Chapter 139: Soldiers Are Not Fully Paid, but Fully Paid Soldiers Are Invincible

In the big tent, Wu Sanjia listened to the news brought back by the escort officer who had just transported grain and grass baggage from Mozhou City and rushed to the Huben Army's frontline camp outside Zhuozhou City.

On the resolute and calm face, there was a rare expression of unspeakable shock.

Wu Sanjia grabbed the escort officer by the collar, stared at him, and asked again: "What are you talking about, the salary and pension allocated by the court are only one million taels of silver?"

Um!

The escort officer looked solemn and nodded firmly.

call--

After receiving the affirmative answer, Wu Sanjia was as frustrated as an eggplant beaten by frost.

Then, he waved his hand and said: "This general knows, you can go down first!"

"Yes, General!"

Just as the escort was about to retreat, Wu Sanjia stopped him again: "Wait!"

"About the disbursement of salaries and pensions from the imperial court, without my general order, no news will be allowed to spread in the army. Anyone who disobeys the order will be subject to military law!"

"The general will get the order!"

The escort officer hurriedly left the Chinese army's tent, leaving Wu Sanjia alone sitting in the tent feeling lost.

After thinking for a long time, Wu Sanjia finally decided to summon his deputy general Zhao Kui to the Chinese army's tent to discuss the matter together.

"Come here, go and call General Zhao for me!"

"Got the order!"

Soon, a tall and powerful man wearing armor and a sword came in from outside the Chinese army's tent.

Before anyone arrived, the voice came first: "General, you are looking for me!"

"General Zhao, sit down!"

Seeing that Zhao Kui was wearing armor, Wu Sanjia offered him a seat before Zhao Kui saluted him.

The latter didn't show any pretense, and sat down face to face with Wu Sanjia in a carefree manner.

Wu Sanjia said: "General Zhao, the transport officer who just escorted the food and baggage from Mozhou City came to report that the food, wages and pensions allocated by the imperial court to our Huben Army have arrived."

"What?"

Hearing this, Zhao Kui jumped up from his chair with a sudden movement, and a look of ecstasy flashed across his face.

He laughed and said, "Haha, General, that's great!"

"In the past few days, I have been worried that I can't find a way to motivate the soldiers who are the first to climb the camp. Let them climb to the top of Zhuozhou City in one go, capture the flag first, and behead the generals. The pay and silver allocated by the imperial court have arrived!"

"In this way, the army's full-scale attack on the city can be put on the agenda!"

"The capture of Zhuozhou is just around the corner!"

Zhao Kui was extremely excited and danced.

He didn't notice at all that the mighty general and commander-in-chief Wu Sanjia sitting opposite him had a rather ugly look on his face.

Until Wu Sanjia said calmly: "General Zhao, the salary and pension allocated by the court are only one million taels of silver in total!"

brush!

As soon as these words came out, it was like a basin of cold water pouring on Deputy General Zhao Kui.

The wild and proud smile on that rough face also solidified.

Zhao Kui couldn't believe his ears and asked tentatively: "General, what are you talking about? The salary and pension allocated by the court are only one million taels?"

"General, you must be joking with me, amusing me, right?"

Wu Sanjia shook his head and said in a low tone: "General Zhao, there is no joke in the army!"

"How could I, the general, joke with you about such an important matter?"

Ding!

After receiving a positive answer, Zhao Kui sat back on the chair, with a slumped face, but with a somewhat unwilling tone, he asked:

"General, how could the imperial court do such unfaithful things?"

"At the beginning, when the imperial court had no generals available, when Prime Minister Qin went to the Archives Management Office of the Ministry of War to visit the thatched cottage and asked the general to come out and lead the troops, this was not what he said!"

Zhao Kui couldn't suppress his emotions and continued: "To organize and train the new army, you should be paid two taels of silver per month; for military merit, you will get a head, and the military reward is thirty taels; for those who died in battle, you will receive thirty taels of pension; "

"These are all promised by Prime Minister Qin in black and white to our Huben Army. They are also stamped with the emperor's jade seal and kept in the Ministry of War's archives!"

"Now, the brothers fought bloody battles outside Mozhou City, killing and capturing more than 50,000 Longcheng rebels. The military rewards; the pensions for the 30,000 Huben Army soldiers who died in the battle are all gone, right?"

"It's only a million taels of silver. The imperial court and Qin Ruhui are treating our 300,000 Tiger Soldiers as beggars, right?"

"If the brothers in the army knew the truth, who would still put their heads in their belts and work for the court?"

Zhao Kui was emotional and every word hit the mark.

As a result, Wu Sanjia, as a general, didn't know how to answer.

It turns out that Wu Sanjia was ordered in the face of danger and agreed to Prime Minister Qin Ruhui to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Huben Army and lead his troops in Ying and Mozhou to resist the Longcheng rebels moving south;

It has been clearly stated that the salaries and military merit awards of Huben Army officers and soldiers must be paid in full and on time.

This was a prerequisite for Wu Sanjia to agree to lead troops to fight against the enemy.

Wu Sanjia, who had been sitting in the Archives Management Office of the Ministry of War for three months, had already clearly grasped the dark and dirty things of the New Dynasty's army that was eating empty pay and drinking the blood of soldiers.

Wu Sanjia, who was born as a general's son, was well aware of the great impact of "full pay" on an army's combat effectiveness and morale.

At the beginning, the reason why the late emperor Zhao Mang was able to use a small force to compete in the world and aspire to dominate the Central Plains was related to his implementation of a strict military pay and military merit system.

It was because Prime Minister Qin Ruhui agreed to Wu Sanjia's request with all his heart, and wrote it down clearly in black and white, and sent it to the Ministry of War for filing.

Wu Sanjia was relieved and bold, and ordered his deputy general Zhao Kui to go to the land of Yanzhao, where the people were tough, to recruit soldiers and train 100,000 new Hu Ben troops.

Before the battle of Mozhou, the soldiers' salaries were paid in full in advance, which aroused the morale of the Hu Ben army.

In the end, the Longcheng troops were defeated outside the city of Mozhou, and the deputy marshal Chang Yuchun suffered the first defeat since the southern expedition.

Who would have thought that Wu Sanjia and the Hu Ben army, who had just won a great victory, were immediately stabbed in the back by the court while on their way to the northern expedition.

In the battle of Mozhou, the pensions for the dead soldiers of the Hu Ben army alone required a full 900,000 taels of silver.

If we add the number of generals above 100 households who died in the battle, the pension will be increased by another 100,000 taels.

Not to mention the military rewards for killing and capturing more than 50,000 rebels in Longcheng, all added up to 2 million taels of silver.

In addition, the salary owed to the soldiers of the Tiger Guards for half a year added up to another 3 million taels of silver.

These were all promised by Wu Sanjia, the mighty general and commander-in-chief of the Daxin court, in front of the soldiers of the three armies before the army set out for the Northern Expedition;

He promised the 300,000 Tiger Guards that before the first battle of the Northern Expedition in Zhuozhou, the court's salary and pension would be fully distributed to the soldiers.

Now, this mere 1 million taels of silver is barely enough to pay the pensions for the fallen soldiers.

Without the incentive of military pay and military rewards, can the 100,000 new Tiger Soldiers outside Zhuozhou City still maintain the morale and combat effectiveness that defeated the rebels in Longcheng during the battle of Mozhou?

Wu Sanjia couldn't help asking himself in his mind, but he didn't get the answer he wanted!

He only knew that the new army was not fully paid, and they would be invincible if they were fully paid!

Seeing that General Wu Sanjia had been silent, Deputy General Zhao Kui, whose emotions had finally stabilized, couldn't help but put forward his own suggestions.

Zhao Kui said: "General, things have come to this point. In my opinion, if the army wants to continue the Northern Expedition, the only way is to let the soldiers rob food!"

"No!"