Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 33

Neighboring countries face each other, hear the sound of chickens and dogs, and never communicate with each other.

Ordinary people, looking at the face of God, throw food in the soil, live within a dozen miles around the village all their lives, and only a few can enter the county town a few times.

Since ancient times, the imperial power in China has never been lowered to the county, and the common people's perception of the emperor is far less cordial than the elders of the clan.

Such an environment makes many people in a state of ignorance, ignorant of the trend of the world, ignorant of their own responsibilities, sitting and watching the changes of the situation, and the loss of their families and countries.

It is precisely because of this that once the gentry from all over the country come forward, they can quickly recruit a large number of village warriors to train and defend their hometown and clansmen. However, if the imperial court recruits them to travel thousands of miles to fight in other places, they will need a lot of money.

Wang Yan wanted to change this situation and let the people understand that they are loyal to the emperor and patriotic, and that Yixia is a great defense, but there is no such possibility in a short period of time. Even the more than 1000 brothers who followed Wang Yan at the beginning were not loyal to the emperor, but with the emperor. Jiannu's deep blood feud brought them together.

It is hard to return home, so they can only follow Wang Yan, the leading brother, to wander around.

Hearing Wang Yan's words, Laoying's brothers naturally would not stay in Sizhou, this is not their hometown, Shandong can't go back, so they chose Yinzi without hesitation.

Qian Yifeng on the side had already prepared the roster, and Wang Yan handed out the silver taels to the veteran soldiers, and he was responsible for writing down every name.

Regardless of whether it is military pay or start-up fees, it is customary to pay the officer first, and then the officer distributes it to the soldiers under his command. As for how much the soldiers can get, it depends on whether the officer's heart is black or not.

The soldiers under Li Taizhen were delighted when they saw that the silver ingots were directly handed over to the soldiers of the old camp and fell into their pockets.

The purpose of being a soldier is to eat food. Although this time you have to be far away from your homeland, the starting fee this time is really attractive. After some hesitation, many soldiers still chose money.

Seeing this, all the officers under Li Taizhen's face became unhappy for a while. With so much salvage money, they only need to eat [-]%, which is enough for the family to spend for a period of time.

Now that Wang Yan doesn't go through their hands, it means cutting off their source of income.

Cutting off people's wealth is like killing their parents. Many officers under Li Taizhen were not close to Wang Yan at all, and there were many complaints in their hearts. But at this time, many soldiers had already received money. With the silver collar in hand, make another plan.

There are more than 2000 people in the Loyalty Camp, but in the end, only nine of them have not received the silver. Wang Yan asked, or said that his mother was in the church, or that there was no one at home, so Wang Yan paid each of them a month's military salary and dismissed them.

So far, 5 taels of 7000 taels of silver were used, more than half of which was spent at once, but the remaining silver still existed like a mountain for every soldier.

"See, it's yours too!" After the money was distributed, Wang Yan pointed to the remaining silver and said to the soldiers: "This general is a bit of money, just waiting for you, and exchange it with the enemy's head!"

"I would like to fight with the general, and I would like to make contributions with the general."

Eat soldiers' blood, this is not the actions of individual generals, but the entire Ming army is the same, it has almost become a routine.The many soldiers under Li Taizhen have long been accustomed to this, and now a general who does not eat blood, pays the army, and rewards silver for killing the enemy suddenly appears, and the soldiers can't help being excited.

"Okay! Now that you have received the food and salary, I will let you out of the camp today to bid farewell to your relatives." Wang Yan waved his hand to stop the cheering of the soldiers, and then said solemnly: "But all the soldiers must respect the military order and return at noon tomorrow. Day camp, those who fail to arrive within the time limit will be subject to military law!"

"I will obey the general's order!" All the soldiers responded in unison.

Seeing this, Wang Yan waved his hand, and all the troops dispersed.

The soldiers under Li Zhentai were eager to go home, and handed over the silver taels to their family members to bid farewell to their families, while the brothers in the old camp, although they had no relatives, each had their own destinations.

It was night, the taverns and brothels in Sizhou City were full, and the prostitutes hiding in the corners and alleys could not stop overnight.

In the west of Sizhou City, at Li Taizhen's house, a group of officers under his command also set up a large table, with good wine and good food.

"Qianhu, I've been holding back some words about my humble position for a long time." After drinking for three rounds, all the officers' chatterboxes opened up. In front of you, I, Hu Maocai, am not afraid of offending people, so I must speak up."

"Since you've been holding it back for so long, then you're holding it back for me today." Li Taizhen understands the thoughts of his brothers. They don't go home, but come to his house to drink with him collectively, just for today's matter .

"Don't!" Seeing Li Taizhen's attitude, Hu Maocai hurriedly said: "Qianhu, the humble job is to complain about you! What is Wang Yan? How long has he been in our army? Why should he be the guard of Sizhou? Qianhu But the old man who followed Uncle Xingping all the way from Shaanxi, the madam and the eldest son will not accept this arrangement in the end!"

"That's right, this time sending troops to the south, thousands of households have to decide, how can it be Wang Yan's turn!" A group of officers echoed.

It's not that Li Taizhen has no idea about the position of Sizhou's defense. He also feels that Wang Yan is going to suppress him, so as to grasp the minds of the 1000 men under him, but he doesn't want to confront Wang Yan tit for tat.

This is not because he is afraid of Wang Yan, nor is he lacking in ambition, but because all these are Madam Xing's orders.

Li Taizhen is different from Li Chengdong and other senior members of the Gao Jie family. He has followed Gao Jie for a shorter time, which is why his status cannot be compared with Li Chengdong and others.

In the eighth year of Chongzhen, there was a severe drought, and the land of Shaanxi was thousands of miles away. There was also a famine in Li Taizhen's hometown. His family members starved to death on the way to flee the famine. However, he was rescued by Mrs. Xing and recommended to Gao Jie's tent as a small boss .

Mrs. Xing is Gao Jie's family member. Li Taizhen always wanted to repay her kindness, but she couldn't get close, so she had to work desperately in Gao Jie's camp.

Born as an Orion, he is a master of road scouting and reconnaissance. He worked hard all the way and sat in the position of Thousand Households.

To this day, Mrs. Xing may not remember that she saved him back then, but Li Taizhen always remembers that kindness in her heart.

Wang Yan's killing of Xu Dingguo was the benefactor of the Marquis of Xingping, and his appointment was made by Mrs. Xing, so although Li Taizhen had some complaints in his heart, he would not violate Mrs. Xing's orders.

In addition, Wang Yan's men in the old battalion are quite elite, and he himself knows very well that if there is a conflict, it will not be a problem for Wang Yan to annex them.

"For me?" Li Taizhen frowned because of the echo of many officers. He didn't want to turn against Wang Yan because of his subordinates. "I think it's for the money you're waiting for!"

It's not that Li Taizhen doesn't know about eating soldiers' blood. He doesn't eat it himself, but his subordinates are filial from time to time. This is a secret rule.As long as his subordinates are not too excessive, he will not take care of them, but if it affects him, that is another matter.

"Qianhu, it's not easy for brothers to drag their families with them!" Li Taizhen's words made everyone feel embarrassed, but he still said: "Besides, the salary has always been paid by the officers. This is the rule, why should Wang Yan break it! "

"That's right! This time going south to fight, brothers, you have to make your family worry-free!" Now that the truth has been revealed, the crowd simply said: "Since Wang Yan doesn't think for us, I don't recognize him as a general. You have to call the shots for us!"

Everyone said that they wanted to make Wang Yan look good, and Li Taizhen felt depressed. He has a thousand elite riders and a hundred battle elites. What do you use to make him look good.

The audience's words became more and more outrageous, even though they still wanted to kidnap him and fight against Wang Yan, Li Taizhen's expression became more and more ugly, and finally smashed the wine glass on the table angrily.

Everyone heard a "bang", and the wine splashed all over the floor, and they all froze.

"Because everyone is old brothers who have been together for many days, I remind you not to mess with Wang Yan, or you will be at your own risk." Li Taizhen said angrily, then ignored everyone, turned and left.

"Brother Hu, what should we do?"

"how could I know!"

"Go back to the fuck!"

Seeing this, everyone couldn't help but look at each other with embarrassment. Without Li Taizhen's support, they knew that they would not be able to defeat Wang Yan, so they had no choice but to leave and went back home.

At noon the next day, Wang Yan stood on the school field early in the morning, wearing armor and a saber on his waist, with a group of officers behind him and more than 2000 soldiers of the Loyalty Battalion in front of him.

At this time, the shadow of the flagpole on the side was getting shorter and shorter, and there were still six people in the Zhongyi camp who had not returned to the camp, and they were all hundreds of households under Li Taizhen.

The army was standing on the school field, and Li Zhentai was standing behind Wang Yan, his face couldn't help getting colder and colder. Looking at Wang Yan's posture, he didn't understand that this was about to show his military prestige.

As time passed, Li Taizhen's [-] soldiers could not help but start talking in low voices. Seeing this, Wang Yan didn't scold him. He waited until the flagpole disappeared, and then shouted loudly: "Where is the military judge?"

"Here's the humble job!" In addition to managing supplies, Qian Yifeng also became a military judge of the Loyalty Battalion. Hearing Wang Yan's words, he immediately stood out and clasped his fists in response.

"I will order you to immediately lead the general's personal guards to arrest those who have not returned after the time limit. Hu Maocai and the other six will return to the camp!" Wang Yan put his sword on his hand and said with a sinking voice: "Before the time comes, you must complete the military order!"

"Here!" Liu Shun also came out and responded in unison with Qian Yifeng.

Seeing this, Wang Yan waved his hand, and the two of them immediately retreated to the side, and then led a hundred guards, got on their horses, and drove away all the way.

Those who join the army are all registered in their families, Wang Yan is not afraid of them running away.Of course, those six people didn't expect to run away, they had resentment in their hearts, and felt that it would be good if they didn't cause trouble for Wang Yan, but they never thought that Wang Yan would take the opportunity to get rid of them.

Seeing the hundreds of cavalry galloping all the way, the soldiers who had been whispering on the school field gradually quieted down, and a murderous aura spread across the school field.

(End of this chapter)