My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 356 Evaluation and Determination of Merit
That evening, the army entered Yuji County.

At this time, the Southern Expeditionary Army numbered over 50,000. Even if more than 10,000 were left on the north bank of the Qiantang River, there were still nearly 40,000 on the south bank. In addition, there were more than 20,000 surrendered soldiers from Sun's army. Naturally, the small Yuji County could not accommodate so many people.

Therefore, after arriving in Yuji County, the Southern Expeditionary Army began large-scale construction, building fortifications.

When Zhao Yun, the commander of the rear army, finished cleaning up the battlefield, burying the dead, and collecting military equipment and supplies, he arrived at Yuji County, where there were already makeshift camps ready for them to move into.

According to the rules of the Southern Expeditionary Army, the bodies of the soldiers of the Southern Expeditionary Army were naturally placed in a joint tomb, while the bodies of Sun's army were all burned and buried to prevent the spread of disease.

In fact, Liu Feng had always wanted to promote cremation, since cremation does have certain advantages, at least it is clean and hygienic, and plays a significant role in preventing epidemics.

However, it's too difficult to promote cremation these days. It's one thing for defeated enemy soldiers to be cremated, but at least their ashes can be distributed, which is better than leaving their bodies exposed in the wilderness or in mass graves.

But for their own people, they still have to be buried in the traditional burial, at most they can build more joint tombs to reduce some of the pressure.

This is largely thanks to the fact that people are so hungry that they have lowered their expectations.

With these qualifications, he could easily rank among the top three warlords at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

After Zhao Yun finished tidying up, he led the 20,000 Sun soldiers who had been working into the camp to rest.

In the following days, the Southern Expeditionary Army rested and reorganized in Yuji County.

Liu Feng purchased a large amount of supplies from Yuji County and the surrounding areas, and finally managed to obtain quite a few pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, as well as a large amount of fish and shrimp, which he then used to reward the entire army on the fourth day.

Liu Feng himself also hosted a banquet for the generals in Yuji County and assessed their merits in this battle.

As the power of Liu Bei and his son continued to expand, the various systems and regulations also began to improve.

In terms of military merits, Liu Feng copied the system of the PLA in later generations and did not simply count merits based on the number of heads taken.

In fact, since the Qin and Han dynasties, merit has not been simply calculated based on the number of heads taken. However, the method of rewarding the number of heads taken was too simplistic and crude, so much so that later generations mostly only mentioned the reward for the number of heads taken.

Strictly speaking, in addition to the merit of taking the head, there are four other merits: being the first to scale the walls, breaking through enemy lines, beheading generals, and capturing flags.

These four major achievements have absolutely nothing to do with the "head achievement".

Being the first to scale the city wall is not simply a matter of climbing it. To earn the honor of being the first to scale the city wall, three conditions must be met. First, you must be the first to scale the city wall. Second, the attack must break through the city walls; retreating after a failed attempt does not count. Finally, you must survive until the end of the battle.

It is evident how demanding the criteria were for being the first to ascend the mountain, but being the first to ascend the mountain was generally considered a remarkable achievement, the highest honor.

Both "slaying a general" and "capturing a flag" are easy to understand, and they are even slightly more lenient than "first to scale the walls," except for the third condition, which is that you die in battle after completing the task, but your achievement will still be posthumously recognized.

Only by charging into battle can one achieve true collective merit. It requires a commander with great wisdom and courage to lead a certain number of elite soldiers to either break through the defenses or directly confront the enemy's well-prepared formations in order to accomplish the predetermined military objectives. It is extremely dangerous.

To give a simple example, Gao Shun made a meritorious contribution in this battle. As one of the first troops to land on the south bank of the Qiantang River, he fought bravely and held off Sun's army for three or four hours. He fought to the last moment, and his army suffered more than 50% casualties. Not only did he not collapse, but he also participated in a major counterattack and captured the Rui brothers alive.

However, being able to charge into battle and being the first to scale the walls are different; they are not guaranteed to be extraordinary achievements, and their merit is determined by the difficulty of the task.

This time, Liu Feng devised a relatively comprehensive system for recognizing merits, intending to implement it during this merit-based assessment.

The reason for choosing this time was twofold: firstly, it happened to be the right time; secondly, the merits of this campaign were quite important, and the war was relatively long, marking the first time the Southern Expeditionary Army had encountered a major battle that lasted for more than half a year.

Liu Feng was just testing the waters.

After the generals entered the hall, Zhao Yun sat on the left and Taishi Ci on the right, and they sat down in two rows.

All the generals were beaming with joy, and even the reserved Zhao Yun had a hint of happiness in his eyes.

Now Liu Bei and his son are thriving, and the best parts of Yangzhou are almost all under Liu Feng's control. Most importantly, news has spread that the merits of the Jiangdong battle will be celebrated today. How could the generals not be beaming with joy?

After all the generals were seated, Liu Feng nodded to Lu Xun.

Immediately, Lu Xun got up and went to the center of the hall to begin reading out the merit-based system.

The military achievements of the Southern Expeditionary Army were later divided into five levels: First Merit, Extraordinary Merit, First-Class Merit, Second-Class Merit, and Third-Class Merit.

Since the Qin and Han dynasties, there have always been three categories of merit: great merit, medium merit, and small merit.

But Liu Feng felt that this was too blatant and that waiting for merit was more subtle.

Among them, the merits for the first-class officers accounted for half. Liu Feng originally intended to completely abolish the merits for the first-class officers, but after careful consideration, he felt that it would be too radical to abolish them.

The saying "too much of a good thing" applies here.

If the merit of beheading is truly abolished, it will completely become a system where generals report their merits, which is not conducive to the principles of openness, fairness, and impartiality. Moreover, it will have the serious negative consequence of strengthening the personal dependence of lower-ranking officers and even soldiers on higher-ranking officers.

Therefore, after consideration, Liu Feng decided to reduce the proportion of merit for head-level officers to one-half, and also limit it to officers of the middle rank and above.

After all, one may not be able to see the performance of ordinary soldiers and junior officers, but mid-level officers are often able to show up in front of one's eyes.

In addition, Liu Feng also wanted to promote the administrative commission system, stripping the power of rewarding merits from the hands of commanders, and forming a system in which military commanders were in charge of military affairs and political commanders were in charge of political affairs.

This is a very important point. Don't think that it couldn't be done in the Eastern Han Dynasty. How many times have civil officials interfered with military officials in the future?

Liu Feng did not intend to promote any systemic reforms, but rather to define the boundaries between civil and military officials. He aimed to have civil officials in charge of political affairs while leaving military decision-making power to military commanders. This would minimize the possibility of military officials becoming too powerful and reduce the impact on the army's combat effectiveness.

However, this requires further in-depth consideration. It is a very significant matter and cannot be rushed. Let's proceed slowly.

After Lu Xun finished explaining the new system of merit-based rewards, the generals looked at each other in bewilderment.

However, intelligent people such as Zhao Yun, Taishi Ci, Zhou Yu, Jia Kui, Gao Shun, Lu Xun, and Gu Yong had already figured out the purpose of the merit-based reform. In particular, Zhou Yu was able to guess three or four parts of what Liu Feng was thinking.

After careful consideration, Zhou Yu truly felt that Liu Feng's reforms were ingenious, especially the medal system unique to the Southern Expeditionary Army, which broadened Zhou Yu's horizons and left him in awe.

Liu Feng's prestige and influence in the Southern Expeditionary Army and even the entire Flying Cavalry Army are beyond doubt.

Whether the generals understood the implications or not, it did not prevent them from submitting to the emperor without any objection.

"Cough cough."

After Lu Xun stepped back, Liu Feng waited a moment, giving the generals some time to process what was happening, before coughing lightly.

After that cough, the hall suddenly fell silent. The generals, who had been making a ruckus just moments before, immediately stopped talking, sat up straight, and waited for Liu Feng to speak.

The force of his cough was so great that you could hear a pin drop.

Liu Feng was very satisfied. He turned his gaze to his left and called out to Zhao Yun, "Uncle, please come forward." Zhao Yun was slightly taken aback, but then he realized what was happening. He immediately stood up respectfully, walked to Liu Feng, and bowed first.

Zhao Yun was so respectful that he showed no arrogance, relying on his status, seniority, or the respect Liu Feng held for him.

In terms of personal morality, Zhao Yun was truly outstanding as always.

Uncle Zhao is just too straightforward; he says whatever comes to mind without considering the context or his older brother's attitude.

"Uncle, in this battle you commanded a detachment, risking great dangers and sailing a hundred 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 a silk scroll recording military achievements to Zhao Yun: "Uncle, you deserve the greatest credit for this battle!"

Liu Feng had long planned to make Zhao Yun the primary contributor.

Although it is the Eastern Han Dynasty, its maritime transport capabilities may not be weaker than those of the later Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Of course, the Qing Dynasty here refers to the period before the Opium War. After all, the ships purchased by the Qing Dynasty after the Opium War were products of the industrial age, which were incomparable to those of the classical agricultural period.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, maritime transport was actually quite developed. Not only was there private transport, but taxes and tributes from the entire Lingnan region, Fujian, Vietnam, parts of Hunan, and Guizhou were transported by sea until the Yangtze River, when it was finally transported by canal.

Therefore, Zhao Yun's sea route to raid Sun Ce's rear was actually not that dangerous, even less so than Gao Shun's advance. Moreover, whoever was given the credit for the sea raid would be the one to receive the greatest credit; it was obvious to almost everyone with discerning eyes.

However, Zhao Yun's seniority, status, and historical significance are far beyond what others can match.

This man had followed his father for twenty years, fought countless battles, and devoted himself to the Liu family until his death. Moreover, his sons were all loyal martyrs who served Liu Shan.

Both logically and emotionally, the credit should go to Zhao Yun.

Not to mention Zhou Yu and others, even Taishi Ci couldn't compete with Zhao Yun.

Of course, Taishi Ci remained calm about this and even sincerely congratulated Zhao Yun from the side.

Taishi Ci was a clever man. He knew how close and valued Liu Feng was to him, and he had arranged countless opportunities for Liu Feng to make meritorious contributions.

How stupid must he be to compete with Zhao Yun for credit, putting Liu Feng in a dilemma?
Zhao Yun was also extremely excited at this moment. At this moment, he remembered what Liu Bei and his son had said to him two years ago when they entrusted him with an important task.

Although Zhao Yun trusted Liu Bei and his son, he was still uneasy.

But now, Zhao Yun felt that he had been far too short-sighted in the past.

In the past, Zhao Yun thought Liu Feng was a promising talent in the Liu family. Later, he thought Liu Feng should be a prodigy. But now he thinks Liu Feng is truly a genius with the potential to become a dragon or phoenix.

More importantly, Liu Feng always treated him with great respect yet also with affection, making him feel that he was truly being treated as an elder by the other party.

This particularly moved Zhao Yun.

"Yun is of meager talent and ability, and is merely a substitute in the ranks. In this battle, I only followed the general's orders. It was all thanks to the bravery and courage of the generals who were not afraid of difficulties. I have no merit whatsoever, so how dare I be awarded the title of the greatest contributor?"

Zhao Yun bowed deeply, raised the silk scroll recording his merits high above his head with both hands, and continued to humbly say, "I am ashamed and do not deserve this honor. I feel like I am sitting on pins and needles. I urge the general to reconsider this merit and not let those who have made contributions feel disheartened."

Liu Feng burst into laughter, while Zhao Yun remained as humble as ever.

Zhao Yun is a kind and honest man. If you value him, he will repay you many times over, and he never competes for credit.

Guan Yu was extremely proud of his achievements and would always fight for them, let alone suffer any loss.

Zhang Fei also valued merit highly. Although he wasn't as calculating as Guan Yu, he still couldn't stand being taken advantage of.

Of course, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei did not care about the merit itself. Guan Yu treated his soldiers very well and was never stingy with rewards. Although Zhang Fei liked to whip his soldiers and officers, he was never a petty person.

Their emphasis on merit was actually a way to win Liu Bei's favor and protection. They valued their relationship with Liu Bei so much that it reached the point where Liu Bei's joy was his joy, and Liu Bei's sorrow was his sorrow. They were truly closer than blood brothers.

Zhao Yun, though he also deeply respected and was close to Liu Bei, never liked to compete for credit due to his personality. This was something that made Guan Yu and Zhang Fei admire and like him very much.

It should be noted that after Guan Yu's death, Zhang Fei kept clamoring to avenge his brother, but Zhao Yun, as one of the very few pro-peace advocates, was never bothered by Zhang Fei.

It is clear that Zhang Fei was well aware that Zhao Yun's advocacy for peace was not for personal gain, but purely out of public interest.

Everyone understands the difference between "old scoundrel" and "old general," since the former has a synergistic effect with "Yun's wrath," while the latter will receive double the appreciation and praise from Zhao Yun.

If Jiang Wei had called him an "old scoundrel" back then, he probably wouldn't have become the great general of Shu Han later on.

Zhao Yun could be humble, but Liu Feng could not retract the reward.

Liu Feng got up, went to the table, and personally helped Zhao Yun up.

Although Liu Feng's strength is still not as great as Zhao Yun's, he is constantly growing stronger.

Zhao Yun himself was somewhat surprised by Liu Feng's strength, but then he heard Liu Feng say, "Uncle, this merit is well-deserved. If you do not accept this merit, how will the subsequent merits be distributed?"

Liu Feng's words were not only meant to appease Zhao Yun, but also to pressure him.

However, given this kind of pressure, most generals would probably want to switch places with Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun understood Liu Feng's meaning. Although he was still somewhat uneasy, he was no longer as accommodating as before.

Liu Feng was delighted and personally escorted Zhao Yun back to his seat.

Afterwards, Liu Feng moved to the desk.

All the generals in the hall focused their attention on him, some obviously, some subtly, but how could a general truly ignore merit?

Whether it's for fame, fortune, status, or even ambition and dreams, merit is the best stepping stone.

Liu Feng's gaze swept over the crowd. Except for a few people, everyone else eagerly met Liu Feng's eyes, hoping that they would be the next person Liu Feng would call on.

To the generals' slight disappointment, the second person Liu Feng called out was one of those few people.

"Where is your filial father? Come forward!"

The person Liu Feng summoned was Gao Shun.

(End of this chapter)