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

Chapter 285 Negative Example: He Renlong

The old man performed the five bows and three kowtows ceremony. After the ceremony, Zhu Youjian personally handed him the seal of the Marquis of Liaoning, the qilin robe, and the documents granting him a fief of 1,200 households. Zhu Youjian was giving him a real fief located in Jinzhou, southern Liaoning, which is also known as Lushun.

In the Ming Dynasty, fiefdoms were mostly nominal, and when converted into salaries, they were often insufficient to receive the full amount. Yuan Keli, however, had a real fiefdom, which made countless people envious.

This was Zhu Youjian's little quirk. If he hadn't been afraid of too much opposition, he wouldn't have bothered with granting fiefs; he even wanted to directly bestow real fiefs upon him, allowing him to establish his own territory. After all, Liaodong was currently undeveloped, and he could do whatever he wanted with it. This is the benefit of expanding territory; recovering lost land is practically equivalent to expanding territory.

He did this to tie these new nobles to Liaodong. If they didn't put in the effort when conquering Liaodong, they would lose their fiefdoms!

The old man claimed he didn't care, but in reality, he was quite pleased to have his merits acknowledged. Wang Chengen read aloud his investiture document, listing his achievements from the Tianqi era all the way to the present. Many people were initially dissatisfied with his being granted a title; after all, he hadn't recovered Liaodong. As the saying goes, "It's extremely difficult for civil officials to be granted titles, but there are clear paths for military generals," so what right did Yuan Keli have?!
Based on his two recaptures of Liaonan and the establishment of the largest navy in the north; based on his numerous victories yet remarkable cost-effectiveness, he managed to minimize the burden on the court! Leading the court's million-strong army and spending hundreds of millions of dollars to win battles is not a feat; providing one's own provisions and empowering the court with tens of thousands of elite troops and millions of acres of land from scratch is what truly deserves credit.

Zhu Youjian was much more generous in bestowing titles than previous emperors, almost as if he were "selling his father's land without a care in the world." However, he didn't bestow titles arbitrarily; merit and seniority were both indispensable, and the titles had to be convincing to the majority of the people. In times of national crisis, maintaining the country's credibility was essential, and clear rewards and punishments were the most important aspect of maintaining that credibility.

Yuan Keli's lips trembled slightly, and his mustache involuntarily curled upwards. At his age, he had long since become indifferent to wealth and status. What pleased him was that his current state would surely leave a significant mark on history. Wasn't this the ultimate pursuit of a civil official—"to leave a name in history"?

"Zhao Shuaijiao!"

"Chen is here!"

"Zhao Shuaijiao, the Commander-in-Chief of Shanhaiguan and Earl of Pingliao, led his troops on a hundred-mile raid and killed Huang Taiji, the commander-in-chief of the Jurchen army. His merit is the greatest, and I hereby promote you to Duke of Xuan!"

Xuan is derived from Xuantu Commandery, an ancient Han Dynasty name for Liaodong. It's difficult to choose a title for Old Zhao; if he were to be granted "Zhao State" or "Han State," it would clash with the titles of vassal kings.
The Liao Kingdom was too big; as for the Jin Kingdom, the Ming Dynasty never recognized the so-called "Great Jin" of the Jurchens, they were just a bunch of wild dogs randomly claiming ancestry; the Yan Kingdom was even worse, the King of Yan was too ruthless!
They could have simply promoted him to the rank of Duke of Pingliao, but that would have been too unconventional and a bit too much.

After much thought, I could only come up with the word "mysterious," which sounds nice and looks good, but it lacks a bit of domineering presence.

In the Ming Dynasty, dukes didn't necessarily use the name of their fiefdom as their title. For example, Guo Ying, the "Duke of Ying," is said to have been named so because he guarded Yingzhou, an ancient name for western Liaoning. Zhao Shuaijiao had a fiefdom of three thousand households, located in Shenyang Wei!
The third person to be conferred the title was the garrison commander who had defended Haizhou City for months. Zhu Youjian had never heard of this person before; there was no record of him in either contemporary records or in the historical records he knew.

When asked, Yuan Keli said that he had been promoted from the rank of Qianzong (a military officer) two years ago. He said that this guy was a formidable warrior who fought like a madman and was not stupid. So Yuan Keli decided to cultivate him. As for the method of cultivation, he would put him wherever there was danger. If he survived, he would be promoted, and if he died, he would be given a proper rite of passage.
Zhu Youjian even suspected that this person might be one of his kind. He specifically asked the other person what came after "3.14159265352", but the guy couldn't answer. It seemed that he was not a time traveler.

The military commander of Haizhou City was granted the title of Earl of Haizhou and promoted to General. In any case, he had gathered all the troops he needed. None of the surrendered Mongol men respected him except this guy. Although he only had 6,000 barbarian soldiers at the moment, if managed well, he might be able to develop them into 36,000 cavalry. His value in uniting the enemy was immense!
One duke, one marquis, and one earl—that was all the titles conferred this time. Zhu Youjian was also afraid that conferring too many titles would devalue them, since the Ming Dynasty only had three ranks of nobility, unlike the twenty ranks of military merit titles in the Qin and Han Dynasties.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty's system for clearing out noble titles was very imperfect. Generally, a title would only be revoked when a nobleman's line died out. Even if a nobleman committed a crime, only the ringleader would be executed, and another son would be chosen to inherit the title.

It was precisely the lack of a system for clearing out corrupt officials that led the Ming emperors to become increasingly stingy in bestowing titles, and the absence of new nobles made the Ming aristocratic class increasingly corrupt, decadent, and incapable of fulfilling their duties. It was unacceptable for those who shared the nation's interests to enjoy privileges without taking responsibility.

Guerrilla General Cao Bianjiao was promoted to the rank of General and given the position of Deputy General, but he continued to work for his uncle.
Zhou Yuji was promoted to guerrilla commander-in-chief, succeeding Cao Wenzhao, and commanded the elite cavalry battalion of the Beijing Garrison; Huang Degong and Sun Yingyuan were appointed as deputy commanders-in-chief, assisting Zhou Yuji.

He Renlong was truly ruthless. Based on his merit in killing the Jurchen general Mendu, Zhu Youjian originally intended to give him the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Forces. However, this guy was ruthless in battle and ruthless in peacetime as well. He embezzled all the military merits of his subordinates.

When Zhu Youjian saw Cao Bianjiao's report of 213 heads as a reward, he was almost scared to death. Even Cao Bianjiao had only reported a dozen or so heads. Was this guy some kind of tyrant reincarnated?!
Zhu Youjian was tired of shouting, and his voice wasn't as penetrating as the eunuch's, so Wei Zhongxian read He Renlong's award document. While everyone else's documents praised his achievements without mentioning his faults, He Renlong's document stole the show!
Zhu Youjian ultimately granted him the title of Deputy Commander-in-Chief with a nominal rank, and gave him a clear warning: "I'll let him off this time, but if he does it again and I find out that he has embezzled the credit of his soldiers, I'll remove him from his post!"
He Renlong became a complete negative example in front of thousands of people. I wonder if his little heart can withstand such stimulation!

Finally, Zhu Youjian added a few perfunctory words: "Those who have rendered meritorious service should not be arrogant, but should continue their efforts; those who have not rendered meritorious service should not be discouraged, for next time they may be standing here receiving a title. Our Great Ming Dynasty is fair in its rewards and punishments, and will never let down the country's meritorious officials!"

Meeting adjourned. Time for dinner!
At the victory celebration banquet, they had hot pot, ate around the stove together, and drank wine together. This was not invented by Zhu Youjian. This way of eating was popular in the Ming Dynasty. They could have eaten hot pot, but I don't know why they ate those cold and smelly things at the grand court meeting. It was just asking for trouble. It felt like all those pigs, cattle and sheep died for nothing!

(End of this chapter)