"In order to deal with our Tiger Flag, the imperial court expanded the border army camps in Datong and Xuanfu respectively. Our supply camp in Lingqiu will definitely not be able to stop it, unless the proprietor is determined to break up with the imperial court and send out a large army to attack Datongfu. and Xuanfu Town," Du Yan said.
Liao Junyi nodded slightly, turned to look at Ye Yuncheng on his left, and said: "Chief of Staff, you have been with the proprietor before coming to Lingqiu. You should know the proprietor's thoughts better than us. Can you tell me your opinion?"
After smoking, his mouth easily became bitter, so he picked up the teapot at hand and took a sip of water.
"Our Tiger-Character Banner should not fall out with the imperial court in the short term." Ye Yuncheng said, "Unless the proprietor is ready to establish himself as king, the later we break up with the Ming Dynasty court, the greater the benefit will be to our Tiger-Character Banner. From the soil It will also take time to develop the Dabanshengdi occupied by the Mert Department. Unless the imperial court takes action first, it is impossible for the proprietor to take the initiative to attack the imperial court in a short period of time."
There is nothing wrong with the fertile land in Tumut, but only a few bansheng lands have been developed and utilized by the Mongols. There is also a lot of land that is wasteland and needs to be cultivated before it can be turned into good farmland little by little.
It will take a lot of time to truly utilize these wastelands.
In addition, the cold environment on the grassland is worse than that in Datong. In many cases, only one season of staple food can be harvested. At other times, only some cold-resistant and short-growing crops can be planted.
Liao Junyi thought for a while and said: "We can't control the affairs of Datong Mansion. Naturally, the proprietor will take care of it. What we have to do is not to cause trouble in Lingqiu. Although the important workshops here in Lingqiu have been moved to the grassland, But the remaining workshops at the Dongshan Iron Field are still important, and as long as our supply camp is in Lingqiu for one day, we must ensure the stability of these iron fields and workshops."
"Ying Zheng, don't worry. From now on, I will go to Dongshan Iron Station to take charge and ensure that there will be no trouble." Du Yan patted his chest and said.
Liao Junyi said: "That's what I mean. The three of us are in charge of one place. We will meet once in half a month. Chief of Staff, Xujiazhuang is handed over to you."
As he spoke, he asked Ye Yuncheng on his left.
"Okay." Ye Yuncheng nodded.
Liao Junyi continued: "There are spies from the Foreign Intelligence Bureau in Lingqiu County, and I am stationed in Hutou Village. If anything happens to you two, send someone to Hutou Village for help at any time. I will immediately I’ll support you at the moment.”
Hutou Village is easy to defend but difficult to attack. A military fort was built on the way up the mountain to ensure the safety of Hutou Village. Moreover, the mountain of Hutou Village is full of people from the Tiger Flag, unlike Xujiazhuang and Tiechang. Everyone comes and goes.
And if the government wants to take action, these two places are the best targets.
Ye Yuncheng and Du Yan nodded.
After the three people made a decision, Ye Yuncheng and Du Yan left Hutou Village the next day and went to Xujiazhuang and Dongshan respectively.
At the same time, the Datong General Military Mansion also welcomed a guest.
"Dong Weng, General Huang from Xinpingbao has sent this month's tax money, and this month is much more than the previous few times." Staff Xue Mu said in front of Yang Guozhu.
Yang Guozhu nodded with satisfaction and said, "This Huang An is very capable. I really underestimated him before."
The imperial court ordered Datong to expand the frontier army camp, but the food and wages had to be raised by themselves.
The original Commander-in-Chief Ma wanted to bring the Datong Governor and the Inspector to report to the imperial court and ask for payment from the imperial court, but the Governor and the Inspector-General made a deal with him, and he lost his position as the Commander-in-Chief of Datong and went to Yulin Town to be the Commander-in-Chief. .
Although they are both general soldiers, their importance is very different. The general soldiers of Yulin Town are not valued as much as the general soldiers of Datong Town. Moreover, Yulin Town is poorer than Datong Town and has fewer soldiers and horses.
Yang Guozhu, who took over as the commander-in-chief of Datong, also needed to raise his own food and salary. With the support of the governor and inspector, he began to distribute additional tax money to merchants in Datong Town.
The extra tax money was used to expand Datong's army.
Moreover, his commander-in-chief is different from Commander-in-Chief Ma. He is well aware of the dangers of the tiger-character flag, so no one in the newly expanded border army camp is on empty pay, and all military households are recruited according to the full establishment.
"Students heard that the reason why General Huang became the guard of Xinpingbao was entirely because he flattered Pei Xunjian of Yanghe Guard. It was said that he spent a lot of money to leave the Zhenlu Guard," Xue Mu said.
Yang Guozhu waved his hand disapprovingly and said: "It doesn't matter who he fawns over, as long as he can find salary for me and is not a member of the Tiger Flag, it doesn't matter if I keep him as the guard in Xinping Fort."
It was a common thing for a military general to spend money to buy an official position, and it was nothing at all.
"How to divide the money sent from Xinpingbao? Should it be divided into four parts as before? 40% will be given to the governor, we will keep 30%, and another 10% will be sent to Yanghewei, and the last 20% will be used as Payment for the newly established camp." Xue Mu looked at Yang Guozhu.
Yang Guozhu twirled his beard and said: "Same as before, but since there is more tax money, 20% cannot be used for the newly established camp, otherwise people in other camps will cause trouble if they find out."
"Otherwise, the salary of the newly established camp will remain the same, and the extra money will be kept in the General Military Mansion?" Xue Mu asked.
Yang Guozhu thought for a while and said: "Forget it, let's give the extra money to the generals below. Give them a little more money so that I don't have to pay for it."
"The generals below all know that the imperial court may deal with the Tiger Flag at any time, and they know the importance of the troops and horses in their hands. They will definitely not waste more money at this time." Xue Mu defended those generals with a smile.
Yang Guozhu snorted and said: "You don't have to explain to them. I have been the commander-in-chief all the way. How could I not know what the generals below are doing? If I don't pay attention, I can eat half of the camp." of free wages.”
It was normal in the Ming army for generals to live on empty wages.
No one, from high officials in the imperial court to local inspections, took it seriously. Some generals even wanted to siphon off the wages of the lowest-ranking soldiers.
"The student union will keep an eye on it and prevent people from eating free money in the newly established camp." Xue Mu promised.
As for the border army camps that had been depleted of pay, he knew that he could not control them and did not dare to do so, so he did not even mention them.
Yang Guozhu nodded and said: "You should keep an eye on this matter. The imperial court may take action at any time. There must be no troops available at that time. You must know that the soldiers and horses of the Tiger Character Banner are not weak, otherwise it would be impossible to conquer Tumo." Special Department.”
"Student understands." Xue Mu bowed slightly.
When the news of the Tiger-Character Banner's conquest of the Tumote Tribe first came, no one in Datong believed it. Many people felt that the Tiger-Character Banner's business dealings with the Tumote Tribe allowed the people of the Tiger-Character Banner to frequently Haunted in the grassland.
However, later the imperial court repeatedly confirmed that the Tumut tribe was conquered by the Tiger Banner, which forced several civil and military officials of the border army to believe this fact.
