Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 245 High Military Pay
There may be no one in this world who doesn't want to be an emperor. People who don't want to be either cerebral palsy or idiots. The key is that the emperor doesn't just want to be an emperor. He has to have the strength to overthrow the current court.

Sometimes Li Jing also wanted to rebel, overthrow Daming, and become emperor himself.

But to rebel, the whole country must be smashed to pieces, which is against Li Jing's original intention.

Li Jing's original intention was to save the fate of the Chinese nation, improve the lives of ordinary people, and change the decadent feudal system.

In order to achieve this goal, Li Jing can do anything, and there is no grievance that he cannot bear.

In Li Jing's mind, the imperial court was not his biggest enemy, nor were the bandits, not even Hou Jin.

Li Jing's biggest enemy is actually just a corrupt system.

To change the decadent system, the first thing is that the emperor can only be a symbol of the country and cannot have administrative power.

If he becomes the emperor, in order to ensure the implementation of his government orders, he must not let the emperor have no right to speak, so that making the emperor a symbol of the country will become empty talk.

Since Li Jing didn't want to be emperor, there was no need to rebel. Therefore, Li Jing would not consider rebelling unless it was absolutely necessary.

Although Li Jing didn't want to rebel, Yuan Keli's support made Li Jing full of confidence.

Yuan Keli can be regarded as a veteran of the four dynasties of the Ming Dynasty, and his loyalty to the Ming Dynasty is beyond doubt.But now he actually supports Li Jing's rebellion, which shows how disappointed he is with Zhu Youjian.

Although what Li Jing did was selfish to a certain extent, even a blind man could see that it was for the sake of Daming Jiangshan. If Li Jing had no soldiers in his hand, he would not even talk like a fart. Zhu Youjian actually asked Li Jing to hand over the soldiers When he came out, he actually didn't want Li Jing to do things.

If Li Jing is not allowed to do things, then no one can save the Chinese nation.

Seeing that Yuan Keli's mood was somewhat weakened, Li Jing smiled, patted Yuan Keli's back lightly and said: "Sir, don't worry, the emperor's order is just a test, this matter is not yet decided, we can take it easy." response."

Yuan Keli shook his head, sighed and said, "Although it's a temptation, it's hard to deal with it! We can't hide how many soldiers we have. You brought [-] soldiers and horses to escort food to Henan for disaster relief. This is what everyone saw with their own eyes. See, it is impossible to hide it from others. Pingyang Mansion is adjacent to Zezhou, and bandits are rampant in Zezhou. After you leave, how can the family guard the place without soldiers? The troops left behind will not be lower than the troops taken away, that is to say, at least You can't hide the [-] soldiers, if you lie to the emperor, you will give the emperor an excuse to deal with you."

Li Jingwen nodded silently. After thinking for a while, Li Jing suddenly smiled and said, "Sir, actually, I don't think it's necessary to keep the number of soldiers in my hands from the emperor, and I can hand them over to the emperor."

Seeing that Yuan Keli was slightly astonished, Li Jing smiled and said: "Sir, don't forget, our regular soldiers, the lowest third-class soldiers are paid three taels of silver every month, and the first-class soldiers are paid three taels of silver per person. Five taels of silver per month, and those non-commissioned officers and lieutenant officers, the military pay is even more, on average, each person costs about seven taels of silver per month, which is almost three times that of the most elite Guan Ning cavalry in Ming Dynasty. The army’s salary is in arrears, how can I pay these soldiers under my command. The monthly salary of our [-] regular soldiers is more than [-] taels of silver, and the emperor vomits blood?”

Yuan Keli's eyes lit up when he heard this: the emperor wants these soldiers to go, at least pay these soldiers according to the current rate.If it is lower than the current salary, I am afraid that these soldiers will be dispersed immediately, and they will naturally return to Li Jing's side after they are dispersed.It is impossible for Zhu Youjian not to understand the stakes, but if the salary is paid in full, the emperor simply cannot afford so much money.

Thinking of this, Yuan Keli smiled and said: "Yes, tell the emperor the truth about the situation of these soldiers, and let him handle it himself! In addition, except for the most elite 15 soldiers, the rest including recruits and auxiliary soldiers, all the troops will be told. Your Majesty, he can take it all if he wants, these soldiers together will get at least [-] taels of silver per month, let’s see if he can afford it.”

Li Jing nodded with a smile and said: "Yes! Didn't the emperor want my soldiers? Give them all to him, and see what he can do to support so many soldiers. I'll ask someone to hand over the roster of soldiers to the imperial envoy. It's time to pay this month's military salary, let the emperor pay us once."

Yuan Keli stroked his beard and said with a smile: "I just hope that the imperial envoy won't be frightened into a bad thing when they see our military pay."

"Hahaha!" Li Jing and Yuan Keli looked at each other and laughed.

After discussing with Yuan Keli again, Li Jing ordered people to take out the roster. After taking out the roster of Hongshanling veterans separately, Li Jing ordered people to carry the roster to the imperial envoy.

Seeing that Li Jing was carrying two big boxes, the imperial envoy thought that Li Jing was giving him a gift at first, but when he was struggling to accept the gift, Li Jing smiled and said: "Master imperial envoy, Li has already done what the emperor entrusted to you. , These are the rosters of Mr. Li's subordinates, and the number has also been counted. There are 5000 new recruits, auxiliary soldiers and regular soldiers, including 1 regular soldiers, 1 auxiliary soldiers, and 5000 new recruits. Please The imperial envoy has a look."

The imperial envoy didn't understand the meaning of regular soldiers, auxiliary soldiers, and recruits. He took out a roster from the box in doubt, opened it, and was startled when he glanced at it. Why do soldiers pay so much?"

Li Jing took the roster and glanced at the front, but it was a roster of third-class soldiers.

With a smile, Li Jing said: "My lord, this is only the military salary of the third-class soldiers. Among the regular soldiers, the military salary is the lowest. The second-class soldiers are paid four taels of silver a month, and the first-class soldiers are paid five taels of silver a month. There are also corporals. Sergeant, sergeant, a tael for each rank. And there are officers, and their pay is even higher."

The imperial envoy didn't understand what Li Jing was talking about, so he asked tremblingly, "Master Li, how many corporals, sergeants, and other officers do you have under your command?"

Li Jing leaned over to look at the box, took out a few rosters and handed them to the imperial envoy: "These are the rosters of military officers, sir, please take a closer look. In addition, I have something to tell my lord, there are only a few days left in this month. It's time to pay, since Li has handed over the soldiers to the emperor, please ask the emperor to pay this month's military salary."

The imperial envoy wiped off his sweat and said: "Master Li, don't worry, this envoy was only ordered to inquire, and the emperor didn't say that he will ask for soldiers now. After we reply to the emperor, I will ask the emperor to make a decision."

Li Jingjing nodded and said with a smile: "Then please hurry up and report to the emperor. In my opinion, I should send these rosters to the capital and ask the emperor to have a look. In addition, there is something that I have to tell the emperor. Immediately." Winter clothes are going to be issued, please prepare early, Your Majesty."

"With so much military pay, why do you care about their clothes?" the imperial envoy asked in surprise.

Li Jing smiled and said: "That's natural. Soldiers fight with their lives. The military salary is low. Who wants to fight desperately. The military salary is used by the soldiers to support their families. How can they be allowed to prepare their own military uniforms? Is it true that the imperial court raises soldiers?" , Do you still need to prepare your own military uniform?"

The imperial envoy hastily waved his hand and said: "Of course not, but even the frontier army doesn't have such a high salary as Mr. Li's subordinates. With so many people, how much money do they need a month?"

Li Jing shook his head and said with a smile: "The main reason is that the salaries of the main soldiers are high, and there are not so many auxiliary soldiers. As for the recruits, there are even fewer recruits. Together, the monthly salary of these soldiers is estimated to be about 15 taels of silver."

"15 taels?" the imperial envoy asked in surprise.

Li Jing nodded with a smile: "Of course, the actual cost of 15 taels is not enough. These soldiers still need to eat and dress, at least two thousand shi of grain per month, as well as meat, salt, and cloth. Together, we need at least 2 taels of silver."

Hearing this, the imperial envoy kept wiping the sweat off his face: "My lord Li, I am writing a letter to the emperor right now."

Li Jing waved his hand: "My lord, please go ahead."

……

Forbidden City, Qianqing Palace.

After reading the roster sent by Li Jing, Zhu Youjian's face was ashen.

"You bastard! You bastard! You actually raised so many soldiers! What does he want to do?" Zhu Youjian roared.

Wang Chengen had never seen Zhu Youjian lose his temper before, he was taken aback, and hurriedly comforted him: "Your Majesty calm down, don't let your anger blow you out."

When Zhu Youjian's expression softened a little, Wang Chengen continued: "Your Majesty, in fact, most of the soldiers in Li Jing's hands were recruited when he encircled and suppressed the rogues last year. In order to eliminate the rogues, there is nothing wrong with recruiting soldiers."

"Recruited last year? Why didn't I see it?" Zhu Youjian wondered.

Wang Chengen shook his head, knowing that Zhu Youjian was angry when he saw that Li Jing had recruited so many soldiers, so he didn't look carefully at these rosters.

Wang Chengen stepped forward to open a roster, pointed to the date behind the soldier's name and said: "Please look, your majesty, the time when they joined the army is recorded behind each soldier's name, and it says the winter month of the Chongzhen Renxu year. When is it time for Jing to encircle and suppress the rogues in Pingyang Mansion and Jiangzhou? Li Jing wants to encircle and suppress [-] rogues, how can he do it with only a few thousand civilian troops? How can he do it without recruiting troops?"

Zhu Youjian looked at the date above, and opened several rosters casually, and saw that most of the dates were around the winter month of the Chongzhen Renxu year.

After flipping through a few more books, Zhu Youjian suddenly said, "No, why are these soldiers recruited in the winter moon of the Renxu year? When did he recruit his previous soldiers? Why didn't he hand over those soldiers."

Wang Chengen smiled wryly when he heard this, and thought: That is the foundation of Li Jing's fortune, can he give you those people?Not to mention that you didn't ask Li Jing to hand over all the soldiers in your handbook, even if you asked him to hand over, he wouldn't give it to you!

It's just that these words can't be said to Zhu Youjian after all. After thinking about it, Wang Chengen said: "Your Majesty, when Sun Yi sent these rosters, he also said that these soldiers will be paid soon. Since Li Jing handed over these soldiers to the emperor Then he will not care about the military salary for this month, please ask the emperor to pay these soldiers."

Zhu Youjian was startled, isn't this bullying him for having no money!
Gritting his teeth, Zhu Youjian said harshly: "Isn't it just a month's military salary? How much? I'm out!"

Wang Chengen said in a low voice: "The military salary is 15 taels in total, and there is also the cost of winter clothes, which costs 430 taels, a total of 2 taels of silver."

"Ah! Why are there so many?" Zhu Youjian was shocked.

Wang Chengen shook his head slightly, thinking: Don't you only care about how many soldiers Li Jing raised, but not how much Li Jing spent to raise these soldiers?

Opening a roster, Wang Chengen pointed to the salary behind the soldier's name and said: "Your Majesty, look."

Zhu Youjian took a closer look and was stunned.

(End of this chapter)