Li Siye was stunned for a moment, thinking that the old man was very sober, but he pretended to be surprised and asked: "Captain, why are you talking about false words?"
He did not return to Li Siye, but waved to Shen Changshi: "Take the key and bring the account books and signatures of the Eighth Regiment from the cabinet."
As soon as Shen Changshi left, Captain Xu ignored Li Siye and just focused on digging the ground. Li Siye was so embarrassed that he had nothing to say and asked, "What kind of vegetables are you growing, Captain?"
"Bracken, water shield."
"..."
Fortunately, Shen Changshi came quickly with the account books and signatures. Xu Duwei stopped his work and told Shen Changshi: "Show Captain Li the account books for the four months from February to May."
and signed the bill. Captain Zhao Lushui of the Eighth Regiment has already taken away the salary, with his name on it, his fingerprints on it, and the seal of Zhechong Mansion. You come to me again to ask for it, what should I give you?
?”
Li Siye looked through the account book and found that there were indeed records and seals on it, but when he saw the amount at the back, he was shocked. One month's salary was more than 200,000, and in four months it was nearly one million.
Money!
"Why are there so many?" He instinctively questioned: "The monthly salary of a soldier in Congling Guard is only three to four hundred yuan, so why are there so many in the Eighth Regiment?"
Xu Duwei said in a serious tone: "Li Xiaowei, there is a difference between soldiers and soldiers. The soldiers guarding Congling are the soldiers and garrison troops of the government. The people under my command in the thirty-three fold charge to the government are all Long March athletes recruited from all over Jingzhao and Bingzhou."
.The selection is strict. Those who are not good family members are not allowed to join the army. Merchants and those who have been imprisoned for crimes are not allowed to join the army. In addition, they need to be physically strong, able to shoot a three-stone bow, and run fifty miles with a heavy load to be selected. Of course, the monthly salary is also very generous.
Comparable to Chang Congsu Wei!"
Li Siye felt helpless, crossed his hands and said: "The Eighth Regiment is now depressed and its morale is low. Lieutenant Xu, can you advance me six months' salary? I will take it back and pay it to my brothers first so that they can support their families."
"
Xu Duwei sighed and said: "Li Xiaowei, you are just eating your food. Besides, where did I get the remaining money from Zhechong Mansion? The money paid to us by the Duhu Mansion was immediately distributed to the following five people that month.
Tuan. Anyway, I don’t have any money here, so you can go find Zhao Lushui yourself.”
Li Siye said in his heart that I was looking for Zhao Lushui. Captain Zhao had already been imprisoned in the prison in Qiuci. If I could get money from him, would I still use it to look for you?
Without saying a word, he immediately grabbed the hoe that Captain Xu had thrown on the ground and began to hoe the ground like him.
Lieutenant Xu stood aside and asked with wide eyes: "Captain Li, what are you doing?"
"Anyway, besides asking for payment, I have nothing else to do, so I will just hoe the ground and plant vegetables at your place. Lieutenant Xu, if you think I am good at planting, prepare an extra pair of bowls and chopsticks for me at night.
If there is no place to sleep, I will sleep in the main hall of the mansion."
"You!" Captain Xu pointed at him angrily with two fingers, but then he sat on the ridge of the vegetable garden and started laughing.
"Liu Lieutenant, I just said that you came to blackmail me, but you still don't admit it. Don't waste your efforts on me. Besides, is the lack of pay for the soldiers of your eighth regiment really because of the lack of pay? No, there is really no secret here.
Known to outsiders.”
"What about?" Li Siye sat down opposite Captain Xu and crossed his hands with great care: "Please give me some advice, Captain Xu."
Xu Duwei winked at Shen Changshi who was standing aside, and the other party retreated obediently.
"Li Xiaowei, the Sixth Regiment, the Tenth Regiment, and the Eighth Regiment under my command were completely destroyed in the Battle of Dial City three years ago. After the war, we reorganized these three regiments into the Eighth Regiment. It was really helpless.
Just because the Sixth Regiment and the Tenth Regiment did not receive any official commendation from the court after the war, let alone pensions and rewards for those who died in the war."
Li Siye was surprised: "Why does the Eighth Regiment have it but not the Sixth Regiment and the Tenth Regiment?"
Lieutenant Xu pursed his lips and suddenly changed the subject and said, "Is Gai Zhongcheng now the military governor of Qixi?"
Li Siye understood and nodded solemnly.
"The real situation of the battle of Dialong City is that the Sulu cavalry began to attack Dialong City in October of the 23rd year. They attacked the city three times in a row. The last time the siege lasted the longest was 21 days. The North City Gate and the Beacon
The fort was almost about to fall, but it was not until the 24th year of the Yuan Dynasty that Gai Zhongcheng personally led the Han navy to ride out from Beiting and repel Sulu, who was at the end of its war effort."
"However, the battle situation reported to the imperial court by Anxi and Beiting was that Tuqi Shi wanted to attack Dihuai City, but was blocked by the beacon fort. Gai Zhongcheng led the Han navy to guard Dihuai City, and accumulated strength to defeat Sulu in one fell swoop.
Enemy against ten thousand people."
Xu Duwei sighed slightly, leaned forward and asked: "Liu Lieutenant, do you understand now?"
Li Siye asked in disbelief: "Don't the Sixth and Tenth Regiments receive any compensation rewards?"
Xu Duwei's slightly old and tired face showed a hint of sadness and anger:
"Gai Zhongcheng and Wang Husi, the former governor of Anxi, only privately gave some financial compensation to the two regiments, but why did the men join the army? Isn't it just to establish merit? In the past two months, I was thirty.
The Sanzhe Chongfu warriors held on to the city and suffered heavy casualties. The women and children whose husbands died were helpless. They stayed in Anxi but had no source of livelihood. When they returned to their hometown, they had no houses or fields belonging to them. Those so-called compensations were nothing more than
How can people be convinced by the scraps picked out from the teeth of Beiting Army!"
After Li Siye heard this, he said angrily: "Gai Jiayun deceived his subordinates, deceived his superiors, pretended to receive meritorious services, and deceived the saints. How could he be the governor of Qixi?"
Xu Duwei shook his head helplessly: "If it was just for Jiayun, it would not be so greedy for merit and perversion of the law. The former Anxi Jiedushi Wang Husi also acquiesced in this matter, which shows that someone in the imperial court was operating from it to make the two-month period
The fierce battle to defend the city turned into a great victory in defending the enemy outside the country. In the eyes of the carnivorous princes, we little frontier soldiers are just chess pieces that can be discarded at any time. "
Captain Xu rubbed his muddy hands, wiped a handful on his face, got up and walked to the main room in the backyard with his hoe.
After walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and lowered his head and said, "Don't blame Zhao Lushui for the salary. More than half of the brothers who died in their group were left with orphans and widowed mothers. They spent all the compensation and could not make a living.
Colonel Zhao couldn't bear it, so he secretly withheld four months' salary to give them the capital to make a living."
Captain Xu's lonely figure dragged out a long shadow in the afterglow of the setting sun.
Li Siye returned from Zhechong Mansion and walked on the streets of Diazhuang City. Under the Poplar euphratica tree beside the road, several children held hands and sang nursery rhymes around the old tree: "After fifteen years of long march, I returned to my hometown alone. The old leaves are falling.
I no longer have any farmland. I have been on the Long March for fifteen years, and I have been disabled for half my life due to injuries and illnesses. I have no title and no title, and I don’t have half a penny."
His heart felt empty. It turned out that there were many little stories of this kind hidden behind those praised Feng Langju Xu and Le Shi Yanran.
When the sky was getting dark, Li Siye returned to the military camp and faintly heard someone singing. The voice was high-pitched, distorted and hoarse, and sounded like Xintianyou. He turned around and asked the soldiers guarding the door: "Who is singing?"
"Who else could it be? It's Yan Xiaosi who was imprisoned."
"Is this already the case on the first day?" Li Siye nodded lightly: "It seems that he doesn't need to be imprisoned for fifteen days. He can be subdued in ten days."
What he should consider now is how to gather the hearts and minds of the Eighth Regiment that was defeated by Gai Jiayun. The most annoying thing about this is that this is not his fault, and there is no need for him to shoulder the blame, but it is.