There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 478 Reward
The twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month.

The imperial edict of bestowal of honors from the Emperor of the Great Han Dynasty has already been sent by telegram to the various military garrisons at the front.

After being drafted by the Ministry of Rites and approved by the Ministry of War, the final details of the rewards and honors for military achievements are as follows:

Yang Fang, the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Route Army of the Northern Expedition, captured Xuzhou and commanded the battlefields north of the Yangtze River and in Shandong, making him the hero of the Northern Expedition.

Bai Nan, deputy commander of the Eastern Route Army of the Northern Expedition and commander of the Central Route Army of Huaibei, recovered Huaibei, assisted Yang Fang in capturing Xuzhou, and assisted in the major battle in Shandong, thus ranking second in merit of the Northern Expedition.

Wei Xinrong, the commander-in-chief of the Western Route Army of the Northern Expedition, captured Kaifeng and took command of the Henan battlefield, thus achieving three major merits in the Northern Expedition.

Their titles were also determined: Yang Fang was enfeoffed as Marquis of Xuzhou, Bai Nan as Marquis of Yingzhou, and Wei Xinrong as Marquis of Guide.

Marquises were first-class marquises who were enfeoffed based on place names, and were mainly selected randomly from those who had rendered meritorious service in their respective territories.

Not only were the commanders of the Northern Expeditions granted titles and ranks, but other generals who led expeditions to the south and west were also granted titles and ranks.

Chen Younian, who was making slow progress on the Guangxi battlefield, was promoted to Marquis of Wuzhou.

Guangxi is mountainous, and the Han army fought a very tough time there. The local Yao and Zhuang people distrusted both the Manchu government and the Han Dynasty.

They were highly resistant to the land redistribution and land reform policy implemented by the Han government, believing that it was a deliberate attempt by the Han government to plunder their land and that the so-called land redistribution and land reform was just a common trick.

There's nothing we can do. It's all the fault of the Manchus. The Han Chinese army is suffering from the Manchus' mistakes now. We can't reason with them anymore, so we can only fight and appease them at the same time.

In a direct confrontation, the Zhuang people's wolf soldiers are fierce and brave, but no matter how fierce they are, flesh and blood cannot defeat firearms. These wolf soldiers are also clever; seeing that they cannot fight head-on, they switch to guerrilla warfare in the mountains.

The mountainous terrain was complex, making it inaccessible to artillery, and frequent rain and high humidity hampered the use of Han army firearms. In contrast, the local wolf soldiers were familiar with the terrain and would often ambush the Han army from mountain trails, firing poisoned arrows.

To date, the Han Chinese troops who went to fight in Guangxi have suffered hundreds of casualties, all of whom were caught in traps or ambushed by poisoned arrows.

The poison used in the poisoned arrows was so potent that even the military doctors couldn't identify it, and could only suspect that it was a poison unique to Guangxi.

When the battle reports of casualties were sent to Nanjing, the city had no good solutions and could only grit its teeth and fight slowly, while sending out more land distribution officials and members of the farmers' association.

These former members of the farmers' associations were mostly locals from Guangdong, with some also being transferred from areas already conquered in Guangxi. A few even brought in people from Yao and Zhuang villages that had submitted to the central government to accompany the army and appease and persuade them.

On the Yunnan-Guizhou battlefield, the Han army fought somewhat slowly, mainly due to the complex terrain of Yunnan and Guizhou, as well as the fact that the Yunnan governor was not an easy opponent.

However, there wasn't much of a problem. Xu Sanlang, who was mainly attacking Yunnan and Guizhou, was using a strategy of stability. The fact that the Qing governor of Yunnan had to put up a fight against him was exactly what he wanted.

The Han army advanced steadily and slowly on the Yunnan-Guizhou battlefield, gradually eroding and compressing the Qing army's room to maneuver.

Xu Sanlang would wait until the land officials and farmers' associations had completely taken over all the territories he conquered before continuing his military campaigns.

As the tides turned, the Qing army's strategic depth shrank further and further, and its resistance grew weaker and weaker.

While Xu Sanlang was waiting to digest the territory, he would also send people to spread rumors in the prefectures and counties controlled by the Qing army. He did not go directly to the big cities, but instead targeted the towns and villages that the Qing army could not attend to.

Xu Sanlang was granted the title of Marquis of Zhenyuan, while He Shunan, who was preparing for war in Chongqing to the north, was granted the title of Marquis of Kuizhou.

In addition to the generals of all armies being granted the title of marquis, the division commanders of the Han army who participated in the war, who had served as division commanders for more than three years, were also granted the title of marquis.

However, it was only a title of nobility, without a specific honorary title, and it did not belong to the first rank. When recorded in the list of nobles, it was uniformly referred to as "Marquis ×××".

Those who participated in the great war within three years were all granted the title of earl.

Because Yang Yuchun was a newcomer, he was not given a noble title for the time being, but he was promoted and rewarded, and allowed to expand the mountain warfare division and receive the title of a proper division commander.

In terms of military rank and position, Yang Yuchun and Chen Younian were already on equal footing.

However, Chen Younian was a marquis and the commander-in-chief of the Guangxi battlefield, so in the event of a major battle, Yang Yuchun had to obey Chen Younian's orders, but Chen Younian also had to consult with him in advance.

Wu Liehu, the commander of the cavalry division, is currently stationed on the Liaodong Peninsula, where he is also training his troops for war.

Wu Liehu's merits and qualifications were not enough to warrant the title of Marquis, but he fought all the way to the outskirts of Shengjing City, which greatly intimidated the Manchus. His political significance outweighed his military achievements, so he was granted the title of Earl of Jinzhou, which was a first-class earldom.

After appointing military officers, civil officials followed.

The founding emperors of various dynasties were rather stingy in bestowing titles upon civil officials compared to military generals.

When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the Ming Dynasty, he conferred titles upon 36 meritorious officials at once, but only 3 of them belonged to the civil officials' group and were Zhu's core group.

Nie Yu was relatively generous, granting three titles, but he didn't give too many either, only granting titles within the cabinet, and only marquises.

The main purpose was to balance the civil and military affairs, to prevent military officers from being granted too many titles, which would put pressure on civil officials, and to appease the civil officials.

Besides these titles conferred based on military achievements and civil administration, there were also some titles bestowed with special political significance.

Nie Yu's distant cousin, Nie Lin, was forced to abandon his family's business and bring his cousin Nie Hong to join him in the beginning because his family rebelled and started an uprising.

Although they survived the initial two difficult years, his uncle and cousin basically remained in local positions. They were neither good enough for high-level jobs nor good enough for low-level ones; they were capable of managing the affairs of the firearms bureau, and they could also manage to govern a region.

But his abilities fell short at higher levels; even when governing a prefecture, his performance evaluation was only passable. However, it didn't matter. As a distant relative, he could and had to be granted a title after the founding of the dynasty.

If he doesn't give it to them, the common people will think the emperor is cruel and heartless, and the officials will think the emperor is ruthless and doesn't even care about his own family.

In this ancient world 200 years ago, although Nie Yu was trying his best to eliminate the influence of clans, the local small clans, and even the tradition of sticking together for warmth among people of the same surname, could not be changed in a short time.

This stems from the harsh living conditions in ancient times. Without the protection of their clans, ordinary people were easily oppressed by the government. Even without government oppression, they would be bullied by other villages with clan protection.

In this environment, the idea that if one person in a clan prospers, the entire clan will rise to prominence is deeply ingrained in people's minds.

Moreover, for civil officials, the large population and power of the imperial family were more conducive to the stability of the country.

Otherwise, not to mention the day the emperor dies, even if future emperors suddenly die out, and the imperial family only has the emperor's family and surname, what's the point of playing around then?
They could start a civil war any minute!

After discussions with the Ministry of Rites, Nie Yu decided to grant his paternal uncle, Nie Lin, the title of Earl of Jingzhou, a hereditary title.

The title of Earl may seem low, not as high as the first-class marquis of the military generals, but the title of Earl is Jingzhou, which is currently the de facto secondary capital of the Han Dynasty.

Moreover, following the precedent set by the previous dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, upon establishing the dynasty, only granted earls to his distant relatives, while first granting marquises to his generals.

When a general is promoted to the rank of Duke, distant relatives are first promoted to the rank of Marquis, and then gradually promoted to the rank of Duke.

Unfortunately, it's impossible to treat all relatives of the emperor equally when it comes to bestowing titles and honors upon them.

Even the Empress's family, his father-in-law's family, were only granted the title of hereditary earl. In short, their starting position could not be higher than that of the military generals and ministers who had made great contributions.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be the emperor favoring his own family, but rather nepotism. Military generals and high-ranking officials wouldn't dare to speak out openly, but they would harbor resentment.

Once a noble title is conferred, there are also official promotions and land grants, which are granted together with the title conferment. Currently, only first-class marquises are granted fifty mu of land, but this includes their entire family, with no upper limit on the number of mu per person.

This policy seems to contradict the original land distribution policy, but Nie Yu naturally added supplementary clauses: land could only be granted for military merit.

No land could be granted without military merit, and military merit had to be merit in expanding territory. Ordinary military merit could at most be rewarded with money and official positions, but never with land.

These will all be written into his "Imperial Han Ancestral Instructions".

Nie Yu is already working on the "Imperial Han Ancestral Instructions," which is just the initial name internally and will definitely be changed later. But the actual meaning is similar; it's all in the name of him, the founding emperor, to provide a basis for future civil officials to restrain the emperor from acting recklessly.

Nie Yu's decision to grant land as a reward for territorial expansion is to give future rulers and ministers a reason to expand outwards.

If future rulers and ministers were ambitious and enterprising, this would be their powerful tool for expanding their territories.

If the emperor is complacent and complacent, then he can also rely on the ancestral laws to restrain himself from arbitrarily bestowing land and property upon others according to his own preferences, thus leading the way in breaking the rules.

Of course, laws are rigid, but people are flexible. If the emperor really wanted to act recklessly, let alone ancestral laws, unless the founding emperor Nie Yu were to be resurrected on the spot, there would be no way to stop him.

But being unable to stop them is one thing, not wanting to stop them is another.

The distribution and granting of land should maintain a positive cycle in the early stages of the Han Dynasty. It may even inspire future rulers and ministers to be enterprising and expand outwards for the next two or three generations.

When a real conflict between people and land actually arises, it will likely be at least several decades to a hundred years from now.

By then, even the most perfect policy will have problems.

How to solve it was not something Nie Yu should worry about, since he would have been dead long ago anyway.

After the land was granted, officials were promoted, but not to everyone; only to the division commanders.

The promotions were not to ordinary officials, but to military ranks above division commander, and were also part of the strategic preparations for the second Northern Expedition to wipe out the Qing Dynasty.

Yang Fang has been essentially chosen as the commander-in-chief of the Northern Expeditionary Army in the later stages.

Although this guy's performance on the Shandong and Jiangbei battlefields seemed to be average, his ability to command over 100,000 troops without causing any major chaos already proves his military prowess.

On the Henan battlefield, Wei Xinrong, a graduate of the military academy, was in charge of commanding large-scale battles. While there weren't many major incidents, the fighting wasn't particularly impressive either.

Kaifeng was captured, and Henan was also taken over, but the problem of unrest in various places was not resolved.

In a large-scale battle involving 30,000 troops, he played almost no role; it was mostly the various Han armies that were independently commanding the operations.

This is why even after he captured Henan, he only achieved three victories, which was too mediocre, and the resistance from the Qing army in Henan was too weak.

However, Nie Yu didn't blame these generals. After all, they were all newcomers. To be able to command a large army and conquer Kaifeng and half of Henan was already a high level of generalship.

Forget about being a meritorious dog or not. As long as you win the battle and recover the territory, that's a war achievement!

Nie Yu is now the emperor, not the great general he was when the uprising first started. He can't possibly compete with his former subjects for credit, can he?

(End of this chapter)