The old minister said: "Back to Your Majesty, I think that this Zhengyi real person Zhang Xianyong is the fifty-first generation of Heavenly Master, and he is sealed by the imperial court, how can it be useless?" ”

Yang Gai didn't understand the meaning of these words for a while, and felt that this person was, fooling himself, this superstition can ask for rain, and he still has to make money with great fanfare, what is he doing for disaster relief? Directly seal dozens of him, beg me for rain every day, I can raise these 100,000 eunuchs, can't I afford to raise a few gods?

Yang Reform is unhappy in his heart, you dare to say such an unreliable thing, I am really fooled! I didn't have a good face for this old minister, and I was ready to refuse this matter, but when the words came to my mouth, I found that this old minister looked very serious, not like he was fooling himself, Yang Reform didn't say anything when he refused, and said: "Let's talk about this matter when I think about it." ”

The old minister said no more and retreated.

Then a few more painless little things were discussed, and the court was considered to be a retreat.

Yang Gai walked out of Taihemen and said to Wang Chengen: "Companion, go and invite Master Sun to me, I have something to ask Master Sun." "Yang Reform was in the early dynasty, and he always didn't understand the words of the old minister, and felt that there was something in the words of the old minister. I had to come to Sun Chengzong to explain that it was more direct to ask the people of the Ming Dynasty about this Ming Dynasty.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wang Chengen agreed, and a little eunuch immediately rushed to "intercept" Sun Chengzong.

After a while, Sun Chengzong arrived, Yang Reform stood behind the Taihe Gate and waited for Sun Chengzong, Sun Chengzong saw that the emperor was actually standing here waiting for him, and hurriedly greeted the emperor.

"Master Sun doesn't need to be polite, let's take a walk with me, the sun is good today, shining on people, warm, I have something unclear in my heart, I want to ask Master Sun."

"Obey the order, dare to ask Your Majesty what you have any doubts?" When Sun Chengzong saw that the emperor wanted to accompany him for a walk, he was relieved, and originally thought that there was something important or urgent.

"I was in the main hall just now, and I heard an old minister say that Zhang Xianyong, a real person who lives in the world, asks for rain, which can alleviate the drought, I feel that this thing is unreliable, this matter of asking for rain, in my opinion, is 'superstition', there is no god in the world at all, how can I ask for rain? But I felt that there was something in the old minister's words, and I didn't understand what it meant for a while, so I asked Master Sun to explain my doubts. Yang Gai told Sun Chengzong about the doubts in his heart.

After hearing this, Sun Chengzong smiled slightly: "Your Majesty, 'superstition', believing because you are confused, the word Your Majesty is appropriate. ”

Sun Chengzong didn't say what this meant, but told Yang Reform that this superstition was good, and Yang Reform hurriedly said: "Master Sun, you haven't said what the mystery is here?" ”

Sun Chengzong smiled and said: "Your Majesty, it is true that this ghost and god thing, scholars and people respect and stay away, Your Majesty's superstition is appropriate, and you are confused and believe, and the truth has been revealed, in fact, this prayer for rain is not the drought on the earth, but the drought in the hearts of the people!" Therefore, XX said that it was effective for a real person to ask for rain, and it was for this reason. ”

"Is it the drought in the hearts of the common people that is solved, not the drought on the earth?" Belch! Yang Reform was dizzy, this is purely fooling the people.

Sun Chengzong said with a smile: "That's true, superstition and superstition, just confuse the people, let the people believe that the court is trying to solve the drought and ask for rain, although it has no effect, but the people don't think so, they think that the court cares about them very much, for their sake, they believe that there are gods in the sky, they can ask for rain, even if they don't ask for rain in the future, the court has at least worked hard." That's just the way it is. ”

"Damn, this is fooling the people!" Yang Gai scolded in his heart, he didn't expect that the minister of the court was so cunning, fooling this, fooling that, all he thought about all day long was how to fool people, not only himself, but also the people of the world.

"Ugh! Master Sun, do you say that's okay? Yang Reform was given "Lei" by Sun Chengzong's explanation.

Of course it works, but it doesn't work, but the people believe it; The imperial court also needs to take action to show that it cares about the people of the world, and this is the case. Of course, this is only to alleviate the drought in the hearts of the people, and your majesty must not forget this, not really to alleviate the drought on the earth. Sun Chengzong said this with great certainty.

"......" Yang Reform has nothing to say, this cares about the people of the world, it's really cheap! Let individuals beg for rain, that is, they care about the people of the world, and they don't need to spend a tael of silver, and the ministers of the court are quite good at "saving", which is much better than being prepared to invest millions of taels of silver in the disaster area every year.

…… Although Yang Gengai scoffed at this method of painting cakes to satisfy hunger, he still decided to do it. Sun Chengzong is right, as long as the people believe it, the imperial court must make necessary moves.

Along the way, the weather was warm, and the sun shone on the Forbidden City, illuminating the Forbidden City even more brilliantly. I didn't go far before I was warmly sunburned.

"Master Sun, I got the news, this Mao Wenlong's side is already preparing to send the excess population to the land, I have asked him to send people over in batches, Master Sun must be ready to receive them, and train these old people from the Dongjiang River to me to become iron-blooded warriors, and later, they will be the main force to counterattack the Dongyu." What the courtiers don't want to say, it is necessary to explain to Sun Chengzong, this Sun Chengzong trained himself in the new army, and he is bound to know.

"If the minister obeys the order, he will definitely train strictly, and if he asks strictly, he will definitely train a new army for His Majesty to fight with iron and blood."

"Well, okay, the expansion of this new army is imminent, the salary of this new army, I also want to hear Master Sun's opinion, the army has no salary, and it will not be able to form an army!"

Sun Chengzong thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty, in the early years of my dynasty, I paid different salaries according to different months, roughly in the shape of one stone per month, about one tael of silver, and now, the price of this rice is probably worth more than two taels." Therefore, Your Majesty's military salary ......"

"This I know that the price of this Beijing division is expensive, if I don't pay the full military salary, I'm afraid that this new army will not have the heart to fight, and even my own mother-in-law, children, and old mother can't support me, who will give me my life?"

"Your Majesty is wise." Sun Chengzong breathed a sigh of relief, I am afraid that the emperor will still use the old rules to pay military salaries, in this way, this new army will not be able to train, no matter how well you practice, you will not be able to eat enough!

"Then the military salary of the new army, for the time being, is set at three taels per month, this is the usual military salary, every year for the New Year, double salary, wartime subsidies, food and housing, package (work clothes) ......" Yang Reform said smoothly, and recited the recruitment advertisement after this day. Fortunately, I closed it in time and didn't say anything about it.

"Your Majesty is wise, the old minister has a suggestion, I don't know whether to say it or not."

"Just say what you want." Yang is afraid that no one will give him advice, especially useful opinions.

"Your Majesty, the minister thinks that this military salary can be paid with double rings, half of it is paid with rice, and half is paid with silver, which is one stone of rice per month, plus one tael of silver, so even if the price of rice rises after the day, the new army also has rice to support, but it is not afraid that the army's heart is turbulent, what does Your Majesty think?"

"Okay, well, Master Sun is worthy of being an old man seeking the country, this matter, according to Master Sun, one stone of rice per month, plus one tael of silver, and double salary." Yang Gai felt that Sun Chengzong was still sincerely doing things for himself, and he had already expected the situation of rice price fluctuations in the future, and the grain in the north would definitely rise due to successive disasters and famines.

"Your Majesty has won the award, and the minister will make up for His Majesty's omissions in this matter."

"The salary of this new army is three taels, plus monthly food, as well as clothes and pants, quilt covers, and barracks, I am afraid that the monthly expenses will be four taels! If you are equipped with muskets, short swords, ordnance and other equipment, and train to consume weapons and ammunition, the monthly cost of this soldier is probably ten taels! Yang Reform wailed, I don't know this calculation, I was scared, training a soldier, it takes ten taels a month, according to the speed of three to six months to become an army, the cost of each recruit is 30 to 60 taels, and training 20,000 qualified recruits will cost 1.2 million taels, and the annual expenditure is nearly 3 million taels.

Sun Chengzong thought for a while and comforted the emperor: "Your Majesty, this musket and ordnance are invested once, and the cost of the first time is larger, so you don't need to pay ten taels a month in the future." It's just to maintain normal training, on average, it's only five or six taels per month, and the annual cost of the new army is only seventy taels per person, and the annual cost of 20,000 new troops is between one hundred and forty and five hundred thousand taels, Your Majesty, this is already one of the few elites in the world, and even the elite horse army outside the Guan, the annual expenditure is only seventy taels, not to mention that Your Majesty is still a foot army. ”

Each soldier had six taels per month, and Yang Gengai carefully calculated that 1.5 million taels of silver and 20,000 infantry troops of the new army had not yet been counted, only to find that his artillery had not been counted, the cost of the artillery had not been counted, the horse had not been counted, the horse's chewing had not been counted, and the officer's expenses had not been counted. This calculation is even more incredible, and it is completely tearful.

“…… Master Sun, this is not counting the cost of artillery, the cost of this officer, and the cost of horses, this new army can't live without horses! What's more, I'm still preparing to train the chariot battalion...... "Yang Reform is about to cry, why is the cost of this soldier so high?" The peasant army will be issued with a wooden stick, and it will become an army!

Sun Chengzong: "Uh!!! "I was stunned too.

"Your Majesty, if Your Majesty wants to train the new army according to the establishment of the chariot battalion, equipped with chariots, horse troops and artillery, plus Your Majesty's high military salary, the cost of strict training is indeed extremely high, so calculated, 20,000 new troops, the annual expenses, two million taels!" Sun Chengzong ruthlessly reported the budget.

More than 2 million taels of silver to train 20,000 well-trained elite soldiers, and it is also a chariot battalion, and it is also an ancient armored unit, so it is okay, not very expensive.

Sun Chengzong said again: "Your Majesty, according to the chariot battalion of the minister, each battalion has more than 6,000 people, and 20,000 new troops, which can just form three chariot battalions and combine them into a chariot army. In this way, even if he fights with Dongyu, he is not afraid. ”

The size of three tank battalions? Yang Gai saw hope again, and a "armored" mobile force of this scale should have been an army that could be relied on in ancient times.

"Then in that case, according to Master Sun's plan, these 20,000 people will be organized into three chariot battalions, but Master Sun is also asked to train the soldiers of the Dongjiang River and Shaanxi separately, among which the soldiers from the Beijing Division and other places are mixed, which will be used separately in the future."

"Obey."

Yang Genghe breathed a sigh of relief, this new army is finally going to expand, and this chariot battalion is finally settled. It's time to harden your waist.

(To be continued)