On the way back to Langzhou, Li Yuan and his party unexpectedly met Liu Jiangsheng who was recruiting soldiers in a small county along the way. During the ten or twenty days that Li Yuan left, Liu Jiangsheng was assigned to recruit to make up for the additional 40,000 troops. Liu Jiangsheng was so busy with the recruitment of troops that it was really difficult to handle.
When Liu Jiangsheng saw Li Yuan, he began to complain. These days, he had visited almost all the cities under Wu Ping's rule, but the number of soldiers he recruited was extremely limited. So far, less than 5,000 people have been recruited out of the 40,000 troops that were lacking. It is not that Wuping has a sparse population, but that most people are unwilling to join the army.
Perhaps it is because Wuping Town has experienced a lot of wars since the beginning of the year. During the Western Expedition of the Southern Tang Dynasty, the Langzhou soldiers under Liu Yan suffered a lot of casualties. After that, even though Li Yuan was in charge for a period of time, the people took a breather, but recently with After several battles with the Han army in Dongxi and Han Dynasties, nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses were lost.
Except for a small number of the original guards who followed Li Yuan and migrated from Jianghuai, these lost soldiers and horses were all the sons and husbands of the people in Wuping Town. The impact of these fallen soldiers on the people was really not small. , it is no wonder that many people walked away immediately when they saw the Wuping Army recruiting soldiers, fearing to avoid it.
"Grand Governor, it is really difficult to recruit soldiers and horses like this. There are people applying for recruiting regiments and training horses in various cities. On the contrary, in the name of the Wuping Army, few people are willing to come..." Liu Jiangsheng gasped.
Liu Jiangsheng hesitated for a moment, then folded his hands and whispered: "How about we follow the old method of recruiting soldiers in the Chu region? We forced Latin to join the army, and the governor ordered the people to join the army on a voluntary basis. I don't know when the recruitment will last. ....."
Li Yuan frowned. It is true that the main way to recruit soldiers in the Chu Kingdom and even the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era was to force Latin soldiers to join the army. But aside from other reasons, this method of recruiting soldiers is very problematic. Because the soldiers who are forced to join the army are psychologically unwilling to fight. They are fine when the war goes well, but they collapse as soon as they lose.
"You definitely can't do this. Remember, this is how Liu Yan recruited soldiers. Isn't this just trying to catch a duck? Our Wuping Army would rather have elite soldiers and generals who voluntarily join the army than forcefully recruit them. A mob." Li Yuan shook his head.
Liu Jiangsheng said in a deep voice: "As a result, the number of troops will not be enough for recruitment."
Li Yuan sighed softly: "If you want people to join the army voluntarily, you can't force them to join the army. In fact, it's just a lack of attraction. Soldiers in the army are not well paid, and they have to risk their lives. It's no wonder that everyone is not enthusiastic. If we can increase soldiers' pay and benefits, and provide other benefits, such as halving the family tax of those who join the army, or providing other generous benefits, it will not be difficult to recruit soldiers."
Liu Jiangsheng said in astonishment: "Grand Governor, your idea coincides with Mr. Xu's. He said that the military pay of the Wuping Army is only three cents of silver per month, which is less than the same. The Chu region has experienced many wars, and the people have no peace. They must To attract people to actively join, at least the amount must always be sufficient. If there is consistent military pay, the difficulty of recruiting soldiers should be greatly reduced."
"Mr. Xu, what you mean is that after the military pay is raised to a consistent level, the common people will flock to it?" Li Yuan frowned.
"Yes, that's a lot of money. Who doesn't want to be a soldier? In Jinling, a strong man can earn a month's worth of money to support several people, let alone in Wuping." Liu Jiangsheng swallowed his saliva.
Li Yuan nodded slightly and said, "You see, the solution is that simple. Increase the pay of soldiers. People will die for wealth and birds will die for food. There is no need to use force at all."
Liu Jiangsheng opened his eyes wide and said: "Grand Governor, raising military pay is a matter of great concern to the whole body. To raise military pay, veterans and new recruits need to raise it together. One hundred thousand Wuping Army is one hundred thousand guan a month, and one hundred and twenty thousand a year. Wan Guan. The court will not help us pay for this money..."
Li Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Let's do this first. We must recruit the full number of troops first."
Liu Jiangsheng cupped his hands and said, "Yes."
Li Yuan gritted his teeth and said with a smile: "Don't worry, with our current treasury storage in Wuping, and at worst the inner treasury of my Governor's Mansion, it is more than enough to raise 100,000 soldiers."
"You will finally understand!" Liu Jiangsheng nodded happily. In fact, he did not notice the subtle changes in the expression on Li Yuan's face.
Since the Ordnance Supervision, he has been developing and producing various new weapons and armor every day, and improving Fuyuan crossbow trebuchets and other siege equipment. These are all money-burning tasks. Moreover, they are preparing to develop gunpowder recently. Thinking of this, Li Yuan is really a little bit Feeling weak...
However, the recruitment of soldiers and horses could not be stopped. After finally obtaining 40,000 soldiers, Li Yuan did not want to waste it. The number of soldiers and horses on hand was already stretched. Although these 100,000 soldiers and horses seemed to be a large number, Li Yuan felt that it was not enough when he thought about the upcoming major battles.
All in all, the crux of many problems comes down to one word: money. And it’s not money, it’s big money. An ordinary amount is easy, but big money is difficult. It was pure luck that Ma Xihe and Liu Yan obtained the inner treasury saved for many years after returning to the Western Expedition. If this continues, there will be a day when the money is squandered, and you have to think of other ways.
Li Yuan suddenly realized that he had overlooked something so important, something crucial enough to support him in moving forward...
At noon on October 20, Li Yuan and his party finally returned to Langzhou City. Walking on the streets of Langzhou, he immediately attracted the attention of many people in Langzhou. A woman dressed in barbarian costumes rode on a horse and swaggered through the streets, but she wore a black gauze hat on her head. What was surprising was that this woman and Governor Li were riding together.
The Grand Governor seemed to be very ambiguous towards her, full of affection and affection, and joked with her from time to time.
There were many well-informed people among the people, and soon, Peng Qingying's identity was revealed. The news that the Grand Governor had taken the Lord of Dongxi's younger sister home as his concubine quickly spread throughout the city, and people all over the city were talking about it, and everyone was whispering about it.
Some people say that the Grand Governor has such a unique taste that he even wants to taste the flavor of the barbarian girl, and he is very lively. Last time, this barbarian girl was held hostage in the Grand Governor's house, so she must have already cooked the rice.
Some people are more sensible. The Grand Governor made great achievements in pacifying Dongxi. In order to appease Dongxi, he sacrificed his life to marry a barbarian woman because it is said that the barbarian women are very wild and have terrifying faces... The Grand Governor did it for the sake of the Chu Territory. An Ning also worked hard, we should admire the Governor Gao Yi...
In short, this matter eventually became the focus of the entire town of Wuping. In an era when entertainment methods were scarce, gossip about court officials was indeed an excellent topic to kill time. The whole city was shocked for a while, and then gradually subsided in a few days.
