Previously, in the war with the allied forces of the princes of the Eight Kingdoms, Marin captured a total of 70,000 prisoners of war, including 30,000 people. In addition, there are more than 20,000 conscripts.

But in addition to these more than 50,000 people, there are about 16,000 mercenary prisoners of war. Originally, the alliance of the princes of the Eight Kingdoms recruited a total of more than 21,000 mercenaries. Later, 5,000 men were lost in the war, and the remaining 16,000 able-bodied prisoners of war became Marin's prisoners of war.

Now, it's late February 1513. It's March, and then April. Once it enters April, spring ploughing will be in full swing. When the time comes, all the captured men and levies will be sent back to participate in the spring ploughing. After all, now that the 8 vassal states have become Marin's territory, there is no reason not to engage in spring ploughing.

However, the remaining 16,000 mercenary prisoners of war are different. They are all professional soldiers, and they have long since stopped plowing the land. That is, these people are surplus labor.

It stands to reason that after the defeat, these mercenaries should be redeemed by the defeated employers at their expense. Or, simply take refuge with your captors and fight for Marin.

However, now that the 8 vassal states have been destroyed, naturally no one has ransom them. And Marin's Beihai State is not uncommon for these German mercenaries with low military literacy to be willing to hire them. Therefore, Marin hadn't figured out how to place them before.

And now, when Marin was planning the city of Bremen, he suddenly thought of digging a small canal connecting the Weser and Ems rivers, and naturally remembered the 16,000 mercenary prisoners of war.

So Marin made a decision to send troops to take the 16,000 mercenary prisoners of war and help him dig a canal connecting the Leda and Hunt rivers.

After all, it's just a small canal of less than 10 kilometers, and it doesn't require how deep or wide it is. Even if the 16,000 laborers only dug 100 meters a day, 100 days would be enough to dig the canal. Once the canal is opened, it will be equivalent to connecting the three major rivers of the Rhine, the Emes and the Weser, which will greatly facilitate inland navigation.

In fact, because of the construction of this small canal, anyone with a discerning eye can see the great economic development of Beihai Country in the future. Heider even suggested moving the capital to Lymay, or Oldenburg. Because, once the canal is completed, Bremen and the city of Oldenburg along the canal will become a busy centre for river shipping.

But Marin resolutely rejected the offer......

Why? As a military leader, Marin instinctively refused to build his capital on the banks of a large river. After all, in the ancient history of China, there were too many examples of large cities near rivers being flooded.

For example, in the battle of Jinyang in which the three families were divided, the allied forces of the Zhi Jin army and the Han, Zhao and Wei families used the flooding of Jinyang and the flooding of the Zhi camp respectively, laying the foundation for the three divisions of Jin.

Later, when Qin destroyed the Six Kingdoms, Wang Ben besieged Daliang (Kaifeng), the capital of Wei, and also flooded Daliang City by digging the Yellow River, annexing Wei in one fell swoop.

With these examples in mind, where would Marin dare to put the capital on the edge of the river? Although the Europeans are relatively backward now, they do not know the method of flooding warfare. However, Marin felt that sooner or later they would find out. And I might use this trick in the future. In this way, what if others learn to use it against their own capital?

Therefore, Marin insisted on placing the capital in Auric, where there was no big river around, instead of the port of Emden, because he was afraid that people would flood his capital. His wife and children are all placed in the capital, and if he is drowned by someone who releases water, then his struggle will have no meaning......

……

After arranging the excavation of the canal, Marin returned to Aurich. At this time, Kohler and others had already calculated all the military exploits in this war. When Ma Lin went back, he naturally gave the meritorious soldiers military merit medals.

The Military Merit Medal was also Marin's "invention", and although there were also medals in Europe in this era, only those who were knighted were eligible to be awarded. The lowest medals must also be knightly medals such as the Knights of the Garter and the Knights of the Golden Fleece.

And knights were clearly nobles, so, in this era, only nobles were eligible to wear medals.

However, it is impossible for Marin to award medals only to soldiers who have received knighthoods, because this is not conducive to mobilizing the enthusiasm of the officers and men of the whole army. Therefore, Marin "invented" the military merit medal to reward all the brave soldiers in battle.

Among them, the lowest military medal is made of oak and is called the "Medal of Bravery". All brave soldiers who fought on the battlefield, even the lowest-ranking soldiers, could be earned. Of course, the conditions for a non-commissioned officer to receive the "Medal of Warrior" are more demanding. For example, only those who are the first to attack the enemy camp and the first to climb the head of the enemy city are eligible for such a medal.

This oak medal is coated with a layer of paint to ensure resistance to corrosion. The wooden plaque is carved with a male teacher, representing bravery.

But when a soldier receives the Medal of Valian, the status of the whole family will immediately become different. For example, in the manor, the family status of ordinary soldiers is a little higher than that of ordinary serfs, and they enjoy a little priority. But if he obtains the Medal of Warrior, then the treatment of this family is equivalent to that of the steward of the manor, and the treatment should be given priority, which is very good.

As for the officers, Marin also set up a military merit medal, but it was more advanced. The military medals of the officers were made of metal with eagles engraved on them. However, according to different materials, it can be divided into three types: copper, silver and gold. Among them, the bronze eagle medal is mainly awarded to lower-ranking officers; The silver medal, on the other hand, was awarded mainly to mid-ranking officers; The Gold Eagle Medal is naturally awarded to high-ranking generals.

The Medal of Valor's Medal in oak is a little rougher and larger, and the hanging method is crude—it hangs directly around the neck like a tablet. The officer's eagle medal, on the other hand, is much more elaborate and smaller to be easily hung on the chest, and as long as you get an extra copper button on the chest, you can hang it.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to withdraw from the military merit medal, Marin also took the opportunity to introduce the military rank system. Among them, the soldiers are divided into three grades - private, private, and private.

Among them, the recruits are all privates. And those who have served for more than a year are privates. Recruits or privates who have been awarded the Order of Valian, are then promoted to the rank of First Private.

If a Private of the First Class receives the Medal of Valor, he is promoted to non-commissioned officer. Non-commissioned officers are divided into four ranks – corporal, sergeant, sergeant, and non-commissioned officer.

But non-commissioned officers belong to the civilian class, and the highest can only be a squad leader (25-person squad). If the non-commissioned officer goes up, he is naturally a lieutenant, that is, an officer of the aristocratic class.

Needless to say, the lieutenants, like later generations, are divided into three levels: second lieutenant, lieutenant and captain, and there is no captain. At the top, there are school officers, which are divided into four levels: major, lieutenant colonel, colonel and colonel.

Among them, the second lieutenant and the lieutenant correspond to the deputy company commander (250-person company), and the captain corresponds to the company commander. The major and lieutenant colonel correspond to the deputy commander of the phalanx, and the colonel corresponds to the commander of the phalanx.

However, although the colonel is also in the category of school officers, Marin does not intend to use it to award it to front-line officers, but to use it to award it to future staff officers and civilian officers. Now, Marin's army is an illiteracy camp, and as for staff officers and civilian officers, there are none.

Then, on the top are the generals. Brigadier generals and major generals are awarded to deputy corps commanders, and lieutenant generals, naturally, are the rank of corps commanders. As for the admirals, Marin is generally not awarded. Because, the largest structure of the Beihai Kingdom now is the 10,000-person army, which is only equivalent to a division in later generations. Only when there is an establishment similar to that of the later army, that is, a scale of 3 to 50,000 people, will the general be taken out and conferred the title.

As for now, Marin has awarded himself only the rank of general. Schwartz and a few, all lieutenant generals. As for the more senior generals and marshals...... Marin stipulates that only the emperor or crown prince is eligible to become a marshal; Only kings are eligible to be generals...... And Marin is now the Grand Duke, and can only be awarded the rank of general at the highest......

……

While making out the military rank and military merit medal, Marin also promoted the titles of Schwarz, Stader and others - earl......

Of course, Marin increased the rank of count - the count was also divided into three classes, the lowest being the subordinate count, then the vice-count, and finally the count. And Schwarz, Stader, Kohler, and Kahn were naturally given the title of the lowest earl, the earl. Otherwise, you won't be able to upgrade it in the future......

As for the newly promoted corps commanders such as Wagner and Heynckes, the title of viscount was granted. After all, they have a low starting point. Like Heynckes, he is currently only a subordinate viscount of the third class. Steindorff, on the other hand, was promoted to a first-class viscount, and the next time he was promoted, he would be able to become an earl......

At the same time, Marin also made a marquis, which was also divided into three levels, for future rewards. But he didn't list the duke, because he was a grand duke himself and was not qualified to be a duke. After all, the Grand Duke is only half a rank higher than the Duke, and he is still in the Duke class. Only by rising to the position of king can you start with the duke, and only then can you be qualified to confer the title of duke......