Soon, the three fastest runners came back. They are all regular soldiers of the Three Thousand Battalion.
They are all very outstanding Ye Bushou, and have been sent to Liaodong and the grasslands to execute people.
The capital camp of the Ming Dynasty was in ruins. But there are also three thousand nails in the broken ship. Among the more than 20,000 people in the 3,000 battalion, there are still some people with excellent qualities. These people are either veterans with actual combat experience, or they are recruited from the frontier army.
The top three are all veterans of the Three Thousand Battalion who are known for their bravery.
In the final sprint, Ma Xiaoping broke into the top 100. Zhao Yongtang and Zhu boldly ran into the top two hundred.
According to the previously announced rules, the top 100 will be rewarded with ten taels of silver. The first ten thousand people will be rewarded with two taels of silver. All three of them were immediately happy. Everyone has money to take.
Those who arrive must first be brought to a row of tables by people sent by the Ministry of War to register. Register age, place of origin, name, camp leader and other personal information. First give out ten pounds of cornmeal in a small cloth bag. Then I was told that after the first ten thousand people gathered together and arrived at Nanyuan, they would be given money.
Ma Xiaoping didn't think much about it and was overjoyed. Ten taels of silver is enough to serve as a betrothal gift for your own marriage. He fell in love with Wang Xiaohua, who lives next door and is also a military household. His parents wanted a betrothal gift of five taels of silver, but none of the neighbors could afford it.
Now that he has this money, he plans to ask his mother to propose marriage when he returns home.
The first ten thousand people, escorted by cavalry, went to nearby Nanyuan. Nanyuan is very close, only two kilometers away from Yongding Gate.
By nightfall, 100,000 people had returned. The statistical data has also come out. For the remaining people, it was obvious that Lord Shangshu was not prepared to wait any longer.
Lord Shangshu sat on the tower and looked through the statistical reports compiled by the soldiers in the Beijing camp. The more he looked at her, the uglier his face became. His face looked like a cloudy day. Almost out of water.
boom! Li Banghua slapped the first chapter on the table. The anger flashed across his face.
"Prepare your horses and I will go to the Forbidden City to meet the Holy Spirit."
Chongzhen finished his day's work, stretched his body, and prepared for some dinner.
At this time, Wang Chengen walked in.
"Your Majesty, Li Shangshu of the Ministry of War is here and is asking for an audience outside the Meridian Gate."
Chongzhen has some differences. I don't know what he is doing at this time. The palace doors are locked. Ordinarily, foreign ministers should not enter the palace at this time.
Now, except for the officials on duty in the south study room of Qianqing Palace, there are no foreign ministers in the palace.
"Did anything big happen today?" Chongzhen turned to look at Wang Chengen.
Wang Chengen panicked, there was nothing big going on today. He thought for a long time and said: "Oh, I remembered it. Li Shangshu organized a long-distance running competition. At the beginning of noon today, he asked the soldiers of the three battalions to run around the city wall. The first 10,000 people were rewarded. Many people in the city were Go up to the city wall and watch the excitement.”
Chongzhen was stunned, what was he doing?
Immediately, he frowned and said, "Invite Li Shangshu to come in immediately."
He immediately returned to his chair and finished.
"Hey, slave, let's go now. Your Majesty, you haven't had your dinner yet. How about I serve you some first?"
Chongzhen also felt very hungry. Said: "Let's make a bucket of noodles."
"Okay, Your Majesty, I am not a talkative old slave. Although your Majesty's state affairs are important, you must also pay attention to your health." Wang Chengen hurriedly nagged while instructing the young eunuch to make instant noodles for Chongzhen.
Soon a bucket of noodles was ready, and Chongzhen was really hungry. Not only did he finish the noodles, but he also drank the hot soup.
"Uh!" Chongzhen burped. "This rattan pepper noodles, although my tongue is numb after eating it, my whole body feels warm. Uncle Dingyuan's food is really good. My dear friend, are there any new instant noodles coming recently?"
"Yes, what is it called tomato braised noodles? Why don't you try it next time."
Chongzhen nodded. He was very satisfied with every new product in Xinghe Supermarket.
The first thing Chongzhen ate was braised beef noodles, which were delicious. He ate them for more than a month, and then he started to like spicy beef noodles, and the taste became stronger and stronger. Now, if I don’t eat something spicy, I feel like I haven’t had enough.
The dishes cooked by the imperial chefs are all mediocre. They don't seek merit, but seek no faults. The imperial meal is really not delicious.
How could the condiments of later generations be so attractive?
Wait for the instant noodles to be removed. Li Banghua just came to Qianqing Palace.
"Your Majesty, Li Banghua, bows to your Majesty."
"It's so late and you still ask to see me. Is there something important?"
"I have found out the situation in the capital camp. I am here to report back to Your Majesty."
"What! When did this happen?" Chongzhen stood up at once.
The Qing army was what he was thinking about, and he didn't know the actual situation in the Beijing camp. He really couldn't eat or sleep. This is the largest military force in the entire Ming Dynasty, and the emperor himself is so close that he does not understand the situation. How is this possible?
From the time he became King Xin, he knew how serious the problems in Jingying were. However, nobles are one of the important cornerstones of the Ming Dynasty's rule. It's not something that can be moved casually.
The reason why he appointed Li Banghua as Minister of War was because he dared to do something.
It has been half a year since Li Banghua took office. Clearly, not much progress has been made. The nobles were afraid that the Qing army would lose their own interests. They are all secretly resisting.
Chongzhen didn't understand how Li Banghua could suddenly figure out the situation.
Look at His Majesty's puzzled eyes. Li Banghua told Chongzhen in detail about Zhang Shize's private visit to him and the transactions between the two parties, including today's events.
Chongzhen didn't expect that Yang Fan could bypass such a difficult matter and handle it directly.
Chongzhen did not rush to express his position, nor did he give instructions on how to deal with it in the future. After all, there are now 100,000 people waiting outside Yongding Gate. I don’t know if 40,000 of them were taken to Xiyuan.
Chongzhen grabbed the report and looked through it at a glance. He really wanted to know the actual situation in Beijing camp.
Chongzhen looked through the report, his breathing became faster and his face became paler. His hands couldn't help shaking.
A total of 125,761 people participated in today's long-distance run. They all come here for food and money. Li Banghua waited until 100,000 people returned before leaving, so he only counted the data for 100,000 people.
But that's enough. We don’t know whether the remaining 20,000 people will be able to come back tomorrow morning.
"There are a total of seventy-two guards and more than 400,000 soldiers on the Beijing Camp roster. Where are the remaining 280,000 people?"
"Your Majesty, many of these people are soldiers from the early Wanli period. I even saw soldiers from the Jiajing period on the roster."
"What did you say!" Chongzhen stood up.
It has been fifty-eight years since the early year of Wanli. If these people were alive, they would be over seventy years old. There is an age requirement for serving as a soldier in the Beijing Camp, and the minimum age is sixteen.
Although there are no statistics on the average life expectancy of people in the Ming Dynasty, the emperor has a general understanding of it. Very few people live to be sixty. Most emperors lived only thirty or forty years. Not to mention these soldiers who lacked clothes and clothing.
As for the soldiers of the Jiaqing Dynasty, Chongzhen could only laugh.
He didn't even want to ask. Unless these soldiers had taken the elixir, how could they still serve as soldiers in the military camp if they were over a hundred years old.
"Since these soldiers are no longer alive, why not cancel their military status?"
"Your Majesty, many people in the Ministry of War find various reasons to delay the discharge of soldiers. This has been a bad policy for more than a hundred years."
Chongzhen sat down slumped, yes, this is not something unique to this dynasty. When he was the king of Xin, he had also heard that soldiers in the Beijing camp retired and still asked for people and gave gifts. However, he did not expect that this bad habit would be so serious.
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