Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 34: Rice

Duke of England Zhang Mao and Minister of War Xu Jin and others had also appeared here at this time.

Along the way, Xu Jin had been doubting whether His Majesty was really capable of providing rice subsidies to nearly 100,000 officers and soldiers in the capital, but when he arrived at the parade ground and saw the boxes of silver glittering under the clear sky, he was dumbfounded.

Xu Jin didn't expect that His Majesty was not only able to provide nearly 100,000 officers and soldiers in the capital with rice, but also that they were all paid in silver! Because there was no half stone of rice or cloth, pepper, etc. on the scene.

In the 18th year of Hongzhi, the monetary value of silver was very stable, and because there was no large influx of silver, silver had a large room for appreciation and was more valuable than grain. After all, as the world had been peaceful for a long time, the amount of cultivated land and the population increased, and grain production also increased, resulting in lower and lower grain prices. Therefore, distributing the full amount of rice salary in silver was undoubtedly the most acceptable way for officers and soldiers to accept it.

Guo Rong, a captain of the Warrior Battalion, and Liang Ze, the general flag bearer, saw the white silver in front of the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and their eyes lit up. Liang Ze even whispered excitedly: "Brother Rong, the Emperor is actually going to give us silver!"

Guo Rong also smiled and nodded. He had unconsciously developed a favorable impression of the Ming Emperor. He thought to himself, "This emperor is really a good emperor now. He not only compensates us for our rice allowance, but also gives us silver directly!"

Duke Yingguo Zhang Mao and other noble generals also smiled and praised him, "Your Majesty is indeed considerate of us military men. The cabinet and the Ministry of War cannot provide the salary, so Your Majesty is the one who provides it himself, and what he gets is real gold and silver. This is truly a great favor from the Emperor!"

At that time, Duke of Yingguo Zhang Mao and Minister of War Xu Jin all came to pay their respects to Zhu Houzhao, who ordered them to stand on his left and right.

It was the first time for Duke Yingguo Zhang Mao and Xu Jin to follow Zhu Houzhao and distribute rice to the soldiers in this way. They found it quite new and straightened their chests.

At this time, Zhu Houzhao, under the eager gaze of tens of thousands of soldiers, personally held a brass loudspeaker and shouted:
"My fellow soldiers, I am your emperor Zhu Houzhao, and I am also your only commander! I heard that the court has not distributed rice to you for three months. Now that the New Year is coming to an end and the weather is getting colder, many of you are already hungry and cold. I am wrong. You are my soldiers, and I should not let you suffer. Here, I apologize to you!"

After saying this, Zhu Houzhao clasped his hands together and bowed slightly. For a moment, the whole audience was silent, with everyone's face filled with horror.

Because no one expected that the Ming Emperor, whom they admired, would apologize to them for owing them the rice salary.

But at the same time, Zhu Houzhao's move also deeply moved the Minister of War Xu Jin, military officials and nobles on the stage, and tens of thousands of soldiers below the stage.

Even if Zhu Houzhao did not pay them rice salary and delayed the payment for a period of time, these officers and soldiers could still tolerate it.

However, Zhu Houzhao not only apologized but also paid the full amount of rice salary, or even an excess of it.

"But today I promise you that as long as my Ming Dynasty survives and I am still the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, your rice salary will never be in arrears again! Today, I will pay you the rice salary that I owe you, and I will pay you the full amount. I will even pay you an extra month's rice salary as a year-end bonus! From now on, at the end of each year, officers and soldiers at all levels in my Ming Dynasty will receive two rice salaries!"

Zhu Houzhao handed the brass megaphone to Liu Jin, and then told the Minister of War Xu Jin: "Start distributing it now!"

then.

The Minister of War Xu Jin led a group of officials to begin distributing the supplies according to the list. He first summoned the commanders of each camp and the eunuchs in charge of the camps to distribute them according to the camps.

The officers and soldiers below were all a little bewildered, but they were excited in their hearts, because they had just heard with their own ears that His Majesty the Emperor would pay their rice allowance in full and for an extra month, and that the rice allowance would even be paid in the form of silver.

You have to know that often the rice salary of Ming Dynasty officers and soldiers was not paid in full. It was common for their superiors to deduct a certain amount. Basically, the rice that was not deducted was not of full quality, but was either mixed with banknotes or pepper.

But now Zhu Houzhao is paying the full amount in silver and giving it for an extra month. These officers and soldiers all feel in their hearts that the new emperor is a truly good emperor.

I don't know who was the first to shout out in excitement: "Long live!", and then everyone followed suit. "Long live!"

"Long live!"

For a moment, the sound shook the world and the earth began to tremble.

The commanders of each camp and the eunuchs in charge of each camp also began to receive the silver one after another and distribute it to the officers such as centurions and hundred-householders under them, and then distributed it in turn.

With the emperor present, the officers could not embezzle.

The officers and soldiers present only saw the silver ingots being distributed one by one. They all had excited looks on their faces and couldn't help shouting "Long live the dragon".

The monthly salary of soldiers in the Ming Dynasty was basically between one and two dan of rice. Converted into the current grain price, it is about one tael of silver for two dan of grain. For four months of rice salary, each soldier could get two to four taels of silver, and officers naturally got more.

Therefore, after the salaries were paid, basically every officer and soldier had real silver in their hands.

Guo Rong was a centurion of the sixth rank, with an annual salary of 120 dan of rice. At this moment, he had 20 taels of silver in his hand. He suddenly felt a lot more energetic, and was secretly delighted that he finally didn't have to pawn his fine horse, and his family could have food to eat.

Liang Ze also held fifteen taels of silver, and instantly felt a lot more at ease.

The Minister of War Xu Jin couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and looked at Zhu Houzhao with gratitude. He was indeed very grateful to his Majesty the Emperor, because if Emperor Zhu Houzhao had not distributed the rice salary in time, he, the Minister of War, would probably have been dismissed from his post because he could not suppress the anger of the officers and soldiers for not having the rice salary.

Duke Yingguo Zhang Mao and other military officials also looked at Zhu Houzhao with great satisfaction, because they felt that the fact that His Majesty personally took out silver and distributed rice as salary showed that he had not forgotten them, the military men.

Zhu Houzhao could see that after the rice salary was distributed, the morale of officers and soldiers in the entire Ming capital had recovered a lot, and they began to show their sincere submission to him as their king.

Zhu Houzhao decided to strike while the iron was hot and inspire the morale of these Ming troops.

It was already evening, the sun was setting, and the soft golden sunlight just gathered on Zhu Houzhao. Zhu Houzhao asked loudly: "My soldiers, are you happy now?"

"Happy!"

Thousands of soldiers answered Zhu Houzhao's questions with shouts from the bottom of their hearts.

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(End of this chapter)