The fiercest soldier of the border army

After Tang Shun finished speaking, Wei Zong and the others lined up in an orderly fashion and stepped forward.

The roster was determined in advance according to the positions.

Take one, then hook another.

Seeing the soldiers grinning from ear to ear, Shi Hanshan unconsciously tightened his grip on the reins.

The chestnut horse was being reined in too tightly, and it pawed restlessly, leaving several deep marks on the frozen ground.

He remained frozen on the horse's back, like a stone statue frozen by the wind and snow.

But what surged within him was deeper than the furrows dug by horseshoes.

He understood, he understood everything.

Tang Shun didn't want his five thousand soldiers to intimidate the newly arrived yamen soldiers at all!

Fortunately, Shi Hanshan was afraid of embarrassing his brother, so he made sure that the entire Right Capital was well-equipped and displayed their most dazzling attire.

What Tang Shun wanted to intimidate was never those two thousand seven hundred soldiers.

What's so intimidating about the yamen soldiers?

They were all farmers who had just dug themselves out of the fields, and starving corpses that had just been picked up from the piles of refugees.

Tang Shun gave them ten taels of silver, new cotton-padded jackets, and monthly wages, which were paid directly to their hands.

This isn't deterrence; it's bribery!

But if you're just trying to bribe the yamen soldiers, do you really need to do it in front of five thousand Beiting soldiers?

Tang Shun's true purpose was to take the five thousand soldiers!

Shi Hanshan turned his head and glanced at the five thousand people behind him.

With just one glance, a chill ran down his spine.

The old soldiers in the front row, who had just been smirking, sneering, and looking at him like an idiot, were now all silent.

Their eyes were fixed on the eight boxes of silver on the stage, and on the one-tael silver ingot in Tang Shun's hand.

He stared at the young yamen soldier below the stage who had just received his silver and was examining it over and over again.

An old soldier with a full beard stared wide-eyed, unable to close his mouth for a long time, his lips twitching slightly.

The captain next to him, who had been laughing the loudest just moments before, now had his head down, repeatedly stabbing the ground with his scabbard, his face alternating between red and white.

Looking further back, the entire formation of five thousand people resembled a field of wheat bent over by the wind.

Everyone craned their necks slightly toward the platform, their eyes fixed on the silver.

No one spoke, but that silence was more jarring than any words.

Shi Hanshan sighed heavily.

The soldiers of Beiting were paid their wages once a year.

It was said to be five taels, but in reality, it was never five taels.

When the military governor's office issues the order, it first goes through the military commissioner, then the commander-in-chief, then the commander, then the captain, then the squad leader, and then the platoon leader.

Each layer must be deducted.

They euphemistically call it withholding money from armor, horse feed, clothing, and marching rations. After all that withholding, if the soldiers manage to get even half of what they owe them, they're lucky.

Now, due to years of war, the population of Beiting has been reduced sharply. At its peak, Beiting had 400,000 to 500,000 people, but now, including the old and the young, there are less than 200,000 people left.

Most of the soldiers in the Beiting campaign did not receive their full pay, and some even went two years without receiving a single penny.

But they dared not utter a word.

Because this is the rule in all military camps, with layers of exploitation and manipulation, it's useless to complain even if you go to the highest levels of government.

Everyone has already accepted it.

In these days, during years of great disaster, it's good enough to have food to eat. Anyone who takes the matter of pay seriously is a fool.

But what is this in front of me?

It is paid out monthly, directly to the recipient's hands, without going through the squad leader, the platoon leader, the captain, or the commander-in-chief.

The governor's office issues the payments directly, in person, once a month!

Not a single penny will be deducted!

The silver coins, each weighing one or two taels, were neatly stacked, their gleam dazzling.

Even Shi Hanshan felt a sense of absurdity.

He rose through the ranks from squad leader to commander-in-chief, and once commanded over a thousand men.

If the pay goes directly to the soldiers, how can the squad leaders manage their men? How can the platoon leaders establish their authority? How can the captains support their personal guards? How can the commanders win the hearts of the soldiers?

According to military regulations, soldiers only recognize their own squad leader, and squad leaders only recognize their own platoon leader. This hierarchical system, nominally part of the imperial army, actually operates under the command of their superiors.

Soldiers who disobey their superiors are likely to die on the battlefield.

However, if Tang Shun's method were implemented, the entire military system of Beiting would be turned upside down.

This is digging up the roots, digging up the roots of layers of exploitation, digging up the roots of officers manipulating soldiers, digging up the roots of mutual deception between superiors and subordinates, and internal and external collusion!

At the very least, these two thousand seven hundred soldiers in front of them know whose money they are paid and who they should be fighting for.

If one day, any of his soldiers were to rebel, Tang Shun would not need to utter a single word; wherever the Tang banner stood, they would follow.

If Tang Shun himself had done this, then so be it.

But Shi Hanshan had already promised Tang Shun, so these yamen soldiers were stationed next to the warriors.

This blow not only struck the hearts of everyone today, but will continue to deliver a heavy blow every month thereafter.

While the soldiers of Lingzhou were deeply grateful, a seed was planted in the hearts of the five thousand men behind Shi Hanshan.

In time, that seed will take root, sprout, and emerge from the depths of your heart in the quiet of the night.

Why? Why do the yamen soldiers get ten taels while we only get five?

Why are the government soldiers paid monthly while we are paid only once a year?

Why do the yamen runners get all the spoils while we get half?

Once this idea is planted, it can never be pulled out.

Shi Hanshan took a deep breath.

The air he inhaled was so cold it made his lungs feel tight.

What did he use to stop them? What did he use to suppress them?

It's a fact that the yamen soldiers received ten taels of silver, it's a fact that they were paid monthly, and it's also a fact that they didn't deduct a single coin.

His soldiers followed him from Tingzhou to Lingzhou, enduring wind and snow all the way, sleeping in the open and eating outdoors, but the silver they received at the end of the year couldn't even buy a few bushels of rice.

How dare he try to suppress it?

Shi Hanshan withdrew his gaze and looked again at the young man in the scarlet official robe on the command platform.

Tang Shun was still standing there, holding the silver ingot in his hand, his face calm, as if he had done something completely ordinary.

But Shi Hanshan knew that this matter was anything but ordinary.

This man used eight boxes of silver, totaling 2,700 taels, to carve a hole in the hearts of five thousand Beiting soldiers.

The hole will grow bigger and deeper until one day, his soldiers will use it to talk to him.

What will happen when he shakes the mountain? Suppress him? How can you suppress him? Every word he says makes sense.

If you don't suppress them, how can you lead troops?

This young man already had a complete strategy in mind.

From salt, sugar, and soap to government soldiers, from ten taels of silver to monthly payments, from eight thousand able-bodied men to two thousand seven hundred selected, from winter training without returning home to the governor's office personally distributing pay.

Every step is built on the foundation of old rules, and every step is a dismantling of the old system.

And he himself, Shi Hanshan, the dignified Commander of the Left and Right Armies of Beiting, leading five thousand soldiers, was thus drawn into this game, becoming the heaviest and most important piece...

Just as Shi Hanshan remained silent, the official in crimson robes on the platform waved his hand and said, "Now that the military pay has been received, this is the end of it."

"Today, the training ground is filled with both new recruits from Lingzhou and veterans from Beiting."

"Lingzhou will no longer be threatened by the fall of our city. Today, the Governor's Office has decided to hold a grand banquet for the entire army at the Flying Fox Camp!"

"Let's go!"