Bang bang bang!!!

There was a burst of gunfire, and there were only more than thirty Japanese remaining. Suddenly, only a few people were able to stand.

There were only about fifty Tiqi soldiers at the front who fired. This accurate hit rate was in stark contrast to the previous fire gun soldiers.

You must know that this is just a round of shooting, and it is still done on horseback.

Nearly half of them have been hit.

Seeing the bright armored cavalry and the flags fluttering in the wind behind them, Zhenhai Guards could not be familiar with it. This was the Xuanjia Guards directly under His Highness Taisun.

The superb riding skills were simply astonishing, and Qianhu of Zhenhai Guard could only see envy in their eyes.

There are traces of military formations among the more than three hundred Tiqi galloping.

By this time, Qianhu had already understood that Zhenhaiwei must have been targeted by His Highness Taisun.

At the same time, in the village of the Japanese merchant base camp.

The unsuspecting Japanese merchants had no ability to resist under the charge of 1,500 Zhenhai Guards.

The remaining two hundred people surrendered as soon as they met.

There is no need to struggle at all, the number of people is too obvious.

The villagers fell to their knees one by one, trembling all over.

Zhenhai Guard Qianhu Sha Hongguang frowned immediately, showing no joy at all.

Baihu next to him whispered: "Boss, if we capture him alive like this, I'm afraid the credit won't be enough."

After finishing speaking, he looked specifically at the villagers kneeling on the ground.

How could Sha Hongguang not understand what his confidants meant?

This is not just about killing prisoners, but also about killing good people and taking credit for their merits.

Only by doing this can you maximize your achievements and get enough silver rewards.

"How can you report that we annihilated thousands of Japanese pirates without even a single casualty?"

"If the report is reported, wouldn't it put the matter on the table? Who will be responsible if the superiors investigate it?"

Sha Hongguang said in a deep voice.

Although it is a common practice to kill good people and take merit, it cannot be said that it can be put on the table. The laws of the Ming Dynasty have very strict penalties for this, and it can even be punished with consecutive crimes.

After Shang Yang's reform, the Qin State established a military merit conferment system.

Qin law stipulates: "If one beheads one head, he will be ranked one level; if he wants to be an official, he will be ranked fifty dan. If he beheads two people, he will be ranked second; if he wants to be an official, he will be judged one hundred shi.

The merit of beheading is proportionate."

In other words, if you behead one level, you can be promoted to one level; if you are an official, your annual salary will be at least one hundred shi. According to the twenty-level military merit title system, the lowest-ranking public servant also has an acre of land, a house and a servant.

As a reward, one hundred stones of grain was equivalent to about 20,000 catties, which was equivalent to the grain production of one hundred acres of land at that time.

Stimulated by the generous rewards, the Qin army was delighted to hear the battle. They were fearless and invincible on the battlefield. They frequently beheaded hundreds of thousands of enemies in battles and finally wiped out the six eastern kingdoms.

After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, the military merit conferment system was also abolished, but some practices were inherited.

Because this method is the best at boosting morale, in later movies and TV shows, there was often a reward of a certain amount of silver for killing one person, and this is where it comes from.

The Japanese pirates also invaded the coastal areas of the Ming Dynasty. In the pursuit of the Japanese pirates, there was a stipulation of how many rewards could be exchanged for each head.

Therefore, the Ming Dynasty's behavior of killing good people and claiming merit started from the Japanese pirates.

The main reason is that there is not much difference between the Japanese pirates and the Han people of the Ming Dynasty. For example, the people of the Ming Dynasty along the coast have also lived on the seaside for a long time, so it is difficult to tell the difference between the Japanese pirates and the Han people.

Especially if the head is chopped off and a layer of lime is applied, it would be difficult for even an experienced autopsy expert to distinguish it.

This gave many sergeants an opportunity.

Usually, the superiors are well aware of this, and even participate in it to occupy the largest share.

After hearing Qianhu's words, the hundreds of households felt unwilling.

Now, due to the arrival of His Highness the Grand Sun, many of the brothers' sources of wealth have been stopped, and no one knows how long it will take for them to recover.

If His Highness Taisun stays here for a month, will there be no movement for a month?

Because of their sudden wealth, many sergeants of the Zhenhai Guard started spending money lavishly. It was especially common to treat Shangguan to drink wine.

If anyone skips two drinks, he or she may lose more than half the money next time.

Furthermore, by inviting the superior officer to drink, you can have fun together, get things done, and have fun. With this excuse, the sergeants are scrambling for help.

There is little money recently, but the sergeants have long been accustomed to this kind of life. Every time they are off duty, they go to restaurants to eat and drink.

In less than ten days, many sergeants were already strapped for cash and eager for another windfall.

But now, a windfall is right in front of them.

Perhaps it is difficult for new recruits to accept the idea of ​​killing good people and taking credit for their merits, and they may not be able to overcome this hurdle in their hearts.

But for veterans who have been on the battlefield for a long time, they have long been numb to death, whether it is the enemy or themselves.

"Boss, look, there are at least hundreds of young men here. It's impossible for anyone to recognize them even if they are taken to the inspection department."

"As for the casualties, we can let a group of brothers retire first and take them to Caobang for a few days, and they can still receive pensions."

"When His Highness the Grand Sun here leaves, we will change the household registration and let the brothers come back."

"Wouldn't it be like killing two birds with one stone?"

Baihu's eyes moved quickly, and he soon had an idea.

It has to be said that the bolder the people, the more productive the land will be. This method of operation really made Sha Hongguang and several surrounding households shine.

After thinking about it in his mind, Sha Hongguang found that this method was indeed feasible.

The eyes of several hundreds of households nearby showed longing.

Ming Dynasty's pension is not low, especially for veterans like them, who can earn money faster than killing Japanese pirates.

If you calculate it casually in your mind, it is a large amount of objective wealth.

Just when everyone was eager to try, Sha Hongguang suddenly said: "No."

Several hundred households were immediately confused, thinking they had heard wrongly.

Sha Hongguang said in a deep voice: "It's a good method, but it can't be used now."

"Think about it, who gets the credit for killing the Japanese pirates this time."

Baihu said: "Of course it is for His Highness Taisun."

Sha Hongguang asked again: "Then let me ask you, should you kill only the young and strong, or should you slaughter the entire village?"

As soon as this question was asked, several hundred households were immediately confused.

One of the hundred households opened his mouth to speak, but immediately swallowed it back.

Because in everyone's mind, they must be using young people's heads to pretend to be Japanese pirates in exchange for money.

But this involves a problem, which is also a problem that hundreds of households subconsciously ignore.

What if these old, weak, women and children report to the officials then?

Has the matter been completely exposed?

In order to prevent exposure, do we have to kill them all again?

In order to prevent killing good people and taking credit for merit, dynasties of past dynasties have summed up a set of effective methods.

The Qin State was the first to implement a system of conferring military honors. It also had a set of measures to prevent killing good men and taking credit for their merits. There were strict regulations on beheading: when beheading, the neck must be cut off at the base to expose the Adam's apple, to prevent the army from using children and women as credit.

The head must be handed over to the official for verification within three days after the victory to prevent counterfeiting.

Officers are not allowed to kill enemies. Officers' rewards are calculated based on the total number of enemy kills after the army fights. This prevents commanders from taking advantage of their power to "rob heads".

After the head is handed over, there is also a set of inspection methods. The first is to look at the shape of the bun. During the Warring States Period, the people of Qin had different buns from those of the six eastern countries.

The Qin State was located on the border, and the people of Qin wore their buns on the right side. Han, Wei, Zhao, Qi, and Yan all wore their hair in a middle bun. The heads that were handed over could identify the enemy and ourselves at a glance, effectively preventing them from risking merit by beheading their own people.

In addition, level-cutting requires the support of teammates and officials, so there will basically be no head-stealing.

"Liye Qin Slips" records a case of killing a good man and taking advantage of his merit.

A soldier killed the guard at the military camp and came overnight with his head to report his merits.

The head examiner found that the fatal injuries to the head were caused by daggers, not spears or crossbows. In the battle between the two armies, most of the fatal injuries were caused by spears and crossbows. Killing people with daggers is really rare.

So they immediately ordered officers at all levels to count the number of soldiers. If there were any missing persons, they should come immediately to claim their heads. It was indeed confirmed that they were killing good people and taking credit for their merits.

Today, Ming Dynasty also follows this firm method.

Although the Zhenhai Guards were strong, at this time in the early Ming Dynasty, even if there was corruption and bribery in the military, it would not be completely rotten to the core. In many aspects, they were relatively strict.

It wasn't until the middle and late Ming Dynasty that people just joined the same trend, got together, pretended to be confused, and said hello to me and hello to everyone.

At this time, hundreds of households also became entangled.

A whole village was massacred, and no one would care about it in troubled times. But now, it is considered a big case, and it might even spread to the capital.
To be continued...