The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"We are actually aware of the problems in Beijing Camp, but if we really need to rectify them, I'm worried that there will be chaos down there."

Zhang Rong frowned and said, Zhu Xizhong also nodded when he heard this.

"Keep the status quo, the Beijing camp is divided into two, the old camp remains as it is, and the ten battalions selected and trained by Qi Jiguang remain as they are.

Although there is a slight loss of income, we can get the best of both worlds. We can not only restore the combat power of the Beijing camp, but also be able to pass the test in front of His Majesty, and you can also retain your rights in the Beijing camp. "

Wei Guangde said.

He is not a fool. He will not throw out the matter of Yu Yan as soon as he opens his mouth. He will easily develop his appetite.

Although the top nobles of the Ming Dynasty in front of them are not interested in the military pay from the Beijing camp, it is a rule after all. If the money taken by the people below is delivered to the mansion, they will accept it without fail. Otherwise, why would this matter be spread? Come to your home in a hurry.

"Shandai, you are not an outsider, I will be honest with you, the water in Jingying is very deep.

In fact, when Emperor Sejong was still alive, he also told me about the Beijing camp several times, but after several adjustments, in the end we could only continue as before.

You are a smart person, you should be able to guess the reason, right? "

Zhu Xizhong said.

Wei Guangde knew that the capital camp was complicated, but after listening to Zhu Xizhong's words, it seemed that the emperor was really going to touch this piece of cake. It seemed that it would be difficult for the emperor to end it. This was strange. What did Emperor Jiajing worry about?

Looking at Wei Guangde's eyes, Zhu Xizhong and Zhang Rong looked at each other, and then said: "You only see our noble titles, and you think we should be able to speak on behalf of Wu Xun's family, but I tell you the truth, the interests of the people below are , we maintain it well, and naturally everything is safe and sound.

But if the people below feel that their interests have been harmed, you can't imagine what they can do.

The people below are not just what you think, they are just from the Beijing camp.

They are related to us, but many of the generals who lead troops and troops outside are even closer to them.

Think about it, Emperor Sejong is such a smart person, but he doesn't dare to impress the Beijing camp. In fact, he has these concerns.

Stealing people's money is like killing their parents. If they really want to unite, we may not be able to suppress it. "

What Zhu Xizhong said actually involves many secrets.

In the 29th year of Jiajing, how could the proud and arrogant Emperor endure the humiliation of the Gengxu Revolution?

It's not like he never thought about transforming the Beijing camp and launching the Northern Expedition again to regain his face.

However, he thought of countless ways to restructure the Beijing camp, but none of them succeeded. The most important thing was to swap the border troops and the Beijing camp, which would directly harm the interests of the generals leading the troops.

Whether it is a border town or a capital camp, everyone points to military pay for their meals.

According to the emperor's wishes, their good life would of course be gone. Who would be willing to sacrifice their lives for him?

There are even faint signs of instability.

Think about it, if the internal and external generals rebelled, how could Emperor Jiajing quell it?

It is simply an unsolvable problem. Unless you have a victorious army, you will not dare to poke this hornet's nest.

As for letting Lu Bing use the Jin Yiwei to arrest those generals without anyone noticing.

There are so many people that we can’t catch them all.

In the current Ming Dynasty, generals have long been formed, and there are several in each town. The children of each family hold different official positions in various places. The entire border towns and Beijing camps in the Ming Dynasty are controlled by these people.

As for the so-called love between generals and nobles, they will naturally take care of them if nothing happens, but they have been living a life of licking blood in the border town all year round. After seeing too many dead people, their personalities will change, and they will fall out. It's quick to turn the pages of the book.

Xungui sometimes feels that it is difficult to control these people, but there is nothing he can do. He can't lose the tail, that is, he only dares to deal with them when they make mistakes and deprive them of military power.

But who will take over?

The place below has long been managed like an iron bucket, water cannot be poured in, and needles cannot penetrate.

The generals who were replaced were quickly expelled, and military power would soon return to their hands.

There were too few emerging generals like Ma Fang, and if Wei Guangde hadn't supported him in the first place, and without the emperor's approval, it would have been difficult for him to start an uprising.

Up to now, a tacit understanding has been formed between the nobles and the generals, that is, they protect the interests of the generals, and the generals abide by the will of the court, and at the same time strictly guard the border towns to prevent the Tatars from easily breaking through the borders.

Wei Guangde also frowned when he heard Zhu Xizhong detailed the current political situation in northern Ming Dynasty.

There were some things in Zhu Xizhong's words that he was not aware of, and later generations had not seen.

Regarding the comments about the Ming Dynasty, they only said that at the end of the Ming Dynasty, there were signs of separatist vassal towns in Liaodong, which seemed to follow the instructions rather than the declaration.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Guangde asked: "Then how did Ma Fang deploy the elites of each battalion in Xuanfu? Taking away elite soldiers from their hands may also cause dissatisfaction among them.

But for so many years in Xuanfu, he never heard anyone from Xuanfu trying to push him. "

"Ma Fang is a man who can fight and dare to fight. The generals also respect such a man. The most important thing is that when the Xuanfu army was extremely short of food and pay, Mr. Wei Ge was able to go to the household department and allocate money to them. and grain.

If they can get food and salary for their troubles, why are they making trouble? I wish the general soldiers could bring back more, so they could earn more.

As for some people and horses, just sell them. "

Zhu Xizhong explained with a wry smile.

Hearing this, Wei Guangde choked up, but then he thought about it, and it seemed that this really happened.

In the first two years, when his official position was low, Ma Fang wrote to him asking for money and food. Through Gao Gong's relationship with Prince Yu's palace, he also allocated money to them from the Ministry of Revenue. It turned out to be for this purpose.

As for the next few years, especially the past two years, Ma Fang did not write letters begging for money or food. This was because the Yu Zhuan line had grown stronger, Prince Yu's position as Prince Yu was clear, and his official position was soaring, and the Ministry of War and the Naturally, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Affairs will not find any trouble and will make things easier for them.

After thinking about this, Wei Guangde nodded slightly and heard Zhu Xizhong's words again.

"In those years, Xuanfu demanded more money and food than Jizhen, what more could the people in Xuanfu ask for?

And Ma Fang is not like those general soldiers. They just want to make a profit from it and scratch a layer of it. They are just enjoying it, because they just take away the money that should be Ma Fang's. "

Zhu Xizhong continued.

"However, I have also heard that although Ma Fang does not deduct military pay, most of the harvest gained from each raid is shared between him and his men, except for a small amount that is handed over to the court."

Zhang Rong said happily at this time, glancing at Wei Guangde from time to time.

At first, Wei Guangde didn't understand what his eyes meant, but he figured it out after a while.

After the loot Ma Fang withheld was realized, part of it probably went into his own treasury. Otherwise, with his little salary, would he have the money to give himself gifts?

Thinking of this, Wei Guangde's face turned a little ugly and he felt a little embarrassed. He had become a link in this chain of interests without even realizing it.

Rubbing his chin, Wei Guangde fell silent, and the banquet also became quiet.

After a long time, Wei Guangde waved his hand and sent out all the servants waiting in the flower hall, and then he said: "What those people below actually want are the official positions and money in the Beijing camp?"

Hearing what he said, Chen Daji said directly: "Of course, those people will not be able to live without this money for their expenses in the capital."

Li Tingzhu also smiled and said: "I heard that Goulan's business has dropped by 20% in the past two months."

"Hey, Master Hou's family still has this business?"

Chen Daji wondered, it seemed like it was the first time he knew that there were people in the Linhuai Marquis Mansion doing this business.

"Marquis Ningyang is joking, how can I go into this business? There are a few incompetent children in the family who have taken over other people's shares and helped them suppress the situation."

Li Tingzhu smiled slightly awkwardly and said.

There were some crooked buildings. Of course, Wei Guangde couldn't let them continue to joke. He looked around the crowd and then said: "The official positions in the Beijing camp are still there, but they are divided into two camps, and some new official positions are added. However, these official positions cannot be moved. It is up to His Majesty to make the decision." .”

Seeing that everyone else was listening to him quietly at this moment and had no intention of speaking, Wei Guangde continued: "They will definitely have less money in terms of military pay. I will just think of some way to find other income for them to make up for it.

Let’s see, can this quell their dissatisfaction? "

It would be unwise if the Ming army in the North would mutiny or even rebel because they wanted to build a slightly better-looking army.

In fact, later generations only saw mutinies and even mutinies among the Ming army because they could not receive military pay, but few people knew the reasons behind these incidents. They were often promoted secretly, mostly to attack political opponents.

In a place like the army, the soldiers certainly know the consequences of mutiny, so spontaneous mutinies are actually very rare. It would take such a greedy and ruthless official to force it out.

In fact, most of the mutinies that occurred in the Ming Dynasty were caused by the grudges between the leading generals, local governors, and soldiers.

When soldiers were deprived of food and pay, local officials and military generals were greedy for money when it came to dividing the money, while some individuals did not respect martial ethics and wanted to expand their own cakes, which led to conflicts and resentment among officials.

Therefore, generals often incite soldiers to cause trouble and mutiny, direct the finger at the government in charge of money and food, and guide the mutinous soldiers to besiege the government.

When something goes wrong, even if officials survive, they will definitely not be able to stay any longer. Most of them will be dismissed or even questioned, and generals will generally be dismissed from their posts.

But in the border town, if news of wars were reported several times, the court would soon reinstate the unscrupulous generals, and the worst case scenario would be to continue leading the troops in another place.

Although the military commander's status is not high, there are still people in the capital.

To put it bluntly, the so-called mutiny is not just a continuation of political struggle.

Although civil servants have a high status and military commanders need to curry favor, they also have their own limits, and they can do anything if they reach their limits.

Moreover, the promotion of military generals is really easy. A few battles can promote a white soldier to a guerrilla or even a general. The only thing is to share the credit and spend some money to recruit officials in the merit examination department of the Ministry of War.

But civil servants are different. They take exams every three years, and they have to go up one level at a time. Thousands of people squeeze into the single-plank bridge.

This is a very important reason for the decline of the general sect in the late Ming Dynasty. Most of the children of the general sect have not been tested by war, but have been promoted by taking credit from others.

"Input? Which business does Shandai refer to as input?"

Xu Wenbi asked at this time.

The news that Wei Guangde cooperated with some businessmen to make money seemed to be tightly sealed, but in fact many people knew about it.

It's just that everyone actually does this, so no one in the court usually uses the official's family business as a reason to criticize political opponents.

Because of Xu Jianglan's relationship with the Wei family, Xu Wenbi naturally knew that Wei Guangde was involved in several businesses.

If nothing else, if you want to find high-quality ginseng in the capital, the best place to go is Wei Mansion instead of those time-honored drug stores.

Wei Guangde's reputation as a good businessman has long been spread privately in officialdom.

Wei Guangde deliberately looked embarrassed. He lowered his head and thought for a long time before he suddenly thought of it. He raised his head and said to them: "The most profitable business in the world now is salt tea. I remember that there seems to be a batch of leftover salt in several major salt farms." Not sold.”

Hearing Wei Guangde talking about the remaining salt from the salt farm, the eyes of everyone present lit up.

As for the business that they can focus on, it is the salt tea business that they have fixed a share of. This business is very profitable and is also the main source of supporting their expenses.

Think about it, you don’t have to do anything, you just rely on connections to get the salt, and then distribute it to some salt merchants, and the money will go into the treasury for their enjoyment. How great.

As for the remaining salt Wei Guangde mentioned, they would try their best to get some in previous years, after all, it was money.

"In the past, these salts were sold through the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Yanzheng Yamen. If a part of the salts can be distributed, can we ensure that the people below will not cause trouble?"

Wei Guangde said.

The amount of silver you have to pay to the court for each salt is fixed, but the price of this thing will increase many times when it comes to the outside world, because the profit brought by the salt is large enough.

"Charity Loan, you mean to set aside a portion? How much is it?"

Xu Wenbi asked directly.

Wei Guangde pretended to be calm, and seemed to have thought for a long time before saying: "It will definitely be difficult if there are more, after all, everyone knows everything about the court.

But if we only make up for the losses of tens of thousands of people, and then give everyone a 20% increase, it should still be possible. "

The meaning of Wei Guangde's words has been very clear. Because the officials of the Beijing camp have transferred tens of thousands of people, the amount of soldiers' pay they can withhold has been reduced, and they have lost money, so they can make up for it with the money earned from salt bait.

In the past, the subordinates deducted military pay and sent part of it to the nobles' mansions in the name of holidays, but now the order has changed.

The salt is held in their hands and distributed by them.

This change is actually quite important. Having resources in their hands means that they have greater control over the people below them.

At this moment, several people lowered their heads and made calculations. The 20% above the increase must be their money, and how to distribute the rest according to the distance between relatives, it seems feasible.

"But if this Yanyin is done, everyone will ensure that nothing happens to the Beijing camp. Otherwise, if there is a problem with any company, they will have to fill it in themselves."

Wei Guangde continued.

"Does Shiohiki happen every year, or is it just this year?"

Zhang Rong asked key questions.

Although the military salary they receive is not much, they can make an income every year. If Yanyin only pays it for one year, then they will definitely suffer a big loss, but there is no guarantee that the people below will agree.

"We can agree on a quantity, and I will find a way to operate it and make it a regular practice."

Wei Guangde said.

Zhu Xizhong, Zhang Rong and others frowned upon hearing that it was a "convention".

There is a lot of money, it is easy to earn, and it is easy to explain to the people below.

"Ask later."

Zhang Rong smiled.

"I'll go back and calculate how many there are." (End of Chapter)