Nanming Engineer

Chapter 318

Wang Huan couldn't help but smiled and said: "The Mongols have blown the wind on the grassland for so many years, and the grandeur of the Great Yuan has long been blown away by the strong wind, and the only thing left is profit. Eastern captives want them to pay tribute every year. These The descendants of Genghis Khan will inevitably have complaints, and selling us some war horses can relieve hatred and make money, so why not do it?"

Mi Layin took off the wide-brimmed military cap on his head, patted it on his thigh to disperse the sand on it, and said with a little regret: "However, the drought in Shaanxi these years has made life difficult on the grasslands. The Mongols The quality of the horses is getting worse year after year, and the price is ridiculously high, a horse with a slightly better tooth will cost 20 taels of silver."

"Money doesn't matter. I heard that the year before last, Li Zicheng bought horses from them for 30 taels a horse. They were willing to drop it to 20 taels. It should be that the Ming Dynasty was driven to the south in the past two years, and the business road was blocked by the eastern captives. Li Zicheng lost his position and died, and no one cares about the horses, so he lowered the price." Wang Huan stared intently at the ground cracked by the sun, shook his head and said, "Gansu is so depressed, the lives of the people must be miserable, Mr. Mi , can the food delivered this month be distributed?"

Mi Layin's face turned serious, he put on his wide-brimmed hat, and cupped his hands to Wang Huan, saying, "My lord, thank you, the one hundred thousand shi of grain that was brought from Sichuan has already been transported to Ganzhou ten days ago, the general will not dare to neglect, it has already been all After distributing it, the common people said, how many years have the imperial court called for disaster relief every year, but they have never seen relief food being distributed. Lord Wang came, and for the first time, there was food in his hands. Said that the adults are good officials and living Bodhisattvas."

After a pause, he added: "The distribution of these grains is actually done by the local county magistrate appointed by Mr. Meng Zhiyu and Meng. The son under the command of the last general is only responsible for the escort and has not reached out."

Wang Huan looked at his earnest appearance, and knew that he was afraid of his own superstition. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, a town general was a local tyrant. It turned out that the Ming court's pattern of dividing the army from the people and civil officials governing the civil affairs had long since ceased to exist. This kind of disaster relief food has long been in the pockets of warlords, so there is no share for the common people. As a military town of the Ming Dynasty, Mi Layin is no exception.

But Mi Layin didn't dare to take advantage of the food and grass that Wang Huan sent. He had seen Wang Huan's methods before. It touched his bottom line, and the implementation of the Kuizhou Army's military law was really disrespectful.Secondly, the people in Gansu have suffered a lot these years. Mi Layin is a local, haha, he was born as a big soldier, and he has worked so hard to get to where he is today. He is not as black-hearted as ordinary generals of the Ming Dynasty. Suffering, can't bear to be greedy for ink and relief food.

"That's good, under your command, after these few days of streamlining and selection, how many people are left?" Wang Huan said indifferently, since Mi Layin knows the importance, there is no need to beat.

"According to your lord's general order, the last general will remove the vacancies and weed out the old and the weak. Only the strong, old and dull will be picked up, and the rest will be sent home. A total of 400 soldiers will be obtained." Mi Layin searched in his head. After some figures, he opened his mouth and answered: "Originally, Gansu Town was one of the nine borders. In the Hongguang Dynasty, there were five general soldiers, 13 generals, 20 guerrillas, and a total of [-] soldiers. After such a streamlining, It has shrunk a lot."

While speaking, Mi Layin had a regretful expression on his face, as if it was extremely regrettable that the number of troops at hand had suddenly decreased so much.

Wang Huan looked into his eyes and asked, "The troop strength has been reduced by half, does General Mi think it is a good thing or a bad thing?"

Mi Layin's body was shocked, and he felt his hair trembling when he saw it. He hurriedly said: "Of course it's a good thing, very good! Under your command, Fenglin Huoshan's four camps are only more than 1 people, but they can The Tartars, who were several times the size of their own body, were beaten to the ground, and the general was deeply regretful. From this, it can be seen that soldiers are more expensive than elites. Back then, there were thieves all over Shaanxi, and the number was around [-] at every turn. Sun Chuanting's Qin The army and Hong Chengchou's Hong army are both less than ten thousand strong, but they are invincible throughout the bandit army, and the bandit chieftains are in a hurry like running dogs, and they can't avoid it. It is wise to reduce the number of troops, my lord!"

Wang Huan looked at him for a while, then looked away, and said softly: "You can think clearly, of course it's great. My Kuizhou army has formed an army, and it's just a fine word. If there are too many, it will waste food and money! Your men and horses In the future, the Kuizhou army will guarantee the supply of food and salaries, and we can no longer ask the local government for money and food. If after a few battles, the combat effectiveness can meet my requirements, the monthly salary of the soldiers can be the same as that of the Kuizhou soldiers. Now, let's pay half the salary."

When Mi Layin heard this, he thought about it for a while, and then his brows became happy, and he cupped his hands again and said with a smile: "That's it, thank you sir!"

This is a good thing. According to the military system of the Hongguang Dynasty, the salary of the soldiers in Gansu Town is only twelve dou of brown rice a year for the infantry, and 24 dou for the horse army. The situation of Maofa Gengyin is very common, even if it is so, it is still cut off by the officers, and those who fall into their hands can't even make ends meet. This situation is an important reason for the low combat effectiveness of the army in the late Ming Dynasty.

As for the Kuizhou army, it is like living in heaven. The soldiers ride regardless of step, and their monthly salary is one tael of Kuizhou silver. Not in arrears, so Mi Layin immediately agreed without thinking.

This level of salary is more than what his personal army camp received, of course it is good.

"However, the payment of the salary is made by the people from the Kuizhou Army's Quartermaster Department. When the payment is made, the names are counted by head. If there is one less, you are the only one who asks." Wang Huan said again: "This is the rule, I hope you will be careful."

Mi Layin agreed again, he knew that since he took refuge in Wang Huan, he had to follow his rules, this young and mature uncle couldn't rub the sand in his eyes at all, he was shrewd and strong, so he didn't even think about playing tricks. The tricks of standing on the top of the mountain and entrusting the land to be the king in the army are considered very generous. As long as you fight bravely, you will get no less money than you used to get by exploiting the blood of soldiers.

While talking, the two turned off the official road, drove into a small road, turned a few more turns, and saw a Zhuangzi's earthen wall in a valley surrounded by several hills.

The earth wall is very high, and there is a moat in the hopeful building. It seems that the precautionary measures are very strict. When the cavalry approached, they could hear the sound of the gong on the watchtower from a long distance away. People in the village shouted, and many figures shook on the earth wall. , He who carries a gun and a stick is like facing a powerful enemy.

Two of Mi Layin's subordinates rode closer and spoke to the people on the wall. The people in the village also saw Wang Huan's banner. On the suspension bridge, the people inside came out beating gongs and drums, and there was an excited and joyful voice: "It is Mr. Wang, the General Soldier of Sichuan and Shaanxi Province, come out and greet everyone!".

Wang Huan and others rode their horses into the village, and found that all the people in the village were Muslims. The older people even kowtowed in tears, just to thank Wang Huan for his kindness in sending the food. When the food was distributed, the local officials had told them that the food was given by Mr. Wang, the General Soldier of Sichuan and Shaanxi Province. Silver is bought for everyone.

Mi Layin and other local generals stood aside in embarrassment. Such a grand welcome scene seemed to be nothing to them.

One of Mi Layin's personal generals murmured dissatisfiedly: "What's the matter? My general is the landlord of this place, and an outsider is still so arrogant."

He spoke in a low voice, but was heard by Mi Layin, the big man of the Hui nationality immediately stared at the attendant with a bull's eye, and waved his hand to slap the attendant, making the attendant turn around in a circle.

"What do you know? If you talk nonsense again, I will cut off your head!" Mi Layin roared in a low voice. He wanted to kick again, but he was afraid that Wang Huan would pay attention, so he had to suppress it: "He who wins the hearts of the people wins the world!" , Our future future depends entirely on Mr. Wang, if you offend Mr. Wang, I will be the first to spare you!"

The follower was silent like a cicada, and stepped back with his hands on his cheeks. Mi Layin turned his head angrily, turned his face into a smile, and happily stepped forward to accompany Wang Huan, like a follower, following Wang Huan step by step.

……

Eight days later, twenty miles outside Jiayuguan, in a long-abandoned earth fortress of the Ming army, there was a relatively complete earth house. It was probably the house of the Ming army commander who guarded the place. It was built with wood as pillars and rammed loess. , sturdy and reliable, although the wind and sand outside the Great Wall is sudden, it can still provide people with a place to rest.

Inside and outside the castle, two people with obviously different clothes and armors were standing on both sides, each guarding an exit. The appearance of the knife facing each other.

In the earthen room, there is a faint fragrance of tea. A small earthen teapot is steaming on a charcoal stove. From a point of view, cooking is a good time to taste.

Wang Huan stretched out one hand, took two rough porcelain teacups from a tattered low table beside him, picked up the teapot, and poured two cups of tea.

He drank one cup himself, and handed the other cup to a big man sitting opposite him who was staring at him.

The big man has a broad face and forehead, slender eyes and high cheekbones. The characteristics of the Mongolian are very obvious.

"Bentar Khan, please drink a cup of tea to relieve fatigue and get rid of the heat." Wang Huan said with a smile: "We Han people have an old saying that food is the first priority in everything. Drink saliva and talk about business before it's too late."

The Mongolian man hesitated for a moment, rolled his eyes to look at Wang Huan, then looked at the teacup, finally took the teacup, made a gesture of respect, and drank it down.

"You Han people just know how to enjoy it. This tea is much better than the brick tea we drink." He smashed his mouth, touched his chin and said, "Master Wang, you are the first general of the Ming Dynasty to invite me to drink tea. Not the last Ming Dynasty official who invited me to drink tea."

"Oh? How do you say that?" Wang Huan didn't care at all, and refilled Bentar's glass with a smile.

"Isn't this obvious?" Bentar Khan of the Zasak branch of the Mongolian Khalkha tribe squinted his already slender eyes, as if there were two lines growing under his eyebrows: "Your emperor was killed by the Qing Dynasty Several people have died, guarding the southern point, which is not as vast as our grassland. Your situation, in the words of our grassland, is like an eagle in captivity. No matter how powerful its wings are, it cannot fly into the sky."

Wang Huan smiled, took a sip of tea, and said: "Bentar Khan, you are wrong, we are not eagles, we are lions, and no one can imprison us."
(End of this chapter)