Sweep Yuan

Chapter 30 Rewards Must Be Given in a Timely Manner

Although he gave Chen Cheng a fright in private, in front of others, Shi Shan still held Chen Cheng's hand and chatted and laughed as he saw him off out of the government office, to show his respect for the only "civil official" under his command.

After Chen Cheng walked away, Shi Shan returned to his room alone and carefully reviewed the events of the day.

The fact that the targets of the station's revenge had expanded was indeed the result of his deliberate indulgence.

The objective was very clear: to take this opportunity to completely eliminate the reactionary upper echelons of the Communist Party, thereby justifying the confiscation of their property, and then use these materials to win over the hearts and minds of the people and expand the ranks.

In addition, there are more complex considerations.

Chaos has arrived. Those with the courage and determination to risk their lives may be able to raise an army to contend for supremacy. However, to gain a foothold in this chaotic world and ultimately emerge victorious, one must first control sufficient power to sustain oneself.

Unfortunately, the labels of outsider, surrendered soldier, and rebel limited the ways and means by which Shishan could acquire power.

Reality is cruel; a rebellion launched by the lower classes without the guidance of advanced theories, relying solely on plunder and destruction, is bound to go nowhere.

The time traveler possesses some advanced ideas and knowledge, but cannot conjure up a large number of talents and resources out of thin air.

The world is material. No matter how smart you are, without money and people, you can't achieve great things. To succeed in a rebellion, you must rely on the power of the landlord class who have knowledge and talent.

But are these people stupid? Why would they let you use their resources to hatch eggs?

Despite the smooth sailing Shi Shan had experienced since leaving the city, with his army constantly expanding, wiping out Hu Pingren's family, and even capturing a fortified town, apart from Li Wu, whom he had known since childhood, the relationships between his subordinates and him were not very reliable.

Leaving aside the soldiers of the former Jianzu Battalion who were only there to get a decent meal and the Rui Battalion soldiers who were monitoring him, Chang Tietou, who came to surrender voluntarily, was also only there for personal gain. Without sufficient benefits, these people might leave without saying goodbye at any time.

Chen Cheng, Tian Changcai, Deng Li, and others who actually controlled the local militia were partners who invested their own capital. They only cooperated with Shishan under the banner of the Xuzhou Red Turban Army, and their cooperation was conditional and limited.

Shi Shan was nominally a deputy commander of a thousand men, but he could not bypass them to directly mobilize lower-ranking soldiers.

If they were to fall out one day, these people could take their relatives and servants home and continue to be landlords, lords, bandits, and brigands, while Shi Shan might not be able to save his own life.

Furthermore, this battle was won somewhat by trickery. If we cannot take the opportunity to break the original social structure of the station households and then reorganize and assimilate them, once they see through the true nature of Shishan, will they still obediently listen to your manipulation?
Actually, Chen Cheng's words made some sense.

The essence of vying for supremacy is winning over people's hearts. A ruler must have a broad vision, a magnanimous spirit, great courage, and great wisdom. He must indeed put people first, but what kind of "people" to put first is a matter of great importance.

Simply put, whoever sits on your side is your true "right".

Apart from these, all others are targets to be won over, exploited, divided, or even eliminated.

Rebellion is not a dinner party; don't expect elegance and composure.

To survive in chaotic times, one must first recognize the cannibalistic nature of such times and actively adapt to the survival rules of chaos in order to accumulate enough power to influence or even change the course of history.

Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.

The strategy of forcing lower-level communists to massacre the upper-level communists to cut off their escape route is not problematic in terms of direction. The problem lies in the crude methods used, which are too crude. One should not personally handle everything.

Doing too much of this kind of dirty work will damage one's reputation and make it difficult to attract talented people in the future.

Shishan couldn't completely disregard Chen Cheng and the others' feelings, after all, he still needed these people to do things for him. From this point of view, it was indeed "unless it happened again."

Rubbing his slightly sore temples, Shi Shan picked up the list of supplies that Chen Cheng had brought him.

As he requested, the list was written in colloquial characters (simplified characters already circulating among the people). Apart from a few characters that required contextual understanding, it did not significantly affect readability, and the notes were also very neat.

This shows that Chen Cheng knew Shi Shan hadn't read much, but he didn't dare to fool him; his attitude was still quite proper.

In this battle, a total of seven sets of leather armor, six horse bows, five foot bows, 264 crude iron knives and short spears were captured, along with a number of "weapons" such as wooden shields, bamboo spears, pitchforks, and lassos.

In terms of money and grain, there were gold, silver, and copper coins totaling about 2,300 strings of cash, 4,260 strings of paper money, 1,469 shi of rice, wheat, and beans, as well as 21 pigs and 92 sheep.

In addition, there were 42 post horses, 41 large livestock such as mules, donkeys, and oxen used for driving carriages, as well as nine large carts and a corresponding amount of fodder, saddles, and bridles.

Because Sesame Li captured Xuzhou and blocked the post road, without orders from his superiors, some official supplies that could not be transferred were stockpiled at Chulan and Fangshan stations. The most valuable of these supplies was a warehouse full of Jiangnan red cotton cloth.

In addition to these supplies, we also gained some "professional" talents.

Under the Yuan system, the military stations were under the jurisdiction of the Tongzheng Yuan and the Ministry of War, while the local areas were directly managed by the Lufu Military and Civil General Administration Office. In theory, they had no connection with the household registration system of the prefectures and counties.

To ensure the normal operation of the stations and meet the needs of daily life, each station has part-time station staff such as blacksmiths, carpenters, bricklayers, mechanics, doctors, and veterinarians.

Even if these craftsmen are not needed for the time being, they must still be kept in hand. Shishan then arranged for Chen Cheng to check the station's household register, count the remaining people one by one, and re-register them.

During this period, Wen Sijiu had already organized people to slaughter pigs and sheep to reward the soldiers, and Li Wu had also moved all the money, copper coins and other valuables confiscated from the upper-class households of the station to the high platform of the barracks.

In the post-war reckoning, many people believed that Li Wudang, who had captured the most kills, deserved the greatest credit. However, Shishan clearly pointed out that "the placement of pieces on the chessboard must be in accordance with the overall situation, and the advance and retreat of troops should follow the celestial phenomena." The goal of the Battle of Chulan was to capture Zhanchi, seize the station's supplies, and incorporate all the station's soldiers.

Chang Tietou excelled in reconnaissance and military strategy. He remained calm during the battle and decisively separated the fleeing troops upon discovering signs of enemy defeat, thus damaging their morale and paving the way for subsequent persuasion to surrender. He deserves the greatest credit for this.

Although Li Wu's achievements were great, he deviated from this objective and failed to pay attention to the changes in the battlefield situation. However, his focus on tactical objectives, his capture of generals and flags, and his capture of Wang Baiyin can be considered secondary achievements.

Sun Xun, Chen Cheng, Wen Sijiu, Tian Changcai, Tong Si'er, Deng Li, and others, each made contributions and are listed below.

Apart from Li Wu being a little upset and needing his third brother to comfort him afterwards, everyone else was unconvinced.

After recognizing merit, rewards are distributed.

A team that lacks honor and ideals and only talks about interests is destined to go nowhere.

However, for a makeshift team that has only been in place for a few days, rewarding merit cannot be done by simply using intangible things like honors and ideals to fool people.

For the uneducated lower class, following you meant they could have enough to eat, receive immediate rewards for victories, and eat meat with their spoils—it was more effective than any fancy slogan.

As long as you participate in the battle, you will receive a small reward of wine, meat, money, and goods. Those who obey orders resolutely, are killed in battle, or are captured will be rewarded handsomely. Those who are killed in battle or wounded will receive additional compensation.

The Yuan Dynasty had a vast territory and developed commerce. The limited production of precious metals could not meet the needs of market circulation. Not long after its founding, it abolished copper coins and only used paper money, stipulating that two strings of paper money could be exchanged for one tael of silver.

However, due to the rulers' insatiable greed and repeated over-issuance of Jiaochao and Baochao, prices soared, wealthy households hoarded gold, silver, and copper coins, and secretly resisted paper money, causing the Jiaochao/Baochao exchange system to collapse long ago.

In addition to banknotes, the troops had also captured a large amount of gold and silver items and various copper coins during these days, which inevitably led to their use when rewarding the soldiers.

Copper coins were fine; their value was stable, and they could still be used even after a change of dynasty. Nobody disliked them.

The Jiaobao paper money was being issued indiscriminately by the imperial court, causing it to depreciate rapidly. Using all of this paper money to reward subordinates was a blatant way to fool people.

To this end, Shishan established a reward system based on grain, such as the "participation reward" which was half a shi of grain or equivalent value for everyone.

Riding on the momentum of the victory and the shock of the bloody massacre of the Red Army's upper echelons, Ishiyama did not rely on others this time and personally distributed the rewards to the meritorious soldiers.

When distributing the rewards, Shishan made full use of his good memory, calling out each person's name one by one, explaining their basic information to show that the deputy commander valued them highly, and saying a few words of encouragement.

"Gong Wu, you're all alone, and you've taken so much reward money today. How are you planning to spend it?"

"I want to give the money to the commune and ask them to take good care of my parents' graves."

"You're not planning to go back to the village?"

“My family is the only one of its kind who fled to Liuhu during the famine. We have no land and the world is in chaos, so there’s no future for us if we go back. I’ve figured it out, so I’ll follow the deputy commander and try to make a name for myself!”

"it is good!"

"Chen Daye, you dared to take my knife back in the manor, but how come you're lagging behind in the fight today?"

"I... I have a leg cramp."

"Haha, if you want a big reward, don't get cramps again next time."

"Don't worry, Deputy Commander, I definitely won't smoke next time!"

Most villagers never leave their village or community for more than ten miles in their entire lives, and the highest "official" they ever see is a minor clerk from the county who comes down to collect taxes and assign corvée labor.

These people are all like wolves and tigers, eager to exploit and exploit the peasants. How could they be like Commander Shi, who can remember their names and family backgrounds and chat with them in a friendly manner?

As a result, just a few days later, the villagers looked at the stone mountain with more awe and affection.

The more people you win over, the better.

Veteran soldiers who had distinguished themselves in defeating the enemy were rewarded with meat, while new recruits who had just defected were also given soup and bones.

These people's families are all inside the station, and keeping them detained is neither necessary nor likely to cause unforeseen changes.

Shi Shan immediately selected Wu Liujin, Zeng Xing, and other avengers as key members, ordering them to each select three to five households as their "teammates." After registering, they could receive five liters of grain to reunite with their families.

Once they capture Fangcun Station tomorrow, they can finally enjoy the "good life" of eating meat and receiving rewards for winning battles.

Of course, while things may appear relaxed on the outside, they are still under strict control on the inside; necessary precautions must still be taken.

Curfews, the deployment of both overt and covert sentries, and patrols throughout the district are all essential measures.

If anyone violates the rules, those who deserve to be killed must be killed without any leniency!
(End of this chapter)