The top of Phoenix Mountain is flat, like a playground standing in mid-air.
People from all walks of life gathered here, and the mountains and hills were full of people. Wen'an ordered the army to be organized, with the imperial camp Sichuan Guihang camp, the general barracks of the four towns of Sichuan, the general camp, the president's camp, the governor's camp, and the governor's camp.
Open the whole.
At Zeng Ying's camp at the foot of the mountain, the military censor of the five provinces and Zhang Dai, the governor of Sichuan, personally came to his camp to take charge of the reorganization.
Countless soldiers from Zeng's army gathered in the training ground. There were more than 20,000 soldiers. Now it was time to select the best and strongest among them. Only 3,000 soldiers were left in the main town of Zeng Ying. The rest were selected to be sent to other battalions, and the rest were used as auxiliary soldiers.
, the rest were dismissed.
The so-called assessment is also simple. First, screen based on height, age, etc. Soldiers who are over forty years old are not required, and those who are less than five feet tall are dismissed. The age of officers is relaxed.
Then there is another test of strength, which involves carrying a heavy load and carrying a stone or meter.
After taking these basic tests, it is time to take the professional test. For example, the archer and musketeer will naturally take the bow and gun shooting test, the sword, shield and spearman will take the sword and spear test, and the cavalry will take the riding and shooting test.
Although Zeng Ying was very good at fighting and had many fierce generals under his command, his soldiers were actually mixed with good and bad. After all, he had been beaten by Zhang Xianzhong before and fled in embarrassment, with a scar on his face. However, he was tougher and quickly made a comeback.
, many soldiers were newly recruited.
After passing the assessment, many soldiers were either too old, not tall enough, or lacked strength, so a large number of soldiers were marked with crosses.
"Those who fail the assessment will be escorted here to receive their severance pay, one tael of silver plus one dou of rice for soldiers."
One of the governor's pacesetters shouted loudly.
After a day's assessment, most of the more than 20,000 soldiers were eliminated. Finally, 3,000 soldiers from the Shunqing main town camp were left. An additional 2,000 soldiers were transferred from other camps, and then another 1,080 soldiers were left for Shunqing town.
The total number of auxiliary soldiers in the battalion is only a little over 6,000, and the remaining nearly 20,000 have to be dismissed on the spot.
Because too many soldiers have been laid off and laid off, severance pay is also a big problem.
The camp couldn't get much money, so Wen Anzhi gave him half a year's salary as a soldier, plus one tael of silver and a bushel of rice. The half-year salary was calculated based on six years of silver, but it couldn't be paid for the time being.
If they owe it, they will go to the local government office to collect it every month after they return to their hometown.
The one tael of silver and the one bushel of rice were found.
A large number of soldiers were laid off, nearly 20,000 from more than 20,000. The result was that in addition to a large number of soldiers being laid off, a large number of officers were also made redundant.
There is also a set of assessment standards for these officers. Low-level officers below the post commander are mainly assessed on martial arts, etc. If they are qualified, they will retain their current ranks, and those who are supernumerary will be transferred to other units for service, or they will retain their ranks but be demoted.
Those who fail to meet the standards are either reduced to soldiers or retired.
As for the mid-level and high-level officials, all the supernumerary officers were transferred to the managerial office. Wen Anzhi wanted to create an officer corps for retraining, or to let them temporarily serve as army staff, waiting for vacancies.
Of course, if someone is willing to retire, it will be done voluntarily and severance pay will be given.
They are even welcome to retire from the army and transfer to civil service or serve in local government offices.
All in all, the cuts this time are very severe.
Four out of the five need to be eliminated.
A large number of soldiers and officers seemed a little confused and even angry when they heard that they were on the elimination list.
Some people even directly expressed their dissatisfaction with the severance package.
"The auxiliary soldiers in the imperial camp all have at least one denarius a day, which is three taels a month, not counting food, rations, etc. Why should we disband them and only get six taels for six months?"
"We have lived and died for the imperial court, why should we be abolished now?"
"Why do the soldiers in the royal camp have four to five taels of silver a month, while we only have one tael?"
Too many people have been laid off, and the voices of dissatisfaction are loud.
Zeng Ying, who was demoted to the rank of commander-in-chief of Shunqing, remained cold and silent throughout the whole process. His officers complained loudly, and the atmosphere on the field became increasingly bad.
When the governor's pacesetter began to line up the eliminated soldiers to receive their demobilization silver rations, then hand over their armor and weapons, and go down the mountain to the demobilization camp to prepare for home, the voice became louder.
Someone just threw the one tael of silver that was handed out to the ground.
"We have fought hard for our country, and the scars on our bodies have not healed yet. Now we are just throwing away some scraps of silver?"
"We are not convinced!"
"We were the ones fighting the war, but now it's the imperial camp that has the advantage!"
Everyone saw how the imperial camp was treated before, but after Ma Gan and others suspected the imperial camp's military achievements in suppressing bandits, Ma Gan was deprived of his position and driven away. Wen Anzhi also gave the imperial camp numerous rewards, and the rewards were even more shocking. People look jealous.
There were a few lucky guys, who were just small soldiers at first, but ended up getting more than 200 taels of silver as a reward, and even got promoted a few levels. Damn it, they didn't get much pay under Zeng Ying before. He said that when he had money, he would share some rewards, and when he had no money, he would not have enough to eat, but everyone would still fight against the Western thieves and the yellow thieves, and there would be no pension or anything like that if they died.
Now we finally see that the conditions are good, but the imperial camp has given generous rewards, but they are about to be abolished?
Just give me this little money?
The crowd was furious.
Zeng Ying's silence made the soldiers even more connived.
In another part of Phoenix Mountain, in Wang Xiang's camp, the same thing is happening.
Wang Xiang had more troops. Although he only brought some of his troops, there were more than 20,000 troops. Adding Wang Yingxiong and other generals, they had more than 30,000 troops.
Now they have to be reorganized into three thousand supervisors, and the rest will either be transferred to other battalions after passing the assessment, or be demobilized on the spot. After an assessment, less than 10,000 people will be left, and the remaining more than 20,000 people will be demobilized.
Wang Xiang, known as the little bully, took the lead in shouting his dissatisfaction, and the whole camp was in chaos.
Wang Xiang shouted directly to the governor Li Gande who came to reorganize, "It's okay to be dismissed. The brothers have been fighting for the imperial court for a long time. They were still owed wages and have not been paid. Rewards and pensions have not been paid. All these have been paid, and then they will be paid." A severance package, easy to negotiate!"
Wang Xiang thrust his sword directly in front of the governor and proposed various standards. For example, if the soldiers owed pay, they should also pay according to the imperial camp, which was four taels and five silver per month, plus line grain, etc. Even if it was five taels, it would be enough for one year. That’s sixty taels. Then the previous rewards for military exploits, casualties, pensions, etc. all have to be made up.
If severance pay must be paid for at least one year, it will be calculated as sixty taels.
Moreover, if you want cash, when will it be issued and when will it be withdrawn?
As for the officers, the requirements are even higher.
Li Qiande was the newly appointed governor of Yunnan. He was a native of Xichong, Shunqing. He was a Jinshi in the fourth year of Chongzhen. He served as a scholar in Zhongshushe. In the sixteenth year of Chongzhen, he was appointed governor of Yunyang but failed to take office. He was appointed governor of Huguang. At this time, Wuchang was Zhang Xianzhong captured and Li Qiande stationed in Yuezhou.
Zhang Xianzhong came to attack, but he pretended to surrender, but wiped out all the Western Army forwards. Zhang Xianzhong was furious and attacked, and Li Qiande was forced to retreat to Changsha, Hengzhou, and Yongzhou. Finally, Hunan was lost, and he could only retreat to Guizhou. In order to revive.
Hongguang took advantage of his loss of land and demoted him to the position of censor of Qiandu. After Wang Yingxiong was awarded the title of governor of Sichuan, Li Qiande went to serve in front of Wang Yingxiong's army.
It can be said that Li Qiande had a good relationship with Wang Yingxiong and Wang Xiang at first, but Li Qiande was not Wang Yingxiong's confidant, especially after Zhu Yihai later appointed Li Qiande as Sichuan Chief Envoy.
This time, after Wen Anzhi directly appointed Li Qiande as governor of Yunnan, there was no direct relationship between the two parties. He was asked to organize the royal family because they were familiar with each other.
But Wang Xiang refused to betray Li Qiande and directly forced Li Qiande with a knife.
Yang Qiaoran, the new Yunnan patrol commissioner, pointed at Wang Xiang’s nose and cursed, “You are an arrogant warrior, are you going against the grain?”
Yang Qiaoran was a Jinshi in the 13th year of the Chongzhen Emperor's reign. He was first awarded the title of Pingren and subsequently moved to the imperial censorship. He turned out to be Li Qiande's partner and also served in front of Wang Yingxiong's army.
But he and Wang Xiang have always had a bad relationship.
Although Yang Qiaoran was a Jinshi, he also had a bad temper. He wielded an iron whip in battle and had good shooting skills.
Wang Xiang glared at Yang Qiaoran sideways, "I'm talking to Li Qiande, who are you?"
Yang Qiaoran was very angry, "I am a dignified scholar, and you, Wang Xiang, are just a servant. How dare you talk to me like this? In terms of officialdom, I am the supervisory censor, the inspector of Yunnan, and the imperial envoy of the emperor. You, Wang Xiang, were only a general. Now you are no longer a general." He's just a supervising general, don't be domineering!"
"We were reorganizing our troops under the order of Jinglue. You deliberately took the lead in obstructing us. Do you want to rebel?"
Wang Xiang was so angry that he punched Yang Qiaoran. Yang Qiaoran didn't give in. He shouted loudly and punched him. Yang Qiaoran's hometown is Changshou, Chongqing. He is not tall, but he also has brute strength. After all, arrows They shoot well and are all strong men, so their fists are naturally not light either.
However, Wang Xiang was known as the Little Bully. He was a fierce man who had killed a tiger. The two of them rushed together and exchanged punches and kicks. Yang Qiaoran was obviously defeated. He was punched several times and his nose was crooked.
However, Wang Xiang was also hit in several places by Yang Qiaoran's heavy punches. His eyes were black and the corners of his mouth were broken.
Li Qiande on the other side was furious when he saw this, and hurriedly led Fu Biao to separate the two. As a result, he also received two punches from Wang Xiang. In anger, he also punched Wang Xiang.
Wang Xiang laughed loudly, "Don't get involved with anyone else. I, the governor, will beat you together!"
Li Qiande is from northern Sichuan and his martial arts skills are not bad, but neither Yang Qiaoran nor he can defeat Wang Xiang.
In the end, when Fu Biao finally separated the three of them, Li Qiande and Yang Qiaoran had their clothes torn to pieces, their noses were bruised and their faces were swollen, and they were even bleeding.
Wang Xiang also lost his job.
After such a commotion, Wang Xiang's soldiers made even more noise, and some even shouted directly, "Rebellion!"
His own general, the governor, and the governor were beaten at the same time, and the soldiers below became more and more domineering. They began to beat up the pacesetters of Li and Yang, and robbed the money and food brought in. The situation was completely out of control.
Wang Xiang sat aside and wiped the wound, smiling as he watched all this happen.
"Reverse, reverse!"
Some generals even shouted to go to the mountain to ask Wen Anzhi for an explanation!
So, while they surrounded Li Qiande and his standard camp, they divided their troops and went up the mountain, making noise.
On the other side, when Zeng Ying's camp heard the sound of gunshots from Wang Xiang's camp, they also rose up and surrounded Zhang Dai and others. Many soldiers also went up the mountain.
Obviously, Zeng Ying and Wang Xiang had an agreement long ago.
Gunshots were fired continuously, and the camp of tens of thousands of people became noisy.