At the beginning, Fang Jun returned from the expedition and personally handed over the ashes of the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion under his command to his relatives door to door, causing a sensation in Guanzhong, and once wanted to create a so-called "welfare system" to take care of those families who lost the main labor force in the family, but with Fang Jun being transferred out and the eldest grandson Chong taking over the Shenji Battalion, it was gone.

Pei Xingjian said dejectedly: "It was the last general's negligence and forgetting this matter for a while, but ......"

Fang Jun waved his hand and said solemnly: "The army is strict, and the military discipline is strict. You were speechless for a while, knowing that there was such a thing but forgetting it, but instead using quibbles, it is already an offense against military discipline, but this Hou remembers your first offense, and does not care, if there is a next time, the two crimes will be punished together, can you be convinced? ”

Pei Xingjian said solemnly: "The last general will know his mistake and never make it again." ”

He knew that questioning the commander's words and even quibbling was indeed intolerable under military law. In the army, the words of the commander are ironclad facts, and they only need to be implemented unconditionally, without any doubts, let alone quibbles!

Fang Jun's face softened and asked, "Do you know why Ben Hou asked you to collect the remains of the fallen soldiers and verify their identities one by one?" ”

Pei Xingjian said: "Please teach the chief manager." ”

Fang Jun looked at Pei Xingjian, then at Su Dingfang and Liu Renyuan, and finally focused his eyes on Liu Renliang and Xi Junmai's faces, and said: "At the beginning, Ben Hou sent the ashes of the fallen soldiers to his relatives one by one, and Liu Xiaowei has been following Ben Hou to witness it with his own eyes. ”

"No!"

Liu Renliang stood up and answered, and said: "To be honest, I didn't understand why Hou Ye took so much trouble at the beginning, since a man is in the army, if he can return to his hometown in fine clothes and seal his wife and son, wouldn't it be good to bury the bones and bury the horse leather shroud in the battlefield?" ”

Speaking of this, he paused, saw that Su Dingfang and the others all had a reasonable expression on their faces, and said in a deep voice: "But when I saw the family members holding the ashes of their relatives and kowtowing to Hou Ye, I knew that it was not only like this. It is certainly the glory of our generation of men to sacrifice their lives for the country, but how can we be willing to rely on our parents, wives and children at home? The people in the countryside do respect the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the country, but the exploits of a wife and son are far less than a grave where the ashes of a martyr are buried! Even if there are only old people, orphans and widows left in this family, as long as the grave of the martyr is buried, the neighbors in the countryside will reverence his family incomparably, even if there are one or two scoundrel bastards bullying the door, the whole village will attack it in groups, even if it goes to the county government to fight a lawsuit, the officials of the county government will be in awe, right or wrong and do not care about it first, they will already take a high look! This is a rank that is far from bringing respect. ”

Su Dingfang and others were silent.

This seems to be a very strange paradox, they all died on the battlefield and sacrificed their lives for the country, but in the township, a martyr who gets a medal and buries his bones in another country is far less than an ordinary soldier who does not have a medal but can bury his bones in the country!

Why is there such a difference?

The people are simple, and they have the same respect for the heroes who died in battle. But when he was awarded a medal after dying in battle, they would think that although the man died in battle, the empire gave him the glory he deserved; But if a person who has not been honored is killed in battle, they do not think that this person is incompetent and has not received merit, but that the empire owes him something.

Although the title can bring practical benefits, it is inherently illusory, which does not give the neighbors much of a sense of identity. On the contrary, a real grave standing there is not only the pride of the whole family, but also the pride of the whole village and even the whole county!

They can point to that grave and proudly tell others, tell their children and grandchildren - look, where are our relatives and neighbors, the heroes who died on the battlefield for our Datang! When he died on the battlefield, it was his boss who brought his ashes back and buried them there!

This is the most common phenomenon in the countryside of the Tang Dynasty, Su Dingfang and others naturally can't be unaware, but in the past, they only thought about going into battle to kill the enemy, but they never thought of doing their best to bring back every soldier who died in battle and send him home......

If you die in battle one day, it is certainly an honor, but burying your bones in a foreign country and returning to Sangzi are definitely two completely different meanings!

Think about it, one scenario is that years later, people point to this grave and say, "That's a hero!" ”

And the other scenario is - he is a hero, and the merits are passed on to his son......

Worlds apart!

More importantly, if one day you die in battle, you will be abandoned on the battlefield and taken home by your comrades...... That will greatly enhance the cohesion of the troops, even in the face of a strong enemy, they can be fearless and see death as home!

Pei Xingjian replied loudly: "The last general will arrange for the salvage and collection of the remains of the fallen soldiers, and the soldiers will definitely be brought back!" ”

Fang Jun nodded and said, "The soldiers brought out by Ben Hou, whether they live or die, they must be brought back!" After a pause, he continued: "But you can arrange for the people under your command to go, and let's summarize the gains from this battle." ”

"No!"

Pei Xingjian strode away, arranged for people to go to the warring sea area to collect the remains, leaned slightly, and returned quickly.

Speaking of the capture of this battle, the atmosphere is much more relaxed.

Fang Jun was looking through the account books, Pei Xingjian said with a smile: "A total of 32,800 taels of money were captured in this battle, 7,500 taels of gold, and less silver, only more than 5,000 taels, but there were nearly 20,000 stones of grain, which can be regarded as a rich capture." ”

Everyone was smiling.

The reconstruction of Huating Town is being rolled out day by day, and the amount of money and materials needed is innumerable, and the gap is getting bigger and bigger. Although there are 600,000 Guan of the Jiangnan Shi clan that can support some time, but those who have seen Fang Jun's huge plan know that this money is far from enough......

In particular, the various equipment of the naval division, the construction of warships, the construction of military ports, and the muskets and artillery in Fang Jun's mouth and various new weapons all require a large amount of money to maintain support.

It is unrealistic to expect the appropriation of the imperial court, His Majesty the Emperor can now take out every penny of water, all of which are saved for food and armor and weapons, and wait for the Eastern Expedition to Goguryeo, hoping to succeed in the First World War and achieve his grand plan and hegemony of the first emperor through the ages, and no one wants to ask for money from him!

Huating Town itself is a saline-alkali barren beach, there is no output, and the only way to destroy the pirates and collect the spoils of war is to destroy the pirates, fortunately there is a name of "robbery by order", otherwise Fang Jun's huge plan will really be regarded as a joke......

Looking at the seizures in the account books, Fang Jun smiled so much that he couldn't see his teeth.

A small cover of the sea can capture so much money and food, if those "three gangs" and other pirates are annihilated, wouldn't it be a great fortune? This kind of speed of making money is faster than opening a money bank and minting money!

"Ben Hou thinks that the pension of the sailor is still a little less, and it will be doubled as appropriate, what do you think?" If you have money, you have to spend it, and spend it on raising the pension, Fang Jun is not distressed at all.

The generals all shrugged their shoulders and looked indifferent.

Anyway, you got the money, and you have to figure out a way to do it yourself when you run out of money in the future, so how can you refuse such a move to enhance the cohesion of the troops? Besides, at the beginning, the pension of the Shenji Battalion was the existence of the Tang Dynasty, and now Fang Jun has brought this set to the water division, so everyone is naturally not surprised.

Everything is agreed, and the next thing is the most important reward!

Pei Xingjian's account book was attached to the back of the list of meritorious soldiers in this battle and the merits achieved, Fang Jun saw that the name of Xue Rengui was in the first place, and he couldn't help but look at Liu Renyuan strangely, and asked: "Killing Gai Dahai on the spot in this battle is indeed the first achievement, if he escapes, it is inevitable that there will be regrets of unfinished achievements." But you and Xue Rengui killed the sea together, why did you take Xue Rengui as the first credit, but you took a back seat? ”

Liu Renyuan said solemnly: "In terms of force, the last general is not as good as Xue Li, even if the last general did not intervene at that time, Xue Li would definitely be able to cut Gai Dahai under the gun." Saying that, this fierce general, who has always been brave and civilized, grinned a big smile: "Besides, now Xue Li needs this merit more than the last general, if the two are tied, it will inevitably thin the merit, Xue Li's first merit, the last general has no objection, and sincerely admires!" ”

This is obvious, and all the credit should be given to Xue Rengui......