My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 74: Military Merit and Nobility
Xiang Chang continued coldly, "You made Xiang Xi drink a lot of wine. Now the wine is used to treat the wounded soldiers. It can't be wasted on you. Although there is no wine, there is plenty of water. Come on, give him seven jars of water too!"

I never thought Xiang Chang would go to such lengths for a lowly general, and would retaliate one-to-one without any discount. Ding Gu was shocked, angry, resentful, and hateful:
"Xiang Chang, you humiliated me like this, humiliated a noble general, what consequences do you think will happen?"

A group of attendants and guards rushed forward and held Ding Gu down. Some attendants brought jars of water from the nearby military camp, and then they pinched Ding Gu's mouth, poured water into his mouth, and without any courtesy, they drank back Ding Gu's angry curses!
Seeing this scene, the officers and soldiers who were watching in front of the warehouse fell silent. Everyone, including Xiang Xi, Tian Jian and other generals who were newly promoted by him and were born as commoners, looked at him with eyes that changed from admiration to fanaticism. They were now afraid that Xiang Chang would ask them to jump into the river, but they did not frown or hesitate!
At this moment, the reverence these soldiers and officers had for Xiang Chang even overshadowed that of their King Xiang Yu, whom they revered as a god!

"Master Chang, it's too much for you to humiliate a noble for a mere civilian general!" The noble general, who was about to shrink back into the crowd, finally couldn't bear it anymore and stood up again.

"That's right! General Hou, we would also like to ask you, why do you want to promote so many low-class people to high positions in the army and favor them so blatantly? Where do you put us noble generals?"

"That's right! General Hou, this Great Chu is ours, why should we let these country bumpkins get involved?"

"That's right! If the general doesn't give us an explanation today, we will go to see the Overlord and let him make the decision!"

"Those lowly people are greedy for fame and fortune, and are not trustworthy at all. General Hou, please think twice. In the end, the Great Chu still has to rely on us, its own people!"

……

"Haha, the real purpose is finally revealed?" Xiang Chang sneered in his heart, "Family? Only my son is family to you!"

Ding Gu's snatching of the fine wine was just a cover. In essence, these noble generals in the army used this to express their dissatisfaction with him promoting a large number of civilian generals. Xiang Chang knew this very well.

On the night when my father was surrounded on all sides and tried to break out, Xiang Chang took advantage of the panic in the army and the fact that my father and other senior core generals were not paying attention to other things, and promoted a group of promising grassroots civilian officers into the ranks of middle-level officers who had become vacant due to a series of wars.

Although he had to make a decision out of urgency at the time, he knew that promoting too many people and promoting them to too high a military position would inevitably lead to sequelae.

But he originally thought that it would not explode so early, after all, Liu Bang and Han Xin's hundreds of thousands of troops were still watching covetously, and the situation was still critical. But once the siege of Gaixia was lifted and the situation eased a little, these noble generals were like being poked in the asshole, and they couldn't wait to jump out.

It is true that the interests of others are like a blunt knife cutting the flesh, which is heart-wrenching. As for one's own interests, one must hold them firmly in one's hands, even to death, and not allow others to erode them. This is human nature. Xiang Chang sighed in his heart.

"I understand what you mean. You think you are of noble birth, so you are angry and dissatisfied when commoners are promoted, even if they have made outstanding contributions and deserve the honor! Haha, I want to ask the soldiers, are you willing to follow a general who can win battles and make military achievements, or an incompetent weakling?"

Facing Xiang Chang's shout, all the soldiers and officers raised their weapons, their faces excited, and roared loudly, making their attitude clear: "Victory! Victory! Victory!"

Facing Xiang Chang's implicit accusation that they were incompetent and weak, and hearing the roars of the soldiers and officers, the faces of the noble generals turned red, with some showing indignation, some resentment, some embarrassment, some cowardice, and so on.

"Have you heard the voices from the army? Now that a powerful enemy like the Han is waiting nearby, the situation in the Chu State is extremely critical and could be overthrown at any time! Instead of thinking about how to fight the Han State and bite it hard, you are jealous and angry about the promotion of your comrades and are dissatisfied. I'm putting it here. Don't say anything in the future. If anyone dares to cause trouble like today, I will punish him severely!"

"Similarly, in the future, there will no longer be a distinction between nobles and commoners in the army. Only military merit will count! I have decided to implement the Qin Dynasty's system of conferring nobility based on military merit in the military camp! Whether commoners or nobles, anyone who wants to be promoted can do so by showing their military merit! As long as the military merit is sufficient, it will be no problem to be conferred a nobility title or even sit in my position!"

The expressions of the noble generals changed drastically and they were extremely panicked. They had never expected that even if they united, they would be so weak. Xiang Chang did not take them seriously at all. Not only did he not force him to back down, but he added fuel to the fire, which stimulated him to throw out the Qin system of conferring titles based on military merit!
The officers and soldiers watching around were breathing heavily, their eyes were bright, and they looked excited, and they cheered loudly.

The Qin Empire's system of conferring titles based on military merit was a system of conferring titles based on military merit, which was implemented in the Qin Empire to encourage soldiers to fight bravely and improve the army's combat effectiveness.

The system directly granted corresponding titles and honors according to how many enemies the soldiers killed and how much military merit they had, and equipped them with corresponding fields, houses, fiefs, households, annual salaries, etc. The highest level could be made a marquis, entering the upper class of the empire.

It must be said that the reason why the Qin Dynasty's system of conferring titles based on military merit was so advanced was that it opened a path for the lower class civilians at that time to rise, breaking the upper class aristocracy's monopoly on power and official positions. The noble generals were very anxious, knowing that once the Qin Dynasty's system of conferring titles based on military merit was implemented, the middle and upper class of the Chu Dynasty would usher in a major reshuffle. Those soldiers who were born as commoners and had outstanding talents would be promoted rapidly through their special merits, while the original aristocratic class would usher in an overall weakening and decline.

After all, they knew too well how terrifying the energy these low-level officers and soldiers could unleash to change their own and their families' destinies.

At this moment they felt extremely terrified, but they knew that they had no way to suppress Xiang Chang. Neither Xiang Chang's military position nor his identity were something they could shake, especially now that he had the support of lower-level officers and soldiers. Instead, they became an isolated minority. In desperation, they could only look towards the direction of the banquet outside the city.

With such a big commotion here, the news must have reached the banquet a long time ago. Both the Overlord and the high-ranking core generals attending the banquet should have known about it long ago.

It was hard for these noble generals to guess whether the Overlord would choose to protect his son or stand on the side of these nobles. In the past, they were very confident that the Overlord would definitely stand with them. But now that Xiang Chang was his only son and had made such great contributions to him and the Great Chu, it was possible that the Overlord's heart would tilt towards him.

But even if the Overlord is inclined to Xiang Chang, these noble generals will not be discouraged. The senior core generals at the banquet will take action and will not let Xiang Chang continue to act recklessly like this, because this will directly endanger their interests. They are also extremely confident about this.

Seeing the expressions of the noble generals, Xiang Chang sneered in his heart: Haha, you can't suppress me, so you put your hopes on others? Sorry, today, I am destined to disappoint you.

Xiang Chang was very clear about the shortcomings of the Chu Empire, especially the current military. The biggest problem was that his father was nepotism. The people he appointed were either Xiang clan members, old Chu nobles, or Jiangdong children. These people could be said to have firmly controlled all the middle and high-level official positions in the current Chu Empire.

No matter how talented Han Xin was, he was only a halberd-bearing doctor in the Chu State; no matter how wise Chen Ping was, he was only a mere captain in the Chu State.

Of course, there was the fact that my father was not good at judging people, but among all the generals and officials of the Great Chu, no one could see their talents? Obviously, many people could see it, but there was no Xiao He-like person who strongly recommended them to the Overlord. What does this show?
This means that they have monopolized all middle and high-level official positions in Da Chu and can no longer tolerate outsiders. Even if they are peerless geniuses, they will be automatically or involuntarily excluded by them until they leave, flee, or are killed.

For example, Chen Ping did a good job in the Chu camp. As his father won the Battle of Pengcheng, he led his army to defeat and subdue the King of Yin. He returned with a great victory and was highly valued by his father and promoted to the rank of captain. However, not long after, Yin rebelled again, which was normal, but his father suddenly decided to kill the general who had pacified Yin.

Chen Ping, the leader of the generals who pacified Yin, was the first to be affected by this decision. Naturally, he was very frightened. He sent an envoy to return the rewards and official seal he had received from his father since taking office, and then fled in panic with only a sword.

Why did Dad make such a stupid decision? Judging from Dad's habit of being easily persuaded, it was obviously because of the slander of important officials around him, and the purpose was to target Chen Ping. After all, Chen Ping's position as a captain had already aroused their fear. If he made more contributions, he would be promoted to the captain of the guard army and enter the core of the high-level officials of the Great Chu. This was undoubtedly something they absolutely could not tolerate.

Xiang Chang saw this very clearly and knew very well that if he wanted to defeat the Han group headed by Liu Bang, it would be impossible to rely solely on the current bunch of people, and the final result would be that everyone would die together.

Of course, it is very beneficial for family members and nobles who surrender to serve in the empire and the army, especially in the military, in the early stages of the uprising. Because everyone is a family, united as one, military orders can be communicated smoothly and implemented effectively, making the entire army as powerful as an arm.

This is also the real reason why the Chu army was invincible and powerful in the early stage of the anti-Qin campaign. However, with the collapse of the Qin Dynasty and the establishment of the Chu Dynasty, if a huge empire is still managed by family members, relatives and old officials, without getting rid of the old and accepting the new, absorbing fresh blood and vigorously selecting and promoting talented generals and officials, then the road will only become narrower and narrower.

Of course Xiang Chang also knew that if he wanted to reform and implement the Qin system of conferring titles based on military merit, he would certainly be strongly opposed by these generals and ministers with vested interests.

But we can't just not do something just because they stop us or because it's difficult.

Anyone who wants to climb up will definitely encounter bumps and obstacles. Don't be afraid of them, just crush them and break through. This will of course test his wisdom, toughness, and super determination!
With a strong enemy like the Han Dynasty at his side, the sniper force was undoubtedly the weakest in implementing the reform. Taking advantage of Ding Gu's disturbance, he acted without hesitation. Of course, in order to reduce resistance as much as possible, he also made it clear that he would only implement it in the army. But even so, as expected, it still caused a strong backlash from these noble generals.

Xiang Chang, who had foreseen all this, was not afraid and sneered secretly: It would have been fine if you occupied all the middle and high-level official positions in Chu before I came; but after I came, if I still let you occupy all the middle and high-level official positions in Chu, then wouldn’t my trip be in vain?

Thank you brothers for your recommendation votes and monthly tickets, thank you all for your follow-up reading, and thank you book friends such as Tian Ya Wu Dao Ke for the rewards. I am deeply grateful.

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(End of this chapter)