Chapter Forty-One: Immature

  Zhong Jinwei said: "Your Majesty, two adults, I think the military officer should also be promoted with military merit, emulating the Qin Dynasty's system of granting titles based on military achievements."

  Sun Chengzong listened and couldn't help but shake his head, saying: "This dynasty also has it, the three ranks of Gong, Hou, and Bo, cannot be enfeoffed without military merit."

  He said, "Of course, the outer relatives can also be enfeoffed." In fact, there are exceptions. Some powerful eunuchs' sons and younger brothers were also enfeoffed as dukes or marquises, such as Wei Zhongxian's nephew Wei Liangqing who was once enfeoffed as Duke of Ningguo.

  "This is it, there's nothing institutionalized." Zhong Jinwei immediately picked up the topic and said: "Moreover, the three noble titles of Gong, Hou, and Bo should be limited to high-ranking generals only. The Qin dynasty's military merit titles were divided into twenty grades, from soldiers to generals, all had a share. Only in this way can we motivate officers and men to use their lives."

  Wen Tianren reminded on the side: "Qin's use of such military achievements to grant titles, soldiers and soldiers are crazy, and their combat power is soaring, but they are easy to break, so they perish in two generations, and later generations do not adopt this method."

  Chongzhen Emperor watched the debate between several ministers from the beginning, without personal attacks, but rather discussing the matter at hand to solve problems. This attitude was very satisfying. However, it seemed to have gone off topic again, wasn't it about how He Jin rose to power and how he rose to power? How did it end up talking about generals and soldiers? Is there another twist coming up to talk about military officials? Thinking of this, he didn't speak up and just quietly watched.

  Zhong Jinwei replied to Wen Tiren, "Lord Wen said well. Therefore, we can take its strengths and avoid its weaknesses. This will make the military strength of our Great Ming army soar, yet not be reckless. In this way, won't we achieve both?"

  "How can we have both?" a loud voice sounded in Zhong Jinwei's ear.

  "First, implement the system of conferring noble titles for military merit; link titles and treatment to stimulate soldiers and generals to achieve meritorious deeds. Second, do not take beheading as the only condition for achieving military merit, nor take beheading as a personal military merit condition for soldiers."

  How to calculate military merit has always been a difficult problem to solve. The rulers of all dynasties have been very troubled by this matter. Listening to Zhong Jiwei's speech, everyone listened carefully to the key points.

  "The first point is not worth mentioning, let's focus on the second point. In terms of the Qin dynasty's twenty-grade military merit system, soldiers were rewarded based on the number of enemy heads they collected, with each soldier's achievements being calculated individually. This led to the phenomenon of fake beheadings, where soldiers would kill innocent people and claim credit for it, or fight over who got to collect the most heads, disregarding military discipline and camaraderie. But have you ever thought, if you were alone on the battlefield, could you cut off the enemy's head? Without your comrades' cover, could you risk your life to do so? Without excellent leadership, could you even get close enough to cut off the enemy's head?" Zhong Jiawei asked three rhetorical questions in a row.

  Sun Chengzong, Wen Tiren and Emperor Chongzhen all nodded in agreement that it was impossible.

  "So, the battlefield is actually about team combat. Qi Dashi did one thing very well, his soldiers were organized into small teams, with one person specifically responsible for beheading, and then the entire small team shared the credit for the kill."

  Zhong Jinwei suddenly realized that he seemed to have gone off topic, more importantly, this topic couldn't be continued, hadn't thought it through!!!!!

  He scratched his head, his face slightly red: "Sorry, I'm off topic again. Let me get back to the military officer's story."

  The matter of confirming the military achievements of the soldiers and generals was also a matter of great concern to Sun Chengzong, who was skilled in military affairs. So he didn't care about Zhong Jiwei's irrelevant remarks, and before Chongzhen Emperor spoke, he loudly said: "Never mind, just say it."

  "Sorry, I haven't thought it through yet!"

  Sun Chengzong and Wen Tiren stared at each other, hesitated for a moment... This is the imperial court, you haven't thought it through yet and still spoke out of turn, this is a breach of etiquette in front of the emperor, punishable by demotion.

  At this moment, Emperor Chongzhen laughed and said: "Mr. Zhong, fortunately, it is not a grand court meeting now, otherwise the people of the Temple of Imperial Censors would want to make things difficult for you, accusing you of being rude in front of the emperor, I wouldn't be able to speak up for you."

  Sun Chengzong and Wen Tiren are not pedantic people. Looking at Zhong Jingwei, who is so young and has such talent, if he were to be punished for this small matter, it would clearly not be the intention of nurturing talent. Now that Emperor Chongzhen obviously intends to protect Zhong Jingwei, let's just pretend we didn't hear what Zhong Jingwei said earlier.

  "Mr. Zhong, you continue with the matter of the military supplies officer," Emperor Chongzhen continued.

  Zhong Jinwei looked at Emperor Chongzhen with gratitude, then began to speak about the military officials: "Regarding military officials, I think they should have corresponding titles, not necessarily dukes or marquises, but some lower-level titles can be established. The reason is that military officials are all loyal and patriotic pioneers and educators, if only material rewards such as silver are given, I think it's not enough, and it also commercializes them. Giving them the title of the Great Ming, giving them honor, they will be more loyal to the Great Ming, loyal to Your Majesty."

  This is reliable, Emperor Chongzhen nodded.

  "Secondly, the evaluation of military officials' achievements, I think can be based on their responsibilities. Firstly, it is the literacy rate of the soldiers under their responsibility. A standard for literacy rate can be set, and those who are below the standard will be punished, those who meet the standard will not be punished or rewarded, and those who exceed the standard will be rewarded and credited with merit; secondly, the situation of soldiers under their responsibility violating discipline and rules is also evaluated in the same way as literacy tests, with a set number of times as the standard, below which they will be punished, above which they will be rewarded; finally, the situation of soldiers under their responsibility making achievements, the more achievements made, the more credit will be given to the military officials. This can be commented on according to certain levels."

  "Is there anything else?" Wen Ti-ren reminded Zhong Jin-wei with a more careful tone.

  "Uh, and also, for example, soldiers can give scores to the military supply officer, whether there is a deduction in military pay, or if there is any bias, they will conduct anonymous scoring for the inspecting officials. If the military supply officer does well, then don't worry about getting low scores, of course, if they do poorly, then be careful with this score. Low scores deduct merit, high scores add merit, and so on."

  Zhong Jinwei added another point under Wen Tiren's reminder.

  This seems to have gone beyond the understanding of Emperor Chongzhen and Sun Chengzong, Wen Tiren. Is it allowed for civilians to sue officials? However, none of them made any comment on this matter.

  Sun Chengzong furrowed his brow and asked another question: "Since the military supply officer is so important, yet not under the jurisdiction of a unified commander, then within an army, who should be in charge?"

  "Oh, I forgot one more thing. A good memory is not as good as a rotten pen head!" Zhong Jinwei hastily replied: "The army is for fighting, of course, it's mainly led by the commander-in-chief, but the commander-in-chief only takes care of fighting, and other auxiliary matters are mainly handled by the military officer, however, the military officer cannot interfere with military affairs, and must have a complementary relationship with the commander-in-chief."

  The Chongzhen Emperor saw that Zhong Xiang had stopped speaking and knew he was finished, so he asked Sun Chengzong and Wen Tiren: "What do Master Sun and Minister Wen think?"

  Sun Chenzong stood up and replied to Emperor Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, I think this method is extremely wonderful when combined with the previous military system reform and the cultivation of military officials!"

  "I concur!" Wen Tiaren also stood up and replied.

  Zhong Jinwei felt delighted when he heard they all agreed with his idea.

  Sun Chengzong raised his voice: "However, Jian Hu is still in the pass, and the various armies are currently reorganizing. I think it cannot be implemented extensively in a short time."

  The Chongzhen Emperor nodded, indicating that he understood this point.

  "Wen Ti Ren also spoke up, 'Moreover, to implement this method, it is not possible to establish the prestige of military officials in the army without financial support for food and supplies. Cultivating military officials is also a considerable expenditure.'"

  Chongzhen Emperor heard this and felt worried, all are problems! Then he looked at Zhong Jinwei and said: "Mr. Zhong, you go back and sort it out, write a complete strategy plan for me, so that I can reform and promote it at the right time."

  "It's okay, but I can only write in plain language." Zhong Jinwei said with a bit of embarrassment.

  "It doesn't matter, I will have someone rewrite it after I approve it." Emperor Chongzhen comforted with a smile.

  "Right, Mr. Zhong's body has recovered greatly, I want to ask you to come out and help me, is that okay?" Because Zhong Jingwei had previously expressed his unwillingness to be an official, only helping himself from behind the scenes. But this way, without a title, isn't very convenient. So Emperor Chongzhen consulted with Zhong Jingwei's opinion.

  "I'm just coming up with ideas now!"

  "It's not what you mean, I want to grant Mr. the same origin as the Imperial Academy, receive the Hanlin Academy, attend the imperial court, and discuss national affairs together."

  This treatment is already quite high, a humble commoner, suddenly becoming a high-ranking official in the imperial court. Many people work hard their whole lives and don't even get to be Imperial Scholars, but he got it all at once. Sun Chengzong and Wen Tiren both looked at Zhong Jinwei, wanting to hear what he had to say.

  "Your Majesty, I don't want to deal with those people, I'm not good at this. It's better to have nothing and just make decisions from behind." Who knew that Zhong Jinwei shook his head. In fact, in his previous life, Zhong Jinwei thought he was not good at interpersonal communication, so he chose the technical industry.

  "The gentleman recommended a great talent to me, and also gave me such a wonderful strategy, and there is also the merit of saving my life. If I don't reward him, people will think that I am stingy and ungrateful."

  "How could it be? I don't want it myself." Zhong Jinwei still wanted to insist.

  "Your Majesty," Wen Tianren said, "I have a plan that can satisfy both parties."

  "Oh, dear, speak quickly."

  "Mr. Zhong is unaware of the etiquette of our dynasty, and he often offends his colleagues without realizing it, which is indeed a hindrance. However, Mr. Zhong also wants to offer strategies and discuss state affairs, but neither rewards nor punishments are effective. I think that granting him a title would be a good solution, as having a title would allow him to enter the imperial court, and at the same time avoid the need for him to interact with his colleagues day and night. This can be considered a perfect solution."

  The Chongzhen Emperor nodded, thinking that this idea was not bad, and looked at Zhong Jinwei. Zhong Jinwei himself, as long as he didn't have to deal with those ancient bureaucrats, especially these officials who only knew how to fight verbal battles, also nodded in agreement.

  Wang Jianguo agreed, and Emperor Chongzhen thought for a moment and said: "Sir, you recommended talents, I think it's not bad, but there is no great merit yet, so I can't reward you with a title. The strategy you presented is still confidential, so I also can't reward you with a title. Therefore, only the merit of saving the emperor can be rewarded with a title. I will first grant you the title of Marquis, and name it Zhongxing Marquis, to show that Sir wants to help me revive the great Ming dynasty. Is that okay?"

  Marquis, isn't that a title used by vampires? It seems like Wei Xiaobao started with one too. Marquis Zhong, sounds pretty good, huh. Zhong Jinwei nodded in agreement, showing no objection.

  Sun Chengzong watched from the side, looking at this young man (who looked even younger), who was not blinded by fame and power at a young age, knew his own weight, had self-awareness, did not care about uncalculated merits, and had a broad mind. The future prospects are boundless, and he couldn't help but nod slightly.

  "So, I will announce this decision at the early court tomorrow, including Wen Qing's matter. You also need to attend the ceremony and listen to the edict, so make preparations early. Don't wear Mr. Zhong's makeshift clothes for now. I'll have someone prepare a set of plain clothes for you to temporarily use."

  "Thank you, Your Majesty!" Wen Ti-ren and Zhong Jin-wei both replied.

  "All right, you all go back first, I still have something to deal with." After the Chongzhen Emperor let them all retreat, he called Wang Chengen and asked him to bring in Han Zhen, the chief assistant of the Grand Secretariat.

  Han Bang has been having a tough time lately. First, he misjudged the situation and was scolded by Emperor Chongzhen without being named. Then his own disciple, Yuan Chonghuan, made a big mistake and was thrown into prison. He doesn't know what will happen to him in the end.

  Now that I've heard the Chongzhen Emperor's edict, my heart can't help but skip a beat. It's definitely not good news, but I don't know how bad it will be, and I'm quite frightened.