They all felt a sense of "shock" in their hearts. It seemed that they were always thinking about how to suppress Zhang Zhou's achievements, but they did not worry about a "big trouble", and it seemed that it was a "trouble" that could not be solved. ”.

Even the emperor was more thoughtful than them.

That is the question of whether the imperial court can afford the burden of military rewards.

Ma Wensheng, as the Minister of the Ministry of War, was very knowledgeable about this. Liu Jian did not answer. He stepped forward and replied: "According to the rules of rewarding soldiers who went on expeditions during the Chenghua period, each rank should be rewarded with forty taels of silver."

"What about the prisoners?" Zhu Youtang continued to ask.

Ma Wensheng said: "Both calculations."

Xie Qian couldn't help but feel ashamed.

A head is worth forty taels, and if there are more than 3,000 heads, that means more than 120,000 taels.

More than 16,000 people were captured... Xie Qian didn't dare to think about it anymore.

This damn thing is going to turn the Ming Dynasty Jingcang upside down in one battle.

From the Ming Dynasty to the Hongzhi period, the annual fiscal and tax revenue, measured in silver, was approximately between 2 million taels and 3 million taels.

But if a reward costs nearly one million taels, the whole court will be in trouble. In the next three years, the ministers may not be able to pay their salaries.

Zhu Youtang said: "Even if the women and children are lost, but in addition to the livestock, surprise attacks and other contributions, and to raise the cost of troops for the northwest... I don't think this battle should be rewarded according to the rules of the past."

The emperor means.

If we can't afford the reward, we'll just default on it.

Ma Wensheng said: "Your Majesty, rewards are not necessarily based on first merit."

"Yeah." Zhu Youtang nodded, "That makes sense."

Then the ministers present, as well as several ceremonial eunuchs and eunuchs discovered that it was actually easy for the monarch and his ministers to reach an agreement on certain aspects. For example... they all knew that such a great achievement would be achieved if the beheading and prisoners were killed according to the rules. If we calculate the merits of the government, then the court will easily go bankrupt, so let's try another way.

Zhu Youtang said: "I didn't say it to the emperor before, because I had this idea, but since the Tumu Fort disaster, the Ming Dynasty has always judged merit by first merit. I think the reason for this is that you, sir, should We can’t be more clear that it’s not easy to change things rashly now.”

The military achievements of the Ming Dynasty are judged by the number of heads killed, which seems to have disadvantages, and it is easy to kill good people and take merit.

But the biggest advantage is that the first merit is relatively "fair".

At least the first achievement requires a head and exact parameters. If we talk about military achievements, that is not the case.

In the early Ming Dynasty, military merit was judged not by first merit but by military merit.

It is divided into three levels: extraordinary power, first power and secondary power.

The most representative example of his extraordinary achievements is that after Chang Yuchun defected to Zhu Yuanzhang, he led an army to defeat the enemy with one man's strength during the Battle of Caishiji. From then on, he became known as "Chang Shiwan" and became a general under Zhu Yuanzhang. He has been famous throughout the ages.

But the problem is that it is difficult to determine whether it is a "wonderful skill", a first skill, or a second skill.

"History of the Ming Dynasty" clearly records the shortcomings of judging by military merit: "...there were as many as three or four hundred people who were reported by the later military officers. They were not included in the list of beheadings. They were given separate names, which were called transporting sharp spears and holding flags. , it is said to charge to defeat the enemy, it is said to take the lead three times, it is said to serve in front of the army. The disadvantages of indiscriminate use have reached its extreme."

This means that when it comes to military merit, it is all a matter of clever names and a mess. Even if the person is not on the battlefield, he will be judged for his merit.

Then everyone in the imperial court discovered that this method was not effective and could easily lead to corruption.

Then let's change it.

It’s determined by the first merit.

You will get credit according to how many heads you kill, and prisoners will also be counted. Even if there are cases where good people are killed and credit is taken away from them, it would be better if we do more interrogations. It is better than random calculation of merit without standards.

Anyway, the Ming Dynasty generals and soldiers were all too weak to kill a few at a time, and we were very strict in reviewing the first merit, and even stipulated that the head should be above the Adam's apple. If the head could not be judged as male or female, it should be thrown into the water, and the one facing up was a man. , the one with the back of the head pointing up is a woman...

This is why Xie Qian felt that there was a way to suppress Zhang Zhou's contribution.

Because in terms of Zhang Zhou's "first contribution", he did not personally participate in the battlefield. As long as we strictly implement it, we can give as much credit as possible to Wang Shouren and Ma Yi, and they will be rewarded for every contribution. If others are high, Zhang Zhou's gong will be low.

Now Zhu Youtang has made it clear that it cannot be determined by the first merit.

The court cannot afford to pay compensation.

Now let's figure out how to minimize Daming's expenses during this reward process. We have to be frugal.

What if Zhang Zhou extinguishes the fire sieve in a few days and sends you tens of thousands of heads or tens of thousands of prisoners... We, the monarchs and ministers, can drink the northwest wind together!
Chapter completed!