Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 103: Those who have made contributions and achieved results will be rewarded!
On March 20th of the first year of the Chongzhen reign, news of victory from Shanxi reached the capital.

Our army won a great victory in this battle, beheading a total of 13,127 northern enemy soldiers. Our army suffered 7,783 dead and 437 seriously wounded.

They captured over 8,300 warhorses, 5,421 horn bows, over 73,000 feathered arrows, 3,760 ring-pommel swords, 2,100 spears, 2,150 sets of leather armor, and 320 sets of lamellar armor, including five sets of heavy armor belonging to the enemy chieftain, inlaid with copper nails.

They captured 420 camels, more than 2,000 cattle and sheep, and about 3,000 shi of millet, cheese, etc. They also seized 170 carts made of oxhide, which were loaded with tents, iron pots, and other items.

The last time such a great victory was achieved was during the three great campaigns of the Wanli Emperor, which caused a stir among the court officials.

However, Zhu Youjian was somewhat distressed. The troops he had dispatched were enough to fight Ligdan Khan's 40,000-strong army to the death, but Ligdan Khan had unexpectedly fled. As a result, the army he had painstakingly mobilized had not played its due role, and he felt that the money had been wasted. The Datong army, which was already in a bad situation and was constantly hoping for reinforcements, unexpectedly became the ones who had contributed the most, and their men were almost wiped out.

The battle report called it a great victory, but in reality, it was a Pyrrhic one: if only the casualty ratio of the encirclement and suppression was considered, the Ming Dynasty undoubtedly gained a huge advantage. However, if the losses of the Ming army and civilians were taken into account from the fall of the border wall, the losses were enormous. But due to the Ming Dynasty's extremely poor local grassroots organization, Zhu Youjian still doesn't know the specific casualties in Shanxi. The number of deaths among border troops, garrison troops, and civilians is conservatively estimated to be no less than 100,000!
The war is over, and we have won it, but the post-war work is even more challenging. The Ming court should also fulfill its promises; rewards and compensation must be properly arranged, otherwise it will hurt people's morale and the consequences may be even more serious than the defeat itself.

The reward for the more than 13,000 heads of the northern barbarians was 656,350 taels of silver; if the compensation was calculated at a minimum of 10 taels per person, it would amount to more than 70,000 taels, but that was outrageous. After much discussion with the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue, Zhu Youjian set the compensation at 30 taels per person. The lives of Ming soldiers were still not as valuable as the lives of the enemy.

However, Bi Ziyan said that giving too much money would cause trouble for the families of the fallen soldiers, and it would be better to give less money and compensate the families in other ways.

But what other options are available? Granting land is out of the question for the court; tax exemptions would damage the tax base. Even a small policy initially intended to favor scholars has escalated to this uncontrollable state; who can guarantee that the families of martyrs won't become new targets for tax evasion?
However, Zhu Youjian ultimately set the standard for the pension as follows: thirty taels of silver, exemption from tax on thirty mu of land, exemption from corvée labor, exemption from donations, and exemption from apportionment. This was to be applied to the wives and children of soldiers who died in battle, for a period of ten years. This was equivalent to clearing out all the taxes of that family for ten years. If the family had children, they could barely survive until the children grew up.

As for the negative impacts, Zhu Youjian couldn't worry about that anymore; no policy is perfect. Besides rewards and compensation, the restoration of Datong Town also required money: repairing the border walls, recruiting soldiers…

Even Bi Ziyan couldn't help but sigh and say, "We know Your Majesty is kind and generous, but the imperial treasury is empty, border troops are still insufficient, and disaster relief in various places is also in need of funds. If such a huge sum of money is suddenly drawn, I'm afraid it's beyond the country's current strength! I humbly beg Your Majesty to have compassion on these difficult times, postpone the discussion, and allow us to consider a long-term solution..."

In fact, even if the imperial court couldn't provide the funds, there were many ways to cope. For example, the reported kill count was 13,000, but it was common for enemy soldiers' heads and faces to be smashed in firearms combat. According to the Ming Dynasty's calculation of merit, a head that wasn't intact couldn't be counted as a military achievement.

Moreover, rewards had already been given before the battle, so even if some were withheld, the soldiers' discontent wouldn't be too intense. However, Zhu Youjian dared not do that. People are all made of flesh and blood; it's better to pay to support the border troops than to spend money to suppress them after they rebel! The court is in dire straits now, but it can still squeeze out a few drops of money. If it really can't pay out later, that's a problem for the future.

Several ministers complained bitterly, but Zhu Youjian smiled coldly and said, "If you don't have silver, send half, and the other half in grain. The grain will be drawn from my private treasury. I have already ordered Marquis Zhongzhen to lead his troops back. You had better prepare the silver before the royal army returns in triumph!"

Zhu Youjian dispatched officials from the Ministry of War to examine the heads. After the examination, the corpses of the Northern barbarians were piled outside the pass to form a Jingguan (a mound of corpses). He also issued an edict to all the tribes of the grasslands to send envoys to pay homage and discuss trade issues. Most importantly, he wanted to ask the leader of the Tumed tribe, the "beloved relatives" and "brothers" of the Ming Dynasty, Prince Shunyi, Bushitu, whether he wanted the Ming Dynasty to send troops to protect their tribe and help them escape the oppression of the Chahar tribe. Since Ligdan Khan had escaped, he should try to isolate him, ideally by using a proxy to kill him. What cannot be obtained on the battlefield cannot be expected to be obtained through negotiation, but since the Ming Dynasty had already won, negotiation was useful.

Ligdan Khan was considered a minor overlord of the grasslands, having defeated many tribes. However, this year he suffered a series of defeats at the hands of the Jurchens and the Ming Dynasty, losing nearly half of his forces. Zhu Youjian (Emperor Youjian) didn't believe he could hold out any longer. Every time a new overlord emerged on the grasslands, he would eagerly come to cause trouble for the Central Plains court. After being defeated, his prestige would vanish, leading to widespread betrayal, disintegration, and a rapid decline.

In short, this battle was so arduous that Zhu Youjian couldn't suffer in silence. He was determined to maximize the benefits and recoup the losses through other means. According to the rules of the Yongle Northern Expedition, 30% of the spoils from the battlefield were to be returned to the imperial court, and 70% were to be distributed among the soldiers. Zhu Youjian had no idea what the imperial court was, but his Imperial Horse Stables suddenly had an additional 2,500 fine warhorses.

Three days later, the imperial edict arrived at the border by fast horse: the capital garrison was ordered to return, the troops of Jizhou and Sun Chuanting's southern army were to remain temporarily in Datong to assist in defense, the Xuanfu army was to return to Xuanfu, and the Yansui cavalry were to go to the capital to receive rewards. Although their achievements in Shanxi were not the greatest, they had also killed several thousand northern barbarians in Shaanxi, which were all merits.

In truth, Zhu Youjian mainly wanted to invite Sun Chuanting to the capital to showcase his abilities. Zhu Youjian had specifically prepared a stage for Sun Chuanting, but unfortunately, he didn't display any impressive talent this time. Zhu Youjian began to wonder: was it that the others were too brilliant, overshadowing his own brilliance, or was Sun Chuanting simply not suited for warfare and more suited to dealing with landlords?

He ordered each region to elect representatives and send 300 elite troops to the capital for inspection and to receive rewards. He also ordered all border garrisons to strengthen their military preparedness and learn from this example.

General Qu Jiazhen of Datong had his merits and demerits balanced out. Considering his loyalty and bravery, he was rewarded with 500 taels of silver, a flying fish ornament, and a embroidered spring knife, and allowed to remain in his original position.

Zhang Yiming, the governor of Datong, was demoted to magistrate of Gaoyang County.

Guerrilla General Cao Wenyao was promoted to the rank of Assistant Commander of Datong, and was assigned to guard the central route of Datong. He was rewarded with one hundred taels of gold and ten warhorses.

Yu Zigao was pardoned for his crimes by meritorious service, and was spared death but demoted to the position of garrison commander of Desheng Fort in Datong Town.

Hou Shilu, the General Commander of Xuanfu, was awarded two hundred taels of gold, a flying fish robe, and the title of Vice Commander-in-Chief.

The rest of the people will be rewarded according to their merits and achievements!

(End of this chapter)