Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 56: Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You (Please Read Later)

"This matter must be severely punished! Otherwise it will not serve as a warning to future generations.

"If everyone follows suit, ignoring friendly troops' danger, being slow to rescue, and marching laxly, who will dare to trust their flanks and backs to their brothers and friendly troops in future battles?
"Must be severely punished!"

Lu Jin stood in the upper position with a dark face and was angry. He defined the nature of Zhang Wen's behavior and expressed his attitude of severe punishment, which shocked everyone present.

Are you planning to kill Zhang Wen directly? ? ?

In the hallway at the back of the room, Zhang Yunxiu was eavesdropping with Zhu Shou's younger brother. She had heard before that her elder brother might be punished for making a mistake, but now from what Lu Jin said, her elder brother might be executed directly.

What should I do? Zhang Yunxiu became anxious.

Hua Gao came back and also attended the meeting. He was standing on one side of the lobby at this time. Seeing the murderous look in Lu Jin's eyes, as if he wanted to severely punish Zhang Wen, he, who had some doubts at first, was now a little confused.

Could it be that the ambush of him and Zhao Pusheng was not secretly manipulated by Lu Jin?
But it does make sense. Kang Maocai was the envoy of Huaixi, the commander-in-chief of a naval and land army of nearly 20,000, and a high-ranking official appointed by the court. How could Lu Jin, a rebel leader, control him?

Moreover, Kang Maocai has been against them for a long time. The reason why he came to Chaohu for help this time was because they could not hold on any longer, right?

It seems to make sense that Kang Maocai was the last one to have such a big one.

Hua Gao watched Lu Jin's performance and couldn't help but find excuses for him.
Zhu Shou had the best relationship with Zhang Wen. He had originally intended to laugh at Zhang Wen and wait for Lu Jin to beat him up. However, when he saw how seriously Lu Jin took the matter, he could no longer laugh and immediately stepped forward to plead for Zhang Wen.

"General, it's nearly 200 miles from Luzhou to Hanshan, which is a long march. Commander Zhang is worried that advancing too fast will cause the soldiers to get tired, so he deliberately slowed down the march to avoid a repeat of the Lu'an incident.

"Besides, we are not very familiar with Kang Maocai. He has been against General Zhao many times recently, so there is no guarantee that he will not resort to some ambush. Commander Zhang is worried about being ambushed, so wherever he goes, he will send out scouts to give warnings.

"It turned out to be just as the commander had expected. If we hadn't moved slower that day, we might have been the first to be ambushed. At that time, I'm afraid General Zhao would have had difficulty rescuing us.
"Although Commander Zhang was slow in advancing and was unable to meet General Zhao's troops, there were reasons for this. I hope the Marshal can spare his life and give him a chance to make meritorious contributions."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin said nothing and still had a gloomy face without expressing his opinion. Zhu Shou also knelt in the middle and did not dare to get up.

Zhu Liangzu, however, listened at the side and his mouth twitched.

You can ask for mercy if you want, why do you want to involve me? What's the story of Lu'an? Isn't it just about Zhu Liangzu who tired his soldiers from running and was ambushed by Lu Jin?
Fuck you, I've already come to you, can this matter be let go? !

Liao Yongan also had a complicated expression at this time. The sudden death of Zhao Pusheng relieved the pressure in his heart. He was originally worried that if Zhao Pusheng came back and competed for power with Lu Jin, he didn't know what would happen to the situation that he had worked so hard to achieve.

It is possible that the Shengwu Army might be completely disbanded.

A strong person like Lu Jin would not be willing to be inferior to others. If he said he would recruit a group of people to work alone, who could stop him? How many people would follow him?
Now that Zhao Pusheng is dead, all the troubles have disappeared. This should be a good thing for their entire force. But if they kill another of their own because of Zhao Pusheng's death, wouldn't that be a losing business?

After thinking about it, Liao Yongan also stepped out and came to the hall, kneeling on one knee to plead for Zhang Wen.

"General, please allow me to report. I have also carefully inquired about the incident. Commander Zhang was worried that we were ambushed by the enemy, so he marched too cautiously. Although the troops were advancing slowly, it was not a big mistake.

“What’s more, I heard that when Commander Zhang learned that General Zhao’s troops were attacked, he immediately ordered the entire army to run to support them, and even sent Generals Ye and Zheng to lead the cavalry. Judging from his words and deeds, he did not seem to be willing to watch them die without helping.

"I hope the Marshal will think twice. If Commander Zhang is really killed for this matter, is the punishment too harsh?"

Seeing this, Yang Jing also stepped out to plead for mercy, and immediately knelt down and clasped his fists, saying, "Please think twice, Marshal, and give Commander Zhang a chance to redeem himself and make meritorious contributions."

There were only four commanders present. When Zhang Wen committed a crime, Liao Yongan and Yang Jing both pleaded for him, leaving Zhu Liangzu standing by.

This made Zhu Liangzu feel embarrassed, because Zhang Wen's matter had nothing to do with him. Before this, he didn't even know who Zhang Wen was. But now he is also the regiment commander, and Lu Jin has only five subordinates.

If he doesn't come forward to plead for mercy this time, then if he gets into trouble in the future, will others not plead for him?

Anyway, asking for a favor only requires a few words, there is no loss, and you can also make friends with someone, so why not do it?
Thinking of this, Zhu Liangzu also knelt down and clasped his fists, saying, "Please think twice, Marshal. Kang Maocai has repeatedly targeted Zhao Pusheng, forcing him to ask us for help. It is hard to guarantee that he will not be surrounded and attacked. Commander Zhang should march more cautiously. I think it is right.

"Although I failed to receive General Zhao, my crime is not punishable by death."

Seeing that everyone had expressed their opinions, Lu Jin spoke slowly.

"You didn't understand the point. What is the point? It's not that General Zhao died. You are all generals who commanded an army. On the battlefield, swords are blind. It is inevitable that a general will die in battle. If he dies, it can only be said that he has bad luck.

"What I care about is your attitude of not taking our friendly brothers seriously!

"I know, this is also because our Shengwu Army is just established, and the generals of each unit are not familiar with each other. Think about it, if you really treat your friendly forces as brothers, will such a thing happen?

"Liao Yongan, tell me, if it was your brother Liao Yongzhong who asked for help, would you dawdle on the road? Even if you were worried about an ambush, you would send out scouts everywhere and march quickly and cautiously!"

Liao Yongan was speechless when he heard this. Lu Jin then said, "Zhu Shou, if it was Zhang Wen asking for help, would you stop and go along the way? Even if there were layers of obstacles ahead, I would fight my way out to save my brother.

“It’s a matter of attitude!”

After hearing this, no one dared to beg for mercy anymore, but they continued to kneel there without getting up.

Lu Jin slowed down again, finally found a way out for himself, and said.

"Of course, this can't all be blamed on you. I, as the head coach, am also at fault."

Ok? !

When everyone heard this, they all looked at Lu Jin.

Lu Jin took the opportunity to speak.

"I, as the commander-in-chief, am responsible for not clarifying military laws and regulations. Since you are all here today, I will make it clear that from now on, the Holy Martial Army will implement a mission-based military merit system. Capturing a city or beheading a person on the battlefield will no longer be the primary merit."

Everyone looked at each other in surprise when they heard this.

Lu Jin finally revealed his true purpose.

The mission-based military merit system is not unique to modern times. In fact, in history, when the Ming Dynasty was first established, from the Hongwu Dynasty to the Yongle Dynasty, the "first merit" was not counted, that is, not taking heads was counted as military merit.

The reason is very simple, because as long as you count heads as military merit, it is inevitable that there will be acts of killing innocent people and claiming credit.

The general is leading the army outside, and it is impossible for you to monitor every troop at all times.
Lu Jin was not quite sure how Zhu Yuanzhang determined military merits, but he remembered that when Zhu Di made five expeditions to the northern desert, the rewards given to soldiers and generals were: breaking the enemy's formation was considered a merit, beheading the general and seizing the flag was considered a great merit, and killing the general and breaking through the enemy's formation was considered an extraordinary merit. Extraordinary merits could lead to titles!
In order to motivate the soldiers to fight with their lives!

This is actually a task-based military merit system, but this way of awarding merit has a disadvantage, that is, if you are qualified to be awarded merit, you must appear on the battlefield and be able to see the performance of various generals at any time before you can be awarded merit.

Why did this system of rewarding merits change to one based on the number of people?

Because the civilians are in power, you want them to go to the battlefield to get credit, what a joke! It's safer for them to count heads at home.

Moreover, the head is a physical object, and the ancients have also summed up a set of methods to verify the head. As long as there is no corruption, the credit of the head can be maintained, but if there is corruption, it is another matter.
Yang Jing had read many military books. When he heard what Lu Jin said, he immediately asked, "General, what is the mission-based military merit system? If we don't count the number of heads captured, how can we calculate the merit?"

Lu Jin then explained.

"We are a righteous army, a benevolent army that wants to quell the chaos and protect the country and the people, not a tyrannical and bloodthirsty army. If we judge merit by the number of heads we take, not to mention the heinous behavior of killing innocent people to claim credit, I'm afraid that even the surrendered soldiers captured on the battlefield will not survive."

Yang Jing nodded when he heard this. It was hard to say that this was not the reason why Bai Qi killed 40 Zhao soldiers. This was because the Qin soldiers needed heads to be rewarded. If you don't kill them all, how can I make progress?
Lu Jin continued to explain.

"So I decided to use the mission-based military merit system. In war, there are only a few types of missions: destroying enemy lines, attacking cities and strongholds, guarding key locations, raiding and tailing, and rushing to support friendly forces. There are five types of missions in total. Merits are awarded based on the number of enemies and our own forces and the number of points scored for completing the missions.

"If you rush to help friendly forces, what merit is it if the rescue is successful? If the rescue is delayed and causes serious damage to friendly forces, how should you be punished?"

After a pause he continued.

"As for Zhang Wen's case, it's my fault that I didn't have a clear reward and punishment system before. The Art of War says that punishing without teaching is cruelty. Since that's the case, I'll spare him the death penalty this time.

"But after the military law is clarified, whoever dares to sit back and watch friendly troops in danger and fail to rescue them, then don't say that I didn't warn you."

"Yes!" The generals immediately responded and accepted the order.

Lu Jin then continued.

"Zhang Wen's delay in rescue almost caused the annihilation of General Zhao's army. Considering his original intention and the fact that there was no precedent before, he will be spared the death penalty this time.

"But the death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be forgiven. Otherwise, the generals may not take it seriously. I will remove him from his position as regiment commander and temporarily appoint him as the battalion commander of a regiment. Zhu Shou will take over as the commander of the first regiment.

"Give him a hundred lashes, and let him make meritorious contributions while serving his sentence, and see what the effect will be!"

"Thank you, Marshal, for sparing my life." Zhang Wen immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

There is one more chapter today

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(End of this chapter)