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"Gift?"
When Shi Cheng heard Jiang Quan's words, he immediately became wary.
After these few days of contact experience, in Shi Cheng's eyes, Zhao Junchen and the people around Zhao Junchen have already become insidious, despicable, and treacherous spokesmen.
So, what kind of good thing can the so-called "gift" Jiang Quan wants to give to Liaodong Town be?
It must be the weasel giving New Year greetings to the chicken!
In fact, Shi Cheng's judgment was very accurate, Jiang Quan did have bad intentions.
Everything Jiang Quan did and said was under Zhao Junchen's orders, and what good intentions could Zhao Junchen have?
Jiang Quan took out a thick stack of paper from his arms and handed it to Shi Cheng. He explained with kindness: "These letters are letters from the people nearby to the soldiers of Liaodong...
Although Zhao Gechen has been staying in Hujiazhuang recently, he is still concerned about the living conditions of the people in Liaodong. He sent us Forbidden Army soldiers to visit and investigate everywhere. During this period, we met many relatives and friends of the Liaodong frontier army soldiers. They missed those people quite a lot. The children who joined the army entrusted us to forward these family letters.
I was still a little embarrassed at first. After all, there were 150,000 soldiers in Liaodong Town. It was not easy to find the recipients of the letter one by one. But today it suddenly occurred to me that this matter could be entrusted to Shi Qianhu. Hu Nai is a general in Liaodong, so he will definitely be able to deliver these family letters accurately, and those Liaodong soldiers will definitely be very happy after receiving these family letters...
Wasn't Shi Qianhu always worried about the unstable military morale of Liaodong soldiers? Perhaps these family letters will help stabilize the military morale in Liaodong Town.
Well, Shi Qianhu, please don't say thank you. I just did it casually. The soldiers of Liaodong are all heroes who guard the border for the imperial court. It is an honor for me to do my best to help them forward letters home! "
After saying that, Jiang Quan bowed his hands to Shi Cheng, then turned and walked away. He quickly summoned all the Forbidden Army soldiers under his command and left the Liaodong Town camp.
This behavior is like a righteous knight who does good deeds without asking for anything in return.
However, after Jiang Quan and others left the camp in Liaodong Town, Shi Cheng looked through the contents of these family letters, and his expression suddenly became more ugly. He gritted his teeth and said: "Despicable villain with ulterior motives! He is really doing evil out of pure heart!"
It turns out that the content of these family letters, without exception, is that the people in the surrounding Liaodong are complaining to their children who have joined the army, or telling that their families have been forcibly requisitioned by the Liaodong frontier army to "help the army", or that their tribesmen have been subjected to the Liaodong frontier army. Bullying and extortion, or complaining about the excessive forced labor imposed by the Liaodong frontier army...
There was even a family letter that said that the sister of a certain Liaodong soldier was forcibly abducted by a local Liaodong officer!
In summary, these family letters all have the same meaning, that is, these Liaodong people all believe that after their children join the Liaodong Army, as military family members, they will still be bullied by the Liaodong border army, without any preferential treatment at all, and the situation is chilling!
Jiang Quan just said that once these family letters are delivered to the Liaodong soldiers, they will help stabilize the morale of the soldiers in Liaodong Town. This is simply lying!
In the past few days, due to the instigation of Jiang Quan and others, some Liaodong soldiers have had a change of heart, but the overall situation is still controllable. However, if the contents of these family letters are spread at this time, it will inevitably further destabilize the military morale. , the dissatisfaction in the hearts of the border troops will increase again, and it may become the fuse for the expansion of the incident!
Thinking of this, Shi Cheng immediately wanted to destroy these family letters.
But the next moment, Shi Cheng still suppressed the impulse in his heart.
Since Jiang Quan dares to hand over all these family letters to Shi Cheng, it means that Zhao Junchen has already arranged a backup plan. If Shi Cheng directly destroys these family letters, it may lead to more serious consequences!
For a while, although Shi Cheng was shrewd, he had no idea. He just felt that these family letters had become a hot potato. He couldn't keep them, destroy them, let alone send them directly to the Liaodong soldiers who received them. inside.
In the end, Shi Cheng put the stack of family letters in his arms, then turned around and walked quickly towards the handsome tent, thinking that He Yu must make the decision in person on this matter.
*
Ever since Zhao Junchen entered the Liaodong Town defense zone, he has always been nonchalant and never stopped fighting. He has repeatedly gone off the beaten path and always done things that are completely unconventional.
Just as the high-ranking military attaches in Liaodong Town were also in a dilemma and discussing these family letters, the Forbidden Army camp and Zhao Junchen's tent were filled with noise and chaos.
Because of Zhao Junchen's words, everyone's expressions changed drastically, and they couldn't help but stand up and raise questions!
Isn’t it enough that Liaodong Town consumes enough money and food from both the government and the public every year?
Aren’t those Liaodong military attachés who are equivalent to the local emperors in the defense zone not powerful enough?
Why did Zhao Junchen still distribute more money, silver and food to the Liaodong frontier army? Are we going to give more real power to the military attachés in Liaodong Town?
Are you crazy?
What's more, Zhao Junchen has mentioned before that the imperial court will definitely try to reduce the amount of Liao's pay, but at the same time increase the Liaodong army's pay. How to make up for the gap between the reduction and the increase?
What's more, the actual power of Liaodong officers is also increased. This is simply a disguised form of encouragement for Liaodong Town to further exploit and exploit the people within the territory!
Thinking of this, all the forces in Liaodong in front of Zhao Junchen suddenly became excited.
"Zhao Gechen! I originally had high hopes for you, thinking that you could suppress the domineering spirit of Liaodong Town for many years and bring benefits to the people of Liaodong, but I didn't expect that you would be so vicious!
On the one hand, you don't dare to offend Liaodong Town, but on the other hand, you want to reduce the imperial court's Liao salary burden, so you plan to sacrifice millions of people in Liaodong and pass on the imperial court's burden to the people, right? I must have misjudged you! "
The first person to speak out and criticize the case was Zhang Zhengqing, the only great scholar in Liaodong.
This man was originally from Hanlin, but eventually gave up the comfortable and safe life in the capital and voluntarily returned to his ancestral home, Jinzhou, to resettle his family business. For many years, he has been committed to providing relief and education to the people of Liaodong, either opening porridge sheds or adopting orphans. He has a very high reputation in Liaodong. Although he does not have much power, no one dares to underestimate him. Even He Yu treats him with respect when they meet him.
As Zhang Zhengqing took the lead in attacking, everyone else also spoke out against Zhao Junchen's proposal.
Wang Shizhen, the governor of Liaodong, looked a little flustered. Apparently he also believed that Zhao Junchen wanted to sacrifice the people of Liaodong in order to cater to the interests of Liaodong Town and the central court at the same time. He kept saying: "Zhao Gechen, this strategy is not feasible! Liaodong Town has been experiencing insufficient financial resources over the years. There are three areas outside, one is the Liao salary at the center of the imperial court, one is the local tax assessment in Liaodong, and the other is the border trade in Liaoyang City...
Among these three places, the Liao salary at the center of the imperial court accounted for the majority after all! If you want to reduce the salary of the central government of Liaodong and at the same time increase the salary of Liaodong soldiers, it seems to be trying to please both sides, but it will only force Liaodong Town to significantly increase the apportionment and expropriation of the people of Liaodong, or force Liaodong to The town has greatly strengthened the trade of Liaoyang City!
The former will make the people of Liaodong completely lose their way of life. They have been plundered by the Jianzhou Jurchens for many years. Their lives are hard enough, and there is no more money to squeeze. The latter will force Liaodong Town to have a secret relationship with the Jianzhou Jurchens. Even though no one dares to touch the trade in Liaoyang City, it is actually an act of capitalizing on the enemy! "
Next, Song Dahe, the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong branch training, who had gotten along quite well with Zhao Junchen in recent days, struggled for a while, but couldn't help but said a fair word: "Chen Zhao, the people of Liaodong can no longer bear it. There is more exploitation, and the power of the military attache in Liaodong Town is also strong enough... I hope you will think twice!"
In this way, the vast majority of people in the tent spoke out against Zhao Junchen, completely ignoring Zhao Junchen's status as a cabinet minister.
After all, Zhao Junchen's proposal seemed to be not only harmful to the country and the people, but also seriously violated their vital interests.
Among the people who objected, only two people did not stand up to refute Zhao Junchen.
One is Fang Zhenshan, a fellow governor and governor. This person is most familiar with Zhao Junchen's character and methods, and understands that Zhao Junchen's proposal must have a deeper meaning.
The other one was Ling Huguang, the commander-in-chief of the Liaodong regiment.
In fact, not only did Linghu Guang not speak out against Zhao Junchen at this time, but he immediately stood up to express his support!
Linghu Guang suddenly slapped the table next to him, glared at everyone, and said loudly: "As a central minister, Zhao Gechen not only has great wisdom, but also considers issues from the overall perspective of the court. Since Zhao Gechen has Such a proposal certainly has his reasons. Now that he is willing to discuss it with us Liaodong soldiers and civilians in advance, he has already given great face to Heaven, so how can you be qualified to object?"
Hearing Linghu Guang's blatant flattery, everyone in the tent suddenly became quiet, and everyone looked at Linghu Guang in disbelief.
The sudden silence of everyone was not because they were frightened by Linghu Guang, but because everyone did not expect that Linghu Guang, who had always behaved mediocrely, would be so shameless and completely abandon his position and conscience in order to please Zhao Junchen.
Taking advantage of this moment of silence, Fang Zhenshan said slowly: "Everyone, please be patient. I believe that Zhao Gechen has absolutely no intention of sacrificing the people of Liaodong to please Liaodong Town. Everyone should listen to Zhao Gechen's detailed explanation first. good?"
On the other side, Zhao Junchen first nodded gently to Fang Zhenshan, and then took a deep look at Linghu Guang.
In the past few days, Zhao Junchen had also discovered that since Linghu Guang saw him, he had been trying his best to please him and couldn't wait to express his loyalty, almost without any cover.
Zhao Junchen was very confused about Linghuguang's abnormal performance, but it was not the time to explore further at the moment, so Zhao Junchen just looked at Linghuguang for a moment and then assured him: "Everyone, please don't worry, I will Ge has just said that when he came to the Liaodong area this time, he wanted to try to defeat Liaodong Town, so he would never sacrifice the people of Liaodong for fear of offending Liaodong Town!"
Seeing that the mood of everyone in the tent had calmed down a little, and they were all waiting for his further explanation, Zhao Junchen's expression once again showed a smile of wisdom, and he said slowly: "Actually, I have thought of a way to get the best of both worlds. This method will not only allow the imperial court to reduce Liao's salary expenditures, but also allow the soldiers in Liaodong Town to increase their salaries. At the same time, it will not force Liaodong Town to further exploit the people or strengthen Liaoyang trade!
The method that this pavilion has thought of is to give more real power to the various military attachés in Liaodong Town! Prior to this, the Liaodong General Army was responsible for calculating the amount of Liao pay that Liaodong Town requested from the court every year, and then reported and requested it from the court. All Liao pay paid by the court was sent by land transportation through Shanhaiguan. The Jinzhou camp where the Liaodong General Soldier is located will then be handed over to the Liaodong General Soldier to be responsible for the specific distribution!
However, this pavilion believes that in the future, the various generals and local guards in Liaodong Town can report to the court on their own the money, food and materials needed for their defense areas, and the court will directly provide them through land transportation, sea transportation, river transportation, etc. Money and food are distributed to various defense zones!
In this way, it is possible to save the need for transportation through the Jinzhou camp. For example, on Liaodong South Road, you can directly use sea transportation to send the money, food and materials needed for the South Road defense zone directly. On Liaodong East Road, you can use the river route, or even You can also subcontract the transportation tasks to merchants from various places through low-price bidding. In this way, you can save a lot of money just in terms of food consumption during transportation! "
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