Chapter 101: Military Merit

The goal of fighting all the way to Beijing was grand, but in reality it was just a notice no one took seriously.

"Unify thinking" — four words very easy to say, but knowing is easy, doing is hard; it's inevitable that people's thoughts will clash.

No one would stand up and openly oppose Liu Chengzong, but could anyone in this room truly believe they would fight their way to Beijing?

Liu Chengzong himself didn't believe it.

This was exactly the effect he wanted, and only this effect.

In the entire army, apart from Cao Yao, no one had any subjective initiative toward rebellion.

Cao Yao's case was different too — he was simply a bandit chief who wanted to set himself up as a mountain king, unwilling to be bound by existing village covenants, gentry, or the imperial court.

He had no awareness, courage, ability, or desire to change dynasties.

If Liu Chengzong truly believed that words possessed infinite power, that a few casual remarks could, overnight, turn post-station runners and soldiers who became bandits just for an extra bowl of food into revolutionary warriors actively devoted to the cause of rebellion, then he would be a colossal fool.

People didn't need to agree with his ideas; they only needed to know what direction he would advance in, and to have no objections — that was enough for the present.

These men, who couldn't even write their own names, had already under his leadership seen Helian Bobo's tomb and the surging, billowing Yellow River, measured the breadth of northern Shaanxi with their own feet, walked across countless sun-scorched, cracked fields, and slept in innumerable abandoned villages.

Next they would see even more sights they had never heard of, gain experiences utterly beyond imagination, endure the most brutal slaughter, witness the most frenzied vengeance, and also see that the poor everywhere under heaven were waiting for the world to be overturned.

By that time, they would believe — would believe from the bottom of their hearts — that the people surging in from all corners of the realm would ultimately enter Beijing.

Perhaps by then they would already be on the road entering Beijing.

With the broad direction set, the discussions that followed were much simpler.

Liu Chengzong said: "So today's discussion mainly covers three matters. First, establishing military law; second, reorganizing the soldiers; third, setting the distribution of spoils."

The room immediately buzzed with discussion; once the noise had died down a little,

Gao Xian nodded and said: "Military law is certainly no problem. Everyone in the camp is either a soldier or a post-station runner or relay-station soldier — we can just use the regular army's military law. Banning rape and plunder is fine too; everyone wants to follow you in striking the princely estates. But reorganizing the soldiers — is that really necessary?"

The truth was, the men of Lion Camp were a very special bunch. They had made their start by raiding the princely estates, and even now, though not many in the ranks had actually taken part in the estate raid, the legend of that raid still circulated among them.

The legend told of a mountain cellar piled full of grain, and three leaders each receiving several thousand dan of rice and grain — it burst beyond the imagination of the rank-and-file soldiers.

Cao Yao shook his head and said: "Distributing spoils is only right, but why reorganize the soldiers? I've only just gotten familiar with my men. And military law — it needs to be relaxed, doesn't it? Military law also bans rape and plunder, and even in the army military law couldn't restrain that. Now that we're bandits, you think it can restrain them? Without soldiers, we're nothing."

These words won the approval of quite a few officers.

Wei Qian'er sneered: "Tch, scatter a sack of millet and in a whole village you can sleep with whichever woman you want. When a man's belly is full, who's got the time to scheme over a commoner's half-jar of millet?"

Cao Yao glared; Wei Qian'er opened his mouth ready to curse him out.

Seeing that this old bandit and this foul mouth were about to start quarreling right in the middle of the discussion, Liu Chengzong stretched out a hand between them: "Hear me out for a moment."

Strangely enough, when Liu Chengzong stepped in at this moment to smooth things over, the two didn't look like they were glaring at each other and only holding back to give the leader face.

Quite the opposite — the two exchanged a glance, then turned back looking thoroughly pleased with themselves.

It was as if… each thought Liu Chengzong was protecting him.

"Lax military discipline — that's acceptable. The soldiers will like you, but they won't fear you. In times like these, recruiting troops is easy. If the situation shifts, it's not impossible that you might sweep up tens of thousands of famine refugees.

When that time comes, the soldiers under you will become squad leaders, even section commanders. When you yourselves become battalion commanders, what kind of battalion would you want to take over? The soldiers will learn from you… And as for the problem of rape and plunder, you must weigh the pros and cons.

"Do you really think 'the people's hearts' and 'righteous army' are just empty words?" Liu Chengzong held out both hands. "The world is divided into rich and poor. The poor are many, the rich are few. If we want to survive, there are only three paths."

He cleared his throat: "Either we rob the common people — they are many, enough to keep us alive; or we rob the wealthy households and government offices — they are rich, enough for us to live very well; or we rob both the common people and the wealthy households and government offices, making enemies on both sides."

Cao Yao shook his head. He thought Liu Chengzong was oversimplifying.

Everyone has their own inner moral code. He spread his hands and said: "Government granaries and grain shops, post stations and powerful houses — they're all finite. In one county there's only a dozen or a few dozen of them. If you don't leave yourself a way out, what will you do once they're all looted?"

Liu Chengzong could sense that Cao Yao meant well, worried that when the time came, the prestige he had painstakingly built up would be damaged and army morale would collapse.

And what he said did make sense — wealthy households and government granaries would sooner or later be looted clean too.

"I understand what Brother Cao means, but I've still decided to establish military law first. Other things can be changed, but this one item cannot. This doesn't just bind the soldiers — it binds me even more."

Liu Chengzong smiled, and once again looked at every person in the room. He said: "I know that for soldiers, having food is already very good; if there's no food, they go rob and plunder — that's only human… You all know me too. I wouldn't dare claim to be particularly skilled at leading troops in battle, but on major matters, listen to me — I've never let the brothers take a loss."

Cao Yao was helpless. Seeing that his persuasion had failed, he didn't press further and nodded, saying: "If you put it that way, then I've got nothing more to say. I'll follow your lead."

"Yue's Army would freeze to death without tearing down houses, starve to death without plundering — but it wasn't because they had this rule that they didn't tear down houses, or because they had this rule that they didn't plunder. It was because Grandpa Yue did everything he could to keep Yue's Army from freezing or starving to death. That's also what I, as battalion commander, must do… If it truly comes to the point where the brothers are pushed that far, where if they don't rob today they'll starve to death, don't say that I, Liu Chengzong, and military law couldn't stop them."

He laughed: "Even the Jade Emperor himself couldn't stop them."

The crowd burst into roaring laughter, but Wei Qian'er was especially serious: "If the general has done his utmost, I reckon we could go hungry for a couple of days too."

"What useless talk — going hungry a couple of days is nothing!"

Cao Yao nudged Liu Chengzong with his elbow: "The brothers are all waiting — how will the spoils be divided?"

As soon as he started it, the officers all clamored: "Yeah, General, how are the spoils being split!"

"I knew you'd all want to hear about that, but I have to talk about the reorganization first. Now that we're all eating from the same pot, I'll speak plainly — the troops must be broken up and mixed."

Liu Chengzong paused and looked at everyone's expressions. Aside from a few officers of border-army origin, the reactions were fairly mild, so he continued: "Otherwise the border-army brothers won't be able to blend in, and that will affect combat effectiveness. Rest assured, squad leader and above will not be moved — you will still be officers."

Gao Xian asked: "How will the soldiers be divided?"

Each according to his strengths, including the wounded. Those who can ride and shoot, or have served as reconnaissance cavalry, will be prioritized for Captain Wei's cavalry unit; artillerymen will be prioritized for Section Commander Cao's artillery section; the remaining infantry will be mixed into the left and right sections. Once the wounded recover, the whole camp will hold martial competitions by branch, and nine grades of military merit will be issued.

"Military merit — comparing martial skills for reward and punishment? This… can it really work?"

Nearly everyone in the room had served as a soldier before. Although the term Liu Chengzong used was cobbled together from "soldier" and "martial merit," it was very easy for them to understand.

Because practically every unit's commander had tried to use the Ministry of War's printed edition of Qi Jiguang's military manuals to enforce discipline — holding monthly martial competitions and setting nine grades of rewards, upper, middle, and lower.

But without exception, even with the manual right in front of their faces, no one had ever managed to make it work.

They couldn't even eat their fill — what was there to reward with, and on what grounds could they punish?

As a result, by now people no longer considered it an effective way to compare martial skills or reward and punish soldiers.

"We'll also use nine grades, but not according to General Qi's method. We'll treat it like the martial merits of officers — everyone, including the wounded, starts at the eighth grade. We'll establish comparison subjects and standards suited to the three branches of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. Exceed the standard and rise one grade; fall short and drop one grade. Perform meritorious service in battle and rise one grade; receive punishment and drop one grade. It will serve as our reward and punishment system."

Feng Rang said: "But we have no military pay — what do we reward and punish with?"

"That brings me to the spoils standard I wanted to discuss. We have a battalion headquarters, officers, and soldiers. All spoils obtained from raids and combat will be turned in in full. Of the money and grain, seventy percent stays with the battalion headquarters. The remaining thirty percent of money and grain, along with all other spoils, will be distributed by the battalion headquarters — ten percent to the officers and twenty percent to the soldiers."

Liu Chengzong raised a hand to explain: "In the future, when we're at full strength, the battalion headquarters' money and grain will be jointly allocated by the battalion commander and the seven section commanders through drafted resolutions, to be used for purchasing supplies and for the soldiers' food and necessities. It can only be drawn upon with at least half the votes in favor. What does everyone think?"

The squad leaders all stayed silent. They knew very well that they had no say in this matter — it all depended on what the three current section commanders thought.

The three squad leaders all had decision-making authority and were fairly amenable to this distribution method. After a brief discussion, they changed the battalion commander's vote to two, making nine votes total, with five votes required to approve a requisition.

Afterward, Liu Chengzong and the others discussed the detailed shares for distributing spoils of war several times, ultimately establishing that soldiers' shares within the total soldier distribution pool would be based on military merit.

Ninth grade counted as half a share; anything lower was an auxiliary soldier, attached to a combat soldier, with no right to a share of the spoils.

Eighth grade counted as the standard share. Advancing one grade added one share. Those at third grade and above were promoted to squad leader. Participating in one distribution of spoils reduced one's grade by one, down to eighth grade at minimum.

Spoils that were difficult to divide would be converted by the battalion headquarters into money and grain for allocation. Soldiers who needed them could redeem them from the battalion headquarters using money and grain.

This way, it could both stimulate the soldiers' initiative and, because the total amount of spoils was fixed, maintain an overall competitive atmosphere where units of equal rank earned more for more work.

With this system in place, rewards, punishments, commendations, and penalties could all derive from it, and military law could truly serve as a deterrent.

For instance, in the official army's military law, beheading was ordered at the slightest provocation, which was unsuitable for a volunteer army. But for non-principled errors, punishment could be carried out by demoting military merit, even stripping it all away and sending the offender straight into the auxiliary troops.

It was at this point that Liu Chengzong revealed the true purpose of military merit in his mind: "Do you all remember that day outside Yanshui Pass? I saw clearly from the pass wall—we scattered, and the government troops scattered too. But the government troops could quickly rally and regroup. Even soldiers who didn't belong to the same unit could find different officers and rejoin the ranks."

Cao Yao remembered that day all too clearly. He clicked his tongue and said, "No way around it. Their soldiers all know their officers. For our men, it's no easy feat if they can recognize all four combat soldiers in their own squad."

Mutual familiarity is also a form of organizational capability, albeit a rather loose one.

"That's exactly what I want to talk about—organization. Every squad leader here, when you go back, you must make this clear to the soldiers under your command: this military merit can also be used in chaotic battles or when someone falls behind. Even if everyone is scattered, routed, and fleeing, when two soldiers come together, the one with higher military merit takes command, rallies the routed troops, unites them to break through, and seeks out the main force to rejoin the ranks."

The battle at Yanshui Pass had profoundly shaken Liu Chengzong.

So much so that he was desperate to use every possible means to strengthen the Mule Battalion's organizational capability.

The dozen or so squad leaders acknowledged the order. With these three matters settled, the rest had nothing else to attend to and dispersed to relay the news to their subordinates.

In the blink of an eye, the squad leaders had all cleared out, leaving only Cao Yao and the other two.

Only then did Liu Chengzong heave a rather weary sigh and say to the three with a smile, "So, you can speak now. What do you think of these changes to the unit?"

"Pretty good." Cao Yao's words were insincere. "Once we get back to Yan'an and the two groups reorganize, you'll have your hands full. Honestly, I thought the old way was fine. Your way is too much trouble."

"How so?"

"I won't bring up that business about you wanting to fight your way into Beijing. In your heart, you should know—never mind Beijing, just for this unit to get back to Yan'an prefectural city, at least half of them will have to die."

Cao Yao spoke with brutal frankness. He sat cross-legged and tapped the heated brick bed with his hand. "Won't it pain you when men you've trained with such painstaking effort die?"

"How could it not pain me? If we meet with battle, there's no helping it. These changes will definitely improve the unit's combat effectiveness."

Liu Chengzong said with conviction, "If you don't believe me, just watch. In all things, establish the rules first and carry them out meticulously. That's hard too, but it's always easier than having no rules to begin with, letting habits form, and then trying to set rules later."

"But there's a price. The price is that for at least the next ten days, don't even think about doing anything else. Just reorganize the soldiers. The unit will be as good as crippled."

Cao Yao raised his thumb and pointed west. "The Shaanxi government troops can't come over in large formations, but the court regulation prohibits moving more than a hundred men. What if some hothead comes at you with ninety? And besides, couldn't three chiliarchs each lead a hundred men across the border?"

He leaned back as he spoke and shook his head. "Not to mention, you're actually rebelling. Suppressing a rebellion—there's no such thing as crossing borders. Your ambition is just too big, you think too far ahead. I feel like you're bringing matters three to five years down the road right before your eyes. But thinking that long-term, are we even worthy?"

Liu Chengzong silently clasped his fist in salute, then raised his hand and patted his own head.

Cao Yao didn't get it. He turned to Gao Xian and Feng Rang. "Did you two understand what that meant?"

Both shook their heads, bewildered. They heard Liu Chengzong say, annoyed, "Tch. That was me patting my encyclopedic brain."

The few of them chuckled. After his laughter subsided, Gao Xian said, "Let's not talk about things so far off. Anyway, I don't think these rules are bad. If the court sends a major army to exterminate us, there's nowhere to run around here. Without reorganizing, we can't beat them anyway. Might as well reorganize. As long as we survive, we'll have something to look forward to."

"Let's talk about the immediate future. What do we do lately? Reorganize the soldiers, let the wounded recover. What about the rest?"

Liu Chengzong spread his hands. "Let me tell you, in my mind, this reorganization and the military merit system haven't reached their optimal conditions. We're missing my father."

He still remembered how his father had used the Officer Training Corps as a teaching roster to fill positions.

"Once we link up with my father and have them study every day, when half of them can recognize a thousand characters, this reorganization will be truly complete. Before that..."

Liu Chengzong said, "We still keep our heads down, avoid government troops as much as possible, tend to the wounded, have the pond cavalry monitor the great river. The rest will do reconnaissance around Xi County, looking for suitable wealthy households. Once the newly organized units are familiar with their squad leaders, we'll do one raid as a training exercise, then head back to Yan'an in grand style, laden with money and grain."