Picturesque Rivers and Mountains in the Red Chamber

Chapter 279 Chapter 4.75 It’s hard to resist the label of “intentional evil”
Volume Four

4.75 The hat of "conspiring against evil" is really hard to resist
The imperial meeting was far away from the capital, and it was impossible for Zhou Yang to receive the news in real time, regardless of his status or distance. By the time he really understood the situation, it was already the second day of December, and he had received it in the form of an "official document from the Ministry of War."

"This is considered a reward." He casually glanced at the high-quality official paper, curled his lips disdainfully and threw it on the desk, "How stingy."

To put it simply, although his two military expeditions were both in the name of "suppressing bandits", they were also titled as "assisting the local area". However, Magistrate He of Daye County only mentioned himself in the report. , not mentioning the army would be tantamount to overstating his achievements; the Ministry of War did not want to fight with civilian officials over such a "trivial matter", so the official document did not mention specific commendations, and only issued a notification in the form of "end-of-year evaluation".

"This is what County Magistrate He said so well, but why are you so shameless every time!" Zhao Qiying picked up the official document, scanned it, threw it on the ground angrily, and did not forget to step on it, "The Ministry of War is really aware of your achievements. , didn’t even help to fight for it, so the sentence ‘annual evaluation is excellent’ is over?”

"For three consecutive years of excellent evaluation, as a rule, they must be promoted and reused." Zhou Yang said coolly, picked up the official document, looked at it, and threw it into the brazier. You’d better think carefully about whether you’d like to have some fun with it at the end of the year. Anyway, the military training is on track and you don’t need me to keep an eye on it every day.”

"Master, can I go and play anywhere?" Qingwen, who was waiting on her, asked happily.

"Where else do you want to go? The ends of the earth?" Zhou Yang patted her angrily.

"I just feel that Daye County is too small, and I'm tired of playing these days." Qingwen pouted and said, she usually has nothing serious, as long as Zhou Yang is not at home, she will chase the brothers of the Li family The one who stayed in the Qianhu yamen drove out and did not forget to bring some guards. He was already familiar with the county town. "Why don't you go outside and have a look at the end of the year?"

"Damn hoof, what nonsense are you talking about!" Zhao Qiying pulled her into her arms angrily and twisted her ears, "Brother Zhou has a thousand households in Daye, how could he leave his post without authorization and go out of the station to celebrate the New Year? Let's not Talk about the official duties of the military, but if someone impeaches him, he will not be able to do so."

"It's really not impossible!" Zhou Yang's heart moved, thinking of the two girls far away in Jinling, "I left the capital in August and took office, and I did two major things in less than half a year. It's time to take a breather. , It’s time to stabilize; as for leaving the station, it’s not a problem at all, as long as I don’t lead troops to run around."

In the feudal era, there were strict restrictions on the appointment of officials. For example, when officials reached a certain level, they could not bring their families with them, or they were "not allowed to serve as local officials." However, this was mainly for civil servants, especially those who could serve as "vassal princes". The middle and senior officials with the title of "officer" are restricted, and ordinary officials don't care. How can a county magistrate or magistrate take office without family members?Generals even have the meaning of "reverse".

Taking Qianhu in Zhouyang as an example, the military has always had a rule of "empty pay", which is of course illegal. For example, the Jingying camp has repeatedly reorganized the army, one of which is the issue of "posts", but that is because the Jingying camp Right under the nose of the emperor, it belongs to the "forbidden army", which is also the foundation of the imperial court's coercion over the world, and it must maintain sufficient combat power.

Even so, in the end, the topic was dropped, because this type of problem is a typical "it cannot be suppressed by four taels, but it cannot be suppressed by a thousand catties". Once a quarrel breaks out, a lot of people will definitely die. After the death, can it be calmed down or two? It is said that as long as the generals can come up with a reason for the "balance of terror" between each other, civil servants with a little experience will never die.

Of course, if this statement is placed in the local army, it is another way of saying it. It is as if there are eleven hundred-level officials in the Daye Thousand Households, but Zhou Yang can only train six, and the cavalry hundred households are still He has the title of "Directly Under the General Flag"; in this way, he can already be said to be "breathtaking in both sleeves and loyal to the court."

In general, the local Qianhu Stations are even more exaggerated. Those with half the actual number and [-]% of the combat strength are considered outstanding. For quite a few inland Qianhu Stations, "combat strength" has long become a distant term, and the soldiers are not as bright as before. Like peers, became actual serfs, fighting?what is that?
This is not only the issue of the imperial military pay being "cut off" and the local army not being able to support it, but also the consideration of controlling the local area in the feudal era. Otherwise, as a foreign military leader, you have elite soldiers in your hands and spend all day thinking about training. Even "training day and night", what exactly do you want to do?Is there some ulterior purpose?This is no joke. The label of "intentional evil" is really hard to resist.

In real history, the inland garrison during the Ming and Qing Dynasties was not the most exaggerated, only more excessive. Japanese pirates with less than a hundred people swept across the south of the Yangtze River. This was the Ming Dynasty Guardsmen; a group of Hong Xiuquan's militiamen defeated half of the southeast and finally captured Nanjing. This is The root cause of the Qing Dynasty's green battalions was not that they could not train elite soldiers, but that they were worried about being out of control. "Defending internally rather than externally" remained a "basic national policy" until the Republic of China.

On the contrary, as Qingwen said, if you show your attitude by "absent from your post", especially if you go to your father-in-law's territory to see your fiancée, it doesn't matter even if you are impeached. If you deal with it as usual, you will be punished in the end. "Reprimand and fined salary" is done, just to give the censors and Hanlin a chance to improve their grades at the end of the year.

The Zhou Dynasty is not without exceptions. The original "Four Kings, Eight Dukes and Twelve Marquises" were all military leaders from various places at the beginning. Most of the Twelve Marquises were abolished. The Eight Dukes either served in the Beijing camp or in the Gyeonggi region. Naturally, They were slowly transferred back; only the four kings were in special circumstances and were still stationed in the border areas, but their family members were all in the palace of the capital, and the royal family did not want to withdraw, but because of many concerns, it was finally delayed until now. "Can it be so?" Zhao Qiying asked stupidly, "Is this the official army of the Great Zhou Dynasty?"

"Why not?" Qingwen's eyes lit up, "Master, let's go quickly. We are going to Jinling for the New Year. No matter what aspect there is, it is definitely more interesting than here. Temple fairs, fireworks, lanterns, and so on ——Oh, Master, please be gentler, I know you are wrong!"

"How could you be wrong?" Zhou Yang pressed her on his thigh angrily and gave her a slap in the face. "You, Miss Wu, must be right. I happen to be planning to go to Jinling. It's time to take a rest after working for so long."

"Then the young master still wants to beat the slave?" Qingwen looked at her master aggrievedly.

"Master, what's wrong with beating your slave?" Zhao Qiying said, holding back a smile.

"Ugh - you are bullying people!" Qingwen almost cried.
Once the decision was made, it was done. Zhou Yang rushed back to Qianhu Station that day and summoned six of his subordinates to explain clearly. It was nothing more than "holidays without combat readiness, holidays without discipline" and other rules. They were also allowed to take turns to repair and train. The main thing is to maintain; the other thing is to go to Jinling and tell them not to cause trouble.

A few subordinates don't have any objections. It feels better when the boss is gone, right?Although they can't afford to go outside, it's okay to take the opportunity to do some fun. For example, there are not only cargo ships and passenger ships on Daye Lake, but also flowers, ahem, things that take time to enjoy, and there are also many in the county. Lonely and lonely people need saving.

Speaking of which, the few of them were pretty good talents in the feudal era. These days, under the pressure of someone, they have all made great progress, but at the same time, they all revealed the ills of this era, that is, "promoting officials and getting rich". "Problem, not to mention Zhou Yang's "dividing benefits", these six people have been in Daye for less than half a year, and they already have houses and concubines. Fortunately, they are still counted and know that they will leave sooner or later. .

Zhou Yang himself has no good way to do this. You don't want your subordinates to benefit these years, so why let them follow?Even in modern times, most of the armies of various countries still maintain such "traditional arts", including the developed countries in Europe and the United States, such as the classic "two thousand dollar coffee cup";
This kind of problem can only be tolerated for the time being, and we must find a way to solve it in the future. Otherwise, once the army is too involved in economic interests, such as doing business, the combat power will decline at an alarming rate. , emperors often turn into soft-footed shrimps after one or two generations, and there are also reasons for this.

Zhou Yang's plan is that when he gets a new job in the future, he can take the opportunity to set up some kind of "Martial Arts Hall" or "Jiang Ben Hall".
With Zhou Yang's current wealth, he naturally no longer needs to pay many tributes. After a little preparation, his three-masted cruise ship set off from the dock and entered the Yangtze River and went down the Yangtze River. It didn't really do anything at full speed along the way, and even We stopped the boat twice to enjoy the sightseeing, but only four days later, we arrived at Jinling on the sixth day of December.

"Master, why don't we say hello to Miss Bao first before we come?" Qingwen got off the boat at Jinling Pier, got into the carriage, and got into Zhao Qiying's arms. They have to organize their own transportation.”

"Stupid girl, wouldn't it be nice to give them a surprise?" Zhou Yang didn't ride a horse, but squeezed into a carriage with two girls, "It doesn't matter how you transport it, even if it's all lost; Isn't it more interesting for them to be pleasantly surprised than a little bit of insignificant money and property?"

"Really?" Qingwen raised her head blankly and looked at Zhao Qiying, "Sister Qiying, does Miss Bao really like surprises?"

"Of course!" Zhao Qiying smiled and pressed her head against his chest, but he gave someone a blank look with a strange expression.

Surprise, sometimes also called "surprise".

(End of this chapter)