There was a huge helplessness behind Zhang Shengwen's words. Because the military garrison system was destroyed, the food and actual soldiers in various places were insufficient. It was good if there were about 60% of the soldiers like Kaifeng. However, many military officers, or most officers, would falsely report the number of people to receive air salary, and there were also some honest officials.

It’s not that they want to get air pay, but mainly that once the number of people they report is less than the regulations, the emperor will blame them for the reason: Why are the number of people in other garrisons full, but only you have fewer soldiers? It must be that you abused the soldiers, resulting in a decrease in soldiers!

So the fate left to them is to dismiss their posts or even convicts them.

However, Chongzhen has indeed discovered such a problem in recent years and has begun to allow every newly appointed commander of the garrison to report to the actual soldiers of the garrison. In this way, the blame is on the former, not the current.

However, even so, many officials are unwilling to report it in fact, because if they report it falsely, they can get an air salary. Although it is risky to do so, it has great benefits. The existing soldiers in a garrison office are less than half of the specified amount, and the extra salary will fall on their heads.

Such an amount is only much higher than the income of the prefect Gan.

Zhang Shengwen is one of the few officials who reported the status quo as soon as he took office. As a result, his ex was dealt with, and the Xuanwuwei received much less money. Afterwards, Zhang Shengwen also felt regretful. He was not regretting his righteousness at the beginning, but regretting that he failed to keep these money. Of course, he would not be greedy, but he could use that money to solve the material and equipment problem. Although this is very likely to be dealt with in the end, it is at least much better than watching him get beaten.

Fortunately, he was lucky. The first prefect he met could barely provide about half of his demand. When the new prefect Ma Mingfeng was in full, he actually met his needs and asked him to make new requests. Although it may not be able to meet them, this is something he had never heard of.

A local official with administration and justice as his main responsibilities actually attaches great importance to the treatment of the garrison. Looking at the entire Ming Dynasty, it is estimated that it will be difficult to encounter such an official.

Ma Mingfeng nodded after hearing this. He still knew a little about the current situation of the Ming Dynasty. He also believed that what Zhang Shengwen said was true. It was precisely because of this that he made the final decision.

Ma Mingfeng looked at Zhang Shengwen and said solemnly: "Mr. Commander, I can agree to these requests you made, but one thing is that I hope Commander can train these newly recruited soldiers strictly, and in addition to this, all guards must be trained strictly."

"This is natural." Zhang Shengwen felt a little unhappy when he heard this, because he felt that training sergeants was his own business, so how could he need the other party to remind him?

Ma Mingfeng naturally saw this scene. He patiently explained to Zhang Shengwen: "Master, the commander may not know why the subordinates support Xuanwuwei so strongly. The subordinates will make it clear here that no matter whether the thief army is defeated or defeated, they will definitely enter Henan. A big city like Luoyang and Kaifeng will definitely be the first to bear the brunt of it, so we don't have much time left. I guess at most it will be at the beginning of next year."

When Zhang Shengwen heard this, he said in shock: "What? At the beginning of next year? Brother Mingfeng, why are you so sure?"

Ma Mingfeng smiled bitterly and said, "In fact, this is not difficult to judge. Although Yangge's army is not weak, it is not good at coordinating the relationship between the generals under its command. Now the most dependable generals under Yangge's army are Zuo Liangyu and He Renlong. However, although these two generals are brave, they are also arrogant and have many conflicts with each other. Zheng Chongjian, who is the governor of Shaanxi's three-border military affairs, is also a slander. There will definitely be problems over time. So if the time is short, the contradiction may not be exposed, but over time, the contradiction will eventually break out."

After hearing this, Zhang Shengwen was a little disbelief and shook his head and said, "Although this makes sense, the government army has won one after another and is full of momentum. How long can Zhang Xianzhong last? Perhaps the thief Xian will be wiped out before the beginning of next year."

But Ma Mingfeng sneered and said, "The thief Xian is cunning. After defeat, he will never defend himself. He will definitely escape and kill Sichuan with empty troops. Sichuan is weak and unable to fight. Yangge tribe will inevitably chase him. In this way, the thief Xian tribe keeps running, and Yangge tribe is exhausted. In addition, the thief Yangge tribe is old. What is the final outcome? In addition, the thief is not easy to join. They will definitely use the Yangge tribe to fight against the thief Xian tribe to break into the Central Plains. At that time, wouldn't it be our disaster?"

Zhang Shengwen was shocked and couldn't say a sentence when he heard this. I have to say that Ma Mingfeng's analysis was too thorough. He felt that Ma Mingfeng's analysis was likely to come true.

When Ma Mingfeng saw the other party's expression, he knew he believed it, so he spoke: "I just hope that the commander and commander can take advantage of this winter to strengthen the training of the army, make various cities, and find ways to cast more artillery. Money is not a problem. Of course, the subordinates will also organize the personnel to make some equipment to assist the commander and commander."

Zhang Shengwen sighed, then said seriously: "Please rest assured, I will do my best to train soldiers, including recruited new recruits."

Ma Mingfeng nodded and said, "The officials also believe in the commander-in-chief. In order to deal with the situation, the officials also plan to recruit more Ding Zhuang and train them. I wonder if the commander-in-chief can send some teachers to train these Ding Zhuang at that time? The officials require that the training standards for these Ding Zhuang are exactly the same as those for the new guards."

After hearing this, Zhang Shengwen immediately said, "The magistrate is indeed far-sighted. To be honest, if the thief comes 20,000 to 30,000, it should be fine to resist with the 5,000 soldiers in my hands, but if the number of thieves is large, the problem will probably be difficult to deal with. The magistrate recruits Minzhuang and conducts strict training. This is equivalent to a new elite force to fight against the enemy. This definitely solves the big problem we face. The magistrate is helping me, how can I refuse your proposal? Therefore, there is absolutely no problem in sending teaching. At that time, I will definitely send excellent teachers to help train Minzhuang!"
Chapter completed!