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Zhao Junchen inevitably felt a little uncomfortable when he had to clean up the mess left by others.
Especially when I saw all the civil and military officials present pretending not to understand, as if these matters had nothing to do with them, I felt even more angry.
However, Zhao Junchen finally suppressed his emotions and still looked solemn on the surface. After seeing that everyone did not dare to respond, he slowly said: "In view of this, after careful consideration, I, in order to revive In order to enhance the credibility of the imperial court and stimulate the morale of the border troops, it was decided that the Governor-General's Office on the three sides would allocate a sum of money to make up for all the arrears of military pay and reward silver owed to the Shaanxi-Gansu border troops this year within half a month!"
At this point, Zhao Junchen saw no reaction from everyone present, and suddenly changed the subject, with a faint sneer flashing at the corner of his mouth, and said: "In addition, this imperial envoy plans to send people to visit the border army officers and soldiers in various parts of Shaanxi and Gansu to conduct an inventory of Shaanxi and Gansu provinces." The unpaid pay and reward owed to the Gansu border army in the past few years will be repaid after this year's fire screening of the invaders!...Hong Qianhu, your Jin Yiwei will be personally responsible for this matter, and I will allocate some of the forbidden troops. Assist you!"
This time, after Zhao Junchen finished speaking, all the civil and military officials present were immediately shocked!
Everyone present was not surprised that Zhao Junchen wanted to make up for the arrears of military pay and reward money owed by the border troops.
After all, Zhao Junchen is the God of Wealth of the imperial court. He has countless ways to get money. Now he is going to seize the property of the Wang family, the richest man in Shaanxi and Gansu. When the time comes, another astronomical amount of money will be put into his account. He wants to make up for the losses in the northwest. The arrears of military pay and silver rewards that the border troops have owed in recent years is a huge problem for others, but it may not be that big of a problem in Zhao Junchen's eyes!
However, Zhao Junchen's method of checking arrears was not to check the accounts and let the border army generals report on their own. Instead, he personally sent people to contact the border troops from various places to find out. There was a big problem here!
Since Zhao Junchen took charge of the Household Department, the court's cash and grain turnover has gradually improved, and the annual salary and silver payment to the Shaanxi-Gansu frontier army has gradually become more abundant. However, among the northwest frontier army, arrears of military pay and reward silver are still common. , this is because of the layers of embezzlement by the military attaches at all levels, the lower-level border troops could only get a very small part of their military pay and reward money. In addition to the embezzlement and embezzlement by the military attaches at all levels, they also passed all the responsibilities to the imperial court, saying that There was only so much money allocated by the imperial court!
Therefore, in the accounts of military towns in various places, the military pay and reward silver owed by the court are not that much, but for the lower-level border troops, the military pay and reward silver owed by the court are at least twice as high as the figures on the accounts. More than enough!
This method of bullying the superiors and concealing the inferiors was originally an open secret in the officialdom. The lower-level border soldiers were controlled by others and dared not speak out. However, Zhao Junchen's decision was to let the lower-level border soldiers take the initiative to expose the upper-level military attachés. The crime of corruption has completely torn up this layer of window paper! On the surface, it is to collect statistics on arrears, but in fact, it is not about drinking, but to catch the border army generals who deduct military pay and silver! Intensify the conflict between the frontier generals and the lower-level frontiers!
At the same time, Zhao Junchen sent Jin Yiwei to contact the lower-level border troops to find out the bottom line. It also provided a channel for the lower-level frontier troops to make complaints. The control of the border army generals over their subordinate frontier troops would also be greatly reduced. In addition, Zhao Junchen repaid the arrears of soldiers' pay rewards. Yin's approach will definitely win the unanimous support of all the underlying frontier troops...
Under such circumstances, the frontier generals were not only seized by Zhao Junchen with evidence of crime, but also faced the danger of defection from the lower-level frontier soldiers. The foundation of their power would be completely shaken. How could they still resist Zhao Junchen's will?
After thinking of this situation, everyone present was naturally horrified!
After all, if Zhao Junchen's plan goes ahead, none of them will be spared.
They don't care that Zhao Junchen takes over the power of the governor of the three sides, they don't care that Zhao Junchen takes action to eradicate the Wang family, and they don't even care about Zhao Junchen's war-fighting attitude. None of these things will harm their fundamental interests, but Zhao Junchen is like this now. This approach, for them, is a blow to the bottom of the pot!
Therefore, the civil and military officials present no longer dared to pretend to be deaf and mute, and quickly stood up to express their stance.
"Imperial Envoy, please think twice! The territory of Shaanxi and Gansu is vast, with a distance of 6,400 miles from east to west. It is inconvenient to communicate with each other. There are more than 300,000 frontier troops. There are four military towns in total, which are subdivided into seventeen routes! Military forts There are a total of one hundred and seventy-one in total! There are also seventy-two pass points! In addition to the hundreds of forts, thousands of beacon piers, and the guards of various cities, if you want to send It is really time-consuming and labor-intensive for people to conduct detailed investigations with the border troops in various places. It is better to follow the old practice and let the border army generals from various places report the arrears of silver on their own!"
"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy knows clearly that the imperial court's arrears of silver reward and soldier's salary are recorded in the accounts of military towns and guard posts in various places. Even the governor's offices on the three sides have approximate amounts. If someone is sent to personally contact the border troops to find out, it will be It seems that the Governor-General does not trust the border army generals everywhere, and I am afraid it will cause many unnecessary changes!"
"Your Majesty the Imperial Envoy, I believe that as long as we make up for this year's military pay and silver rewards, it will be enough to boost the morale of the border troops and restore the credibility of the imperial court!"
When everyone tried to dissuade him, Zhang Shengde, the governor of Shaanxi and Gansu, thought for a moment and expressed his opposition. He stood up and advised: "Mr. Zhao, these are troubled times now. We should focus on maintaining stability. It is better to be still than to move. It is really wrong." It’s not suitable for a big fight, I hope the imperial envoy will think twice before taking action!”
Last night, although Zhang Shengde expressed his full support for Zhao Junchen, Zhang Shengde also has his own position. This support is not unlimited!
In Zhang Shengde's view, Zhao Junchen, in the name of statistical arrears, wanted to seize the handle of the border army generals and intensify the conflicts between the lower-level border troops and the high-level military attachés. If the world is at peace, this would be a clever plan, and it might work. Strengthen the court's control over the border troops, but now is obviously not a suitable time! Not to mention that most of the border army generals in various places are unruly people, and they may not be able to surrender obediently. After the conflicts between the border army generals and the lower-level border troops intensify, it will not be conducive to the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu to resist the invasion of the Mongolian army!
Therefore, Zhang Shengde believed that Zhao Junchen's plan not only did more harm than good, but was also extremely risky, so he expressed his opposition.
While everyone tried to dissuade Zhao Junchen, they also felt a little uneasy in their hearts.
By now, most of them have understood that after Zhao Junchen took over Wang Zheng's authority, he would definitely have all the power. He also had a straight-talking character, so he might not listen to their dissuasion.
However, Zhao Junchen's reaction once again exceeded everyone's expectations.
After Zhao Junchen thought for a moment, he actually nodded in agreement and said: "I just want to make detailed statistics on the arrears of the border armies in various places. After all, the accounts of the border armies in various places are mixed together, and it is inevitable that there will be some omissions... But everyone What your Excellency said makes sense... Well, after today's deliberations are over, the Governor's Mansion will send an official document to inquire about the attitudes of the frontier soldiers in various places, and then make a specific decision. For now, let's make up for this year's arrears. .”
Everyone found it incredible to see Zhao Junchen accepting their suggestions so readily.
However, how could Zhao Junchen take aim without aim?
Before everyone could recover, Zhao Junchen had already started the next topic of the day,
I saw Zhao Junchen slowly saying to everyone in a seemingly casual manner: "I have another idea and want to ask everyone for your attitude! Now, one hundred thousand Mongolian troops are divided into two groups, coveting the territory of the Ming Dynasty. , threatening the safety of the people, there will be a big war sooner or later! Although the Shaanxi-Gansu border army plus the imperial reinforcements have as many as 400,000, there are not enough soldiers to fight, and they are scattered in various places. Once the decisive battle comes , we have to mobilize troops from various places, which will inevitably delay the fighter opportunity. Therefore, the imperial envoy plans to mobilize some strong soldiers from military towns and guard posts in various places to form a new army of soldiers, numbering about 20,000. The Trilateral Governor-General's Office is personally responsible for the command, so that we can flexibly respond to future changes in the war situation and concentrate our efforts to fight against the Mongolian threat. What do you think?"
Hearing Zhao Junchen's inquiry, everyone present was shocked again. They felt that one wave of unrest was rising again, and Zhao Junchen was deliberately trying to cause trouble!
Today, on the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu, the vast majority of the elite border troops have become the servants of military attachés at all levels! Now that Zhao Junchen wants to draw elites from all over the country, doesn't he mean to draw the private soldiers of military attachés at all levels?
However, the private soldiers under the military attachés all cost a lot of money to build. They were not only their favorites, but also the guarantee of their status. Now how easy is it for Zhao Junchen to mobilize their private soldiers?
It would only be enough to mobilize a few thousand people, but Zhao Junchen actually wanted to mobilize as many as 20,000 people, which accounted for more than 40% of the total number of private soldiers in Shaanxi and Gansu! How could the border army generals agree? Not to mention agreeing, he might even mutiny and rebel!
Therefore, they couldn't help but express their opposition again!
However, before anyone could object, Niu Fude, the staff member sitting at the bottom, suddenly stood up and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to report regarding the formation of combat troops!"
On the surface, Niu Fude was the military staff officer of Guan Wuyuan, the commander of the Forbidden Army, but in fact he was Zhao Junchen's aide in the palace. Now after seeing Niu Fude's statement, Zhao Junchen pretended to be unfamiliar with Niu Fude, and just nodded and said: " Oh? Is it related to the formation of combat troops? Tell me, what is it? "
Niu Fude said slowly: "The villain is Niu Fude, the staff of Lord Guan, the commander of the Forbidden Army. These days, he has been responsible for the coordination between the border army and the Forbidden Army. In addition to doing things, the villain also worked with Lord Wang, the chief soldier of Yulin Guards. , Ningxia garrison commander Lin had contact with him! These two commanders had the same idea as the imperial envoy. They also believed that the Shaanxi-Gansu border army did not have enough combatable troops and the troops were too scattered. Not only were they easily defeated by the Mongols one by one, Defeating and supporting each other can also easily delay the opportunity to fight, so the two of them also believe that the governors of the three sides should mobilize elites from all over the country to form a new army of warriors!"
"Oh? Do they both think the same way? They have a long-term vision!" Zhao Junchen nodded in approval.
Niu Fude continued: "These two commander-in-chiefs not only have such an idea, but are also willing to set an example in person! Mr. Wang, the commander-in-chief of the Yulin garrison, has prepared 1,500 elite troops, and Mr. Lin, the commander-in-chief of the Ningxia garrison, has also prepared A thousand elite soldiers have been prepared. In addition, General Lin from the Yulin West Road, General Sima from the Middle Road, General Zhang from the Ningxia North Road, and garrison officers from more than ten garrison stations have also prepared one thousand elite soldiers. There are about 100 to 200 people, a total of 3,300 people! These elite soldiers are all their own servants, and they are the most brave and skilled soldiers in the northwest frontier army. Now these elite soldiers are on their way, and they will be here in a day or two. We can arrive at Huamachi Camp one after another!"
After hearing what Niu Fude said, everyone present had their eyes widened with disbelief on their faces!
Even after hearing that Zhao Junchen led his troops to defeat thousands of Mongolian cavalry in the wild with a small number and a large number, they were not as shocked as they are now!
Has the world changed? The generals of the border army, who have always been proud of their troops, would actually take the initiative to give their private soldiers to Zhao Junchen? When did the frontier generals understand justice so well?
Zhao Junchen ignored everyone's disbelief and just nodded with relief on his face: "These generals understand the general situation and take the overall situation into consideration. However, after suddenly losing so many elite soldiers, can their local defense be guaranteed?"
Niu Fude replied: "I am afraid that I am a little weak in fighting in the wild, but there is more than enough to defend the city! In addition, the frontier army in the northwest has always lacked sophisticated soldiers and armor, and there are not many horses, so Commander Wang and Commander Lin hope that the Imperial Envoy We can add some to the two military towns.”
After Zhao Junchen pondered for a moment, he said: "These two generals are selfless, and I can't let them feel cold! Let's take out two hundred pairs of iron armor, six hundred pairs of cotton armor, and six hundred horses from the Forbidden Army. The Ningxia Army The town and Yulin Military Town were each divided into half, and were allocated by Wang Zongbing and Lin Zongbing! Another 40,000 taels of silver were taken out from the Governor's Mansion, and the Ningxia Military Town and Yulin Military Town were also divided into half, between Wang Zongbing and Lin Zongbing. The general troops will be distributed by themselves and used as recruitment money to replenish the troops in various places... In addition, if there are other border generals in Ningxia Military Town and Yulin Military Town who also intend to hand over their elite troops to the command of the Governor's Mansion, this imperial envoy will also provide additional compensation! "
Niu Fude looked happy and said quickly: "Thank you very much for your compassion and generosity, the imperial envoy. I will tell the two commander-in-chiefs about your decision right away. I believe they will be grateful to the imperial envoy!"
At this time, after hearing the conversation between Zhao Junchen and Niu Fude, all the civil and military officials present finally came to their senses.
How could Yulin garrison commander Wang Yan, Ningxia garrison commander Lin Huishi, and the participating generals and garrison officers in the two military towns take the initiative to send their private soldiers to Zhao Junchen? He clearly made a secret deal with Zhao Junchen!
In this transaction, Zhao Junchen received capable private soldiers who were good at fighting, while the frontier generals received excellent armor, horses, and money for recruiting soldiers! For Zhao Junchen, there is no time to start from scratch to form a new army. What is most needed is private soldiers with immediate combat capabilities. As for the border army generals, after receiving armor, horses, and money from Zhao Junchen, They can re-recruit and train private soldiers, but it will only take more time and energy. By then, their private soldiers will be more powerful. Both sides will get what they need, and no one will suffer.
Zhao Junchen, in particular, was even more generous. All the soldiers and horses were obtained from the Forbidden Army. As long as they reported to the court that they were lost during the war, the court would naturally replenish the Forbidden Army! The money given to Ningxia and Yulin for recruiting troops was even withdrawn from the Governor's Mansion... In other words, Zhao Junchen got more than 3,000 elite private soldiers with almost no losses!
Once this model is extended to the whole of Shaanxi and Gansu, it is not impossible for Zhao Junchen to form a new army of 20,000 soldiers!
The most important thing is that these 20,000 private soldiers are not loyal to the court, but more to their employers! And their future employer will be Zhao Junchen!
In addition, there is an implicit condition in this transaction! That is, in this year's war, Zhao Junchen will not arbitrarily order Wang Yan, Lin Huishi and others to leave their bases to engage in field battles with the Mongols. Because of "insufficient troops", the main tasks of the generals who reached a deal with Zhao Junchen will be in the future. The tasks of defending the city and fighting the Mongols in the wild were all delegated to Zhao Junchen's new army. From this aspect, the border generals took a small advantage.
But on the other hand, Zhao Junchen never expected these frontier generals to dare to fight the Mongols outside the city, so Zhao Junchen also suffered no losses!
This deal has probably been negotiated long ago, but it was just chosen to be made public today.
After understanding the context of Zhao Junchen's plan, Shaanxi Governor Zhang Shengde was filled with admiration, only to realize that he had misunderstood Zhao Junchen and underestimated Zhao Junchen's methods.
No wonder Zhao Junchen suddenly changed his approach of focusing on maintaining stability. He also wanted to investigate arrears and recruit private soldiers, as if he was deliberately trying to disrupt the situation in Shaanxi and Gansu. It turned out that he had already had a complete plan, and several things seemed to be feasible. Proposals that were harmful but useless, together they complemented each other and achieved miraculous results.
Looking back now, Zhao Junchen's suggestion just now to check the morale of the border troops who are owed wages and rewards is probably also a foreshadowing. It is not really intended to shake the power foundation of the border army generals, but to deter them and encourage them to cooperate obediently. Make a deal with Zhao Junchen!
Under coercion and inducement, the next choice of the border army generals became clear.
Last night, Zhao Junchen said that he would recruit private soldiers from generals from various places to form a new army. Zhang Shengde thought it was a fantasy, but after understanding Zhao Junchen's plan, Zhang Shengde realized that it was so easy.
With admiration in his heart, Zhang Shengde stood up again to express his stance, but this time he expressed his support and said: "The lower official also believes that the three sides of Shaanxi and Gansu should indeed mobilize elite troops to form combat troops! The two guards from Ningxia and Yulin Since the commander-in-chief has set an example and the commander is familiar with Fang Zhenshan, the commander-in-chief guarding Guyuan Military Town, after today's discussion is over, the commander will write him a letter explaining in detail the imperial envoy's profound intentions. I believe Guyuan Military Town and above will also give their full support!"
After finishing speaking, Zhang Shengde winked at Wu Min, the governor of Hedong, and Zhang Wenhui, the governor of Hexi.
Under Zhang Shengde's suggestion, Wu Min and Zhang Wenhui hesitated for a moment, and then stood up and expressed their stance, saying that they would urge the Gansu military town to also send elite private soldiers to join Zhao Junchen's new army.
Compared with several civilian officials, the military attachés were slightly slower to respond, but they were not stupid.
Soon, Zheng Yu, the deputy commander-in-chief of Huamachi Camp, was the first to express his position, saying: "Now the Imperial Envoy is in charge of Huamachi Camp, and as a military attaché of Huamachi Camp, I naturally want to fully support the Imperial Envoy's plan. ! There are five hundred elite soldiers under my humble command. From now on, two hundred of them... no, all four hundred of them will be handed over to the commander-in-chief of the Imperial Envoy!"
Zheng Yu was also a courageous man, and he actually handed over most of his private soldiers in one go.
But Zheng Yu also figured out that now Zhao Junchen has completely controlled the situation in Huamachi Camp. Even if he has 500 private soldiers, he is completely unable to resist. He might as well just hand over most of his private soldiers to Zhao. Junchen, take the opportunity to please and join me!
Under the leadership of Zheng Yu, several other military attachés from the Huamachi Camp also had the same thoughts and expressed their attitudes one after another.
"The humble Zheng Bao also has more than 400 elite soldiers under his command. From now on, all 300 of them will be handed over to the command of the Governor-General's Mansion!"
"There are also 300 elite soldiers among the humble officers. From now on, all 200 of them will be handed over to the command of the Governor-General's Mansion!"
"I have few elite soldiers under my humble command, only about sixty, but I am willing to hand over forty of them to join the Imperial Envoy's new army!"
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In this way, the general Zheng Bao handed over 300 private soldiers, the garrison officer Bao Hongjie handed over 200 private soldiers, and the remaining thousands of households also handed over dozens of private soldiers.
In addition to the 3,000 private soldiers that Zhao Junchen took over from Shi Song last night, Zhao Junchen now has more than 8,000 private soldiers in his hands!
You know, even a few generals in military towns often only have about 3,000 private soldiers under their command. This is already the limit of their financial burden! And Zhao Junchen had just taken over the power of the governor of the three sides. With just a few tricks, his private soldiers already far exceeded all the border generals!
It can be expected that the new army of soldiers envisioned by Zhao Junchen may be realized soon, and may even exceed the size of 20,000 people!
Even Zhao Junchen would find it extremely difficult to support this large private army!
But everything is worth it. With this force, Zhao Junchen will have the confidence to resist even if Emperor Deqing loses his power and hides his bow.
However, the top priority now is the border defense plan of Shaanxi-Gansu!
Therefore, there was no obvious joy on Zhao Junchen's face, but he quickly moved to the next topic.
Deputy Commander-in-Chief Zheng Yu and others’ positive statements towards Zhao Junchen soon paid off!
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Well, a big chapter of 6,000 words!
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