Guan Chongsi is under the banner of the Longyou Jiedu envoy, a team leader of the Anren Army, and dozens of people under him. This army was stationed in the Changning River (Beichuan River) in the northwest of Shanzhou City, and the military fortress of Tunzha was called "Datong City".

This was the frontier closest to the Tibetan in the northwest of the Longyou defensive line, preventing the Tubo people from moving south along the Changning River to attack Shanzhou.

Guan Chongsi was entrusted by Ge Shuhan, the envoy of the Anren Army, to come to Chang'an to seek support this time, no matter who supported him, as long as he could send down the winter clothes that had been in arrears for two years.

But it's a pity that he is not going to Chang'an from Longyou now, on the contrary, Guan Chongsi has already turned around in Chang'an, and he didn't get the money in vain, so he can only return to Longyou the same way!

Of course, Guan Chongsi is not the first Longyou general to do this, and he will not be the last. The generals of Longyou Town came to Chang'an to ask for food, not because they were cheap, but because the objective conditions made them have to do this.

The Longyou front line is adjacent to the Tibetan border, not to mention the poor mountains and bad waters, the roads are still rugged and difficult to travel, and the commerce and trade are almost non-existent, and the merchants will no longer advance westward after arriving in Lanzhou, and they will not be able to reach the station of the Longyou Jiedu envoy at all.

The few cultivated lands in the local area have all been used to ensure the supply of military rations, and there is no need to think about the rest. Therefore, the spring and winter clothes to be issued on the front line completely depend on the supply of Chang'an, and the local area cannot produce them themselves.

Why didn't this problem exist before?

Because it used to be a government military system! The country is a white prostitute and a soldier, and the writing of "volunteer soldiers" is actually a "compulsory soldier", if you want to go to it, you must have it, just take care of a mouthful of food. As for military salaries or something, if the state doesn't ask for government soldiers, it's polite to reach out to ask for taxes, how can it be possible to send money to government soldiers?

Therefore, the invincible Tang army during the Tian Khan period has been defeated repeatedly since the beginning of the Wu Zhou Dynasty and has rarely won victories. Ji Ge deepened on the basis of the border town of Tuntian soldiers, changed the government soldiers to "Long March athletes", and became one of the ways out for the bottom.

After that, the Tang army turned from weak to strong, and the Long March athletes who were skilled in technology and tactics were indeed better than the soldiers who were absent-minded in the frontier.

But the laws of nature tell us that if you want to be strong, you have to pay a price.

There is no such thing as power in the world that does not have to pay a price!

This price is that Datang's military expenditure has increased from 2 million guan per year to more than 10 million guan, and it can't stop it, and it is rising every year! Even if it is as strong as Datang, such a huge military consumption is a bit unbearable.

Therefore, in the past few years, since the signing of a peace treaty with the Tubo people and no longer going to war, the border troops under the command of Longyou Jiedu have begun to "downgrade their treatment".

Reward, that is definitely not there, and the army has not fought a war, where does the military merit come from? Where is the reward for not having military merit?

Isn't it necessary to send spring clothes and winter clothes every year, no problem, spring clothes are issued first, and winter clothes are owed to make up later.

As for when it will be made up, it's not good to say, anyway...... The officials concerned think that it is okay to mess with their own tenure, and as for the trouble, the next term will solve it. Do you feel uncomfortable? Yes, you can retire and go home to farm!

The Anren Army is at the forefront of the border with Tibet, and further west is the stronghold of Tibet! The conditions are the hardest, the treatment is the worst, and even individuals can't stand it!

So Ge Shuhan asked his cronie Guan Chongsi to come to Chang'an to test the water. In fact, Ge Shuhan's emotional intelligence is not low, and he understands very well that if he goes through open channels, then the lack of military salaries in the Longyou region will never be able to make up for it!

There is always a way for the imperial court to delay, and it can be delayed until Ge Shuhan steps down as the military envoy of the Anren army, and he is still in arrears of military salaries! Therefore, since they can't go through conventional channels, they can only let some senior officials in the center of the imperial court think of ways to solve the problem locally.

That is, first make up the salaries of the Anren Army, and then talk about it, as for the other troops of Longyou, it is not under the jurisdiction of Ge Shuhan! At that time, it will already be benevolent and righteous to let Guan Chongsi mention it.

It's just that Ge Shuhan's idea is good, but he didn't expect that no one in the DPRK would buy his account at all! The Anren Army has 10,000 soldiers and 350 war horses, which is not small in terms of establishment, but it is not an elite trump card directly under the Tang Ting like the Chishui Army.

The Chishui Army has a strength of 33,000, 13,000 war horses, and privately keeps private horses, almost all cavalry or cavalry infantry! The soldiers of the Anren army are still passable, and the reason for the lack of horses is, of course, because of poverty!

Because it is poor, its strategic position is low, and it is just a bitter haha who is responsible for filling in the line at the forefront. However, an army with a high strategic position cannot be poor, and this is a relationship between the surface and the inside.

And in these years, the senior officials of the central court have not yet realized the benefits of colluding with the border generals in private!

Rebel, the time is too immature, it is still the Tang Dynasty, and the people's hearts are not on the side of the rebels.

Let's please Brother Ji, it seems that there is no need for the border army, so it is better to find a few girls to offer it.

If you want to support the border army Qiu Ba to take military exploits, now the Tang Dynasty and Tubo are still in a state of truce, and there is no place for a sword.

So now that the central courtiers are colluding with the border generals, they don't seem to see any obvious benefits except for being suspicious of Ji Ge and plotting against them.

Guan Chongsi went around Chang'an and visited the docks of Li Linfu, Li Shizhi and other prime ministers, but they were all closed, and those people seemed to know his origin and didn't even let him in.

Guan Chongsi went to the military department to ask for military salaries again, and was told that this matter must be taken care of by the Longyou branch envoy, but the Longyou branch envoy had actually informed the Anren military envoy Ge Shuhan that the imperial court had not allocated military salaries, so he also had no money in his hands.

If you don't have money in your hands, you can't send silk silk to the armies, which is obvious.

Both sides seem to make sense, they don't have any money, and then they kick each other's balls.

Guan Chongsi could only stare dryly from the sidelines, what else could he say? Even if you kill the officials of the Ministry of War and kill the envoy of the Longyou Branch, you won't be able to change the military salary!

Guan Chongsi held back the fire in Chang'an, and on the way back to Longyou, he heard a lot of bad things when he was eating at the Fenshui Station, and he was about to explode.

Now seeing a young man as strong as a black bear sitting opposite him, he pointed to the empty seat in the distance angrily and said: "Where is the hairy boy, flash and go coolly, don't delay Ye Ye to eat!" ”

Guan Chongsi said this when he saw Fang Chongyong's burly figure, if a thin person sat down like this, he would have slapped him a long time ago.

Qiu Ba likes to be happy and revenge, and they don't pay attention to any courtesy, righteousness and shame! Strangers don't have long eyes, so you can't blame them for being ruthless.

"You can think about it and say it again later, and so-and-so gives you this opportunity."

Fang Chongyong handed the waist card of "Supervising the Imperial History" to Guan Chongsi, and pushed the unique half-piece fish talisman made of gold to Guan Chongsi.

"What."

Guan Chongsi, who was a little drunk, picked up this one very casually and couldn't be more familiar with it on weekdays, the style is exactly the same as the Anren Army fish talisman, but the material is different and the fish talisman looked at it, and I saw that the flat back of the fish talisman was engraved with the five big characters of "Silver Gun Filial Piety Army".

There are also three small words "Xingqing Palace" on the side.

He was so frightened that he woke up in an instant!

The Silver Spear Filial Piety Army is the number, he hasn't heard of it, but who doesn't know what kind of place the Xingqing Palace in Chang'an is!

Guan Chongsi picked up the waist card with the same unusually familiar style and looked at it, and suddenly a bean-sized cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Supervise the Imperial History!

Guan Chongsi is a close confidant of Ge Shuhan, he is not a grassroots leader, and he doesn't even know a few words. Guan Chongsi knows very well that the person with the fish talisman is only a fictitious duty to supervise the imperial history, and it must be accompanied by a very good real job.

If you contact the unheard name of "Silver Gun Filial Piety Army" and the station of "Xingqing Palace", then the answer is very clear.

The one in front of him is the general of the forbidden army beside the emperor, and he is even very big!

"Uh......"

Guan Chongsi was speechless for a while, he drank too much just now, but he said that the Tubo people came and the Anren army was going to run away, did the other party hear this, or did he pretend not to hear it?

"Haven't you thought about it yet? Brother Tai drank a little too much. ”

Fang Chongyong smiled and took out an official notice from his cuffs and handed it to Guan Chonghe.

"Hexi and Longyou's military envoy?"

Guan Chongsi's eyes widened, with an incredulous look, and his hand holding the official notice was trembling.

"Alas! Damn it, damn it! actually collided with Shangguan, this wine is really a mistake! Something damn it! ”

Guan Chongsi didn't think about it, and directly began to slap himself.

Fang Chongyong waited like this for Guan Chongsi to slap himself five or six times, and then raised his hand lightly and said, "It's okay, you talk about business now." ”

After speaking, he put away the golden fish talisman, waist card, and official body notice in front of Guan Chonghe, and looked at the other party with burning eyes.

Although Fang Chongyong didn't say a word of reprimand, his official authority was already fully displayed, so that Guan Chongsi didn't dare to look at it directly.

"Alas, the border army is bitter!"

Guan Chongsi sighed lightly and said.

"A certain has been a assassin in Shazhou for four years, and he has also led troops to fight, so you don't have to talk nonsense, hurry up."

Fang Chongyong said indifferently, signaling Guan Chongsi to save those emotional foreshadowings and get straight to the topic.

"The winter clothes of the People's Army are owed for two years, and the fabrics of the spring clothes are not enough.

Of the armies under the Longyou Jiedu Envoy, only the Lintao Army was issued in full, and the other armies were in arrears.

This time, he was entrusted by the military envoy of Geshuhan and Geshu to go to Chang'an to seek a way. ”

Guan Chongsi said in a low voice.

Ge Shuhan's operation belongs to the gray area of the imperial court's law, and if no one reports it, he will quietly do it under the table.

Now there are many military leaders in the Tang Border Army who have similar thoughts, but if they say it in public, they will die directly.

"The army on the right side of Long is a place where the elite of the world gathers, and it will be in arrears of winter clothes?"

Fang Chongyong asked in disbelief.

"General Huifang, what you said was four or five years ago, when the Longyou Jiedu envoy did have enough soldiers and food.

But since the truce between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, Longyou's armaments have been slackened, and it is not uncommon for spring and winter clothes to be in arrears, and the Momen army almost ran out of food last winter.

Without war, there is no reward. Now there is a lot of shortage of troops in Longyou, and it is okay not to mention what it is for. ”

Guan Chongsi sighed lightly and said.

In fact, in the account books of the Ministry of War, the Tang Army is neatly staffed and will not be "short of staff". So what does the "missing editor" in Guan Chongsi's mouth mean?

That is naturally talking about empty salary, that is, there is information about a certain person in the account books of the military department, and there is a "verification" every year to confirm that this person is in the army.

But in fact, all the information of this person is compiled, and it does not exist as a "combat entity", perhaps it is just a tenant in the Longyou area, and in short, it is not in the army.

And the money for raising soldiers went into the pockets of the chief officer and adjutant of the troops.

This is a top-down "industrial chain", the military department has their people, and the festival makes a good idea, whether he takes it or not, it will not squeak, and the military envoys are even more confused with a clear understanding, and everyone has a share.

In the feudal era, if the border army of any country has not fought for many years, then it will become natural to eat empty salaries. Obviously, however, the conscription system is more operable than the government military system in terms of empty salaries.

After all, the government soldiers all bring household registration that can be checked, and sending someone to ask the state and county where they are registered can distinguish the authenticity. And the recruits come from a wide range of sources, many of them are one person who feeds the whole family and is not hungry, the origin is unknown, and even many of them are wanted criminals everywhere!

It would be much more convenient to eat the empty salary of the recruits.

If the imperial court did not examine it carefully, it would be difficult to see that there was anything wrong with the account books alone.

Anyway, the Tibetan people didn't call, so what does it matter if they eat empty salaries? Before the thunderstorm, Brother Ji would never know how big the problem was in the border town!

In Fang Chongyong's view, the speed of the collapse of the recruitment system is really too fast.

What Fang Chongyong didn't know was that the one-stop smuggling trade in Hexi was, to a certain extent, made the armies under the command of Hexi Jiedu get rid of the supply control of the imperial court to a certain extent.

Of course, there are also disadvantages, that is, Ji Ge and the imperial court underestimated the amount of wealth needed by many border towns with insufficient hematopoietic ability.

Directly affected were the armies under the command of the Longyou Jiedu envoy.

Now Du Hope's approach is to ensure that the absolute main force of Longyou's Lintao army is not short of grain, salary, or establishment; We will strive to ensure that all the troops under our command do not lack a bite to eat, and try to have silk silk that can be used as military salaries every year.

That's all there is to it.

"Tomorrow morning, you will wait for us in the courtyard of the water dividing post. The issue of the military salary of the People's Army is on the officer. Remember, you must come tomorrow, and you will not wait until the time is over. ”

Fang Chongyong didn't wait for Chongsi to reply, and walked directly in the direction of the wing room provided by the post station.

When he passed by the table, he saw Pei Xiu looking at him intently, so he asked with a puzzled face, "The meal is almost over, do you want to spend the night in the dining room?" ”

"What were you talking about, it seems like ......"

Pei Xiu was a little incoherent for a while. The strong man just now was extremely fierce, why did Fang Chongyong sit for a while, and the other party was as honest as a sheep?

Pei Xiu was far away, and she didn't hear what Fang Chongyong said to Guan Chongsi, she only saw Guan Chongsi's face being extremely respectful later, as if he had changed someone.

"With your wisdom, it's hard for me to explain to you, if you have a chance to eat more brains, maybe you can save it."

Fang Chongyong sighed lightly and spread his hands to show that he had nothing to say. Did he tell Pei Xiu about the empty salaries of the Longyou army and the arrears of military salaries in the imperial court?

What's the point?

"Huh?"

When Pei Xiu was stunned, Fang Chongyong had already walked away. He Qichang and the others also packed up the food on the table, and after packing it, they followed Fang Chongyong away.

"I'm!"

Pei Xiu found that his intelligence was crushed, so he stomped his feet in anger and left the dining room after everyone.

(End of chapter)