"Forty-seven thousand taels ......"

Chen Wang frowned slightly and glanced at Chen Gong standing in the tent.

Breaking through the camp left by Zhang Yuan was far less money and food than he expected.

"The prisoners in the old camp were all pulled out and tortured, and the camp was searched three times, and a lot of holes were dug to find gold and silver that might be hidden, but none of them were found, and these gold and silver should be all the belongings left by Zhang Yuan."

Chen Gong held a document in his hand and stood down to report the harvest to Chen Wang.

"More than 16,000 stone of grain has been found in the camp, and vehicles have been arranged to transport it, and it is expected that it will be able to be transported back to our army camp before dusk tomorrow."

"Apart from gold, silver, grain and grass, there is not much value in the camp."

"The liukou who stayed in the old camp in Xixiang and many old and weak women and children have all been handed over to the magistrate of Xixiang this morning."

Chen Wang bowed slightly, more than 47,000 taels of silver was actually a lot, but the previous harvest made his desire swell a little.

Liukou has always fought if he can beat it, and he runs away if he can't beat it, and rarely does things like fish die and the net is broken.

Generally speaking, they carry these things with them, and when they are fighting, they can flee directly when they see that the situation is not good, and there is no need to worry about it.

Because of this, it is not always possible to have a large number of captures in the battle against the Rogues.

Speaking of which, Chen Wang's ability to snatch back so much gold and silver from the hands of the rogues one after another can actually be regarded as very lucky.

Li Zicheng had just plundered three or four large cities, so he was still rich after being rewarded with a large amount of silver.

And Li Yangchun and Lin Shengquan were trapped and died in Ningqiang Prefecture, and the gold and silver they carried became trophies.

And Zhang Yuan is because he has been in Hanzhong Mansion for a long time and has established a camp, and he has the idea of separating one side in his heart, so there is not only food in the camp, but also gold and silver.

In this war, although the harvest in gold and silver was far less than the harvest in the first battle of Chunhua, there were nearly 80,000 taels of silver, and a large amount of grain and grass was harvested.

Nowadays, disasters and famines occur frequently in various places, and Suhu Lake and Henan and other places are affected by the flow of Koubo, which leads to the decrease of grain year by year, and the price of grain is rising year by year.

Hanzhong Province did not suffer much from the famine, but the price of grain more than doubled, and it cost two taels of silver to buy one stone of rice.

The price of rice in many places in Shaanxi has reached three or four times.

In some places in Xi'an Province where there is a shortage of grain, it has even risen to more than 10 taels and 11 stones, which is nearly 10 times the normal price.

This time, the rogue invaded Shaanxi, not only coerced a large number of people into the army, but also robbed a large amount of grain and grass.

The harvest outside Hanzhong City, together with the clearing of Chenggu County and the seizure of grain and grass in the old camp of Liukou in Xixiang, added up to more than 40,000 stone of grain, and according to the current prices of Hanzhong Prefecture, all of them can be exchanged for almost eighty or ninety thousand taels of silver.

In this way, in fact, the harvest this time is not much different from the harvest of the original Chunhua battle.

And now it is a troubled time, the price of rice is becoming more and more expensive, and grain is a hard commodity no matter where it goes, and the harvest this time is actually greater than the harvest of the Chunhua War.

"All the grain should be placed in the grain storage area where the original rogue was originally placed, and the 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions should go to guard it, and they must be strictly guarded and there must be no mistakes."

Chen Wang's eyes narrowed slightly, and he ordered in a deep voice.

Grain will only get more and more expensive, and he will naturally not sell it all now.

In troubled times, money and food come first.

Only when there is money and food can we afford to feed the army and survive the troubled times.

After several battles and several reinforcements, there are now more than 4,200 people under Chen Wang's command, and there are 2,000 mules and horses combined.

A human eclipse is one liter, and a horse's eclipse is three liters.

If you want to eat and drink enough, you have to consume about 100 stone of grain a day.

More than 40,000 stones of grain can be used for more than 400 days, which is more than a year.

After Chen Gong answered, he stood down, and then continued to report.

"A total of 729 collars of cloth armor, 370 pieces of chain mail, 820 pieces of cotton armor, 371 arms covering arms, and the rest of the various blades and weapons were not counted."

"The captured bladed weapons, as well as the broken armor, have been loaded into trucks and sent to the Acropolis of Hanzhong for repair or reforge."

Chen Wang's brows furrowed and he groaned slightly.

"Seven hundred and twenty-nine collar cloth face armor, three hundred and seventy pieces of chain mail......

Among the seizures, the chain mail was the least, the cotton armor was similar to the cloth face armor, and there were not many arms covering.

Originally, there were more than 2,500 cloth face armors, more than 900 pieces of chain mail and cotton armor in the army, all of which were distributed to the army.

The three types of armor add up to 4,500 pieces, and it is completely possible for each person to have one.

However, in reality, only 70 percent of the army is now armoured.

Now Chen Wang has a total of one cavalry and seven infantry, totaling more than 4,300 people.

There are more than 900 cavalry people, all of whom wear high-topped helmets, with arms covering, cloth armor on the outside, chain mail on the inside, and double armor.

The 1st Infantry Division was full of 900 men, and it was almost the same configuration as the 1st Cavalry Division, all of which wore arms covering, high-topped helmets, and double armor.

However, it is not a cloth mask on the outside and a chain mail on the inside, but a cotton armor on the outside and a cloth mask on the inside, and the cotton armor is worn on top of the cloth armor.

The reason why cavalrymen wore cloth face armor with chain mail was because the chain mail was relatively light and flexible.

The infantry wearing cloth armor with iron armor is more focused on protection, and such armor is not something Chen Wangxuan imagined.

In the "Manchurian Record", it is recorded that the Ming army of Chen Ce's department, which was composed of Sichuan soldiers and Zhejiang soldiers, recorded the "Battle of Hunhe Bridge", holding bamboo poles and spears, big swords and sharp swords, and there are cotton helmets outside the iron helmet, and there is cotton armor outside the iron armor, which is difficult for swords and guns to enter.

The rest of the cloth armor and cotton armor are given priority to the military academy in the army, the soldiers and soldiers in the front line.

Except for the 1st Cavalry Division and the 1st Infantry Division, the rest of the armor was divided equally.

"Draw the elite of the other departments, fill up the number of the Second Infantry Division, concentrate the cloth armor and cotton armor, and equip everyone with double armor and cover their arms, and the rest of the armor will be supplemented to each army according to the situation, and the arsenal should not be left with armor."

Chen Wang knocked on the table, and after a moment of silence, he continued to order.

Except for the 1st Cavalry Division and the 1st Infantry Division, which were fully staffed, the remaining six infantry divisions were not fully staffed, and now each unit had only four or five hundred people, which was still half a short of full strength.

"The matter of expanding the generals can also be put on the agenda, and you send people to the captive camp to recruit new recruits under the pretext of recruiting auxiliaries."

"Abolish the Seventh Infantry Division, retain the 1st to 6th, and 6th Infantry Divisions, and break up the original 7th Infantry Division into other divisions."

"The First and Second Infantry Divisions do not recruit new recruits, and the remaining four Infantry Divisions are all recruited to full strength."

Chen Wang paused and continued,

"The original first, third, and fourth infantry divisions, the three divisions were organized into one battalion, and they were designated as the first infantry battalion."

"The original second, fifth, and sixth infantry divisions, the third division was organized into another battalion, and it was designated as the second infantry battalion."

There were six infantry divisions and two battalions of infantry, all of which were at full strength, or 5,400 men.

Together with the independent 900 cavalry, the total was 6,300 people.

That's a little bit more than that, but it's not a big problem.

At this time, Zuo Liangyu's so-called auxiliary soldiers and seventy regular soldiers under his own command have exceeded 10,000 people, and He Renlong also raised more than three or four thousand auxiliary soldiers, and the rest of the generals also have a lot of so-called auxiliary soldiers.

Most of the so-called auxiliaries they raised were rogue elite cavalry and horse soldiers who had been recruited, and these things were known to the governors of various places, and the imperial court also knew, and in fact they had acquiesced in.

As long as you don't need to pay money, you will turn a blind eye.

However, the difference is that most of the generals and colonels are used as cannon fodder and consumables.

Chen Wang, on the other hand, really regarded it as a soldier drill, and also paid military salaries regularly, which was completely the treatment of regular soldiers.

However, Chen Wang didn't know what to say, how could others see the clues, and how could they pay attention to these things.

Hong Chengchou will not care about these things, and now for the governors everywhere, they are the same, as long as the generals under them are obedient and can fight, it is enough.

However, Chen Wang pondered for a moment, and still chose to delay a little.

"Screening first, don't rush for the time being, wait until the seal letter of my general is sent to the army, and then expand the army."

Anyway, things are not in a hurry, and it is better to be able to not attract attention without attracting attention, and it is better to have fewer waves.

When the military rank of the general is down, the number of troops in his own battalion increases, and it is more reasonable to recruit more auxiliary soldiers.

After getting Chen Gong's answer, Chen Wang picked up the report submitted by Tang Shiping on the table not long ago.

The report is written about the money and food that is still left in the army today.

After the grain was counted, there were more than 40,000 stones, and only 1,000 taels of gold remained.

The silver in the original treasury was already more than 190,000 taels after this seizure.

Rao is Chen Wang is now well-informed, but when he saw the balance of nearly 200,000 taels of silver on the account, his heart couldn't help but fluctuate.

At present, there are more than 4,000 people under his command, and they are paid about 6,000 taels in full every month.

Nearly 200,000 taels of silver, if only the silver alone is enough for thirty-two months, that is, two years and eight months.

However, now the imperial court will pay silver, although it is not paid in full, it should be paid 4,000 taels per month, but the actual amount that can be received each month is only 3,000 taels.

In the past few months, Chen Wang had taken silver salaries directly from the treasury, and every month Chen Wang would regularly preside over the salaries, and be sure to pay the full amount of silver to every soldier.

Those who dare to deduct the silver, whether it is a cent or a cent, shall be beheaded.

Regarding the history of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Wang is very clear in his heart.

The biggest reason why the combat effectiveness of the Ming army was not strong was actually the lack of salary.

At the end of the Ming Dynasty, it had become the norm for the army to pay arrears in various places, and it was not easy to pay salaries, and there were deductions from top to bottom, and there were layers of exploitation, and there was not much left in the hands of ordinary soldiers.

There is a saying on the Internet in later generations that has been widely circulated - "The Ming army is not satisfied with the salary, and the full salary is invincible." ”

In fact, this sentence is really good.

In the last years of the Ming Dynasty, non-payment of wages had become the norm.

When Chongzhen was ten years old, Lu Xiangsheng was appointed as the governor of Xuanda, and after going to inspect the army, he wrote in a note:

"Today, the more we pay, the more hungry and cold we get. borrowed money to make bows, arrows, guns and knives, and still sold them. ”

"Many soldiers lined up in the martial arts, the golden wind was like arrows, and the frustrated and sick, stiff and servant were all gone."

"Every point has a soldier, there are single clothes, there are no hakama, there are few shoes and socks, and the ministers can't help but cry when they see it."

"The earth is extremely stuffed, Hu Feng Shuo snow, biting and chilling, Weichen immediately re-furrowed, as if the battle was unbearable, with the patrol service, and there are stiff and fallen horses."

"This generation has been guarding for many years, and there is no clothes to hang on, and there is a full meal every day."

"The army under its jurisdiction has not received a single cent of its salary since November and February last year until now."

"Although the soldiers set up on the wall and rode on the horse, they were humanoid and lifeless."

In the cold winter, they were dressed in single clothes, and some people didn't even have shoes and socks.

After years of unpaid wages, it is difficult to even make ends meet.

And just like that, there was no rebellion, and even when the Qing army and Mongolia entered the customs, they were still resisting.

Chen Wang's eyes condensed slightly, and the memories of the past came to his heart, the situation in Liaodong was much better than that in Shanxi Town, but there was also the problem of unpaid wages.

Cao Wenzhao was transferred to Datong Town as the chief soldier after his meritorious service in counterinsurgency, and Datong Town and Shanxi Town were not far apart, both in Shanxi Province.

The situation reported by Lu Xiangsheng is actually an extremely common situation.

Most of the guards only had single clothes, and lack of food and clothing was the norm.

The Dun army was slightly better, had some dilapidated winter clothes, and had a little food every day.

Even as a soldier, there is no guarantee that there will be winter clothes to wear, and the treatment is only slightly better than that of the Dun army.

It has reached this point that the Ming army was able to hold most of the defense line of the Great Wall, and it was able to avoid large-scale surrender and large-scale rebellion.

To be honest, Chen Wang felt that this could no longer be explained by common sense, perhaps it was Zhu Yuanzhang who chased Mengyuan to the north, and recast Yu Ze left behind in Huaxia was still taking care of his descendants in later generations.

Chen Wang put down the report in his hand, arrears of salaries and corruption were commonplace, how could the army still have combat effectiveness.

Now the most loyal to him in the army is neither the Liao cavalry nor the displaced people recruited in Pizhou, but the remnants of the original Liuguo Town and Ai Wannian.

How did they have enough to eat every day, and how could they have received a full amount of money every month?

Because of this, these people are the ones who are fighting the most fiercely in the army now.

At the beginning, Chen Wang was worried about whether these veterans would bring the ruffians in the original army into the army, but later found that this worry was completely superfluous, and their spirit was the best among the tribes.

——————

Liaodong Jingluo Xiong Tingbi:

"Liaodong buys a bow and two taels, and a arrow is five or six points, and there is no place to buy."

"As for the garments, and the sacks, and the bridles, and the leather ropes, they are dressed every day."

"Chase all the time, mend flaws and sew up, nothing is expensive."

"Every time I see a sergeant paying for utensils, pawning and selling bags, being defenseless, wearing armor naked, my heart is like a knife, and I hate to replace him with my body."

"The cotton armor is 100 layers thick, the arrow cannon can't enter, a soldier has three or four horses, and in winter it is a mattress for its hooves."

Cotton armor with seven pounds of cotton, sewn with cloth such as a jacket, two arms over the shoulder five inches, under the length of the knee cover, thick line by row horizontal straight, sewn tightly into the water, soaked to pick up, paved, with the foot to kick solid, not fat and swollen as the degree, dry and collect. Seeing that the rain is not heavy, the moldy sideburns are not rotten, and the bird can't be seriously injured.