My father, King Chu, was besieged at Gaixia

Chapter 85 Can’t wait
After the grand ceremony of commending and rewarding meritorious soldiers was completed, it marked the official start of the Chu military merit reward system.

It must be said that the news of that ceremony spread rapidly among the rear army like dandelions through the mouths of the meritorious generals, officers, and soldiers, and through the mouths of the generals and officers who watched the ceremony. The Chu army in Gaixia City also learned the news in the shortest time, and even Ying Bu's army heard the news soon afterwards.

Those generals who came from aristocratic families naturally knew that their good days were over. If they wanted to be promoted in the future, they would have to show corresponding real military merits. And if they were defeated again and again, it would not be like before when everyone was fine. They would not continue to hold their military positions without change. Instead, they would be punished by being demoted, or even beheaded in serious cases. For a time, they couldn't help but feel a deep sense of crisis in their hearts.

As for the middle-level generals and lower-level soldiers, especially those with considerable military talent and ambition, they were all rubbing their hands, secretly holding back their energy, intending to show off their prowess in the next battle, to astonish everyone, and to stand out at the grand and unparalleled commendation ceremony, to enjoy the honor of being personally awarded by the god of war in their minds. This was enough to brag about for a lifetime.

The most ordinary soldiers who had no corresponding talents had simpler and more practical ideas. They went for the land and thought about killing more Han soldiers, going home to farm happily, and having a wife and children. The 300-acre land compensation for the dead would not leave his mother, wife and children without support, which was equivalent to relieving their worries. Naturally, it was worth letting go and fighting for their future life.

If you try hard, it is very possible for common people to become rich peasants.

At present, the world's population is less than 20 million, and even if each person is given 500 acres, it is definitely not enough to cultivate. Of course, land has always been highly concentrated in the hands of government officials, dignitaries, powerful people, and wealthy businessmen, and they, the common people, do not have much. Therefore, the temptation of 500 acres of land to them is much greater than the bounty or cloth.

Xiang Chang was determined not to be a miser. This time, he spent most of the rewards from the previous night attack on the rear army. Fortunately, the army did not need to pay salaries, but only needed to provide food, otherwise it would be difficult to continue. What surprised him was that the soldiers showed much more enthusiasm for land than for the rewards of gold and silk. This made him secretly estimate whether the rewards in the future could be appropriately increased in terms of the number of acres of land and reduced in terms of gold and silk. After all, keeping the gold and silk would be more useful for the entire Chu in the long run.

What made him feel a little guilty was that the lands he was rewarded with could only be redeemed after the Chu State defeated the Han State. If the Chu State was defeated by the Han State as happened in history, these rewards would become empty promises, and Liu Bang of the Han State would naturally not recognize them.

However, seeing that the generals, officers, and soldiers from top to bottom were all grinning with satisfaction, he wisely kept his mouth shut and pretended not to have thought of this.

It must be said that this grand commendation had a great effect on the entire Chu army, especially on the rear army under Xiang Chang. The morale of the entire army was unprecedentedly high, the military spirit was unprecedentedly cohesive, and the combat power was unprecedentedly soaring. Years of fighting had caused the soldiers, who were originally generally tired of war, to suddenly show great enthusiasm for the strange performance of war. This was also something Xiang Chang had not expected.

In the Chu army, the rewards promised by the Overlord himself before he led 20,000 cavalry to fight against the Han army in front of Gaixia City were all implemented and distributed after the war. As for the Chu army's military merit reward system, since there were no more wars, the Chu army had not yet implemented it, but let the rear army take the lead.

Hearing the soldiers on the reviewing stand boasting about their military exploits and the generous rewards they had received, the prisoners squatting in the drill ground opened their eyes wide and revealed a look of desire.

Xiang Chang saw that the time was almost right, so he took the loud speaker and shouted with a smile:

"These brothers are the beneficiaries of the military merit reward system implemented by the Great Chu Army! The Great Chu military merit reward system is fair, just and open. It does not consider background, family background or past. Everything is based on military merit! The more enemies you kill, the higher the reward. The principle is that the more you work, the more you get! There is no invisible ceiling!"

"What kind of kings, princes, generals and ministers are there? If you want to have a beautiful wife, beautiful concubines, acres of land and herds of cattle and sheep, if you want to leave a rich family business to your descendants, if you want to change your destiny and become a noble lord, then what else can I say? Join the Great Chu Army!"

"Join the Great Chu Army, and we will be one family from now on! We will fight enemies together and enjoy happiness together! The next Ying Bu or Peng Yue may be you! Become a soldier of the Great Chu Army and take a shortcut to success in life. You deserve it! I swear as the last general of the Great Chu Army and the eldest son of the Overlord that everything I said just now is true! Now let me ask you one more question, do you want to join?"

Under the strong encouragement of Xiang Chang's big mouth that opened and closed so temptingly, and after hearing about his status, and knowing that no general of this level had ever spoken to these low-level soldiers before, the captives who were squatting on the ground, lifeless, gradually revealed greed and fanaticism in their eyes. They stood up one after another, raised their arms high and shouted loudly:

"I'm in! I'm in!"

"I want to become a soldier of the Great Chu."

"Count me in! Being a noble lord is not important. The key is that I like to fight the enemy side by side with my brothers!"

"And all of us, join us!"...

Without exception, the more than a thousand Han prisoners on the drill ground responded in unison, shouting and howling that they wanted to join the Great Chu Army and become brothers!

Looking at this chaotic scene, Heishi was a little confused and whispered to Zhou Yin: "Captain, what is the rear general doing? Why is it so complicated to recruit surrendered soldiers? Can't you just incorporate them into the army? Why ask for their opinions? If they don't agree, bury them all. I guarantee that each one will be more enthusiastic than the other! A bunch of prisoners, don't you give them face?"

Zhou Yin was undoubtedly confused, but that didn't stop him from standing there expressionlessly with his hands behind his back, looking like he knew everything, and said coldly, "Watch on!"

Xiang Chang looked pleased and shouted excitedly, "Okay! Are you all joining? No one wants to quit? If you don't want to join, there's still time. Just get out of the queue and walk to the northeast corner to continue squatting."

Xiang Chang waited for a while and saw that none of the surrendered soldiers walked out. They all stood still, looking at him eagerly.

These surrendered soldiers are not fools. The fate of the captives is either to be killed or to be enslaved. Naturally, they all know clearly what to choose!
"Okay! I declare that from now on, all of you are soldiers of my Great Chu! From now on, we are all brothers!" As Xiang Chang roared again through the loudspeaker, war drums suddenly sounded and horns blew beside the generals' platform, setting off the atmosphere and making it quite lively for a while!

"Since we are soldiers of the Great Chu, can you give us food and drink?" After the drums and horns stopped, a surrendered soldier asked impatiently under the reviewing stand.

"Of course! We have all the good stuff, such as rice and meat soup, ready to go. I guarantee that the brothers will have enough to eat!" Xiang Chang pointed to the west side of the drill ground, and saw dozens of half-person-high pots lined up on the west side of the drill ground, with firewood underneath and boiling water. Upon hearing Xiang Chang's signal, they immediately poured bags of white brown rice, golden millet, and yellow beans into the pots and started to cook.

Watching this scene, especially smelling the rich aroma of food, the surrendered soldiers who had not eaten for several days felt as if a small hand was reaching out from their throats. Their eyes turned red instantly, revealing a hungry look like wild beasts.

"I know everyone is hungry! We still have a small procedure to perform next! After this small procedure, everyone can eat right away!" Xiang Chang pressed his hands lightly, asking all the surrendered soldiers to squat again. In the eager eyes of the surrendered soldiers, he pointed to the group of surrendered soldiers closest to the stage and said, "Did you say that all of you will join in? Come, come, come on stage, starting with you."

Around the reviewing platform, a team of warriors in distinctive armor, holding spears and swords, immediately came over and roughly took the dozen surrendered soldiers to the reviewing platform.

At this time, another team of soldiers in bright armor came out from behind the reviewing platform and brought dozens of captives with their hands tied behind their backs to the platform.

Upon seeing these captives, the more than a thousand surrendered soldiers in the audience were in an uproar!
These captives were actually their former officers and generals!
"No wonder there were officers and generals captured, but none of them were seen. It turns out they were all eliminated." The surrendered soldiers muttered secretly, looking at these officers and generals who were driven to the stage, and suddenly a bad premonition arose in their hearts.

Xiang Chang won a great victory over Kong Xi's army that night and captured more than 10,000 surrendered soldiers, including more than a thousand officers and hundreds of middle-level generals at the level of colonel, cavalry officer, and cavalry Sima. Unfortunately, the senior generals fled quickly and not a single one was captured.

"The procedure is very simple! Come on, just chop him with your knife, and you can go over and have your meal!" Xiang Chang patted the shoulder of the first surrendered soldier with a smiling face, but as soon as he spoke, he instantly turned into a devil in the eyes of the soldier.

The uneasy feelings of the surrendered soldiers in the audience became a reality, and they suddenly burst into an uproar and became agitated!

I knew that the food in Da Chu was not that delicious, and I knew that being a brother was not that easy to deal with!

(End of this chapter)