Then Lao Zhu asked himself, a weak scholar, to be the commander of the damn Shanzi Camp. What did he mean?
Han Du looked at Li Wenzhong hoping to get the answer from him, but obviously Li Wenzhong didn't know either.
Li Wenzhong showed a helpless look, spread his hands, and said: "The Ministry of War has given an order, so you can only do it first. If you really have questions, maybe you can go to the emperor to clarify your doubts yourself."
That’s all there is to it.
Han Du had no choice but to nod and give the order first. As for Lao Zhu, Han Du had to ask clearly.
Seeing Han Du nodding and taking the next step, Li Wenzhong waved his hand, and Xu Chengfei quickly organized the Shanzi camp to set up camp.
The number of soldiers in the Han Du Jianshanzi camp was not large, probably more than a thousand. And more importantly, there were relatively few young soldiers, and most of them were old men.
Frowning, Han Du couldn't bear it anymore when he saw the tenth gray-haired old man passing in front of him. He turned to ask Li Wenzhong, "Master, are these soldiers from Shanzi Camp a little too old?"
Why, at a glance, are all old men and not even a few young people?"
Li Wenzhong looked at the Shanzi Camp soldiers busy with a smile. Hearing Han Du's words, he quickly turned around and explained: "This is me taking care of you. Think about it, you are just guarding here, and
They won’t go to the battlefield. So young soldiers are of little use to you, but it is these experienced veterans that you urgently need. Is this the truth? Don’t worry, I will not let you suffer."
Listening to you brag about my good, why do you always feel like something is wrong?
However, Han Du only had a feeling and no evidence, so he had to put it down for the time being. He then asked, "How many people are there in this Shanzi Camp?"
"Five thousand people."
"Five thousand?" Han Du exclaimed, waving his arm and pointing fiercely at Shanzi Camp. He asked: "With just a few people, how can there be five thousand?"
It’s okay to give yourself a bunch of old, weak, sick, disabled and pregnant women. Now the numbers are so different. What on earth does Li Wenzhong want to do?
"Why are you shouting so loudly? Although this is not a secret, but you are yelling everywhere like this, so you should try not to do this." Li Wenzhong quickly comforted Han Du.
Do you still know how to restrain yourself? You have only managed to recruit more than a thousand people out of a quota of 5,000 people. This is too much to live on empty wages.
"I am doing this for your own good. If I give you a Shanzi camp with five thousand people, can you afford to support it? A month's pay for this soldier is just enough to feed them. If I give you a staff of five thousand,
Man, what should you do with the other horses, ordnance, and armor? These things can't be picked up for free. Which of the entire Ming army can be fully staffed? Isn't it possible to rely on empty pay?
Can it be maintained?"
Although Li Wenzhong was a little scornful of Han Du's strange remarks, he still patiently explained it because of Han Du's appetite.
So it’s no wonder that ancient wars were often fought with hundreds of thousands of people. Maybe it wasn’t the name, but there were actually that many personnel. It was just because they were paid empty wages, and the actual number was not enough.
Seeing that Han Du still had a serious look on his face, Li Wenzhong had no choice but to lean over and whisper in Han Du's ear: "The emperor also knows about this."
Lao Zhu also knows?
But Lao Zhu didn't react at all to this, which means that Lao Zhu also acquiesced? Unexpectedly, the Hongwu Dynasty took empty pay, and it was like an unspoken rule.
Perhaps Lao Zhu was too poor to raise troops, so he set the soldiers' food and wages extremely low. He had to let go and let the generals use their free wages to raise their troops. In this way, at least the literal figures looked very glorious.
However, fiction is fiction and reality is reality. No matter how good-looking the numbers are on paper, they are of no use. When it comes to using troops for a day, you still have to face the tough to get the real results.
Han Du couldn't understand why the smart Lao Zhu would do such self-deception. He could only think that it was because Lao Zhu was a little too happy with his success.
Of course, there is another possibility. That is, Lao Zhu deliberately left this gap. Considering that Lao Zhu massacred military generals in his later years, who can guarantee that this was not done intentionally by Lao Zhu? You must know that it is a serious crime to take free money.
And he was extremely resented by the soldiers.
When the time is right, Lao Zhu only needs to let people reveal the fact that the generals are eating free money. By then, people will be furious, and then Lao Zhu will arrest the generals, accuse him of various crimes, and even kill him with a knife.
Not only did the soldiers not riot, they even sent letters to thank the emperor for helping them get rid of those who were eating their free wages.
With the big killer weapon of empty pay in hand, Lao Zhu could say that he could remove the military power of anyone he wanted to, without any future troubles.
Han Du couldn't help but frown. No matter what the situation was, no matter how you looked at it, the hidden dangers were huge.
It is not only a great hidden danger for the commander-in-chief, but also for Lao Zhu.
Once the bad habit of empty pay becomes commonplace, the combat effectiveness of the army will inevitably plummet. The army has no combat effectiveness, and Lao Zhu is still acting like a shitty emperor.
Why was it that at the end of the dynasty, the regular army of the imperial court was unable to defeat the ragged rebel armies? Isn't it because the army's combat effectiveness has long been gone?
Han Du raised his eyes and looked at the soldiers who were busy setting up camp in front of him, hiding his deep worries in his eyes.
"What are you doing over there?" Li Wenzhong pointed towards the banknote bureau.
Han Du responded and took a look and explained: "Oh, that's because the official is planning to build a high wall to surround this place. The official thinks that after enclosing it like this, it will be easier to guard this place."
After hearing this, Li Wenzhong looked at Han Du deeply.
Han Du looked a little confused and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Li Wenzhong smiled and shook his head. Seeing that Han Du still looked confused, he couldn't help but sigh: "When you said you didn't know how to lead troops, I was still doubtful. According to common sense,
, that scholar doesn’t hope that if he mounts his horse, he can bring peace to the world, and if he dismounts, he can bring peace?”
"When you just said you didn't know how to lead troops, I thought you were being polite and condescending on the surface. In fact, you were already overjoyed in your heart. I didn't expect that you really don't know how to lead soldiers."
After hearing this, Han Du held back his words. If he could, he would, and if he couldn't, he wouldn't. Han Du never played with others half-heartedly.