Chapter 277: One Head for Twenty Taels of Silver

Under such circumstances, things became much easier to handle.

As long as he could ignite their fighting spirit, Yuan Keli believed this battle could certainly be won, which was why he had remained so confident all along.

Seeing Li Biao and Zhang Yanfang both looking at him, Yuan Keli said, "At the same time, pass down the order: in this battle, every enemy head is worth twenty taels of silver."

Hearing Yuan Keli's words, Li Biao and Zhang Yanfang never expected it to be so simple and crude.

Yes, that was exactly it—simple and crude. The two men didn't ask, and Yuan Keli didn't explain, but the meaning was precisely that.

Yuan Keli had once studied the military situation of the Great Ming, and he knew one thing well: rewards were of paramount importance.

Many men joined the army not for patriotism or loyalty to the sovereign, nor even for promotion and wealth or to make a name for themselves.

Those in the military who wanted promotion and wealth or to rise above the ranks were men with ideals—at the very least, they would have to be junior or mid-level officers to harbor such thoughts.

Ordinary soldiers joined the army simply to draw their pay.

Many had suffered famine, couldn't afford to eat, and had no choice but to join the army to scrape together a meal.

Others came because their families had fallen on hard times, or because there were too many children and too little land. In such circumstances, they were equally starving and unable to afford food, with no choice but to join the army to scrounge a living.

They cared about nothing else but their pay. The court gave little silver, so they only sought to fill their bellies. Under such conditions, they had no desire to fight—if they died in battle, who would that benefit?

On the northern border, the Great Ming did have a policy. Anyone who killed a Mongol soldier was rewarded with forty taels of silver.

Only, that policy was often nothing more than a decoration—there simply was no money to pay out.

First, the court had no funds; second, even if the court did provide the money, it would be embezzled layer by layer during distribution.

With these two factors alternating, the soldiers had no heart to fight desperately. If they risked their lives and still got no money, who would be willing to risk their life?

Within the Great Ming's armies, there was one rather special force—that was Qi Jiguang's Qi Family Army.

Everyone in the Qi Family Army received their full pay, and a large portion of the spoils they captured was kept for themselves; as for rewards for killing enemies, those were never short either.

To maintain such a large expenditure, Qi Jiguang had done quite a number of things.

First was gift-giving—to Zhang Juzheng and to the civil officials at court, Qi Jiguang could be said to have spared no effort in sending gifts.

Aside from that, there was padding the payroll. The court couldn't possibly give you the full amount of pay, and even if it did allocate the full sum, it would be skimmed off layer by layer along the way. By the time it reached Qi Jiguang's hands, there was no way that much remained.

Under such circumstances, one could only think of other methods. For example, Qi Jiguang would report a roster of twenty thousand men but only recruit ten thousand.

Of the pay the court allocated, besides supporting those ten thousand men, the remainder allowed Qi Jiguang to send gifts and also let those officials stuff a bit into their own pockets.

Only thus did Qi Jiguang have enough silver. Otherwise, he too would have failed to gain the court's support, failed to gain Zhang Juzheng's support.

Yu Dayou, a contemporary of Qi Jiguang, had a more straightforward temperament and wouldn't do things the way Qi Jiguang did.

Look at his whole life—in battle, they were called "Yu the Dragon, Qi the Tiger"; but in officialdom, the two were worlds apart.

Although Qi Jiguang was ultimately implicated by Zhang Juzheng's downfall, while Zhang Juzheng was in power, Qi Jiguang's official rank shot up and up and up.

Then look at Yu Dayou—his entire life was a series of rises and falls, a truly miserable tale.

Looking at the whole matter, Yuan Keli had indeed gleaned some insight about the mysteries of warfare from it. That was: soldiers must be given sufficient rewards to stir their will to fight.

This wasn't the northern frontier; forty taels per head was clearly unrealistic. But cut it in half—twenty taels per head—that was far more feasible.

With such an incentive in place, Yuan Keli believed these men would surely have the morale to fight. Under heavy reward, there must be brave men.

One head was twenty taels of silver; two heads made forty taels. In this southwestern region, how much did even one mu of land cost?

Just chop two heads, and you could buy over a dozen mu of land and build a house on top of it. Chop a few more, and you could even become a small landlord.

With such an incentive, someone would surely gamble on it. Men die for wealth, birds die for food—let alone in a fierce place like the southwest? Let alone among those veteran soldiers in the army?

These men weren't incapable of fighting; they simply didn't want to. When they saw profit, they charged forward; when they saw danger, they fell back.

This was profit hidden within danger, and Yuan Keli believed these men would fight with their lives.

Zhang Yanfang looked at Yuan Keli, and his eyes immediately lit up.

That was all money! If his subordinates chopped plenty of heads, he was sure to get a cut too. This Zhang Yanfang understood well enough.

Zhang Yanfang spoke cautiously and carefully: "Your Excellency the Governor-General, can this promise of twenty taels of silver per head actually be fulfilled?"

What he worried about now was that they might chop the heads and then not get paid—that would be disastrous. At that point, if the promises he'd made couldn't be honored, the soldiers would come making a fuss at him.

Yuan Keli smiled and nodded, saying, "Rest assured. Twenty taels of silver per head—not a single tael less."

Nodding excitedly, Zhang Yanfang said with a smile, "Then this subordinate will go tell them right away!"

Watching Zhang Yanfang leave in his excitement, Yuan Keli smiled and stroked his beard.

For Yuan Keli, spending a bit of money to resolve this matter wasn't worth calling a problem at all. If His Majesty didn't approve the reimbursement by then, he could scrape some together from the southwest himself.

With so many native chieftains around, he refused to believe he couldn't squeeze out some silver.

His Majesty had sent him to the southwest to carry out the conversion of native chieftaincies into regular administration. There would be plenty of accounts to settle in the future, and plenty of money to be made as well. By then, he might even put this matter to use—either they pay in silver, or they pay with their lives.

The news quickly spread throughout the army.

For a moment, the entire camp was abuzz—no one had expected Yuan Keli to make such a promise.

Sure enough, the soldiers began discussing it excitedly. Though some were doubtful, quite a few were willing to give it a try.

Zhang Laosan was one of them. His family was poor, and he'd joined the army because he couldn't afford to eat.

Rumor had it that his ancestors had once been wealthy—they'd been rich men, and officials at that. Later, they'd committed some crime and been exiled to this place. After several generations, the family had long since fallen into decline.

By Zhang Laosan's generation, with so many mouths in the household, they'd had no choice but to find other ways.

Zhang Laosan was around thirty-some years old, with a big bushy beard and a sturdy, imposing build.

After word of this news arrived, a dozen or so men gathered around Zhang Laosan.

Though Zhang Laosan wasn't an officer, his prestige was very high. Because the man was a seasoned veteran, and quite a few men in the army trusted him.

At Zhang Laosan's side, one man said doubtfully, "Third Brother, do you think this talk can be trusted? Don't let us brothers fight tooth and nail and then they don't pay up—then we'd be taking a huge loss."

Zhang Laosan shot the man a look and said irritably, "This order came down from the Governor-General himself. Who do you think the Governor-General is?"

"He's a high official from the capital. I've already made inquiries—they say he's deeply trusted by the Emperor. He wouldn't use something like this to deceive us."

"If they truly don't pay, then we make a fuss. With rebellions breaking out all over the southwest right now, he'll have to pay. Go round up the others, and fetch Wei Laosan and Li Lao'er too—let's have a proper discussion."

"Let me tell you all, this is a chance to get rich. Nobody's allowed to go it alone. Let's talk this over properly—this time we're going to pull off something big. If we get a hundred or more heads, that's over two thousand taels of silver, and then we'll split it up."

"Think about it carefully—that money, taken back to our homes to buy land and marry wives, would be more than enough. By then, we'd all be minor landlords."

"Let me put it this way—in this lifetime, there may only be this one chance. If we don't seize it, we might never get another. Whether you all do it or not, I'm definitely going for it."

The people around him heard what Old Third said and quickly chimed in: "We'll follow Third Brother."

Zhang Laosan nodded with satisfaction and said: "Brothers, rest assured—even if some of us truly die in battle, I'll take half of the money we get and use it to compensate the fallen brothers, so none of you have any worries about what's left behind."

"We trust Third Brother," everyone said hurriedly.

Such situations were not uncommon in the army.

The soldiers drawn from various regions had each formed their own groups, and after this news came out, they began gathering together to discuss—wanting to pull off something big.

The news quickly spread back to Zhang Yanfang, who excitedly told the matter to Yuan Keli.

Yuan Keli smiled and nodded, looking utterly confident.

In fact, he genuinely believed it could work. One had to understand—this was the southwest. The more bitter and desolate the land, the fiercer the local temperament, because if you didn't fight with your life on the line, many times you simply couldn't survive.

In such an environment, people didn't lack the instinct to risk their lives. They struggled against heaven, struggled against the earth—and now it was time to struggle against men.

Yuan Keli said: "Pass the order—everyone speeds up. Tell them: go kill, earn silver, and with that silver go home to marry wives and buy land."

"Yes, Your Excellency." Zhang Yanfang acknowledged and left excitedly.

Meanwhile, Li Biao, standing to one side, finally couldn't hold it in any longer.

He looked at Yuan Keli and said with a wry smile: "Your Excellency the Governor-General, don't count on me to pay for this money—I have no money to give."

Li Biao couldn't bear it anymore, so he spoke the truth directly. He knew very well in his heart exactly how much he was worth.

If he were the one to pay this money, even selling himself wouldn't cover it. Li Biao genuinely feared Yuan Keli might make him pay, because the other man was the Governor-General—if he ordered this Governor to produce the funds, Li Biao couldn't very well refuse.

"Don't worry! Won't need you." Yuan Keli glanced at Li Biao and said with a smile.

After the morale-boosting was done, the army's pace indeed quickened considerably.

To maintain morale, Yuan Keli also didn't stop the discussions among the troops—as long as they didn't shake the army's resolve or speak defeatist words, it was no problem.

Meanwhile, the battle at Bijie city was still ongoing.

An Bangyan led his men in a ferocious assault on Bijie city. The fighting was extremely intense, with corpses piling up like mountains.

Both sides engaged in a fierce slaughter atop the city walls—neither side gave an inch.

Zhang Cheng clutched his arm, his face dark as he directed the battle.

He had just taken an arrow. Zhang Cheng directly snapped off the shaft, not even pulling out the arrowhead. Zhang Cheng knew this was no time for that, so he didn't withdraw.

The soldiers on the city walls had already thinned considerably; more than half of those helping him defend the city were able-bodied civilians.

Under such circumstances, how could Zhang Cheng's expression possibly look good?

This was only the first day. In Zhang Cheng's view, he was probably going to have to give his life for His Majesty this time, because there was no hope left. Even if his request for reinforcements had been sent out, the higher-ups would still need time to muster troops.

Glancing at the sky, Zhang Cheng let out a sigh.

Holding out until tonight would certainly be no problem. An Bangyan wouldn't attack at night either—that would bring him no benefit.

So he could get through this night safely. But what about tomorrow?

Looking at his men, Zhang Cheng felt somewhat helpless.

He knew very well in his heart that he couldn't hold out through tomorrow. Tomorrow Bijie city would surely fall, and then his death would be at hand.

Sure enough, after the sun set, An Bangyan's forces slowly withdrew.

Zhang Cheng came down from the wall and saw Zhang Zhongmou, who was busy directing the soldiers.

Zhang Zhongmou was also exhausted by now—his official robes were covered in dirt everywhere, and he had no mood to brush it off.

Organizing people to send stones and oil up to the walls, while also organizing Bureau Directors to treat the wounded, having people carry down the corpses, and also arranging meals and so on—Zhang Zhongmou had been busy the whole day.

Upon seeing Zhang Cheng, Zhang Zhongmou quickly went up to meet him, asking with a concerned expression: "You're wounded?"

"Nothing serious—just got stung by something." Zhang Cheng waved his hand and said.

Looking at his condition, Zhang Zhongmou knew—this was hardly just a sting.

Zhang Zhongmou hurriedly called for a Bureau Director to treat his wounds, while also having people prepare water and food for him—he hadn't had a bite or a drop for most of the day.

The Bureau Director treated Zhang Cheng's wounds while Zhang Cheng wolfed down his food—he was truly starving.

Stuffing a large chunk of meat into his mouth, Zhang Cheng looked at Zhang Zhongmou and said: "Your Excellency, we held today, but tomorrow I'm afraid we won't be able to hold."

"We've already sent people out, but even if the request for reinforcements arrives, the relief troops won't get here that fast. From today's situation, we shouldn't be able to hold out tomorrow. I just took a look—An Bangyan's forces are still growing. Quite a few chieftains have started joining him."

"These wolves with wild ambitions, these wolf cubs that can never be tamed!" Zhang Zhongmou said angrily, his tone full of unwillingness.

At the same time, Zhang Zhongmou pointed outside the city and added: "We should have wiped them all out long ago!"

Looking at the furious Zhang Zhongmou, Zhang Cheng smiled and said: "I never imagined Your Excellency had such a side."

Thinking of how refined and gentle Zhang Zhongmou usually was, Zhang Cheng truly couldn't imagine this Excellency having such a manner now.

"We're about to die, and you still talk about this?" Zhang Zhongmou said with irritation.

Zhang Cheng glanced at Zhang Zhongmou, moved a bit closer to him, and lowered his voice: "Your Excellency, I can arrange for someone to escort you out tonight."