Cutting over the end of the Ming Dynasty: a dog-leg knife at the beginning

Chapter 340
The ancestors of these thousands of households may have been brave and good at fighting, but thanks to the insane guard system, the military households have essentially become serfs, and the hundred and thousand households have also become slave leaders.Of course, the life of the slave head is better than that of the slave, but no matter how good the slave head is, he is still a slave. The long time of more than 200 years has already polished off the last trace of bravery in their blood. Whether it is Yang Menglong or Xue Siming, no one dares to expect these thousands of households to lead troops to fight. Thank God if they can cultivate the fields well.But the general households are organized and trained, and handed over to them to lead, but they can still deal with a small group of rogues and bandits. They can't let the field army do all the shit, right?Nanyang and Luoyang have a land area of ​​nearly [-] square kilometers, but there are only seven or eight thousand soldiers, and most of these seven or eight thousand soldiers are shadows who have not seen them yet. Thousands of soldiers are exhausted to death!Therefore, just like Wuyang Guard, Luoyang Guard's thousands and hundreds of households must shoulder the important task of protecting the environment and the people, and there is no room for negotiation on this point.

Among the five thousand households, Han Qianhu was the oldest and the most sophisticated. He immediately understood Xue Siming's intention for gifting the sword and armor, and secretly complained in his heart.He squeezed out a smile, and said: "Master Xue, this gift is a bit heavy. This knife, this armor, can't be bought without one or two hundred taels of silver. Don't you agree?"

The other four thousand households echoed in unison: "Yes, yes, yes, such a precious armor and saber are hard to buy!"

Han Qianhu said, "Should we give you something in return?"

Chong Qianhu clasped his fists and said: "I heard that Master Xue is a rare archer. He fired more than ten arrows in a row on the battlefield in the west of Liaoning. He hit a hundred shots and fell down without any response. This made Jiannu terrified. There is an ancestral record in his family. His strong bow is so strong that ordinary people can't draw it at all, so it's just right to give it to your lord!"

Jin Qianhu said: "One of my subordinates has an ancestral horse lance, which is two feet long. The lance pole is stronger than fine steel. When you draw a knife to cut it, it is like gold and iron intersecting, and it has excellent elasticity... I am ashamed to say that my subordinates are not practicing martial arts. If you don’t get this kind of weapon, if your lord doesn’t dislike it, this subordinate is willing to give this horse spear to your lord!”

Xue Siming waved his hand and said, "You deserve these precious swords and armor. If I don't give them to you, you will definitely be beaten with military sticks later, so you don't need to thank me. Come on, everyone sit down, I want to understand Take a look at the current situation of Luoyang Wei."

The thousands of households looked at each other with bitter expressions... If you don't want their gifts, that means you are outsiders. To be outsiders means you don't treat them as one of your own. What should you do?After some contact, they all knew that this young man was no ordinary person, so they had no choice but to hand the Hengdao armor to the servant, sit down, and start talking about the situation of Luoyang Guard.In fact, there is not much to talk about. Every guard station looks like a bird. The military fields have been encroached on a large number, the irrigation system is in disrepair, a large number of military households have fled, and the military fields are also abandoned. They all rely on the food and salary issued by the court.It's just that this salary is not available every month, or even every year. For example, Luoyang Wei has not received a penny of salary for fifteen months - it was also paid for one month, but Let that bastard guard commander have it all to himself.In general, Luoyang Guard’s current military land is less than 18 acres, and military households...

"What? There are nine thousand military households!?"

Xue Siming jumped up in fright, stared at the five thousand households, and shouted: "Are you sure you remembered correctly, not nine hundred households, but nine thousand households?"

Thousands of households nodded confidently: "It's absolutely true, nine thousand six hundred and eight households!"

Well, there are zeros!Xue Siming shouted: "How is that possible! According to the documents sent to me by the Ministry of War, last year the military households in Luoyang Guard ran away and there were only less than [-] households left!"

Han Qianhu said: "That was last year, this year is different!"

Zhong Qianhu said: "Actually, the Ministry of War is not mistaken. Last year, there were indeed less than [-] military households who escaped from Luoyang Guard. All the military households ran back immediately, well, even those military households who had fled outside for more than ten years also came back, and there are also a large number of refugees, tenant farmers and even middle peasants who voluntarily joined the military!"

Jin Qianhu said: "Alas, there are too many people who want to join the military these days, and my chief bookkeepers are exhausted, and they are clamoring for a raise. If they don't get a raise, they won't do it! "

Xue Siming was dumbfounded, and after a while he smiled wryly: "It's unbelievable that there are so many people trying to join the army, really unbelievable!"

Zhong Qianhu said sincerely: "The military households are living in a miserable life. They are guarded in the guards. They don't have enough to eat and don't wear warm clothes. No one thinks highly of us! Master Yang is a capable person. He let the soldiers in Nanyang Now that Luoyang Wei has merged into Wuyang Wei, everyone hopes that Mr. Yang will show mercy and let everyone have enough food for a few days. Everyone doesn't want to live a life that is not as good as a beggar anymore. !” Saying that, the five thousand households stood up and gave Xue Siming a deep bow!
Xue Siming was silent for a long time before saying: "General Xiao Yang said that we Han people are the smartest, most diligent, and most able to endure hardships in the world. We have the largest population, the most glorious culture, and occupy the most fertile land in the world. Land, we were born to live a good life with plenty of food and clothing, and let those nations that hate us hide in the barren and cold places, eating sand and drooling! Hunger and poverty should be insulated from us! You all know the life of the military households in Wuyangwei They have a good life, but they don’t know how much effort they put in and how much hardship they endured to live the good life they have now!”

The five thousand households said in unison: "As long as Mr. Yang is willing to lead us to become rich together, we can suffer no matter how hard it is!"

Xue Siming said: "If General Xiao Yang is not willing to lead you to become rich together, I would not come here! Yes, General Xiao Yang is a very responsible person. Since the imperial court assigned Luoyang Wei to his jurisdiction, he I have the obligation to lead you to get rich, but the premise is that you must cooperate!"

Qianhu Zhong raised his hands and said, "Whatever you need us to do, just tell us and we will definitely cooperate!"

Xue Siming looked at the other four thousand households: "Where are you?"

These people said in unison: "Sir, just say what you say, we will definitely cooperate!"

Xue Siming nodded: "It's okay, it looks like it. Then you can hear me clearly!"

The five thousand households pricked up their ears.

Xue Siming raised a finger: "First: I know your hands and feet are not very clean. I don't blame you, because I know how poor the military households are. If you don't get some benefits, it's not surprising that your family will starve to death. However, I hope that this kind of behavior will stop here, at least during my term of office, I don’t want to see people cheating military households and enriching their own pockets. I think, the annual salary of 100 taels of silver plus a lot of bonuses , It is enough for you to live a decent life, if you are not satisfied, I don’t mind teaching you how to be a human being with a horizontal knife.”

When the thousands of households heard that they could get 100 taels of silver every year, and a bonus if they did a good job, they were very happy.The annual salary of each thousand households in Wuyangwei is 100 taels, and there are also some miscellaneous subsidies and dividends. The actual income is as much as 150 taels per year. This is well known and makes the thousands of households jealous.They racked their brains to deduct military pay and occupy military fields, how much money did they get in a year?I got so much easily!They slapped their chests fiercely, saying that this annual salary is enough for them to be popular and hot, and if they are greedy, they will be inhumans!

Xue Siming raised his second finger: "From now on, the military households and the soldiers will be completely separated. The military households will no longer undertake combat tasks, but only be responsible for the security work within the jurisdiction. Therefore, you can no longer support your family. The usurped servants must be incorporated into the army to become soldiers, and they will be responsible for fighting in the future!"

When they heard that the servants in their hands were going to be handed over, the Qianhus were a little embarrassed.Servants are the biggest capital of the generals of the Ming army, they are equivalent to their private soldiers. Without servants, they are nothing!But the servants didn't understand Lord Qianhu's feelings at all, and they asked eagerly, "If we become soldiers, will the treatment be the same as that of Wuyang Guard?"

Xue Siming said: "It's the same, 43 catties of rice noodles every month, half a tael of cash for vegetables, a new set of clothes and shoes and socks every three months, and a monthly military salary of one tael or five taels of silver. , the family can get 30 taels of silver or ten acres of land as compensation!"

The servants became happier the more they listened. Before Xue Siming could finish speaking, they knelt down on the floor and shouted in unison: "I am willing to die for my lord, I am willing to die for my lord!"

Han Qianhu, Zhong Qianhu and the others looked at each other with expressions of helplessness.Well, even if they refuse to hand over these servants, these servants will run away by themselves!This is a big disadvantage of private soldiers. They don't have much sense of honor and responsibility, and they work for money. If someone can afford a better price, they will not hesitate to get rid of the original generals and replace them. master.Wuyangwei offered such a high price, even a fool would know how to choose!They had no choice but to follow suit and agreed to hand over all their servants.

There are about [-] servants for five thousand households. Luoyang Guard claims to have [-] military households. On paper, there are also [-] soldiers. In fact, the only ones who can fight are these [-] servants.

Xue Siming raised his third finger: "Third: I know that you have more or less occupied military fields, and I hope you can return these military fields. Believe me, what you can get after returning these military fields The benefits will only be more, but if you insist on occupying these military fields, then the consequences may not be what you want to see!"

This time, the Qianhus were very forthright and agreed to return Juntian.In fact, all the fertile land in Luoyang has become the farmland of King Fu. Most of the military land they worked hard to obtain is lean land, which can only be said to be slightly better than the fields cultivated by military households. How much profit you get, might as well take it out to make a good impression on your boss.

With so many conditions, of course some benefits must be given.In fact, what Xue Siming is doing now is basically copying what Yang Menglong did at the Wuyang Thousand Households Office: gather military doctors to set up clinics and medicine halls in each Thousand Households Office, and provide free medical care for the military households; Two to four large bathhouses allow military households to take hot baths for free; reorganize health education, set up a school for every thousand households, and children under the age of 13 can go to school for free; uniformly distribute fertilizers by the guard command post , seeds, cattle, farm tools, all harvests are also uniformly distributed by the guard command post, and everyone has a share of the proceeds... This combination of punches was like a torrential rain, beating thousands of households dizzily and shaking Alas, it's almost impossible to tell east, west, north and south—hey, there's such a good thing!The biggest advantage of doing this is that the huge investment and risks in the early stage are all carried by the commander of the guard, and the tax is also covered by the commander of the guard. If the imperial court wants to collect taxes, they can go directly to Xue Siming, and they don't have to worry about being blackmailed—— Forgive those tax collectors who don't have the guts to blackmail a general who shot Yue Tuo with an arrow on the Daling River battlefield!
Such a good condition, if they don't agree quickly, then they are really idiots!

(End of this chapter)