Please ask me to be the emperor

Cao Bianjiao saw Zhang Shun's discussion, but he couldn't get in the middle of the conversation. He thought to himself: "I am a warrior, and I still have to lead troops to fight. If I were to be a scholar, wouldn't it make my old friend laugh out loud!"

So, Cao Bianjiao hurriedly stood up and said: "Don't worry, general. We only need five hundred elite soldiers. I will defend this place impregnably!"

Zhang Shun was overjoyed to see Cao Bianjiao come forward. He had originally planned to send this man to the expedition and accepted the certificate of submission.

If not, if this person turns around and finds Cao Wenzhao to return to the camp, he will have no choice but to do nothing!

Zhang smiled and said: "General Xiao Cao is indeed very brave, but now the soldiers in the city have their own arrangements, so we can't give you so many troops."

"I want to release the two hundred servants who were originally captured and continue to lead with you. In addition, I will allocate another five hundred 'hair gourds' for you to lead together. You and I will go to Song County to test the attack on Song County. "

"If we can indeed capture Song County, maintain order in the city and wait for me to send generals to garrison it. If we cannot capture Song County, then retreat to Yique and set up a camp there. Defend Shangluo to the west and Ru and Ying to the east to prevent the officers and soldiers from taking advantage of it. Come on!"

Cao Bianjiao was a little surprised and a little disappointed when he heard this. What was pleasantly surprising was that most of the servants he brought out would return to his service; what was disappointing was that, except for these two hundred servants, Zhang Shun was stingy and only gave himself 500 "hair gourds"!

Cao Bianjiao couldn't help but complained unhappily: "King Shun was able to release my servants. Cao is very grateful. It's just that the emperor is not hungry yet and sends troops. It's just that King Shun doesn't pay them. Why don't they provide military rations?"

"Only give me five hundred hairy gourds. We are all big-bellied people, and we can only finish one meal. What can we get?"

Everyone was stunned when they heard this and burst into laughter. Even Lu Weiqi choked on his own saliva.

Cao Bianjiao was confused. If he said that everyone was mocking him, it didn't seem to be the case. They didn't seem to have any ill intentions.

If everyone didn't laugh at him, Cao Bianjiao wasn't that stupid. He couldn't help but asked with some irritation: "Why are you laughing? You can't bully me!"

Zhang Shenyan explained: "General Cao misunderstood. The 'haired gourd' my lord mentioned was actually the 'haired gourd' soldiers from western Henan. They were called 'haired gourds' because their hairy quivers were like haired gourds." .”

"Under our lord's command, I dare not say anything else, but at least there is still enough food. Because the rebels were short of money before, there was no military pay. The former army has a little more money, and each soldier has a reward, which is almost enough to be used as military pay."

"What's more, after the previous battle of Mengjin, rewards and military pay were distributed. Ordinary soldiers were paid one tael of silver per month, and weapons and armor were all distributed uniformly."

Cao Wenzhao's servants all received double pay, and there were even some who were highly skilled in martial arts and particularly friendly and could receive triple pay.

The "monthly ration" for the frontier army in the late Ming Dynasty ranged from one to two to five cents, depending on the eliteness of the soldiers and the combat distance. In addition, when they were first recruited, they still had to pay Anjia more than ten taels of silver.

At a rough glance, it seems that the treatment of Zhang Shun's soldiers is much lower than that of officers and soldiers, but this is not the case.

Since the late Ming Dynasty, the imperial court's finances had been unable to make ends meet and the arrears in food and salary arrears were serious. Most border towns were in arrears with food and salary for more than one year, and even more than two years.

However, Zhang Shun's food and salary rewards were all paid in full, and the army and food were uniformly supplied by the rebels. Although the nominal income was slightly lower, the actual treatment was better than that of the soldiers in the border town.

After all, human beings are made of flesh and blood, and only when they are well fed can they have strength. Although the border towns of the Ming Dynasty were elite, firstly, the number of soldiers was insufficient, and the generals were seriously drunk; secondly, the generals led a group of servants and thousands of beggar soldiers, how could they have the heart to fight?

For example, the reason why Cao Bianjiao's uncle Cao Wenzhao claimed to dare to fight was because he drank less blood from his soldiers and used most of the rewards from battles to support his elite servants, so he was stronger than the general soldiers in other border towns.

Cao Bianjiao was quite satisfied after hearing Zhang Shenyan's story. Although he also wants his servants to continue to receive double pay or even triple pay, but now that he is a defeated general and dare not speak out, how can he dare to make any demands?

He was quite satisfied when he heard that Zhang Shun also allocated five hundred "hair gourds" to him, so he took the order and went to handle the matter of taking over his servants and "hair gourds".

When Cao Bianjiao had just left, Zhang said by the way: "Since ancient times, drinking the blood of soldiers has been banned repeatedly. The imperial court spends money in vain, but it still seriously affects the combat effectiveness of the soldiers. Red Lady, you are in charge of property, what do you think?"

The red lady was stunned for a moment and thought to herself: Ever since I took charge of money, everything has been as usual. Now that the head of the house is asking me, he must have other ideas.

She thought for a moment and said tentatively: "We have always drank the blood of soldiers, but the money only passed through the hands of the chief officials. If you want to put an end to this matter, it is easy, you only need to distribute it to the hands of the soldiers individually. But in this way, it will not It is convenient for the chief officer to control the troops and horses."

When Zhang Shun heard this, he glanced at the Red Lady in surprise. He only knew about the research results he had learned from later generations, and no one else knew about it.

Unexpectedly, it only took a moment for Lady Hong to think clearly, and she smiled and said: "At this time, Yi Er, I have three strategies that can not only ensure the combat effectiveness of the soldiers, but also ensure that the food and wages are paid in full."

"The first one is: Logistics, which is responsible for the food and pay of soldiers. The second one is: Military Academy, which is dedicated to teaching commanders, chiefs and staff officers in the army. The third one is: Staff Officer, which is in charge of military staff matters."

"The general is responsible for training and combat, and has all the power of life and death. Regardless of wartime, the supervisor only issues 'pay checks' to the soldiers on weekdays, and the soldiers go to the logistics office to exchange for military pay. What do you think, Madam?"

When Lady Hong heard this, she didn't know that Zhang Shun had already made a plan. She quickly smiled and said, "What the boss said makes sense, but who is in charge of all these things?"

Zhang said by the way: "Now that the rebels are short of manpower, I have asked my wife to take charge of the logistics. It won't be too late to make another appointment when a suitable candidate comes back."

"In the past, Zhang Sanbai, Xiao Qinhu and Ma Yingniang were often involved in military training. Now that Zhang Sanbai and Xiao Qinhu are both in charge of troops, it is inconvenient to escape. My intention is to belong to Ma Yingniang. I wonder what the lady thinks?"

The red lady couldn't help but be startled when she heard this, and thought to herself: You are lurking in love here, what a plan to kill two birds with one stone!

However, she was not in a hurry to express her position. She just laughed and said: "We will discuss this matter together later, but what about the staff matter?"

"In the past, Xu Quan, Sun Chengzong and others from Song County took refuge with me. They were all scholars, so I kept them by my side as staff. Now they are also quite familiar with staff matters. This time Cao Bianjiao goes to war, I want to send this person as my assistant. Staff officer, let’s give it a try, what do you think?”

Only then did everyone understand that Zhang Shun said he was a staff officer, but he actually sent a supervisory army. When everyone thought about it, it would be inappropriate for Cao Bianjiao's new generation to be without the supervision of the supervisory army. So, everyone nodded in agreement.