Around noon the next day, Chai Wu was summoned to appear in the greenhouse hall of Weiyang Palace.

Regarding Liu Hong's 'pretending to be mysterious' move, Chai Wu had some doubts in his heart: What could it be, can't you say it in Nanying yesterday?

After listening to Liu Hong's first question, Chai Wu came back to his senses: This matter is really not convenient to talk about in Nanying.

——What is the food of the soldiers of the Han family, and how much is the salary?

It's not that there is anything unsightly about this matter, but Chai Wu is worried that if Liu Hong's brain is hot after learning the truth and he makes any promises, then something big will happen!

After sorting out the language a little, Chai Wu told Liu Hong all about the current food and welfare situation of the Han army.

-- The guards of the Great Wall in the border areas, two stones of corn and half a foot of vinegar cloth per person per month; Zero pay!

From Chai Wu's mouth, knowing that his border guards were all 'volunteer' soldiers who were generating electricity for love, Liu Hong's jaw almost fell to the ground!

"Why is that?"

The moment he subconsciously doubted, Liu Hongdi's brain quickly calculated the consumption of military rations for the border guards.

In addition to the local county troops, the front line of the Great Wall is specially responsible for guarding the border wall, and the number of Rongbian troops directly under the central government is as high as 200,000!

Speaking of military rations alone, each soldier has to eat 24 stone of corn a year, which is more than 2,000 yuan.

In this way, the border troops will spend 40,000 copper dollars a year on military rations alone.

What's even more troublesome is that military rations are not issued copper coins according to the price of grain at all; It's a simple and rude direct payout!

In other words, the central government has to transport about 5 million koku of corn from Guanzhong and even the Kanto region to the barren northern border wall every year!

In this era when communication is lagging behind and transportation is relied on, five million stone grains are transported for thousands of miles or even thousands of miles, and the transportation costs to be consumed are almost not necessarily less than the grain that needs to be transported.

In this way, every year, the central government has to pay at least 10 million stone of grain and more than 100,000 people to pay for the military rations of the garrison troops on the Great Wall.

In the early winter, the price of grain in Chang'an soared, and Liu Hong finally relied on how much grain to stabilize the price of grain?

- Externally, it is said that he got a million stones of grain from Anling Du, but in fact, it is only 600,000 stones!

The Great Wall alone is the place where 10 million stone grain is located every year, which is undoubtedly a huge burden for the central part of Chang'an.

As for why the border guards were not allowed to obtain military rations nearby, it took time and effort to transport grain from the south...

Thinking of this, Liu Hong felt that the burden on his shoulders was heavier.

At this time, the Shanxi and Hebei regions of later generations, that is, Liu Heng's dynasty, were still bitter cold places...

As for the upper county further north, Yunzhong County, not to mention - Hutian snowed in August, which in the Western Han Dynasty refers to the territory of Inner Mongolia in the later generations!

In such a harsh climate, the area around the North Wall can be self-sufficient, and the food grown can feed the stomachs of the locals.

The military rations alone made Liu Hong reflect how naïve the question he was raised.

-- 10 million stone corn a year, 85,000,000 yuan.

And the central government's annual fiscal revenue is only 300,000.

Even the 300,000 yuan has been arranged, and most of them have been used when they have not been confiscated; Even if you want to pay the border guards, the Chang'an Central Committee is powerless...

Liu Hong even expressed great doubts about the 850,000 yuan a year for military rations: Can the border guards get their military rations on time and in accordance with the standard of two stone of corn per person per month?

Sure enough, Chai Wu's answer made Liu Hong sigh helplessly again: Unless there is a combat mission that requires maneuvering, otherwise, the border troops on the front line of the Great Wall will generally be halved and distributed military rations...

The reason for this state of affairs is that, in addition to the insufficient control of the Chang'an central government over the world and the low state revenue, the area of arable land, grain production, and the abundance of civilian materials are not enough to support the Chang'an court to deliver military grain to the border guards on time and in quantity.

It's ridiculous that Liu Hong also tried to enhance his prestige in the army by increasing welfare for the army...

Now it seems that Liu Hongneng has been very successful in raising the welfare of Han soldiers to half of the level of the People's Army in later generations!

Of course, Liu Hong consulted Chai Wu about the issue of military rations, and in addition to finding an opportunity to establish prestige in the army and imprint himself on the Han army, the main reason was to try to solve the problem of military rations in the border areas.

In the original history, this problem was not effectively solved until more than ten years later, when Emperor Jing's crown prince Ling Chao Cuo proposed the 'donation of millet and donation', and it was adopted and implemented.

But in this life, Liu Hong obviously can't wait for Chao Yushi to come out - the central court is unstable, and in the foreseeable future, an armed struggle will almost inevitably occur in Chang'an!

In this case, the stability of the side wall can be said to be the most important thing for Liu Hong.

Summoning Chai Wu into the palace today is Liu Hong's attempt to exchange views with Chai Wu on the issue of military rations in the border areas.

- The old way in history is to allow the people to spontaneously transport grain to the feet of the courtiers in exchange for confirmation documents from the border guards, and in exchange for the corresponding titles.

This plan did solve the problem of the lack of military rations for the border troops at that time, but at the same time, the 20-level military merit lord famous field house system inherited by the Han family from Qin was also completely broken by the wrong 'donating millet' policy.

At first glance, it sounds like a flawless plan: the state can exchange a worthless title for real food – and the kind that comes free of charge to the foot of the Great Wall!

Those people who burn hands with a lot of money want to have a high lord like Zuo Shuchang, so as to wash away the smell of copper on their bodies, and they also have a way, at an acceptable price - thousands of stones or tens of thousands of stones of corn sent to the foot of the Great Wall, in exchange for the title they dreamed of.

But in essence, this matter is the same as Emperor Wu's move to issue white deer coins and offset thousands of gold with a white deer skin - to consume the country's reputation.

A considerable part of the reason why Han Jue has such a lofty status in the minds of the people is because the higher the rank of the title, the fewer the title will be obtained - the truth that rare things are precious cannot be more obvious.

When the people found out, any one who sold eggs was five doctors, and even the blacksmith who knocked the hammer at the entrance of the village was also the same as the county respect, and the Han Jue on the rotten street would inevitably depreciate greatly.

Liu Hong also didn't want to let the 20-level military merit lord system completely perish for the sake of millions of stone corn every year.

——The 20-level military merit lord system of the Han Dynasty is the 21st level military merit lord famous field house system inherited from the pre-Qin dynasty and single-handedly promoted the name of the Qin pawn's 'Tiger and Wolf Division'!

Even from the perspective of future generations, the military merit system is also the most direct means to improve the combat effectiveness of the feudal army, the fastest and the most direct!

If it weren't for this, Emperor Wu would not have changed his vest in history and launched a 'martial arts medal' to inspire the Han army in the era of Wei Qing and Huo Quai's disease to fight bravely.

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PS: The ninth more···

I'm really sorry, due to the lack of preparation before, today's storm is full of violence to now, and it still hasn't exploded...

From the early morning code to now, I really can't hold on, and I ask you to see the official master's kindness, I will sleep, wake up and write hard.

One less shift today, two shifts made up tomorrow, a total of four watches, all of you are no wonder.

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