Li Zicheng's calligraphy is not only crooked and twisted, but also extremely slow, which is in line with his military identity, but it took a lot of time, until Chen Shi was rewritten, it is estimated that he can still have time to go to Xining City for lunch, Li Zicheng immediately took all his own soldiers, and went to Xining on horseback, Liang Wencheng completed the task of supervising the army, and also went back together.

More than 20 rode out of Fuqiang Fort and came to the open grassland, the unhappiness just now was swept away, Liang Wencheng quickly whipped his horse and rode away, Li Zicheng was not willing to lag behind, and caught up tightly, followed by the soldiers scattered in the grass.

Thirty miles away, the fast horse is just over an hour, here is only ten miles away from Xining City, Li Zicheng played a trick again, hid the war horse in the herdsmen, guarded and grazed by He Xiaomi's soldiers with a small flag, and he took Ma Youshui and another soldier with a small flag, all the way to Xining on foot.

Liang Wencheng still rode a horse, so that the two could not get along, Liang Wencheng decided to go first, and said hello to Li Zicheng before leaving: "Zicheng, do you want to go to my house for lunch first, you have eaten a lot of mutton here during this time, and I can treat you to a meal." ”

Li Zicheng shook his head, "Lord Liang, there are many people in Xining City, so let's still be friends of gentlemen!" ”

Liang Wencheng nodded, didn't say much, and walked away.

After Li Zicheng entered the city, he had lunch in a tavern, and then came to Wu Shaoling's mansion as usual.

"Zicheng, come to Xining so soon?" Wu Shaoling personally greeted the middle door, which has broken the rules for several years, he smiled, and the fishtail line at the corner of his eyes was much deeper than usual.

"My subordinates knock to see my father-in-law!" Li Zicheng didn't care about 3721, and paid a visit first.

"Zicheng, this is our family's mansion, not the Xining official office, it doesn't have to be like this, hurry up!" Wu Shaoling waved his hand and asked Li Zicheng to get up, and the two returned to the middle hall almost in parallel, first letting Li Zicheng sit down on the side, and then Wu Shaoling sat down in the main seat.

Fu Ding served the fragrant tea, and then withdrew, leaving only two people sitting opposite each other in the middle hall.

Wu Shaoling kept staring at Li Zicheng's face, but did not speak, as if he wanted to see through Li Zicheng's heart.

Li Zicheng was shocked in his heart, his face faintly showed joy, and he bowed his hand and said: "Father-in-law, my subordinates are fortunate not to be dishonored, and after a hard battle last night, they have recovered Qiang Fort!" ”

"Haha, let's just say it, Zicheng will never let our family down!" Wu Shaoling looked up to the sky and laughed rarely, "Sure enough, the hero is a young man, and it is not in vain that our family has always trusted you, and I will briefly tell our family about the process of recovering Fuqiang Fort." ”

"Father-in-law, my subordinates will blow up the city gate with gunpowder first......" General Li Zicheng selectively said about the night attack on Fuqiang Fort, and the matter of the 100 infantry households and the Mongols in the city was exaggerated, especially the soldiers did not retreat from the battle, and the casualties were very large, but Liu Yunshui's cavalry ambushed Bayar, but did not mention a word.

Wu Shaoling squinted his eyes, as if he was asleep, but in fact he listened very carefully, and when Li Zicheng finished speaking, he suddenly said: "Zicheng, these soldiers, in their hands, why do they only run away, you have only been trained by them for ten days, but you can fight to settle Fuqiang Fort?" ”

Li Zicheng knew that Wu Shaoling was suspicious of him, he wanted Mar to run fast, and he wanted the horse to be as docile as a sheep, is there such a horse in the world? A bunch of flattery appeared on his face, "Speaking of which, this battle went so smoothly because it was the result of the father-in-law's strategy, and his subordinates were just the people who carried it out." ”

Wu Shaoling smiled, but his eyes betrayed the anxiety in his heart, "Little monkey, don't pour ecstasy soup into our house, there are no outsiders here, to be honest." ”

"Zicheng is a proper person, and he is telling the truth," Li Zicheng looked thoughtful, "Do you remember what was the first condition that your subordinates put forward to their father-in-law when they agreed to restore Fort Qiang?" ”

"But first pay a month's worth of food in full?"

"Yes, this is the proof of the father-in-law's strategy," Li Zicheng saw that Wu Shao's face softened, not as gloomy as he did just now, Fang said: "The soldiers would only run away, but it was because hundreds of households and thousands of households were greedy for their salaries, in fact, my father-in-law paid the food and salaries in full every time, but after the hundreds of households and thousands of households were greedy for ink, they slandered the court for arrears. ”

Li Zicheng's sentence is the truth, although Wu Shaoling is greedy for ink, but he eats empty salary, that is, he overreported the number of soldiers to the imperial court, and when the imperial court's food and salary came down, it was allocated according to the actual number of soldiers, and the difference was eaten by Wu Shaoling.

If hundreds of households and thousands of households are paid in full according to the food and salary allocated by the guard, the soldiers are not in arrears, or the arrears are not serious, but Wu Shaoling is used to living in the palace, so he naturally knows the beauty of silver, so he is very greedy for ink, and all the empty salaries are eaten by him to the slightest.

Hundreds of households and thousands of households know about the problem of empty salaries, but when the food and wages reach them, they are distributed according to the actual number of people, so how can they not be blushing? Wu Shaoling didn't dare to provoke them, so they started the idea of the soldiers, so Xining Weike's deduction of food and salary has become a common practice.

Wu Shaoling naturally knows about the affairs of hundreds of households and thousands of households, but his own hands and feet are not clean, and he has the lion's share, how can he still manage his subordinates? Only open and close your eyes.

But the soldiers are not well fed, and even eating is a problem, let alone supporting their families, and in case of casualties in the battle, the guards are also a dime, which is called how can soldiers fight? Fighting hungry, casualties are even more insecure, how can such a soldier, seeing the fierce Mongols, flee without looking at the wind?

"Look at Zicheng as an honest and law-abiding person." Wu Shaoling understood what Li Zicheng meant, but some of Li Zicheng's words still touched his sensitive nerves, and the smile he pretended just now was completely gone.

"Don't hide it from your father-in-law, your subordinates...... The subordinates are not sages, but Fuqiang Fort is a matter personally explained by the father-in-law, and the subordinates dare not be careless, so they ...... Therefore, the subordinates distributed all the salaries for January. Li Zicheng scolded in his heart, he wanted to be an honest and law-abiding person, but he was scared, Xining will not die, Ming will not die, where is the reason?

"It's rare that Zicheng is so concerned about our family's explanation, our family almost misunderstood that it was self-made, and came to drink tea," Wu Shaoling's face showed a hint of a smile again, but this smile was a little different from the sinister smile just now, "Zicheng, if the soldier gets the silver, the combat effectiveness will increase?" ”

"The subordinates also told them that in the future, the food and salary will be paid in full, and in this battle, those who have made meritorious contributions will be rewarded by Weili, and the soldiers who have been killed and injured will be given a pension by Weili, plus strict training for several days......" Li Zicheng knew that if he wanted Wu Shaoling to take out the silver, it would not work without a lot of words, the key was to have his appetite for words, and his military exploits were also to his fullest, otherwise everything would be in vain.

The full amount of food and salary, the loss is Li Zicheng himself, Wu Shaoling doesn't care too much, but to reward the meritorious soldiers and compensate the wounded and wounded soldiers, you have to take the silver in the guard, which is more uncomfortable than Wu Shaoling cutting off the life # root at that time, "Zicheng, the key is that there is no extra silver in the guard!" ”

Wu Shaoling really didn't use food and salary to control Li Zicheng's soldiers, he was just reluctant to give up the silver, and the silver in the guard was his silver.

"Father-in-law, in this battle to recover Fuqiang Fort, my subordinates have accumulated some ideas.

"Tell me about it." Wu Shaoling's pale face was almost expressionless, and he couldn't tell whether he was happy or distressed.

"Xiningwei needs soldiers to guard, these soldiers ...... There is a way for subordinates to save money. ”

Wu Shaoling raised his head slightly and motioned for Li Zicheng to continue.

"Father-in-law, this time to restore the Qiang Fort, the subordinates have given the officers a promotion, as a reward for them, and the soldiers' military merits, Wei Li took out a certain amount of silver, and the subordinates in a period of time, such as six months, are paid in full, then Wei Li can regain the trust of the soldiers, with this trust, the soldiers for their own food and salary, naturally to ensure that the military fort is worry-free."

Wu Shaoling almost closed his eyes, this is a habit he has developed, once he thinks about it, his eyes almost do not look outward, according to Li Zicheng, officers do not need to be rewarded, promotion is the best reward, as for soldiers, the reward will not be too much silver, and it can also allow them to protect Zhenhai Fort and Fuqiang Fort with peace of mind......

"Zicheng, in this way, it will be bitter for you!"

"For Xiningwei, for my father-in-law, my subordinates...... His subordinates are not aggrieved," Li Zicheng saluted Wu Shaoling with both hands, "What's more, it's only a few months ......"

"Hehe, little monkey," Wu Shaoling pointed his finger at Li Zicheng's head in the air, "No, it's better than a monkey, but what will happen in the future?" ”

"In the future?" Li Zicheng grimaced, "Don't worry, my lord, the previous hundreds of households owed the soldiers' salaries, do they still expect to get them back?" It would be nice to be paid in full now. ”

This is when the soldiers are playing scoundrels, and when they owe too much food and salary on weekdays, and the morale of the army is completely dispersed, Wei Li will suddenly say that the full amount of food and salary has been allocated now, but the previous arrears need to be written off, and if the soldiers want to get the full amount of military salary, they must be forced to "forget" the previous arrears and redevote themselves to a new round of training.

In this repeated cycle, the soldiers were still able to maintain a certain combat effectiveness, but they could only receive the full amount of food and pay for a period of time, and the actual amount of the salary was reduced, and the part of the arrears of pay fell into the pockets of the officers.

"Hehe," Wu Shaoling was also impressed by Li Zicheng's idea, which could not only get a certain amount of silver, but also keep the two military forts of Zhenhai and Fuqiang, "Say, how much silver is needed for the reward of the soldiers?" ”

"Father-in-law," Li Zicheng took out the merit request document from his sleeve and held it to Wu Shaoling with both hands, "This is the merit request document recorded by his subordinates." ”

Wu Shaoling took the paperwork, only glanced at the end, and exclaimed unconsciously: "Three thousand taels? Self-contained, that's too much, right? ”

"Father-in-law," Li Zicheng was a little nervous in his heart, under the instruction of Liang Wencheng, he more than doubled the soldier's military exploits, if Wu Shaoling could give one thousand two hundred taels, he would be satisfied, "Father-in-law, this is a great victory, and it is the recovery of Fuqiang Fort, in case the court knows that Fuqiang Fort has been lost, it will definitely ......"