In the Ming Dynasty, the sources of military salaries for the border army were very complex, such as Xuanfu, and the channels for obtaining military salaries included Juntun, Minyun, Kaizhong, Jingyun, and donations.

The sources of the food are different, and the division of labor at all levels is clear, forming a clear hierarchy and closely connected supply chain, but if any one of the chains is wrong, it will lead to the supply of military rations.

If the household department does not pay the full salary, the Ministry of Industry does not pay the military supplies, and the military department does not clear the number of soldiers, the result is that as it is today, mutinies have emerged one after another, the generals have accumulated high debts, and the contradiction between the salary and salary departments has become more and more acute.

The reason for this is that we are in a period of great change.

At the same time, from the perspective of the north, the increase in guest recruitment brought about a series of changes including the status of military attachés and the contradictions between soldiers and generals.

This is a problem that Chen Mu urgently needs to solve.

The coal mining industry can solve the problem for the Xuanfu, but it does not cure the symptoms, and like the increase in taxes, it cannot fundamentally solve the big problem of the sharp increase in the salaries of the border troops.

In the final analysis, Chen Mu believes that the identity of the sergeant is the solution, and to bring them back to the producer from the consumer, the key is still the largest military group in the Ming Dynasty, the Weisuo Army.

"A silk mill in the southern health center can be revitalized, but not in the north!"

Chen Mu visited the starving and freezing craftsmen from the construction site, and then went to the Wanquan defense line to supervise the guards, and at the same time let go of the fortress to collect intelligence from the north. When he returned to Xuanfu, he was very emotional.

Shen Jiang must have thought that Chen Mu was black, but he also heard what Chen Mu meant, this Zhenshuo general was very satisfied with the number of silver taels, and planned to set this price in the future.

The new staff member Zhao Shizhen is very studious, everything in the Xuanfu is new in his opinion, at first he was afraid that the work of the Zhenshuo General's Mansion would not be handled well, but when he came, he realized that it was not only not difficult, but also very interesting.

Chen Mu arranged five personal soldiers for him, one took care of his daily life, two literate and arithmetic secretaries and deputies, and the other two served as guards, grooms, and messengers.

"The general is in the Southern Guard, doing a silk weaving factory, revitalizing?"

"Drink two sips of water first, and someone will get a pen and paper!" Chen Mu took two sips of warm water, and then said to Zhao Shizhen: "The current guard is dead." Let's say that we have a million troops, but what about the actual soldiers? It's normal to have a difference of 40 percent, count the regular army of 600,000, what is the use of these flag troops and their families, millions of people to the country? ”

"If it is the common people, they can provide far less taxes and labor than the common people; If you want to say that sergeants, they can play a far less important role in the war than soldiers! It's a pity to abandon it like chicken ribs, you can only watch the corruption of the guard, everyone knows, but everyone can solve it! ”

The general's official sent the pen and paper, Zhao Shizhen was staring at the first person of Yun Zhiwei of the court and the opposition to tell about the guard in his eyes, and he was listening attentively, but when he saw the pen and paper sent, he couldn't help but move his eyes.

The paper is cut into buckets with good five-color powder, but the pen is different, using a hard charcoal pen commonly used by craftsmen, but the wood chips are slightly delicate. It's not that Zhao Shizhen has never seen this kind of pen, he just hasn't seen this kind of pen in the hands of a general.

Chen Mu wrote and drew on the paper with a pen, and his handwriting was many times stronger than that of his brush, so he ignored Zhao Shizhen's novelty, and then said: "The current guards, on the surface, can provide some rice and noodles to two capitals and thirteen provinces a year to pay taxes, but what about the reality? ”

On the rice paper, the pattern is bifurcated, and the names of official positions such as the flag army, small flag, general flag, hundred households, and thousands of households are written: "Layers of exploitation, emphasizing private rooms and ignoring public offices, only half of the fields are cultivated by a guard, and not all of these fields can be cultivated. In Wanquan, I have seen the military field drawn outside the Great Wall, heh. ”

"It's not that it's not good to draw outside the Great Wall, it's a good thing that the whole world is not the king's land, but this is the same as what the official says, just listen to it, the flag army doesn't dare to go out to farm, that's the use of fart. What is the result of the exploitation? Chen Mu paused heavily on the paper and said: "The family of four distributes eight buckets of rice in a month, and the rice and grain for the banner army to support their families are not enough, what do they use to supply the regular army?" ”

"The court always said that a commander can't do without soldiers, and these people will raise three or five hundred soldiers, as if they can fight, and everyone will avoid embarrassment, turn a blind eye. But in fact? The commander of the first guard should have 5,600 elite soldiers! ”

Zhao Shizhen nodded, he was also very encouraged by Chen Mu's enterprising mentality, this was the purpose of his coming to Xuanfu with Chen Mu. The so-called scholars wander the curtain, few people are simply doing things for the curtain master, they also use this process to learn and sharpen themselves, and use the principles learned in the books of the sages to see the subtle things.

At this point, Zhao Shizhen is absolutely satisfied with Chen Mu, the master of the scene, he can learn a lot. Although this general is a bit of a waste, what a good paper! He took a charcoal pen and wrote and drew on it.

"If Ming Gong wants to revitalize the guards, the first thing is in the silver tael, and now that the silver tael is available, how to start?"

"Just like what Chen Mu said at the beginning, a silk weaving factory in the south can solve the problem, but not in the north." Chen Mu raised his hand and smiled, "So there must be a Wanquan Ordnance Bureau, and the Ordnance Bureau has a woolen factory that makes military uniforms and quilts, a gun factory that makes bird guns, an armor factory that makes swords, spears and armor, and a military horse farm that trains and domesticates horses." ”

"The quilts under the woolen mill can be profitable for the capital, in addition to the cotton clothes and quilts that supply the capital's quilts, you can also weave wool yarn and woolen sweaters, and then sell them outside; Gun Factory...... What's wrong? ”

Chen Mu talked about the woolen factory, and when he saw Zhao Shizhen's appearance of wanting to speak and stopping, he immediately asked, and Zhao Shizhen asked a little embarrassed: "General, where did the wool come from?" ”

"Do you think I can spit wool? It must have come from outside the plug, so I'll have to go find me. ”

"The cannon and armor factories need iron, and there must be subordinate iron-making and steel-making factories, so among the craftsmen called this time are experts in making furnaces and making iron and steel, in addition to them, there are also brick-making and brick kilns. Jingdezhen porcelain workers know how to resist fire and how to raise the temperature of the furnace, and they use their skills to make iron and fry steel. ”

This alone is not very good, but if you save the lathe, the processing will be different.

"After this is supplied to the military, it can also make some money for civilian use, and this money can feed back to the horse farm, horses are things that cost money, but they must be made, and they will count on this to improve my horse breed in the future, there are tall horses in the West, and they can drag heavy artillery."

Zhao Shizhen was ready to move when he heard this, now Chen Mu has a lot of work on his hands, obviously he came at the right time, General Chen said that these will not be meaningless displays, and there will always be a big responsibility handed over to him.

As a result, General Chen waved his hand and choked Zhao Shizhen back with the next sentence.

"You can't help with any of these things!"

That's right, General Chen is just a meaningless showmanship, and he uses the show to sort out his own thoughts.

"But there's another thing right now, and it's something you really need to do." Chen Mu looked at the disappointed Zhao Shizhen and smiled, and said: "I want to write to the cabinet and the emperor, run a martial arts hall in Wanquandu, and train generals above the small banner and below the commander, the handbook has been written, you can transcribe a copy." ”

Zhao Shizhen looked at Chen Mu with frowning eyebrows...... He also said that I didn't write for you!