Chapter 138: Rewards based on merit
Actually, what Liu Ye said is correct.
According to convention, post-war rewards would not be determined until the troops returned to the capital and were carefully evaluated in the Luoyang court.
But isn’t Cao Rui planning to go back to Luoyang directly?
Cao Rui looked at Liu Ye and said, "Mr. Liu, after leaving Shouchun, I do not plan to return directly to Luoyang, but to tour the counties in the Central Plains."
"I want to personally visit the most populous and well-known counties, including Qiao Prefecture, the ancestral home of the Cao family, Chenliu Prefecture in Yanzhou, Yingchuan Prefecture in Yuzhou, and Nanyang Prefecture in Jingzhou. This will take at least a month. By the time I return to Luoyang, it will probably be March."
"Even if I can wait, the generals and officers who have fought hard for me will probably find it hard to wait. It is better to first determine the order of rewards for the generals, and then announce the details after returning to Luoyang."
Liu Ye cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty is a man of foresight, and I have not thought enough. As for the matter of rewards, do you need me to advise Your Majesty as we did last year?"
Cao Rui looked up at Liu Ye and said, "Since Liu Qing has said so, let's discuss it. I have already decided on the additional territories for you, the ministers, according to the previous example."
"Mr. Liu, call the other ministers here for me."
Liu Ye received the order and walked out the door. He wanted to ask the guards to call the remaining three attendants, but after thinking for a moment, Liu Ye went to the duty room to call out the other three.
A moment later, four attendants saluted the emperor in the hall.
Cao Rui looked at the faces of several people and then said, "You all have served as my advisors in this battle. I just promoted your titles at the end of the year, so I will increase your fiefs this time."
"Minister Liu will have his fief increased by 200 households, and Minister Xin, Minister Huang, and Minister Chen will each have their fief increased by 100 households. Do you have any objections?"
Several officials quickly bowed to express their gratitude. But Liu Ye heard that the other three were only given an additional 100 households, and only he was given an additional 200 households, so he stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I am only serving in the army and giving you advice, how can I receive such a reward? I am really ashamed."
Cao Rui shook his head slightly: "Has Liu Qing read Zuo Zhuan?"
Without waiting for Liu Ye to answer, Cao Rui said, "I have also read Zuo Zhuan. In the article about the tenth year of Duke Zhuang, it says that the reason Cao Gui believed Duke Zhuang of Lu could fight was simply because he was 'loyal.' Loyalty means doing what one should do in one's job."
"You have made plans and your soldiers have sacrificed their lives to kill the enemy. These are all things that each of you should do. As an emperor, what I should do is to clearly distinguish rewards and punishments."
"Although Emperor Wu and the previous emperor often did not reward counselors for their advice, the four ministers' advice is also a merit, and I see it all. Liu Qing, please stop saying such polite words."
After all, it is a reward from the emperor. Who would really go against a reward?
But Cao Rui had another account in mind.
Military warfare is a battle of human, material, and financial resources, which together represent national strength. The Eastern Wu and Shu Han occupied nearly four states, and the annual military expenditure was a very large figure.
Compared with the loss of grain transported to various states, the expenses of military expeditions, and various miscellaneous losses, these rewards given to meritorious officials are really nothing.
Furthermore, Liu Ye was given an additional 200 households because he had an extremely accurate grasp of the timing in battle, while Xin Pi, Huang Quan, and Chen Jiao were one level lower in terms of the number of households they were given.
Two hundred households or one hundred households, this increase in the size of the city was not a small amount for a counselor.
Let’s take the example of Xiahou Yuan, who was feared by the Qiang and Hu people and marched like a tiger in Guanyou.
After Xiahou Yuan defeated Ma Chao in Guanxi, his fiefdom totaled only 500 households. After he defeated Han Sui, attacked Song Jian, and pacified Hehuang, his fiefdom only increased by 300 households, bringing the total to 800 households.
It can be seen that increasing the fiefdoms of two hundred households and one hundred households to several Shizhong was indeed not a unfair treatment.
Since the rewards for the four ministers were different, with different treatments, there was a difference in the mind, yes, I was talking about Liu Ye.
Liu Ye was indeed a man of wisdom and strategy, and he was often proud of his talents. Liu Ye could naturally feel that the emperor could often use his strategies, but he never used them exclusively. It can be said that he never listened to one side and believed in one side.
After asking himself something, he would definitely ask the other ministers. Just like the current reward, Liu Ye felt that he deserved the reward of 200 households, but the other three ministers received 100 households, which Liu Ye felt was completely unnecessary.
Xin Pi is a wooden-head, Huang Quan is a self-protective person, and Chen Jiao has no knowledge of military affairs. Are these three people qualified? Chunchun only benefited from his own advice.
Just as Liu Ye was thinking in his heart, the emperor's voice came again.
"Minister Xin, you can take the lead in discussing the rewards for the generals," said Cao Rui.
"As you command." Xin Pi then asked, "Your Majesty, should we ask the general about the merits of the central army commanders? Should we first determine the merit ranking of the foreign army and the various prefectures and counties?"
Cao Rui nodded and said, "Let's discuss it together. We won't follow the usual practice. After we have a general idea today, I will ask the general and the commander-in-chief to review it with the commanders of the central army, the foreign army, and the various states and counties."
Xin Pi accepted the order and agreed.
In fact, this battle can be divided into three areas.
In addition to the area around Wancheng, Xiangyang, Jiangxia in Jingzhou and Hefei in Yangzhou were also considered war zones. Chen Qun's Jingzhou navy suffered a defeat on the Han River and had to defend Xiangyang and Jiangxia together with Wen Pin.
The 10,000 troops in Hefei, Lu'an and Guangling were not moved at all, and the 10,000 troops sent to Hefei from the north and west were not used. However, in hindsight, this was the case, but before the war, no one knew whether they would be used.
Jingzhou had merits but no achievements, while Hefei had neither merits nor mistakes. Therefore, it was inappropriate to give large rewards to the troops in these two areas, and we could only reward them for their hard work.
When it comes to the various military units near Wancheng, the story of their achievements becomes much more complicated.
The emperor and the four attendants unanimously agreed to give the first credit to Cao Xiu.
After all, it was Cao Xiu, the Grand Marshal who commanded all the military forces in Yangzhou. It was Cao Xiu who was in charge of the overall planning before the battle, it was Cao Xiu who led the cavalry during the battle, and it was Cao Xiu who finished the battle in the Wancheng-Qiankou-Wankou area. There is almost no dispute about the greatness of Cao Xiu's contribution.
The second person who made the greatest contribution was Cao Zhen, who led the central army to Yangzhou, led the elite central army as the rear guard of the main army, and then took charge of military affairs in the camp.
When Xin Pi proposed that General Cao Zhen had the second highest merit, Cao Rui hesitated for a moment, after all, Cao Zhen did not participate in the battle. But Cao Zhen was a general after all, and he led so many troops, so he could barely accept the second highest merit.
After all, Cao Zhen's surname is Cao! It is only natural for an emperor with the surname Cao to take care of a general with the surname Cao. Human affairs are politics. The emperor nodded, and the other three ministers had nothing to say.
In terms of rewarding people based on their merits, after removing the two biggest and undisputed key figures, Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen, it finally came to the stage of "discussion".
What is really controversial are several generals who led more than 10,000 troops alone: General Man Chong who blocked the Wu army in Guache, General Zhu Gai who led 10,000 cavalry to fight from beginning to end, Wang Ling, the governor of Qingzhou who supervised the generals south of Guache, and General Cao Tai who launched a surprise attack on Wankou.
While these ministers were discussing, Cao Rui slowly said, "Have you forgotten Jia Kui?"
Xin Pi bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Yuzhou Governor Jia Kui only fought once during this expedition, and spent the rest of the time building camps. The 4,000 soldiers Jia Kui sent to Wancheng to defend the city did make contributions, but Jia Kui was not there after all, so this credit should not be attributed to Jia Kui."
Cao Rui shook his head slightly. Cao Xiu had a grudge against Jia Kui, and it was obvious that he had assigned Jia Kui some unimportant tasks that did not involve fighting. After all, someone had to do the hard work, and it was difficult for him, the emperor, to say anything.
It is very easy for a boss to flatter his subordinates. Even if he does not use such a lousy trick as framing someone, simply assigning him a minor job or arranging him a secondary position will make his credit disappear.
He could only rely on himself as the emperor to fight for Jia Kui.
Cao Rui said: "Jia Kui has indeed made contributions, and I will use Jia Kui after this battle. Add Jia Kui's name, and these five people will be ranked at the same level in terms of merit, and then we can distinguish the higher and lower ones."
Xin Pi was just upright, not stubborn. Originally, the generals, whether they had more or less military merit, were all arranged under the command of these court officials. Since the emperor said so, Jia Kui should be included.
This is another layer of relationships in the court. Even if the smaller leaders suppress you, as long as the bigger leaders are willing to help you, you will still get the credit you deserve.
After some discussion, except for Cao Xiu and Cao Zhen, the order of merit in the first tier has been determined: former general Man Chong, right general Zhu Gai, general Zhendong Cao Tai, Qingzhou governor Wang Ling, and Yuzhou governor Jia Kui.
There was some controversy between Man Chong and Zhu Gai, so Man Chong was chosen from the perspective of strategic significance. There was also some controversy between Cao Tai and Wang Ling, so Cao Tai was chosen from the perspective of the difficulty of military orders. As for Jia Kui, who was forced into this category by the emperor, he was ranked last as expected.
After these five people, the discussion of the merits of the two thousand shi officials will not be discussed for the time being. As a rule, the merits of the officials and generals of the thousand shi and six hundred shi officials will be reported to the court by the two thousand shi officials.
The emperor was about to set out for the north, and the withdrawal process was proceeding in an orderly manner.
In the Wankou area, the confrontation with Sun Quan across the river had been resolved. Sun Quan could only respond with words, inviting the Wei army to fight the Wu army on the river, and did not ask for a ceasefire like he had done in the previous Ruxu battles.
If it was just a disadvantage, stopping the war and seeking peace could save national strength. But now the more severe the defeat and the more damage to the actual situation, the more they want to bluff and refuse to make concessions verbally.
Sun Quan ignored the prisoner exchange proposed by Wei. Why keep so many defeated soldiers back? How many of them can fight again? It will only damage his prestige.
Would Cao Wei send its elite troops back? Impossible. From Sun Quan's perspective, if we were defeated, we would be defeated. Could the Wei army still cross the river to attack us?
Like the Battle of Chibi, the two families will probably have to confront each other for a long time before they can start talking again.
In the afternoon, Palace Attendant Xiahou Xuan reported that General Zhendong Cao Tai had just led his troops back to Shouchun and came to the palace to ask for an audience with the emperor. Of course, there was no reason for the emperor to refuse.
Cao Tai walked quickly into the hall and bowed to the emperor: "Your Majesty, I just returned to Shouchun and came to see you."
As the son of Cao Ren, Cao Tai had served as a general in Cao Ren's army for 10 to 20 years, and was not as capable of taking on regional tasks as his peers Cao Xiu, Cao Zhen, and Xiahou Shang. Cao Rui used Cao Tai to launch a surprise attack on Wancheng this time, a task that would add points if successful and not harm the foundation if unsuccessful, and he also intended to test Cao Tai.
However, Cao Tai did an unexpectedly good job in this battle. It was not about how fast or smooth the battle at Wankou was, but that Cao Tai was able to follow the general direction smoothly and reach the designated location at a very fast speed when half of the troops were left behind. This was very surprising.
Cao Rui walked over and helped Cao Tai up: "General Zhendong, you have worked hard in this battle! You really have some of Xu Zhengnan's style of 'marching straight into the enemy'." Xu Zhengnan refers to Xu Huang, who was promoted to General Zhengnan at the end of last year.
Cao Tai's achievements also swept away the depression he had felt for many years because of the defeat at Ruxu. He smiled and said, "It is my duty to die for Your Majesty. Your Majesty, I will bring back some spoils this time. Can you please present them to me?"
(End of this chapter)
