Chapter 163: Training the Troops

The ten‑plus blood‑splattered, snarling heads hanging outside the Jin Prince's manor made every commander shiver; the slight resistance and discontent they felt toward the "Military Merit Ledger" system was instantly drowned by fear.

From that day on, the implementation of the "Military Merit Ledger" system proceeded unusually smoothly, encountering no obstacles at all. The commanders carried out the system with extra diligence, fearing that any slip might cause their own heads to be displayed outside the Jin Prince's manor like those ten heads.

Wang Hao and his "Military Merit Accounting Office" thus became the most distinctive presence in the whole camp. Their work was no longer questioned or interfered with; everyone revered them. Wang Hao's name spread rapidly through the Kaifeng Imperial Guards, turning him into a figure that struck terror into anyone who heard it.

The personnel of the Military Merit Accounting Office wore uniform blue robes, and on their chests a gold‑thread embroidered abacus emblem.

In their hands there were no swords or blades, no glinting steel. Their sole weapons were a thick ledger and a brush.

The ledger's pages were slightly yellowed yet impeccably preserved, showing no damage. The brush was an ordinary ink brush, its tip rounded smooth after days of use.

Yet this seemingly powerless group of scholars made even those generals who had slain countless enemies on the battlefield and never flinched at killing have to take a detour.

These generals were awe‑inspiring on the field, causing terror wherever they went, but before the Military Merit accountants they were like meek lambs, daring not to show any negligence.

Every dawn, when the first ray of sunlight fell on the earth, the roll‑call time arrived. At that moment, all the company commanders felt a surge of tension, for it was one of the most important moments of their day.

At the roll‑call point, the clerk of the Accounting Office arrived early, holding a thick roster, standing at the front of the line with a solemn expression. His task was to call out each company commander's name one by one to confirm their timely arrival.

When the clerk began the roll call, the whole scene fell unusually silent, only his clear, resonant voice echoing through the air.

Each company commander listened intently, fearing to miss their own name. Once they heard their name called, they would immediately answer loudly to indicate they were on duty.

"Zhang San!"

"Present!"

"Li Si!"

"Present!"

Each time a name was called, the clerk would draw a check mark after it.

If even one person was absent, or the name did not match, the company commander would be summoned immediately for questioning.

A light offense earned a scolding and a deduction from that month's pay; a serious one resulted in dismissal and delivery to military law.

Under such strict verification, the decades‑long scourge of "collecting empty wages" vanished miraculously within a single Era Name Deadline.

The Court's allotted military pay, for the first time, was distributed to every soldier in full, not a single copper coin missing.

The day the full wages were received, the entire camp boiled over with excitement.

"My God! This month they paid two taels of silver! A full two taels!"

"Indeed! Before we barely got a tael and a bit, the rest was skimmed off by those damn dogs!"

"Long live Prince Jin! Staff Officer Wang truly is a benevolent lord!"

The soldiers clutched the heavy silver in their hands, eyes brimming with hot tears.

For the first time they felt treated as humans, not as livestock to be slaughtered at will.

Having solved the "throttling" problem, Wang Hao turned to "increasing revenue".

He proposed to Guo Rong a substantial raise in military merit rewards.

Previously, cutting off an enemy's head on the battlefield earned at most three or five taels of silver, and even that was not guaranteed.

Now Wang Hao tripled the price outright.

Decapitation of a first‑rank enemy counts ten merit points, redeemable on the spot for fifteen taels of silver!

Capturing a prisoner counts five merit points, redeemable for seven taels of silver!

The first warrior to breach a city during a siege counts one hundred merit points, rewarded instantly with a hundred taels of silver, fifty mu of fertile land, and a new blue‑brick tiled house for the family!

When this reward standard was announced, the soldiers went completely mad.

They began to look forward to the enemy's appearance, seeing those foes as walking piles of silver.

Previously dreaded patrol and reconnaissance missions now became the most coveted prize.

"Company commander! Next time there's a border patrol duty, be sure to take me along!"

"Nonsense! You went last time! This time it's my turn! I just married my wife last month and need money to build a house!"

"Everyone stop fighting! Staff Officer Wang said that from now on such tasks will be ordered by military merit points! The lower your points, the sooner you go!"

To snatch the "money‑making" chance, the soldiers started to compete wildly.

On the training ground, battle cries thundered.

One by one, soldiers stripped to the waist, fell in the mud, sparred on plum‑flower posts; each gave their all, hoping to earn a good rank in the next camp tournament and rack up a few extra points.

Wang Hao even devised a novel "Military Merit Ranking Board".

At each camp's entrance stood a massive wooden board.

In red paint it listed the names of the hundred soldiers with the highest military merit points in that camp.

The one in first place had a large red flower drawn after his name.

This greatly satisfied the soldiers' vanity.

Making the list, especially ranking first, felt more glorious than gaining a few extra taels of silver.

For a moment, topping the board became every soldier's dream.

Soldiers of the western camp heard that Li Da Niu of the eastern camp, after capturing two Khitan traitors, saw his points surge to first in the entire army.

They immediately quit their duties; that night, a dozen daring men slipped out of the camp, camped on the border line dozens of li away for a night, just to catch a lone Khitan and wrest the top spot back.

The army's atmosphere transformed completely within just a few months.

Guo Rong took time each day to personally inspect the camps.

Seeing those spirited, high‑morale soldiers, his smile never left his face.

"Sir, your 'Military Merit Ledger' is truly a stroke of genius!" Guo Rong exclaimed to Wang Hao repeatedly, "My father the emperor expended such effort, killed countless people, yet could not solve the problem. With these few ledgers you solved it effortlessly."

"Your Highness, you're praising me." Wang Hao replied modestly, "I merely applied some of the Wang Family's shop‑management methods. In the end, the logic of a camp and a shop is the same. To make workers work hard, you must show them tangible benefits."

"'Shop‑management methods'…" Guo Rong muttered to himself, looking at Wang Hao, admiration flickering in his eyes.

He increasingly felt that this Wang Family from Jiangnan was like a bottomless treasure.

You think you have seen all of them, yet they always produce something unheard of, yet immensely powerful.

Yangzhou, Wang Family stronghold.

In the council hall, Wang Zhen was looking at the secret letter that Wang Hao had sent back from Kaifeng.

The letter detailed the entire process of implementing the "military merit ledger" system within the Imperial Guards in Kaifeng, as well as Guo Rong's decisive killings and the purging of generals.

"This Guo Rong truly has his father's bearing; he is a man capable of great achievements," Wang Zhen put down the letter and said to Su Qin and the others beside him.

"Indeed." Su Qin nodded in praise, "His 'kill‑the‑chicken‑to‑warn‑the‑monkey' move was both ruthless and precise. He established authority, eliminated obstacles to reform, and caused no major unrest. This skill ranks among the finest of all monarchs through the ages."

"What is most rare is that he knows how to employ people and dares to delegate authority," an elderly steward in charge of the family's personnel sighed. "He even dared to entrust such huge powers as auditing military pay and rectifying military discipline to an outsider like Wang Hao; that trust and boldness are not something ordinary people possess."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

They were becoming increasingly satisfied with Guo Rong as a partner.

"Head of Family, Wang Hao mentioned another issue at the end of the letter," Su Qin pointed to the bottom of the letter, "He said that although the military merit ledger system is good, it also has a hidden risk."

"What hidden risk?" Wang Zhen asked.

"If rewards and punishments are unclear, the troops' morale becomes unstable. If they are too explicit, the troops become eager for war," Su Qin recited, "Now, the Imperial Guards, in pursuit of military merit, are each howling to fight. This high fighting spirit is a good thing.

But if there is no war for a long time, this vigor will dissipate and instead breed trouble. If war is easily provoked, it conflicts with our Great Zhou's current policy of recuperation and peace."

"So, Wang Hao is asking the Head of Family how to guide this fighting spirit moving forward?"

That is indeed a problem.

An army yearning for war is a double‑edged sword for a nation that has just stabilized and now needs peaceful development.

Used well, it can expand borders.

Used poorly, it may turn against itself.

The council hall fell into a brief silence.

Everyone's gaze focused on Wang Zhen seated at the head.

Wang Zhen's fingers tapped rhythmically on the table, producing a crisp sound.

His gaze was fixed on the massive "Great Nations Map" on the wall. The map detailed the locations and territories of various nations, drawn from the discoveries of the Wang Family and the intelligence gathered from the various Hu merchants.

After a long pause, he finally spoke slowly, his voice low and resonant: "Just because Zhongyuan cannot be fought does not mean other places cannot be."

A faint upward curl of his mouth formed a meaningful smile, containing both confidence and a hint of slyness.

Then he turned to the attendant beside him and ordered, "Tell Wang Hao to give Prince Jin a suggestion."

The attendant quickly bowed and complied.

Wang Zhen paused briefly, then continued: "Tell him that our Wang Family fleet recently discovered, on the southern seas, a country so rich that oil flows."

His tone was calm, but his eyes glittered with excitement.

"That country is called Champa."