Chapter 38: Rewards

Since Shi Hu established the state.

Xiangguo City had undergone thirty years of major construction.

The palace complex within the city was towering and magnificent, grand and imposing.

The Taiwu Hall built by Shi Hu was the pearl of the palace complex.

This pearl, however, burned for a day and one night in the great fire before gradually going out.

The several hundred elite palace guards of Shi Hu stationed inside the hall all perished in the sea of fire.

This great hall was truly fine, but Lin Dao did not care.

As long as he could destroy the enemy, let alone one great hall, blowing up a mountain was fine too.

Xie Yi praised him for this: "The Grand Commander is not disturbed by luxury; this is truly a great deed!"

Lin Dao glanced at him: "Commandery Duke, are you not leaving yet?"

Xie Yi should have left long ago.

Enlisting the Gluttonous Army was merely incidental; the main target of his diplomatic mission was the Xianbei Murong Clan.

The problem was that, having personally witnessed all the marvels Lin Dao displayed, Xie Yi had completely abandoned his mission in his heart.

He was certain Lin Dao must be an Immortal descended to the mortal world, and was determined to forge a connection with him.

"The Grand Commander possesses Divine Might; Xiangguo City fell in half a day."

Xie Yi flattered him: "This humble official wishes to follow under the Great General's wing."

Lin Dao shook his head and ignored him, moving to the high platform.

Before the temporarily erected high platform was a dense crowd of people.

The Gluttonous Army Jiang Jun who had earned merit in this battle, and the civilian laborers within the city who had taken Heads of Qianghu, among others.

And far more around them, who had come to spectate the excitement.

Here, rewards were being distributed.

A civilian laborer carrying a Head of Qianghu stepped forward and handed over the War Spoils in his hand for inspection.

After confirming it was a genuine Hu head, a Scribe registered him in the records; from then on he became a formal Military Household under Lin Dao's command.

According to tradition, he could be called a Hereditary Soldier.

"Shen Xiong of Yangqu County, Taiyuan Commandery, Bingzhou, has taken one Head of Qianghu."

"Military Merit One Turn; reward one Shi of grain, bestow ten jin of pork!"

The man named Shen Xiong hurriedly stepped forward two paces and saluted Lin Dao on the high platform.

"I wish to die for the Lord~~~"

Calling him Grand Commander was for people of the Imperial Court.

Calling him Lord made one one's own people.

It seemed strange, but that was the rule of this era.

Those willing to sell themselves as Slaves were far more numerous than those willing to be loyal to the Imperial Court.

Lin Dao, with a calm expression, nodded and said: "Reward."

Someone stepped forward, weighed the grain and pork on the spot, confirmed it was correct, and handed it to Shen Xiong.

Shen Xiong saluted again: "Thank you for your great grace, Lord~~~"

This was not Lin Dao wanting to learn the small-station troop training.

It was all done by those under his command.

Winning people's hearts was an ancient practice, nothing surprising at all.

Lin Dao was like a sculpture, standing on the high platform accepting the allegiance of the newly enlisted Military Households.

After standing for a long time, his legs ached.

Fortunately, those behind sped up, bringing ten or twenty at a time, greatly increasing the speed.

Those receiving rewards were the civilian laborers who had previously performed corvée labor within Xiangguo City; they had defected during battle and made important contributions to capturing the city.

The rewards received by the civilian laborers naturally could not compare with those of formal Gluttonous Army Soldiers.

Their greatest benefit was becoming formal members of the Gluttonous Army.

From then on they could eat from Lin Dao's bowl, eat Lin Dao's food, wear Lin Dao's clothes.

Since they were now Slaves of the Lord, their food, clothing, housing, and travel were naturally the Lord's responsibility.

They were mainly responsible for selling their lives.

As for those civilian laborers who had not taken Heads of Qianghu, they were temporarily extra temporary workers.

Meaning they could scrounge some Feed to eat, but still had to work.

Even so, compared to when they built palaces for the Heavenly King, the Gluttonous Army here was already an Immortal Realm on earth.

Over one hundred jin of grain, ten jin of meat.

The civilian laborers who had taken heads carried these heavy rewards with difficulty, returned to their fellow villagers, and were met with envious gazes beyond compare.

The kind of envy that drove one mad.

The fellow villager civilian laborers also secretly swore in their hearts that the next time they encountered Qianghu, they must borrow a head to use!

The rewards for civilian laborers ended; next were the rewards for the Gluttonous Army Soldiers.

"Liu Hu, fought bravely as First to Scale the Wall, took five Heads of Qianghu~"

"Merit Three Turns; reward fifty Shi of grain, twenty-five bolts of cloth, one hundred jin of pork, five barrels of oil~~~"

Looking at Liu Hu saluting below the platform, Lin Dao smiled.

"You have achieved great merit; are you willing to become a Zhuangzhu?"

Zhuangzhu, also called Five Hundred Chief, commanding ten squads of soldiers, a proper mid-level officer.

Liu Hu shook his head. "This slave is willing to guard at the Young Master's side!"

"Since that is the case, I appoint you as Deputy Captain of the Bodyguards."

This was not over yet; Lin Dao walked down the high platform, taking the opportunity to stretch his legs.

He took a pair of high-grade military boots and handed them to Liu Hu. "Awarded to you to wear; if the size doesn't fit, just say so, I'll go exchange them."

These were originally one of the pairs of high-grade military boots Lin Dao had purchased for himself.

In order to reward Liu Hu's merit of being first to scale the wall, he simply gifted him a pair.

"Thank you, Young Master~~~"

This was still not over.

Lin Dao waved his hand to signal, and soon someone pushed over a large cart.

On it were piled a hundred or so cans, more than ten bolts of fine silks and brocades, and a large crate of copper and iron coins.

He had originally intended to sell the cans to Shi Hu; Xie Yi's arrival put an end to that business.

Since so many cans had been brought all this way, Lin Dao simply distributed them directly as rewards.

As for the fine silks and brocades and the copper and iron coins, they were spoils seized within Xiangguo City.

Lin Dao took out two bottles of Putao wine (grape wine) and stuffed them into Liu Hu's hands.

The grape wine was ordered wholesale, the kind that costs 9.9 per bottle.

Although it's not worth much in the Modern World, here in the Yonghe Spacetime, it is a rare commodity.

Just this wine bottle alone is quite valuable.

"All this is what you deserve."

With so many rewards added together, they filled several large carts.

The main reason was still to reward Liu Hu's merit of being first to scale the wall.

Next were the ten-plus bodyguards who had earned military merit.

These were all the earliest followers of Lin Dao; as early as the Guangzong County Fortress period, they were fierce warriors willing to go kill Qianghu for a single promise from Lin Dao.

Several of them had even eaten the KFC Lin Dao bought.

Drunk the sweet-and-sour water.

"You've worked hard."

Lin Dao personally recorded merit for them, distributed rewards, and even chatted a few sentences.

"This time I'm arranging for you to lead troops; don't disgrace the Bodyguard name."

"Train strictly, enforce rewards and punishments clearly, fight bravely, remain forever loyal!"

"Do well, don't let me down."

The bodyguards, each having their shoulders patted and instructed by Lin Dao, were moved to tears.

This truly was giving them both face and substance; the Young Master gave it all.

How could they not die for him~~~

These bodyguards would serve as Squad Leaders.

Although a squad is fifty men, these fifty are all elite soldiers wearing lamellar armor.

In future battles, continuing to earn military merit, promotion will certainly be faster.

The soldiers who came forward to receive rewards afterward got rewards that weren't this plentiful.

Those who took two Qianghu heads could additionally get a pair of Liberation Shoes and ten cans.

For each additional head taken thereafter, they would get an additional share of reward.

As for top-grade goods like grape wine, those naturally weren't included.

These things, Lin Dao didn't plan to distribute directly in the future; they would all be used as rewards and to stimulate military morale.

In this era of extreme material scarcity, where even eating a meal is an extravagant hope.

Lin Dao's lavish rewards greatly stimulated everyone.

Countless people longed to serve Lin Dao, to call him Young Master.

The large-scale rewards continued for the entire morning.

They didn't end until the afternoon.

But matters were still not finished.

Seeing it was nearly the third quarter of the noon hour, a large group of people were escorted forward.

"You aided a tyrant, served the barbarian slaves, bullied the good, acted as accomplices to evil, committed every wicked deed — your crimes are unpardonable~~~"

These people, burdened with a heap of charges, were the scholar-gentry within Xiangguo City.

As early as Shi Lei's founding of the state, Later Zhao had already restored the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System since Wei and Jin.

Formally recognizing the aristocratic clans' electoral rights and tax exemptions and many other privileges.

For the high-ranking families, as long as their interests could be guaranteed.

Anyone could be Emperor; even whether the one sitting on the Dragon Chair was human didn't matter.

Precisely for this reason, during the eras of Shi Lei and Shi Hu, there were large batches of high-ranking scholar-gentry serving them.

People like Li Nong were representatives among them.

Within Xiangguo City, there was the Taixue, and more than ten primary schools such as Xuanwen, Xuanjiao, Chongru, Chongjiao, etc.

Those serving in these places were all local scholar-gentry.

Lin Dao would not accept these people.

He also knew these people were loyally devoted to Later Zhao.

Because Later Zhao guaranteed their privileges as aristocratic clans, and this was something Lin Dao could not give.

Leaving them will inevitably become a future calamity.

Since it is so, there is only one solution.

"It is the third quarter of noon, carry out the execution~~~"

The banquet and feast after the conferral of rewards were extremely sumptuous.

Lin Dao forbids plundering, and even more so forbids massacre.

To comfort the soldiers whose eyes were red with killing on the battlefield, eating and drinking heartily became the best choice.

"Jade nectar and amber liquid, its color like amber."

Xie Yi held the wine cup in his hand and praised from the bottom of his heart, "Such fine wine is truly a delicacy of the mortal world."

Nine yuan nine per bottle with free shipping included, where is this delicacy of the mortal world from.

Lin Dao nodded repeatedly, "The Duke of the Province likes it, then drink more."

The most luxurious Taiwu Hall in Xiangguo City had by now turned into ashes.

But within the city, there was not only one Taiwu Hall.

This place had undergone thirty years of construction and had a large group of palaces.

At this time, Lin Dao and the others were in Jian De Hall, holding a celebration banquet.

All military officers of Zhuangzhu rank and above, except those on duty outside, were here drinking wine and eating flesh.

Xie Yi, with a face full of smiles, put down the wine cup.

Picking up chopsticks, he clamped a slice of luncheon meat into his mouth, and praised again.

"Color, fragrance, and taste are superb."

The whole army was feasting, and the cooks were simply not enough.

When the wine feast here began, each person's table only had luncheon meat and grape wine.

It was still Lin Dao who could not bear to watch, feeling it was too shabby.

Returning to the Modern World, he bought some smashed cucumbers, fried peanuts, edamame, and chicken feet from Snack Street to bring back as side dishes and garnishes.

Although peanuts and such had never been seen before, Xie Yi and the others ate them with great relish.

And no one had allergies or anything.

After all, in this world, to have something to eat is already a great fortune bestowed by heaven.

Who would still care what they were eating.

It was far better than husband and wife lung slices, clay pot rice, and such, by countless times.

Especially since there was wine to drink, this was simply a delicacy of the mortal world.

No wonder the ancients ranked eating and drinking before gambling.

Lin Dao drank beer, he only dared to drink Snowflake, fearing other brands had special additives.

As for luncheon meat, he didn't move a single chopstick, eating only some peanuts.

Seeing everyone eating like a wind sweeping away clouds, eating until they were nearly done.

Lin Dao slightly gathered his expression, "Everyone."

"Xiangguo City was taken in one battle, thousands were beheaded, and countless were seized."

"Next, where should we go?"

End of Chapter