There are seven or eight large poplar trees standing at the entrance of the village, with bright yellow leaves and light hanging catkins. There is an old wooden boat in the small river at the entrance of the village. The planks of the boat are rotten and swaying gently in the spring breeze. Two cuckoos stood on a branch not far away and kept chirping.
Xu Shijie stopped and said to everyone: "You are all ordinary people. You will live here for half a year for now. In the second half of the year, we will enter the military camp for training together, and then you will be divided into various armies."
Wang Zhongfu asked: "May I ask Taiwei, what are we doing here?"
Xu Shijie said: "I am your boss here, but you can't call me Taiwei. If you are heard by others, don't you laugh to death? During the half year of living here, in addition to daily training, I have to do some farm work on weekdays. This The village is surrounded by good land and there are mulberry trees, so it is indeed a good place. But the fields are barren, the roads are damaged, and the houses have collapsed, so no one can live in it for a while. You have to clean up the village so that people can live in it."
Wang Zhongfu said: "Such a good Zhuangzi, how come there is no one left?"
Xu Shijie sighed: "A few years ago, the Jin Army's Wanyan Yinshu could go south. When they passed by this Zhuangzi, most of the villagers were killed, and the remaining small part was moved to the north. I don't know how many people can survive. Speaking of which, It’s a sad thing, so don’t talk about it. As time goes by, you will slowly understand.”
After a few more instructions, Xu Shijie led Wang Zhongfu and his party into Zhuangzi through a small bridge that was beginning to decay over the river. When I walked to the entrance of the village, I saw an old man standing on the side of the road, leaning on a cane and holding a bowl with a chipped mouth. When he saw Xu Shijie coming, he raised the bowl in his hand and kept signaling to Xu Shijie.
Xu Shijie stepped forward, took the bowl respectfully, and drank the wine in one gulp. Handing back the bowl, Xu Shijie said: "Exceptor, these people are recruited from Guanzhong and will stay in your Zhuangzi for a few days. When they enter the military camp, fight them to the east of the river to avenge you."
The old man nodded repeatedly. Holding the bowl in his hand, he turned around and looked at everyone with kind eyes.
Saying goodbye to the old man, Xu Shijie led everyone into Zhuangzi. When he arrived at the center of Zhuangzi, he pointed to a large abandoned house and said: "This is the residence of Gu Yuanwai. You are not allowed to enter without permission! You can see which of the surrounding houses are suitable for people to live in and move in temporarily. Starting tomorrow, we will Tidy up the house, then tidy up the fields and roads.”
Wang Zhongfu said: "The Gu Yuanwai that Du Tou mentioned is the old man at the entrance of the village?"
Xu Shijie nodded: "Yes. He is the only living person in the village now. When Jin Jun came, a sword passed through his cheek. There were two scars on his face and his tongue was broken. He can't say anything now. Words. It seems that this Zhuangzi belongs to Gu Yuanwai's family, but now he is the only one living in the world. What's the use? I heard that you are coming. Gu Yuanwai personally went to Xinye and was willing to dedicate Zhuangzi to let you live."
At this point, Xu Shijie said again: "You arrange your shifts. Every day, two people will go to the customer's house early in the morning to clean the courtyard and fetch water for him to cook. Remember, you have to have a good attitude and speak kindly. Which one is wrong? , will definitely be severely punished!”
Everyone agreed. Turning his head, he saw the clerk leaning against the big locust tree on the street, looking at them with a smile.
In the Xiangyang government office, Wang Xiaolie sat behind the table, drinking tea slowly. Next to them are Li Yanxian and Chen Zaidao, and next to them are Wang Ruohai, Chen Yuyi, Niu Gao and Shao Ling. Wang Ruohai introduced the latest battle. Finally, he said: "When we entered Guanzhong this time, the armies recruited the people, and there were 15,000 to 15,000 people who were willing to follow us south and join the army. In addition, Wei Yi was killed in Guozhou, and among the rebels he dispersed, there were also More than 10,000 people were recruited. Roughly speaking, more than 30,000 people were recruited through various methods. Adding in Li Dutong's 20,000 people, we have more than 50,000 more soldiers."
Chen Zaidao couldn't help but shake his head after hearing this: "There are more than 50,000 people, plus our original more than 60,000 people, that's nearly 120,000 soldiers. It is not easy to raise so many soldiers in a mere eight states."
Wang Xiaolie put down his teacup and asked: "We re-enumerated the households two years ago. How many households are there in the eight states now?"
Chen Zaidao said: "In the past two years, we have continued to recruit households, and with the northern people fleeing south, there are more households than during the Chongning period. There are about 130,000 households in Xiangyang Prefecture, 150,000 households in Dengzhou, and 150,000 households in Suizhou. There are about 40,000 households in Yingzhou and about 100,000 households in Tangzhou. There are many wars in Caizhou, and the number of households has decreased a lot, with only about 30,000 households. Xinyang Army has more than 10,000 households, and Ruzhou has about 50,000 households. All added up. , half a million households have strange things.”
Wang Xiaolie said: "In this way, it means asking five households to raise one soldier. It is indeed not easy. At this level, raising soldiers is a huge burden for the local area. If the arrangement is not good, it can easily cause local unrest."
Chen Zaidao said: "Yes, it is too difficult to provide both food and money. Zhenfu, how about reducing the salary of the soldiers? There was a surplus of rations last year, so there will be no shortage for a while. But there is really not enough money. many."
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "It's not very difficult, so we can't reduce the salaries of soldiers. How can we treat them badly when they fight with their heads high? Let's think of more ways to make as much money as possible. Also, attract more people from Hedong and Guanzhong to enrich the place. .”
Li Yanxian asked: "Now that Dengzhou is raising troops, how much does it cost for each soldier?"
Wang Xiaolie said: "Soldiers who join the army are given three hundred coins a month as pocket money. Food, clothing, housing, and supplies are all provided by the army. Officers and officials at all levels are paid real money according to the salary set by the court. No deductions or discounts are allowed. branch."
Li Yanxian lowered his head and thought for a while and said, "In this way, the soldiers' money is less, and the officers' money is more."
Wang Xiaolie said: "Our army is different from other places. When soldiers join the army, they normally serve for five years. When they retire after five years, they will receive a reward of about 20 guan of gold. Of course, there is no reward yet. When people retire from service, they do not need to pay this money. Their family members are in the local area, and they will receive preferential treatment in taxes, service, etc. Calculated in this way, three hundred cash a month is really their pocket money, which is not a small amount. As for the officers , because we have to support a family, and it is not enough to have less money. Compared with other armies, no deductions or discounts are made, and real money is given. It is indeed more money. But unless we win a war, there will be a small amount of money in our army. The reward is usually not available. Calculating it this way, it’s almost enough.”
Wang Ruohai said: "According to current calculations, it takes at least thirty guan to raise a soldier a year. If it is a war, there are also fifty guan a year. Calculating 120,000 people, it will cost six million guan per year. Money. It’s not easy.”
Chen Zaidao said: "The total number of households is less than 600,000, so if we calculate it as 600,000 households, each household will cost ten guan."
Wang Xiaolie nodded and said nothing.
Li Yanxian smiled bitterly: "My Shaanzhou, Guozhou, Shangzhou and other places are all remote places. The land is barren and there are few households. We have a total of 20,000 soldiers. If we are like Dengzhou, how can we support 20,000 soldiers? ?”
Chen Zaidao just shook his head with a sad look on his face.
Wang Xiaolie said: "To be honest, with five households and one soldier, the burden is indeed heavy. But now that the Jin army is raging, it can't be done without fewer soldiers. We must pay attention to the difficulties and find solutions. I emphasize that the money should be raised by the government as much as possible. The method is to strictly prohibit the distribution of science and technology to the people. In this era, people's lives are already very difficult, and we cannot increase their burden further. Even if we borrow money, we cannot increase taxes."
Chen Zaidao said: "In the past two years, six million Guan could be obtained by issuing Huizi. But most of the copper coins were collected in the official treasury. Without copper coins as capital, more Huizi could not be issued. Six million Guan, plus It’s really hard to come up with officials’ salaries.”
Chen Yuyi said: "Collecting more money will only make it more difficult for the people, but it will not make them hungry. As long as we find a way to collect money from the people without increasing taxes, we should still be able to do it."
Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "What are you thinking of? As long as you collect money from the people, what is the difference between raising taxes? These days, I have repeatedly warned myself, no matter what difficulties I encounter, try not to be clever. For example, with Shaanzhou To be honest, Li Dutong was not satisfied with the merger of the armies. What I said was too blunt and the conditions were very harsh. It can be said that the Dengzhou Army annexed the Shaanzhou Army. When Counselor Wang mentioned this matter, I said that we do not do things in a playful way. Little cleverness. Don't I know that, to put it another way, Li Dutong wouldn't be so unhappy? Don't I know that if you take it easy and don't make things so urgent, the Shaanzhou Army will feel better? Why not do it? Because if you do that, it will It leaves behind troubles. Once an army has factions, it will be divided. The longer this division lasts, the greater its impact will be, and it is difficult to eliminate."
Having said this, Wang Xiaolie looked at Li Yanxian and said: "Fortunately, Li Dutong understood the righteousness well and did not care about these things. The two armies merged smoothly. By the way, Li Dutong's doing this is a great contribution to our army." , saving countless troubles. I am not a stingy person, and I will keep this credit of Dutong in mind and will never let Dutong down!"
"Hey -" Li Yanxian sighed. "Because of this matter, many generals are dissatisfied with me and feel that the Shaanzhou Army has suffered too much. However, I believe in Zhen Fu's character and that you are dedicated to fighting against the Jin Dynasty. Why bother with this!"
Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes. This matter can be accepted smoothly, which is beyond my expectation. Let me tell you clearly, we must have great wisdom in doing things in the future and don't rely on those little cleverness. If there are difficulties now, be afraid of them. What? Difficulties are most feared by seriousness! As long as we think of ways and do things seriously, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome! Take time for this matter, and stop people from the army getting involved, and then think of ways. I believe that we will be able to think of it Find a way! The eight states can support 120,000 soldiers!"
Chen Qiudao nodded and said nothing. Obviously, he had no idea about this matter in his heart.
According to Wang Xiaolie's previous thinking, if every ten households raised one soldier, they would be relatively well off. It not only allows the people to live and work in peace and contentment, but also has enough money to raise elite soldiers. But doubling the number, raising one soldier for five households, will affect the people. If the people are affected, it will be difficult for the economy to develop healthily. Economic development is affected, and there will be less money to support troops, creating a vicious cycle. But now that there are so many soldiers, they cannot be disbanded, and we still have to find a way.
