Start with detective Li Yuanfang

Chapter 1045

"Forty-nine heads, that's nearly ten thousand taels of silver... Hiss!"

This year's pirates were unexpectedly quiet, and the people of Hangzhou, who have been tossing around for a year, can finally have a good Spring Festival.

They didn't know that there was one person, one ghost, and one demon in the Court of Heroes who caused all this, looking at the piled up heads with complicated expressions.

It is both happy and unavoidable to feel absurd.

According to the newly promulgated law, if a real Japanese head is only given a bonus and not promoted, it will be two hundred taels of silver.

According to the analysis of later generations, according to the prices of the Jiajing Dynasty, one tael of silver is equivalent to about five hundred to six hundred yuan in RMB, and two hundred taels of silver is equivalent to one hundred thousand to one hundred and twelve thousand.

In the black market, there is a reward for killing people, and that's the price.

Is the reward rich?
Of course it is rich, but it also increasingly highlights the deformity of the "first merit system" during the Ming Dynasty.

The first merit system of the Ming Dynasty originated in Zhu Yuanzhang. At that time, Japanese pirates had already appeared in rebellion along the coast. From this, he ordered, "Whoever captures a thief alive by the bow soldiers of the General Banner will be rewarded with ten taels of silver, beheaded with eight taels of first-class, and the people will capture the thief alive." Twelve taels of silver for one person, ten taels of silver for beheading one level." This is obviously already a heavy reward, but it meets the actual needs.

But in the Chenghua period, because the eunuchs manipulated the military merits of officers and soldiers, the civil servants of the Ming Dynasty wanted to get rid of the malpractice, but they dared not provoke the eunuchs.

To put it simply, Korean and Chinese officials do not approve of the front-line performance reported by the army, and only look at the number of people, because relatively speaking, it is the least falsified evidence.

This kind of reform has indeed avoided some of the behaviors of falsely reporting military achievements, but it has also successfully hit the morale of the army, making the Ming army become a ridiculous army that only cuts heads and doesn't care about anything else.

In fact, judging military merits based on the first level, there have been in all dynasties, but there are many ways to make meritorious service in normal wars. Regardless of whether it works, it depends on one standard, the head.

If someone has a head, he will receive rewards and credits. Otherwise, the peerless generals will charge into battle, such as Changshan Zhao Zilong Changbanpo seven in and seven out.

Naturally, it is not uncommon to kill indiscriminately, ask for credit, and rob heads. The key is that brave behavior on the battlefield cannot be exchanged for promotion and rewards. At the same time, it went to the other extreme.

There is no tactical coordination in the army. A group of gangsters all huddled behind the chariot defense, fighting the enemy with firearms, bows and arrows, hoping to harvest a few stupid heads and exchange some money to support their families. The combat effectiveness of the Ming army is deteriorating. He turned into servants raised by various generals after corruption, and the imperial guards of the Song Dynasty laughed out loud when they saw it.

Ever since, there have been various records of beheading several levels in a big battle. After understanding this system, you can understand how such ridiculous records are achieved.

So the Mongolian Altan Khan, who was not actually strong, was able to break into the Great Wall all the way and show off his might under the city of Beijing.

Of course, the reason for the Ming army's hip pull is not only this one, but also many factors accumulated in the past dynasties. However, under such circumstances, "South Qi and North Li" can still appear. It is not easy to become a famous general under such a deformed system.

Qi Jiguang in the south is a soft confrontation. He trains his own troops and has created another set of fair rewards and punishments internally. The rewards he gets are divided equally. .

Li Chengliang in the north joined in when he couldn't win, and became the king of introversion under the deformed system, a peerless genius with a head, and finally a great Qing Dynasty.

Now Qi Jiguang just can't mobilize those soldiers, and is studying the art of war in Jimen. Even so, four years later, when he was transferred to Hu Zongxian for the first time, when he commanded the Jiangnan army, the [-] Ming troops he led were almost defeated by a thousand Japanese pirates. Still learning from Xue Rengui's three arrows to fix Tianshan, and three arrows to kill the three Japanese pirate leaders, to save the battle...

Li Chengliang, on the other hand, was too poor, had no money to manage, and was unable to inherit the position of the family's military commander in his thirties, so he was fooling around, baring his teeth at wild boars.

Under such circumstances, Li Yan looked at Tao Yaoren who had killed fifty real wretches: "In terms of the number of beheads, you are now a strong general of Ming Dynasty..."

Yaoren Tao raised his head proudly: "It's not surprising, how many of the generals of the Ming army are comparable to my ability? But the status of the military general is low, and he always fawns over the civil servants, so he might as well be a Taoist priest!"

Li Yan shook his head secretly, and asked again: "You have killed four batches, have you met any real Japanese with strange magic?"

Yaoren Tao frowned, and took out something and handed it over: "These Japanese people are good at martial arts, some of them are really talented, but they can't resist my demon body at all. As for the strange art... this thing is a bit strange!"

After Li Yan tied it, he found that it was a pentagram-marked talisman, and there was a faint trace of heaven and earth energy flowing inside.

The breath is weak, the structure is ingenious, and there is a feeling that although the sparrow is small, it has all the internal organs.

"Is Onmyoji..."

Li Yan didn't know much about Japanese history, but after searching his memory, he still remembered an existence that fit the characteristics.

The shrine left by the famous onmyoji, Abe Seimei, inside the shrine is called "Seimei Kikyo", which is a kind of prayer charm, and it looks like this. The pentagram symbolizes the five elements of heaven, earth, and no evil.

Many Japanese samurai had this pattern on their clothes. Later, Japanese military officers all tattooed such patterns on their hats. They believed that they could avoid disasters and protect themselves, and they were used as amulets.

In this world, since the Central Plains has a wide range of Taoism and magic, and monsters are rampant, Dongpu must also have certain extraordinary methods.

Tao Yaoren slaughtered Zhenwo, in fact, he didn't care about demonic virtues. As a monster, he only killed seven or eight at a time, so that the opponent kept coming. After killing four or five times in a row, he finally realized that something was wrong and ran away far away. .

The number of real Japanese is small in the first place, so how can he bear it if he continues like this, it should attract strangers from the other party.

Not only the Onmyouji, but also the rumors in the coastal area that the leader of the Japanese pirates was transformed by Jiaolong. I don't know if it's because of fear, or there is a reason for it.

Tao Yaoren didn't care about that at all: "Why are people's heads piled up here? Hurry up and change money!"

The eyes behind Xiaoqian's hair also showed little stars: "Will the court be impatient for ten thousand taels of silver?"

Li Yandao: "Under normal circumstances, people who capture thieves and kill enemies receive higher rewards than soldiers. This is because the imperial court encourages the people to actively participate in the battle of defending their homes and the country. It's just that you have killed too many people. If you exchange them all, you must be rewarded." There is a big storm, and now there are two choices in front of you..."

Yaoren Tao cheered up: "Which two choices?"

Li Yandao: "The first option is to go to the head black market to exchange, which is convenient and quick. With your strength, you don't have to worry about the stall owner killing people and taking the head, and the money can be quickly settled."

Due to the deformed head military system, the Ming Dynasty also spawned a black market that specialized in forging and selling human heads.

Various human hair styles are different, such as the Japanese in the Mediterranean, the Mongols with double ponytails, the Jurchens with single ponytails, the people of Ming Dynasty with grid marks on their heads, and other subtle characteristics.

Ever since the head was used to record credit, the imperial court has officials who specialize in identifying the race of the head. They have piercing eyes and fight wits and bravery with the forged ones. It is not that simple to kill good people and take meritorious deeds. They will even be recorded. Li Chengliang was demerited repeatedly.

Therefore, real human heads are the most popular, and two hundred taels of a head is only rewarded and not credited. If it is converted into military exploits for climbing, it is another price. People who buy human heads on the black market are often used for this purpose.

Tao Yaoren understood: "So, if I sell these heads on the black market, it won't be long before there will be a lot of great heroes who kill Japanese thieves in Suzhou and Hangzhou?"

Li Yan nodded slightly: "The record of fifty heads is too amazing. Unless they also know different skills, no one of the current generals of this dynasty dares to claim such a great contribution by themselves. They should be assigned to four or five people. , that’s a little more reasonable.”

Yaoren Tao was very upset: "What about the other one?"

Li Yandao: "It means that you go to the government to receive the reward, just to consider your own identity."

Tao Yaoren's face changed several times, and he said slowly: "I haven't told anyone my real name so far. My name is Tao Yin, and the characters are secret..."

Li Yan was silent, Xiaoqian next to her couldn't bear it.

As an illegitimate child, the single name has the word "Yin" and the word "Tongmi", which is quite harmful and has a strong sense of humiliation.

Now that Tao Yaoren said it, he simply said: "This name and character are all taken by Tao Zhongwen. You should have doubts for a long time. My mother is a snake demon. Who is my father? Is it someone from the Tao family?" tribe?"

"Wrong! I will tell you today that the despicable person who fooled my mother and cheated her to practice inner alchemy is Tao Zhongwen, the master of the gods. He is my father in blood, but in essence Mortal enemy!"

"I beheaded the me who groveled and begged Tao Zhongwen in the past, just to avenge him one day!"

Li Yan has never been in the family ethics, but he also knows his decision: "So you choose the second way, come forward in person, and go to the government to receive the reward?"

Yaoren Tao gritted his teeth and said, "That's right, I want to use the name of Tao Yin to claim credit, and I'll be disgusted with Tao Shi, if you agree, then I'll cut my flesh for research, I don't say anything, I don't even bat an eyelid!" "

Li Yan waved his hand and turned back into the room: "That's not necessary. You killed the real wretch in the first place, and how to receive the reward is naturally up to you... I don't like the cruel and reckless behavior of demons, whether they are demons or demons. , it’s all like this!”

Xiaoqian followed her back, leaving Tao Yaoren standing alone in the courtyard, and suddenly laughed lowly: "That's right! I am a demon, and Tao Zhongwen is just a demon, so why is he more noble than me? Haha! Hahaha!"

(End of this chapter)