Back to the end of Ming Dynasty to be a warlord

Chapter 285 Call of the Banner

Sure enough, it was the two chief executives. They filed a complaint with Shi Kefa, accusing Yang Chao of oppressing his subordinates, forcing them to leave Xinjiangkou, trying to monopolize the place for evil.

This kind of thing is very serious. In the past few years, it has not been reported that a few military officers have made trouble, openly raised the flag to rebel, and there have been many people who robbed houses and turned grass into bandits. Needless to say, Henan is where the chaos has been divided. It is not clear whether the officers and soldiers are bandits, but this is the case in the Jiangnan area. In Xuzhou and Yongcheng, there are military officers at the general level who take the lead in rebellion.

However, the cause is often due to the outstanding payment of the army, and the officers and soldiers rebelled because they couldn't survive, but this kind of situation does not seem to exist here in Xinjiangkou. There is no reason to rebel, but why did he force his officers just after taking office?

Therefore, Shi Kefa didn't dare to be careless, and immediately sent someone to summon Yang Chao. Based on his understanding of Yang Chao, Yang Chao was not an ordinary military officer who was reckless. He will not take the initiative to rescue Haizhou.

At the same time, Shi Kefa summoned Yang Chao, also wanting to figure it out privately, and finally resolved it privately, and it would be too late when something happened.

Shi Kefa didn't want to encounter a mutiny just after he took office, especially when the troublemaker was a general like Yang Chao. If 1 captive soldiers rebel, I am afraid that [-] to [-] officers and soldiers cannot stop them.

Shi Kefa has other thoughts, that is, he doesn't want to see a strong general like Yang Chao, and be forced to make trouble. He still has the heart to protect Yang Chao. A few days ago, he wrote a letter and tied Yang Chao together. .

Shi Kefa sent someone to call, Yang Chao didn't think too much, and immediately followed. He didn't know that Shi Kefa had already regarded him as a dissatisfied martial artist who would make trouble and mutiny at any time.

When I arrived at the Yamen of the Ministry of War, I saw Shi Kefa sitting upright in the back hall, frowning deeply.

"The last general, Yang Chao, has met Lord Shi!"

Yang Chao saluted respectfully.

"Get up."

Shi Kefa said softly.

Yang Chao stood up, saw Shi Kefa signaled, and immediately sat down at the table.

Shi Kefa backed away at this time: "Yang Chao, what's going on, why did you force the general manager of the left and right departments of Xinjiangkou?"

Yang Chao couldn't help but secretly sighed, these two people really filed a complaint, it seems that they are unwilling to give up, but Shi Kefa's new official took office, obviously he has no friendship with those two military officers, but he has some friendship with Yang Chao.

Although Yang Chao didn't think that Shi Kefa would favor him for personal gain, he probably wouldn't target him regardless of right and wrong.

So Yang Chao came up with a set of arguments that he had thought up a long time ago: "Master Shi has learned a lesson, the officers and soldiers under his command have made great contributions to this Haizhou victory. But the court wiped out all the officers and officers with one sentence. Each of them has a lot of complaints."

Shi Kefa nodded, his face became more gloomy, it was really because of dissatisfaction.

But Shi Kefa persuaded: "This is the idea of ​​the Holy Majesty, as a courtier, you can't harbor resentment."

Yang Chao sighed: "Naturally, the last general dare not harbor resentment, but his subordinates are not rewarded for their meritorious service, and they are full of complaints. These people are not only the heroes of Ming Dynasty, but also the life and death brothers of the last general. So the lower officials promised to help them with some activities, first to find the positions of the two chief executives in Xinjiangkou. Then they discussed with the chief executives of the left and right departments, hoping that they could go to other water camps to free up these two positions .”

Shi Kefa listened and nodded, but he couldn't figure out the key points for a while. For example, why Yang Chao didn't let his subordinates seek military positions in other places, but focused on Xinjiangkou.

But as long as there is no mutiny or trouble, everything is negotiable.

After Shi Kefa heard the complaint from the left and right department chiefs, he really looked through the military records of the Xinjiangkou camp, but found that there should have been five thousand headquarters, but two were abandoned and never recovered. .

Since Yang Chao's subordinates are due to the lack of officials, it is better to push the boat along the way and restore the two thousand headquarters.

Thinking of this, Shi Kefa opened his mouth and said: "Yang Chao, I know your situation. Your generals have many military exploits, but the court also has its own difficulties this time, but don't worry, the court will definitely not treat Zhongliang badly. Although the court I can't reward you for a while, but I can give you power once. There are two front and back departments in Xinjiangkou. I can make the decision and promise you for the time being. You can report the military exploits of the meritorious soldiers when you go back, and I will help you call the shots!"

Hearing that there is such a good thing, it was just an attempt to squeeze out the two idle generals, but unexpectedly got two abandoned thousand generals, but this kind of thing is probably a trivial matter to Shi Kefa , it was not easy for Yang Chao.

In fact, what Yang Chao didn't know was that although the two thousand headquarters had been disbanded, they had not been canceled in the military register and still existed. Therefore, Shi Kefa could restore them without any process. If they had been canceled in the military register long ago Yes, even if Shi Kefa wants to recover, it is not so easy. He has to report to the Ministry of War in Beijing, and even get approved by Emperor Zhu in the end. A barracks with thousands of people is not set up immediately.

However, these two barracks were restored, and they were two abandoned barracks, which meant that not only the two thousand generals, but also the generals, the hundred generals, and ordinary soldiers were all vacant.

It means that Yang Chao can install two thousand generals and four generals, so that all the officers who can make a fortune in this way will be promoted to a higher level.

But it doesn't mean that Yang Chao gave up the two thousand headquarters on the left and right. It's just that Yang Chao doesn't plan to compromise anymore. The two thousand heads each took Yang Chao's 1000 taels of silver, but not only did they not give up their positions, Instead, he sued Yang Chao. If they didn't take the money back then, Yang Chao didn't want to force them, he would just continue talking, but they took the money and sued instead, so don't blame Yang Chao for being unruly.

It's just that there is no good way to deal with them for a while, Yang Chao's own affairs have not been straightened out, especially his own army, and some unexpected problems have appeared.

First of all, there are officers and soldiers. Many of them don't want to continue to be soldiers.

It's not difficult to understand. In the battle of Haizhou this time, Yang Chaoguang was captured, and in the end he got several 10 taels of silver. Even the most ordinary soldiers were allotted 200 taels of silver in the end, and some officers even got 500 taels of silver. Reward silver.

In the past, I came here to serve as a soldier to eat food, but I got rich all of a sudden. It would be abnormal if I didn't have the desire to enjoy myself.

So since returning to Nanjing, there have been soldiers quietly conveying their apologies to Yang Chao through the officers, revealing their desire to go home.

It’s just because of feelings and worries, after Yang Chao gave them a one-month vacation, they still returned to the camp one after another. It’s just that they no longer had the enthusiasm of the past in training. They gathered together and talked all day long about building houses and marry a daughter-in-law.

Soldiers have money in their hands, so they don't want to fight. This situation will exist even in later generations.

It was very common in the Ming Dynasty. In the big concept, soldiers were regarded as the most inferior profession. Only those who could not survive would consider being soldiers. Then it would be very difficult for them to quit before and after their lives. Naturally reasonable.

But this situation is obviously extremely unfavorable to military officers, especially Yang Chao, an 'ambitious man' who purposely controls his own force to gain power.

For example, the rebels Zhang Xianzhong and Li Zicheng, such as the warlords Zuo Liangyu and Zu Dashou, they also faced this situation.

Warlords like Zuo Liangyu and Zu Dashou are often used to looting civilians. Sometimes it is true that there is no supply, but more often they want to loot property. They follow behind the peasant army. The peasant army robs once, and they rob again.

Naturally, these people also got rich. The way Zuo Liangyu and Zu Dashou dealt with it was to let the soldiers spend the money in their hands as soon as possible. They allowed, even condoned, the soldiers to develop the habit of spending money lavishly, and encouraged them to eat a lot. Drinking, whoring and prostitution, the money the soldiers robbed often quickly turned into pleasure, and then there was a desire to continue to rob, so that they could continue to serve as soldiers.

Of course, Yang Chao doesn't want his subordinates to develop such a bad habit and become a soldier with him. Yang Chao hopes to train them to become social elites. There were not many of them, but Yang Chao at least hoped that they would become useful people.

Therefore, if you don't let them get used to those stinky problems, you can only find a way from other aspects.

Building a house and marrying a daughter-in-law are good things. The so-called permanent property has perseverance, but it also makes these people's hearts more stable, and no one is willing to work hard.

So Yang Chao has not found a good way, so he has been letting himself go. For all the soldiers who told him that they want to go home, Yang Chao allowed them to go back, but he did not allow them to leave the camp. He just gave them a temporary holiday and asked them to go back and have a good time. think about it.

Yang Chao believed that his soldiers had already cultivated a basic sense of honor when they were in Haizhou. After receiving such honor, Yang Chao didn't think these soldiers were willing to go home and farm in a down-to-earth manner. A hidden sense of honor can call them back.

So let those soldiers think about it.

Didn't expect it to actually work.

At that time, more than half of the soldiers who indirectly expressed to Yang Chao that they didn't want to work, in the first few days, hundreds of people changed their minds. They planted fields at home for a few days. Zi Zi, the money in their hands does not seem to be enough to change their fate. They built a house and married a wife, and some even failed to marry a wife. up.

Holding 200 taels of silver, they still feel poor, and they still have to face the loess with their backs to the sky. They work hard but can't earn much money. At this time, the military camp is more and more attractive to them.

What's more, they always feel that the ordinary life makes their young spirit feel depressed, as if they have no energy to live at all, and slowly the big flag with the word "Yang" begins to appear frequently in their sleep among.

In fact, they don't know the sense of honor, they are just summoned by the general flag.

Until August, there were 100 people willing to come back, but there were still [-] people who were determined not to come back.

Yang Chao knew that these people would never be able to go to the battlefield again, so Yang Chao decided to reorganize the barracks. This time, Yang Chao wanted to be more comprehensive, complete, and more formal, completely establishing the military system!

(End of this chapter)