"General, when was the last time you wrote to the Ministry of War?"
Zhao Changsheng thought for a moment and then said: "It was more than two months ago, and the dispatch was eight hundred miles urgent. I must have received it long ago from my letter to the Military Department.
"This matter of military pay is by no means a trivial matter. If it is delayed for too long and there is resentment in the army, there may be a mutiny. That's why I am so anxious.
"If the Ministry of Household Affairs allocates the salary, Lord Zhou from the Ministry of War will definitely reply to me. I should have received Lord Zhou's letter long ago, but more than two months have passed and there is still no news.
"I am at my wits' end now. Recently, I often receive news of complaints from military officers. I can only try my best to appease them, but it is not an option to continue like this."
Shao Xi was so filled with hatred that his teeth itched at the moment. He thought to himself, Yu Ji, you bastard is such a deceitful person. How can this matter of food and pay for soldiers and horses in the army be tolerated? No matter how much money you make, you can't make this kind of money!
If this was a mutiny among the border troops, it would be a major event that would shatter the sky. You, Yu Ji, really want money rather than your life. You have been delaying it for half a year and still refuse to pay. You are really too courageous!
But there is no point in cursing in your mind right now, the current problem must be solved eventually.
If we are just stupidly waiting for the Ministry of Household Affairs to allocate the salary, and then wait for the salary to be sent to Yulong Pass, why don't we go to next year after all the tossing here and there?
At that time, the morale of the army must be unstable. If there is a chaos in the army, wouldn't the Yulong Pass be in vain?
Yu Ji wants to deal with it later, but he still has to solve the immediate problem first.
"I wonder what the general has to do right now? Is there any way to allocate some money from other places for emergency use?"
Zhao Changsheng shook his head helplessly, with a gloomy look on his face, and said with a long sigh: "I have thought of all the ways I can think of, and all the surrounding counties have been borrowed.
“We even set up private checkpoints to collect customs duties, and collected some commercial taxes from merchants selling goods in Yulong Town, but it was still a drop in the bucket.
"I have heard about the soldiers in the camp extorting money from those heretic people in the rivers and lakes in Yulong Town. Now I can only turn a blind eye and let them go. It is better than forcing the soldiers below to rush into danger. Are you going to plunder the merchants who come and go?
"If this continues, I'm afraid the West-Suppressing Army will really be at the end of its rope. How can we guard this western frontier and protect the safety of the Jingyuan Empire?"
Shao Xi also felt sad after hearing this. No wonder the soldiers he met in the tavern acted like this. They had been delayed for too long without being paid, which forced these soldiers to do nothing but do these things. Half soldier and half bandit thing.
Just as Zhao Changsheng said, if this continues, the morale of the army will be unstable and military discipline will be loose. Wouldn't the good Suppression of the West Army become a piece of loose sand?
When that day comes, won't it really be the end of the line for the Zhenxi Army?
We must not let this situation develop any longer!
But Zhao Changsheng also said that he has thought of all the ways he can think of. Setting up private checkpoints to collect customs duties and squeezing some commercial taxes from merchants can only meet the daily needs of the army, but the matter of military pay is still a matter of The biggest problem.
As the saying goes, if you don't have food, you can't gather your troops, and if you don't have water, you can't camp. The army has been taboo in raising troops without food and pay since ancient times.
Nowadays, although the soldiers of the Zhenxi Army cannot be said to be hungry, there is no pay in the army. How can these soldiers support their families?
Soldiers are all young and strong laborers from their families. After joining the army, they often leave home to guard the frontiers, leaving the old, weak, women and children at home to cultivate the fields. Life is already difficult, and they all rely on the meager salary they receive every year to support their families.
But now that wages have not been paid for half a year, it is not just one person who has no money to use. The parents, wives, and children in the family are also impoverished, hungry and cold. Who will take care of these people?
Therefore, in Shao Xi's eyes, arrears, deductions, and embezzlement of military pay are simply unscrupulous.
It seems that there is no other way at present. Shao Xi hesitated again and again, and finally decided to pay for the Zhenxi Army to solve the military salary issue first.
No matter how this matter is resolved in the future, the immediate priority must be resolved first.
Thinking of this, Shao Xi reached out and took out a large stack of banknotes from his arms, and asked Fu Biao, who was standing behind him, to bring the banknotes to Zhao Changsheng.
Shao Xi's move was completely beyond Zhao Changsheng's expectation. He looked at the bank note in Fu Biao's hand in surprise, then looked up at Shao Xi. He did not reach out to take it, but his face was full of surprise.
Shao Xi smiled calmly.
"General, as far as I know, with the current size of the Zhenxi Army, it will consume about 25,000 taels of salary in a year. Here are 50,000 taels of silver notes.
"Although it is not cash silver, the general can send people to the banks of Taihe Commercial Bank in various counties to exchange it for cash silver or copper coins, which should be enough to suppress the Western Army for two years.
"The lower official will try his best to resolve the payment issue for the Zhenxi Army within two years. The general who will be rotated here to take over the command of the Zhenxi Army in two years will no longer have to worry about the payment issue.
"When the general returns to the capital, he can work with his subordinates to track down those who have embezzled money, embezzled money, or defaulted on payment. I will definitely give the general an explanation for this matter."
Even though Shao Xi said this, Zhao Changsheng still didn't react for a while.
He didn't understand that Shao Xi was a fourth-rank official in the court and was also the inspector of the "Jingcheng Department". Where did he get so much money?
Secondly, what does he want to get from himself by paying this money?
Although Zhao Changsheng is a leader, being a soldier does not necessarily mean that he is rude or ignorant. When marching and fighting, which military strategy does not require brains? Zhao Changsheng is naturally a man of many plans and good judgments.
When he first saw this thick stack of banknotes, although it could help him solve his immediate emergency, there is no free lunch in the world, and the free one is the most expensive.
There was no benefit in hand, so he couldn't figure out what Shao Xi's purpose was in funding the Zhenxi Army?
Speaking of which, this is a very sensitive matter. The military and government of the DPRK should be separated from each other. People in politics should not interfere in the affairs of the military, and people in the military should not discuss the affairs of the government.
Although some people may talk about it in private, but fundamentally this principle cannot be touched.
Shao Xi's current position should not be involved in military affairs, not to mention that this matter also involves the military's soldiers, horses, and wages.
If Shao Xi deliberately wanted to bribe the Zhenxi Army, wouldn't it mean that Zhao Changsheng was colluding with the officials of the DPRK and the Central Committee in order to support the army and support himself, and was suspected of having evil intentions when he took the money?
Once this reputation spreads, it will damage the reputation that Zhao Changsheng has established over the years for being loyal to the emperor and serving the country. Zhao Changsheng has to deal with such damage to his reputation with caution.
Therefore, Zhao Changsheng was still very cautious in the face of the assistance provided by Shao Xi. After all, he still couldn't figure out what Shao Xi's intentions were at this time.
Shao Xi came to Yulong Pass and planned to leave the Pass and go to the Western Regions. Although it was approved by the Holy Spirit, he was not assigned any official duties. Shao Xi suddenly came to his army to help him solve the military pay issue, which must not have been the Holy Spirit's intention.
Then this matter must be Shao Xi's personal behavior. He must first understand Shao Xi's thoughts, otherwise he will not dare to accept the money no matter what.
In fact, from Shao Xi's perspective, he did have his own ideas, but his ideas were different from what Zhao Changsheng thought.
Shao Xi knew that the forces he would face and contend with in the future were by no means ordinary. In addition to establishing his own forces in the court, he also needed to establish his own network of relationships within the Wuchen Group.
Although Shao Xi now holds the power of the troops of the Sixteenth Guards of Kyoto, that is only the power of using troops given to him by Xiao Changyi, but he does not have the power of dispatching.
In other words, he can mobilize the soldiers and horses in the Sixteen Guards to assist him when something happens, but he has no right to effectively dispatch the soldiers and horses.
It's like going to an Internet cafe to surf the Internet. You spend money and only have the right to use it, but you have no right to make any hardware changes to the computer. This computer does not belong to you.
What Shao Xi wants is to have the power to truly mobilize troops in the future, because having military power in hand when necessary is the most direct and effective way to protect oneself.
But gaining military power does not rely on bribery, but on building relationships.
Xiao Changyi may give him anything, but Shao Xi believes that Xiao Changyi will never hand over military power to him easily, so at this time, the right person needs to come forward to recommend him at the right time.
And the most suitable people are none other than these famous military ministers in the court.
Shao Xi's move today had no clear purpose. He was just laying the groundwork for possible future situations.
Shao Xi didn't know when the need would arise, but Shao Xi knew to prepare for the rainy day. If such a day came, he would have an extra card in his hand to play.
Shao Xi saw that Zhao Changsheng neither reached out to take the banknote nor spoke, but just stared at him, and he already guessed what Zhao Changsheng was thinking at this time.
Indeed, Zhao Changsheng needed to be cautious when he suddenly took out so much money. It seemed that the other party would really not dare to accept his help unless he spoke clearly.
"General, there is no need to be confused. The reason why Xiaguan has so much money is because he is doing business in partnership with His Majesty.
"The Holy One will use the royal funds to support the lower officials. Every year, the lower official will take a large amount of the money earned as a share for the Holy One.
"It's good that the general knows about this. Don't spread it to others at will. The subordinate also trusts the general, so he informed the general of this matter."
When Zhao Changsheng heard this, he was completely stunned.
What? Do business in partnership with the Holy Lord? Or use the Holy Emperor’s royal funds as capital?
This kind of thing has been heard and heard of since ancient times, but has never been seen before!
Have you ever heard of a minister and the emperor not only doing business in partnership, but also sharing a share at the end of the year? How capable is Shao Xi that he can convince the current emperor to hand over all the royal capital to him?
No wonder he spent so generously, and after working for a long time, the current emperor was the big benefactor behind him. He was probably the only one in the whole court who could confidently spend the emperor's money, right?
