Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 72
Chongzhen said: "I will build a new supply battalion in the Beijing camp. From now on, the soldiers will only train and fight; building camps, repairing damaged weapons, building bridges and paving roads and other trivial matters will be undertaken by the supply battalion, and the salary will be paid according to [-]% of the soldiers. From now on, there will be one tael of silver per month, rations are not included, and all food and salaries will be paid in full. I will send the Ministry of War and Jin Yiwei to the army to supervise the daily military discipline and the distribution of food and salaries. Anyone who violates the law will be killed immediately amnesty!"

Both of them were shocked. They were surprised by the high treatment of the old and weak soldiers, and also had doubts about the new positions in the army. Wei Shichun saluted and said, "Your Majesty, how many people will the Beijing camp have in the future? I know that the treasury is empty." , if there are too many soldiers, it will be a headache to raise money!"

Chongzhen smiled proudly: "It is true that the national treasury is empty, and everyone with a heart knows it, but in a few days, there will be a lot of wealth in the treasury, and I also have a few ways to increase revenue. Gone are the days! Hahaha!"

Looking at the two people who were puzzled, Chongzhen put away his smile and continued: "After discussing the matter of the Beijing camp first, let's talk about the rest; let's talk about the quota first, and the full size of the Beijing camp in the future will be set at 6 people, and the number of supply camps can be flexibly controlled; Wu Junying, each battalion has a general, with the rank of commander in chief, 1 soldiers in charge, and the three battalion deputy, ginseng, guerrilla, assistant and battalion officers in charge; Shenji battalion is set up, the battalion officer is the commander in chief, and the commander is one Ten thousand, four thousand gunners, four thousand spearmen, and two thousand sword and shield hands."

After taking a sip of tea, Chongzhen continued: "The Beijing camp has been decadent for a long time, and the rectification cannot be accomplished overnight. After you take over the Beijing camp, the first responsibility is to clean up and rectify it. As long as you are capable and willing to serve the Ming Dynasty, no matter what Whoever's direct descendants are to be retained; ****, those who are fooling around by name, no matter what their backgrounds are, they will all be cleared and leave the camp! Today's matter is kept secret for the time being, and the time is ripe after more than a month, and everything will be done according to today's plan Plan to carry out, remember, no one can say anything, including the closest relatives!"

Xue Lian and Wei Shichun Zheng nodded. After all, Cheng Guogong's family has deep connections in the army and has close ties with some civil servants and eunuchs. The emperor's reduction of his military power has already touched his vital interests. Under the current situation, it is hard to say what will happen. The two also know some secrets in the palace. Emperor Zhengde and Emperor Tianqi both fell into the water suddenly while rafting, and collapsed due to illness not long after. What is the real reason?

It seems that the current Holy Majesty also has this in mind, so he is preparing a perfect plan to seize power until everything is ready. If someone is unwilling to be resigned to military power and wants to do something rebellious, the consequences may be extremely miserable.

Chongzhen put the matter of rectifying the Beijing camp after more than a month. One of his considerations was that during this period, Xue Lian and Wei Shichun would use all their connections to thoroughly sort out the intricate relationships in the Beijing camp and find helpers among their relatives. , both of them are generations of Hou Bo, and some of their family friends are also extraordinary people, each of them has a lot of contacts and power in their hands.

The second is that in history, the soldiers of the Eight Banners broke through the barriers and entered the capital. Since Huang Taiji had not yet completely conquered the Mongolian tribes, the Eight Banners of Mongolia had not yet formed.

This time, Chongzhen is going to inflict heavy damage on the Eight Banners soldiers, wipe out their vitality, beat the Manchurians, break the arrogant statement that the Eight Banners soldiers are invincible, and let them curl up obediently in the land of Liaodong, and wait until the officials and troops completely wipe out the soldiers. After the thief, use the power of the whole country to completely wipe it out.

The war is imminent, and the rectification of the Beijing camp will be postponed. At the critical moment, there should be no accidents. Chongzhen wants to take advantage of the great victory to deter those two-faced factions who sit on the fence. As long as they have overwhelming power, those interests will be damaged. The nobles and nobles of the family can only endure and avoid them. After their minions are destroyed, what awaits them will be even more severe punishment.

Chongzhen never wanted to let go of Zhu Chunchen and Li Guozhen, one Cheng Guogong and one Xiangcheng Bo. They have enjoyed the glory and wealth given by the Ming Dynasty for generations. Instead, he opened the city gate and knelt down to the enemy. This kind of ungrateful villain has no need to exist in the world, and his family will only suffer from the fish pond.

After pondering, Chongzhen changed his subject and said with a smile: "The two gentlemen are people who have a lot of friends. There are a lot of people in the family, so there should be a lot of daily expenses for food, clothing and chewing, right? I know that there are people in your family who are good at management. I don't know. How do you grow your hair?"

Xue and Wei rushed to salute, and Xue Lian said: "My Majesty, I have three sons and two daughters, three wives and concubines, and the remaining servants and maidservants total more than 7000 people. The minister's family has eight shops in the capital, mainly dealing in cloth and grain. There is a restaurant, the annual income is not only for the whole family to enjoy, but there is still a little surplus. The emperor ordered the donation before, and I feel ashamed. I only donated [-] taels of silver, which is not of great benefit to the national treasury, but the minister’s house is not a rich family. , These silver taels are basically the entire net worth of the minister!"

Wei Shichun reported: "I have one son and two daughters, two wives and concubines, more than ten servants and maidservants, I have five shops, and the business operation is the same as that of Marquis Yang Wu. The last time I donated 3000 taels, I am ashamed of my Majesty!"

Chongzhen sighed and said: "I have a lot of wealth of the two of you. Apart from the two of you, only Xinlehou, Hui'anbo, and Gong Yonggu, the son-in-law, have donated to the country one after another. Although there is not much money. , but I keep this friendship in my heart; the Ming Dynasty has been established for more than two hundred years, and the number of dukes and earls is so large. Why did my Zhu family treat them badly? At this time of crisis, how many people remember the kindness of the royal family?"

Xue Lian and Wei Shichun bowed their heads and remained silent, both angry and sad in their hearts. They were well aware of the dire situation. Liaodong, Xuanda, Jingying, Bandit Suppression, etc., the amount of food and salaries consumed by the officers and soldiers was astonishing. It was these huge military expenditures that gradually dragged Daming into the quagmire. I and I tried our best to help the imperial court, but our power was too meager. The rich princely families like the Duke of England and the Duke of Cheng, etc., donated money to the emperor. How can it not be resentful for the royal family to lose all face by ignoring it and ignoring it?

Chongzhen went on to say: "I want to raise money, but there are no people who are good at management. It happens that the two sects have their own livelihoods. In this way, I will contribute the capital, and you will contribute the manpower. We, the monarch and the ministers, will earn silver taels together, and then we can divide it into shares." , with money in hand, many problems will be solved, and this is one of the purposes of inviting you here today!"

Xue and Wei are very willing to make money. The monarch and his ministers hit it off immediately. Next, Chongzhen will take over the trade route of Zhangjiakoubao border trade and how to control Mongolia with strategic materials such as grain and iron. As for how to operate , Xue and Wei's professionals will carry it out, and Chongzhen also proposed that the several donated Hou Bo and others mentioned earlier should participate together. Xue and Wei naturally agreed. If you are too weak, the more companies you have, the more strength and connections you will have. If you manage them properly, the profits you will get in a few years will be astonishing.

In the end, it was discussed to set up a new trading company called Sihai. Several other people discussed and selected a shopkeeper to take care of the business. Other business needs were handled by several companies. Uncle Zhang Qingzhen and his son-in-law Du Wei Gong Yonggu each hold [-]% of the shares, and Chongzhen monopolizes [-]%. , strongly demanded to reduce it to half, only reluctantly agreed with Chongzhen's good words and persuasion, and made up his mind that after earning money, he still had to donate a lot to the emperor in order to repay the royal family's kindness to them.

After the discussion was over, Chongzhen stayed with the two of them for a meal, and after lunch, the two left the palace and went to Yangwuhou's house to discuss in secret how to handle today's affairs.

(End of this chapter)