The problem of unpaid military salaries has existed since ancient times.

In fact, not only will this situation occur in the Beijing army, but it will also be difficult for the border army to pay military salaries in full and in a timely manner, and the Ruishi battalion under the command of Lu Shen is only a special case after all.

It's not that Xiao Wangzhi or Li Tianrun also have the bad habit of drinking soldiers' blood, it's just that the imperial court is not so active in the matter of allocating salaries and silver, if it weren't for Xue Nanting personally raising food and grass and military salaries under great pressure last year, and Li Daoyan, the left minister, did not interfere too much and gave some support, the Huaizhou Governor's Mansion might not be able to prepare for the Northern Expedition.

What is in front of Lu Shen is such a real problem.

If he wants to hold these three Beijing troops in the palm of his hand and transform them according to his expectations, the first thing to solve is the arrears of salaries for the soldiers.

In this world, there has never been a thing where tens of thousands of people worship as soon as the spirit of the king is released, and in the final analysis, it is all about profit.

If Lu Shen could easily solve the difficulties of the soldiers, then they would not be forcing the palace at this moment, but cheering and worshiping from the bottom of their hearts.

Vice versa.

Of course, the situation suddenly developed to such a fierce point, there must be someone secretly fueling the trouble, and Lu Shen knew this.

When Le Minghong was secretly proud, he bumped into the deep eyes that Lu Shen had seen.

He couldn't help but hurriedly alert himself, and then stepped forward and said sincerely: "General, why don't you take us back to the capital, first go to Guo Shumi and then find Le Shangshu, maybe you can ask for the silver, so that you can also give an explanation to the soldiers." ”

Zuo Yushan wanted to laugh in his heart, and was a little curious whether Lu Shen would believe these words.

If it is so easy to ask for money, wouldn't those old men in Beijing become Buddhas?

If this young prince really believed in Le Minghong's words, there was no doubt that he would be deflated in the Privy Council and the Household Yamen, could he still have the courage to wash the Household Yamen with blood?

Yan Bing, who was standing on the other side, had the heart to remind Lu Shen, but he had been sternly warned by Le Minghong with his eyes just now, and he could only say nothing at the moment.

Lu Shen didn't immediately reply to Le Minghong's proposal, he just looked at the commander calmly.

These people think that he is a young man who is ignorant of officialdom, but they don't know that he is a human being in two lives, even if he has never eaten pork, he has seen pigs run, and he knows the ability of those old bureaucrats to pass the buck.

Hubu Shangshu Le Qinyi and the Le Minghong in front of him are also from Xingshan Lejia, and even this relationship can't make Le Qinyi loosen his mouth, so it can be seen that the arrears of military salaries in Beijing are not Le Qinyi's decision alone.

There are two problems involved, one of which is that the imperial court has been unable to make ends meet in the past two years, and the treasury has gradually dried up, and it is indeed impossible to come up with enough silver.

The second is that some people are secretly trying to use this method to arouse the dissatisfaction of the soldiers of the Beijing army, so as to force the upper echelons of the imperial court to revise the national policy, appropriately reduce the support for the border army, and transfer some resources to the Beijing army, which is essentially a matter of the distribution of the cake.

The tax revenue of the imperial court is relatively fixed, and if it still increases its support for the border army as it did in the previous two years, it will inevitably need to tighten expenditures in other aspects, such as the salary of the Beijing army, such as the salary of the imperial court officials, such as the relief of disaster victims and the support of people's livelihood.

Lu Shen thought about these issues very thoroughly, so he said to Le Minghong: "General Le, don't be so troublesome. ”

Le Minghong was puzzled, and Zuo Yushan and Yan Bing were also at a loss.

A moment later, a muffled thunderclap rang out in the west of the land.

The next moment, from Le Minghong and other commanders to Luo Lelin and other middle-level generals, to more than 30,000 soldiers on the school field, all of them suddenly changed color.

Seeing the dust and smoke billowing out, two thousand cavalry galloped unhindered, rushed straight into the camp of the Zhenwei army, and then split into two and galloped towards both sides of the school field.

It was the two thousand horsemen that Lu Shen brought back from the frontier.

This cavalry came from the Ruishi battalion, and a considerable part of them followed Lu Shen to fight with the Yanjing coalition army outside Guangling City, which can be called the elite of the elite.

At this moment, they were all dressed in murderous aura, and their crotches were all high-headed horses that were constantly neighing, and the terrifying impact of this imminent moment alone made the soldiers of the Beijing army chill.

Although there were only 2,000 cavalry, the more than 30,000 people on the school field did not have the courage to confront them.

Seeing these fierce cavalry rushing from both sides, surrounding the three Beijing armies in the middle, Le Minghong couldn't help but have a ridiculous thought in his heart - this general didn't want to treat them as enemies, right?

"General, rest your anger!"

Le Minghong stepped forward to admonish, and so did Zuo Yushan and Yan Bing.

Lu Shen looked at them with a strange expression, and said lightly: "Why is Ben Hou angry? ”

The three of them were stunned at the same time, and then saw Lu Shen walk to the edge of the high platform and said to the soldiers below: "Actually, before Ben Hou came to the parade today, he already knew that you were owed three months' salary, this is not a top secret thing, and there are records in the Nanya. ”

Hearing this, the school field finally fell completely silent, perhaps another reason was that the momentum of the cavalry was really bluffing.

Lu Shen continued: "Ben Hou knows that it is not easy for soldiers to support their families, and this salary is even the only income in the families of some soldiers, so Ben Hou specially explained this matter to His Majesty. His Majesty said that both the Beijing army and the border army are good sons and daughters of Daqi, how can they make everyone shed blood and tears? ”

As soon as the last five words came out, many of the big-headed soldiers on the school field were stunned on the spot.

Lu Shen said sincerely: "Soldiers, the imperial court has indeed been in trouble recently, but Your Majesty does not want everyone to suffer, so he asked the Hubu Shangshu to squeeze out some money and silver, and took out a sum of silver from the palace treasury, which was not rich, to make up for everyone's three months' salary, and let Benhou bring it over today and send it to you on the spot!" ”

Le Minghong, who was standing in the back, turned slightly pale.

There was silence between heaven and earth, only the summer wind whistled by.

"Long live Your Majesty! Banzai! Hooray! ”

I don't know who led the shouting, and then most of the Beijing soldiers and soldiers shouted sincerely.

"Someone, bring me the money!"

Lu Shen raised his tone and resounded all around.

Only then did everyone notice that there were two large carts behind the two thousand cavalry, on which several boxes were placed.

The cart came to the front of the point, and as the driver opened several of the boxes, the silver taels of white flowers appeared in front of everyone's eyes.

"Wow-"

Although only the soldiers in front could see the silver in the chest, the exclamations swept through the audience like a tidal wave.

Lu Shen said in a timely manner: "Soldiers, there has always been a rule under the command of Ben Hou, the salary must be paid in full, and no one is allowed to deduct a penny. Ben Hou didn't care what other armies did, but under Ben Hou's command, no one was allowed to drink the blood of soldiers. If anyone dares to stretch out his hand, Benhou will cut off your hands! ”

Before the words landed, the two thousand cavalry around them shouted in unison: "Kill! ”

It is impossible to describe the mood of the soldiers and soldiers in Beijing at this moment, and the low-level soldiers who occupy the absolute majority look at the young marquis on the platform, and at this moment they only feel that the figure is extremely tall.

Lu Shen continued: "From now on, everyone will receive these three months' salaries in turn according to the order of the army, regiment, and battalion, and Ben Hou is here to watch, if anyone wants to try military law, let Ben Hou see it!" ”

Even though some people suspected that Lu Shen was a verbal promise of Hui without Fei, they had nothing to say after hearing these words.

The school field was lively, and the three Beijing armies began to pay the arrears of military salaries on the spot according to their respective subordinates.

Every soldier who received the salary felt a little unbelievable, because this was the first time they had received a full salary since joining the army. They held the silver in the palm of their hands, or put it on their bodies, feeling the heavy weight, and looked at the young prince on the platform again, and their eyes unconsciously added a little respect.

Whether it is Le Minghong and others, or those middle-level generals who were born in the Jiangnan clan, even if they know that this is Lu Shen's way to buy people's hearts, no one dares to say half a word openly.

If you really want to say that, even if Lu Shen doesn't say a word, the group of bitter people with his support can tear up the people who prevent them from receiving the silver on the spot.

The payment of military pay continued for a long time, and it was not until noon that it was about to end.

Lu Shen had been standing on the edge of the high platform, calmly watching the chaotic and lively scene below, until the last soldier received the silver that belonged to him, he took a light breath and said loudly: "Soldiers, as long as Ben Hou is still a general and is in charge of you for a day, your salary will be paid in full and in time, and no one can snatch away the silver that belongs to you!" ”

"If Ben Hou breaks his promise one day, you can no longer trust me, a general, no matter what I say, you can be treated as bullshit!"

Categorical and loud.

More than 30,000 soldiers on the school field were stunned, and then shouted with gratitude and emotion: "General Xie! I am willing to die for the general! ”

Maybe in the arduous training in the future and in the tragic battles in the future, they will also have resentment towards Lu Shen, but at least at this moment, in front of a high-ranking general who still treats them as people, the blood contained in this promise is no less than that of the border army.

Qin Zilong watched quietly, and only now did he slightly recognize the Jing soldiers below.

Lu Shen looked back at the three commanders, and finally his eyes fell on Le Minghong's face, and said lightly: "General Le, can you do what Benhou said and not deduct the salaries of the soldiers?" ”

Le Minghong suddenly felt a hint of mockery in the young man's eyes.

At this time, how could he not understand that Lu Shen had studied the situation of the three Beijing armies very deeply, and at the same time expected that the first meeting would not be peaceful, and calculated that they would make a fuss about the arrears of the soldiers' salaries, intending to use this matter to give Lu Shen a disadvantage, and then hit his prestige in the hearts of the soldiers.

However, Lu Shen has been in the army for nearly 20 years, what kind of trick has he not seen?

What's more, the contradiction between him and the Jiangnan clan has been put on the surface, and it is not normal for Le Minghong and others not to make trouble.

He only needs one move to easily resolve this problem, and at the same time, he openly buys the hearts of those low-level soldiers, and no one can find fault.

Le Minghong thought about these doorways clearly, a chill suddenly surged in his heart, and he said respectfully on his face: "Please rest assured that the general will definitely restrain himself and the generals below, and must abide by the rules set by the general." ”

The other two also hurriedly expressed their positions.

Lu Shen smiled slightly, and said: "This is very good, but there will be some unpleasant things in the future, and I hope that the three generals can continue to support Benhou." ”

Le Minghong's heart sank, and he said cautiously: "Please also ask the general to show it." ”

Lu Shen looked back at the two big cars below, and there was still a box on them that had not been opened.

He raised his eyes to look at the beaming soldiers of the Beijing army, and said loudly: "Ben Hou knows that there are indeed some problems in the Beijing army. Ben Hou doesn't like to procrastinate, so he took this opportunity today to settle accounts with some people. ”

As soon as these words came out, some of the generals on the school field obviously looked flustered.

The same is true of Le Minghong and others.

Lu Shen's eyes were slightly cold, and he said in an accentuated tone: "Bullying superiors and subordinates, greedy for military salaries, privately awarding military positions, and disregarding military discipline, don't think that no one knows what some of you are doing, it's not that the time has not come, and today you have to understand it clearly." ”

He paused slightly, and raised his hand to point to the last closed box in the cart.

"Open the box!"

(End of chapter)

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