A Brief Discussion on Military Merit of Enemy Capturing and Beheading in Ming Dynasty
In the Ming Dynasty,the capture and killing of the enemy could gain military merit,which was titled"the merit of enemy capturing and beheading".Prior to the 28th year of Hongwu,enemy capturing was rewarded but did not serve as a basis for military promotion.Changes began to take place in the 29th year of Hongwu,when those who captured and kill-ed"Japanese pirates"were included in the promotion list.After the Xuande period,the standard of the reward was gradually quantified and became a set practice,and then became the mainstream of military merit in the Ming Dynasty.However,in different wars,the merit of enemy capturing and beheading varied depending on who was captured or beheaded,where it oc-curred,how important the enemy was,and how much contribution was made.However,problems began to arise like"faking merit","buying merit"and"bungling the chance of winning a battle".The Ming government took a series of measures to prevent and punish such misconducts.Generally speaking,the military merit of enemy capturing and beheading played a posi-tive role during the Ming Dynasty in encouraging soldiers to fight bravely,stabilizing the security of the southwest and north-ern border areas,and improving the national military meritorious system.
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