On the way back to Langzhou, Li Yuan and his entourage unexpectedly ran into Liu Jiangsheng, who was recruiting soldiers in small counties along the way. In the ten or twenty days that Li Yuan left, Liu Jiangsheng was ordered to be responsible for recruiting and replenishing the additional 40,000 soldiers. The matter of recruiting troops has kept Liu Jiangsheng busy, and this matter is really difficult to handle.

Liu Jiangsheng began to complain when he saw Li Yuan, these days he almost ran through the cities under Wuping, but the soldiers he recruited were extremely limited. So far, less than 5,000 of the 40,000 soldiers have been recruited, not because Wuping is sparsely populated, but because most of the people are reluctant to join the army.

Perhaps because Wuping Town has experienced a lot of wars since the beginning of the year, the Langzhou soldiers under Liu Yan during the Western Expedition of the Southern Tang Dynasty suffered many casualties, and then even if Li Yuan was good for a period of time, the people had some respite, but after several major battles with Dongxi and the Han army, the loss of nearly 20,000 soldiers and horses was also lost.

And these lost soldiers and horses, except for a small part of the original guard holy army that migrated from Jianghuai with Li Yuan, are nothing more than the sons and husbands of the people of Wuping Town, and the impact of these dead soldiers on the people is really not small, and it is no wonder that many people immediately walked away when they saw the recruitment of troops in Wuping, lest they avoid it.

"Metropolitan Governor, it is really difficult to recruit soldiers and horses like this, there are people in various cities who recruit regiments to train soldiers and horses, but in the name of the Wuping Army, few people are willing ......to come," Liu Jiangsheng gasped.

Liu Jiangsheng hesitated for a moment, then bowed his hand and whispered, "Otherwise, or according to the old method of recruiting troops in Chu in the past? Forced Latin into the army, the Metropolitan Governor ordered the people to join the army voluntarily, and I don't know what year or month they will be recruited......

Li Yuan frowned, it is true that the original mainstream way of replenishing soldiers in the Chu State and even the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms era was to forcibly enlist in the army, but aside from other reasons, this way of recruiting soldiers and horses alone is very problematic, because such a hard-pulled soldier is psychologically unwilling to fight, and it is okay when the war is going well, but it will collapse at the first touch of defeat.

"You can't do this, remember, it turns out that Liu Yan recruited soldiers and horses like this, isn't this a duck to the shelf? We, the Wuping Army, would rather all the elite soldiers and strong generals who volunteered to join the army than force the rabble to join the army." Li Yuan shook his head and said.

Liu Jiangsheng said in a deep voice: "In this way, the number of soldiers is not satisfied."

Li Yuan sighed lightly: "If you want the people to join the army voluntarily, you can't use the method of forcing Latin, in fact, it is nothing more than a lack of attraction. The salaries in the army are not high, and they have to risk losing their lives, so it is no wonder that everyone is not highly motivated. If we can increase the salaries of the soldiers, and then use other benefits, such as halving the taxes paid by the families of those who join the army, or giving other preferential treatments, it will not be difficult to recruit soldiers."

Liu Jiangsheng was stunned and said, "Metropolitan Governor, your idea coincides with Mr. Xu. He said that at present, the salary of the Wuping army is only three cents of silver per month, which is less than consistent, and the people are not at peace after several major battles in Chudi, so it is necessary to attract the people to take the initiative to join, at least always in full. With a consistent salary, it should be much less difficult to recruit soldiers."

"What does Mr. Xu mean is that when the salaries are raised to the same level, the people will flock to them?" Li Yuan frowned.

"Yes, that's the usual money, who wouldn't want to be a soldier? In Jinling, a man in the prime of life can always support a few people with an income a month, let alone in Wuping." Liu Jiangsheng swallowed his saliva.

Li Yuan nodded slightly and said, "You see, the solution is so simple, increase the salary of the soldiers, and kill people for money and birds for food, there is no need to force it at all."

Liu Jiangsheng's eyes widened and said, "Governor, raising military salaries is a matter that affects the whole body. To increase the salary of soldiers, it is necessary for veterans and new recruits to raise it together. 100,000 Wuping troops are 100,000 guan a month, and 1.2 million guan a year. The court won't help us out with this money......

Li Yuan pondered for a moment and said, "Let's do this first, we must recruit the number of soldiers first."

Liu Jiangsheng arched his hand and said, "Obey."

Li Yuan gritted his teeth and said with a smile: "Don't worry, with the current treasury storage of our Wuping Mansion, plus the inner treasury of my Governor's Mansion, it is more than enough to raise 100,000 soldiers."

"The last will understand!" Liu Jiangsheng nodded happily, in fact, he didn't notice the subtle change in the expression on Li Yuan's face, and set himself up

Since the ordnance superintendent, he has been developing and producing all kinds of new weapons and armor every day, improving siege equipment such as Fuyuan crossbow trebuchet, etc., these are all money-burning jobs, and he is preparing to develop gunpowder recently......

However, the recruitment of soldiers and horses could not be stopped, and it was not easy to win 40,000 soldiers, Li Yuan did not want to waste it, and the number of soldiers and horses at hand was already stretched at this time. After that, although the 100,000 soldiers and horses seemed to be a large number, when he thought of the upcoming big battles in the future, Li Yuan still felt that it was far from enough.

All in all, the crux of many problems boils down to one word: money. And these are not money, but big money. Ordinary amounts are easy, but big money is difficult, after the last expedition to the west, the inner library that obtained Ma Xicao Liu Yan's savings for many years is pure luck, so there will always be a day to squander it, or have to think of other ways.

Li Yuan suddenly realized that he had neglected such an important thing, a vital thing that was enough to support his progress and success......

At noon on October 20, Li Yuan and his entourage finally returned to Langzhou City. Walking on the streets of Langzhou, it has attracted the attention of many people in Langzhou. A woman dressed in barbarian costume rode through the street on horseback, but this woman wore a black gauze hat on her head, and amazingly, this woman and Li Dadu Governor actually rode together.

The Governor seemed to be very ambiguous about her, and his face was full of pity, and he laughed with her from time to time.

There are many well-informed people among the people, and soon, Peng Qingying's identity was revealed. The news that the Metropolitan Governor had married the little sister of the Lord of Dongxi and returned home as a concubine soon spread throughout the city, and the people of the city were full of discussions, whispering about the matter.

Some people say that the Metropolitan Governor really has a unique taste, and even the taste of the barbarian girl wants to taste it, and the voice is colorful, and the last time this barbarian girl was in the Dadu Governor's Mansion as a hostage, and it is estimated that the raw rice has already been cooked and matured.

Some of the people are more reasonable, and most of the governors pacified Dongxi in Qianqiu, and in order to appease Dongxi, they sacrificed themselves to marry barbarian women, because it is rumored that barbarian women are very wild and have terrifying faces...... The Metropolitan Governor is also fighting for the peace of Chudi, and we should admire the Metropolitan Governor Gao Yi......

In short, this matter finally fermented into the focus of the entire Wuping Town, and in the era of expensive entertainment, the gossip news of the imperial court was really an excellent topic to kill time, and the city shook for a while, and gradually subsided in a few days.