"It's already mid-March, and it won't be long before we move to the border town." Yang Jun stood on the military camp sentry tower outside Xuanfu City, looking at the night sky full of twinkling stars, and felt deeply
Take a breath.
"Well, we have been here for more than half a year." Shi Biao sat cross-legged on the floor of the blue brick city, holding a glass of wine and deeply smelling the aroma of the wine.
Then he poured it down the throat fiercely, with a look of endless aftertaste on his face. "Damn, I'm staying in the military camp. It's easy to talk about anything else, but this wine..."
"Being able to drink once every ten days is already a great grace from His Majesty. Just be satisfied." Seeing Shi Biao's appearance, Yang Jun couldn't help but smile and shook his head.
Nowadays, Zhu Qizhen's pro-army enforces various military disciplines in accordance with the new military law, and they are also extremely strict about prohibiting alcohol. However, considering the large number of big bosses, it is unlikely that you will make them completely abstain from alcohol.
. Therefore, it is stipulated that every ten days in the army, a sumptuous banquet will be held. More importantly, every soldier can taste fine wine. Of course, in order to ensure discipline, the amount of wine that can be allocated to each person
Of course not a lot.
The two leaders, Yang Jun and Shi Biao, both drank a lot, so they managed to persuade the quartermaster to get them some more wine.
"Haha, that's true. There was a ban on alcohol in the army in the past, but there is no such ban." Shi Biao nodded and said in agreement. "But His Majesty the Emperor is different. Once a ban is issued, anyone can
No violation is allowed. In our military camp, in the first month alone, no less than 300 people were arrested for drinking alcohol secretly, and a dozen guys were directly dismissed from the military because they refused to change after being punished."
"Didn't His Majesty say that the law must be followed and the law must be strictly followed? Otherwise, wouldn't the new military law be just like the military law in the past, a piece of waste paper? Look at these soldiers today, who dares to take it out?
Even if I am not the best among the best, even the generals around me in the past are not so capable." Yang Jun nodded in agreement.
Shi Biao picked up another glass of wine, drank it all in one gulp, and said with some emotion: "Your Majesty really, it turns out, doesn't understand anything, not marching and fighting, or anything else. But after returning from hunting in the north,
It's as if he has changed into a different person. Not to mention our military training routine, our business is also amazing..."
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
Yang Jun nodded and lowered his voice with a gossipy look on his face: "I heard what Mr. Luo said last year, our town in Xuanfu collected nearly two hundred thousand taels in commercial tax alone. This
How much do you need to earn? Moreover, Xuanfu has built many new workshops this year. I am afraid that this year’s commercial tax will be even higher."
"Good boy, two hundred thousand taels?" Upon hearing this, Shi Biao's big eyes suddenly widened and his mouth grinned. "Brother Yang, you're not bluffing me, are you?"
"Nonsense, what's wrong with someone trying to fool you? Let me tell you, this is what Mr. Luo told someone personally. He can't be lying about it." Yang Jun took the wine and drank it down, then turned his head at Shi Biao.
One glance said.
"Our tax revenue for the next year in the Ming Dynasty is probably only two million taels of silver now. How can our Xuanfu earn so much revenue, which is equivalent to 10% of our tax revenue in the Ming Dynasty this year?"
." Shi Biao still muttered in disbelief.
"Actually, in addition to your Majesty's vigorous trade with the tribes on the grassland since last year, there is another more important point..." Yang Jun smashed his mouth and said with a smile: "Everyone in the Xuan Mansion, regardless of the
Regardless of official status, anyone engaged in business must pay taxes according to the regulations. This is the main reason why our Xuanfu can receive so many taxes."
"You don't know that our Xuanfu is a bitterly cold place in the border town. There are not many scholars, and there are not many people who have been promoted to Jinshi. Those who have been promoted to Jinshi actually accounted for nearly one-third of the stores and shops in our Xuanfu. Later,
, His Majesty sent people to secretly investigate, and found out that many shops did not belong to those scholars at all, but were in their names, and by giving them some filial piety money every month, their taxes could be exempted.
"
"Damn it, these merchants are really deceitful." After hearing this, Shi Biao couldn't help but patted his thigh with an angry look on his face.
Yang Jun continued: "Haha, in addition to businessmen, the common people are like this. There are also many common people who take care of their families under the protection of those scholars. In this way, they also do not need to pay food. They only need to provide a certain amount of food to the scholars' families.
Although the ratio is not much lower, with the protection of scholars, those officials will have no chance to use other methods to extort money."
"It's true that the people are not afraid of you harvesting grain, but they are afraid of chaos. The whole year's harvest will be destroyed, and the family will be destroyed." Shi Biao sighed lightly, these things are all
The soldiers were bragging and chatting in their spare time.
"That is to say, His Majesty the Emperor is now supervising the Xuanfu. The lives of the people in the Xuanfu are now much easier. In the past, the Jinyiwei never did anything good except for the evil deeds. But now, compared with those officials and government officials,
After getting up, Jinyiwei's reputation has become much better."
"It's not like the Emperor has trained him well. In the past, the Jin Yiwei thought about how to blackmail people all day long. But now, the Jin Yiwei specializes in investigating officials and servants. Anyone who violates disciplines and laws will be invited to tea by the Jin Yiwei. If they are dirty, they will
Retirement is no longer like the past, where people hate and ghosts hate us. Nowadays, although officials and officers still hate the Jinyiwei to the core, there is quite a lot of praise among the people."
"That's true, but in our Ming Dynasty, I'm afraid only the people of Xuanfu will have a good impression of those guys." Shi Biao couldn't help but feel happy when he heard this. After the two chatted, they talked about this guy again.
Above the army.
"By the way, Brother Yang, can you tell your Majesty that the helmet is really ugly now? Can it be changed? Anyway, how can our dignified Ming Dynasty elites, His Majesty's personal soldiers, lead such a helmet?"
A gray thing."
"Ugly, it's a bit ugly, but the problem is that you haven't noticed that this new helmet is much stronger than the past. And I heard from my third brother that this helmet is completely made of a new machine that relies on hydraulic power to directly stamp.
Formed, feathered arrows and lead shot can all be protected against. Unlike in the past, many of our soldiers actually wore felt hats, which were useless." Yang Jun laughed and pointed at the man guarding the sentry.
The helmets worn on the heads of the soldiers at the gate of the tower said.
This kind of helmet does not look very pretty. It looks like an inverted iron pot with a flat edge, just like the charcoal brazier used for making fire in the past. It does retain a small hollow on the top.
The cylinder is used to insert feathers, and a circle of leather guard is added below, as well as several iron sheets for protection.
The rim of the entire helmet is wide, about an inch and a half wide, and it even protects part of the shoulders. But this shape is really not very beautiful, although the Ming Dynasty's imperial guards also wore this shape.
The helmets, except for the slight difference in the rim, are similar in shape. But the problem is that the decoration on the top is much more beautiful. It's not like this one. If it weren't for the fact that there are some feathers on it, I don't know if it has a face.
If you wear it, the common people may think that we His Majesty's personal soldiers are using charcoal braziers.
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
"But it's too ugly after all." Shi Biao rubbed his head and looked at the helmet again. He couldn't help but felt lucky. Fortunately, this kind of helmet was only used by soldiers and middle- and lower-level officers, and he was waiting for
The helmets used by people are still made of fine fine iron, and the beautiful patterns on them are pleasing to the eye.
"Ugly, what kind of thing is good-looking after your majesty's work?" It's okay not to mention this. When Shi Biao mentioned it, Yang Jun also felt depressed. This helmet was nothing more than the armor he was wearing.
It's almost the same. Fortunately, the trade volume with the grassland tribes increased last year. At least, His Majesty's personal troops are all wearing leather armor. But now, the emperor doesn't know what kind of muscle he has moved, thinking that the defensive ability of leather armor is
Too low, but the soldiers are heavily armored, which will not only affect the marching speed, but will also be greatly affected when fighting the enemy.
And another important point is that heavy armor costs money, and it can only be purchased with a lot of money.
Therefore, Zhu Qizhen adopted a compromise method and inlaid iron pieces in some strongholds of the leather armor. According to Zhu Qizhen, it was the Ming Dynasty version of the Mingguang Armor, but Yang Jun felt something was wrong no matter how he looked at it.
, mainly because it is not pleasing to the eye.
However, I have to admit that Zhu Qizhen, the whimsical Emperor, did greatly improve the protective power of the soldiers' armor without adding much weight.
In addition to these, there is also a special mark on the shoulders and chest of each soldier. According to His Majesty the Emperor, it is called a military rank. And the military rank is the official title of a military official.
name, coupled with some of His Majesty's creativity, constitutes a complete military rank system.
For example, those who have just joined the army are all called privates. Those who have served for one year are automatically promoted to privates. After that, there are corporal, sergeant, staff sergeant and warrant officer. The corporal is the corps commander, and the sergeant is the corps commander or corps commander.
, a sergeant can serve as the commander of a fifty-man camp. After that, it is the military official title of the Ming Dynasty.
Their military ranks are very eye-catching, which makes Yang Jun and others feel very convenient. Unlike in the past, unless you are leading the existing troops, it is difficult for you to distinguish who is among the soldiers.
officer.
But now, the military ranks of everyone in His Majesty's personal army are clear at a glance. You don't need to think about names, just call their military ranks, and you can quickly issue orders. And the soldiers also don't need to be the same as in the past, except for themselves.
You don’t know the chief officer and the other officers, and they don’t have proof of their identity. Who are you to blame?
"Anyway, I feel that the difference between your Majesty's personal army and our army in the Ming Dynasty is too big." Shi Biao finally had to sigh like this.
－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－－
: Let me report on my work. Last night, I went to a friend's new restaurant for a banquet. He was treated to aged wine and delicacies. He was very pleased. I drank only three ounces of wine. Unexpectedly, the wine was not a fake aged wine, but the real thing. It’s something I’ve been using for more than ten years, so… it’s just, uh, getting under the covers and facing the wall.ro!.
