weaving

Chapter 1241: Doing a Big Business

"Infantrymen receive four taels of silver per month, cavalrymen receive eight taels per month, and chariotmen receive three taels per month."

One of Sun Chuanting's staff waved the documents in his hand and continued, "The monthly salary for the soldiers alone is more than 15,000 taels. In a year, it is almost 200,000 taels of silver."

He casually handed the document to Chen Jitai and said angrily, "This does not include the monthly food and grass for them, and they also need to have a meal of meat every ten days... We don't even know where to find meat, so how can we provide them with food?"

Chen Jitai looked through the document carefully. He did not say anything, but read it carefully page by page. Seeing his focused look, Sun Chuanting was very satisfied with him.

At this time, another staff member spoke up, "Brother Wenchang, please be patient. Since we are here to ask for help, we should have a begging attitude. Why are we so angry?"

The aide who showed great resentment was Kang Wenchang. Although he was only 41 years old, he looked more than ten years older than his actual age because he was dark and thin, and even the sparse beard on his chin looked very pale.

He glared back at the aide and said, "I don't have the good temper of Brother Mu Zhi. Fortunately, Zhang Cheng is still an earl of the court. He is so petty and is not as good as those righteous businessmen!"

"Yi Shang?"

The staff member named Qin Muzhi smiled and said, "Brother Wenchang, you must know that there are no righteous merchants in this vast world. They are either standing up for the officials and nobles, or being threatened by those soldiers. Otherwise, how could they be willing to donate money and food?"

Kang Wenchang seemed unconvinced. He was about to speak when Chen Jitai spoke up: "In my opinion, the document sent by Earl Yongning is quite reasonable."

"Brother Jitai, are you confused?"

Kang Wenchang continued, "He is using the government's money to make his own money. How can this be justified?"

Chen Jitai smiled first, and then he put the document back on the table in front of Sun Chuanting, and then said: "In theory, the soldiers, weapons, and food in Xuanzhen are indeed all from the court, not the private property of the Earl of Yongning.

But if you look at it from another angle, the Earl of Yongning used the excuse of helping to suppress Henan as an excuse. He has no soldiers to borrow, and no military equipment or money to sell to me. What do you think the court can do?"

Kang Wenchang was stunned for a moment, but soon he found a flaw and said, "Other things are easy to say, but the Earl of Yongning not only wants to stamp the Governor's seal on this document, but also wants the Governor of Shaanxi and the Governor of the Frontier to stamp it with their seals, and even use the tax revenue of the entire Shaanxi Province, plus the Huama Salt Pond, as collateral. How can this be done?"

Hearing his words, Chen Jitai also became worried. He glanced at Qin Muzhi, and finally the eyes of the three of them were all focused on Sun Chuanting, waiting for him to express his attitude.

Sun Chuanting stood up silently and walked lightly to the outside of the military tent. Chen Jitai and the other three did not dare to disturb him, so they could only follow Sun Chuanting closely and leave the tent together.

At this moment, the drizzle became less frequent and seemed to be about to stop. A ray of light began to appear in the sky, and it seemed that the sun would emerge from the clouds soon.

Sun Chuanting was wearing only a single piece of clothing and he couldn't help shivering as he stood in the misty drizzle. At this moment, Sun Cheng, his old servant who had always been by his side, came forward and put a cloak on his shoulders.

Sun Chuanting didn't seem to feel anything. He walked forward another ten steps in a daze, looking at the flag of the commander-in-chief of the central army not far away. His eyes were full of unwillingness and his teeth were chattering from gnashing.

Chen Jitai and the other three knew that he was struggling with his inner thoughts and no one dared to disturb him. The family guard Ma Weizhong stood ten steps behind Sun Chuanting, his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist, glancing around at everything with a serious expression.

Even in the central military camp of the Earl of Yongning, Ma Weizhong never left Sun Chuanting's side, guarding his safety at all times. Looking at Ma Weizhong's posture, it seemed that he could die for Sun Chuanting at any time.

…………

Through the Xuanfu Trading Company, the Earl of Yongning could lend two million taels of silver to the Sanbian Governor's Office, which had to be offset by three years of taxes from the entire province of Shaanxi and three years of output from the Huama Salt Pond.

Moreover, the two million taels were not all real money. They included the cost of Sun Chuanting purchasing 5,000 Yunzhou quick guns, 5,000 sets of armor, 600 medium-sized artillery pieces, 300 chariots, and the cost of equipping 10,000 people with weapons, which cost nearly 200,000 taels of silver.

In addition, many miscellaneous items such as food, gunpowder, and artillery shells had to be purchased from Xuan Da, and these expenses alone cost nearly 100,000 taels of silver.

But even so, among the 250 taels of silver that Yongning Earl lent to Sun Chuanting, there were still 1 million taels of Xuanzhen military notes and 500,000 taels of Xuanzhen silver dollars. Although these military notes and silver dollars had not yet been circulated throughout the province of Shaanxi, they could be used to pay the soldiers of the Yongyi Army that he had borrowed, and could also be used to purchase military equipment, food and other materials for Xuanfu.

In fact, what Sun Chuanting didn't know was that Yongning Earl Zhang Cheng had no shortage of real money. The reason why he mixed military notes and silver dollars into the loan of 2 million taels was just to take the opportunity to expand the scope of use of military notes and silver dollars.

In addition to the above contents, there are many other clauses that seem shocking to Sun Chuanting, and some of them even seem unreasonable to him.

For example, allowing the Yongyi Army to send officials to Shaanxi to supervise taxation in various parts of Shaanxi made Sun Chuanting very dissatisfied and even felt that this was a great humiliation.

Not to mention that Sun Chuanting could not accept this clause, he believed that the entire Shaanxi officialdom would not accept this arrangement either!

Originally, Sun Chuanting came to ask for help from the Earl of Yongning with great enthusiasm. In his opinion, if the assistance was agreed, it must be free of charge. How could he have imagined that it would turn out like this?

Is this still called aid?

This is simply blackmail!

  But the situation is stronger than the person. Even if Sun Chuanting is unwilling or even a little angry, what can he do?

Should we just leave like that? If so, how will we govern Shaanxi after arriving in Xi'an? How will we train another elite force of 20,000 Shaanxi soldiers?

Take loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness?

  At this moment, Sun Chuanting knows better than anyone that in today's chaotic world, loyalty, filial piety, benevolence and righteousness are just bullshit. You can't help but fart, but you can't take it too seriously!

If he wanted to train another 20,000-man Shaanxi army, he would need money, food, guns, chariots, and armor and weapons, and he, the Earl of Yongning, had all of these. Sun Chuanting really wanted to curse the heavens. How come the world had become like this after he came out of prison for three years?

Looking back to the past, when he succeeded Lu Xiangsheng as the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, and was appointed governor of various towns to send troops to support the king, and was awarded the Imperial Sword, he, the Earl of Yongning, was still just a small guerrilla with just over a thousand soldiers under his command.

But now the times have changed. Zhang Cheng has become the commander-in-chief with tens of thousands of soldiers, while he himself has become a small governor of Shaanxi with only a thousand soldiers.

Although Sun Chuanting is a proud man, he is not an inexperienced angry young man after all. Moreover, after spending three years in prison, he has become more stable.

Furthermore, the words that Earl Yongning said to him at the previous dinner also took effect at this moment. Sun Chuanting, who had made the decision, raised the corners of his mouth, and a smile instantly appeared on his face.

At present, the first priority is to manage Shaanxi and train an elite Shaanxi army. Only in this way can we have the strength to eliminate bandits for the court and fulfill the lofty mission entrusted to us by the emperor.

  The document signed with Earl Yongning now is the first step for me to govern Shaanxi. As for the future, I will leave it to the future to decide!

…………

After a long time, Sun Chuanting, the governor of the three borders of Shaanxi, turned around and walked back to his military tent with his hands behind his back. Chen Jitai and others followed him back, but Ma Weizhong stood outside the tent door and continued to stick to his mission.

Sun Chuanting pointed to the document on the table and said calmly, "Use the seal. All the conditions proposed by Earl Yongning are accepted. There is no need to negotiate with him. After using the seal, send it to Earl Yongning immediately. As for the official seals of the governor and governor, I will ask them to use them after I enter Shaanxi."

Kang Wenchang seemed to be still a little angry, and said: "Governor, you must not agree to this! This amount of money has almost completely restricted my internal affairs. If I agree to all of it, the whole of Shaanxi will be in the hands of Xuanzhen. How should we manage it?"

He said angrily: "Although Qin is weak, it is not something that outsiders can easily humiliate. As long as we are still alive, we must not make such a promise to him, Earl Yongning. We must fight to the death so that he will repent and generously help us!"

In Kang Wenchang's opinion, they came here with great enthusiasm, and if Zhang Cheng still had a bit of loyalty in his heart, he should make a generous donation, instead of blackmailing them.

Qin Muzhi was very clear-headed. He continued, "When a governor enters Shaanxi, he must have his own troops and horses, so that he can realize his ambitions. Otherwise, he will be hindered by the officials and nobles in Shaanxi and will achieve nothing.

The strongest army in the world today is none other than "Yong Yi". If we can borrow one or two thousand elite soldiers to accompany us into Shaanxi, it will not only be a simple matter of intimidating the villains. The governor will also have something to rely on when he wants to check the land and rectify the military administration.

Moreover, recruiting brave men and training soldiers requires a large amount of money and grain. Even if the governor's entry into Shaanxi goes smoothly, it will still take time to establish farmland and collect grain. But if one can borrow ready-made money and grain, one can form an army that year without a protracted period of time.

Moreover, although Earl Yongning stated that it was a loan, he did not charge us any interest. All the things he listed were just to ensure that the principal could be recovered in the future. This is the biggest benefit for me!"

Indeed, as Qin Muzhi said, although the Earl of Yongning listed many rules and regulations, it was actually still an interest-free loan, which was a great benefit to Sun Chuanting.

It was precisely because of this that Sun Chuanting finally decided to accept all of the terms of the Earl of Yongning and no longer put up any resistance.

  The first reason was, of course, that time was pressing and he couldn't afford to argue here; the second reason was that he was afraid that if he continued to argue, what would happen if Earl Yongning found out that there was no interest agreement?

But Sun Chuanting never imagined that the interest-free loan was a huge trap set for him by Earl Yongning. What Zhang Cheng cared about was not the interest - he had big ambitions!

Although Kang Wenchang agreed with Qin Muzhi's words, he raised another question: "There is another point. We are paying so much money to the borrowed Yongyi Army, so how should we treat the newly recruited braves?"

When he said this, Chen Jitai and Qin Muzhi were both stunned. They looked at each other and shook their heads secretly, indicating that they had not thought of this.

"The Yongyi Army entered Shaanxi as guest soldiers, so their treatment was naturally slightly better than that of the local officers and soldiers."

Sun Chuanting finally spoke, and he continued: "After we enter Shaanxi, the number of newly recruited warriors will be halved accordingly!"

Kang Wenchang then raised a sharp question: "Governor, what about the various camps in Shaanxi, such as the troops of Zuo Liangyu, Zheng Jiadong, Niu Chenghu, etc.?"

"Before the inspection and verification, the salary will still be paid according to the original amount."

Sun Chuanting continued without hesitation: "For all the battalions that have passed my assessment, the monthly salary of the infantry will be reduced to two taels of silver, and the monthly salary of the cavalry will be reduced to four taels of silver. The monthly salary will be paid according to the regulations, and there will be no arrears!"

He had grasped the root cause of the army's poor combat effectiveness in the late Ming Dynasty. At the same time, he was so generous because he decided to borrow two million taels from the Earl of Yongning.

Kang Wenchang had nothing to say at this point, but he still reminded him: "Governor, if the matter of using the taxes of the entire province of Shaanxi as collateral is leaked out, it may trigger criticism from court officials. Then all officials will rise up to attack you, and you will be in an irreparable situation!"

Sun Chuanting suddenly stood up from the big chair, stood with his hands behind his back expressionlessly, and said with a stern and sharp look, "We are at the mercy of others, and we have no room for bargaining now!

  Time waits for no one. We do not have the leisure to negotiate with Lord Yongning again and again. Every day we delay here will make our future affairs more difficult!

Moreover, a man should make decisive decisions when necessary. We are people who are doing great things, so how can we be fussy and hesitant like women and children?"

Kang Wenchang still couldn't help but say: "I hope the governor will think twice. If some of the things in this document are leaked...especially the tax mortgage and official supervision..."

Sun Chuanting waved his hand to stop him from talking any further, snorted coldly, and then said: "If I don't use it to offset it, how can Earl Yongning lend me money? Is it just relying on my mouth?"

He picked up the document in his hand, shook it and said, "There are many items in this case, but if I take out one of them, the impeachment memorials from all the officials will be enough to drown me.

It's the same as death, if one thing is acceptable, why wouldn't ten or a hundred things be unacceptable?"

Sun Chuanting showed a very determined expression on his face, and said: "It doesn't matter if the officials impeach me. As early as when I left the capital, I had the idea of ​​sacrificing my life. As long as I can repay the emperor's kindness, I have nothing to fear even if I die!"

He looked around at the three trusted aides in the military tent, his eyes full of eagerness, and said loudly: "Gentlemen, my life and death have long been disregarded! Are you willing to follow me, work together, and accomplish great things?"

"You treat me like a great man, I will repay you like a great man!"