Upstairs in Chunfeng, Yang Shen stood in front of the window, looking at the crowd on the street outside with a gloomy expression. Last year, Wang Rudai gathered troops to serve the king. I always admire Wang Rudai as a person and loyal to the country, so he went. Unexpectedly, when he came back, Xiao Sheren would sell the restaurant by himself. It was hard to describe how he felt.
In the Song Dynasty, it was difficult to make a living running a restaurant for generations. This is a profitable industry. According to the custom of the Song Dynasty, as long as it makes money, there will be no government that will not lend a hand. The same is true for Chunfeng Tower. Although it was built by Yang Shenzu, it was taken away by the government twice. However, after the government took it away, Yang Shen's family still rented it, and their own business continued.
Now that he has joined the army, Wang Xiaolie returned to Ruzhou, thinking that this property would belong to his family from now on. Who would have thought that Wang Xiaolie would sell it himself. Thinking of this, Yang Shen sighed heavily. This restaurant has been around for decades, and now that it’s my generation, it’s finally no longer owned by the family.
Looking for a buyer tomorrow. Today Yang Shen invited several generals from the army to drink wine as a commemoration.
At this moment, a soldier came in, crossed his hands and said: "Tiha, the magistrate of the state invites you to discuss matters."
Yang Shen agreed and sent the soldiers back. I went back, changed into my official uniform, tidied myself up, and went to the state government office.
If it were another dynasty, and Wang Xiaolie asked his officials to sell all their business lands, there would inevitably be opposition. The Song Dynasty was different. This was a common occurrence in the past two hundred years. It's just that in these troubled times, it's difficult to make long-term plans, and none of the officials under my command are willing.
After entering the state government office, he arrived at the meeting hall and saluted Wang Xiaolie.
Wang Xiaolie stood in front of the table and waved to Yang Shen: "Come and take a look. How will we live our lives in the future? There are many things to do."
Yang Shen stepped forward. I saw a piece of paper on the table, with many names listed in categories and categories.
Seeing Yang Shen's confused look, Wang Xiaolie said: "If we just collect taxes, how much money can we make in a year? How can we pay salaries to officials and generals if we don't have money? You are in charge of military accounts, so you must use money to generate money. Come and live your life."
Yang Shen smiled bitterly: "Xiaoshe people, Ruzhou is a small state to begin with, and it is now a time of war and chaos. What business is there to do?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "As long as we are willing, there is a lot of business that can be done in the world. Even if it is not a big state, it is not difficult to raise thousands of soldiers and horses. As long as we work hard, we can always make money."
Yang Shendao said: "Xiaoshe people, there are 30,000 households in Ruzhou, and they have to raise 3,000 soldiers and horses. Ten households have to raise one soldier! No matter how much money can be made, after all, there will be few people and poor people, and it will be difficult to support us. With the current number of households, we are so If you have more soldiers, it will be difficult."
Wang Xiaolie nodded and remained silent for a while. Yang Shen is right. There are too few households in Ruzhou now, and it is difficult to raise troops. You can find ways to make money by yourself. But without food and grass, what's the use of having money? At that time, it will be nothing more than rising prices and good-looking numbers.
After a long time, Wang Xiaolie said: "What you said does make sense. So in addition to doing these, we also need to recruit households and increase the population. There is a lot of idle land in Ruzhou. As long as we have people, we can grow Food and grass are coming."
Yang Shen said: "But where can we recruit people now? The Jin soldiers will come south at any time, and the people are afraid that their houses will not be stable."
Wang Xiaolie said: "So it's still the same sentence. Only if we can keep the place safe, will people come to us. To protect the place, we must have strong military power. And without the people, where will the strong military power come from? It's a deadlock."
After thinking for a while, Wang Xiaolie said: "Now the people in the north are thinking of fleeing south. If there is peace here, people will naturally come."
Yang Shen smiled and said nothing.
When Yang Shen talks about money, he thinks of his own burden. Making money is not the most important thing now, but the army's money and food are the most important thing. Is it too much to support three thousand soldiers in one state? It's hard to say. It depends on how many households there are in the state.
When there are many people, they just want to have land. And when there is plenty of land, it would be nice to have people. The current Ruzhou has a small population and a small population. It is difficult to support the army with the current population.
After standing there and thinking for a while, Wang Xiaolie said: "We won't discuss this in advance. We will figure out a way later. The army is also a human being. When necessary, it can support growing grain. If they lend a hand, they can plant a lot of land."
If you have an army and land, you don't have to worry about running out of food. The simplest way is for the army to garrison the fields. However, Wang Xiaolie didn't want to do that. The army was for fighting and was allowed to farm and produce, which could easily affect the combat effectiveness. How difficult is it to develop combat effectiveness?
After adjusting his mood, Wang Xiaolie pointed to the picture on the table and said: "If you think about it, if you are not allowed to do business, how much is the appropriate monthly salary?"
Yang Shen said: "The imperial court has its own salary, so why should we think too much about it?"
Wang Xiaoxing said: "If your salary is based on the imperial court, then what kind of official are you?"
Yang Shen was stunned for a moment. Yes, the only one with an official status in the imperial court now is Wang Xiaolie. There is no official official notice from the imperial court for people like me, and I don’t know what their rank is. Furthermore, although the imperial court's salary is fixed, prices are now high, and it is not easy to support a wife and children.
Wang Xiaolie said: "In my opinion, there is no need to follow the imperial salary. We pay money every month to ensure that everyone is fed and clothed, and the middle and senior officials have the minimum dignity. Money is indispensable. Just like you, the numbers I prepared , which is a monthly salary of forty guan, or five dan per meter."
After hearing this, Yang Shen was startled. After being stunned for a while, he said cautiously: "Xiao Sheren, this number is too high -"
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "Not high. Everything is so expensive now. How can we live a good life without enough money?"
Yang Shen nodded, then shook his head, not knowing what to say.
Fifty guan a month is more than 600 guan a year, which is not small money. My own Chunfeng Tower only earns two to three hundred guan a year, so I think it's amazing. Compared with the salary given by Wang Xiaolie, it was nothing at all.
Compared with officials, a monthly salary of 50 guan, plus five stones of lumi, makes him a mid-level official. You must know that in this era, there are only a few hundred middle- and senior-level officials in the country. According to later generations, this is the treatment of high-ranking officials.
Seeing Yang Shen there, he was so shocked that he couldn't speak. Wang Xiaolie said: "Of course, in order to give you so much money, the military must first have money. How to have money? You must rely on the money you have now to generate money."
Yang Shen shook his head and said hurriedly: "Xiao Sheren, how can you make such a big sum? Not just officers, we also have three thousand soldiers and horses! These people also have to be paid every month. Each person has two Three strings is nearly ten thousand strings!"
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "Of course officers have to pay, and they just pay according to the rules of officials. Soldiers are different. Now the soldiers in the army are different from before. They are not hired by us. Their families are all placed in In the newly built village. Because they are military dependents, they do not have to perform corvee service. In other words, soldiers do not have to support their families. What they eat, wear, and use are all distributed by the military without them spending any money. They are paid monthly. There are hundreds of people, just let them have pocket money.”
Yang Shen hurriedly said: "Xiao Sheren, there is no such army in the world!"
Wang Xiaolie smiled and said: "Why not? Just like in the Han and Tang Dynasties, when you were recruited into the army, you had to prepare your own weapons and armor! But after entering the Song Dynasty, all the troops were hired, and new rules were formed. Now that there is a powerful enemy, The army relies entirely on hiring, so how can we come up with so much money?"
The army of the Song Dynasty was hired, and the number was never large. When not fighting, people such as Zhenzong and Renzong could easily reach nearly a million. When the war actually started, we found that there were actually very few troops capable of fighting.
For an army of one million people, even if one person has thirty guan per year, the capitation fee is 30 million guan. The Northern Song Dynasty said that its fiscal revenue was nearly 100 million yuan, but in fact, how much real cash was there? However, with thirty thousand cash a year, the soldiers' families were still in need of food and clothing. No matter how many such armies there are, their combat effectiveness will be unreliable.
By the Southern Song Dynasty, the real regular army of the country, which had formed a balance with the Jin Dynasty in Shaoxing for about ten years, only numbered more than 200,000. These more than 200,000 troops were enough to deter the Jin army from going south, and Yue Fei still had the strength to make the Northern Expedition.
At the beginning of the Northern Song Dynasty, when the country was founded, the imperial army only had one or two hundred thousand soldiers, which could sweep the world. In this era, truly combat-effective troops do not require many. With 300,000 people, it is enough to control the world and bring peace to the world. More quantities are actually of little use.
However, with the current situation in the Song Dynasty, it is not easy to feed 300,000 people. With an army of 200,000, the Southern Song Dynasty actually used all its strength to conquer the world. We really can't afford more troops.
Wang Xiaolie wanted to compete with Jin Jun, so he had to find a way. If we hire people as soldiers like before, no matter how much money we have, there will not be enough. We can only think of another way, mixed with conscription.
Soldiers served as soldiers, their families were given land to build new villages, and they were given preferential services for corvee service. At this time, it is still attractive.
After listening to Wang Xiaolie's explanation, Yang Shen felt that it made sense. It's just different from now, and it feels inappropriate.
Wang Xiaolie said: "The Jin army came south and the two emperors hunted north. This is unprecedented. Many rules need to be changed. Starting from us, there is nothing wrong with it! As long as the soldiers and their families are fed and clothed, they can live a peaceful life. , why worry about not being able to recruit people!”
