Chapter 356: Evaluation and Merit
That night, the army entered Yuji County.
At this time, the number of the Southern Army was more than 50,000. Even if more than 10,000 people were left on the north bank of the Qiantang River, there were nearly 40,000 people on the south bank. In addition, Sun's army surrendered more than 20,000 people. Naturally, the small Yuji County cannot accommodate so many people.
Therefore, after the Southern Conquest Army arrived in Yuji County, they carried out large-scale construction and built camps.
When Zhao Yun, the commander-in-chief of the rear army, finished cleaning up the battlefield, burying the war dead, collecting ordnance supplies, and rushed to Yuji County, there were already ready-made simple camps waiting for them to move in.
According to the rules of the Conquest of the South Army, the corpses of the soldiers of the Conquest of the South were naturally set up in a joint tomb, while Sun's army burned them all and then buried them to avoid the occurrence of diseases.
In fact, Liu Feng has always wanted to promote cremation. After all, cremation does have certain advantages, at least it is clean and hygienic, and it plays a high role in preventing epidemics.
However, it is too difficult to promote cremation these days. It only counts the defeated enemy troops. After all, cremation still has ashes that can be divided. It is better than leaving the corpses in the wilderness or mass graves.
But for our own people, they still have to be buried in a proper manner. At most, they will be buried in multiple tombs, so as to reduce some pressure.
This is also thanks to the fact that everyone doesn’t even have enough to eat, and all kinds of requirements have been reduced a lot.
Based on these conditions, they can firmly rank among the top three warlords in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.
After Zhao Yun finished cleaning up, he took the 20,000 Sun troops who were working into the camp to rest.
In the next few days, the Southern Conquest Army rested and reorganized in Yuji County.
Liu Feng purchased a large amount of supplies from Yuji County and surrounding areas, and finally got a lot of pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks, as well as a large amount of fish and shrimp, and rewarded the entire army on the fourth day.
Liu Feng himself also hosted a banquet for the generals in Yuji County and evaluated the merits of this war.
As the power of Liu Bei and his son continued to expand, various systems began to improve.
In terms of military merit, Liu Feng copied the system of later generations of PLA and did not simply count merit based on the head.
In fact, since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the merits of the first level are not simply calculated based on the head. It is just that the first level of merit is too simple and crude, so that most of the later generations only mention the first level of merit.
Strictly speaking, in addition to the first-level skill, there are four major skills: ascending first, trapping the enemy, beheading generals, and capturing the flag.
These four major skills have nothing to do with the first level skill.
Climbing first is not simply a matter of scaling the city wall. To gain the military merit of being the first to climb, you must meet three conditions. First, you must be the first to climb the city wall. Second, you must be able to break the city with this attack. Failure to retreat will not count. , the last condition is that you have to survive until the war is over.
It can be seen that the first to ascend is harsh, but the first to ascend is generally the level of extraordinary merit, which is the greatest merit.
Beheading generals and capturing flags are both easy to understand, and are slightly more relaxed than ascending first. Except for the third condition, which is that if you die in battle after doing it, the narrative will be followed in the same way. This is your achievement.
Only being trapped in a formation is a real group achievement, which requires a commander to have great wisdom and courage to lead a certain number of elite soldiers to either tear through the defense line or fall head-on into the enemy's military formation. In order to achieve the established military purpose, the danger is extremely high.
To give a simple example, Gao Shun had the credit for trapping the enemy. As one of the first lone troops to land on the south bank of the Qiantang River, he fought bravely and pinned down Sun Jun for three or four hours. He fought until the last moment and the whole army was defeated. The casualties exceeded 50%. Not only did they not collapse, they also participated in a major counterattack and captured the Rui Liang brothers alive.
However, trapping in a formation is different from ascending first. It is not a certain magical skill. The skill can still be determined by the difficulty.
This time, Liu Feng formulated a more thorough and complete system of describing the merits and planned to implement it in this Ding Gong.
The reason why I chose this time is that I happened to catch up with him. Secondly, this feat was very important, and the war was relatively long. It was the first time that the Conquest of the South Army encountered a major battle that lasted for more than half a year. .
Liu Feng just wanted to test the waters.
After the generals entered the hall, they sat down in two rows, with Zhao Yun on the left and Taishi Ci on the right.
The faces of all the generals were beaming with joy, and even if they were as restrained as Zhao Yun, there was still joy flowing between their brows and eyes.
Now that Liu Bei and his son are prospering, all the best places in Yangzhou will soon be owned by Liu Feng. The most important thing is that there is news that today's achievements in the Battle of Jiangdong will be recounted. How can the generals not smile?
After the generals took their seats, Liu Feng nodded to Lu Xun.
Immediately, Lu Xun stood up and walked to the hall and began to read out the merit calculation system.
The war achievements of the Conquering South Army will be divided into five levels in the future, namely first merit, extraordinary merit, first-class merit, second-class merit and third-class merit.
Since the Qin and Han dynasties, it has actually always been about great merit, medium merit, and small merit.
But Liu Feng felt that this was too naked, and it was better to wait for the merit to be subtle.
Among them, the first-level meritorious service of officers above the intermediate level accounts for one-half. Liu Feng originally intended to completely abolish the first-level meritorious service, but after thinking about it carefully, he felt that abolishing it would be too radical.
The saying that too much is too little is exactly right here.
Once the head merit is really abolished, it will completely become a general's reward for merit, which is not conducive to the principle of openness, justice and fairness, and will also strengthen the personal dependence of middle and lower-level officers and even soldiers on middle- and senior-level officers. major consequences.
Therefore, after Liu Feng considered it, he decided to reduce the proportion of first-level merit to one-half, and limit it to intermediate-level officers and above.
After all, I may not be able to see the performance of ordinary soldiers and low-level officers, but mid-level officers can often show up in front of me.
In addition, Liu Feng also wanted to implement the administrative committee system to deprive the power of reporting merits from the commanders, forming a military chief in charge of military affairs and a political chief in charge of government affairs.
This is a very important point. Don’t think that the Eastern Han Dynasty couldn’t do it. In the future, there will be less interference from civilian officials and military attachés.
Liu Feng does not want to implement any institutional reform, but just wants to delineate the boundaries between civil and military affairs, and uses civilian officials to take charge of government affairs, but leaves military decision-making power to military officials. This will avoid support to the greatest extent. While improving the self-esteem of soldiers, it also reduces the impact on the army's combat effectiveness.
However, this still needs to be considered in depth. This is a very big matter and cannot be rushed. Let’s take our time first.
When Lu Xun finished explaining the new system of describing merits, the generals looked at each other in confusion.
But smart people such as Zhao Yun, Tai Shici, Zhou Yu, Jia Kui, Gao Shun, Lu Xun, and Gu Yong have already figured out what the purpose of the Xu Gong reform is, especially Zhou Yu, who can even Try to figure out three or four points of Liu Feng's thoughts.
After thinking about it carefully, Zhou Yu really felt that Liu Feng's reforms were wonderful, especially the medal system with the characteristics of the Southern Conquest Army, which opened Zhou Yu's eyes and amazed him.
Liu Feng's prestige and influence in the Southern Army and even the entire Hussars are unquestionable.
Whether the generals appreciate or fail to appreciate what is contained in it, it does not prevent them from bowing their heads and paying homage without objection.
"Ahem."
After Lu Xun retreated, Liu Feng waited for a moment and gave the generals some time to accept, then coughed lightly.
After this cough, the hall suddenly became quiet. The generals who were noisy just now stopped communicating immediately, sat upright, and waited for Liu Feng to speak.
The power of a cough can be heard when a needle drops.
Liu Feng was very satisfied, turned his eyes to his left hand, and shouted to Zhao Yun: "Uncle, come forward." Zhao Yun was stunned for a moment, then realized what he was doing, stood up respectfully, walked to Liu Feng, and bowed first .
Zhao Yun is so respectful and has no intention of being conceited based on his status, qualifications and Liu Feng's respect for him.
In terms of personal ethics, Zhao Yun is really as good as ever.
It’s just that Uncle Zhao’s mouth is too straightforward. He says whatever he wants without considering the environment in which he speaks or his elder brother’s attitude.
"Uncle, you led a partial army in this battle and were willing to take risks and sail hundreds of miles across the sea, laying the foundation for the annihilation of Sun Ce's army in one fell swoop."
Liu Feng immediately stood up and handed over a silk book recording his military achievements. He came to Zhao Yun and said, "My uncle should be the first to take the lead in this battle!"
Liu Feng had long thought of making Zhao Yun the first.
Although we are in the Eastern Han Dynasty now, our shipping capabilities may not be weaker than those in the Ming and Qing Dynasties in the future.
Of course, the Qing Dynasty here refers to before the Opium War. After all, the ships purchased by the Qing Dynasty after the Opium War were from the industrial era, and they could not be compared with those from the classical farming period.
Maritime transportation during the Eastern Han Dynasty was actually very developed. Not only private transportation, but also taxes and tributes in Lingnan, Fujian, Vietnam, part of Hunan, and Guizhou were transported by sea. It was not until after the Yangtze River that it was transferred to water transportation.
So Zhao Yun took the sea route to copy Sun Cejun's retreat. In fact, the danger was not that great, not even as great as that of Gao Shunbu, who went first. What's more, when it comes to plagiarizing the sea route, whoever gets the credit will be the first to take credit, and anyone with a discerning eye can almost see it.
But Zhao Yun's qualifications, status and historical position are far beyond what others can match.
This man has been with his father for twenty years. He has gone through hundreds of battles and worked hard for the Liu family until death. Moreover, his sons are all loyal to Liu Chan.
Based on emotion and reason, this first achievement can only be made by Zhao Yun.
Not to mention Zhou Yu and others, not even Taishi Ci could compete with Zhao Yun.
Of course, Taishi Ci was calm about this, but sincerely congratulated Zhao Yun from the sidelines.
Tai Shici was a smart man. He knew how close and valued Liu Feng was to him, and he arranged countless opportunities to make meritorious deeds.
How stupid must he be to compete with Zhao Yun for credit and put Liu Feng in a dilemma?
Zhao Yun was also extremely excited at this moment. At this moment, what he remembered was what Liu Bei and his son said two years ago when they entrusted him with an important task.
Although Zhao Yun believed in Liu Bei and his son at that time, he still felt uneasy in his heart.
But now, Zhao Yun just feels that he was too bright-eyed in the past.
In the past, Zhao Yun thought that Liu Feng was the Liu family's horse, and later he thought that Liu Feng should be the son of Qilin, but now he feels that Liu Feng is really a genius, with the appearance of a dragon and a phoenix.
More importantly, Liu Feng has always been extremely respectful and close to him, making him feel that he is truly regarded as an elder by him.
This point particularly moved Zhao Yun.
"Yun, he is a man of limited talent and talent, but he is actually a man who has been preparing for the position. This battle is just based on the general's orders. It all depends on the generals' bravery and courage to fight and not afraid of difficulties. A certain person has no merit at all, how can he dare to be the first to be judged. "
Zhao Yun bowed prostrate, held up the silk silk with both hands, and raised it above his head. He continued to humbly say: "Yun is too ashamed to deserve it. He feels like he is sitting on pins and needles. I also ask the general to reconsider this merit. Don't let the merit be given." "
Liu Feng burst out laughing, Zhao Yun remained as humble as ever.
Zhao Yun himself is a kind person. As long as you value him, he will pay you back twice as much and he will never ask for credit.
Guan Yu couldn't get enough of his credit. He would fight for anything, let alone suffer a loss.
Zhang Fei also attaches great importance to merit. Although he is not as fussy as Guan Yu, he cannot suffer any loss.
Of course, what Guan Yu and Zhang Fei care about is not the credit itself. Guan Yu is very good to his soldiers and never stingy with rewards. Although Zhang Fei likes to flog soldiers and officers, he has never been a stingy person.
The two of them attach great importance to merit, but they actually want to win Liu Bei's favor and care, because they attach too much importance to their relationship with Liu Bei, even to the point where Liu Bei shuts down Zhang Xi when Liu Bei is happy, and shuts down Zhang You when Liu Bei is worried. , they are really closer than real brothers.
Only Zhao Yun, although he respects Liu Bei very much and is close to him, due to personality problems, he never likes to strive for credit. This is what makes Guan Yu and Zhang Fei admire him very much.
You must know that after Guan Yu died, Zhang Fei clamored to avenge his brother. Zhao Yun was one of the rare peace advocates, but Zhang Fei never caused trouble to Zhao Yun.
It can be seen that Zhang Fei is very clear in his heart that Zhao Yun is not seeking peace for his own selfish interests, but purely out of public motives.
Everyone understands the difference between "Old Man" and "Old General". After all, the former has a linkage effect with "Yun Da Nu", while the latter will get Zhao Yun's double appreciation and praise.
If Jiang Wei had called him "Old Man", there would probably be no Shu Han general in the future.
Zhao Yun can be humble, but Liu Feng cannot take back his reward.
Liu Feng stood up, went to the front of the case and helped Zhao Yun up personally.
Although Liu Feng's strength is still not as strong as Zhao Yun's, he is still growing.
Zhao Yun himself was a little surprised at Liu Feng's strength, but he heard Liu Feng say: "My uncle deserves this merit. If my uncle does not receive this merit, how will the subsequent merits be distributed?"
Liu Feng's words not only appease Zhao Yun, but also force Zhao Yun.
However, with this kind of pressure, it is estimated that most generals would like to change places with Zhao Yun.
Zhao Yun also understood what Liu Feng meant. Although he was still a little uneasy, he no longer gave in as before.
Liu Feng was delighted and immediately sent Zhao Yun back to the banquet in person.
Subsequently, Liu Feng moved to the back of the case.
The eyes of all the generals in the hall were focused on him, either obviously or restrainedly, but how could a general really ignore his merits?
Whether it is for fame or fortune, or for status, or even for ambitions and dreams, merit is the best stepping stone.
Liu Feng's eyes passed over everyone. Except for a few people, everyone eagerly met Liu Feng's gaze, hoping that the next person whose name would be called by Liu Feng would be him.
What makes the generals a little regretful is that the second person Liu Feng named happened to be one of those few people.
"Where is my filial father? Come forward!"
The person Liu Feng called was Gao Shun.
(End of this chapter)