The silver cart of the Four Seas Bank lined up to the North School Yard outside the Desheng Gate, and the Beiyang soldiers moved boxes of silver dollars out of the car, and then placed them on the review stand of the school field, the lid of the box was opened, and the silver was shining.

There are 30,000 Beiyang soldiers in Beijing, and 20,000 Denglai troops have already entered Beijing.

This time, the officers of the military inspection department only took the lead, and the actual work was taken care of by the soldiers and horses of the two towns of Beiyang and Denglai. The inspection proceeded very quickly, and the original list showed 270,000 soldiers in three battalions and nine towns, and 180,000 horses and mules. As a result, after a count and check, there were actually less than 200,000 soldiers and less than 80,000 horses and mules.

There are only 200,000 people and 80,000 horses, and most of them are old and weak, and many of them have been transferred by the relatives and noble officials of the imperial family to serve them.

There are also some who are named to pay for food, and at this time they are named, and they are trying to hire people to deal with it, and some people come to check it in person. But these people are not soldiers at all, they can neither drill arrays, nor shoot arrows and ride horses.

After a strict inspection, in the end, Liu Jun, who was transferred to work and serve, counted them into the old Beijing army, but those who paid for food and bought idle soldiers were not counted.

After checking the roster, Liu Jun took out the silver before the formal assessment and selection, piled it up in the north school field, and distributed the silver to the 200,000 people on the register.

In the end, after the arrears of April wages were calculated, excluding the part that had already been distributed and deducting the grain and vegetables that had been distributed, only 2,000,000 silver dollars were to be paid in the end.

Liu Jun personally sat on the school grounds, and the emperor was also invited by him.

In addition to the North School Field, there are also other barracks in the six towns of Gyeonggi in the east and west school fields, and the work of distributing money is also being carried out. A large number of silver dollars were placed there, and the panic and resentment of the Beijing army these days gradually turned into joy.

According to the roster checked. The Beijing troops in each town stepped forward one by one to receive the silver according to the sequence of the division and standard battalion. In front of the school grounds, a long table was set up, and hundreds of literate officers and non-commissioned officers of the Beiyang Army and Denglai Town were temporarily transferred to pay their salaries.

On average, each soldier was paid ten silver dollars in arrears.

When ten silver dollars of bright silver were handed over to an old Jingjun, he couldn't believe that it was true. When did the imperial court really pay the truth, and the boss didn't deduct it?

He's an old Beijing soldier. has been in the Beijing army for more than 30 years, his father is the Beijing army, his father's father, and his grandfather's father are all Beijing soldiers, generations of Beijing soldiers. There has never been such a situation, the court is not in arrears, the military department is not drifting, and the commander is not deducted.

In the past, military salaries were always delayed and four were owed. In the end, even if it is sent, it will get at most fifty or sixty percent, and even some of it will be folded rice cloth and other things.

He looked at the ten silver dollars in his palm, and turned it upside down, and the silver dollar made a crisp sound, it was so wonderful.

"It's a standard silver dollar, and it's used all over the world. If you find it inconvenient to carry a silver dollar, go east in a moment. There are temporary exchange points for silver dollars from all over the world, which can be exchanged for silver dollar coupons that are more convenient to carry around. You can also go to the west. There was a grain exchange point of the East India Company, two silver dollars and one stone of rice, which was shipped from the South Seas, and it tasted good. In addition, you can also exchange corn flour, etc., and each Beijing army can exchange two silver dollars for grain, which is a privilege of the Beijing army. Only this once, expired will be invalid. A young Beiyang officer who paid the old army a salary said to him with a smile.

The old soldier glanced at the officer, who was young and heroic, and looked to be twenty-three or fourteen years old, but he already had three bronze eagles hanging on his shoulders.

According to the current military rank system. The military rank of officers has three ranks: general, military academy, and captain, of which there are five levels of generals, upper, front, back, left, right, and left, and three levels of military school, and three levels of captain, and three levels. Among them, the epaulettes of the general's rank are marked with a lion, the epaulettes of the military academy are marked with a tiger, and the lieutenant is marked with an eagle.

The three bronze eagles, that is, the captain, at least a company commander.

The company commander is also a seventh-grade company, so young, he is the captain of the seventh-grade company, and the current military rank and official quality are not as good as before, and he hangs a high grade at every turn. Today's military ranks are basically linked to military ranks, and the ranks are very solid. Especially a captain of Beiyang, he has a bright future, and he is so polite to himself, the old military leader.

"The king of the county is sympathetic to the soldiers, and he regrets that he was not born twenty years later, and he can also follow the king of the county to make contributions." The old man sighed. He put away the ten silver dollars and went to the west, he liked this kind of silver dollar very much, the same color, easy to use, no need to weigh, not afraid of the boss when the salary was short of a small amount of catties, and not afraid of the color of the fake. But he didn't like silver dollar coupons very much, and always felt that a piece of paper was unreliable.

With the first pay, the old army sang a song and went west. The price of the Beijing division has risen sharply recently, especially the price of grain, which rises once in ten days and a half months, and now with the identity of this Beijing army, he can still buy a stone of grain at a low price, which is considered a welfare. Anyway, after receiving this salary, he will definitely be laid off.

When they were queuing up to buy food, the old army thought that he was also in his fifties, and he was old, and he could enjoy a stable life in his old age for a few days if he was eliminated.

After waiting in line for a long time, the old soldier bought two silver dollars of grain, but he did not buy all the rice. Although he also saw that the rice from the South Seas was very good, shiny like pearls.

In the end, the old army bought two buckets of Nanyang rice, then two buckets of wheat, and some soybeans, and finally bought one stone of dried potato grains, and with a little left of the two silver dollars, he bought all potatoes and corn.

This kind of blending is much more cost-effective than buying all the rice and only buying one stone. But this is also here, if you buy it outside, two silver dollars can buy up to two-thirds of what you here.

With a secret thought in his heart, the old army beckoned his two grandsons to come over. The old army had three sons, but they were killed in battle when the Qing army entered the customs and later when they went out to aid Liao, and they were all originally from the Beijing army. The three sons left five grandchildren, and the others were still young, but the two in front of them had just turned eighteen.

Originally, the old army planned to borrow money from relatives to give some gifts to his boss this year, and then make up for the two grandsons to eat food in the Beijing camp. But now, he himself can't stay in Jingying, and his two grandsons are afraid that they won't be able to enter Jingying.

"Load all this grain into the car, and thank the county Wang Fu, which is also a benefit before I was laid off. With these grains, combined with some sparse vegetables and wild vegetables, we can eat them until after the beginning of spring next year. The old soldier smiled and said to the two eldest grandsons.

The two eldest grandsons are very strong, and they practice martial arts. Under the personal guidance of the old army, his body and bones are very good, and he is fierce, but now he has no official livelihood, and he relies on carrying food bags at Chaoyangmen. The grain entering Beijing goes through Chaoyangmen, and there are many granaries such as shipping warehouses in Chaoyangmen. Since the age of twelve, the two boys have been carrying food bales there to earn money to support the family.

Three sons died in battle, making life quite difficult for the family, and the family relied on the food and salary of the old army to support the family. Three widows and daughters-in-law grew up with five children, and then relied on women's embroidery and sewing to help people wash their clothes.

Although the three sons all died for the country's conquest, but the court has been in a difficult situation these years, and the sons' pensions have not been able to come down at all. A few days ago, someone instigated a riot. He wanted to follow.

It's a good thing I didn't go, the old soldier thought to himself.

Pulling the grain back to Beijing, the old wife watched her grandson pull a cart of grain back, and she was very happy.

"Oh, where did you get so much food?"

The old soldier took out his pipe, lit a cigarette by the stove, took a few puffs, and instructed his grandson to put the grain in the cellar for storage. On the other hand, he said, "Today, the king of the county has been paid." The arrears of wages were paid in April. Ten silver dollars, not a penny less, the best Longyang. There is also a benefit, the Beijing army can buy food in the camp at a much lower price than the market price. The rice is good, pearl-like. One stone of rice is only two yuan. ”

"Rice is only two pieces and one stone?" The old wife was also very surprised. "In the rice shop in front, the corn is almost two pieces and a stone."

"It's not, or how to say it's a benefit from the king of the county. These grains were all shipped by the king of the county from the South Seas, thousands of miles away. But I didn't want to buy all the rice, and spent two silver dollars. I only bought two buckets of rice, and the rest was replaced with wheat, beans, dried potatoes, potatoes, etc., you see, a cart was brought back, enough for our family to eat until the beginning of spring next year. ”

When the old wife heard this, she also felt that the old man had a good calculation. But she thought about it, "There are so many mouths in our family, there are more than a dozen people in the family, and there are five young men, and it is the time to eat." I see, let's not keep rice, how precious it is, let's take these rice and wheat to the store and exchange them for millet and sweet potatoes in a while. ”

When I heard this, I slapped my thigh repeatedly, "Oops, why didn't I think of it." I knew that I would buy a stone of rice in the camp, and then take it to the grain store to exchange it for miscellaneous grains. ”

"It's the same thing, the grains in the grain store are also expensive. If you exchange it for the grain store, it is better to exchange it all for miscellaneous grains in the camp. The old wife said.

The old soldier thought for a while, "Forget it, don't change it, anyway, there are only two buckets of rice and wheat each, so let's also leave some fine grain." Besides, the first days of the three daughters-in-law's families are not easy, give each daughter-in-law two liters of rice and two liters of wheat to each daughter-in-law's house, and take care of it, we can't help them, wronged their daughters. ”

"Okay, that's what you say." The old wife said, and saw the old soldier knock the pipe on the sole of his shoe a few times and put it away, and walked out again, and hurriedly asked, "Where are you going?" ”

"Go to the school and take the test." The old soldier said. I can't help but feel a little sour in my heart, he is over fifty, he will definitely not pass this assessment, and he will have to be laid off at that time, and there will be less major inputs at home in the future. "Hey." He couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"Grandpa, we'll go with you too." The two grandsons put the food well, and when they came out, they heard that their grandfather was going to the barracks, and they were also busy.

The old soldier thought for a moment, "Okay. ”

In the north school field outside Desheng Gate, the salary of the first town of the original Beijing army has been paid in full, and the emperor is accompanied by Liu Jun to personally select the guards from the Beiyang and Denglai armies.

In fact, the emperor's selection is also very simple, on the stage, the two soldiers and horses are paraded separately, and then the emperor selected several standard battalions from them, and reorganized them into four guards and pro-army.

The guards and pro-army units were completely selected from the Beiyang and Denglai town soldiers, and the emperor resolutely refused to use the original Beijing army guards.

Fortunately, the emperor agreed that the Praetorian Guards guarding the inner and outer cities of the Beijing Division could be composed of elite troops selected from Beiyang, Denglai and the original Beijing Army, so that the ministers reluctantly agreed to the emperor's choice of this new guard army.

When the old army arrived at the school with his two grandchildren, the assessment of the first town also began.

The first town originally had 30,000 people, but there were less than 20,000 people, and this time only 8,000 people were retained. The percentage of eliminations is high, so the old army has long lost hope of its own retention.

The assessment process is not simple, first according to the roster, the identity is verified, the age is checked, and the disability is checked. Those over the age of 55 and those with physical disabilities will be eliminated directly and do not need to enter the next round.

The veteran passed the first round, he was only fifty-two years old this year, although he looked a little old, but he was still full and strong, and after confirming his age, he moved on to the next round.

When the veteran army was notified to enter the next round, there was another glimmer of hope in his heart.

The second round of assessment is very simple, two sandbags are tied to the legs, the body is covered with double iron armor, and the weight is forty pounds for twenty miles of armed off-road.

"Those who complete the 20-mile and 40-pound weight-bearing cross-country long-distance run within an hour are considered qualified and can enter the next round!"

Hearing this assessment task, the old army was not afraid, didn't he just run with weights, what is this. He had full confidence that he could cover the twenty miles in an hour.

An hour later, less than 10,000 of the Beijing army in the first town could meet the standard.

Liu Jun announced that all those who did not meet the standards were eliminated, and they couldn't even pass such a simple task, you couldn't even run, what kind of soldier were you.

The third assessment is the personal martial arts assessment.

Horseback riding, archery, arson, **, driving, knives and guns, any one of which is qualified, is counted as this round of clearance.

The veteran army participated in all six assessments, and finally passed all six. Especially the two items of mounted archery and knives and guns are still excellent evaluations. Liu Jun couldn't help but be surprised when he heard that there was a fifty-two-year-old veteran military leader who had passed all six assessments, as well as riding archery and swords and guns.

He personally summoned the old army.

"What is your name, and what is your position?"

"Report to the king of the county, his subordinate Guo Wannian, just an ordinary Beijing army, no task position." When the old army reported, his voice was loud, and although his hair was gray, he had a heroic aura that was difficult to see in the Beijing army.

Liu Jun was surprised, "How long have you been in the Beijing army?" ”

"King Huijun, his subordinate family is a generation of Jingjun, and there have been nine generations of my son's generation. His subordinates joined the army at the age of 18 and have been in the army for 35 years. ”

has been a soldier for thirty-five years, proficient in various martial arts, but is he just an ordinary soldier?

At this time, Luo Ping'an came over and whispered next to Liu Jun to report Zhang Wannian's information.

"Zhang Wannian has been in the army for thirty-five years, and he has indeed never held any position, and it is said that he offended the old Dingguo Duke when he was young, so he has spent his whole life and has always been just an ordinary soldier in Beijing. He originally had three sons, who also joined the Beijing camp successively, but one died in battle when he was in Ningyuan, one died in battle with the Qing army under the city of Jingshi, and the other died when he aided Dalingcheng. The three brothers left five sons and six daughters, two of whom are eighteen years old this year, who are very strong and have good martial arts in their families, and make a living by carrying grain to the granary. ”

Hearing this, Liu Jun suddenly stood in awe of this old soldier.

Nine generations of the family have been in the Beijing army, and three sons died in the war for the country.

"Zhang Wannian!"

"Subordinates have arrived!" The old soldier replied in a loud voice, his chest straight.

Liu Jun walked in front of the old army, "You have passed the selection and officially retained, from now on, I will grant you the rank of captain, and after the reorganization, you will be awarded the corresponding military position." ”

Zhang Wannian was stunned there, and even forgot about his gratitude.

Liu Jun raised his right fist and struck his left chest and gave him a military salute, "The veteran is not dead!" ”

Countless tribulations have not hit this old army, but at this time, his eyes were suddenly blurred with tears, his voice was choked, and he hurriedly clenched his right hand into a fist and slammed it on his left chest, thumping.

"Veterans don't die!"

Veterans don't die, Liu Jun muttered, no matter what, these people are people worthy of admiration.

"I heard that your two eldest grandsons are also outstanding in martial arts, and they are over eighteen years old. In order to commend the nine generations of your Ma family for serving the country, I exceptionally allow them to participate in this assessment, as long as they pass the assessment, they can join the new Beijing camp. At that time, they will be the tenth generation of your family to serve the Ming Dynasty! ”

"King Xie, I am willing to die for the king of the county!" The old army no longer knew what to say. But at this moment, he is really willing to block the sword and arrow for the king of the county and die for him! (To be continued.) )

PS: Ask for a ticket