When Fang Jun returned from the Western Expedition, he personally handed over the ashes of his Shenji Battalion soldiers door to door to their relatives, which caused a sensation in Guanzhong. He once wanted to create a so-called "welfare system" to take care of those who lost their families. The family, which was the main labor force, just stopped with Fang Jun being transferred and Chang Sun Chong taking over the Shenji Camp.
Pei Xingjian said dejectedly: "The general was negligent and forgot about this for a while, but..."
Fang Jun waved his hand and said solemnly: "The military is strict and military discipline is strict. You were speechless for a moment. You knew it but forgot about it. Instead, you made quibbles. This is an offense against military discipline. However, I will remember your first offense and will not care about it. If it is Next time, both crimes will be punished at the same time, will you be convinced?"
Pei Xingjian said sternly: "In the end, the general will realize his mistake and will never make it again."
He knows that questioning the coach's words or even making excuses is indeed prohibited by military law. In the military, the words of the coach are ironclad facts, and they only need to be implemented unconditionally without any doubts, let alone quibbles!
Fang Jun's expression softened and he asked: "Do you know why I want you to collect the remains of the fallen soldiers and identify them one by one?"
Pei Xingjian said: "Please give me some advice from the chief manager."
Fang Jun looked at Pei Xingjian, then at Su Dingfang and Liu Renyuan, and finally focused his eyes on the faces of Liu Rengui and Xi Junmai, and said: "Back then, I sent the ashes of the fallen soldiers to their relatives one by one. Liu Xiaowei has been Follow me and witness with your own eyes, Lieutenant Liu, please tell me why I did this."
"promise!"
Liu Rengui stood up and responded, saying: "To be honest, I didn't understand why Mr. Hou spent so much time on it. Since a man joins the army, it would be great if he could return home in fine clothes and have a wife and son. Wouldn't it be the same for him to be buried in battlefields and shrouded in horse leather? should?"
Having said this, he paused for a moment, and when he saw Su Dingfang and others' faces showing the expressions that they should take for granted, he said in a deep voice: "But when he saw the family members holding the ashes of their loved ones and kowtowing to Mr. Hou, a certain person You know, it's not just that. It is an honor for our men to die for our country, but how can we be willing to accept it when our parents, wives and children have lost their support? The people in the countryside do respect the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country, but a man who is married to his wife has no choice. The merits of the son are far less than a grave where the ashes of a martyr are buried! Even if there are only octogenarians, orphans and widows left in the family, as long as the grave where the martyr is buried is there, the neighbors in the countryside will repay his family with incomparable kindness. Respect, even if one or two scoundrels come to bully the door, the whole village will rise up to attack, even if they go to the county government to file a lawsuit, the county government officials will be in awe, regardless of right or wrong, they will already take a high look! This is a level of respect that a title cannot bring."
Su Dingfang and others were silent.
This seems to be a very strange paradox. They all died in battle and sacrificed their lives for the country. However, in the countryside, a martyr who received a title but buried his bones in a foreign country is far inferior to a martyr who did not have a title but buried his bones in his hometown. Ordinary soldiers!
Why is there such a difference?
The people are simple, and they have the same respect for the heroes who died in the war. But when someone dies in battle and receives a medal, they will think that although this person died in battle, the empire gave him the honor he deserves; but if a person who did not receive a medal dies in battle, they will not think that this person is incompetent. , instead of receiving meritorious service, he felt that the empire owed him something.
Although the honorary title can bring practical benefits, it itself is nihilistic, which does not give the neighbors much sense of identity. On the contrary, a real tomb stands there, which is not only the pride of the whole family, but also the pride of the whole village and even the whole county!
They can point to that grave and proudly tell others and their descendants - look, buried there are our relatives, our neighbors, the heroes who died fighting for the Tang Dynasty! When he died on the battlefield, his coach brought his ashes back and buried him there!
This is the most common phenomenon in the countryside of the Tang Dynasty. It is impossible for Su Dingfang and others not to know about it. In the past, they only thought about going into battle to kill the enemy, but never thought about doing their best to bring back every fallen soldier. Send him home...
As for oneself and others, if one day he dies in battle, it would be an honor, but being buried in a foreign land and returning home with honor are definitely two completely different meanings!
Think about it, one scenario is - a few years later, people point to this grave and say: "That's a hero!"
Another scenario is - he is a hero, and his achievements are passed on to his son...
What a world of difference!
More importantly, if one day he dies in battle and is abandoned on the battlefield and taken home by his comrades... that will greatly enhance the cohesion of the army. Even in the face of strong enemies, he can be fearless and regard death as home!
Pei Xingjian replied loudly: "I will arrange to salvage and bury the remains of the fallen soldiers right now. I will definitely bring them back!"
Fang Jun nodded and said: "The soldiers I brought out, whether they are alive or dead, we must take them back!" After a pause, he continued: "But just arrange for your men to go. We will fight this battle." Gather the harvest together.”
"promise!"
Pei Xingjian strode away, arranged for people to go to the sea area to collect the remains, leaned slightly, and returned quickly.
Speaking of the captures in this battle, the atmosphere became much more relaxed.
Fang Jun was looking through the account books, and Pei Xingjian smiled and said: "In this battle, we seized a total of 32,800 guan of money, 7,500 taels of gold, less silver, only more than 5,000 taels, but nearly 20,000 taels of grain. It can be considered a huge seizure.”
Everyone was smiling.
The reconstruction of Huating Town is spreading day by day, requiring countless money, silk and materials, and the gap is getting bigger and bigger. Although the Jiangnan noble clan's 600,000 yuan can support them for some time, those who have seen Fang Jun's huge plan know that this amount of money is far from enough...
In particular, the navy's various equipment, the construction of warships, the construction of military ports, and the various new weapons such as muskets and artillery mentioned by Fang Jun all require a huge amount of money to maintain and support.
It is unrealistic to expect funding from the imperial court. His Majesty the Emperor can now squeeze out every penny he has. He has saved all of it and exchanged it for food and armor and weapons. He is holding back his energy and waiting for the Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo. He hopes that the first battle will be successful and he will be successful. No one can get money from the grand plan of one emperor through the ages!
Huating Town itself is a saline-alkali wasteland with no output. The only way to get a huge amount of money is to exterminate the pirates and collect the loot. Fortunately, it has the reputation of "robbery on orders", otherwise Fang Jun's huge army would really be destroyed. Think of planning as a joke...
Looking at the seizures in the account book, Fang Jun smiled so hard that he couldn't even see his eyes.
A small Gaidai can seize so much money and food. If all the pirates like the "Three Big Gangs" are wiped out, wouldn't it be a big fortune? This kind of speed of making money is faster than opening a bank to mint money!
"I feel that the Navy's pension is still a little low. I will double it if appropriate. What do you think?" If you have money, you have to spend it, and it will be spent on increasing the pension. Fang Jun doesn't feel bad at all.
All the generals shrugged and looked indifferent.
Anyway, you got the money. If you run out of money in the future, you will have to find a way by yourself. How can you refuse such an approach to improve the cohesion of the army? Furthermore, at the beginning, the pension fund of Shenji camp was the best in the Tang Dynasty. Now that Fang Jun has brought this trick to the navy, everyone is naturally not surprised.
After everything has been agreed upon, the most important next step is to discuss merit and reward!
At the back of Pei Xingjian's account book was a list of meritorious soldiers and their achievements in this battle. Fang Jun saw that the first name on the list was Xue Rengui. He couldn't help but look at Liu Renyuan strangely and asked: "This battle will be executed on the spot." Killing Gai Dahai is indeed the first achievement. If he escapes, there will inevitably be regrets that he has not accomplished all the work. But you and Xue Rengui killed Gai Dahai together. Why did you single out Xue Rengui as the first achievement and you took second place?"
Liu Renyuan said with a straight face: "In terms of force, the general is not as good as Xue Li. Even if the general had not intervened at that time, Xue Li would definitely be able to kill Gai Dahai with his gun." As he said this, this general who was always known for his bravery and civilization grinned. A big smile: "Besides, Xue Li needs this merit more than the general now. If the two are tied, the merit will inevitably be diluted. The general has no objection to Xue Li's first merit and sincerely admires it!"
It is obvious that all the credit must be given to Xue Rengui...
