Ming Dynasty: A mere unruly commoner is rebelling against the heaven?

Chapter 165 I hope I will never need this army!

"yes, Sir."

Yang Qing took a deep breath, organized his words, and then spoke.

"But the two ministers not only reduced the amount of arms reported by Xuanfu this year by half, but also asked the general to be more restrained in the food and salary of Xuanfu."

Yang Tong nodded solemnly: "Your Majesty has just checked the accounts, and the situation is tense. It is understandable that the Ministry of War cuts the amount of arms by half."

"As for the reduction in food and wages, I know it even if they don't say it."

"I'm ready to pay part of the military pay owed last year to the soldiers below, so as to avoid the limelight."

Yang Tong felt better: "Is that all?"

"besides……"

Yang Qing gritted his teeth and said, "The two ministers still demanded their dividends, not a bit less!"

"what?!"

Yang Tong was furious and suspected that he had heard it wrongly.

If the Ministry of War cut its arms supply in half, it would be equivalent to cutting their income in half.

At the same time, he would have to be more frugal in spending on food and wages, which would be another huge loss.

Yang Tong had already given in to this point, but these two people from Jiangnan were still so aggressive and wanted the same amount of dividends as before.

Where would he find the money?
Should he pay for them out of his own pocket?

"These two old bastards are going too far!"

Yang Tong slammed the table hard, scaring Yang Qing and Zhou Hongyi in the tent.

Yang Qing was afraid that Yang Tong would act impulsively, so he quickly spoke out to dissuade him: "Brother, the two ministers are after all the emperor's close ministers, they are in high positions and have great power, we must not offend them."

"Besides, this is a sensitive period. The two ministers have also helped a lot in this matter. Yu Shen means... this silver should be given to..."

"Humph!"

Yang Tong snorted coldly: "Your brother-in-law pretends to be a good person inside and out. He has said all the good things."

"This……"

Yang Qing looked a little embarrassed and didn't say anything else.

Yang Tong said gloomily: "If they want this silver, then I will give it to them!"

Suddenly, Yang Tong looked at Zhou Hongyi who was standing aside and asked, "Have all the military salaries been distributed?"

Zhou Hongyi was so frightened that he shuddered all over and quickly replied: "General, there are 90,000 soldiers in total, one tael of silver per person, a total of 90,000 taels of silver, which have all been distributed."

Xuanfu had the function of protecting the capital and was the most important border town. At its peak, there were 150,000 soldiers garrisoning Xuanfu.

But since the Battle of Tumu, Xuanfu's military strength has been greatly reduced. After decades of recovery, Xuanfu should have had 130,000 soldiers.

But not long ago, after the Tatar prince launched a surprise attack on Xuanfu, Xuanfu suffered heavy losses and its military strength dropped to 90,000.

The annual salary of ordinary soldiers in Xuanfu was 15 taels, which was equivalent to the food and clothing expenses of an ordinary family for three years.

Part of the 15 taels of military pay was paid by the Ming court in the form of grain using the Kaizhong Law.

In other words, under normal circumstances, an ordinary soldier should be able to get seven or eight taels of silver in cash after guarding Xuanfu for a year.

But the actual situation was that not only was the Ming court in arrears with military pay, but officials at all levels also took advantage of the situation, so not much cash could be transported to Xuanfu every year.

Fortunately, there are policies from the top and countermeasures from the bottom. When the border generals know that they will not get the full salary, they often choose to draw the empty salary.

For example, Xuanfu now has only 90,000 troops, but the number he reported to the court is 110,000.

The pay of the extra 20,000 soldiers was taken by Yang Tong.

By eating some of the military pay from other soldiers, Yang Tong could at least have enough food and clothing.

After such exploitation at all levels, the actual amount of cash the soldiers could get in a year would not exceed five taels.

Yang Tong gave out one or two taels of silver in one go this time, which was already a very generous amount.

Of course, the best time for the Xuanfu soldiers was when Yang Hong was the commander-in-chief of Xuanfu.

At that time, let alone the full salary of fifteen taels of silver, when Yang Hong's business was good, the soldiers under him could even receive more than twenty taels of silver a year.

With such a good leader, who wouldn’t want to follow him?

Yang Tong nodded and said with gritted teeth: "Prepare the silver for the two ministers and send it to Jiangnan."

"If it's not enough, I'll pay him the difference myself!"

"Yes, General Yang!"

After Zhou Hongyi received the order, he asked cautiously, "What about General Yang? Are the warehouses around here still going to be burned?"

"Since His Majesty has decided not to investigate, what is there to burn?"

"Burning down the warehouse now will only arouse suspicion for no reason."

Yang Tong had heard the news these days, so he naturally did not sit in Xuanfu waiting for news. He had already been trying to find a way to settle the account.

Yang Tong said, and suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Where is Yang Kui? Ask Yang Kui to come over."

"Yes!"

Zhou Hongyi immediately took the order and soon walked into the tent with a young general.

"Dad, are you looking for me?"

Yang Kui walked into the tent and asked curiously.

Yang Tong frowned and said in a very dissatisfied tone: "What father?!"

"I've told you so many times, this is called a rank in the military!"

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief!"

Yang Kui's expression suddenly became serious, knowing that Yang Tong was going to assign him a task.

"How are the training of your 20,000 personal soldiers going?" Yang Tong asked meaningfully, "Are they loyal?"

Yang Kui answered firmly and forcefully: "Your Excellency, the training has been completed."

"They have the best food, the best housing, the best weapons and armor, and the annual military pay is adequate."

"There is absolutely no question about their loyalty!"

"Okay! Go to the storehouse tomorrow to get 100,000 taels of silver, and give them 5 taels of silver each."

"Yes, Commander-in-Chief!"

After receiving the order, Yang Kui asked curiously, "Hasn't their salary been paid once before?"

"Why do we have to pay them again now?"

"What happened?"

Yang Tong shook his head and sighed: "Nothing, just preparing for a rainy day."

"I just hope we never have to use this army."

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere in the military tent became silent.

Yang Kui, Yang Qing, and Zhou Hongyi looked at each other, with shock and fear in their eyes.
……

Forbidden City.

Jingren Palace.

After Chen Yuanyuan returned from the Qianqing Palace, she sent someone to invite Liu Rushi and Dong Xiaowan over.

As soon as Dong Xiaowan entered the palace, she asked curiously, "Sister Ning, what's the matter? Why are you calling us here so urgently?"

"Letting you come here must be for good reasons."

Chen Yuanyuan pulled Liu Rushi, who was standing behind her, over and asked, "Sister Liu, why are you dressed so plainly today?"

Liu Rushi was a little embarrassed: "Sister Ning urged me to hurry up, I didn't want to keep you waiting for a long time, so I didn't dress up carefully."

Although the eight of them grew up together, Liu Rushi was still the older sister.

But now, Chen Yuanyuan has the highest position and is the most favored by Zhu Youtang.

Among the eight people, Chen Yuanyuan has begun to be respected.

Since Chen Yuanyuan invited them to meet, they naturally did not dare to delay any longer.

Chen Yuanyuan pulled Liu Rushi to sit down in front of the dressing table and said with a smile: "No matter how anxious you are, you can't neglect to dress yourself up."

"Otherwise, when His Majesty comes later and sees an ugly girl, he won't like you anymore."

"what?!"

Liu Rushi and Dong Xiaowan exclaimed at the same time: "Your Majesty will come over later?"

"Yes." Chen Yuanyuan shook her head, quite proudly: "Your Majesty just promised me that you will have supper in my Jingren Palace tonight."

"I asked you to come here because I hope you can show your faces in front of His Majesty more."

"Ah!" Dong Xiaowan covered her face suddenly.

"Thank you, Sister Ning, for thinking of me, but why didn't you tell me earlier? I haven't dressed up properly yet."

Dong Xiaowan stamped her feet, feeling a little anxious.

Liu Rushi was even more restless: "Thank you for your kindness, Sister Ning, but how can I meet His Majesty in this state?"

"Why don't you let me go back and wash up and get ready before coming to Sister Ning's Jingren Palace."

As Liu Rushi said this, she was about to stand up.

At this moment, Liu Rushi was feeling panic-stricken, anxious and afraid, yet also eager and expectant.

This contradictory feeling stemmed from the fact that Zhu Youtang had never summoned him to sleep with him.

Liu Rushi was gifted and beautiful since childhood, and was also good at poetry and prose. She was unparalleled in talent and beauty.

She grew up being praised by others, so naturally she developed a proud personality.

This was vividly demonstrated when she took the initiative to tell Zhu Youtang about her life story during the previous talent show.

And the final result did not disappoint her, she was successfully selected by Zhu Youtang.

But since she officially entered the palace, she found that everything had changed.

She was no longer the favored girl at the center of the crowd, and the people around her no longer revolved around her.

Everyone in this palace serves only one person, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Youtang.

Everything in the harem seemed to change with Zhu Youtang's mood and likes and dislikes.

During this period of time, some people enjoyed great success, but fell into the abyss overnight.

It was the same person who, after two months of imprisonment, suddenly rose from the ashes like a phoenix, regained the emperor's favor and once again surpassed the entire harem.

Some people, however, have been blessed by the emperor continuously and have also gained a place in the harem.

But what about yourself?
Zhang Wan'er went through a series of events, from being the most favored lady to being banished to the cold palace, and then regaining her status from the cold palace to becoming the most favored lady in the harem again.

And she had never been favored by Zhu Youtang.

All her original pride was consumed by the waiting that seemed to never end day after day.

Now, not only did she lose her previous pride and nobleness, she even felt a little inferior in her heart.

That's why Liu Rushi felt so conflicted when she heard that Zhu Youtang had returned, fearing that she would not be able to attract Zhu Youtang's attention.

Chen Yuanyuan smiled and pushed Liu Rushi back to her seat: "Sister Liu, why bother to go back so much?"

"Don't I have all the rouge and powder here?"

"You and Sister Dong, use the things I have here to get dressed up together."

(End of this chapter)