Chapter 9 Tacit understanding
Guan Shengyun didn't know that the Yulin Guards had just sent away an important figure: Jia Shouren, the head of the Staff Department of the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty. Even the former magistrate of Shenmu County and the current Master Luo didn't know about this.
The Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty had four departments: the Military Selection Department, the Arsenal Department, the Staff Department, and the Chariot and Driving Department. The Military Selection Department is responsible for the appointment and dismissal of generals, equivalent to the Personnel Department and the Organization Department; the Arsenal Department is equivalent to the Logistics Department of the Equipment Department, responsible for weapons and military equipment; the Chariot and Driving Department is responsible for chariots and honor guards; and the Staff Department is similar to the Staff Department, responsible for maps Drawing, city construction, food and salary allocation, general rewards and punishments, etc.
The Minister of War, similar to today's Minister of Defense and Minister of Defense, is the deputy minister; each department has one doctor, which is the director and Yuanwailang, the deputy director; and then there are two principals - note that the level is not today's regular Chu - the seventh rank of the magistrate. This can be regarded as the zhengchu, and the principal is the sixth rank, which is two levels higher than the magistrate. There is also a subordinate sixth rank in the middle - and, according to the practice of the Ming Dynasty, officials of the same rank are respected. In other words, when Chief Jia is in the local government, his status is more noble than that of a fourth-grade prefect: the head of a powerful department of the central government, with money, grain, materials, and performance in his hands!
Why did Chief Jia Shouren travel thousands of miles to the Yulin Guards in the barren mountains and wild ridges?
Because the Yulin Guards are in trouble - the trouble is not small, and the trouble for the news to reach the capital will definitely not be small!
Specifically, it's back pay.
The lack of military pay (including lack of food) was a long-standing problem in the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming Dynasty's troops were divided according to their locations, generally divided into three parts.
The first is the capital camp, which protects the capital. The mission is so lofty, the environment is good, the equipment is good, and the treatment is naturally good - another reason that everyone understands is: at the feet of the Holy Emperor, if these ignorant and fearless uncles (read it twice haha) are not coaxed, Okay, because something happened to cause trouble and alarmed the Holy Emperor, no one can eat it and walk away! Even if there is no fuss, I'll give you some eye drops when I get the chance - for example, if one day the Holy Shangjiao Festival is held, the Beijing camp will definitely have to escort you, right? Which uncle deliberately caused trouble for you, and the donkey was wandering far away in the field of vision of Long Live Master. Long Live Master called over and asked: "Why don't you ride a horse?" This man with a big mouth burst into tears. His face was full of snot and tears: "Long live the horse, the money is not enough, the horse is starving to death! This is the donkey raised by the villain's family. In order to protect the horse, I am willing to take it out to protect His Majesty..." What will happen to the Holy Emperor? It’s hard to say how these gentlemen will die, but it will definitely be ugly! How powerful was Zuo Zongtang in later generations? Not to mention killing people like crazy. When he debuted with the title of Juren, he dared to slam the table and scold the general soldier: "Get out of here, you bastard." After regaining Xinjiang, he inspected the Beijing camp and did not pay the reward. The elders pointed at the back and scolded: " Zuo Mulezi, you bought a watch, it’s super wear-resistant!” Mr. Zuo pretended not to hear!
Therefore, although the Beijing camp has the easiest tasks, generally speaking, they have to be coaxed, and money, food and materials are absolutely guaranteed.
Secondly, there is the local army in the hinterland, whose responsibility is to pacify the local area, suppress bandits and calm the people. The equipment and treatment are not as good as those of the Beijing camp, but they can still make do with it, especially the local armies in wealthy areas, which are not even much worse than the Beijing camp.
At that time, there were bandits everywhere. In addition to cutting trails and looting, they would also make big noises from time to time, such as grabbing a village and setting fire to it. At this time, the local officials would ask the garrison for help. If the relationship is too tense in normal times, you will definitely not be able to count on them at critical moments. What's more, if these guys are very hungry, steal and even rob and commit murders - don't forget that many of them are from the army. They are not good people in the first place, and they may not be less harmful than bandits. You go to the officer to argue, and the officer who is chewing on the chicken drumsticks of his subordinates is sure and his chest is beating loudly: "My lord, just go and search, and if you identify any guy, I will never give him mercy!" He said it lightly, and every battalion said it lightly. There are hundreds of them and they are extremely vicious. The smell can stun you from far away. They all have unkempt hair and the same look on their face. Can you recognize them? Therefore, although the local officials made things difficult and exploited, generally speaking, this group of people could still have enough to eat.
The worst was the frontier troops. They have the heaviest responsibility - guarding the national border, and are also at the greatest risk - no matter whether they are Eastern or Western captives, Tatars or barbarians, as long as they come here, they will risk their lives with you! However - the treatment is the worst, well, it can even be said that sometimes there is no treatment at all!
As the saying goes, a good man cannot be a soldier unless he nails it. As long as there is a little hope, no one will join the army, especially the frontier soldiers with their heads pinned to their belts. Therefore, their origins are either captured refugees or criminals who were exiled to the army - or felons, those with less serious crimes cannot travel that far, and they are all filling up the inland guards - most of the real hereditary soldiers have already followed After several generations of generals, they have become servants or petty bosses, but they are not the basic composition of ordinary soldiers in the frontier army.
Theoretically, the imperial court was of course responsible for providing food and wages to the border troops. Everyone knew that you could not fight a war if you were hungry. However, this is only in theory - the men who work for the country in the Ministry of Household Affairs, War and Industry will have a more comfortable life. There is no need to say that they have a backer and a mountain. Border fortresses are usually poor mountains and rivers, and local civil servants have little chance to work. Too many tricks are used in taxation. If the poor life affects the work, it will be greatly detrimental to the benefit of the people. Of course, some oil must be used. The generals risk their lives to protect their homes and the country, even though they have a few acres of land. , but it’s a person’s private property, so you can’t say it’s too much to just give some subsidies, right? Moreover, the Ming Dynasty is so big, and the country also has its own difficulties. Everyone should be fully considerate, right? The court, local officials, and generals passed through the hands at all levels. The money, rice and beans they received were a little less, um, for example, 90%. Is that normal? As we all know, the transportation environment is harsh and the weather conditions are complicated. Sometimes the food will be delivered a little later, for example, a year or two... This is inevitable! Is it difficult? It will pass if you endure it. What? Not convinced? Oh, you are obviously a spy sent by the Tatars. Where are you going... look at the knife!
In the sixth year of Yongle, Yulin Village was built, and the name Yulin first appeared in history. The local soil is particularly suitable for growing elm trees, hence the name.
Opposite Yulinwei, the Wushen tribe is scattered in Dongtao, which is rich in water and grass in the Hetao Plain. There is also a piece of Mu Us sandy land in the middle that acts as a natural barrier. Therefore, although they are located on the border, they have not experienced war for many years.
Therefore, no one usually pays much attention to trivial matters such as what the frontier troops here rely on to survive - otherwise, the nearby Shenmu County would not be like that.
Because there is no war, there is naturally no opportunity to kill good men and take advantage of beggars' heads to defraud the reward. Therefore, local officials and generals will inevitably be a little more ruthless when dealing with each other - no matter whether the court pays or how much it pays, anyway, the Yulin Guards The soldiers have not received pay for more than three years, and food and grass are also intermittent. The accumulated shortfall, even if the amount is greatly reduced according to the Ministry of War's calculation, is still owed for more than a year. Finally, under the instigation of a few unstable elements, the beggar soldiers broke into trouble.
Guerrilla general Lu Youde heard the report and took guard Jin Qing and a dozen personal guards to suppress it. I thought that by beheading the leader on the spot and giving a few scare words, the situation would be over, but as soon as the knife was revealed, someone in the crowd shouted: "The imperial court wants to kill us," and the situation suddenly got out of control. Lu Youde ran fast and rushed out of the camp under the desperate protection of his own soldiers. Jin Qing was not so lucky and was chopped into many pieces with random knives.
The rebels were already in the camp with ditches and walls in front of them, and now they were defending in danger. The officials knew in their hearts that even though they killed the imperial officials, they could not mobilize troops to attack unless it was absolutely necessary - the other guys who did not blow up the camp The situation is exactly the same. I don’t know if I can endure it for a while now. If I force him to fight, there is a high chance that he will fall in love with these guys and fight against him!
I can only comfort him politely with "Xiao Yiyi".
So the Yulin Prefecture reported to the court to take measures to prevent the situation from getting out of hand. At the same time, the right and left hand of Yulin Prefect Xiao Changhua, the judge Zhou Zhizheng, volunteered and brought an old family member into the camp with two horses.
The rebel soldiers only wanted to have food to eat, and they all knew that they could not hold on for long. Zhou Tongpian was even more courageous, intelligent, and eloquent. He stayed in the camp as a pledge and sent his family members back to the city to collect some silver. Finally, it was temporary. Suppressing things...
This matter was reported to the capital, not through the official channel of the Chief Secretary, but privately reported to Yuan Shijie, the Minister of Household Affairs - Mr. Yuan was Xiao Changhua's advisor.
Mr. Yuan went to court earlier than usual the next day. When he saw Wang Yucao, the Minister of War, he changed his usual indifference with a straight face and exchanged a few pleasantries with a smile. After the court was over, Wang Shangshu walked a few steps and grabbed Mr. Yuan, insisting that he take him to the mansion to taste the skills of the new chef. Mr. Yuan declined for a while, unable to resist his hospitality, and the two sedan chairs left one after the other.
Mr. Yuan is from Binzhou, Shandong and does not like spicy food. Mr. Wang is from Bazhou, Chongqing and does not like spicy food. Although Mr. Yuan barely touched the chopsticks on most of the dishes on the table that were red and full of dogwood - at that time, chili peppers had not been introduced from Nanyang, and those who loved spicy food used dogwood to cook, which is "I know my brothers from afar, planting dogwood all over the place." "One person is missing" - but I still expressed my heartfelt admiration for the chef's craftsmanship, "This taste should only be found in heaven". During the dinner, the guests and hosts had a brief discussion on the write-off of military expenses for the two years before the Khan joined the invaders. Mr. Yuan said that there are many things to do but too many things to do, and there is too much backlog. He should try to hurry up and the efficiency of the Ministry of Accounts should be higher. Mr. Wang said that he completely understood and was not in a hurry. Mr. Yuan had to personally care about such a trivial matter. He was really impressed... After that, the two adults talked about the recent anecdotes in the capital and ended in laughter. This cordial and friendly exchange.
Mr. Wang personally sent Mr. Yuan out of the house. When he got on the sedan chair, Mr. Yuan sighed with emotion: "Although it is not easy for us, it will be even harder for our brothers who come to the border. The saint's virtue is admired by the world, and only Hai Qing He Yan can have such a peaceful time." Wang Your Excellency immediately agreed and spoke highly of Your Excellency Yuan's concern for the soldiers despite their hard work, and said that the Ministry of War will never let down the earnest hopes of His Majesty and Your Lordships...
Watching Mr. Yuan's sedan go away, Wang Shangshu turned around and returned to the palace. Immediately, the doctor and Yuanwailang of the Military Selection Department came, holding the accounts of the materials allocated in recent years, pulling the abacus, and calculating in detail the Shaanxi Dusi Mansion, Shaanxi Xingdusi Something to do somewhere.
So the next day, Jia Shouren, the head of the Staff Division, drove Jian Cong quickly to Yulin...
