The World Online

Chapter 475- Military Rank System

Translator: ryangohsf

Editor: Nora

After announcing the military organization plan, the rewards based on respective contributions came next.

Wei Zhang was granted the title of Yanglie General. The other generals, including the soldiers who had contributed a lot, were all granted rewards. Of course, all the rewards were based on the rank and reward system that the Military Affairs Department had set up.

After busying himself for an entire month, Du Ruhui had managed to lead the Military Affairs Department to finally complete the reward and rank systems a day prior. Afterward, he obtained Ouyang Shuo's approval for the system.

This time, the reward for contributions followed the ‘Shanhai Territory Military Reward system.’

Based on this system, the rewards for military contributions were split into three categories:

Firstly, monetary rewards.

This was the most basic and common reward type. Gold, silver, jewels, gems, silk, equipment, elite warhorses, cultivation methods, and the like.

Amongst these, the monetary reward was the most common.

The system clearly listed how much reward for how much contribution. The contribution list of generals and soldiers were all listed.

Of course, this system naturally rewarded those that performed well.

In other words, they would not hand out rewards on a large scale. Only the strongest warriors that killed the most enemies or those that created miracles had the chance to obtain the rewards.

Only then could they ignite the spirit of the soldiers and motivate them to do their best.

Secondly, upgrade of rank.

Based on the system, the ranks were split into General, Lieutenant, Officer, Sergeant, and Soldier, for a total of five stages and eighteen grades.

Generals were split into five grades, first being the highest and fifth being the lowest. Each 1st grade general would have a specific and unique title. Lieutenants were split into three grades, top, middle, and low grade.

The officer and sergeant ranks followed the same pattern. As for soldiers, there were split into top grade soldiers, 1st grade soldiers, 2nd grade soldiers, and private.

Their rank tied into their role in the military.

The General rank was only given to major generals and above. The Lieutenant rank was only given to colonels, Officer to majors, Sergeants to captains, and Soldiers to sergeants.

Apart from that, the private rank would only be given to soldiers that were not part of the military. Every newbie that reached rank 5 would automatically earn the private rank.

Any soldier below rank 5 would just be called a newbie; they would not have a rank.

From this standard alone, one could see the elite soldier strategy of Shanhai City. Based on this standard, anyone below rank 5 was a rookie, and they did not even have the right to head to the battlefield.

If one looked at other territories, a rank 5 soldier could already be considered an elite.

Each officer would have a basic rank after they received their job, with low grade as the standard. For example, a soldier who became a sergeant would become a grade 2 sergeant.

Of course, reaching top grade sergeant would be their max. They could only advance further if they became a captain. With this standard, the major generals would be grade 5 generals.

The military rank decided the relationship of the people in the military. Lower rank personnel must follow those above them; this was the iron law. With that, during the war, chaos would not occur.

With one unit as an example, in normal circumstances, if the major died, no one could immediately replace him or her. The captain did not have the rights to command them, so the entire unit would fall apart.

With ranks, the situation would completely change.

The moment a major died, based on military rules, the highest rank person would replace them as the temporary commander. If the replacement also died, the next highest ranked person would replace them. This process would repeat itself until the unit won or all of them died.

Just this one part of the system was better than thousands of people and horses or any territory specialty. Nothing could compare to a perfect system.

Apart from setting the relationship between boss and subordinate straight, this system also pertained to their salaries.

Making use of this timing, Du Ruhui once again revamped the salary system. In the future, the salary would only be linked to their rank and not the soldier’s position and strength.

For example, before this, the salary of a sergeant was one gold a month. After the change, a top grade sergeant would receive one gold a month, a grade 1 sergeant eighty silver, and a grade 2 sergeant sixty silver.

Basically, a top grade sergeant was similar to the previous military standard. This act also silently lowered the military salary expenditure.

However, they could not say anything about this. The military was a place where strength was the most important. If you were not happy, you should work hard to raise your rank.

With that, it would motivate soldiers to work hard to receive promotions.

Du Ruhui's act was a stroke of god; he cheated them, but they still could not say anything.

Similarly, the system adjusted the various rank military salary standards. The basic principle was that they were eighty percent of the higher rank one. Which meant that in the same grade, lowering one rank would mean a twenty percent lower salary.

A top grade sergeant captain received five gold, a middle grade sergeant captain four gold, and a low grade sergeant captain three gold. A top grade captain major earned twelve gold, middle grade fifteen gold, and low grade twelve gold.

A top grade lieutenant colonel earned fifty gold, mid grade forty, and low grade thirty.

The general ranks were different too.

Based on the rules, the generals received a yearly payment. A grade 5 general would receive one thousand gold, grade 4 two thousand, grade 3 three thousand, grade 2 four thousand, and grade 1 five thousand.

Apart from the yearly payment, they also enjoyed other special treatments.

According to the rules, each general would be awarded a general manor in Shanhai City. Based on their ranks, the size of the manor would also differ.

For example, Lin Yi, a grade 5 Huwei General, was awarded the Huwei General Manor. Baiqi was a grade 1 commander-in-chief, so he was awarded a Commander-in-Chief Manor.

Ouyang Shuo planned the matter out like this because he wanted the generals under him to also enjoy the warmth of hope apart from fighting wars. Returning to Shanhai City, they would have a place to live.

Based on the Gaia’s arrangements, the family of historical people would appear in the wilderness when their dynasty entered the game’s proceedings.

For example, Baiqi's wife arrived in a similar manner.

Similarly, the families of Sun Bin, Er’lai, Zhang Han, and the like all came to Shanhai City.

In the military system, apart from the differing treatments of generals, the privates and rookies were treated differently too. Similarly, as the salary of the system adjusted downward, their income was changed too.

A grade 1 to 4 rookie would earn twenty silver. A grade 5 to 9 one forty silver. Grade 10 to 12 war elite warriors earned sixty silver, similar to a grade 2 sergeant.

Du Ruhui was also vicious. With just this change, he cut off ten percent of the military expenditure. Before this, a unit with an average of grade 4 soldiers could receive 275 gold.

After the change, it dropped all the way to 237 gold.

Projecting this outward, the income of a division dropped from 8250 to 7200 gold. A full legion cost around 36,000 gold.

To cut down the military expenditure, Du Ruhui truly went all in this time.

Similarly, the Military Affairs Department made the salary of the Garrison Divisions crystal clear.

Their ranking system was similar to the war fighting army. However, their salary was eighty percent less. The city protection forces acted as a group that was always on alert, so they were given the same rate as the fighting armies.

With ranks, there were naturally similar medals.

Based on Ouyang Shuo's instructions, they medals had a dragon design.

The generals all wore a golden dragon medal.

The number of gems that the dragon spat out was used to differentiate the various grades. The higher the rank, the more gems. Starting from one to five for a grade 1 great general and six for a grade 1 Commander-in-Chief.

Ouyang Shuo, as the overall commander of all the troops, would also wear a golden dragon medal. However, his medal depicted a nine-clawed golden dragon that spat out majestic golden-colored dragon balls.

Nine golden claws, five at the front, four behind.

The dragon balls of the generals were white. Their golden dragons only had seven claws, four in front and three behind.

Lieutenants, Officers, and Sergeants all had silver, iron, and bronze dragon medals respectively. Similarly, the number of dragon balls were based on their grade.

Each medal was made up of the material in its name.

The golden dragon medal was made out of gold.

As for the lowest rank, they did not have the right to wear a dragon medal. Their medal was made of bronze, and the symbol depicted a Tang Blade and a heavy sword crossing each other. Bars were used to differentiate between the ranks.

Privates had one bar, grade 2 soldiers two bars, grade 1 three bars, and top grade soldiers four bars.

Undeniably, the pushing out of the rank system signified that the Shanhai City Military was walking on the path of becoming a professional military.

They would naturally hand this large-scale reorganization to the generals.

Based on the arrangements of the Military Affairs Department, they would hold the rank award ceremony right after they completed the military reorganization.

At that time, Ouyang Shuo would personally chair it.

The last type of military reward was to grant them nobility titles.

Undeniably, in olden times, nobility titles were much better than rank rewards. Anyone who obtained a nobility title would bring glory to their ancestors.

Unfortunately, Ouyang Shuo, be it as the Lianzhou Lord or the Nanjiang Governor-General, did not have the right to grant ministers or generals nobility titles.

Only a Lord of a country could.

Hence, they shelved the third type of reward for now. When they had finally set up their country, they could give out such a reward.

Du Ruhui only listed this out to give the generals a dream and a rough idea of the future.