Starting in Saarhu, it is a bit difficult to make a comeback.

Chapter 173 Apocalypse forms a new army, Liaodong mutiny leads to pay disputes (please subscribe for monthly tickets)
Although Li Xianzhong scolded his mother in his heart, he also knew that talking nonsense with Sun Chengzong here was of no use.

After all, Mr. Sun Ge was just a microphone for Zhu Youxiao.

Today, there are only 9 people in Liaodong, and the monthly salary is 1 million taels. In fact, the annual salary is only 162 million taels.

It is too cheap to exchange this little money for peace in Liaodong.

What's more, there are copper mines and horse markets in Liaodong to repay the imperial court. Now Zhu Youxiao is relying on this year's 81 taels and refusing to pay, which is almost equivalent to the imperial court not spending cash in Liaodong.

Of course, the annual supply of food and fodder for the army and the replenishment and replacement of armaments are also a considerable expense for the court.

But these are not direct disbursements of silver, and they are not so urgent. Except for food and grass, the progress can be controlled.

However, Li Xianzhong must still express his dissatisfaction, otherwise Zhu Youxiao is likely to do something even more egregious.

Li Xianzhong said: "Since the 47th year of Wanli, Liaodong's salary has never been in arrears. This is the current situation in Liaodong."

"I am well aware of the difficulties faced by the imperial court today, so I have repeatedly reduced the staff and reduced expenses."

"Now that the imperial court only pays half the salary, it will definitely arouse the dissatisfaction of the soldiers. If they do anything outrageous and cause turmoil in Liaodong, I am afraid that the imperial court will lose more than the gain."

Sun Chengzong knew that Li Xianzhong was threatening the court.

On the one hand, Zhu Youxiao was forced to do this because he had no choice but to do so. Indeed, the financial gap of the imperial court was now too large.

In addition, he also meant to create some chaos in Liaodong, just like before Wanli sent eunuch Gao Huai to Liaodong to conquer and extort money, just to add chaos to the Li family in Liaodong and prevent Liaodong from becoming a monolith.

He had no choice but to say with a smile: "In fact, the military salaries of the towns on the nine sides, and even the three major battalions of the capital, have long been in arrears. The imperial court is also trying to find ways to increase revenue, and for the time being, it can only trouble the Duke of Liao to overcome it!"

Li Xianzhong said: "This guild has written to request your Majesty to restore the 'Liao pay'. If this continues, there will definitely be chaos in Liaodong."

No wonder Li Xianzhong was angry. Wei Zhongxian and Tianqi canceled the "Liao pay" and gained a reputation as a people-loving man, but they wanted to withhold military pay from Liaodong.

If you don't have the ability to make money, just continue to collect the "Liao wages" honestly.

After that, Sun Chengzong went to Tongkuandianbao area in Pinglu County.

Naturally, Li Xianzhong was not happy to continue accompanying him, so Yan Mingtai and Zhang Wenbing accompanied the imperial envoy to continue his tour of Liaodong.

Finally, Sun Chengzong took a boat from Yingkou back to the capital after making a tour.

To be honest, Li Xianzhong is not short of money now.

Before the Fushe uprising in Chongming, he got 50 taels of silk, tea and other supplies just from selling arms and warships.

In the end, Zheng Zhilong sold these goods to Japan and Macau and earned a total of 140 million taels of silver.

This 80 taels is nothing.

He had already calculated with Yan Mingtai that even with Liaodong's existing fiscal revenue, as long as there were no serious natural disasters, they would have no problem supporting an army of [-].

What's more, I also have income from North Korea, Ryukyu, Taiwan and Yanzhou, as well as the most profitable smuggling income from Japan.

But his blind concessions, disarmament and opening up of the horse market did not seem to dispel Zhu Youxiao's doubts.

Instead, it made him attack Liaodong even harder.

The imperial court has been trying to contain Liaodong since the Wanli Dynasty, but no one dared to really take action against Liaodong.

Now that the Jianzhou Jurchens had just been pacified, Zhu Youxiao attacked him without any scruples.

Or is he just testing his own reaction at the moment? If he can control it easily, will he take further actions next?

It seems that this Ming Dynasty is not chaotic enough. It is because he is too polite to Zhu Youxiao that he gives him time to deal with him.

But this may not be entirely a bad thing.

Although he has never expressed his intention to be independent, anyone with a discerning eye can clearly see that it is almost a matter of time before Liaodong breaks with the imperial court.

At present, the top leaders within Liaodong, both civil and military, will definitely follow him.

Civil and military officials such as Yan Mingtai, governor of Jiliao, Zhang Wenbing, governor of Liaodong, Li Sanshun, commander-in-chief of Kaiyuan, Li Huaizhong, commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan, and Mao Wenlong, commander-in-chief of Liaoyang, would follow them without hesitation even if they rebelled immediately.

Not to mention people like Brother Fan Wencheng, Kong Youde, Geng Zhongming, Mao Yuanyi, and Yu Wanli, they were all promoted by themselves.

However, the officers and soldiers at the bottom may still have some concerns.

After all, rebellion will affect the whole family, and those who are not close associates of the Li family may not be willing to take this risk.

Previously, he had used the opportunity of the abolition to clear out some troops and generals who were not his direct lineage from Liaodong.

It was a good opportunity to take advantage of the lack of pay from the imperial court to increase the soldiers' dissatisfaction with the imperial court.

Also take a look at the thoughts of the generals.

Soon the news spread throughout Liaodong that the imperial court could not pay out the salary and could only receive half of the salary this year.

As expected, the news exploded instantly.

Generals from all over Liaodong protested one after another, and the soldiers also became emotional.

A few years ago, there were still Tatars who could be exterminated, and the reward for beheading was quite generous.

Even if the imperial court has always owed these silver rewards, there are still Jianzhou and the Mongols who can fight against the autumn wind, and the Liaodong soldiers can get some silver or trophies to some extent.

These Liaodong soldiers lived a pretty good life in their childhood, and many of them also married wives after they had money.

Nowadays, many people have wives and children, and the monthly salary of 1 tael and 5 yuan is already very tight.

But now the court has to default on even this small amount of money, how can they accept this?

But soon there was news that Jianzhou had been pacified, and the imperial court was trying to kill the donkey.

Not only did they owe the soldiers their wages, but they even asked the Duke of Liao to lay off more than half of the troops in Liaodong.A few days ago, Mr. Sun Ge visited Liaodong just for this matter. The Duke of Liao was unwilling to lay off a large number of Liaodong soldiers and had already broken up with the court.

The court's payment arrears was just the beginning. Later, there would be more policies against Liaodong, and even the Duke of Liao would be dismissed.

After years of development, the Intelligence Department has already penetrated into every corner of Liaodong.

The speed at which such gossip spreads is astonishing.

The sergeants and generals in Liaodong soon discovered that they were protesting against the wrong target, and it was useless to protest to the Duke of Liao and the governor's office of Liaodong.

Now it is unrealistic for them to go directly to the capital to protest.

You can't go all the way to the capital to petition. Doing so is no different from rebelling.

So someone proposed to cut off the court's silver directly.

Nowadays, the copper mines and horse markets in Liaodong send money directly to the court, so the angry Liaodong border troops rushed into the horse market in Kaiyuan and Guangning. Not only did they beat the court officials who stopped them, but they also rushed into the horse market. warehouse, looting the tax money in the warehouse and the physical goods collected from the merchants.

On the Liaohe River, the officers and soldiers on Liaoyang Road set up a blockade directly in the Liaohe River and detained the imperial copper ship.Claiming to use these copper ingots to pay for his monthly salary.

Of course, in order to ensure that normal business travel would not be affected, Li Xianzhong still sent many people to protect the merchants' goods.

For a time, there was a turmoil on the ground in Liaodong, and a mutiny broke out.

There were even cases where some soldiers surrounded government offices and beat officials to death.

The entire Liaodong was in complete chaos.

Ming soldiers demanding pay were everywhere. The Liao Duke's Mansion in Kaiyuan, the Governor's Office of Jiliao in Liaoyang, and the Governor's Office of Liaodong were all surrounded by soldiers and protested!
Li Sanshun said: "In Fushun Pass and Kuandian Road, there were incidents where sergeants beat officials to death. Now the officials on the list of the Intelligence Department who must be loyal to the imperial court and who are not of the same mind as us have all been beaten to death."

Li Xianzhong said: "Let the governor's office in Liaodong directly replace these officials with our people, and in addition, send some funeral rites to the houses of these officials in the name of the Duke of Liao."

Sun Chengzong's inspection of the nine sides was very laborious. He spent three or four months walking almost the entire Great Wall back and forth.

Tianqi Emperor Zhu Youxiao was also very grateful to his teacher. Everything he did this time was offensive, and there was considerable resistance.

Overall, Sun Chengzong did a good job.

But what he is most concerned about is the actual situation in Liaodong.

Sun Chengzong said: "The Liaodong Army is in very good condition. It is the best in terms of military equipment and combat power! Not only that, a large number of refugees are now flocking to Liaodong. The population of Liaodong is close to 300 million."

"Liaodong's governance is very good. From the perspective of veterans, Liaodong will be self-sufficient in a few years."

After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao frowned and asked: "If the Liaodong army comes to the city, how long can the Beijing camp hold on?"

Sun Chengzong shook his head helplessly and said: "It is impossible for the Beijing camp to block the Liaodong Army. It is good to be able to defend it for one day."

But he added: "Actually, no matter the towns on the nine sides, the Jingying camp cannot resist it. The Jingying camp is really too weak!"

Zhu Youxiao said: "It seems that the Beijing camp is completely abandoned. Now we don't expect these wastes to be reborn. This year, the monthly salary of the three major camps in the capital will only be half."

"With the money I save, I will organize a 3-strong emperor's personal army. I have to trouble Mr. Sun Ge about this matter."

Sun Chengzong originally thought that Emperor Tianqi only implemented the policy of disarmament and arrears of pay due to financial pressure, but he did not expect that His Majesty was so far-sighted.

He said excitedly: "I will live up to your Majesty's expectations and form an army of the emperor as soon as possible that can guard the capital. I also ask your majesty to give the army a name." Zhu Youxiao thought for a while and said: "Just call it 'Habayashi Camp'!"

Sun Chengzong hesitated and said: "Now the Liaodong Army's combat power is too strong, and Shanhaiguan is also under its control. The old minister suggested adjusting the configuration of the nine sides and adding Shanhaiguan to Jizhou Town. In this way, even if there is a change in the court in the future, We can rely on Shanhaiguan to ensure the safety inside the customs."

In fact, it is not that Zhu Youxiao has not considered this issue.

His idea was different from that of Sun Chengzong. He wanted to directly establish a Liaoxi town.With the Liao River as the boundary, a separate military town will be established to the west of the Liao River.

That is to say, the Shanhaiguan and Guangning roads in Li Xianzhong's hands were separated.

However, this matter still needs to be done step by step. After all, I have made a lot of moves against Liaodong recently, and I cannot push Li Xianzhong too hastily all at once.

Although he still trusted Sun Chengzong, this matter still needed to be kept secret, and it was not convenient to reveal his true thoughts to him at this time.

Zhu Youxiao said: "It is better for me to think about this matter again and take into account the feelings of Duke Liao. There is no need to rush."

Although Zhu Youxiao met Sun Chengzong alone in the Nuan Pavilion, some of the conversation between the two was overheard by the young eunuch outside the palace.

Soon the news reached the ears of "Nine Thousand Years Old" Wei Zhongxian.

Zhu Youxiao has been making a lot of moves recently, and more importantly, his moves have completely bypassed the Supervisor of Ceremonies and the Cabinet.

In particular, His Majesty wanted to establish a separate Yulin camp, which made him have to be alert.

Out of obligation as an ally, he still told Mao Yuanyi the news. Currently, the "Carpenter Emperor" had a tendency to gradually lose control, which he had to guard against.

In the final analysis, his ability to "call the wind and rain" in the court was all due to Zhu Youxiao's delegation of power.

At the court meeting the next day, Zhu Youxiao ordered the Ministry of War to cooperate with Sun Chengzong to form a new Yulin camp.

Soon Tian Ji, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, expressed his helplessness because he had no money.

Zhu Youxiao immediately announced that only half of the monthly salary for Liaodong and Jingying would be paid this year, and the other half was owed first.

The money was used to build the Yulin Camp.

Xiong Tingbi, the Minister of War, had no choice but to carry out preparations for the Yulin Camp.

At this time, the British Duke Zhang Weixian said: "The Beijing camp has been dismantled before, and the morale of the soldiers is very low. Now that the monthly salary can no longer be paid on time, I am afraid there will be chaos!"

Zhu Youxiao said: "It's just a temporary arrears of wages. As long as the court collects the arrears of taxes, it will be made up."

Afterwards, he ordered Wei Zhongxian to collect taxes in time and passed the blame to Wei Zhongxian.

Zhang Weixian and others naturally did not dare to challenge Wei Zhongxian, and in the end Zhu Youxiao forcibly passed the resolution.

While the Yulin Camp was being set up in full swing, there was news of the Liaodong Army's "mutiny and pay dispute."

The sergeants demanding pay not only besieged many government offices and killed officials.They even robbed the horse market and seized the copper ship.

Now the Ministry of Revenue is in a hurry. You will only pay 81 taels of military pay to Liaodong for half a year.

If the horse market were to shut down, the loss from the copper mine's shutdown for one year would be almost the same. Wouldn't the imperial court deduct Liaodong's military pay in vain?

Emperor Tianqi Zhu Youxiao was furious and asked Li Xianzhong, Duke of Liao, to investigate the murderer and resume horse trading and copper mine transportation as soon as possible.

Later, a memorial came from the Duke of Liao, Li Xianzhong, pleading guilty and asking for the reinstatement of "Liao pay"!

Li Xianzhong's memorial was quickly supported by most of the courtiers, especially the nobles in the capital!

Although the abolition of "Liao pay" was proposed by the Eunuch Party, at that time they were trying to compete with the Donglin Party and gain a good reputation for themselves.

Now that the Donglin Party has collapsed, there is no need for them to worry too much about their reputation.

Moreover, if the "Liao rates" were not re-imposed, Emperor Tianqi would force them to collect commercial taxes, but in fact they would not be able to collect that much commercial taxes.

Now Feng Quan, who proposed to cancel the "Liao rates", has already been kicked out of Beijing. In order to reduce his own pressure, Cui Chengxiu and others also agreed to restore the "Liao rates".

Although Tianqi Emperor Zhu Youxiao was very reluctant, after all, the "Liao pay" had only been canceled for one year.

Now that he is about to collect money again, the people will definitely say that he has gone back on his word.

But facing the aggressive civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty, he had to make compromises.

In the end, Emperor Apocalypse Zhu Youxiao ordered that the "Liao rates" be re-levied in the fourth year of Apocalypse, but the amount collected was only 7% of the previous amount.

However, even if the newly added "Liao rates" can be collected, it will only be after the autumn harvest, almost next year.

This year, Liaodong and Jingying can still only pay half of their monthly salary.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, Li Xianzhong symbolically punished some officers and soldiers as an explanation to the court, and even recruited several death row prisoners to pay for the lives of those officials.

After doing all this, Li Xianzhong announced that he would sell some properties in the capital and pay out the salary owed to the soldiers by the court first, and it would be a one-time payment.

In this way, these soldiers who received half a year's salary at once would naturally think highly of the Duke of Liao.

After that, every month when he received half his salary, he would become more jealous of the court.

Liaodong's military morale was completely regained by him.

At this time, Fan Wencheng was reporting the situation to Li Xianzhong.

Fan Wencheng is now the commander-in-chief of Nurgan Dusi, and he is a second-grade military attache.

The second-in-command of Nuer Gandu Division, because Li Xianzhong himself serves as the commander-in-chief, Fan Wencheng is now equivalent to the first-in-command.

Since Liaodong is subordinate to the Shandong Chief Envoy Department, there is no chief envoy in Liaodong.

Now Fan Wencheng, as Li Xianzhong's steward, can be said to control the financial power of Liaodong, equivalent to the existence of the chief envoy.

The entire Tianqi three-year income:

Liaodong's commercial tax (including customs tax and commercial tax) revenue is 75 taels of silver.

The income from trade with Mongolia is 30 taels of silver (the opening of the horse market has seriously affected the profits of this area)

Liaodong's commodity sales revenue, represented by Pinglubao, was 85 taels (mainly a large number of copper products sold to Jiangnan, North Korea, and Japan)
The sales revenue of Jingshi was 55 taels of silver (glass and perfume).

The customs revenue and salt sales revenue of North Korea's Incheon Port is 45 taels (last year's Korean War and regime change resulted in a serious decrease in revenue)
Ryukyu's commercial tax and trade income was 19 taels of silver.

The East Ryukyu Company's income from trade and robbery for the whole year was 248 million taels of silver.

The unexpected income was 100 million taels (including blackmailing the Kong family in Qufu, Jin Zidian's contribution, and gun Tatar).

The total income was 657 million taels of silver.

12000 taels of gold derived from the Hongtoushan copper mine.

Fan Wencheng proudly added: "Our income is not much less than that of Ming Dynasty. However, Tianqi's three-year expenses are also quite a lot."

Expenses for the entire three years of Tianqi:

Salary subsidy for officials in Liaodong: 40 taels.

The army's salary subsidy and additional rewards for killing enemies, and pensions for those killed in action: 50 taels.

Pinglubao's fire gun artillery production, research and development and personnel rewards: 60 taels.

Including shipyard construction and personnel, shipbuilding cost: 100 million taels.

Road construction in Liaodong and expansion of Kaiyuan City: 40 taels.

Development investment in Ryukyu and Taiwan: 60 taels.

Expenditure on purchasing grain: 50 taels.

The total expenditure is 400 million taels.

The storage surplus was 257 million taels of silver and 12000 taels of gold.

Currently, there are 503 million taels of silver and 3 taels of gold in Pinglubao's treasury.

In addition, the production and consumption in Liaodong, Yanzhou, Taiwan, Jianzhou Zuowei and other places have been reduced, resulting in a total surplus of 95 shi of rice, millet, wheat, etc., and 150 million shi of sweet potatoes and potatoes.

Today, the granary contains 227 million shi of rice, millet and wheat, and 150 million shi of sweet potatoes and potatoes.

Li Xianzhong didn't expect that his family would be so rich now. It seemed that sea trade was the most profitable.

Just as he was asking about the situation in Taiwan, news came that the Dutch had taken up residence in Penghu and were joining forces with the Spanish to invade Taiwan.

Sun Chuanting asked the navy to go to Taiwan to help in the war.

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