open sea

Chapter 278 Ghostwriting
The source of the frontier army’s salary in the Ming Dynasty was extremely complicated. For example, Xuanfu received military salary through various channels including military settlements, democratic movement, Kaizhong, Beijing Yun, and donations.

The sources of salaries are different, and the division of labor at all levels is clear, forming a supply chain with clear levels and close connections. Any error in any of the chains will cause the supply of soldiers and rations to fail.

For example, if the Ministry of Households does not pay full wages, the Ministry of Industry does not pay military supplies, and the Ministry of War does not know the number of soldiers, the result is that, like today, there are endless mutinies, generals are heavily in debt, and the conflict between the payment department and the payment department is becoming more and more acute.

The reason is that it is in a period of great change.

The Ming army changed from a producer to a pure consumer supported by the state. At the same time, from the north, the increase in the recruitment of guest soldiers brought a series of changes including the status of military officers and the contradictions between soldiers and generals.

This is an urgent problem for Chen Mu to solve.

The coal mining industry can solve the problem for the Xuan government, but it can solve the symptoms rather than the root cause. Just like increasing taxes, it cannot fundamentally solve the big problem of the sharp increase in the border army's salary.

In the final analysis, Chen Mu believes that the status of sergeants is the solution. The key to bringing them back from consumers to producers is the most numerous military group in the Ming Dynasty, the Weisuo Army.

"A silk weaving factory in the southern guard can be revived, but the north can't!"

Chen Mu visited the starving and cold craftsmen from the construction site, and then went to the defense line to monitor the guards, and at the same time used his time to collect intelligence from the north.Waiting for him to return to the Xuanfu, I was very emotional.

Shen Jiang definitely felt that Chen Mu was black, but he also heard what Chen Mu meant. This general Zhenshuo was very satisfied with the amount of silver taels, and he planned to set the price at this price in the future.

The new aide, Zhao Shizhen, is very studious. Everything in Xuanfu is new to him. At first, he was afraid that the work in General Zhenshuo's mansion would not be handled well. Only after he came did he realize that not only is it not difficult, but it is also very interesting.

Chen Mu arranged for him five personal soldiers, one to take care of daily life, two literate and arithmetic assistants to the secretary, and the other two to serve as guards, grooms, and messengers. Their daily work is to follow General Chen to walk here and see There, everything is novel and interesting, which is in line with his youthful curiosity.

"The general is in the southern guard, running a silk weaving factory, revitalizing it?"

"Drink two sips of water first, come and get a pen and paper!" Chen Mu took two sips of warm water, and then said to Zhao Shizhen: "The current guard is dead. It is said that we have a million troops, but what about the actual soldiers? A 60% difference is basically a normal phenomenon, let’s count the [-] main army, what use are these flag soldiers and their families, a million people, to the country?”

"If you talk about common people, the taxation and labor they can provide is far inferior to that of ordinary people; if you talk about sergeants, their role in war is far inferior to that of soldiers! It's a pity to eat tasteless like chicken ribs and discard them. To be able to watch the guards corrupt, everyone knows, but no one can solve it!"

The general's mansion sent the paper and pen, and Zhao Shizhen was staring at the court and the public. Yun Zhiwei No. 1 told about the guard in his eyes. He was listening intently, but when he saw the paper and pen, he couldn't help but look away. past.

The paper is made of high-quality five-color powder and cut into squares, but the pen is different. The hard charcoal pens commonly used by craftsmen are used, but the wood chips are slightly more delicate.It's not that Zhao Shizhen has never seen this kind of pen, but he has never seen this kind of pen held in the hands of a general.

Chen Mu just wrote and drew on the paper with a pen, and his handwriting was many times stronger than that of his brush, so he ignored Zhao Shizhen's novelty, and then said: "The current guards, on the surface, can give you money in a year. The two capitals and the thirteen provinces provide some rice and noodles for taxation, but is it realistic?"

The rice paper looks like a pattern of forks, with official titles such as Banner Army, Small Banner, General Banner, Hundred Households, and Thousand Households written on it: "Layer upon layer of exploitation, private offices are more important than public offices. A guard generally cultivates only half of the fields. In Nanyangwei, I saw military fields being rowed into the sea; in Wanquan, I saw military fields being rowed outside the Great Wall, heh."

"It's not that it's not good to row outside the Great Wall. It's a good thing for the king's land in the world, but it's the same as what the officials say. Just listen to it. If the banner army dare not go out to farm, it's useless. The result of exploitation is What?" Chen Mu paused heavily on the paper, and said, "A family of four is given a lot of rice in January, and the banner army doesn't have enough rice to feed their families. What do they use to supply the main army?"

"The court always says that a commander can't do without soldiers, and this group of people raises three to five hundred soldiers. It seems that they can fight, and everyone avoids it. Turn a blind eye. But in fact? A guard commander should have [-] elite soldiers!"

Zhao Shizhen nodded. He was also very encouraged by Chen Mu's enterprising attitude. This was the purpose of coming to Xuanfu with Chen Mu.The so-called literati travel to the curtain, few people do things purely for the curtain master, they also use this process to learn and sharpen themselves, and use the principles learned in the sage books to see the truth.

At this point, Zhao Shizhen is absolutely satisfied with Chen Mu, the mastermind, and he can learn a lot.While this general is a bit of a waste, what a piece of paper!He took a charcoal pen and wrote and drew on it.

"Minggong wants to revive the guard army, the first thing is silver taels. Now that the silver taels are already there, how should we proceed?"

"Just like what Chen Mu said at the beginning, a silk weaving factory in the south can solve the problem, but not in the north." Chen Mu raised his hand and smiled, "So there must be a Wanquan Military Weapons Bureau, and the subordinates of the Military Weapons Bureau have made military uniforms A woolen factory for military quilts, a gun factory for making bird guns and cannons, an armor factory for making swords and spear armor, and a military horse farm for training and domesticating horses."

"The quilts under the wool spinning factory can make a profit for the Dusi. In addition to supplying the cotton-padded quilts for the Dusi quilts, they can also weave wool and knit sweaters with wool, and then sell them outside; the gun factory... What's wrong?"

When Chen Mu talked about the wool spinning factory, seeing Zhao Shizhen hesitated to speak, he immediately asked. Zhao Shizhen asked a little embarrassedly: "General, where did the wool come from?"

"Do you think I can spit wool? It must be from beyond the Great Wall, so I have to find me to answer."

"The Gunpao and Armor factories need iron, and they must have their own iron and steel factories. Therefore, among the craftsmen called this time, there are experts in furnace making, iron and steel making. In addition to them, there are also brick makers and brick kilns. Jingdezhen Porcelain The workers know how to resist fire and how to raise the temperature of the furnace, and Wanquan uses their skills to make iron and fry steel."

This alone is not so good, but if the lathe is saved, the processing will be different.

"After this is supplied to the military, it can also earn some money for civilian use. The money can be fed back to the horse farm. Horses cost money, but they must be obtained. I will also count on this to improve my horse breed in the future. There are tall horses in the West. They can tow heavy artillery."

Zhao Shizhen was eager to move when he heard it, and now Chen Mu had a lot of work on his hands, obviously he came at the right time, General Chen said that these would not be meaningless showing off, and there would always be a big responsibility entrusted to him.

As a result, General Chen choked Zhao Shizhen back with his next sentence.

"You can't help with these things!"

That's right, General Chen just showed off meaninglessly, and organized his thoughts for himself by showing off.

"But there is another matter right now, and you really need to do this matter." Chen Mu looked at the disappointed Zhao Shizhen and smiled, and said, "I want to write a letter to the cabinet and the emperor. For the generals above the banner and below the commander, the handbook has already been written, and you can transcribe a copy."

Zhao Shizhen looked at Chen Mu with drooping eyebrows...and said that I was not here to write for you!
(End of this chapter)