"How many?"

"Two."

"What are they coming to me for?" Deng Ming asked impatiently, "Are you going to do business?" Is it to buy our goods or to sell us something? If this is the case, Major Mu will decide for himself. ”

Mu Tan was a little dissatisfied with Deng Ming's constant letting him engage in business and bribery, and he repeatedly claimed that he was a qualified military general, and the job that was really suitable for him should be training troops and inspecting camps. But now that Deng Ming's army is part-time in business, there must be a person in charge, and Deng Ming is unwilling to take care of all these tasks by himself, so he has to find someone to do it for him, so no matter whether Mu Tan is willing or not, he has to do it.

"It's not." Mu Tan's herald shook his head, recently there have been young scholars in Jiangnan who want to join Deng Ming, become his staff, and praise him for military affairs, and the two scholars who came today also have this purpose.

At the beginning, Deng Ming had met a few, but the other party's experience and insight could not meet Deng Ming's requirements, and he was also wary of these scholars, thinking that most of them were similar to Meng Zhengfa's nature of playing tickets. In case the Ming army is unfavorable, or the military life does not meet their imagination, they will find a reason similar to "unfilial piety has three, and no queen is great" and ran back to their hometown.

These young scholars are not of much help to Deng Ming, and if they desert, then Deng Ming's military secrets may be leaked, if ordinary soldiers dare to desert, Deng Ming can punish them, and the maximum punishment can even be considered death; But these scholars are different, if Deng Ming dares to hurt their lives, then it will inevitably cause the dissatisfaction of the gentry.

Now that Deng Ming has made friends with some Jiangnan gentry through business dealings, this will be a channel for the Ming army to collect intelligence in the future, so even accepting these scholars is just icing on the cake for Deng Ming, and if there is any dispute, it will bring him unnecessary trouble.

"What does Major Mu think of these two people's knowledge?" Deng Ming was dissatisfied, and asked the herald again.

"Major Mu thinks they're similar to the first few times......

"Nope!" Before the herald's voice fell, Deng Ming said categorically: "I'm very busy now, I have to ask about so many things in the barracks, where can I have the time to accompany the two of them to drink tea for an hour?" Say something meaningless? According to the normal rules, like other heroes who have joined the army, invite them to a full meal, and then send them away politely. ”

The herald left, Deng Ming continued to discuss the training progress of the recruits with Ren Tang and Zhou Kaihuang, and then the three of them walked out of the tent, and Deng Ming went to the school field to talk to several officers in charge of training.

"The Admiral will make it easy for me to find." When Deng Ming was busy, Mu Tan came in person, he went to Deng Ming's camp just now, but he pounced, and then chased all the way to the school field: "Those two gentlemen are angry." ”

"Hmm." This was reflected in Deng Ming's expectations, but he didn't think it would bring him any special trouble, the big deal was to get an evaluation that no one wanted, and with Deng Ming's current reputation, most of the gentlemen would speak for him, thinking that these two young people were not good enough to enter Deng Ming's eyes; But if you bring these scholars who may slip away at any time, it will be a fatal thing, and it will not work if you are soft at that time, and it will greatly damage your image among the gentlemen.

"They are shouting that they will not leave, and they must make it clear to the Admiral face to face."

"Those who come to join the army are strong men," Deng Ming was unmoved: "If they refuse to leave, arrange for them to stay, let them be fed, and if they want to, they can also participate in the recruitment screening, but I suspect they are unwilling." ”

"Admiral." Ren Tang finally couldn't help but speak out, although he also admitted that the previous few soldiers who came to join the army were useless, and they were still a little dissatisfied when they saw Deng Ming snubbing the soldiers so much.

"We'll talk about it later." Deng Ming stopped Ren Tang's complaints and continued his daily military affairs.

was busy until the sun went down, and after the barracks had dinner, Deng Ming called the three henchmen and majors to his camp tent, and when they had dinner together, Deng Ming continued the topic that Ren Tang wanted to start just now: "These scholars are completely different from Brother Ren, they have not participated in the army, they have not been on or seen the battlefield, they don't know how to fight, and they don't know how to calculate the consumption of baggage. I entrusted the important task to Brother Ren, because Brother Ren once slashed enemy soldiers and led the team to fight thousands of miles, not because Brother Ren was a scholar. ”

"Yes, if it weren't for Brother Ren like this, ordinary showmanship would be useless." Zhou Kaihuang immediately spoke out in agreement, when he was in Yuan Zongdi's army, Zhou Kaihuang also admired the scholars very much, and he also respected the scholars in the camp, and if there were Xiucai who defected to Yuan Zongdi and others, they would also happily entertain them. This kind of respect for scholars stems from respect for knowledge, and it is also the expression of civilization, and only a very small number of barbarian rulers in Chinese history have despised knowledge, and even fewer have taken pleasure in torturing and persecuting intellectuals.

Deng Ming also respects knowledge, but he does not think that literacy is omnipotent, but believes that the profession needs to be subdivided, and there are many kinds of jobs suitable for these scholars, and if there is no military knowledge, there is no suitable position for them in the army. Zhou Kaihuang was influenced by Deng Ming's mode of thinking for a long time, and he had no enthusiasm for recruiting scholars to serve in the Ming army.

"Then they can't be regarded as ordinary soldiers who have joined the army." Ren Tang was not unaware of Deng Ming's attitude, but he was still quite upset for the two soldiers who came to join the army, not to mention that the two of them also had a letter of recommendation from a famous soldier.

"Actually, I don't think the gentry of my dynasty are as good as ordinary people." Deng Ming chuckled lightly and said something that shocked all three of his partners.

Ren Tang immediately quit, and he had to ask Deng Ming to make it clear.

"One day, Brother Mu and Brother Zhou had a quarrel, arguing about whether Cao Gong was a citizen of the Ming Dynasty," Deng Ming did not answer immediately, but talked about the past: "How to judge whether a person is a child of the imperial court, and whether a person is serving the country?" ”

Without waiting for the three of them to express their opinions, Deng Ming gave his answer: "Joining the army to shed blood, or paying taxes, I think this is serving the country." ”

In Deng Ming's impression, it may be that foreign talents have no obligation to pay taxes to the government: "I don't like the word people, relatively speaking, I like the word people, all those who serve in the military and pay taxes to the government are equal citizens, just like the same Xiucai in the capital, although I am in a different position from them, but because of opportunities and ability, they all try their best to support the court and the country like me; And these scholars of our dynasty, what have they done for the country? ”

"They are out to assist the Son of Heaven." Ren Tang argued.

"I don't think being an official is a dedication to the country, not to mention that they seem to be taking a lot of money." Deng Ming smiled again: "As you know, I hired a scholar to go to the capital with a high salary, and taught the children to read and write; I have set a very high salary, which is higher than the pay of your officers, but there are not many people who go, it seems that only some children have been called, and among the soldiers who have volunteered to join our army, there is not a single one who is willing to teach, and everyone wants to be an official. ”

To become a private school teacher - in many people's understanding, the teacher recruited by Deng Ming is equivalent to a private school teacher - is obviously not the road to the Hou.

"These teachers are well paid, but they also have to pay a part of the taxes to the capital, which is their dedication to the country; For those soldiers who have retired, I have given them the treatment of their fellow soldiers, but instead of simply exempting them from protection fees, I pay them a stipend first, and then collect taxes according to the amount of their land, and they also serve the country in the same way as Tong Xiucai. In the future, the officials of our metropolitan government will be selected from these citizens who serve the country, instead of conferring official positions on those who are not willing to pay taxes to the country. ”

"This is the preferential treatment given by the imperial court to scholars."

"Of course, scholars should be treated preferentially and respected, but I always feel that they should not be treated preferentially by exempting them from their responsibilities to the country, is this a good way to sharpen their morale? I doubt it. Deng Ming shook his head: "There are many ways to govern the country, one is to compare the background, as long as you have a good father, you will have a good future, and you can also make a big thing into a small thing, and a small thing into nothing, you can manage a county when you are young, and then a province after a few years, until you enter the cabinet......"

"Well, what the Admiral said is the Eight Banners system of the ugly." Zhou Kaihuang said loudly: "However, the ugly will also hold the imperial examination, tempting the scholars of the world to compete for the qualification to carry the flag." ”

"There is also a thorough imperial examination, from the top down are the monarch's father, courtiers and the people, you also know this, it is the system of our dynasty." Deng Ming's evaluation of Zhou Kaihuang was noncommittal, but continued, in Deng Ming's view, the Eight Banners system is not much different from the elites, at least the Eight Banners system in the rising period can still defeat the rotten elites.

"There's another one, which I've envisioned, and I'd like to try it. Whether there is a prominent father or not, or a full stomach, the state will demand that it be fulfilled. Under the rules I envisioned, a person could be more respected for being knowledgeable, and it was only right, that he could gain more wealth and live a better life than the average person; But the state will also require him to pay the same taxes as ordinary people, or even more, because he has stronger abilities and should make more contributions to the country, and when necessary, the state will also need the protection of this scholar. All men are citizens who provide taxes and blood for the country, and this is the imperial system I envisioned. Deng Ming didn't know what the clear definition of empire should be in his previous life, but now he had a blank piece of paper in front of him, which he could smear at will: "Except for the saints, every citizen of the empire should be equal, and I am included, and all laws that are valid for me are valid for everyone; What is a crime for someone else, if I do it, is also a crime, and I will be punished exactly the same. ”

"At least in the capital, that's how it should be; At the very least, we can give it a try. Deng Ming looked at the three companions in a daze, and finally added.

============

The author's note: I will go to Guangzhou to do something tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, I dare not say whether I can update it in these two days, at least tomorrow will be very nervous, I will go to take the bus at seven o'clock in the morning, fly at noon, and arrive in the afternoon, it seems that there is no time to write; The day after tomorrow is also a matter of one day, if the day after tomorrow is a qiē shun lì, the day after tomorrow may be more abundant.

If I can't update it tomorrow, I owe the readers 5,000 words; If it doesn't work the day after tomorrow, it's 10,000, and I'll make it up one after another - I can't promise to pay it back in a few days, but I'll keep it in mind.

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