"Uncle Guo, please tell me about other specific rectification matters of the Liaodong Army!"

Li Chengliang, who did not get any "benefits" from Wang Bing, finally chose to obey the imperial edict and cooperate with the rectification of the Liaodong Army.

"I said, Uncle Ning Yuan, that's right! Your Li family is now the third prince of the same family. Looking at it, how many people can compare with it in the entire Ming Dynasty?"

Seeing that Li Chengliang finally gave in, Wang Bing also changed his previous laziness, and the smile appeared on his face again.

"Uncle Guo is joking, a mere marquis is not worth mentioning in front of Uncle Guo, the champion prince!"

Facing the praise of Wang Bing, the 'winner', Li Chengliang, who was completely convinced, could only helplessly shake his head and smile bitterly.

…

"This is the specific rectification plan of the Liaodong Army. Uncle Ning Yuan should take a look at it for himself!"

After taking care of Li Chengliang, Wang Bing handed over a rectification plan that he had prepared long ago.

"Marquis Champion, using servants is actually..."

After receiving the rectification plan from Wang Bing, Li Chengliang discovered that the first item in the rectification plan was for the servants.

Speaking of which, the so-called servants have existed since ancient times. It is not uncommon for servants to take care of the whole family and work for the master's family.

Moreover, this situation of introducing servants into the army as the general's private arm and fighting only for the main general has been around for a long time. It's just that the names are different in different periods, such as "guest" in the Han Dynasty and "buqu" in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

The "Tooth Soldiers" in the feudal towns at the end of the Tang Dynasty were all of the same nature as the "Jia Ding" in the Ming Army.

However, this situation of introducing private armed forces into the army, respecting only the main general, only following the main general, and fighting for the main general has basically disappeared since the decline of the lords in the late Tang Dynasty.

Since the Song Dynasty, the imperial power and civil servants have severely cracked down on military generals from having their own private armed forces. Even the number of private guards such as personal guards possessed by military generals is strictly limited.

However, due to the collapse of the guard system in the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty had to replace the guard system with a recruitment system. Coupled with the previous poor financial situation of the court and many other reasons, starting from the Jiajing period, this originally illegal 'household' system was no longer in use.

But it has become the standard equipment of the Ming army generals.

Although it is said that since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, these servants have indeed played a significant role in various internal and external wars, the harm this 'household system' has brought to the court cannot be ignored.

Because if it is allowed to develop, eventually the imperial court will completely lose control of the army, thus once again embarking on the transformation of warlords and vassal towns in the late Tang Dynasty.

In the original history, the most important reason why the Ming Dynasty became a warlord and a vassal town became a reality during the Tianqi and Chongzhen years. The most important reason was the proliferation of the 'Jia Ding system'.

Therefore, in the Ming army's rectification planned by Wang Bing and Little Fatty, servants naturally became the target of "taking care of".

"Uncle Ning Yuan, don't forget, this Liaodong Army is the army of the imperial court, the army of the Ming Dynasty! If servants continue to fill it, how is it different from the 'parts' and 'tooth soldiers' of the previous separatist warlords?

?”

"Besides, the previous 'bubu' and 'tooth soldiers' were paid for by the generals and warlords themselves, but you are better off, using the country's money!"

Before Li Chengliang could finish explaining the benefits of using servants, Wang Bing interrupted him.

Speaking of which, for this kind of helpless 'legalization' of servants, the court had previously thought of some preventive measures, such as paying servants' salaries from the state, etc. However, these measures actually had no effect.

, the servants still only recognize their own general.

"Of course, I can understand your difficulties in the past. After all, after the money and food allocated by the imperial court were withheld by the officials, there is not much left in your hands. The sergeants cannot survive with that little money and food...

"

Finally, Wang Bing also changed the topic and expressed a certain degree of understanding for the generals' behavior in supporting their families.

There is no other way. In order to check and balance military commanders, money and food matters have always been controlled by civil servants in all dynasties, and the Ming Dynasty was no exception.

Originally this was a good thing, after all, the civil and military forces needed to maintain a balance. However, after Tumubao, due to the decline of Xun Qi military generals, this balance was suddenly broken.

As a result of the balance being destroyed, the military generals of the Ming Dynasty were completely reduced to vassals of the civilian officials. From now on, they could only rely on the civilian officials to provide money and food for the army.

"But starting from this rectification of the Liaodong Army, for all armies that have completed the rectification in the future, their military pay will be temporarily paid out of His Majesty's internal funds and will no longer be directly distributed through the Ministry of Household Affairs. Therefore, the past incidents of civilian officials withholding military pay will never happen again!

"

Li Chengliang only said half a sentence about the servants, and then Wang Bing explained clearly that the servant system must be abolished, as well as the financial and food logistics after the cancellation of the servant system.

"In the future, military pay will all come from Your Majesty's internal funds? Uncle Guo, the total of the capital camp, guard station, and frontier army of the Ming Dynasty is at least two million. Can Your Majesty's internal funds support such a huge expenditure?"

After hearing Wang Bing say that the military salary expenses after the rectification would be paid from the emperor's internal funds, Li Chengliang suddenly couldn't help but look suspicious.

"Two million? Haha, Uncle Ning Yuan, you still said it was less. The total number of registered troops in our Ming Dynasty is more than 2.8 million!"

Seeing Li Chengliang's doubtful look, Wang Bing chuckled and said an even bigger number.

"However, I am afraid that Uncle Ning Yuan knows the difference between the registered quota and the actual number of people better than I do, right?"

At the end, Wang Bing looked at Li Chengliang, the commander-in-chief of Liaodong, with a joking look on his face.

Indeed, looking at the books alone, the number of 2.8 million indicates that the Ming army was huge. But in fact, judging from the figures compiled secretly by Jin Yiwei and Dongchang, the number of the Ming army was more than 2.8 million.

The book amount is actually less than 900,000.

And among the less than 900,000 people, the old, weak, sick and disabled account for at least half. In other words, the Ming Dynasty, which is so big, can barely fight, only has 300,000 to 400,000 people.

Among these 300,000 to 400,000 troops who can barely fight, if we exclude the 100,000 Ji Zhen army, the only ones who can really fight are the private servants of each army who will be supported by the state's money.

Therefore, in the Battle of Sarhu in original history, even though the Ming army claimed to be hundreds of thousands, there were actually only a few who could actually fight.

"Uh, this..."

Facing Wang Bing's inquiry, Li Chengliang, who was also a 'big moneymaker' himself, couldn't help but look embarrassed.

"So now, Uncle Ning Yuan thinks that His Majesty's internal funds can support it?"

Glancing at Li Chengliang who looked embarrassed, Wang Bing immediately changed the topic back to military pay.

"In addition, His Majesty has ordered that for any army that has completed the reform, the annual salary of combat soldiers will be increased to twenty taels, and the annual salary of auxiliary troops will be ten taels. If there is a war, the reward will be calculated separately..."

Finally, before Li Chengliang could answer, Wang Bing spoke again and revealed the military pay and benefits after the rectification of the army.
Chapter completed!