Please ask me to be the emperor

The new trilateral governor Liang Tingdong finally completed the deployment of 50,000 mobile teams, and he didn't even have time to breathe.

Immediately, some soldiers came to report: "Report! Military Gate, the royal salary has arrived!"

"Ah? How many are there?" Liang Tingdong said in surprise and joy.

Since the Apocalypse, the Ming Dynasty has been plagued by internal strife and constant foreign invasion. The imperial court deployed troops one after another, and all military pay, pensions and military rations were seriously in arrears.

Except for the four towns of Xuanda, Jiliao, which faced Hou Jin, because they were on the front line of the battlefield, military pay was guaranteed first, and everything could still be supported.

In the first year of Chongzhen, a lack of pay led to a mutiny in Guanning. Bi Zisu, then governor of Liaodong, was so angry that he went on a hunger strike and died.

For example, the land with three sides and four towns in Shaanxi belongs to the nine sides, but its priority is not as good as that of the other seven towns, so we have to pay for it first.

In some places, wages were in arrears for more than a year, causing the soldiers to sell their sons and daughters and become almost like beggars and homeless people.

Therefore, in the Yansui area where the disaster was most serious, there were rebels such as the "King of Hengtian" Wang Ziyong, "Purple Jinliang" Wang Jiayin, "Chuang Jiang" Li Zicheng, "Eight Great Kings" Zhang Xianzhong, and "Living Cao Cao" Luo Rucai. came out, setting off a vigorous uprising.

Although these people were dubbed the rebels of the peasant uprising by later generations, in fact, almost all their leaders and backbones were low-level officers or soldiers from the Yansui Border Guard Station.

Most of these people had no way to make a living because the imperial court was dragging their salaries, so they had to rebel to survive.

This is why some rebels became the main force in encircling and suppressing the peasant army after they had no choice but to seek refuge with the officers and soldiers.

Because the rebels from Shaanxi and the officers and soldiers from the three border areas of Shaanxi were originally two sides of the Ming Dynasty's border army, coming from the same origin.

If today's imperial court really had money and food, and paid out food and wages promptly and in full, how could there be the current situation of rogue bandits?

As the saying goes: It's hard for a good woman to make a meal without rice. Therefore, after every governor took office in the late Ming Dynasty, the first important thing was to ask for salary.

This time, Liang Tingdong, the new governor of the three sides, had already prepared a payment slip and was preparing to send someone to the capital sooner or later to complain to the emperor and the cabinet.

However, he never expected that the imperial court would take the initiative to allocate part of the military salary before he could submit the payment slip.

This is simply the sun rising in the west, which is the rarest thing in ancient times and modern times.

"Today, Your Majesty has donated 200,000 taels of money to help with the suppression of the army. After losing to Shaanxi, he also left 100,000 taels of salary and silver in the province to fund the military." The soldier hurriedly reported the report in accordance with the imperial order.

"One hundred thousand taels of gold were left from Taipu Temple to be transported to Kaifeng, Henan; 200,000 taels of salt were stored in Huaiyang for the use of Zhu Dadian, the governor of water transportation and governor of Fengyang; and 190,000 taels of silver were left in Huguang Province to finance the town. Waiting for the soldiers."

"This? The imperial court is going to use a lot of troops!" Liang Tingdong couldn't help but sigh in surprise.

Around this time, 790,000 taels of silver were distributed in one breath, so you must have heard some sound of water flowing.

At the same time, Wu Yan, the governor of Shanxi, Xiong Wencan, the governor of Huguang, Zhu Dadian, the governor of Caoyun and the governor of Fengyang, and others all received corresponding imperial edicts to pay salaries and recruit soldiers.

The governor of Shanxi, Wu Di, was fine. Most of his troops were drawn from Xuanfu, Datong and the three towns of Shanxi.

However, Xiong Wencan, governor of Huguang, and Zhu Dadian, governor of water transportation and governor of Fengyang, were in trouble.

These two places are not like the Nine Borders. Many border residents and village warriors have basic military skills. As long as the court is willing to spend money to recruit them, they can quickly form combat effectiveness.

Xiong Wencan, the governor of Huguang, summoned You Zhaiwen, Xu Chengming and other generals for questioning. Unexpectedly, Xu Chengming couldn't help but smile and said, "The army doesn't know something. I am the general who is guarding the town of Huguang."

"The chief officers of the five villages under my jurisdiction, Si Tu Miao, are all brave and good at fighting. They are not inferior to the 'Mao Gourd'."

"If a military sect wants to recruit soldiers, it should be led by the Zhenjun soldiers, followed by the rest!"

"Oh?" Xiong Wencan was stunned when he heard this, and suddenly had many thoughts.

What Xu Chengming thought was simple. If Xiong Wencan recruited all the Zhenyu soldiers, regardless of their quality, but only allowed the Zhenyu soldiers to become powerful, it would not be an acceptable result for him.

Fortunately, Xu Chengming's mention of the "Mao Gourd" reminded Xiong Wencan that there were many mountain people near Yunyang, and they originally belonged to the "Mao Gourd" category, so they could recruit many of them to act as a force to suppress bandits.

In addition, Xiong Wencan, the governor of Huguang, had served in Fujian and Guangdong and Guangxi, so he had a lot of experience in Western warfare and Western artillery. He couldn't help but said: "The thieves are ignorant, how can they know the power of our Hongyi cannon!"

"I will send people to invite Western instructors to train a battalion of troops for me. Then I will call back the old troops and forge some red barbarian cannons. No matter how brave the thieves are, they will be defeated!"

Xiong Wencan, the governor of Huguang, had made up his mind and ordered: "Commander Xu Chengming listens to the order. I want you to go to Zhenyue quickly to recruit another three thousand soldiers. After the training is completed, come quickly to answer the order."

"General, take the order!" Xu Chengming was stunned when he heard this, and quickly took the order honestly.

He originally thought that Xiong Wencan, the governor of Huguang, wanted him to recruit more than 10,000 troops, but he never expected that the number would only be 3,000. How much oil and water was suddenly lost in this process!

However, Xu Chengming didn't dare to show any dissatisfaction at the high official level, so he had to accept the order and leave.

When Xu Chengming just left, Xiong Wencan asked again: "Who is the governor of Yunyang now? Can he take office?"

"Reporting to the army, after the former governor of Yunyang, Lu Xiangsheng, fell into the hands of thieves, the imperial court appointed Song Zushun, censor of the right capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, to take up the post. He has already taken up the post." The staff around Xiong Wencan responded quickly after hearing this.

"Oh? What's this person's resume?" Xiong Wencan picked up the tea cup and took a sip after hearing this.

He has been working in Fujian for a long time, and he especially likes to drink Wuyishan Dahongpao. This time when he took office in Huguang, he also brought a lot of it, and he would make a pot of it from time to time and taste it.

"He can be regarded as a knowledgeable soldier. I heard that he knows a lot about the art of war. He has also guarded the border in Shaanxi and Shanxi for many years, so he must be somewhat capable." The staff member responded in an orderly manner.

"Okay!" Xiong Wencan praised after hearing this, "In that case, I'll write it as a letter."

"In the past, when Lu Xiang was promoted to the post, he had to face all kinds of difficulties and relied on the relief provided by Tang Hui, the former governor of Huguang. Now that Song Zushun has taken office, I am afraid that there is also a shortage."

"I would like to give him 20,000 yuan, and ask him to help me select and train a battalion of the 'Mao Hulu', and keep the rest for my own use. Is that okay?" Xiong Wencan said with a smile.

"The military sect has great views. Now without any effort, we can get six thousand elite soldiers for nothing!" the staff said to the horse.

"What's it worth?" Xiong Wencan said confidently, "The imperial court gave me 190,000 silver taels and only asked me to recruit more than 10,000 people, but they underestimated Xiong!"

"I want to use the remaining silver to cast eighty-eight Hongyi cannons, two thousand blunderbuss, and two thousand spears. I want to buy more than a thousand war horses, recruit six thousand men, and build a battalion called the 'Firearms Battalion.' I, the Superintendent of the Biao Camp, will definitely be able to wipe out all the 'Shun thieves' tribes in Henan in one fell swoop!"