satisfied with the reward from their commander. After marching for two months, they received almost three years' salary for their servants. It was a good deal to risk their lives for such a good cause.

"Give Zhu Zhen five heads as well. Eunuch Ji, you don't need the Tartar heads, do you?"

Zhu Mei refused repeatedly, but Li Shuai's servants forced it on him, and Ji Yong also waved his hand and said he didn't need it.

Everyone in the government office was smiling, and the people in Jinzhou city were also extremely happy. The brave and invincible General Li had finally moved in to guard the city. At least for the next one or two years, it seemed that they could live a stable life.

When the mutton that General Li ordered to be slaughtered was distributed to the people and soldiers in the camp, the atmosphere of joy in the city became even stronger. Although each person could only get three or four taels of meat including the bones, it was still a rare taste of meat that could be seen in several months.

After having a good meal, people became more excited about the future.

At noon on the second day, General Li, who was heading south with dozens of servants, was escorted out of the South Gate, Yong'an Gate, by the people of Liao.

The pack horses in the team carried all the heads obtained from the northern expedition, so the marching speed was not very fast.

After about an hour of marching south, several cavalrymen suddenly came chasing from the direction of Jinzhou.

"Brother, wait for me, I have something important to report."

It was Li Tianyang who had just taken office as the commander of Guangning Zhongtunwei.

He slowed down his horse's pace and waited for the visitor to arrive. The young general asked, "What's the matter that can't wait until I get back?"

"Yang Shigong can still barely cope with it. I know nothing about military farming." Li Tianyang panted. "A large group of Liaodong refugees are waiting for me to distribute land to them. Li Erniu's Dunjun also came to Jinzhou, and there are also the Han people who rebelled against the rule that my eldest brother originally recruited. The people who need land are relatively few, and there are more people who need wooden shovels, flails, winnowing baskets, and plows. There are not enough oxen to plow the land, and I have no idea at all."

He first stated his problem, and then tentatively asked: "Brother, can you recruit some scholars who can read and do accounting near Shanhaiguan to help us with military affairs and mundane affairs?"

Li Hao thought for a while, "Scholars are useless. How about this? I will go directly to the new Wang Jinglie and ask him to send some clerks over, or directly find a few capable people from the idle Jinshi and Juren. I remember Guangning has set up a branch guard, let them fill in an official."

With the military power in his hands, he was not afraid of the civil officials trying to trip him up.

If there were some short-sighted civil servants and eunuchs to hold him back, Li Hao would have had more excuses when he led his troops into the pass to demand payment.

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(End of this chapter)