Chongzhen Daming: Starting from Coal Mountain

Chapter 336 Homecoming
The Holy One actually wanted to recruit 27 soldiers at once!
Really generous, but how much money will it cost?
Zhu Cihong was also worried and said: "Father, will the recruitment of 27 soldiers be too much? Calculated based on the monthly salary of 2 taels per recruit, 27 recruits is 54 taels."

"54 taels a month, 648 million taels a year."

After saying this, Zhu Cihong said again: "This is just a salary. In case of a war that lasts for years, it will cost [-] million yuan a year. This is too much."

It costs [-] million taels of silver in just one year.

Even if the Ming Dynasty had mountains of gold and silver, it would not be able to bear it.

You can't always use the official land in the north to pay for the salary, right?

"Actually, it doesn't take that much." Chongzhen waved his hand and said, "The former Guan Ning Army spoiled the imperial court, so we can no longer follow this standard in the future."

"Guan Ningjun really spoiled the imperial court."

Hearing this, Huang Degong, Zuo Menggeng, Jin Shenghuan and the others thought it was true.

Even Zheng Zhilong, Zheng Hongkui and others have heard about this.

Since Wanli, Guan Ning's army has not been arguing about pay once or twice. If it was replaced by other border towns, I don't know how many times it was suppressed, but Guan Ning's army was nothing.

Chongzhen said again: "But in fact, only Zu Dashou, Wu Sangui and other generals of the Guanning Army and their cronies are really spoiled by the court. The ordinary soldiers of the Guanning Army actually don't get that much money."

Hearing this, except for Huang Degong, the rest of the generals in the border town lowered their heads.

Because withholding military pay is just a routine operation, how many generals in border towns do not deduct pay?

Chongzhen said: "The imperial court's standard for Guan Ning's army is 1 tael plus 1 shimi per month, but when it is issued to ordinary soldiers, there are only two koan silver and less than three dou rice."

"Western Liaoning is narrow and densely populated, and prices are high."

"So with this salary alone, the soldiers in Liao Town can't support their families at all."

Having said this, Chongzhen gnashed his teeth again and said: "I hate Zu Kuan, Zu Dale and other generals of Liao Town. They don't want to hand out the embezzled salaries and Lumi, but allow the soldiers of Liao Town to rob on the road, so that the discipline of the frontier army collapses. Bad, that's why there is a saying that thieves pass like combs and soldiers pass like shaving, and the people where the frontier troops passed by rose up one after another."

Brothers Huang Degong and Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but let out another long sigh when they heard the words.

Generals such as Jin Shenghuan, Ma Huabao, Wang Zuntan were even more ashamed.

Because they did the same thing back then, even more ruthless than Guan Ningjun.

Chongzhen went on to say: "But fortunately, this kind of thing will not happen again in the future."

"Now the military salaries in all towns are paid by the imperial envoys instead of going through the hands of the generals. In the future, it will even be necessary to open an account for each soldier in the Daming Royal Bank, and then directly distribute the salaries to their accounts, so that even the imperial envoys don't have to By doing so, it will completely eliminate the way for Corrupt Moke to deduct the military salary."

"So, raising a soldier doesn't cost as much money as before."

"In the future, when recruiting soldiers, the salary standard will be based on the Zhejiang soldiers in the Wanli Dynasty, and the monthly salary will be 1 tael and 5 yuan."

"And there will be no more salaries and war salaries, just this one standard, but if you kill the Jiannu, surrender the army or coat the Jiannu, the silver reward standard is still the same as before, fifty taels for real slaves, and ten taels for the rest. two."

After a pause, he continued: "So even though 27 soldiers are recruited and the monthly salary is only 40, I can still afford it. As for rewards, as long as the soldiers can kill Jiannu on the battlefield, I will be They must also pay the bounty to them, and there will never be a single cent short."

The proportion of salaries in military expenditures must be reduced.

Like Xuzhou before, the expenditure on salaries and silver accounted for more than half of the military expenditure, which is absolutely unacceptable.

The bulk of military expenditure can only and must be weapons and equipment, and at most it will be [-]-[-] of the salary.

The total military expenditure set by Chongzhen himself was 27 million taels per year, so the salary expenditure of [-] recruits accounted for about [-]% of the military expenditure, which is no problem.

In this way, about [-]% of the military expenditure is left to purchase weapons and equipment.

The annual equipment expenditure of about five million taels is enough to arm an army of 27 people.

It's not that Chongzhen didn't think about investing more and recruiting more soldiers at once, such as 50.

As far as money is concerned, the House of Internal Affairs has sufficient silver deposits. In addition to the more than [-] million yuan in the Royal Bank account, [-] million acres of cultivated land in Kaifeng Mansion will soon be used to pay [-] million taels of debt.

So even if the military expenditure is doubled to [-] million taels, it can last for a few years.

But Chongzhen felt that it is still necessary to plan carefully and leave room for it.

After all, the bond market in the Ming Dynasty was not yet mature, and it might not be possible to borrow money in the next few years.

In this case, if the money was spent too much in the first few years, and then there is no money later, then it will be over.

There is no saying that it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Once you get used to spending a lot of money every year, it will be difficult to get used to it if you want to go back to the hard days before.

What's more, the Ministry of Internal Affairs also needs to spend a lot of money now.

Among other things, the resettlement and support of the 15 town soldiers in Xuzhou Township, the 20 town soldiers in Guide Township, and the more than 100 million immigrants who moved to Kaifeng Prefecture required a large sum of money.

Because of a big battle in Xuzhou, the farming season was delayed.

After Jiannu retreated, town soldiers and immigrants could only replant winter wheat.

Therefore, before the winter wheat matures next summer, the imperial court will have to feed them with food.

In addition, to provide these town soldiers and the people with seeds, farm tools and cattle, all need money.

Of course, the seed farm tools and cattle are not free. When the town soldiers and immigrants lay down the grain next summer, they will start to repay the money for the seed farm tools and cattle. At most, they can pay off over many years.

All in all, spend money within your means.

At present, the profitability of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is still too weak, so it is necessary to save money.

When the handicraft industry in the south of the Yangtze River develops vigorously, and the [-] million taels of silver deposits in the private sector are completely liquid, and then a three-fold, five-fold, or even seven-fold currency multiplier effect is generated, then you can open up to spend money.

As for now, let's save a little bit and recruit 27 soldiers for a total of [-] recruits.

27 people are not many, but when they are organized into an army, all kinds of weapons and equipment are in place, plus the 35 militiamen in Xuzhou Township and Guide Township, self-protection is absolutely not a problem.

……

From Nanjing to Shanyin, there are more than [-] li.

But it took Xu Yingwei less than five days to complete the journey, and by the evening of the sixth day, Xu Yingwei had even rushed to Laodong's hometown, a large village located at the east foot of Tianmu Mountain.

What is "turning your heart like an arrow", this is called "turning your heart like an arrow".

The sun was about to set that day, Xu Shiyi collected the farm tools and prepared to go home.

Xu Shiyi is the patriarch of the grandma's Xu family. His family has dozens of acres of land, and even hired long-term laborers, but he would still go to the fields with the long-term laborers during the busy farming season.

This year, the entire Laodong mountainous area encountered a severe drought that had not happened in a century, and most of the crops in the field withered.

Xu Shiyi and two long-term workers got up before dawn to water the crops, but they still couldn't stand the scorching sun. Seeing the rice and soybeans in the field wither one by one, let alone how uncomfortable it was.

"Oh, it seems that this year will be a year of great disaster." Xu Shiyi said worriedly.

"Yeah, I don't know how many people will starve to death." Chang Gong Wu Niuweng said in a low voice.

Seeing Wu Niu's sturdy back, Xu Shiyi hesitated to say anything, thinking that this Wu Niu has a big waist and a round waist, it is a good cropper, and he is willing to work hard.

But there is one thing that is not beautiful, that is, the appetite is really scary.

Usually, when the times are good, Xu Shiyi doesn't mind raising black cattle.

But this year, it is really impossible to support this black ox.

But for a while, Xu Shiyi didn't know how to say this.

"Shi Yigong, Shi Yigong!" At this moment, a boy came galloping.

"Little epilepsy?" Xu Shiyi's train of thought was interrupted, and he immediately reprimanded angrily, "What are you doing so crazy? Where's your sheep? If the sheep are taken away by wolves, your father can beat you to death when you go home." .”

"Mr. Shi Yi, Mr. Xiucai is back." The boy was running out of breath.

"Mr. Xiucai? Are you talking about my boss? You're talking nonsense." Xu Shiyi said angrily, "My boss is fighting in Xuzhou with His Majesty, how can he go back to Laodong's hometown so soon."

The mountainous area is closed, and it has been several months, but they still don't know about the great victory in Xuzhou.

"Mr. Shi Yi, you are really Mr. Xiucai." The boy swore, "My boy saw it for real from the top of the mountain. Mr. Xiucai rode a tall horse. He has already passed the Nankeng and will soon reach the entrance of the village. "

As soon as the words fell, the sound of horseshoes came from the mountain pass ahead.

When I looked closely, I saw a scholar wearing a shirt had already galloped from the Danshi Road on a steed.

"Look, Mr. Shi Yi, Mr. Xiucai!" The boy pointed to the galloping horse on the stone-brick road, and shouted repeatedly.

"Master, it seems to be the eldest son!" Wu Niu rubbed his eyes, and said in disbelief, "Master, it is really the eldest son who has returned, it is the eldest son who has returned!"

"Really, it's true that my son is back." Xu Shiyi couldn't help but also wet his eyes.

Seeing his son returning to his hometown safely, Xu Shiyi's hanging heart finally fell into his stomach.

Grandfather Xu's ancestors were also rich, but in the past few hundred years, there has been such a scholar.

This time, I finally did not break in Xuzhou, and I finally returned to Laodong's hometown alive, and it seemed that I was returning home in good clothes. Otherwise, where did this tall horse come from?

Needless to say, it was Xu Yingwei who came.

With dozens of steps away, Xu Yingwei saw Xu Shiyi.

Xu Yingwei quickly rolled off the saddle and got off the horse, hurried a few steps to Xu Shiyi and knelt down on the ground again: "Father, please accept my child's respect."

"Get up, it's good to be back."

At this time, Xu Shiyi had already put away his emotions.

Confucianism emphasizes being far away from sons and close to grandchildren, being strict with sons and close to grandsons.

Xu Shiyi has always been extremely strict with Xu Yingwei, and he is serious.

Xu Yingwei kowtowed respectfully to his father before he dared to get up.

Wu Niu next to him had already led Xu Yingwei's mount, and praised repeatedly: "A good animal, it is as high as my shoulders, and its strength is probably not small. It should not be a problem to plow ten acres of land."

"Wuniu, what nonsense are you talking about?" Xu Yingwei laughed, "That's a war horse."

"War horse?" Xu Shiyi said, "Is this the war horse allocated by the imperial court to your scholar camp?"

"No, it's a war horse allocated by the imperial court to the cavalry battalion." Xu Yingwei said, "My son borrowed it from the cavalry battalion."

An imperceptible look of disappointment flashed in the depths of Xu Shiyi's eyes. It turned out that the horse was only borrowed, not a gift from the court to his son, and it seemed that his son was not doing very well.

At that moment Xu Shiyi asked his son again: "How is the great battle in Xuzhou going?"

"We won the battle." Xu Yingwei said, "Jiannu lost almost [-] people, and the Huanghuai defense line was also held."

"It's good to keep the Huanghuai line of defense." Xu Shiyi sighed and said again, "At least half of the south of the Yangtze River can be preserved in this way, and at least one hundred years of peaceful life can be lived."

After a short pause, Xu Shiyi asked again: "Then you came home this time to visit relatives?"

Xu Yingwei said: "My son came back this time not only to visit relatives, but also to recruit soldiers."

"Recruitment? You want to recruit soldiers in Laodong?" Xu Shiyi's eyes lit up when he heard this.

This year, the whole of Laodong has been hit by a severe drought, and I just don't know how to get through this difficult time.

Well now, if we can recruit soldiers, Grandma will not only save dozens of mouths to eat, but also have money to get, so that people don't have to starve to death. There is no better result than this.

Xu Yingwei said: "Yes, my son is ordered by the emperor to recruit at least three sentries in Laodong."

"Three posts?" Xu Shiyi was even more happy when he heard the words, "Two hundred and seventy soldiers were recruited?"

Xu Yingwei said: "Yes, only Laodong will recruit 270 soldiers, and the entire Jiangnan will recruit 27 soldiers. Today, the Holy Majesty is a promising leader, and he will never be content with guarding half of Jiangnan. We will attack Youyan in the north, expel Jiannu and restore the capital."

"Little lunatic." Xu Shiyi said to the boy, "You have fast legs, go to each village quickly, and let the village chiefs, village chiefs, and clan elders come to the ancestral hall overnight for a meeting, and tell them that there is something important."

The boy said with some embarrassment: "Patriarch, what about our sheep?"

"I'll let Wu Niu drive you back to the sheepfold." Xu Shiyi said with a big wave of his hand.

"Okay." The boy was overjoyed when he heard the words, and immediately rushed to report.

"Father, come, son." Xu Yingwei took the bucket load from Xu Shiyi.

Xu Shiyi was not pretentious either, and asked another long-term worker while leading the horse: "Youzhen, this time I am enjoining King Qin, have you seen the current emperor? What does he look like?"

After all, he is a countryman, curious about what the emperor looks like.

Xu Yingwei said with a smile: "My son not only saw the Holy Master, but also lived and ate with the Holy Master for a long time, and even counted the number of beards on the Holy Master."

"Is this true?" Xu Shiyi's eyes were filled with wonder, "So, the Holy One thinks highly of you?"

"Probably." Xu Yingwei said with a slight smile, "Your Majesty has never given up, and now my son will be given a post in the military department."

"All the military subjects are in the matter?" Xu Shiyi was so excited that he couldn't even take care of his old father's reserve, and said anxiously, "All the military subjects of the seventh rank are in the matter? Are you at the same level as the county lord?"

"Master of the county?" Xu Yingwei just smiled when he heard this.

(End of this chapter)