"General, when was the last time you wrote to the War Department?"

Zhao Changsheng thought for a moment and said: "It's been more than two months ago, and it's an eight-hundred-mile expedited, presumably the old man's letter and military department has already received it."

"This matter of military pay is by no means a trivial matter, if it drags on for too long, there will be resentment in the army, I am afraid that there will be a mutiny, so the old man will be so anxious.

"If the household department is paid, presumably Lord Zhou of the Ministry of War will definitely reply to the old man, and the old man should have received the letter from Lord Zhou, but more than two months have passed, and there is still no news.

"The old man is also at a loss now, and he often receives complaints from the soldiers in the army recently, and the old man can only try his best to appease, but it is never a way to go on like this."

Shao Xi hated so much in his heart that the roots of his teeth itched, and he said in his heart, Yu Ji, you bastard, are simply a fool, how can this matter of soldiers and horses in the army be child's play? You can't make this money with any money!

If this is a mutiny in the border army, it is simply a big event to break the sky, you Yu Ji really wants money and does not want to die, and he has refused to pay for half a year, this courage is really too big!

But it's useless to scold in my heart at the moment, the current problem must be solved after all.

If you are so stupid and wait for the household department to allocate salary, and then wait for the salary to be sent to Yulong Pass, will you toss it inside and outside until next year?

At that time, it must be the unstable spirit of the army, if there is chaos in the army, won't this Jade Dragon Pass be useless?

Yu Ji, this guy went back to clean up, but he still had to solve the problem in front of him first.

"I wonder what the general can do now? Is there a way to transfer some money from other places for emergency purposes? ”

Zhao Changsheng shook his head helplessly, his face was full of gloom and mist and mist on his face, and he said with a long sigh: "The old man has thought of all the ways he can think of, and the surrounding counties have been borrowed."

"Even at the expense of setting up private checkpoints to levy tariffs, and collecting some more commercial taxes from those merchants who sell goods in Yulong Town, it is still a drop in the bucket.

"The soldiers in the battalion are not unheard of in Yulong Town extorting bamboo poles from those people on the side of the rivers and lakes, and now they can only turn a blind eye and let them go, it is better than forcing the soldiers below to rush to plunder the merchants, right?

"If this continues, I'm afraid that the Zhenxi Army is really at the end of the road, how can we defend this western frontier fortress and ensure the safety of the Jingyuan Empire?"

Shao Xi was also sad in his heart when he heard this, no wonder those soldiers he met in the tavern before would act like this, they really delayed for too long and did not pay the money, forcing these soldiers to be unimaginable, so they could only do these half-soldier and half-bandit things.

Just as Zhao Changsheng said, if the army's morale is unstable and the military discipline is slack, won't the good Zhenxi Army become a plate of scattered sand?

When that day really comes, will it really be the end of the Zhenxi Army?

We must not allow this to continue to develop!

But Zhao Changsheng also said that he has already thought of all the ways he can think of, setting up private checkpoints to collect tariffs, and then squeezing some commercial taxes from businessmen, which is only enough to maintain the daily needs of the army, but this military salary is still the biggest problem.

As the saying goes, no food and no soldiers, no water and no camp, no food and no salary in the army has been a taboo for raising soldiers since ancient times.

Although the western army in this town can't say that the soldiers are hungry, there is no pay in the army, how can these soldiers support their families?

After joining the army, they left home all the year round to guard the border fortress, leaving the old and weak women and children in the family to cultivate the fields, and it was already difficult to live, relying on the meager salary paid every year to finance the family.

But now that there is no salary for half a year, it is not only one person who has no money to use, but also the parents, wives, and children at home are also poor, hungry and cold, who will take care of these people?

Therefore, in Shao Xi's eyes, arrears, deductions, and greed for military salaries are simply a loss of conscience.

It seems that there is no other way at present, Shao Xi hesitated again and again, and finally decided to pay his own money to help the Zhenxi Army solve the military salary first.

Regardless of how this matter is resolved in the future, it is necessary to address the immediate priorities first.

Thinking of this, Shao Xi reached out and took out a large stack of silver tickets from his arms, and asked Fu Biao, who was standing behind him, to take the silver tickets to Zhao Changsheng.

Shao Xi's move was completely unexpected by Zhao Changsheng, he looked at the silver ticket in Fu Biao's hand in surprise, and then looked up at Shao Xi, and did not reach out to take it, but his face was full of surprise.

Shao Xi smiled indifferently.

"General, as far as I know, with the current size of the Zhenxi Army, it will cost about 25,000 taels of silver in a year, and here is 50,000 taels of silver tickets.

"Although it is not cash silver, the general can send people to the silver villages of Taihe Commercial Houses in various counties and counties to exchange them for cash silver or copper coins, which should be enough for the Zhenxi Army for two years.

"The lower officials will try their best to solve the matter of the Zhenxi Army's salary within two years, and the generals who will be rotated here to take over the general and lead the Zhenxi Army after two years will no longer have to worry about the matter of the silver.

"When the time comes, after the general returns to Beijing, he can work with his subordinates to track down those who are greedy for ink, withholding, and in arrears, and I will definitely give the general an explanation for this matter."

Although Shao Xi said so, Zhao Changsheng still didn't react for a while.

He didn't understand that Shao Xi, as a fourth-grade official in the court, and also the history of the supervision and inspection of the "Jing Cheng Division", where did he get so much money?

Secondly, what does he want from himself with this money?

Although Zhao Changsheng is a person who leads soldiers, a soldier does not mean that he must be rude and ignorant. Zhao Changsheng is naturally also a resourceful and decisive person.

When he saw this thick stack of silver tickets for the first time, although it could help him solve his immediate needs, there was no free lunch in the world, and the free one was the most expensive.

didn't get the benefits in his hands for nothing, so he couldn't figure out what Shao Xi's purpose was in funding the Zhenxi Army?

Speaking of which, this is a very sensitive matter, because the DPRK and the Chinese military and the government should have been separated, and those who are in politics should not meddle in the affairs of the military, and those in the military should not arbitrarily discuss the affairs of the government.

Although they will say something in private, this principle is fundamentally untouchable.

Shao Xi's current position stands to reason that he should not meddle in the affairs of the army, not to mention that this matter also involves the food and salary of soldiers and horses in the army.

If Shao Xi deliberately wanted to buy the Zhenxi Army, wouldn't Zhao Changsheng collude with the officials of the DPRK and China when he took this money, intending to support the army and stand on his own, and harbor a suspicion of bad intentions?

Once this reputation spreads, it will damage the reputation that Zhao Changsheng has established over the years to serve the country with loyalty, and Zhao Changsheng has to face it cautiously.

Therefore, in the face of the assistance provided by Shao Xi, Zhao Changsheng still had a very cautious attitude, after all, he couldn't figure out what Shao Xi's intentions were at this time.

Shao Xi came to Yulong Pass, and planned to go out of the customs to the Western Regions, although he was approved by the Holy Lord, but he was not assigned any official duties, and Shao Xi suddenly came to his army to help him solve the matter of military salary, which must not be the intention of the Holy Lord.

Then this matter must be Shao Xi's personal behavior, he must first figure out Shao Xi's thoughts, otherwise he will not dare to accept this money no matter what.

In fact, from Shao Xi's point of view, he does have his own ideas, but his ideas are not the same as what Zhao Changsheng thinks.

Shao Xi knew that the forces he would have to face and contend with in the future were by no means ordinary, so in addition to establishing his own forces in the court, he also needed to establish his own network in the Wuchen group.

Although Shao Xi now holds the right of the soldiers and horses of the Sixteen Guards of Kyoto, it is only the right to use troops given to him by Xiao Changyi, but he has no right to dispatch.

That is to say, when he has something to do, he can mobilize the soldiers and horses in the sixteen guards to assist him, but he does not have the right to effectively dispatch the soldiers and horses.

It's like going to an Internet café to surf the Internet, you spend money and only have the right to use it, but you don't have the right to make any hardware changes to this computer, and this computer doesn't belong to you.

What Shao Xi wants is to have the power to really mobilize troops and horses in the future, because having military power in his hands when necessary is the most direct and effective way to protect himself.

But if you want to get military power, you don't have to buy it, you have to build relationships.

Xiao Changyi can give himself anything, but Shao Xi believes that Xiao Changyi will never give it to him easily, so at this time, he needs to have the right person come forward to recommend him at the right time.

And the most suitable people are none other than these famous military ministers in the court.

Shao Xi's move today has no clear purpose, he is just pre-setting the foreshadowing for possible situations in the future.

Shao Xi didn't know when there was a need, but Shao Xi knew that he would take precautions, and if there was really such a day, he would have one more card in his hand to play.

Shao Xi saw that Zhao Changsheng neither reached out to take the silver ticket, nor did he speak, but just stared at himself, and had already guessed what Zhao Changsheng was thinking at this time.

Indeed, he suddenly took out so much money, for Zhao Changsheng, he really needs to be cautious, it seems that if he doesn't make his words clear, the other party really doesn't dare to accept his help.

"The general doesn't need to be confused, the reason why Xia Guan can have so much money in his hands is because Xia Guan is trading in partnership with the Holy Lord.

"The Holy Admiral will take out the royal treasury to make the capital for the lower officials, and every year the lower officials will take out a large sum of money from the money earned as a share for the Holy Lord.

"It's good for the general to know about this matter, don't spread it at will, the lower official also trusts the general, so he told the general about it."

When Zhao Changsheng heard this, he was stunned.

What? Doing business in partnership with the Holy One? Or do you want to use the royal treasury of the Holy Lord as the capital?

This kind of thing has been heard of and never seen before!

Who has ever heard that the minister and the emperor not only cooperate in trading, but also share it at the end of the year? How capable is this Shao Xi to be able to convince the current saint to hand over the royal capital to him?

No wonder he made such a generous move, and after a long time, the current saint is the big benefactor behind him, and he may be the only one who can spend the saint's money confidently, right?