Chongzhen immediately realized that this was a rare opportunity to learn military knowledge. He continued to ask: "What about the cavalry? How can the cavalry prevent this situation from happening?"
"Your Majesty, the truth is the same. The cavalry pays more attention to the formation. Going fast on horseback is not a skill. If you can slow down the horse and always maintain the formation, then you are an elite division. The purpose is the same, that is, to make everyone have to Fight hard. No matter whether you are willing in your heart or not, you can only fight hard. There is no other choice. There are so many willing things in this world. We all have no choice but to do many things." Chongzhen sighed in his heart, Yang Those few who dare to tell the truth to themselves.
Just like this time, what Yang Fan talked about were extremely realistic issues. Other ministers would not talk about this kind of issue.
At least not so thoroughly. Fighting and escaping has become the number one problem for the Ming Dynasty's army. Starting from the Battle of Sarhu, every time the Ming army was defeated, a large number of officers and soldiers fled the battle.
These actions directly led to the rapid deterioration of the battlefield situation. There were even many battles that were defeated because the entire army fled.
For example, in the Battle of Shenyang that year, the Qi Jiajun and the Baigan soldiers fought very well and withstood the attack of the Eight Banners soldiers.
Unfortunately, the 30,000 cavalry reinforcements collapsed at the first touch, and the commander took the lead in escaping from the battle. As a result, Qi's army and Baigan soldiers were isolated and helpless.
In the end, the entire army was wiped out. If the officers and soldiers in Liaodong resist desperately. Even if they were defeated, it would cause great casualties to the Jiannu.
There are so few of them that they cannot afford to exchange ten for one. Chongzhen said helplessly: "I really want to revitalize the three armies and restore the combat effectiveness of the army during the Taizu and Chengzu periods. It's a pity that I don't have the talent. Not only are there few generals, but there are also not enough qualified officers. Besides, the new I don't have a good way to prevent corruption in the army, and it's a headache." Chongzhen is obviously going to start a new one and train a new army in the capital that is completely obedient to his orders.
He used internal funds to pay military salaries. Not going through the Ministry of War. That is to draw a clear line with those civilian officials to prevent them from interfering with the army.
Yang Fan suddenly thought that this would be a good opportunity to attract business to Xinghe Bank.
"Your Majesty, regarding the corruption problem in the New Army, I do have a solution." Yang Fan said.
"Oh, Yang Qing, tell me quickly. How to solve these chronic diseases." Chongzhen asked hurriedly.
"The corruption in our Ming army is mainly due to empty pay and the withholding of food and wages. If the money and food distributed by Your Majesty is directly sent to the hands of the soldiers without going through officers at all levels, we can prevent the money and food from being withheld." Yang Fan said.
"How can this be achieved? I can't personally pay every officer and soldier." Chongzhen didn't understand what Yang Fan meant.
"Your Majesty, you can first deposit the military pay into Xinghe Bank, and then each officer and soldier will apply for a passbook. The military pay will be paid into their accounts regularly. They will take the passbook to the bank to withdraw the money. This will prevent soldiers from being deducted by officers. The military pay has been paid. The officers and soldiers under me also did the same." Chongzhen suddenly realized.
He knew that the queen took a lot of money from the inner treasury and deposited it in Xinghe Bank. There is considerable interest income every year.
It’s more cost-effective than storing it in a large warehouse. Putting it in a treasury will also cause losses. It was mainly the silver clerks and eunuchs in the bank who used various methods to steal.
Even if I take off my clothes when I go in and out, it will be useless. Silver is still lost regularly and in certain proportions. This is a problem that the Ming Dynasty has not solved for more than two hundred years.
No matter it was the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue, the treasury of other provinces, or even the inner treasury of the Imperial Household, all money was lost. The emperor couldn't figure out how the money disappeared out of thin air.
The Queen soon found a solution. She found that private banks such as Xinghe Bank had a very good reputation.
It is very safe to deposit funds there. After all, they depend on reputation. The Queen chose Xinghe Bank mainly because of Yang Fan's strong capital.
The strength of this bank is the most important option. In addition, it is also based on the need for confidentiality. The emperor did not want the outside world to know how much private money he had.
The emperor did not dare to save money in the banks of Shanxi merchants and Hui merchants. After much deliberation, only Yang Fan's Xinghe Bank kept the confidentiality the best.
I deposited some money at Xinghe Bank. I found that not only would there be no reduction, but there would also be interest. Although it is not a lot, it is still quite a lot since the principal is large.
The Queen deposited one million taels for the first time and received 20,000 taels in interest that year. This incident also attracted Chongzhen's attention, and he investigated the situation of Xinghe Bank in detail.
So he is quite familiar with the passbook system. Chongzhen's eyes suddenly lit up. This was definitely a good idea.
Money does not pass through the hands of officers at all levels, so they have no chance to embezzle. And it also saves you worry.
He knows that banks operate on credibility, and credibility is life. The bank takes serious responsibility for every depositor and never dares to make any mistakes.
It will only be more secure for these soldiers. After all, these people have weapons and are not as easy to bully as the citizens.
In this way, I will save worry and effort, and there will be no difference in the pay of the officers and soldiers. It's indeed a good idea.
"Well, this, if I deposit the military salary into the bank, will there be any interest?" Chongzhen asked immediately. He was a very thrifty emperor.
When he and the queen deposited part of their money in Xinghe Bank, they carefully studied the regulations of Xinghe Bank.
Now, His Majesty the Emperor is so poor that he cannot let go of even a small amount of money.
"Of course this is true. Your Majesty distributes military pay on a fixed date. From the time the funds are deposited to the day when military pay is issued, there will be regular interest for more than seven days. If it is less than seven days, there will also be current interest. The interest rates are all public." Chongzhen Nodding with satisfaction, he understood all this. Xinghe Bank announced interest rates every quarter.
These are all public.
"The issue of military pay has been solved. I wonder if Yang Qing has any solution to the problem of food and pay."
"Your Majesty, there is nothing I can do about this. After all, the army cooks at the same time. You can't give rice to the soldiers and let them cook by themselves. If the officers withhold rations and other non-staple food, it is really difficult to monitor. Your Majesty can only At the grassroots level of the army, some hidden stakes of the Jinyi Guards should be arranged. Report secretly to His Majesty at any time. Strengthen surveillance." Chongzhen nodded, thinking in his mind, it seems that this is the only way.
After all, this army must be firmly in his hands, and he should have put more spies into it.
This matter can be left to Wang Chengen. After all, Dongchang is all his own, so he is still very relieved.
Yang Fan felt a little happy when he saw that His Majesty had been moved by his words. The various expenditures of this acting court are a big business.
Didn’t you see that the largest bank in the universe in the future is responsible for a large number of businesses disbursing various types of funds on behalf of the government?
Don't look at the current army, which is still training at the Jingshan rear school field, with only 5,000 people. It is estimated that the monthly military pay is only more than 10,000 and less than 20,000.
Once His Majesty discovers the benefits of this model, he is likely to hand over a lot of expenditures to Xinghe Bank.
Maybe in the future, all the salaries of the imperial court officials may be handed over to banks. Even the taxes remitted by the provinces.
Exchange will also be used. In that case, Xinghe Bank will gradually develop into a central bank.
