In November of the fourth year of Mingliang, it entered the traditional cold winter period, and the fall of heavy snow in Mobei also means that the big war that the two sides have accumulated strength to prepare will continue to the next year.

The longer they waited and prepared, the clearer Shen Yichen and Yexian's hearts would be, and this would be the tranquility before the storm. The Ming Dynasty and Mongolia, the century-old enemies, will be decided in the fifth year of Mingliang!

In the Qianqing Palace, Cao Jixiang was accompanying Emperor Mingliang to read early, and he deliberately showed a preoccupied appearance at this time, waiting for Zhu Jianqing to find out and ask him questions.

In the past few months, Cao Jixiang has been exhausted in order to pay the four guards. Shen Yichen took advantage of the excuse that the war in the north was not going well, and he insisted on distributing the Daming treasure banknotes for half a year, so that he had to find ways to raise money to ensure that the salaries of the generals were in place.

Now that it is about to enter the cold winter of Layue, it is absolutely impossible for the war between the north and the Tartars to start, and Shen Yichen has no excuse to continue to deduct the military salary of Tengxiang Siwei and issue waste paper such as Daming treasure banknotes.

But Cao Jixiang is not a royal horse eunuch palm print after all, and there are some things that cannot be arrogantly told to Emperor Zhu Jianqing of Mingliang, so he can only wait for the best time to elaborate it.

As Cao Jixiang rummaged through the pages of the book several times, Emperor Zhu Jianqing of Mingliang realized that the other party was a little absent-minded, so he asked, "Cao Banban, do you have something on your mind today?" ”

After receiving Emperor Mingliang's initiative to ask, Cao Jixiang was overjoyed, but on the surface, he pretended to be guilty and replied: "The slave maid has affected the early reading of the Long Live Lord, it is really a crime that deserves death, and I ask the Long Live Lord to punish him." ”

Although Emperor Zhu Jianqing and Shen Yichen of the Ming Liang Dynasty had an emotion similar to "both master and father", he and Cao Jixiang have been together for many years, and they also have a kind of "family affection" that transcends the relationship between monarchs and ministers.

This is a trivial matter, there is no need for the rhetoric of "sin deserves death", Cao Jixiang's style is equivalent to confirming the speculation in Emperor Mingliang's heart, he hurriedly reassured: "Cao Banban's words are serious, if you encounter any difficulties, you can talk to me, you don't have to be polite." ”

An emperor is an emperor after all, and even at the age of nine, he still has supreme power.

As long as Emperor Zhu of Mingliang saw that Qing opened this golden mouth, it indicated the success of Cao Jixiang's performance, and he immediately hit the snake and replied: "Long live the lord, in fact, it is not a matter of slaves and maids, it is the princes of the imperial horse prison who have complained several times, but the slaves and maids are really disrespectful." ”

"Is it about the salary of the Imperial Horse Warden?"

Zhu Jianqing asked rhetorically, in fact, this is not the first time Cao Jixiang has mentioned it, nor is it the first time that Wang Cheng has been on the issue of sparse money under his compulsion.

It's just that Emperor Zhu Jianqing of the Ming Liang Dynasty believes that his teacher Shen Yichen uses the Daming treasure money instead of the military salary, and he must have a reason to do so. Now Cao Jixiang brought up the old matter again, which made Emperor Mingliang's face appear embarrassed for a while, and he was a little unclear about who was right and who was wrong.

"Long live the Lord Ming saw thousands of miles, it is indeed about the salary of the Imperial Horse Supervisor, the prince's side has been insisting for half a year, and when it is time to hold on, if you continue to distribute the Ming treasure banknotes, I am afraid that there will be camp chaos!"

"Cao Banban, is it so serious?"

Emperor Ming Liang asked rhetorically, he felt that Cao Jixiang was alarmist.

Mr. Shen's achievements in the past few years in charge of the government are obvious to all, how can such a major event as the camp chaos not have a sense of crisis, presumably it will not reach this step.

"Long live the lord, the slave maid once served as the eunuch of the imperial horse supervisor, and I am still familiar with the situation of Teng Xiang's four guards. It's not a last resort, and the slave and maid won't take over the troublesome matter of the prince, the Son of Heaven's army is the cornerstone of the royal guard, and there must be no chaos. ”

Cao Jixiang showed a heartbroken look, highlighting his loyalty and patriotism. In fact, the money looted by the twelve eunuchs in the past few months has caused the eunuchs in the palace to complain, and if the emperor does not come forward to solve the problem of military salaries, he will have to pay for the generals himself.

In fact, Cao Jixiang has money, but he can't set this precedent, otherwise he will definitely press forward step by step according to Shen Yichen's character, until he reaches a desperate situation.

Hu Hu was like this back then, and so was Shi Heng, Cao Jixiang definitely didn't want to follow in his footsteps.

"Mr. Ke said that the Tartars are making a comeback, and the finances are so tight that the supply of border soldiers is given priority, and the Tengxiang Fourth Guard is the Praetorian Guard is in the rear, and the front line is still important."

According to common sense, when the emperor said that at this point, it would be an offense for the courtiers to continue arguing, and if it was serious, it could punish the crime of disrespect. But Cao Jixiang couldn't care about so much, and he was anxious to defend on the spot: "It was the border situation a few months ago, and at this time and that time, the Nine Border Defense Line is as stable as Mount Tai!" ”

"Is that so?"

Emperor Mingliang asked suspiciously, it was difficult for him to understand and deal with military affairs at his age, and Shen Yichen deliberately promoted the concept of the Son of Heaven ruling by the arch, to be honest, Zhu Jianqing did not know much about the situation at the border pass.

"Long live the lord, you listen to the minions......"

Cao Jixiang was ready to take this opportunity to inform Emperor Ming Liang of the true situation at the border pass, so that he could understand the false lies made up by Shen Yichen.

Just when Cao Jixiang was making a small report behind his back, Wang Chengzheng led the eunuchs of the Imperial Horse Prison to the school field of Tengxiang Siwei to personally distribute the salary. Originally, this kind of thing was not worthy of the palm seal eunuch, and it was enough to send a small eunuch to supervise the quartermaster's distribution.

But recently, due to the problem of salary distribution, Tengxiang Siwei has appeared all kinds of dissatisfaction and anger, like a pressure cooker that has been pressurized crazily, and there is a risk of opening the top cover and exploding at any time.

Even the simple school field queue has already appeared a clear scene, the generals of the Han people of the Ming Dynasty are standing on one side, and the generals who are loyal to Cao Jixiang are standing on the other side, and the two sides are glaring at each other with tension!

If this is not the Beijing Division, and the circle around the school is not the Daming flag, the first reaction of outsiders when they see this kind of scene is probably that they will think that they have come to the grassland battlefield, and they will just give an order from the commanders of both sides to draw their swords and face each other.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today is the time to distribute the salaries again, we all know that the war at the border is tense, and in order to support the war against the Tartars, the treasury is empty."

"As a Daming tiger, you naturally have to worry about the country, so this time you ......"

As usual, Wang Cheng was ready to say a big truth at the beginning of the game to appease the emotions of the soldiers.

It's just that this time, before he could finish speaking, a Han general stood up and asked in an extremely dissatisfied tone: "Prince, although the last general is a rough man, it is understandable that he is worried about the country." ”

"But why are the soldiers and horses of the same Tengxiang Four Guards, this 'worry' is only shared by our Han soldiers, but their group of generals can eat and drink spicy food with full salary, how can it be so unfair?"

The moment the general's voice fell, it aroused the anger of the Wan Han soldiers on the field. As the saying goes, there is no widowhood but unevenness, every time the salary is issued, I watch the general receive the full salary, but I can only hold the waste paper-like Daming treasure banknotes, and I have to suffer from the other party's ridicule and provocation, who can swallow this breath!

"That's right, they are all Ming soldiers, why favor one over the other?"

"This is Daming, not Mobei, why do the barbarians take the full salary, and we take the treasure money?"

"Don't suffer from widowhood but unevenness, you must give an explanation today!"

Under normal circumstances, the national policy of the Ming Dynasty was to control the military with literature, the eunuchs supervised the army, and the soldiers of the four guards of Tengxiang would never dare to talk to the eunuchs with palm prints. However, the extremely unfair treatment in the past six months has made everyone endure to the limit, and finally broke out on the day of pay.

The Han generals were still angry on their side, and one of them blurted out the word "barbarian", which directly stimulated the generals on the other side. In fact, in the Ming Dynasty army, in addition to the generals raised by Cao Jixiang, there were many Mongolian generals and even Xun Qi, and basically no one would use insulting titles.

This state is similar to the Tang Dynasty, who dares to call the foreign generals in the DPRK and China "Hu Ren", it is definitely a great humiliation, and in anger, he may draw a sword on the spot.

I saw the general standing on the other side, and he responded angrily on the spot: "Who the hell are you talking about, who are the barbarians, do you want to die?" ”

"Lao Tzu fought for the Ming Dynasty at the border, what's wrong with the full salary, on the contrary, you sissies will only hide in the capital to guard the gate!"

"We took the money, if we have the ability, come and grab it back!"

"If you hear the word barbarian on the battlefield, Lao Tzu will cut off your head and kick it as a ball."

All kinds of clamor and scolding are endless, although Cao Jixiang's group of generals and soldiers are private soldiers, but they really fight the Mengren who have fought bloody battles on the battlefield at the border pass, and everyone has their lives on their hands.

In contrast, the Son of Heaven's pro-army nominally had a noble status and belonged to the well-equipped Praetorian Guard system. In fact, in addition to seeing the battlefield during the Beijing Division Guarding War, he only undertook the task of garrisoning and defending the Beijing Division at other times.

Those who have seen blood on the battlefield certainly look down on the "vase" stationed in Beijing, which is similar to the traditional contradiction between the border army and the Praetorian Guard. The Han generals felt ridiculed and provoked, and the root cause was actually here, the generals felt that their salaries were exchanged for their lives at the border pass, why can't they be more than the goods?

Regarding the tense scene of the school field, Wang Cheng, who was standing on the high platform, showed an imperceptible smile at the corner of his mouth. The conversation with Shen Yichen a few months ago was like an enlightenment for him, it is difficult to be fair and just in anything these days, and it is not easy to deliberately pull a bias to cause dissatisfaction?

Cao Jixiang scavenged the silver from the twelve prisons, and Wang Cheng distributed it to the generals to avoid arousing the suspicion of the other party. However, the salary of the Han generals was originally only mixed with fifty percent of the Ming treasure banknotes, and Wang Cheng directly increased it to seventy percent!

Even if the salary of the Son of Heaven's army is much higher than that of ordinary guards, the silver in hand is only 30% of the past, and it is difficult to support the family at Hukou with this amount of money. One or two times can still hold on, and there are fewer and fewer in the past half a year, but the generals who are also Teng Xiang four guards are not bad.

This differential treatment is difficult for anyone to accept, and it is only a matter of time before it erupts.

Any soldiers on both sides were angry, Wang Cheng put away the sneer on his face, and scolded with a straight face: "Presumptuous! ”

"Is it a place of random noise and noise in the army, not to mention this kind of mutual attack between robes, our family will try our best to help you fight for the issue of salary, and the Mongolian generals are all paid because of their special status, what kind of system is the abuse and noise!"

When the salary was distributed a few months ago, there was also this kind of scene of spraying each other, but due to Wang Cheng's identity and authority, as soon as he opened his mouth to drink, the two sides could only suppress their anger and endure it.

But thirty percent of the silver can not even afford to eat, and if this continues, the family is afraid that they will starve to death, and people will not care about what is inferior in a desperate situation, and a guard commander on the side of the Han army brazenly came out and said: "Prince, you say that you will fight for it every time, and the last general will dare to ask, how long will it take to succeed?" ”

Hearing this question, Wang Cheng did not continue to reprimand majestically, but replied earnestly: "Commander He, the matter of salary and silver involves the cabinet, the military department, the household department, and the finance department. ”

"But rest assured, our family will do our best to find a way to get a batch of silver before the year, so that you can have a good year!"

Wang Cheng was in charge of the Imperial Horse Prison for several years, and finally won over a few henchmen, and this He commander was one of them. Hearing the other party's answer, he actually knew in his heart that the matter of the silver was not something that could be changed by the power of the Imperial Horse Supervisor's seal, and Wang Cheng could only say that he would do his best.

But the resentment accumulated in the past few months is not an illusory promise that can be resolved at all, only to see another general said indignantly: "Even if the prince gets the money, it must be the priority to distribute the generals, and it will not fall into our hands." ”

Let's say, this general went out directly, hugged his fists and asked Wang Cheng, "The last general heard a piece of news, and today he dared to ask the prince for verification!" ”

"You say."

Wang Cheng nodded and did not reply to the absolute party's request.

"It is rumored in the army that the fundamental reason for the salary deduction of the four guards in the court is that the Minister Cao Gonggong sent the silver money to the Beijing camp to support his Cao clan and the generals, can this matter be taken seriously?"

As soon as the general's words came out, it directly caused an uproar in the school field, and the soldiers of Tengxiang Siwei didn't know that there was such a thing behind it, no wonder the proportion of Daming treasure banknotes issued was getting higher and higher.

"Lin Tongzhi, where did you hear about it?"

Wang Cheng asked rhetorically, he did not deny it, it was almost equivalent to telling the soldiers that this matter was true.

"Princess-in-law, it seems that the Mongolian generals you mentioned have a special status, and the root cause is that they are Gonggong Cao's people, right?"

Wang Cheng also asked rhetorically before, and in the face of these inquiries, he simply shut up and told the answer with a tacit gesture.

"Brothers, it turns out that our military salary was swallowed by Cao Jixiang!"

"No wonder the Mongolian generals are paid every month, it turns out that they are sucking our blood!"

"Damn, Lao Tzu's family is dying of hunger, return the silver."

"That's right, these are the military salaries that belong to Lao Tzu, and no one can take more!"

A loud rebuke resounded in the school field, and the Han generals directly put their fierce eyes on the military salaries placed on the high platform.

Today's salary will become the ignition of the detonation!