"Your Majesty, the imperial court could follow this example and set up 'Boundary - Stabilizing Stele' in the newly acquired territories, engraving the names of meritorious soldiers for future generations to remember."
"Minister Zhang makes a good point," the emperor nodded and then looked at Yue Fuguang, who was playing with the 'Boundary - Breaking Pearl', and asked gently, "Fuguang, what's your opinion?"
Yue Fuguang thought to herself, "What a familiar 'What's your opinion'!"
Sitting there, Yue Fuguang heard Emperor Mingxi's question. She just lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then said, "Your Majesty, I think it's not enough."
As soon as these words were spoken, all the court officials were stunned. Not enough? For opening up new frontiers, granting fields, houses, and titles, this was already an extremely high reward. Did the Junior Grand Tutor still think it was not enough?
Huo Ying seemed to have been prepared. He stepped forward and said in a solemn voice, "Your Majesty, Junior Grand Tutor, I have something to say, but I'm not sure if I should."
"Speak."
"After General Xu Shu conquered the Southern Yue, he wrote me a private letter." Huo Ying took out a snow - white letter from his sleeve.
"He said in the letter: 'I'm not a person greedy for merit, but there's something I have to say. Since our troops left Louguan Pass, there have been soldiers who haven't taken off their armor for a single day. There's Lieutenant Zhao Hu...'"
What Huo Ying read were all the words General Xu Shu used to state the achievements of his subordinates, without mentioning his own merits at all. He put away the letter, looked up at the emperor, and said, "Your Majesty, Junior Grand Tutor, I think when rewarding soldiers, we can't just count the number of enemy heads cut off or the number of cities captured.
When those soldiers fought with their lives, they didn't think about titles and fields. However, whether the imperial court rewards them and how to reward them determines the hearts of the people across the country."
The hall fell silent for a moment.
Yue Fuguang stood up, walked to the front of the hall with her hands behind her back. The morning light poured in from outside the hall, shining on her prince's robe. The gold patterns on the robe glistened in the sunlight.
Suddenly, she smiled, turned around, and spoke in a low but clear voice that reached everyone's ears, "Your Majesty, those who have made contributions should be rewarded. From top to bottom, all soldiers of the Great Yan Dynasty, regardless of their ranks, should be bathed in the imperial grace. Let everyone remember that Your Majesty sees their sacrifices of blood and lives for the Great Yan Dynasty."
Emperor Mingxi also nodded with a smile, "Fuguang speaks reasonably!"
He said to Zhang Zhongping, "Pass on my imperial edict. All soldiers who followed General Xu Shu on the southern expedition and have made contributions will be rewarded without exception.
The military achievements are divided into five grades. Those of the highest grade will be granted the hereditary title of Yunqiwei, given a hundred mu of perpetual - use farmland, and rewarded with two hundred taels of silver; those of the second grade will be given gold and silk, and their households will be exempted from corvée and taxes for three years; for the third to fifth grades, the rewards will be determined according to their merits. The Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue should work out the detailed rules within three days."
He paused for a moment, scanned everyone with his eyes, and finally fixed his gaze on Huo Ying.
"As for Generals Xu and Wei, they will be granted the title of Marquis, given five thousand mu of land, and a lot of wealth..." The emperor listed a series of rewards. Huo Ying's eyes were slightly red, touched by the emperor's grace.
Dong Qianli's eyes were red too, but it was because he felt heart - ache seeing the money in the national treasury flowing out like water!
All the court officials in the hall bowed their heads together and shouted long live, "Your Majesty's imperial grace is boundless!"
However, the emperor didn't stop there. He picked up a pen and wrote an imperial edict, then handed it to Xie Zhiyan, "Prince, you go and handle this personally. Send it to General Xu Shu with the fastest relay of horses."
"Yes, Father!" The prince took the edict with both hands and looked down. He saw the following words written on the edict: "General Xu, I've learned all about the soldiers' contributions. Two million taels of silver will be sent to the southern region immediately, and five hundred jars of imperial wine will be used to reward the troops. For the fallen soldiers, a stele named 'Boundary - Stabilizing Stele' will be erected in the newly acquired land, and they will enjoy seasonal sacrifices.
All your requests are approved, and those things that you didn't request but I've thought of will also be carried out. In addition, I bestow the title 'Pacifier of the South' on you to commend your achievements in opening up the frontiers.
I hope you can take good care of the soldiers and consolidate our new territory. I'm waiting for your return in the capital city." At the end of the edict, the emperor added a line of small characters, the ink of which was obviously lighter than the previous part. 'Tell those soldiers for me that they've opened up more than nine hundred li of new territory for the Great Yan Dynasty. The Great Yan Dynasty won't forget them, nor will I.'
The prince held the edict in his hands, feeling happy for his uncle and those soldiers. He saw Yue Fuguang smiling at him, and he felt at ease. Although his uncle's achievements were so great that they might overshadow the emperor, with the Junior Grand Tutor around, there wouldn't be any problems!
That night, the post - horses galloped out of the west gate of the capital city. The sound of the horses' hooves shattered the moonlight over the capital city.
At the foot of Taibai Mountain, Xu Shu had just finished inspecting the wounded soldiers' camp. He sat in the tent, with a sheepskin map spread out in front of him. The newly marked territory on the map still had the wet ink smell.
Suddenly, the hoarse singing of the night - watch soldiers came from outside the tent. Someone started the song, and the rough tune was like the once - dried and net - like land of the Southern Yue. The song gradually spread.
"A man should bear a sword in his life, To seize the fifty states of the frontier..."
Xu Shu listened for a while and exchanged a smile with Wei Shouyi, who had just come back from outside. "This is a poem written by the Junior Grand Tutor." It's a pity that the frontier is over there in Beili. Otherwise, it would be more appropriate now.
Wei Shouyi nodded. "I happened to be there when the Junior Grand Tutor wrote this poem. I remember I asked the Junior Grand Tutor what a Wu hook was at that time."
"What did the Junior Grand Tutor say?" Xu Shu put down the map in his hand and became interested.
"Pointing to the battle - knife on his waist, the Junior Grand Tutor said that a Wu hook was a kind of weapon."
"And about the Lingyan Pavilion, the Junior Grand Tutor said that a similar one would be built in the Great Yan Dynasty in the future, and the meritorious officials of the Great Yan Dynasty would be enshrined in it, just like those hero steles, to be respected by future generations."
Xu Shu's eyes flickered slightly. He had opened up new frontiers for the Great Yan Dynasty. There should be a place for him in the Lingyan Pavilion, right?
Wei Shouyi also thought so. He didn't dare to be sure before, but now that they had captured the Southern Yue, he thought his name should be on it.
Thinking like this, he looked out of the tent and said with a soft laugh, "These young fellows are homesick!"
Xu Shu also said, "When the emperor's rewards arrive, it will be really glorious for them to return home in glory. It won't be in vain for them to have fought on the battlefield!"
Wei Shouyi nodded. "The Junior Grand Tutor is still in the capital city. There won't be any problems. Maybe the emperor's reward edict is already on the way."
Thinking of that person, Xu Shu also felt at ease. "The war on our side is basically over. The rest is the business of the civil officials."
He then shifted his gaze back to the map. "I wonder how the battle is going in Beili now."
