Chapter 96 Rewards based on merit
Wang An nodded in satisfaction and waved his hand, saying, "All those who participated in the battle yesterday will be rewarded with a tael of silver for their meritorious service in saving the princess!"

The soldiers all looked delighted, as this meant they received an extra month's salary, and since everyone got a share, how could they not be happy?

But this was not the end. Wang An continued to announce: "Anyone who makes a breakthrough will be rewarded three taels of silver for beheading one level of the enemy!"

Not everyone was happy at this moment. Only about two hundred people showed joy on their faces.

Their comrades around them were looking at them with envy, resenting themselves for not being braver last night, as they were so close to chopping off a Eastern Tartar's head.

Originally, there was one tael of silver for participating in the battle, and three taels of silver were added for each level of beheading, which made four taels of silver in total!

This is equivalent to receiving more than three months' salary at one time, which is almost equivalent to making a small fortune!
Not to mention that there were a very small number of people who captured not just one head, but two or even three.

They received a reward of seven or even ten taels of silver at one time. Even if they retired and returned home now, it would be enough for them to buy a few acres of better land and farm for a living for the rest of their lives.

Of course, it can only barely maintain a basic standard of food and clothing. No fool would go home to farm after seeing the benefits of being a soldier.

Especially those who can get so much reward silver are basically brave and aggressive. It is even more impossible to ask them to go back to farming.

However, before they could finish being happy, Wang An announced a bombshell piece of news.

"For brave men who have made outstanding contributions in battle, whether they are veterans or new recruits, they can be promoted as exceptions. My Jizhou Guards still lack a large number of officers and are in urgent need of talented people!"

Wang An said this, looking at Chen Huaian and Xu Huang and said: "You two will draw up a list. As reserve officers, those who are competent can be promoted after a month of observation. You can make the decision on the appointment of officers below the general flag."

"We will select some outstanding people to serve as centurions!"

When these words were spoken, even the soldiers who had just recited the "Infantry Regulations" could not help but cause a small commotion.

But this time Wang An did not scold them, but thought to himself with satisfaction: Everyone, please work harder for me, fight for it! Fight for it!
A soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier!

However, it was not only the soldiers who were shocked. Xu Huang was also surprised, and soon he felt uncomfortable.

He was the first one to follow Wang An, and he had always fought bravely. Even when he went to rescue the princess last night, as the temporary highest-ranking officer in the Jizhou Guards, he rushed to the front and even killed two of the Eastern Tartars.

But soon among these new recruits, perhaps some will be called centurions and be on an equal footing with him. It would be strange if he could feel good about this!

Wang An could see that Xu Huang was feeling disappointed, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

This Xu Huang was good in every way. He was brave in battle and loyal enough to him, but he just couldn't keep things in his heart and anything could be seen at a glance.

However, Wang An did not try to comfort him, but directly announced: "I will also announce a personnel appointment, which is to promote Xu Huang, the centurion of Jizhou Guard, to the deputy centurion, and continue to lead the Jizhou Guard!"

Xu Huang, who was originally a little dejected, suddenly raised his head in disbelief and looked at Wang An excitedly.

Wang An looked at him with a smile and said, "Work hard. I believe that being a deputy captain is not your final destination. Show me your achievements and I will promote you to a captain sooner or later."

Xu Huang immediately knelt down to thank him, saying, "Please rest assured, my lord, I will do anything for you, even if it means risking my life!" Wang An laughed and said, "Why would I ask you to do anything for me? I want you to live well, fight violence and protect the people of Jizhou, and eliminate the Tartars!"

Xu Huang nodded heavily, his tiger eyes slightly reddened, he felt like all this was just a dream.

Looking back to more than a month ago, he was still a half-starved soldier in Jizhou Guard. Now, in just over a month, he was promoted from an ordinary soldier to a deputy captain of the fifth rank. Moreover, Wang An promised that as long as he made achievements, he would never be stingy with the position of captain.

Thinking of this, Xu Huang couldn't help but tremble with excitement.

You should know that once you become a centurion, you are already a full-fledged official and can call yourself "this official" when meeting people.

But he was only a sixth-rank military officer. Although he could not be considered a small official, he was not much different.

But now that he has become a deputy captain, he is a fifth-rank official appointed by the imperial court, and he can be considered a top figure there!

Next, the soldiers' favorite plot began, which was the distribution of rewards.

In order to maximize the effect of motivating the soldiers, Wang An did not directly give the reward money to Xu Huang and let him distribute it himself. Instead, he had them go on stage one by one to receive the reward money, with ten people in each small flag.

The soldiers of Jizhou Guard could see clearly how much reward each person in the team received.

Everything was relatively normal at the beginning. The soldiers happily took the reward money, thanked the emperor joyfully and left the stage.

However, as some soldiers who had achieved military merits in beheading people began to receive extra silver rewards, for some reason, those small flags where no one received any extra silver rewards began to boo from the soldiers watching the ceremony.

The faces of those small flags who were ridiculed all turned red. After taking a tael of silver, they lowered their heads and walked off the stage in shame, as if they wished they could dig a hole and crawl into it.

As things developed, there were even some soldiers who would rather not take the money than go on stage.

But Xu Huang kicked him up with his big foot, and he had no choice but to go on stage and receive his reward.

Wang An did not stop the soldiers' actions at all, but watched it all with interest.

Appropriate and well-intentioned ridicule can be a driving force for soldiers to strive for progress.

In order to avoid being laughed at next time, these soldiers will train harder and exert even stronger combat effectiveness in the next battle!

It took an hour or so to distribute the reward of more than 1,000 taels of silver.

Wang Anhua didn't feel sorry at all when she went to withdraw more than 1,000 taels of silver.

Compared with the role played by this money, Wang An thinks it is simply worth it!
However, when everything was over and Wang An rode back to the government office, Chen Huaian, who was following him, hesitated and said, "Your Majesty, most of these people are just new recruits. There are less than a hundred veterans."

"You want to train small flag officers from among them, but it's a stretch. But you have to select centurions from these people, this..."

(End of this chapter)