Huang Degong took a deep breath and replied: "Zhenguo Gong, this time the lower officials can come to the mansion to meet you, purely because it is not a meritorious service to respect you, not to question you and several generals face to face, but, after all, the regulations of the imperial court are set for us to be courtiers, if the people below do not respect the order, then the entire Ming Dynasty will not be chaotic?" General Qin's words, forgive the officials who can't agree, and ask Zhenguo Gong for advice! ”

Zhu Jie smiled slightly: "Lord Huang, as for how the three of them treat the two garrisons and horse supervisors, that is their business, and this governor will never interfere in any way, not to mention that I am no longer in charge of the military affairs of Nanzhili now." What I can say is, no matter how they toss, my attitude towards them is not to support or oppose them, the three of them are the general soldiers of a town, and they have strong independent power over the military affairs of the town, don't they? Even on weekdays, Inspector Ma rarely interferes in the internal affairs of Luzhou Town, right? ”

Huang Degong nodded and replied: "Yes, Inspector Ma rarely interferes with my decisions in Luzhou Town, however, if Inspector Ma puts forward a request for Luzhou Town, or wants to make some adjustments, I, Huang Degong, must also respect Inspector Ma's opinion, we all live within the rules of the imperial court cultural relics officials, no one can break these rules, if these rules are broken, the power of the counterattack that bursts out of the rules is enough to tear people to pieces, Zhen Guogong, I said it right, right?" ”

"Not bad!"

Zhu Jie replied: "Lord Huang, if it is another military town, it is natural to look forward to the head of the Ma Inspector, but the three towns of Nanjing are different, and it is also different from your Luzhou Town, the Ma Inspector just can't do whatever he wants here, and if he wants to break up the soldiers in the Tianwei Army, it will undoubtedly be destroyed, and the results of the rectification of the 14th Guard in Nanjing this time are something I absolutely cannot tolerate!" ”

"Intolerable?"

Huang Degong frowned and asked: "Zhen Guogong, although Master Ma is not a famous general compared to you, but he is also a person who knows the soldiers, even if he can't go further in the three towns of Nanjing, it won't let the three towns of Nanjing be destroyed, right?" Zhen Guogong was a little alarmist. ”

Zhu Jie smiled and asked, "Lord Huang, I don't know how much military salary you can receive every year for the soldiers under your command in Luzhou Town?" ”

"This ......"

Huang Degong was a little hesitant.

Zhu Jie smiled: "If it's inconvenient, it's okay if Lord Huang doesn't say it." ”

Huang Degong said angrily: "What's inconvenient about this? Luzhou Town has more than 24,000 troops, and the annual military salary is about 500,000 taels, but because of layers of deductions, the imperial court has delayed allocation, and can get about 300,000 taels in hand......"

"Sixty percent?"

Zhu Jie asked, "Lord Huang, you must know that these soldiers join the army just to be able to eat for the whole family, the court is not enough to pay the salary, and the generals at all levels have to be exploited layer by layer, to the hands of the low-level soldiers, I am afraid that even forty percent of them will be gone, how can you let them fight with peace of mind?" Without military pay, where does the morale come from? Without military pay, how can you ensure training? Without military salaries, how can we ensure that the soldiers below do not rob the people? ”

Huang Degong was stunned and said, "Zhen Guogong, this has nothing to do with my question, right?" ”

Zhu Jie said proudly: "Of course it is related, because when I was in Tongzhou Town, I Zhu Jie could ensure that the soldiers of Tongzhou Town got the military salary in full, and when I was in the Tianwei Army, I could guarantee that the Tianwei Army got the military salary in full, and the same is true in the three towns of Nanjing, my Zhu Jie has always been the principle that as long as I follow me as a soldier to fight, I will never treat the brothers a tael of silver, so that the soldiers can follow you to serve the country with all their hearts, and only with sufficient military pay can they be fully trained, guess that the military town armament can be strong combat power, If even the most basic ones cannot be guaranteed, how can we ensure combat effectiveness? If even the descendants under the command of Governor Lufeng, such as Luzhou Town, can't get enough military salaries, how can they ensure that the three towns of Nanjing can get enough military salaries? Without military salaries, the morale of the three towns of Nanjing that was finally gathered is about to disperse, which I spent a huge price to rectify, you say, I can watch the destruction of the three towns of Nanjing? ”

Huang Degong shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Zhenguo Gong, I admit that what you said is reasonable, but looking at the military towns in the imperial court, who can have such prestige and qualifications as an adult, and who can get such trust from the emperor?" The fact that the Tianwei Army can get the full amount of military salary does not mean that we can get it, even if we don't strip it layer by layer, we can only get six or seven percent of the military salary, which is no wonder Ma Inspector ......"

Qin Mufeng, who was on the side, pursed his lips and replied, "Lord Huang, you are wrong, do you think that the military salary allocated to us by the imperial court is sufficient?" The civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty almost regarded our family as a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh, and they would pay us in full? How can it be? Whether it is the Tianwei Army, or Tongzhou Town, or the three towns of Nanjing, all the gaps in the military salaries of the imperial court are all raised by our family members, and they fill the holes out of their own pockets. Lord Huang, I would like to ask you, if it is a trilogy that you have worked so hard to support with the money you have earned, can you hand it over to your opponent to wreak havoc? ”

Huang Degong's face was full of shock, this Zhenguo Gong actually took his family's money to subsidize the soldiers under his command! Wiped it, it really has a personality! In the entire Ming Dynasty, one is counted as one, which general doesn't want to take some oil and water from the hands of the soldiers under his command? Even if you are no exception, there is no extra oil and water, so what is filial piety to the superintendent, what is filial piety to the big guy in Beijing? This annual Bing Jing and Tan Jing require a lot of silver, and it is absolutely impossible to support it by relying on military salaries alone! This Zhenguo Gong actually came the other way around, and his family's silver fell from the sky? Even if it falls from the sky, others are reluctant to throw it to Junzhen, why should their own money be used to fill the hole in the imperial court?

"Zhen Guogong, what General Qin said is true?"

Huang Degong asked in shock.

Zhu Jie nodded and replied: "Yes, when I first arrived in Nanjing, such as the Yulin avant-garde, the situation was good, the soldiers could get only four or five percent of the military salaries, the steel knives in their hands were rusty, the spears were moldy, such an army was only afraid that even the bandits could not deal with it, not to mention that it would be good to protect the family and defend the country, it would be good to be able to protect themselves, the governor transferred millions of taels of silver from the industry under his command in one go, and invested in it to build ordnance and firearms, and reissue military salaries, which finally made the three towns of Nanjing improve, If at this time, someone wants to mess up the three towns of Nanjing, it will be the sworn enemy of the governor! I will never tolerate it! ”