Chongzhen chat group.

Chapter 306 Difficulties in Paying Pay

Originally, Emperor Chongzhen thought that it would be easy to pay as much as there was a shortage of wages.Unexpectedly, in the end, it was Bi Ziyan, Minister of the Ministry of Households, and Shen Yongmao, Minister of War, who filed an imperial lawsuit for this, which made him realize that the things inside were very complicated.

At the beginning of the incident, it was Shen Yongmao, Minister of the Ministry of War, who impeached Bi Zi, Minister of the Ministry of Households, to strictly withhold the military salary and not pay the arrears according to the book.When Emperor Chongzhen heard it, he was furious. Such a thing was worth it, and he immediately sent an order to the Minister of the Household Department to see him.

In fact, Bi Ziyan had already been mentally prepared. When he saw Emperor Chongzhen, he immediately impeached the Minister of the Ministry of War and said: "Your Majesty, the military yellow book kept by the Ministry of War was only verified during the reign of Tianqi. Nowadays, wars are frequent, and soldiers are often killed or injured. If The military salary is also reissued according to the military yellow book, and the minister impeached the Minister of the Ministry of War to eat up the salary!"

"Your Majesty, I also impeach the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs for withholding military pay!" Shen Yongmao followed suit, refusing to give in at all.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he knew that he wanted to be simple.He didn't come to a conclusion right away, he just frowned and thought about it for a while before he said to Shen Yongmao: "Shen Qing, Bi Qing sounds reasonable. Of course, I don't believe that Shen Qing will pay nothing. Why, can you explain one or two?"

In fact, there is definitely something about eating empty pay.Emperor Chongzhen also knew this, but he really didn't believe it. It would be too courageous for the Shangshu of the Ministry of War to dare to come to pay for nothing.

After hearing this, Shen Yongmao bowed gratefully, then straightened up and played: "Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty has a vast land, with millions of soldiers. It is impossible to make the military yellow book the same as it actually is." Things. It has always been done according to the military yellow book as evidence. Now if we conduct another nationwide verification of the Qing army, after the number is reported, I estimate that the household department will have no money left!"

After he finished speaking, he was a little puzzled.Ordinarily, Bi Ziyan, who he knew well, would not have been so uncooperative before.The imperial court said that it would pay the salary, and the Ministry of War went to collect it.I just don't know why Bi Ziyan was so fussy this time.

Emperor Chongzhen understood what he meant and felt a little speechless.This Shen Yongmao saw that the Ministry of Household Affairs had money now, so he asked for it quickly, for fear that he would not be able to get the money in the future.

Thinking of this, he looked at Bi Ziyan, but he hadn't decided what to say.But he was misunderstood by Bi Ziyan, and he immediately said solemnly: "Your Majesty, this reason is ridiculous! The minister in charge of the household department should also be responsible for the treasury and your Majesty!"

Others may not be able to understand his persistence, but in fact, he has suffered enough from the lack of money in the household department.Think about it, this one asks him for money, but he has no money; that one asks him for money, but he has no money;

After becoming Minister of the Household Department, the lack of money even became his nightmare.His brother Bi Zisu, the governor of Liaodong, died because of lack of money.If anyone in Ming Dynasty was most afraid of hearing the word money, it might not be the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, but the Minister of the Household Department.

Now, the household department finally has money.Bi Ziyan was afraid of being poor, so he naturally cherished the money he had now.Whoever wants to take the money out of his hands, he has to weigh it carefully.

In the old days, the Ministry of Households had no money anyway, and your Ministry of War would come over with an official document and say how much you still owe.He just has an attitude, do whatever you want, anyway, I have no money.But it's different now, when you come here with an official document, he knows that there must be a waste of money here, so he won't do it.

After hearing Bi Ziyan's answer, Emperor Chongzhen felt that what he said was reasonable, so he also nodded, and then looked at the Minister of the Ministry of War.

When Shen Yongmao saw it, it seemed that the emperor was moved by the Shangshu of the Ministry of Household Affairs, so he became anxious, and hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, if the Qing army at this time involves the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the local officials' guards at all levels, don't talk about spending money." How long does it take to get a result, just the military yellow book after it was finally submitted to the Qing army, it may not be conclusive! Anyway, it will not be accurate sooner or later, it is better to pay part of the owed salary first! "

He knew that the emperor was very concerned about the arrears of payment. At the court meeting at the end of last year, he even emphasized the danger of arrears of payment.In addition, I was afraid that the money in the Ministry of Households would run out, so my words sounded like a rascal!

After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen was a little confused.After all, the Chongzhen Emperor in this life suddenly became the emperor from the vassal king. It is naturally impossible to understand the military system of the Qing army, and it is even more impossible for him in future generations to know.Therefore, he didn't understand, how many twists and turns are there?

If he doesn't understand the situation, he won't be able to make a correct decision.In desperation, he had no choice but to let the two ministers go back and wait for him to make up his homework.

It took Emperor Chongzhen a whole day to understand the inside story.Speaking of which, it was another pot left by the founding emperor of Ming Dynasty.

It’s a bit long to say, but to make it short, Zhu Yuanzhang followed the example of the Yuan Dynasty in implementing hereditary military households to avoid the worry of separatist regimes based on the lessons learned by the generals that Zhu Yuanzhang recruited too many soldiers in the Tang Dynasty, which led to armed separatism and threatened the central government.

But after doing this, hereditary military households have been fleeing since the founding of the country.There are mainly four reasons.

One is the well-known low status of military households, which is mainly manifested in the fact that military households must have five or more members to be allowed to be full officials.However, even if there are only two households in a private household, as long as they can read and write, they can enter the refill; in addition, personal freedom is also restricted, they cannot pass through the house, they are not allowed to marry at will, they are not allowed to learn to sing, they are not allowed to play chess and Shuanglu, they are not allowed to do business, and they are not allowed to do business casually. get married and so on.If it is a crime, it is an extra crime compared to a private household.

Second, military households have heavy taxes and additional burdens.Every military household must have one person as the main soldier, and another person to follow as the remaining soldiers, that is, the kind of underdogs. If the main soldiers are gone, they will be replaced.In addition, another successor must be prepared, which is also used as a second hand to supply the regular soldiers and serve as a substitute.That is to say, at least 3 strong men in a family were abolished.

Although military households are exempted from tax and service, only some "miscellaneous service" are really exempted.For example, the servants of Lijia, Junyu, etc. cannot be reduced or exempted, and they must also bear the same errands as Minding.

Third, the basic living conditions of Zhengjun and Yu Ding cannot be guaranteed.Although Zhengjun and Yu Ding have six buckets of monthly food in the camp.But the wife and children need to make ends meet, and the monthly rations are either deducted by officers, refused to pay due to arrears, or paid due to discounted money, etc., which are often not enough to support them.

Fourth, sergeants are not allowed to serve in the army in their native places, but they have to go from north to south to prepare for the hardships of acclimatization, and there are many deaths.

For such a bitter thing, fleeing is inevitable, which is why the Ming army can't always be full.It can be said that the matter of eating empty pay came naturally.

Of course, in the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, this situation was already recognized and measures were taken. This is the Qing army.

(End of this chapter)