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Just when Zhao Junchen summoned all parties to discuss the plan, a group of Forbidden Army soldiers, about a hundred people, were welcomed outside the camp of Liaodong Town. The leader was none other than Jiang Quan, a hundred households in the Forbidden Army.
Later, Jiang Quan came forward and shouted, saying that he had come to the Liaodong Town camp on Zhao Junchen's order to investigate the confrontation between the Liaodong Cavalry and the Guan Ning Cavalry a few days ago, and asked to enter the camp.
Upon hearing Jiang Quan's request, the face of the Liaodong military attaché responsible for guarding the gate of the camp was full of disgust, discomfort, and helplessness.
Although they were reluctant in every possible way, this matter was jointly agreed upon by Zhao Junchen, He Yu, and Wu Shilin. The Liaodong military attache responsible for guarding the gate of the camp had no right to stop it, so he had to let Jiang Quan and the other officers of the Forbidden Army stay in the camp for the time being. Waiting outside, saying that he must inform Liaodong's senior management before he can be released.
Jiang Quan was not surprised by Liaodong Town's procrastinating attitude during this period. Based on his experience in the past few days, if they just stayed and waited outside the camp like this, they would probably have to wait until dark.
However, Jiang Quan had already found a way to crack it.
Jiang Quan turned to the officers and soldiers of the Forbidden Army and said, "Brothers, let's wait here for nothing. Let's sing the military song!"
As Jiang Quan finished speaking, the soldiers of the Forbidden Army soon began to sing in unison.
"You should be filial to your son, and loyal to your ministers; when you write a song to persuade you, you must remember every word clearly... The imperial court tried its best to collect money and food, and did not hesitate to pay heavy wages to support the army; one soldier was fed and clothed for a hundred taels, and the seventh-rank county magistrate It's the same in general; if you are selfish for your own benefit, the ghosts and gods of heaven and earth will not tolerate it; since ancient times, generals and ministers have often served in the army, so don't look down on yourself as a soldier..."
Seeing the Forbidden Army soldiers outside the camp starting to sing this military song loudly again, the expression of the Liaodong military attaché responsible for guarding the gate of the camp became more and more full of disgust and helplessness, as if he was forced to swallow feces.
At the same time, as the loud military song was transmitted to the camp in Liaodong Town, all the Liaodong soldiers in the camp could hear it clearly and had different reactions.
Because the melody was simple and catchy, many Liaodong soldiers subconsciously hummed along with it.
Perhaps many Liaodong soldiers were so bored that they gathered at the camp gate to watch the fun.
At the same time, a considerable number of Liaodong soldiers could not help but express thoughts and doubts after hearing the lyrics of this military song.
There were even many Liaodong soldiers who couldn't help but whisper.
For a time, there was quite a bit of excitement in the camp in Liaodong Town.
In this way, seeing that the Forbidden Army soldiers outside the camp would continue to sing loudly, the officers who had the power to make the decision in Liaodong Town finally could no longer sit still and could not continue to use delaying tactics.
So, about a stick of incense later, the closed door of the camp in Liaodong Town finally opened.
Then, Liaodong Qianhu Shicheng appeared in front of Jiang Quan with a black face.
"Jiang Baihu, you have been coming to our camp in Liaodong Town for three consecutive days to investigate the conflict between the two armies! And every time you come to our camp in Liaodong Town, you always sing this nondescript military song everywhere, and even more You are linking up everywhere and spreading false rumors... You are going to great lengths to disrupt the morale of our Liaodong army! What on earth do you want to do? Are you trying to incite my Liaodong soldiers to rebel?"
After hearing Shi Cheng's reprimand, Jiang Quan first carefully admired Shi Cheng's angry but helpless look for a moment, and then explained with a smile: "Shi Qianhu, where do you start with these words? We were responsible for investigating Liaodong a few days ago. How big of a deal is the conflict between the cavalry and Guan Ning's cavalry? How can we easily draw a conclusion? Naturally, we have to ask the relevant people repeatedly, and we don't dare to be negligent, and it will take a little more time!
There is also this military song, which was specially composed by Zhao Gechen for our Forbidden Army officers. We Forbidden Army officers like this military song, so naturally we have to sing it from time to time. How can it make your Liaodong officers and soldiers feel uneasy?
As for us going around connecting and spreading rumors, that's even more out of the question! I am known as 'Jiang Da Lao Da', and I have always only known how to tell the truth. These colleagues of mine also have the same temper as me. Could you please tell me, what kind of false rumors have we been spreading these days? "
Although Shi Cheng is a shrewd and intelligent person, he couldn't help but be speechless at this moment.
Jiang Quan asked again: "Shi Qianhu, don't just make things difficult for me. Give me a clear answer first. Do you want our Forbidden Army soldiers to enter the Liaodong Town camp to investigate the conflict between the two armies in the past few days? If you don't let me, brother, I won't say anything nonsense. I will go back and report to Zhao Gechen immediately, saying that your Liaodong Town has a guilty conscience and obstructed the investigation, and that Mr. He broke his promise and got rich. Finally, let Zhao Gechen and Mr. Wu of Shanhaiguan talk to your Mr. He. that is!"
Shi Cheng glared at Jiang Quan fiercely, gritted his teeth and said: "We in Liaodong Town have never had a guilty conscience, and my commander-in-chief has never broken his promise. You can then enter the camp and continue to investigate the conflict between the two armies. But this time there must be three rules. First of all, you must not continue to sing the military song after entering the camp. Secondly, you cannot discuss irrelevant matters with the Liaodong soldiers. Finally, when you come into contact with the Liaodong soldiers, I, the Liaodong officer, must accompany you and monitor you. ...If you can't do these three things, then you really can't even think of entering the camp to investigate today!"
Jiang Quan still looked like a smiling ruffian, nodded and said: "Okay! Let's put the investigation first, and I agree to these requests!"
Shi Cheng snorted again and finally led Jiang Quan and the Forbidden Army soldiers into the camp in Liaodong Town.
After Shicheng and the Forbidden Army soldiers entered the Liaodong Town camp, they immediately dispersed the team. They were running around and had frequent contact with the Liaodong soldiers. This time, Liaodong Town was well prepared and immediately sent a large number of reliable military attachés to follow. Responsible for monitoring and control at the back.
As for Shi Cheng himself, he followed Jiang Quan directly and stared at Jiang Quan's every move.
Jiang Quan didn't care about Shi Cheng, a follower. He just quickly found a few elite frontier soldiers who were from the Liaodong Cavalry. These people had personal experience of the contest and conflict a few days ago, and asked them for relevant clues. with details
Obviously, the internal confessions of Liaodong Town have already been unified. According to these Liaodong Cavalry, when the Liaodong Cavalry and Guan Ning Cavalry were conducting training exercises a few days ago, the casualties suffered by the Guan Ning Cavalry were all accidental injuries. This was by no means a deliberate act by Li Shijie, a member of Qianhu Household in Liaodong.
However, after all, these Liaodong cavalry officers were just roughnecks in the army. Not only did they not have a high level of education, they also had no careful thoughts. Jiang Quan only asked for some details in detail, and loopholes soon appeared in the confessions they provided.
But just like the investigation in the past few days, whenever it was this time, officers from Liaodong Town would suddenly show up and seek reasons to directly suspend the investigation with a tough attitude. They would even directly turn against the guest and ask the officers and soldiers of Liaodong Iron Cavalry to make changes on the spot. confession.
It is precisely because of this situation that the officers and soldiers of the Forbidden Army often clashed with the officers of Liaodong Town during inquiries and investigations.
The situation on this day was no exception. Shi Cheng had originally made up his mind to follow Jiang Quan to prevent him from doing evil things secretly and disrupting the morale of the army.
But soon, Shicheng received news that several Forbidden Army soldiers had a conflict with the Liaodong military attache during the investigation.
After hearing the news, Shi Cheng's expression became increasingly unhappy, but after hesitating for a moment, he finally turned and left Jiang Quan, intending to go and stop the conflict between the Forbidden Army and the Liaodong Army.
Of course, when Shi Cheng left, he still told another Liaodong Town military attache to stay here and continue to monitor Jiang Quan's words and deeds.
However, there was still one oversight in Shicheng, that is, the Liaodong officer who stayed here to monitor Jiang Quan was named He Jie. He was a well-known good old man in the Liaodong Army and had a somewhat soft personality.
Therefore, the Liaodong cavalry officers who were questioned were naturally cautious when they saw Shi Cheng standing aside and did not dare to say anything unnecessary. But after Shi Cheng left, they saw the person who took over Shi Cheng's surveillance. After turning into the kind-hearted He Jie, he suddenly became more courageous and finally dared to ask some questions that had been lingering in his mind for a long time.
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But he said that just after Shi Cheng left, the several Liaodong Cavalry soldiers who were asked for questioning looked at each other, and finally the oldest Liaodong Cavalry soldier took the initiative to speak and asked in a low voice: "This Baihu Sir, we will hear the military song sung by your imperial army from time to time these days... I have a question and want to ask you for advice..."
Jiang Quan was not surprised by the sudden inquiry from the Liaodong cavalry officer. Instead, he answered patiently: "I remember your name is Hu Maonong, right? We are all fellow soldiers. If you have any questions, just ask them directly!"
Hu Maonong quietly took a look at He Jie who was watching nearby. After seeing that He Jie had no reaction, he quickly asked again: "After listening to that military song, the villain just thought it sounded good at first, and he also learned to hum it. Sing, but as I sang, I felt something was wrong...According to the military song, it is said that 'a soldier eats and wears a hundred taels, and a seventh-grade magistrate generally has the same'...The salary and treatment of your Forbidden Army officers is really like this generous?"
Jiang Quan nodded with a smile and said: "The official salary of my court officials is not high, but the salary of the soldiers is not low, but in general, the money and food consumed to support an elite soldier is indeed similar to the official salary of a seventh-grade magistrate. "
After hearing what Jiang Quan said, several Liaodong cavalry officers couldn't help but exclaimed in admiration, their expressions full of envy and anger.
They are all the elites in Liaodong Town. Not only do they receive full salary, silver, and food during the week, but they also receive double pay during the war, and even more rewards after the war. Compared with the treatment of ordinary military households, it is considered extremely good. generous.
However, these Liaodong cavalry also know very well that their treatment is only better than that of ordinary military households and ordinary people, but it is still far behind the imperial court's seventh-grade county magistrates, even if it is only on the surface.
Thinking of this, several Liaodong cavalrymen were all aggrieved. Why did I, the Liaodong cavalrymen, risk my life to protect the border for the imperial court, while your Forbidden Army stayed in Zhili and enjoyed themselves, but in the end, your Forbidden Army received better treatment?
After seeing the changes in the expressions of several Liaodong cavalrymen, Jiang Quan looked surprised and asked: "Comrades, you actually envy the treatment of our Forbidden Army? How is it possible? The treatment of our Forbidden Army is far inferior to You Liaodong Army!"
Hu Maonong was stunned for a moment, and then laughed and said: "This Lord of the Hundred Households is joking. Our Liaodong Iron Cavalry is already considered to have the best treatment among the Liaodong Army, but even with double wartime pay and post-war rewards, good luck every year is just I only have twenty or thirty taels of silver, how can it be compared with your Forbidden Army... Even if your Forbidden Army is not fighting, I'm afraid it will not be less than this amount."
Jiang Quan shook his head repeatedly and counted the accounts with his fingers: "It's absolutely impossible. Logically speaking, the treatment of your Liaodong Army should be much higher than that of the Forbidden Army. The imperial court's annual military expenditure in Liaodong is much higher than that of our Forbidden Army...
Let me do the math for you. Last year alone, the court spent as much as 8.5 million taels of Liao money. And how many troops do you have in Liaodong Town? That’s 150,000 people, right? For this alone, each Liaodong soldier can receive an average of sixty taels of silver, and as the elite of the elite, your Liaodong cavalry must be much higher...
What's more, the income of Liaodong Town is not only the Liao salary given by the imperial court, but also a part of the taxes in Liaodong. This is another large sum of money. I heard that business in Liaoyang City is booming and growing day by day. Doujin, and a large amount of silver came in... Add these amounts together, each of you Liaodong Cavalry should receive at least one hundred taels of silver..."
After hearing Jiang Quan's detailed calculations, several Liaodong Cavalry soldiers were stunned. On the one hand, they found it unbelievable, but on the other hand, they had to believe it under the conclusive figures.
Therefore, these Liaodong cavalry couldn't help but think secretly in their hearts. Compared with the money they should have received, how much percent did they actually get? How many percent more was lost? And whose pockets did these uncollected losses end up in?
In this world, everything is afraid of getting to the bottom of things and calculating the details.
Although these Liaodong cavalry are fierce and fierce, they are still honest people from peasant families.
They originally knew very well that a lot of their salary, silver, and rations must have been withheld and misappropriated by the high-ranking military attaches. However, due to the times and environmental factors, they always thought that this kind of thing was natural, and those high-ranking military attaches should take more. , who makes people have high status and power?
However, once they have calculated their actual losses in detail and a staggering amount is placed before them, how can they still turn a blind eye and take it for granted?
For a moment, several Liaodong cavalrymen showed signs of heartache and unwillingness, and once again they became indignant.
However, this time, the target of their resentment was the military attachés of Liaodong Town!
It was these military attachés from Liaodong Town who stole their own salaries and wages!
In fact, Jiang Quan's statements are obviously a change of concept.
The so-called Liao pay refers to the defense expenditure of the entire Liaodong town. It is not just the pay, silver, and rations for the Liaodong frontier army. In addition to distributing pay, silver, and rations to the Liaodong frontier army, Liao pay is also used to repair cities, build ordnance, and support war horses. Wait, each item is not a small amount.
What's more, once the Liao wages leave the treasury every year, they will be divided up a lot by the major forces in the imperial court. When passing through Shanhaiguan, they will be plucked by the Wu family geese. In fact, it is not as much as 8.5 million taels.
Therefore, it is true that the high-level and middle-level military attachés of Liaodong Town misappropriated a lot of benefits, but although the specific number is staggering, it is not as huge as Jiang Quan suggested.
However, these Liaodong cavalrymen all came from poor backgrounds and did not have such knowledge. They were guided by Jiang Quan, so naturally they could not expect so much.
They just feel that the money, money and food they have exchanged for their wealth and life have been squandered by the people above, leaving only a little residue for themselves!
However, after being aggrieved, these Liaodong cavalry also felt deeply powerless.
Even if they know that most of their wages and salaries have been embezzled, what can they do?
Is it possible to directly resist the high-ranking military attachés in Liaodong Town?
Who can convince the senior officials of Liaodong Town and uphold justice for them?
Thinking of this, the indignation on the expressions of several Liaodong cavalry gradually faded away, and they all shook their heads and sighed.
On the other side, Jiang Quan couldn't help but smile when he saw the performance and reaction of these Liaodong cavalry.
He knew very well that in the past few days, situations similar to the one in front of him were recurring throughout the camp in Liaodong Town.
Even in the Wu family's camp in Shanhaiguan, there was the same scene.
By investigating the conflict between the Liaodong Iron Cavalry and Guanning Iron Cavalry, Jiang Quan and the Forbidden Army officers and soldiers have been instilling a concept into the Liaodong Iron Cavalry and Guanning Iron Cavalry these days, that is - as elite border troops, they The seemingly generous treatment actually only accounts for a very small part of their deserved income. They have been deceived and exploited by border military attachés for a long time!
Among these frontier soldiers, even if there are a few smart people who can see the flaws in this concept, they will never be able to change the minds of the vast majority of people.
People always attach great importance to their own efforts and always think that they should gain more, but they do not pay attention to factors that devalue their efforts and gains. This is human nature.
Under such circumstances, it is like Pandora's Box in Western mythology. Once these frontier soldiers are led to think, they will inevitably continue to accumulate dissatisfaction in their hearts.
When this dissatisfaction reaches a critical point, it will be okay for those ordinary military households who are weak, but what will be the reaction of those Liaodong cavalry and Guanning cavalry with brave personalities?
At least, the military morale is definitely unstable.
What is military morale?
For military attachés, the so-called military morale means that when they are fighting the enemy on the battlefield, whether the soldiers around them use their bodies to shield themselves from the sword, or whether they inadvertently shoot a cold arrow at themselves, is related to their lives. , the most important thing!
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"Next, as long as these Liaodong cavalry can realize that Zhao Gechen will stand up and support them when necessary..."
Seeing the reactions of the border soldiers, Jiang Quan thought secretly.
However, before Jiang Quan could speak again, He Jie, the Liaodong officer in charge of surveillance, finally couldn't help but stop him: "Jiang Baihu, I hope you remember your previous agreement! You cannot discuss irrelevant matters with Liaodong soldiers!"
"Okay! Okay! Don't talk about this anymore!"
Jiang Quan smiled and nodded, and then planned to "get back to business" and continue to ask these Liaodong cavalry soldiers about the conflict between the two armies in the past few days.
However, before Jiang Quan could ask a few questions, Shi Cheng left angrily and returned.
Walking up to Jiang Quan, Shi Cheng directly issued an order to expel the guests with a cold face.
"Jiang Baihu! The Forbidden Army soldiers under your command have repeatedly violated the three chapters of our previous agreement. They still show no repentance and repeatedly disrupt the morale of our soldiers in Liaodong Town. We, Liaodong Town, can't bear it anymore! Now, please leave the Liaodong Town camp immediately! If there is any more entanglement, then don’t blame me, Liaodong Town, for expelling you!"
Seeing Shi Cheng's anger and tough attitude, Jiang Quan was still not surprised.
After these few days of frequent contact with the Liaodong frontier army, he had already achieved Zhao Junchen's planned goal.
Therefore, Jiang Quan did not argue with Shi Cheng, and still smiled like a dead pig who is not afraid of boiling water, and said: "Since Shi Qianhu wants to evict guests, I naturally will not stay shamelessly to make everyone look bad... ...However, before I leave, I still have a gift to give to Liaodong Town!"
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