Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume 5: Lying on the salary and tasting the guts

Chapter 3 Social turmoil and turmoil

Section 11 The Dilemma (I)

After Liu Yunwei listened to Li Linbin's words, he couldn't help but be slightly stunned and asked, "Master Li, why is this new first assistant so concerned about my Han Weijun?" I have led the soldiers to be stationed outside this Xuanwu Gate for a few months, during which I didn't even have time to rush back to the autumn harvest of Juntun and Mintun, and now it is already a cold winter, and now the court only thinks of us? ”

Li Linbin said with a smile: "Hehe, the little general has a grievance in his heart, but it's no wonder, it's really the court that snubbed the soldiers in the army." However, there have indeed been too many things happening in the court in the past few months, and the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty have been terrified, to put it mildly, the emperor alone has changed twice during this time! The elder Fang Ge has also returned to his hometown to retire, and it can be said that great changes have taken place in the court. Therefore, the little general should also understand the hardships of the imperial court. ”

Liu Yunwei was also venting his bitterness for his soldiers, and after listening to Li Linbin's words, he naturally didn't say anything anymore, so he asked: "Master Li, what did you mean by asking me to prepare just now?" ”

Li Linbin sighed and said, "Little General, now that the new emperor has just ascended the throne, it is time to inspect the civil and military officials under him. This time, Liu Ge Lao came to Hanwei Army to observe the situation, maybe it was instructed by His Majesty, so you should seize the opportunity, at least let Liu Ge Lao have a good impression of you and Han Weijun, so that you can get along well in the future. ”

Liu Yunwei nodded after hearing this, and said, "Don't worry, Lord Li, I will be measured." Then, Liu Yunwei said with a smile: "By the way, Lord Li came to the camp in person so late, shouldn't he just tell Yunwei this?" There must be something left unsaid. Master Li, Yun Wei and you have been friends for a long time, so you might as well say it directly. ”

Li Linbin sighed and said, "Alas, you can't hide anything from Yunwei." Yes, in the past few months, the imperial court has experienced two state funerals, two new emperors ascending the throne, coupled with the drought in Henan and Shaanxi, the flood in the south of the Yangtze River, and the wind disaster in Fujian, the money and grain of the imperial court have been spent like flowing water; Yesterday, Lord Li Ruhua, the secretary of the household department, had already found Lord Huang of the Ministry of War, and wanted to discuss using part of the money and food reserved for the war in Liaodong and the training of the Hanwei Army to save the emergency, but Lord Huang categorically refused. ”

Liu Yunwei was shocked when he heard this, and asked, "How long has it been, and the imperial court has run out of money so soon?" What about the money and food that was collected from the previous anti-corruption campaign? What about the treasury silver of the Daxing Emperor (Wanli Emperor)? So much money and food is gone? Where are they used? Is there someone who is enriching himself? ”

Li Linbin said: "Little general, don't get excited, this money is indeed used in the right place, but there are too many places inside and outside the court that need to spend money in the past few months, and no matter how much money you have, you can't stand spending it like this!" ”

Hearing this, Liu Yunwei also understood, so he said coldly: "So this time, Liu Ge came to my Hanwei Army to observe the situation, just to see how much grain can be poached from the mouths of my Hanwei Army soldiers, is that so?" ”

Li Linbin's face couldn't help but be a little embarrassed after hearing this, coughed a few times, and said, "Little general, the court has no choice, you should be more considerate." The reason why I came to the little general tonight was because I was worried that the little general had misunderstood the meaning of the imperial court and thought that His Majesty was deliberately targeting the soldiers of the Hanwei army. ”

Liu Yunwei sighed and said helplessly: "Lord Li, you must also know what the situation of my Hanwei Army is, and now all sides of the army are tight. The general's side has not been able to build weapons and equipment with all its strength until now, because there is an extreme shortage of all kinds of materials and there is no money! This year, in order to catch up with the farming, many soldiers put on their own climbing plows to plough the land, and used people as cattle, and many people were tired and vomited blood! Also, there are eight guerrilla battalions under my command, and now none of them are fully equipped, and many soldiers still have burning sticks in their hands! Now the Hanwei Army is such a situation. Master Li, I only have three years, and now a year has passed, but Han Weijun is still the way it is now, what do you say I should do? Will Jiannu obediently wait for me to train the army? Joke! Now the imperial court should not only not reduce the supply of money and grain, but should also increase investment, Lord Li, do you think this is the truth? ”

"Little general, this is also a matter of no choice, now that the state affairs are difficult, we can only take one step at a time and try to do things as well as possible." Li Linbin patiently persuaded and said, "When Liu Ge Lao comes tomorrow, the little general must not lose his temper and confront Ge Lao." We can only do our best to fight for the soldiers, and as for the results, we can only resign ourselves to fate. ”

Just when Liu Yunwei was talking to Li Linbin, he suddenly heard the guards outside the tent say: "Qiqi General Town, Tongzhou Camp Emergency!" ”

"Bring it!" Liu Yunwei took the emergency report and opened it, and his face suddenly became very ugly.

Seeing this, Li Linbin, who was on the side, hurriedly asked, "What happened to the little general?" ”

Liu Yunwei's face turned pale and said, "Liu Ge Lao went to the Tongzhou camp overnight!" ”

"What!" Li Linbin was shocked when he heard this, and said, "What does Liu Ge want to do?" ”

Liu Yunwei sneered and said: "What else can I do, it is nothing more than to take advantage of my absence to find out the situation of the Hanwei Army, so that I can take the initiative when reducing the money and food of the Hanwei Army!" ”

Li Linbin was also very indignant when he saw this, and said: "This Liu Ge is so good at doing things that he doesn't know how to measure, His Majesty just wants to save a little military money, not to make the soldiers resentful!" Why doesn't Liu Ge understand! ”

Liu Yunwei thought for a while, and then said to Li Linbin: "Lord Li, I will lead the army to rush back to the Tongzhou camp overnight, and bother Lord Li to go back to the capital to report this matter to Lord Shangshu Huang of the Ministry of War." ”

Li Linbin nodded when he heard this, and said, "It's okay, I'll go into the city overnight!" ”

In the early morning of the next day, the Hanwei army camp in Tongzhou.

Liu Yunwei led five thousand dragon horses to rush back to the Tongzhou camp overnight, and as soon as he entered the Chinese army camp, he saw Lu Yingzheng accompanying a man in a big red official robe to look around.

Liu Yunwei naturally knew that the man was Liu Yixiu, the new first assistant of the cabinet, so he hurriedly stepped forward and saluted, saying: "Liu Yunwei, the chief military officer of Tongzhou Town, has seen Lord Liu, the first assistant!" I don't know that Liu Ge Lao arrived overnight and missed the distance, and I hope that Liu Ge Lao will forgive his sins! ”

The man accompanied by Lu Ying was Liu Yixiu, the new first assistant of the cabinet, at this time, Liu Yixiao looked at Liu Yunwei, who was neither humble nor arrogant in front of him, and said secretly in his heart: "This Liu Yunwei came back so quickly, it seems that the next thing is a little tricky." ”

"Haha, General Liu rushed back overnight, the soldiers have worked the way, and it is not comfortable to rush overnight in this cold winter." Liu Yixiao said with a smile.

Liu Yunwei also smiled and said, "I don't know what instructions Liu Ge has this time?" ”

Liu Yixian said: "Your Majesty has just ascended the throne, and he is not very familiar with the military towns around the capital, so he sent the old man to take a look, and there is nothing serious." ”

Liu Yunwei said with a smile: "Since this is the case, then the last general will lead the pavilion elder to take a look around." ”

"That's very good."

After speaking, Liu Yunwei called Yuan Mingxuan, Sun Yuanhua, and Lu Ying, and accompanied Liu Yixiao around the camp.

"Ge Lao, it has been a year since the establishment of the Han Wei Army by the first emperor Wanli Emperor, and all military affairs in the army have been carried out in accordance with the will of Emperor Daxing. But ......"

Liu Yixian looked at Liu Yunwei with a smile and said, "General Liu has something to say, although he said it bluntly, His Majesty sent the old man here this time just to take a look at the situation of the officers and soldiers of the Hanwei Army. ”

Liu Yunwei clenched his fists and said, "Then the general will be straightforward." Since the establishment of our Hanwei Army, due to the large number of officers and men in the army, the amount of money and food supplies required is even greater, and there are also a lot of weapons and armor that need to be equipped. However, the money, food, and materials allocated by the imperial court every month are far from enough, and the generals have never been able to build enough troops, so that there are still many officers and soldiers in the army who do not have weapons and armor; The Mintun and Juntun are even more lacking in a large number of tuntian materials, and the cattle are also much worse. I wonder if the elder can play on behalf of His Majesty and help the lieutenant generals of the army raise some supplies? ”

Liu Yixiao smiled slightly embarrassedly when he heard this, and said, "Well, the old man knows." By the way, Mr. Liu, how is the harvest of Juntun and Mintun this year? It must be a bumper harvest, right? ”

Liu Yunwei saw that Liu Yixiao was just perfunctory, and when he saw that he was complaining, he changed the topic, and he was a little dissatisfied in his heart. Liu Yunwei glanced at Yuan Mingxuan slightly, motioned for him to answer Liu Yixuan's question on his behalf, and then lowered his head and flashed back with a smile.

Yuan Mingxuan also understood, and said with a smile: "Pavilion Elder, under Yuan Mingxuan, the Tuntian affairs in the Han Wei Army are all taken care of by the subordinates, so they will report to the pavilion elders below." ”

"Then there's Lord Lao Yuan."

Yuan Mingxuan said: "Ge Lao, the harvest of my Hanwei Army this year's military tun and mintun is not very good, and the grain produced can only guarantee support until July and August next year, and the remaining months can only rely on the assistance of the imperial court, otherwise more than 20,000 military households and 100,000 guards will run out of food." ”

Liu Yixiao couldn't help frowning after hearing this, and asked, "Why is this?" I heard that the Hanwei Army's military tun and mintun have cultivated a lot of farmland, and the number of military households and soldiers who carry out tuntian is also quite large, why can't they be self-sufficient? ”

Yuan Mingxuan explained: "Returning to the old pavilion, it is like this: first, there is a serious shortage of farm tools and cattle required for tuntian this year, resulting in those military households and soldiers being unable to intensively cultivate the farmland, and the yield is naturally not high; In addition, the rain in the summer and autumn of this year was scarce, and there was a general drought in Beizhili, and the land where the Han Wei army was used to settle fields generally lacked ditches and shafts for irrigation, which was also a major reason for the reduction of grain production. ”

Hearing this, Liu Yixiao didn't say anything, but his face was already very ugly. Everyone looked at it for a while, and then returned to the Chinese army tent together.