Chapter 73 Arrears of wages

Ma Cheng couldn't suppress the heat in his heart and said gently: "Shimei, take off your shoes and go to bed."

Yu Fengjun's cheeks turned red, and he responded in a low voice, took off his shoes and got on the bed, and sat on his knees. He was shy and embarrassed, and did not dare to raise his head. When he heard that Ma Cheng had also gone to bed, Yu Fengjun raised his eyes, looked up, and quickly lowered his head.

Eyelashes opened, heart was pounding, but the world was spinning for a while, and with a squeak, Ma Cheng looked at her pretty face and leaned towards her.

After a long time, the clouds gathered and the rain dispersed. The newlyweds kissed and loved each other, it was extremely sweet.

When I got up early the next morning, the maid brought a pair of wooden dolls in red clothes and green trousers, placed them on the bed, burned incense and prayed. This is called sending children.

After the newlyweds take a bath, they go to Longtan Temple to offer incense. This is also the rule.

Returning to the house, the couple prayed for good fortune, wealth, and longevity. The bride bowed to the aunt and served tea. Four maids and two young men brought by Yu Fengjun from her natal family also came forward to pay their respects, each with a reward.

, then the graceful Bai Qinghua led the servants to pay homage to the young mistress, and Yu Fengjun also gave them greeting gifts one by one. When Bai Qinghua came to pay homage, Yu Fengjun personally helped her up and let her stand beside him to show his affection.

Bai Qinghua covered her mouth with a handkerchief and said with a smile: "Young mistress is so beautiful, she looks like someone who stepped out of a painting."

Yu Fengjun knew that she was going to cause trouble, but he couldn't bear to blame her, but there was a sweetness in his surprise, and he was actually very grateful to her. Ma Cheng looked at a cold and charming white fairy, and a demure and pleasant Yu Fengjun.

Sister Shi, you giggled, then you realized that Wenwen Village is the Tomb of Heroes, and the feeling here is inhumane.

After getting married, the young couple still lived in the General Military Mansion.

Marin is a very traditional and conservative person, and he would never agree to a family separation.

After Yu Fengjun got married, even Ma Cheng's status in the mansion was somewhat different. After all, she was the rich daughter of the deputy general's family. Her words and deeds were full of nobility, and she was not angry or authoritative. Even the subordinates of the General Military Mansion saw this.

Every newlywed must be respectfully addressed as "young mistress". This is due to the temperament of Yu Fengjun, a young lady from the official family. She is at least 70% quiet and 30% noble, which can never be imitated by vulgar people.

Only then did Ma Cheng deeply understand why marriage in ancient times was about being of the same family. The bride who passed the marriage did not have such nobility, and she was afraid that even the servants would not be able to suppress her. After Ma Cheng and Yu Fengjun discussed it, they originally wanted to marry each other.

Bai Qinghua also married, but Bai Qinghua stopped her, saying that she had just gotten married and wanted to take a concubine. She was afraid that the Yu family would lose face, so she had no choice but to give up. As a result, Yu Fengjun was even more grateful for the handkerchief and treated her as a sister.

Wait for it.

A few days after the wedding, the camp was opened.

Ma Cheng finally saw the Xuanfu reinforcements, two thousand horse troops and three thousand infantry, controlled by a deputy general and two generals. They were real elite Xuanfu town troops, with complete armor and horses, and relatively strong soldiers.

Town, this time it emptied all the wealth of the family, and also made Ma Cheng need to re-evaluate the Wanli Dynasty's control over the generals of the Nine Borders.

The Wanli Dynasty still had very strong control over the important towns on the nine sides.

In this battle, Jiubian really used all their elites, and their family only had so much money.

After harvesting the autumn grain, there is no shortage of food and grass in Kaiyuan now.

Eight hundred elite cavalrymen from the Xuanfu were riding outside the city every day, Kaiyuan camp troops stepped up their training, and cavalry escorting ordnance appeared and appeared every day, gradually filling Kaiyuan and outside with a chilling atmosphere of an impending war.

Even Ma Cheng received a batch of ordnance, and with a military order, the Kaiyuan regiment officially became an army.

Although it was a wartime establishment, it also gave Ma Cheng, the regimental training commander, real power.

Five hundred sets of cotton armor, three hundred hard crossbows, and one hundred infantry bows were received at one time. After inspection, Ma Cheng suddenly discovered that these ordnances were all in stock. It can be seen that in order to fight this battle, Ming Dynasty even emptied the inventory of the Ministry of War.

.At present, Kaiyuan’s army is not short of food, ordnance, or military pay.

The Xuanfu's horse army is paid one tael per month, the infantry is five qian, and the monthly salary for five thousand soldiers and horses is 3,500 taels of snowflake silver. This military expenditure is naturally raised by Kaiyuan Mansion. Three days a month

The military expenditure of 1,500 taels of silver, including the cost of people eating horses and chewing horses, would make Kaiyuan's finances collapse in less than three months, and it would be unable to support such an army.

Xuanfu's elite soldiers were finally able to receive military pay, but a large number of guardsmen could not receive military pay. Thirty thousand, and the two guards in Liaohai were already in arrears with pay for half a year.

With the war imminent, the arrears of wages will naturally be paid, at least part of them.

Ma Cheng made a rough calculation and found that just to reissue the arrears of Kaiyuan's army would require nearly 100,000 taels of silver, which the governor's Yamen could not come up with anyway. So Ma Lin asked for a discount to reissue the arrears of wages.

The governor's office of Liaodong and the cabinet turned around, but were pushed back by the cabinet and the Ministry of War, ordering Kaiyuan Mansion to raise its own wages.

Ma Cheng had already seen through it. The imperial court had no money, and Liaodong also had no money. It was now normal in Liaodong to be in arrears with wages.

The army assembled, and the huge military expenditure made Ma Cheng feel lucky. Fortunately, with the support of Kaiyuan's father, his subordinate Tuanlian did not receive any salary, so he could maintain this militia force of more than a thousand people.

As autumn comes, the weather turns cooler.

On this day at the General Military Mansion, Ma Cheng looked at Ma Lin, who was stroking his forehead with his hand and was tortured by the military pay. He felt sympathy. Ma Lin gritted his teeth and took out one hundred thousand taels of silver, but the silver was tens of millions.

Those who cannot take it will take out the money to repay the arrears, and the next day they will be impeached by the officials. Invariably, they will be labeled as violating the rules and overstepping the rules and plotting evil intentions.

The imperial court did not give money, and the garrison generals did not dare to pay, so they could only delay payment. This was the absurdity of the Ming Dynasty.

A garrison commander with tens of thousands of troops would never dare to do it even if Marin was rich and powerful.

Marin is a man who is good at military affairs, so he naturally has a solution. Throughout the ages, the methods to solve such problems are the same.

The official document, stamped with the seal of the guard general, was lying quietly on the table.

In this battle, the reward for a true slave's head has reached twenty taels of silver, and the head of a coated auxiliary soldier has also been given for five taels. This makes a big cake, which will make Ma Chengdu Lei's skin burnt on the outside and tender on the inside. If the imperial court can really

With this silver reward, the mere creation of slaves will not be a problem, but drawing a big pie can boost morale to some extent.

Ma Lin ordered people to post official documents everywhere, with a wry smile on his face: "What can I do?"

Ma Cheng sincerely consoled him: "This is a chronic disease in the border town of the Ming Dynasty, and it is not my father's fault."

Ma Lin tried his best to squeeze out a wry smile: "That being said, if the salary continues to be owed, who will be willing to die."

Ma Cheng suddenly felt something in his heart and shouted: "If my son becomes the governor of Liaodong one day, he should get rid of this stubborn disease!"

The corner of Marin's mouth twitched obviously a few times, and he said vaguely: "How are you doing?"

Ma Cheng's heart beat wildly for a few times, and when there was no one around, he said decisively: "Restore the old system of Qin and Han Dynasties, and award land and houses based on military merit. This Liaodong area is vast and sparsely populated, and there are many acres of land and real estate without owners. We should do it!"

Before he finished speaking, Marin scolded him angrily: "Shut up, that's ridiculous!"

Ma Cheng then stopped talking. The idea of ​​conferring military merit on land was just mentioned casually in front of his old father and opened another window for him. This policy was naturally impossible to implement in the Wanli Dynasty.
Chapter completed!