The sun is empty, at the head of Xi'an City, a team of people are working hard to move stones and bricks under the command of the supervisor, melodious shouts one after another, sweat along their brown and black tight muscles can't help but slide down, falling to the ground along the road they walked slowly to leave clear traces.

In the distant shade below the city, two robes sat on low stools, looking out and wiping the beads of sweat from their foreheads and cheeks with their handkerchiefs. It was a bit hot at this hour, and their wide sleeves were rolled up to their elbows, and if they hadn't taken care of Sven, they were afraid that even the hem of their shirts would have to be lifted.

The two men wore a white shirt and a green shirt. The white-shirted man looked at the city, then at the sun, and asked the other party: "Brother Guo, the hour is not early, let's find a place to eat first, and come back when it is cooler." ”

The man in the green shirt said "um", but did not move, his eyes were fixed on the busy people, and then he shook his head and said, "This wall may not be able to be repaired before sunset...... The military gate is strict, blame it, you and I are afraid that we will not be able to bear the responsibility. ”

"Although the military gate laws and regulations are strict, they are not unreasonable people. The two of me won't eat, and Baba is waiting here, what can I do? Instead, he wasted his body in vain. The white-shirted man was unimpressed, and his tone was a bit aggressive.

The man in the green shirt was still hesitating, but the man in the white shirt stood up, pulled him over, and said, "There is a new store at the entrance of the alley, not far from here, let's go and go back quickly, we won't make a mistake." ”

He walked as he pulled, but the man in the green shirt couldn't resist him, and he was really hungry and thirsty in his belly, so he followed, and asked on the way: "The thieves in Guanzhong are swarming, and they are restless for a moment, and it is too late to migrate, and there are still people who have taken root and opened shops, which is strange." ”

The white-shirted man smiled and said, "Who do you guess opened this store?" It's not just the people in the old man's mansion of the military gate. ”

"Military Gate?"

"Brother Guo is so ignorant, thinking that since the Shaanxi Rebellion, I am afraid that there will be nearly ten terms in Shaanxi, and the hearts of the soldiers and the people are floating and difficult to cohesion. The new military gate is just the time when it is necessary to clean up the hearts of the people, and he has purchased some properties in the city, showing his intention to share weal and woe with the city, and has the effect of calming the hearts of the people. ”

The two exchanged ears, bypassed the two alleys, and soon arrived at the main store. This store was a pawnshop earlier, and the shopkeeper inside was a special director sent by the Rui Mansion in Hanzhong to take care of the affairs of Xi'an Mansion, but in recent years, the Qinling Mountains have been cut off, and the rogue is rampant, and the news on both sides is intermittent, and Hanzhong has been attacked by thieves many times.

On the steps at the entrance of the store sat a few long-robed and long-sleeved tooth shops and a number of coarse, short-brown porters, who flocked to pull business when they saw customers coming. Hearing the sound in the store, seven or eight people rushed out of the hind feet, all of them finished in full suit, holding water and fire sticks, and went out of the store for a while, dispersing the crowd before vacating the road.

Although these people are dressed as green hands, the actual origin of the two people knows, without exception they are all soap officials in Xi'an Prefecture, and the first two or three of them are still a little familiar.

The shopkeeper went out with him, set aside a few people, and came to the current one: "Yo, it turned out to be Lord Guo and Lord Lu, rare customers, just finished the business?" Please, please. ”

The white-shirted man pouted his lips self-deprecatingly: "But the insignificant petty officials and petty positions don't have to be exposed to the sun and rain all day long, and the real adults should be drinking tea in the house at this time, chic and happy." ”

The shopkeeper was stunned when he heard this, and the man in the green shirt grabbed Bai and said: "Two bowls of tea, a few steamed buns." ”

The two of them entered the store and sat down, and the man in the green shirt complained: "Brother Lu, that shopkeeper is an old man in the military mansion, don't talk freely in the future." ”

The man in the white shirt took a sip of tea, snorted, and said, "Talk about it casually, there is nothing else." Moreover, although our two positions are low, they are also serious officials, and they do not belong to his governor's yamen. ”

The two people sitting opposite each other, the one in the green shirt is called Guo Mingtao, who is the Zhaomo of the Eight Products from the Shaanxi Zuobu Political Division; The white-shirted man who spoke was called Lu Xingyun, and he was the governor of Xi'an Prefecture. According to the establishment, they are not under the direct jurisdiction of the Shaanxi Governor Yamen.

"The words are good, but the military gate is strong, which of the three directors of the province does not give him face, and which one dares to disobey him, you can't be wrong if you are careful."

Guo Mingtao and Lu Xingyun belong to two yamen, but they have a close relationship. Guo Mingtao knew that Lu Xingyun was upright and open-mouthed, and he reminded him on weekdays.

The seat is on the second floor, the store is deserted, there are no other customers except the two of them, Lu Xingyun looked under the railing, the pedestrians on the road are sparse, and it is also lonely, and he has some emotion in his heart, and sighs lightly.

"Good and dignified, what are you sighing about?"

After sitting down, the sweat dried quickly, a breeze blew, and my back was cold. Lu Xingyun lowered his sleeves and said, "I listened to what you said, and I thought of the military gate again." ”

"What's going on with the military gate?"

"As you said, the military gate has been in office for less than four months, but he is vigorous and resolute, and his means are superb, and no one in the chief secretary, the judge, and the commander of the envoy department dares to confront him, and it is precisely because of this that the matter of repairing the urn city that cannot be beaten will fall on our heads."

"You can't say that......"

Lu Xingyun drank all the tea in the bowl, and said slowly: "Brother Guo is wrong, I don't mean to criticize the military gate, the things assigned by the superiors are tiring and tiring, and it is also our duty." I just vaguely feel that this Lord Sun seems to be a little unusual. ”

Guo Mingtao smiled bitterly: "Compared with the predecessor Lord Gan, it is really 'unusual'." ”

"I'm not laughing. Shaanxi is full of thieves, relying on a single government, saving the east can't save the west, I just feel that this Sun Daren's style is really going to do something. ”

Guo Mingtao was silent, and at this time, two plates of steamed buns were served, but he had no intention of tasting them, and when Lu Xingyun devoured a rear and said: "What you said is a strict investigation of the consumption of silver?" ”

After the government collects the silver, it will be melted into a unified regulation of fixed silver, and the process will inevitably be lost and wasted, so it will levy a supplementary money from the people, which is called "envy and consumption of silver", also known as "fire consumption of silver". There is a lot of room for maneuver in this, and it has also become a way for many officials to be greedy for ink.

Guo and Lu have lived in officialdom for a long time, although they have never witnessed and participated in it, they have heard of it in private. Each department has its own way of making money, and such shady scenes have long become the tacit rules of officialdom.

"This can be regarded as a strict investigation by the military gate, and a few unlucky people have suffered." Lu Xingyun ate another sandwich bun, "The loss of these taels of silver seems to be very small, but hundreds of taels stacked together are also a large amount, do you know He Shouqian?" ”

"Uh......" Guo Mingtao searched for the memory in his mind, "Oh, is it the official of Qingyang Mansion who is the governor of Jingyang County?" ”

Lu Xingyun chewed the bun and said: "Yes, someone mentioned to me in the insider, this surnamed He secretly charges five cents for every two taels of silver, and in the past few years, he has collected more than 20,000 taels of silver in taxes and consumed nearly 1,000 taels of silver. He also instructed the officials to move the scales by three cents for every two heavier than usual, and when they were weighed, they were raised by six or seven cents, at most one penny for every two weights. Added up like this, how much do you say he hacked? ”

Guo Mingtao was stunned, stared at him and said, "Are you serious?" ”

"Eight or nine is not far from ten, I have a cousin who works on an errand in Jingyang, and I have heard and seen a lot." Lu Xingyun's expression was as usual, obviously he had long been used to it, "The surname He has a friendship in the Xi'an Zuobu Political Division, and he also has some connections in the Inspectorate, and he is a tyrant in Qingyang Mansion." Speaking of this, he picked up a sandwich bun and shook it in front of Guo Mingtao's eyes, "However, as soon as the military gate came to power, he began to crack down on officials who were greedy for ink." He was pushed by the saint, and a book was folded up, and he went straight to heaven to listen, who thought that the official would do anything with him? Xi'an Mansion has almost become his hall. The surname He may have heard the rumors and was quite uneasy, hehe, what happens to his people, we can wait and see. ”

Guo Mingtao ignored his actions, immersed himself in thinking, remembered something, and tapped the table with his hand and said: "What you said, I think of this, another thing in the political secretary is in full swing during this time, Qingtun. The military door handle is inserted here, and it also has a deep meaning. ”

"Not really." Lu Xingyun rolled his eyes, "You are in the Zhaomo Institute, and your reaction is too slow." Think about it, as far as your bosses are all masters who take a step with a whip, how can they be diligent and ready at once. I heard that the people in the tax department, the warehouse and the warehouse, and the cabinet were all moving. "The main responsibility of the Department of Administration is to inspect and handle the relevant personnel, land, taxation and military service, and the tax department, the warehouse and treasury, and the cabinet treasury are also closely related to the taxation of Qingtun.

Guo Mingtao's face was slightly red, he was really a little ashamed, he has always been down-to-earth and serious, but he rarely thinks about the meaning of doing this. In this regard, Lu Xingyun's mind is much more lively than his, and he can often draw inferences.

"In my opinion, the rectification of the rule of officials is internal, and the taxation of Qingtun is external, and the two have the same goal, and the ultimate goal is only one." Lu Xingyun said and glanced at Guo Mingtao.

Guo Mingtao was diligent, but his thinking was also very quick, and he immediately understood, and the two of them almost said two words in unison-

"Military pay!"

"It is difficult to take measures, and it is even more difficult to take measures", this is what Chongzhen personally said to the incoming Sun Chuanting.

State affairs are in trouble, and domestic and foreign difficulties are difficult. With the gradual withering of the guard system, conscription became the main source of the Ming army's troop composition, and it has become a common practice in various places to fill the vacancies by recruiting troops. The cost of recruiting soldiers is much higher than that of the guards, not only to provide soldiers with armor or war horses, but also to recruit the annual salary of the silver to Chongzhen has increased to eighteen taels per soldier, and at the same time there is an increase in annual silver. And due to the lack of food on the side, it had to be supplemented to fold the color. In this way, arrears of military pay are inevitable. By the time of Chongzhen, the total arrears of Jingyun Bank had reached 10 million. Under such circumstances, the combat effectiveness of the Ming army in various places can be imagined.

Lu Xiangsheng said in the middle of the song: "Although the soldiers of the army set up a line on the wall and rode on the horse, they were humanoid and lifeless. It was the middle of winter, the land was extremely cold, and the snow was chilling. Weichen immediately re-furrowed, as if the battle was unbearable, and he was stiff and fell off his horse with the patrolman. This generation has been guarding for many years, and there is no body clothes, and there is a full meal every day. "You can see that it is withering.

Sun Chuanting took office alone with enthusiasm, and the promise he got was only a sentence of "60,000 taels of military salary for one year". Sun Chuanting has no money, but he has the right, and using the power in his hands to raise the capital necessary to form an army is his only choice.

Suddenly there was a "squeak" sound in my ears, and someone went upstairs. Hearing this heavy footsteps and walking in a hurry, Guo Mingtao and Lu Xingyun were sure that it was a person who practiced martial arts.

As soon as the person came, the three of them laughed at the same time, it turned out that it was none other than Lao Wang of the Inspection Division, who was responsible for supervising the repair progress of various sections of the city in Xi'an with soap officials in the past few days, and today happened to inspect this section of the urn city.

Although Lao Wang is a military officer who is not in the stream, but because he is a local snake, he often deals with Guo and Lu, and Guo Mingtao doesn't care about the sweat on his body like pulp, and the smell is stinking, so he greeted him cordially: "Lao Wang, come, let's get together at a table." ”

Lu Xingyun also smiled and said: "The three of us are really a match, repair the city together, and eat together." ”

Lao Wang is no better than these two civilian personnel, from early morning to now, they are all practicing themselves, fighting on the front line, and they are hungry in their stomachs, as soon as they sit down and say a few words of greeting, they impatiently grab a bun and stuff it into their mouths. Guo and Lu did not shy away from him, and continued to chat.

After a sandwich bun, Lao Wang eased up, and found that the two were talking about the recent situation in the house, and he couldn't bear the loneliness, so he interjected: "Lord Junmen is not an ordinary person, I think it is the stars in the sky and the earth." ”

"What do you mean by that?" Guo Mingtao and Lu Xingyun have been talking about internal affairs and don't know much about military affairs, so they are interested at this time and want to hear Lao Wang's views.

Lao Wang's position is not big, but he is very well-informed in the army, so he pretended to be mysterious and said: "Can you two know how many people there are under the military gate at present?" ”

"How much?"

Lao Wang stretched out his right hand and compared: "Say less about twenty-three thousand." ”

"What?" Guo and Lu were surprised at the same time. Sun Chuanting is not the Monkey King who is a monkey and Lu Dongbin who is a bean army, how can these more than 20,000 people come.

"20,000 is normal." Seeing the surprised looks of the two, Lao Wang was so embarrassed, licked his lips, and picked up another bun, "I heard that the military gate brought tens of thousands of taels of silver from the court, and two months ago I sent people to Fengxiang, Yan'an and other places to recruit troops. 'Raise Qin soldiers with Qin land, and use soldiers to be good at natives', these words were said by the military lord himself. "He is a big old man, and at this time, he also learned to write a sentence, showing that he can get what Sun Chuanting said in person, and it is even more colorful, "The military gate will cut most of the 2,000 Gansu soldiers transferred by Master Hong, leaving less than 1,000, plus the 2,000 townsmen recruited, there are 3,000 pacesetters." ”

Sun Chuanting was helpless at first, and the situation was embarrassing, Hong Chengchou was busy killing Li Zicheng and others, and he really couldn't draw people, so he finally transferred 2,000 Gansu soldiers stationed in the rear to give him a cushion. But Sun Chuanting was extremely dissatisfied with the quality of these 2,000 people, and most of them were sent back to Ganzhen. Guo and Lu have heard about this.

"And where did the other 20,000 horses come from?" The two looked at each other in confusion.