There are seven or eight large poplar trees standing at the entrance of the village, with bright yellow leaves and lightly hanging poplar catkins. There is an old wooden boat in the small river at the entrance of the village, with rotten planks, gently swaying in the spring breeze. Two cuckoos are standing not far away.

On the branches, it kept shouting.

Xu Shijie stopped and said to everyone: "You are all ordinary people. You will live here for half a year for the time being. In the second half of the year, we will enter the military camp for training together, and then you will be divided into various armies."

Wang Zhongfu asked: "May I ask Taiwei, what are we doing here?"

Xu Shijie said: "I am your boss here, so you can't call me Taiwei. If others hear you, don't you laugh to death? During the half year of living here, in addition to daily training, I have to do some farm work on weekdays. This

The village is surrounded by good land and there are mulberry trees, so it is indeed a good place. But the fields are barren, the roads are damaged, and the houses have collapsed, so no one can live in it for a while. You have to clean up the village so that people can live in it."

Wang Zhongfu said: "Such a good Zhuangzi, how come there is no one left?"

Xu Shijie sighed: "A few years ago, the Jin Army's Wanyan Yinshu Ke went south. When they passed by this Zhuangzi, most of the villagers were killed, and the remaining small part was moved to the north. I don't know how many people can survive. Speaking of which,

It's a sad thing, so don't talk about it. As time goes by, you will slowly understand."

After a few more instructions, Xu Shijie led Wang Zhongfu and his party into Zhuangzi across a small bridge that was beginning to decay over the river. When they reached the entrance of the village, they saw an old man standing by the road, leaning on a cane and holding a

A bowl with a missing mouth. When he saw Xu Shijie approaching, he raised the bowl in his hand and kept signaling to Xu Shijie.

Xu Shijie stepped forward, took the bowl respectfully, and drank the wine in one gulp. Returning the bowl, Xu Shijie said: "Exceptor, these people are recruited from Guanzhong and will stay in your Zhuangzi for a few days. Wait until they enter the military camp.

, fight to the east of Hedong to avenge you."

The old man nodded repeatedly. Holding the bowl in his hand, he turned around and looked at everyone with kind eyes.

Saying goodbye to the old man, Xu Shijie led everyone into Zhuangzi. When he arrived at the center of Zhuangzi, he pointed to a large abandoned house and said: "This is the residence of the Gu staff. No one is allowed to enter without permission! Take a look at the houses around you.

Those who live there should move in temporarily. We will start cleaning up the house from tomorrow, and then we will clean up the fields and roads."

Wang Zhongfu said: "The Gu Yuanwai that Du Tou mentioned is the old man at the entrance of the village?"

Xu Shijie nodded: "Yes. He is the only living person in the village now. When Jin Jun came, a sword passed through his cheek. There were two scars on his face and his tongue was broken. He can't say anything now.

Words. It seems that Zhuangzi belongs to Gu Yuan's family, but now he is the only one living in the world. What's the use? Hearing that you are coming, Gu Yuanwai personally went to Xinye and was willing to dedicate Zhuangzi to let you live."

At this point, Xu Shijie said again: "You arrange your shifts. Every day, two people are required to go to the customer's house early in the morning, sweep the courtyard, and fetch water for him to cook. Remember, you have to have a good attitude and speak kindly. Which one is wrong?

, will definitely be severely punished!”

Everyone agreed. They turned their heads and saw the customer leaning against the big locust tree on the street, looking at them with a smile.

In the Xiangyang government office, Wang Xiaolie sat behind the table, drinking tea slowly. Next to him were Li Yanxian, Chen Zaidao, and next to him were Wang Ruohai, Chen Yuyi, Niu Gao and Shao Ling. Wang Ruohai introduced the latest battle. Finally

Said: "When entering Guanzhong this time, the armies recruited civilians, and 15,000 to 6,000 people were willing to follow us south and join the army. In addition, Wei Yi was killed in Guozhou, and his defeated rebel army also recruited

There are more than 10,000 people. Roughly speaking, more than 30,000 people have been recruited through various methods. Adding in Li Dutong's 20,000 people, we have more than 50,000 more soldiers."

Chen Zaidao couldn't help but shake his head after hearing this: "There are more than 50,000 people, plus our original more than 60,000 people, that's nearly 120,000 soldiers. It is not easy to raise so many soldiers in a mere eight states."

Wang Xiaolie put down his tea cup and asked: "We re-enumerated the households two years ago. How many households are there in the eight states now?"

Chen Zaidao said: "In the past two years, we have continued to recruit households, and with the northern people fleeing south, there are more households than during the Chongning period. There are about 130,000 households in Xiangyang Prefecture, 150,000 households in Dengzhou, and 150,000 households in Suizhou.

Both Hezhou and Yingzhou have about 40,000 households, and Tangzhou has about 100,000 households. There are many wars in Caizhou, and the number of households has decreased a lot, with only about 30,000 households. Xinyang has more than 10,000 households, and Ruzhou has about 50,000 households. All added up.

, 500,000 households have wonders.”

Wang Xiaolie said: "In this way, it is about five households raising one soldier. It is indeed not easy. At this level, raising soldiers is a huge burden for the local area. If the arrangement is not good, it can easily cause local unrest."

Chen Zaidao said: "Yes, it is too difficult to provide both food and money. Zhen Fu, how about reducing the salary of the soldiers? There was a surplus of rations last year, so there will be no shortage for a while. But there is really not enough money.

many."

Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "It's not very difficult, so we can't reduce the salary of the soldiers. How can we treat them badly when they fight with their heads high? Let's think of more ways to make as much money as possible. Also, attract more people from Hedong and Guanzhong to enrich the place.

.”

Li Yanxian asked: "Now that Dengzhou is raising troops, how much does it cost per soldier?"

Wang Xiaoxing said: "When soldiers join the army, they are given three hundred coins a month as pocket money. Food, clothing, housing and use are all provided by the army. Officers at all levels are paid in real money according to the salary set by the imperial court. No deductions or discounts are allowed.

branch."

Li Yanxian lowered his head and thought for a while and said: "In this way, the soldiers' money is less, and the officers' money is more."

Wang Xiaolie said: "Our army is different from other places. When soldiers join the army, they normally serve for five years. When they retire after five years, they will receive a reward of about 20 guan of gold. Of course, there is no reward yet.

When people retire from service, they do not need to pay this money. Their family members are in the local area, and they will receive preferential treatment in taxes, service, etc. Calculated in this way, three hundred cash a month is really their pocket money, which is not a small amount. As for the officers

, because we have to support a family, and it is not enough to have less money. Compared with other armies, no deductions or discounts are made, and real money is given out. It is indeed more money. But unless we win a battle, there will be a small amount of money in our army.

The reward is usually not available. Calculating it this way, it’s almost enough.”

Wang Ruohai said: "According to current calculations, it takes at least thirty guan to raise a soldier a year. If it is a war, there are fifty guan a year. If we count 120,000 people, it will cost 6 million guan a year.

Money is not easy."

Chen Zaidao said: "The total number of households is less than 600,000, so if we calculate it as 600,000 households, one household would cost ten guan."

Wang Xiaolie nodded and said nothing.

Li Yanxian smiled bitterly: "My Shaanzhou, Guozhou, Shangzhou and other places are all remote places. The land is barren and there are few households. We have a total of 20,000 soldiers. If we are like Dengzhou, how can we support 20,000 soldiers?

?”

Chen Zaidao just shook his head with a sad look on his face.

Wang Xiaolie said: "To be honest, with five households and one soldier, the burden is indeed heavy. But now that the Jin army is raging, it can't be done with fewer soldiers. We must pay attention to the difficulties and find solutions. I emphasize that the money should be provided by the government as much as possible.

The method is to strictly prohibit the distribution of science and technology to the people. In this era, people's lives are already very difficult, and we cannot increase their burden further. Even if we borrow money, we cannot increase taxes."

Chen Zaidao said: "In the past two years, six million Guan could be obtained by issuing Huizi. But most of the copper coins were collected in the official treasury. Without copper coins as capital, more Huizi could not be issued. Six million Guan, plus

It is really difficult to come up with official salaries."

Chen Yuyi said: "Collecting more money will only make it more difficult for the people, but it will not make them hungry. As long as we find a way to collect money from the people without increasing taxes, we should still be able to do it."

Wang Xiaolie shook his head: "What are you thinking of? As long as you collect money from the people, what is the difference between raising taxes? These days, I have repeatedly warned myself, no matter what difficulties I encounter, try not to be clever. For example, with Shaanzhou

To be honest, Li Dutong was not satisfied with the merger of the armies. What I said was too blunt and the conditions were very harsh. It can be said that the Dengzhou Army annexed the Shaanzhou Army. When Counselor Wang mentioned this matter, I said that we don’t do things recklessly.

Clever. Don’t I know that, to put it another way, Li Dutong wouldn’t be so unhappy? Don’t I know that if you take a moment to slow things down and don’t make things so urgent, the Shaanzhou Army will feel better? Why don’t you do it? Because if you do that, it will

It leaves behind future troubles. Once an army has factions, it will be divided. The longer this division lasts, the greater its impact will be, and it is difficult to eliminate."

Having said this, Wang Xiaolie looked at Li Yanxian and said: "Fortunately, Li Dutong understood the righteousness well and did not care about these things. The two armies merged smoothly. By the way, Li Dutong's doing this is a great contribution to our army."

, saving countless troubles. I am not a stingy person, I will keep this credit of Dutong in mind, and I will never let him down!"

"Hey -" Li Yanxian sighed. "Because of this matter, many generals are dissatisfied with me and feel that the Shaanzhou Army has suffered too much. However, I believe in Zhenfu's character and that you are dedicated to fighting against the Jin Dynasty. Why bother with this!

"

Wang Xiaolie nodded: "Yes. This matter can be accepted smoothly, which is beyond my expectation. Let me tell you clearly, we must have great wisdom in doing things in the future and don't rely on those little cleverness. If there are difficulties now, be afraid of them.

What? Difficulties are most feared by seriousness! As long as we think of ways and do things seriously, there is no difficulty that cannot be overcome! Take time for this matter, and stop people from the army from getting involved, and then think of ways. I believe that we will be able to think of it

Find a way! The eight states can support 120,000 soldiers!"

Chen Qiudao nodded and said nothing. Obviously, he had no idea about this matter in his heart.

According to Wang Xiaolie's previous thinking, raising one soldier for ten households would be relatively comfortable. It would not only allow the people to live and work in peace and contentment, but also have enough money to raise elite soldiers. But doubling the number, raising one soldier for five households, would affect the people.
Chapter completed!