Li Ji and the governor of Yangzhou had already prepared a banquet to welcome Li Chengqian and Su Chen.
The food and wine to reward the soldiers have been prepared in advance.
Finally returning to Yangzhou, Su Chen also relieved all his burdens. After a banquet with Li Ji, Ren Ji and others, he had a good night's rest.
When I woke up the next day, the camp was bustling with excitement.
The rewards for the soldiers announced yesterday have begun.
The navy officers were chatting and laughing happily while queuing up to receive the reward.
Those who received their rewards laughed loudly and showed off to their companions, while those who were still queuing stretched their necks in anticipation.
Ren Ji, the governor of Yangzhou, looked at boxes of silver ingots and piles of cloth with a face full of surprise:
The Tang Dynasty began to reward soldiers with silver ingots and silk!
Ren Ji has been an official for more than 20 years, and has experienced a lot of rewards for sergeants. He participated in the rewards for the army after pacifying Jiangnan.
In the past, after a great victory, it would be good to give the soldiers a few bags of food and some linen, but not even copper coins.
How could anyone directly give out silver ingots and silk like today?
Seeing the sergeants each carrying silver ingots and holding silk, Ren Ji whispered to Li Ji beside him:
"This reward is too generous!"
Li Ji smiled and said: "Your Majesty attaches great importance to this navy. Besides, our Tang Dynasty is different from the past, so this little money is nothing!"
Of course Ren Ji was not surprised by those silver ingots and silks. Yangzhou was one of the most economically developed cities in the Tang Dynasty, and Ren Ji was not surprised by the tens of thousands of dollars.
"But with such a reward method, we have so many troops in the Tang Dynasty..."
This is just a navy of 10,000 men. This little money doesn’t matter.
But the Tang Dynasty had hundreds of thousands of troops. If the Tang Dynasty were to be rewarded like this in the future, it would be unbearable if the Tang Dynasty was no longer what it used to be.
"The Royal Navy is a forbidden force and cannot be compared with ordinary soldiers."
"Besides, there is only one reason why His Majesty decreed such a generous reward."
Ren Ji shook his head: That's right. What does it have to do with me, a local official, if His Majesty rewards the army like this? Why should I care so much?
Li Jixin said: This is just a reward from His Majesty. Su Chen may give many benefits to the navy officers privately!
Su Chen looked around and saw that everyone was busy dividing money.
Walking up to Li Ji and Ren Ji: "Your Majesty is very generous this time!"
"This silver ingot can now be directly circulated?"
Li Ji: "The imperial court has not yet issued an order, but the government and local governments have basically acquiesced, and both the government and the prince's cabinet can be exchanged for copper coins."
Ren Ji: "No one wants to use silk cloth as money now, and copper coins are not convenient. Under my rule in Yangzhou, silver can be traded directly."
Su Chen nodded. It seemed that Datang's economy was developing rapidly.
Li Chengqian also came over: "Silk has depreciated greatly in recent years. Copper coins usually weigh several kilograms and can only be used for small transactions by the people."
Everyone saluted Li Chengqian: "I have met His Highness the Crown Prince!"
Su Chen called over a school captain: "Tell those idiots to ask for more silver and copper coins and less silk cloth. Those things are becoming worthless day by day."
Fang Xuanling patted her waist and moved around: "Hey! Your Majesty is so generous this time!"
"I'm even willing to use silver ingots!"
It turns out that in Fang Xuanling's eyes, Li Er is also stingy.
Su Chenxin said: The army brought back so many spices, Li Er's reward is not even a drop in the bucket.
In fact, Li Er felt heartbroken when he gave the order, but he could only grit his teeth and give the navy more rewards.
He was afraid that he would not receive the reward, and if Su Chen was unhappy and shared the spices on the ship with the soldiers, it would be a big loss.
The spices were picked by the soldiers, and Su Chen had the right to share some of them with the navy officers.
Besides, there was no way to tell how much spice there was and how much Su Chen could distribute to the soldiers.
"Fang Xiang, this is a time of recovery!"
After all, Fang Xuanling was old and had never wandered on the sea before. Taking a boat all the way north was so exhausting that he didn't even attend last night's banquet and went back to his room to rest.
"much better!"
"Hey, my old bones can't bear the bumps of the waves."
At Fang Xuanling's age, Li Er even threw him away to Guangzhou in anger, not afraid of making mistakes along the way!
The Royal Navy currently has less than 10,000 troops including the Marines, and the rewards for the sergeants are distributed in one day.
Liu Rengui and others were busy arranging for the sergeants to go home on vacation and arranging pensions for the sacrificed soldiers. They would have to be busy for a while.
This expedition was a great one, and although every battle was a great victory, the cumulative casualties over more than a year exceeded 3,000 naval officers.
The ashes of the fallen soldiers were brought back. Su Chen asked Ren Ji to help find a monk. The Taoist priest performed a ritual ceremony and then arranged for people to send the ashes and pensions to the relatives of the soldiers.
Three days have passed since all this work was done, and the military camp is quite empty. The soldiers in the department have already set off to go home to visit relatives and take a vacation.
He immediately handed Su Chen the list given to him by Li Er: "Your Majesty ordered these people to come to Beijing to face the saint, and there will be rewards!"
Su Chen had already expected that the rewards handed out three days ago were all rewards for ordinary soldiers. Some officers with outstanding military exploits were not mentioned. They must have been awarded individually.
He handed the list to Liu Rengui: "Get ready and take these people back to Beijing with the British father-in-law to face the saint!"
Watching Liu Rengui go down to inform others, Li Ji sighed: "This kind of large-scale promotion of soldiers is the only time when Wang Shichong was defeated!"
"I heard that His Majesty is planning to confer knighthood on these young men, probably marquis..."
Su Chen smiled and said: "What?
Does the British public think that naval officers are unworthy of their military exploits?"
Li Ji shook his head: "I am now acting on behalf of the Ministry of War. It is natural to know the military merits of naval officers. It is reasonable for His Majesty to reward a group of knights."
"However, Lord Protector, the military report you submitted shows that the military achievements are poor, not everyone believes it."
"To be honest, Lord Protector, when I left the capital, the military merit book you requested for the soldiers was still kept in the Ministry of War. Although I strongly support the navy, someone is controlling the Ministry of War. Lord Protector also understands that there is nothing I can do.
"
"Furthermore, since His Majesty ascended the throne and granted titles to ministers, His Majesty has been reducing titles over the years. Over the years, His Majesty has rarely awarded titles to ministers,"
"This sudden and arbitrarily ennobling naval officers will definitely arouse criticism from the court officials..."
Su Chen stretched out and smiled: "A group of worms who don't like other people's good deeds, some treacherous people with ulterior motives, and the remnants of the family."
"But none of this has anything to do with me. This is all His Majesty's trouble!"
"When I return to Beijing, I will put aside all my duties and concentrate on spending time with my lovely wife and concubine!"
Su Chen said with regret on his face: "Damn! I am a great protector of the country. I am young, and soon after my wedding, I left my lovely wife and beautiful concubine alone in the empty room."
"What a damn sin!"
"What's hateful is that my concubine gave birth to a daughter for me. My first child is over one year old, and I haven't even met her yet!"
