readx; Zhu Youzhen dismissed Yan Mingtai from his post on the spot on the grounds that he had taken the risk of paying empty salaries, which immediately generated a strong repercussion among the civilian and military generals and ordinary border troops in Jizhou. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoFor ordinary border soldiers, there are very few empty salaries in their hands, and most of them are still deducted by the officials above, so they are very gloating about the emperor's decision.

And those officials who benefited greatly from the empty salary were terrified, but they didn't expect the emperor to be serious and exempt the governor of Jiliao, the highest governor of the city. In fact, in the past, the imperial court also sent people to check the empty salary, but one was not to support their own money, so it didn't matter if they could find it out or not; Second, local officials will repeatedly emphasize that the salary is too small, and even if the salary is full, they will not be able to support the soldiers, and if they do not eat some empty salaries, it will lead to a mutiny.

Therefore, in the past, inspections were all a formality, and as soon as someone came, those low-ranking officers would, under the instruction of the commander, instigate the officers and soldiers to block the door and make trouble and demand wages. The inspectors are afraid that they will really provoke a mutiny, and they often fail to do so.

But this time the emperor came to investigate in person, who would dare to make trouble? Even if someone is bold, but the emperor still has three thousand fine horses, and those Qiu Ba in Jizhou City know at a glance that they are ten bundled together, and they are not the opponent of one person, so they are all obedient.

Sun Chengzong felt that something was wrong, and thought about it: "Your Majesty, Yan Mingtai is indeed hateful, and he has eaten too much of his empty salary. However, it is also a fact that the salaries of the officers and soldiers are too low, and I think that the price of rice in Beijing is about four taels and one stone, and a soldier can only buy three stone of rice for a year, that is, three hundred and sixty catties of grain. Although the imperial court had other food supplies, it was barely enough for the soldiers to eat themselves; The military fields of the border army were so barren and the annexation situation was also very serious, and they could not support the whole family at all.

Therefore, it is forgivable and excusable to eat some empty wages. After all, Yan Mingtai has been in the side affairs for a long time, and if he is suddenly dismissed, it will be unfair for him to suffer alone, second, the coach cannot be changed lightly, and third, there will be no suitable replacement for the DPRK and China. It is better to demote and retain them, and take responsibility for improvement to see the after-effects. I hope Your Majesty will think twice. ”

Zhu Youzhen shook his head and sneered: "I didn't just remove Yan Mingtai from his post for the matter of empty salary, he flattered Wei Zhongxian, and actually built seven ancestral halls, isn't it a eunuch?" And Lord Shangshu, please think about it, Jizhou City is the most important place where the governor is stationed, and the shortage is still so serious, and the other cities and passes can be imagined. The Duoyan Department has already attacked once, according to Yan Mingtai's preparation method, as soon as the thieves come, there are no soldiers available in important places such as Xifengkou, wouldn't it be a long drive into the capital and threaten the Jingshi? ”

Sun Chengzong saw that the emperor had buttoned the two big hats of "Eunuch Party" and "Zongkou" to Yan Mingtai's head, and knew that the matter was irreparable, so he had to say: "Then please ask Your Majesty to return to Beijing as soon as possible, and the cabinet and the six ministries will nominate the new governor of Jiliao." ”

Zhu Youzhen still shook his head and said, "That's no need." The official position of the governor of Jiliao is called to govern Jizhou and Liaodong, but in fact, he can only manage Jizhou. Does Lord Shangshu remember what happened to Xiong Tingbi and Wang Huazhen a few years ago? After the discord led to a big defeat, the lessons of the past must not be ignored. In my opinion, it is better to abolish the post of governor of Jiliao, and the governor of Jizhou will be in charge of Jizhou, and the governor of Liaodong will be in charge of Liaodong. ”

Sun Chengzong just said: "Ji and Liao are adjacent to each other, and they can save each other, and the imperial court has a governor for this purpose", Zhu Youzhen said with a slight mockery: "Lord Shangshu, do you see that Jizhou has this little force now, and its self-protection is still insufficient, can it still save Liaodong?" ”

Sun Chengzong was speechless for a while, and after thinking about it carefully, the emperor really made sense. However, the abolition of the establishment is different from the removal of officials, and according to the rules, it must be discussed by the court; Now that the emperor is "determined by the dragon's will", although he is reasonable, Sun Chengzong still feels a little uncomfortable.

Now Yan Mingtai has been dismissed, but the problem of unpaid wages still needs to be solved. Zhu Youchang stood up and said loudly to the more than 3,000 border soldiers in the school field: "I also know that your salary is too thin to feed your whole family. In this way, from now on, the salary of Jizhou officials and soldiers will be doubled and changed to 24 taels per year, do you think it is enough? ”

There was immediately thunder of joy in the school field, who is not happy about the salary increase? Sun Chengzong was so angry that his hands and feet were cold, and he hurriedly said to Zhu Youzhen: "Your Majesty, this move is very inappropriate!" The national treasury is already stretched thin, and it is still difficult to pay in full, so how to deal with the doubling of salaries? Besides, His Majesty doubled the salary of Jizhou for one place, what about other places? If it is increased together, the court will not be able to take out so much silver; If there is an increase and there is no increase, is it not favoritism? It's easier to provoke a mutiny! ”

Zhu Youzhen smiled and nodded to Sun Chengzong, which means that I already knew. Then he turned to the army and said, "However, my money is not taken for nothing. First of all, I must thoroughly investigate the vacancy, and the salary shall be paid according to the capitation, and no more person shall be paid; Secondly, since you are a border army, you must have the ability of a border army, if you just want to be a soldier and mix food and salary, it is better to leave the country as soon as possible. Now, you show me how I usually train, and if I think I am qualified, you can get double the salary; Otherwise, you will change from a military household to a peasant household, and the court will redivide the land for you, and you will have nothing to do with the war in the future. Let's go! ”

Now it's not just Sun Chengzong, all the border troops are stupid. Because since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, they have been military households for generations, no matter how old you are, and no matter what your physical fitness is, every household has to have someone to be a soldier anyway.

This has led to two consequences: one is that the physical condition is uneven, and the military quality is also extremely poor, as long as you carry a spear to the city wall, even if you are a soldier, there is no decent training at all.

Second, although military households have some preferential tax payments compared with peasant households, the more they are exploited by military officers, and they are not even as good as ordinary peasant households, and they cannot support their families at all by relying on the little land and the grain and salary issued by the imperial court. If you can't even eat at home, and you have to be a soldier to fight, who wants to do this kind of work? As a result, there are more and more cases of military households fleeing, which is also the fundamental reason for the vacancies.

But today, the emperor suddenly announced that he would inspect the training situation, and those who did not meet the requirements were turned into private households, which has never been the case since the founding of the Ming Dynasty!

The border soldiers were also very conflicted about this incident. On the one hand, they were afraid of war, and Ba had to use them as soldiers. In the past, there was no way for the military households, but now that the emperor has given them a chance to turn into a civilian, of course they are a little moved.

On the other hand, they also know that even if they become ordinary farmers, it will be difficult for them to survive with the current level of income and taxes. However, if you pass the emperor's assessment, you can get an annual salary of twenty-four taels, which is enough to greatly change the life of the whole family.

Therefore, after a fierce ideological struggle, most of the border troops still wanted to remain in the army. So, a "big competition" that made people laugh and cry began!