Dawn of the Empire

526 Chapter 96

After the Zhenguo and Baoyi armies went east, the Prime Minister's Mansion mobilized more than 70 battalions of volunteers from nearby prefectures and counties, with a total of more than 130 troops. It is directly supplied by the nearby counties and counties, and the abundance and frugality vary, and the command of the Ministry of War is not very smooth.When Chen Dong heard the complaints from the prefectures and counties repeatedly, he deeply felt that the safety of the army was a matter of concern, so he personally led the clerks of the prime minister's mansion to the treasury, and ordered the clerks of the Ezhou treasury to bring the booklets.Chen Dong ordered people to take out half and distribute rewards to the state and county soldiers defending the city, and the other half to recruit warriors and reward Jiangzhou reinforcements.Ever since Chen Dong was elected as the prime minister, he acted on his word and his prestige became stronger and stronger. The scribes did not dare to question his order, so they immediately notified the Ministry of War to send someone to carry the money and silk.In order to prevent embezzlement and embezzlement by the middlemen and affect the morale of the army, Chen Dong personally sits in the money bank and supervises the rewards. Roughly calculated, each battalion can issue [-] guan rewards.

The scribes were in a hurry to make books and separate the piles of money. Cao Liangshi, Minister of the Ministry of War, rushed over and said to Chen Dong, "Shaoyang, absolutely not!"

"Why?" Chen Dong stood up and asked, "Now that Qian Bo doesn't reward the soldiers, why not leave it to Cao Di?"

"How can the morale of the army be maintained by money and silk?" Cao Liangshi said solemnly, "I am afraid that this reward will not only fail to motivate the soldiers, but the rewards and punishments will be unclear, which will disturb the morale of the army in vain." He pointed The mountain of money and silk said, "The soldiers in the township have no long-term possessions, and they have to fight hard. Now that their bodies are weak, they have to worry more. What's more, the market in the city is now depressed, so what is the use of money and silk for the soldiers? For government The most taboo of rewarding soldiers is excessive rewards. The lesson from the Tang Dynasty is not far! Once a proud soldier is cultivated, he will not only be unable to fight, but every time he is in battle, he will Coercing rewards from the imperial court. This example must never be opened, and as Minister of the Ministry of War, I absolutely agree with it!"

The more Cao Liangshi spoke, the louder he was, and the foam flew from his mouth, almost spraying it on the prime minister's face.The scribes around looked at each other, and Kuding also put down the books and money in his hands, just waiting for the two senior officials to discuss and come up with a result.

Chen Dong frowned, and when Cao Liangshi finished speaking, he asked, "How should we deal with the Ministry of War's intention?"

"Don't you hear that if you kill one person and shock the whole army, kill him; if you reward one person and thousands of people speak, reward him." Cao Liangshi immediately replied, "No amount of money in the city can buy food and meat. If you want to reward To motivate soldiers, it is better to buy more meals, meat and vegetables, and reward the soldiers in the city. For those warriors who have made meritorious service, the Prime Minister's Office and the Ministry of War will not hesitate to give official positions. heart of."

Chen Dong nodded as he listened, and sighed: "If it wasn't for the good history, Chen would have made a big mistake." He turned his head and said to the scribes, "The matter of rewarding the soldiers is under the command of Mr. Cao of the Ministry of War." Turning to face Cao Liangshi fell to the ground with one bow, "The defense of Ezhou city, the fate of the world will rise and fall, please Master Cao!" It is rare for Chen Dong and Cao Liangshi to make friends so solemnly. This salute was returned with a flat body: "Prime Minister, don't worry, Liang Shi will go all out." Chen Dong nodded, then stopped staying in the treasury and left with the officials of the Prime Minister's Mansion.

The prime minister's office will transfer money and silks and reward the three armies to the Ministry of War.Cao Liangshi ordered the scribes to redistribute the money and silk that had been divided evenly, and divided them into three rewards, upper, middle and lower, according to the merits reported by the defenders of the city.Those who make the most meritorious service will be rewarded with a hundred guan, which is equivalent to two years' military salary of the Forbidden Army. of.Because the number of meritorious officers and soldiers is small, the money spent is far less than that allocated by Chen Dong.Cao Liangshi also informed the Ministry of Households that each household in the city would be given 20 cash to reassure people, in order to calm people's hearts and prevent them from turning to Xiangyang.There are about [-] households in the city, and this amount is nearly [-].Thirty Wen is nothing to a family of people, but it is unprecedented for the imperial court to issue money to suppress the people. Cao Liangshi believed that the hearts of the people are much easier to buy than soldiers, and the support of the people will be subtly influenced. Influencing the loyalty of the soldiers in the village is much better than directly distributing money and silk to the soldiers.

Not long after, Wu Zilong, Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, came in a hurry. When he saw Cao Liangshi, he cupped his hands and said, "Wu thanked Brother Cao on behalf of the people in the city."

Cao Liangshi sighed: "Brother Wu is in charge of the household department. He should think of the people of the world. How can he be confined to a small Ezhou. The money and food in the government treasury are all the people's fat and anointment. Now it is just a matter of expediency to use it to scare the people of Ezhou. It's just a plan." He ordered his clerks to hand over the books to the Ministry of Households, shook his head, approached Wu Zilong, and said in a low voice, "There is a Zhao Qi in front of the 'traitor', our holy emperor is far away, To overwhelm the 'treacherous' sycophants in righteousness, the only way is to win the hearts of the people."

"Brother Cao's lesson is right." Wu Zilong cupped his hands and said to himself: Originally, I thought that apart from Chen Shaoyang, Zhao Yuan had the talent of a prime minister, but now it seems that I still underestimated the heroes of the world.He felt ashamed, calmed down, and concentrated on counting the money and distribution.The Ministry of Households and the Ministry of War performed their respective duties, and moved more than half of the money and silk from the treasury. Issued by household.

"Boom-"

"Bang bang bang—"

The sound of the gong resounded through the neighborhood, and many honest people turned pale with fright, wondering what happened.

"My son's father, isn't the government going to recruit young men to go to the city?"

"Who knows?" Li Ahqi watched cautiously through the crack of the door. He was most worried about the "rebellious" soldiers. It's scary, even the Khitan people have a bit of kingly law, and the 'rebellious' soldiers are beasts.

"Listen, old and young, the neighbors, the soldiers are suppressing the border, the government is merciful, and the people in the city will get back [-] cash per family. Come out and get the money!" Li Ah Qi recognized that the person who was beating the gong was Uncle He Wu, the head of the regiment, and his son He San. The son was holding the heavy cloth bag in his hand, and it seemed to be full of copper coins. "Could it be true?" Li Ahqi stared at He Tuantou's face, as if even He Tuantou was full of doubts, and He San'er who was following behind him was even more puzzled. The expression of the head, the bag of money flickering in He San'er's hand, is really alluring.

Uncle He beat the gong for a while on the street, seeing no one answered, he shook his head helplessly, turned around, and planned to order He San'er to knock on the door to distribute money, but at this time, there was a family who "squeaked" The door opened with a sound, and an old lady with a lazy bun leaned against the door, and said softly: "What He Tuantou said is true, thirty coins, you can't play tricks on my slaves like this. "After speaking, he walked over with a twist.

"An immoral bitch." Uncle He cursed secretly, but his face sank like water, and he told San'er coldly, "Count thirty cash to her."

"Okay!" He San'er readily agreed, took out a bunch of copper coins from the cloth bag, counted thirty cash and handed it to the half-closed prostitute, who also ate it for a while. Surprised, he took the copper coin, was blessed, and smiled coquettishly: "Thank you, my family, the third brother will come to sit and sit when you have time." Son, seeing Uncle He frowning, he beat the gong again, and said in a loud voice: "The government is kind, [-] Wen per household is a shock money, come out and get the money!"

The scene just now was seen by countless eyes hidden behind the crack of the door. Thirty Wen is only one-third of Li Ah Qi's daily income. The half-hearted Li Ahqi said that if you don't take the money that comes here for no reason, you will regret it for the rest of your life. Without thinking, he pulled the latch and said respectfully, "Uncle He, do you have money from my family?" Several households took the lead and came out to collect the money. All of a sudden, every household in the neighborhood rushed out one after another, surrounding Uncle He and his son tightly.

"Yes, yes." Seeing this, He Tuantou couldn't help picking up the airs, and ordered with a cold face, "Don't worry, come one by one. This is the government's shock money, and every household must be indispensable, but , I have to count it clearly, if there is a deficit, it will be difficult to be a human being.” He didn’t say it’s okay, but the more he said, the more “chaotic” the neighborhood became, and countless hands reached out to He San’er at the same time. get this.

Li Ahqi returned home with thirty coins in his arms, closed the door and bolted it, took out the money just now, almost looked at each of them front and back, and muttered in his mouth: "It's strange, it's really strange, there is no drought or waterlogging, the government actually It's a relief of money and food. It's really strange." He repeated it several times, with an expression of disbelief, but his heart was full of joy, as if it was not thirty Wen, but three hundred Wen.Li Ah Qi carefully put the thirty texts at home to hide the softness. "Master Qingtian, it's better for a long time." Li Ahqi was only worried about the "chaotic" soldiers washing the city, but at this moment, he also parted his mind and prayed for the gentlemen of Ezhou.

In the evening of the same day, taking advantage of the slowdown of the Xiangyang army's offensive, the Ministry of War distributed the rewards to the meritorious soldiers. One hundred, fifty, and twenty copper coins were placed heavily on wooden plates. A number of officers who made meritorious service in daytime combat.Fan Changheng, the war supervisor, was not only rewarded with a hundred guan, but also the head of the real capital because he took the lead. He pretended to be an eighth-rank Bing Yilang and became an official from a scribe.After the reward was promoted, there were thunderous cheers on the city, and the morale of the army was lifted.Taking advantage of this opportunity when all the troops returned to their hearts, Cao Liangshi announced the crime in public again, beheading three fleeing generations, and all the troops were wary.

Not long after the rewards and punishments of the Ezhou Daxing, night fell, but the Xiangyang army actually lit hundreds of bonfires outside the city, and assumed the posture of attacking overnight, so as not to give the soldiers and civilians in the city a chance to breathe.