Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 258 Yu Youtian's Promotion

Rewarding the army was also an extremely tedious matter. From the time Meng Jun led his troops back to Nanjing, the shogunate had been busy with the reward issue for more than half a month, and finally the rewards for the soldiers going on the expedition were finalized.

Soldiers who have made meritorious contributions will be promoted to military ranks first according to the number of beheadings, the number of front and rear rows of the battle line, the number of people climbing the city walls, etc., and will be awarded medals, the highest of which is fifty taels of silver, and the lowest is one tael, or they can also be rewarded with food, cloth, etc.

The Ke Lu Army, the Heavy Armor Army, and the Wuning Town who followed Meng Jun back to Nanjing were given priority in rewarding. As for the Guwu, Wu'an, and the newly formed Wuwei Town along the Yangtze River, although these three towns did not participate in this battle, they made contributions in defending the Yangtze River and protecting Nanjing. Therefore, these soldiers will be given an additional month's military pay, as well as rewards such as meat and cloth.

Only the rewards for the conquests of Wang Fugui's Wuxing Town, Lin Shiqi's Ningwu Town, Changlin Town, and Liang Sanhu's Wusheng Town have not yet been delivered. Although the actual rewards have not arrived yet, the reward documents have already been delivered to the troops in various towns on the front line.

Nanchang City, the large camp outside the city, and the military camp of Ningwu Town.

"General Yu Qian, has your merit book come down?" his colleague Ma Sanxi asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, Yu Youtian took out a small notebook from his arms and waved it in front of Ma Sanxi to show off. Ma Sanxi grabbed it and took a closer look.

Yu Youtian, a native of Xiangcheng, Suzhou, had made many achievements and fought bravely. He was initially a small soldier, but was gradually promoted due to his outstanding military achievements.

Yu Youtian recorded it as follows:

He started out as a private and was later promoted to sergeant.

He guarded the city wall of Suzhou, held his ground, and was promoted to be the chief.

He followed the army in the night attack on Li Chengdong and was credited with a merit.

In the Battle of Yangcheng Lake, he led his troops to kill the enemy general Bai Songlin, and for his great merit, he was promoted to the rank of general flag.

He defended Suzhou City and killed two Eight Banners soldiers, which was credited as a merit.

Ma Degong and Tian Xiong followed the army in the night attack and were credited with one merit and promoted to captain.

He followed the army to recapture Changshu and was awarded a minor merit.

In the Battle of Zhenjiang, his troops climbed the city wall and were credited with great merit.

Attacking Jiangning City was recorded as a minor achievement.

In the Battle of Dengwang Mountain, he led his troops to behead 600 people, which was a great achievement, and he was promoted to the rank of Qianzong.

He followed the army to attack Ma'anshan and was credited with a contribution.

He followed the army to attack Wuhu and was credited with a merit.

He followed the army to attack Xuancheng and was credited with one merit.

If there is no military violation, one merit will be recorded.

He fought again in Nanling City, captured 48 officers of various ranks, and captured 2,700 surrendered soldiers, and was promoted to battalion officer.

He followed the army into Jiangxi and was credited with a merit.

The military merits are as follows:

Eighth level military merit, two medals of the Medal of Fierce Martial Arts.

Sixth level military merit, one Bear Medal.

Fifth-level military merit, Sharp Military Medal, one. 》

Ma Sanxi looked at the full page of merit list and said with some jealousy: "Brother Yu, you are going to be promoted to battalion officer so soon, it's only been a short time!"

"Hehe, almost, almost." Yu Youtian grinned.

"By the way, Brother Yu, how come you captured so many officers in the battle of Nanling City this time, and I only captured six?" Ma Sanxi looked at the merit list carefully and asked in confusion.

"Old Ma, you are too naive. When I asked you to capture prisoners, you just captured those deserters. Don't you think about it? There were so many deserters in that battle. You were capturing deserters, and others were also capturing them. There were too many surrendered soldiers. Your original contribution was ten points, but it has become three points now. Besides, most of Jin Shenghuan's soldiers were forcibly conscripted. What's the point of capturing them? The king will release them in the end, and it will also waste food!" Yu Youtian patted Ma Sanxi's shoulder, shook his head and said.

Seeing that Yu Youtian had said a lot but didn't get to the point, Ma Sanxi asked again: "Brother Yu, you are right, but you haven't told me how you captured so many officers?"

"It's all luck, good luck, good luck." Yu Youtian avoided the question and refused to say how he caught it.

This made Ma Sanxi feel very uneasy. After Yu Youtian kept asking Ma Sanxi and extorted thirty meals from him, Yu Youtian finally told him how he caught the criminal.

After Jin Shenghuan retreated, Yu Youtian quickly organized his troops to pursue him. He did not capture any defeated soldiers along the way, but instead focused on the positions with flags, no matter whether they were big flags or small flags, and he would not stop until he could no longer see any flags. At the same time, during the pursuit, he asked the defeated soldiers to identify the officers. Anyway, as long as they were officers with small flags, they would be considered officers and their contributions would be greater than those of a soldier. As for the captured prisoners, they would be strictly screened to distinguish between officers and soldiers.

Under Ma Sanxi's expectant eyes, Yu Youtian spread his hands and said, "That's all. Anyway, that's what I did. I just arrested so many officers."

"Alas, this is all fate!"

…………

Anping City, Taiwan.

Fort Zeelandia has been officially renamed Anping City. Zheng Chenggong treated this city as his main city. After conquering Fort Zeelandia, in order to consolidate the territory, he took a series of measures to stabilize the place. After the war, the city wall was damaged, so Anping City was repaired and reinforced, and watchtowers and arrow towers were added to enhance the overall defense system of the city. The buildings in the city were cleaned and repaired to ensure the normal operation and living conditions in the city, so as to accommodate soldiers and immigrants.

At the same time, soldiers were encouraged to reclaim wasteland and develop agricultural production, and trade was encouraged, trying to contact local natives and open ports in the hope of attracting merchant ships to enter and exit, promote commodity circulation, and increase fiscal revenue. Local administrative agencies were also established, officials were appointed to manage local affairs, formulate local laws and regulations, and maintain social order.

After being busy for a while, Zheng Chenggong turned his attention from Anping City to the mainland until an important news came. It was a brief message, but it shocked Zheng Chenggong and made him feel lost.

Jin Shenghuan was defeated in the decisive battle and fled back to Nanchang, where he was captured by his subordinates and presented to King Zhou. Jiangxi was returned to Zhou, and Li Chengdong withdrew from Fujian and retreated to Guangdong, sending envoys to seek peace.

Zheng Chenggong suddenly felt a little bewildered. Although he had already taken Taiwan and used it as his rear base, he could see that there was no place for him to deploy his troops in the south. Attacking Fujian? He was afraid that the spit of the people in the world would drown him. Words like "fighting within the same family" and "the pain of the relatives makes the joy of the enemies" kept drilling into his mind.

At this time, his confidant Chen Yonghua suggested: "Guo Xing, the Yongli Emperor is now controlled by others, like a puppet. The Western bandits control the government and issue orders from the Western Palace. The orders of the emperor are like the orders of the Western bandits. Why don't we support Prince Lu and try to restore the Ming Dynasty?"

Zheng Chenggong pondered for a long time, then shook his head and replied: "In the past, the King of Lu coveted the throne and competed with the late emperor for the throne. I have received great favors from the late emperor and was given the imperial surname. How can I betray the late emperor and support his former enemy?"