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Chapter 6 Rewards before the Expedition
The third day of the third month in the first year of Xian De.

Emperor Guo Rong of Zhou ordered the Tianxiong Jiedushi and Wei Wang Fu Yanqing to be the chief general, and appointed Zhenning Jiedushi Guo Chong as the deputy, and led the troops from Guzhen, Cizhou to penetrate into the rear of the pseudo-Han coalition forces.

He also ordered Wang Yanchao, the governor of Hezhong, to be the chief general and Han Tong, the governor of Baoyi, to be his deputy, to lead troops to intercept the pseudo-Han coalition forces from the northeast of Jinzhou.

He then ordered the cavalry commander Fan Aineng, the infantry commander He Hui, as well as the Yicheng Jiedushi Bai Chongzan, the Zhengzhou defense envoy Shi Yanchao, and the former Yaozhou militia commander Fu Yangeng to lead their troops to Zezhou to deploy defenses.

At the same time, he sent Xuanhui Envoy Xiang Xun to supervise the troops of various departments.

The seventh day of the lunar month.

Emperor Guo Rong of Zhou issued a general amnesty edict to reassure the people of the world.

The ninth day of the lunar month.

He appointed Prime Minister Feng Dao as the envoy to the mausoleum to escort the late emperor's coffin to the mausoleum, and appointed Privy Councilor Zheng Renhui as the governor of Tokyo.

The Privy Council then formally issued a military order, and two days later the main force of the imperial guards followed the emperor to the battle.

……

at dusk.

All the soldiers under the Inner Palace Guard who were not on duty were summoned to the training ground.

Among all the guards in front of the palace, the inner palace guards have the largest number of people, with a total of more than 3,000 infantry and cavalry.

Among them, the number of cavalry is slightly more than that of infantry, but the difference is not too big.

In addition to a small number of soldiers on daily duty, most of the troops are on standby in the military camp.

At this time, everyone rushed to the training ground to gather.

At first the crowd was a little chaotic, but under the control of the generals from various departments, the team was quickly reorganized.

Afterwards, carts loaded with money, grain, and cloth drove into the Inner Palace Guard’s residence.

Seeing this, everyone knew that this was the reward before the expedition.

Since the Tang and Five Dynasties, with the collapse of the military service system, recruitment completely replaced conscription, and the ancient military system entered a new stage.

The recruits are all full-time professional soldiers. Not only are they given a settling-in allowance when they are recruited, but they are also paid a monthly salary after joining the army.

Most of the soldiers have families to support, and it is difficult to support their families with just the one-time resettlement allowance and the meager monthly military salary.

Therefore, the court would also issue additional subsidies in kind, such as grain, cloth, oil, salt, soy sauce, firewood and other daily necessities.

In addition, occasional rewards are also a major source of income for the soldiers.

Rewards can be roughly divided into three categories: rewards for major festivals and events, rewards for military merits, and rewards for soldiers before going to war.

For example, the horn bow that Li Yi was awarded after winning the military competition could barely be considered a reward.

On the school field.

The soldiers have lined up, standing with their legs slightly apart and their heads held high. Their clothes and armor are bright, neat and solemn, and they have an elite and powerful aura.

But it's no wonder, the Inner Palace Guards are one of the main forces under the Palace Army, and both their personnel and equipment are top-notch.

They are basically all strong and sturdy young men, equipped with sophisticated armor and weapons, and their combat effectiveness is by no means underestimated.

Not long after, a group of cavalrymen holding flags came in from outside the training ground, escorting a general.

Wang Kuangye, the commander-in-chief of the inner palace, rode his horse to meet him.

Since the flag guards were at the front of the queue, Li Yi was the head of the queue and was tall enough.

He did get a clear look at the general's face.

The other person didn't look too old, no more than thirty years old at most.

It was Zhang Yongde, the commander-in-chief of the palace.

This person is no ordinary person. He is the son-in-law of Guo Wei, the founding emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, and the brother-in-law of Chai Rong, the Emperor Shizong of Zhou Dynasty. He is a real royal relative.

After Chai Rong inherited the throne at the end of the first month, he first promoted his cousin Li Chongjin to the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Guards and Cavalry, putting him in charge of the Imperial Guards.

Then he promoted Zhang Yongde, who was originally the Palace Guard Commander-in-Chief, to replace Li Chongjin as the commander of the Palace Guard Army.

In this way, Chai Rong could use his cousin and brother-in-law to firmly control the two major systems of the imperial guards.

At the same time, Li Chongjin and Zhang Yongde had never gotten along well and had quite a rift between them in private.

Chai Rong's arrangement also implied checks and balances, which could be said to kill two birds with one stone.

At this time, Wang Kuangye approached Zhang Yongde and talked for a few words, then turned around and returned to the front of the training ground.

He shouted at the top of his voice, "We are about to go to war. Your Majesty has shown sympathy for us and has specially ordered Envoy Zhang Du to bring money and food to reward the troops."

After he finished speaking, the soldiers on the training ground still maintained their formation, but the atmosphere was obviously much more lively, and there was a hint of joy on their faces.

Although the soldiers all knew that rewards were inevitable before going to war, they felt a different mood when they actually confirmed it.

Isn’t this the reason why everyone puts their heads on their belts?

If there is no benefit, who would be willing to fight for you on the battlefield?

For the emperors of the Five Dynasties period, if they wanted to maintain their power, they had to first feed the group of warriors under their command.

Not to mention the distant past, on the first day of the first lunar month before the death of Guo Wei, the founding emperor of the Later Zhou Dynasty, after offering sacrifices to heaven at the Circular Mound, the army almost caused a riot over the issue of rewards.

It was just because there were rumors in the army that the rewards for suburban sacrifices were less than those during the reign of Emperor Mingzong of Later Tang, which caused dissatisfaction among the soldiers. In the end, hundreds of people were beheaded to quell the rumors.

For this reason, Guo Wei summoned all the generals of the imperial guards to complain, saying that he had been living frugally just to protect the army, and that the savings in the national treasury were basically all used to supply the army, but the soldiers did not understand the hardships of the people of the country, and only knew how to ask for things and complain.

Afterwards, Guo Wei gritted his teeth and took out some extra money from the inner palace expenses to reward and comfort the army.

It can be seen that when facing these arrogant and powerful generals, the emperor could only try his best to appease them.

Of course, if you accept the emperor's money, you must be loyal to him. There is no such thing as a free lunch.

"Zhang Yongde..."

Li Yi's mind was not on the reward. Seeing Zhang Yongde reminded him of Zhao Kuangyin.

Historically, Zhang Yongde was not only Zhao Da's superior, but the two also had a good personal relationship.

Zhao Daneng was appreciated and promoted by Chai Rong, and Zhang Yongde made a great contribution to this.

Before being dismissed from his post as the Chief Inspector of the Palace, Zhang Yongde was considered the person most trusted by Chai Rong, so his words naturally carried great weight.

Last year, when Guo Wei was still alive, Zhao Kuangyin was promoted to deputy commander of Xingshun in Huazhou.

It seems that he has been promoted from the position of centurion.

But compared to being under the emperor's nose, being in office is actually far away from the center of power, so one has to make greater efforts if one wants to climb up.

What's more, the Later Zhou Dynasty generally implemented the policy of strengthening the trunk and weakening the branches. While vigorously strengthening the imperial guards, it also weakened the local vassal states.

Being transferred from the Imperial Guards to a local post is not a good thing.

This is completely different from the peacetime practice of civil servants being transferred to local areas to gain experience in order to qualify for promotion.

If Zhao Kuangyin was really transferred to Huazhou, there would most likely be no Song Taizu in the future.

Fortunately, thanks to Zhang Yongde's recommendation, Chai Rong, the then prefect of Kaifeng, recruited Zhao Kuangyin into his army and transferred him to be the cavalry centurion of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Although it was just a horizontal transfer in terms of position, he became Chai Rong's direct confidant, which was also an opportunity for Zhao Kuangyin.

Of course, the premise is that Zhao Kuangyin really has real ability, otherwise it will be useless if he is just a piece of useless shit.

……

Zhang Yongde came on behalf of the emperor to comfort the soldiers. He went through some formalities, said a few words of encouragement, and soon left with his troops.

The next step is naturally to distribute rewards.

But they did not line up on the spot to receive it. Instead, each unit collected a total number and then returned to the barracks to distribute it among themselves.

In the end, Li Yi was given ten strings of cash, a piece of fine cloth and two bags of grain, while ordinary soldiers could only get one string of cash, a piece of coarse cloth and a bag of grain.

Although it may not seem very generous, it is already a considerable income considering the current social background and economic conditions.

Moreover, only elite troops like the Inner Palace Guards who followed the emperor into battle could receive so many rewards.

What other miscellaneous troops can get will be greatly reduced.

However, considering the financial situation of the Zhou Dynasty, these rewards had already emptied the national treasury and even the palace treasury.

After all, the emperor is counting on these soldiers to fight for him, so he has no choice but to let them go.

"I haven't spent all the money from the suburban sacrifices yet, and I've received another reward. When I return from the battle victorious, I'll naturally receive more rewards too. Then I'll find a woman and have some fun with her."

Ma Renyu tossed a string of copper coins in his hand, grinned and spoke without restraint. Li Yi, who was standing beside him, didn't bother to pay attention to him.

I have to say that this guy is really an optimist. He's thinking about getting money if he wins the war before it's even started, just like when he told Li Yi before that he wanted to be a Jiedushi. It seems that he has never thought about it in a bad direction.

"Brother Yi, after we defeat the Han army, I will take you to a good place." Ma Renyu turned his head and winked at Li Yi.

"No." Li Yi naturally knew where the good place he was talking about was, and refused it firmly.

Ma Renyu continued to instigate, "Hey, you don't have to pay for it yourself, I'll treat you."

Li Yi reluctantly advised, "Brother Ma, if you have this spare money to spend, why not send more back home to your wife and children?"

Ma Renyu is two years older than Li Yi. When he joined the army, he was already married and had children. Now his son is five years old.

However, in the past few years, his wife and children have stayed in their hometown and have not been brought to Tokyo to live with them.

"My parents are taking care of my wife and children, and I often send money back home. I don't need to worry too much."

Ma Renyu, however, didn't care. "We're working for a job that puts our lives on the line. We never know when we'll have our next meal. We should just enjoy ourselves when we should. Why do we have to do so much?"

"I can't compare to Brother Ma..." Li Yi disagreed.

Ma Renyu's parents are still alive, he has an older brother to support him, and his family is not poor. He has more than ten acres of fertile land in his hometown, so he lives a relatively affluent life. Naturally, he can live a carefree and happy life.

But Li Yi is different. Not only have both his parents passed away, but he also has a widowed sister-in-law who needs his care. His uncle's family in Xia Jin also lives in poverty and depends on him for help.

He has a heavy burden on his shoulders and has long-term plans in mind. It is far from the time for him to indulge himself.

Besides, aren’t you afraid of getting sick by having fun with those unclean women?
"If Li Yaya doesn't want to go, we'll go. Ma Yaya, please invite everyone to go together!"

At this time, some of the soldiers next to them started to make a fuss.

"Get lost, go pay for it yourself, I'm not your fucking dad."

Ma Renyu glared and cursed, but the soldiers who were scolded were not angry. Instead, some of them shouted that if they were invited, it would be worth it to have another father.

While everyone was making a fuss, Li Yi quickly escaped from the barracks.

Then he ran straight to find the governor Zhang Maochang.

Li Yi went on this expedition with the idea of ​​making great achievements, but no one could guarantee that there would be no accidents on the battlefield. It was possible that the battle would be won but people would be lost.

So he planned to go home first to give the reward to Guo and give her a few instructions.

But this matter must first be approved by the mayor Zhang Maochang.

Although most of the time we just turn a blind eye, the necessary procedures must be followed.

As expected, Zhang Maochang readily agreed.

However, the other party also specifically reminded Li Yi to return to the camp before roll call tomorrow at the latest, otherwise he would have to follow the rules.

(End of this chapter)