Although there were not many people in Zhu Yixi's group, they all rode horses and carried swords, and even had short muskets stuck in their waists. They were all big and round, and they looked like they were not easy to mess with.

Pedestrians on the road were so frightened that they ran away. The returning soldiers all had wary faces, but they did not draw their swords.

After all, there is a military camp not far away, and few people dare to come here and act arrogantly.

"Are you soldiers from the Beijing camp?"

Zhu Yixi showed a smile and looked harmless.

It's just that he was already in a high position, and his words were unconsciously condescending. A few words made these soldiers shrink back.

At this time, even a fool can understand that the person in front of him is not easy to mess with, and he might be some big shot.

"We are waiting for the Xishan Camp." At this time, the leader stood up and bowed his hands: "Who is it if you are not the Young Master?"

"Not far ahead is the Xishan Camp. I'm afraid you don't know it, but ordinary people within a radius of ten miles are not allowed to enter."

Zhu Yixi took a glance and saw two three-pointed stars on the belt buckled on his shoulders.

This is a sergeant, who is usually the commander of a hundred-man team, and is also a junior officer in the army.

Although they may seem small, in the Ming Dynasty's military system, the team is the entry-level and most commonly valued officer.

The most obvious example is that the rank of corps commander at the bottom level is basically decided by the team leader and deputy team leader through discussion, and then reported to the battalion leader.

As for team officers, they are reported to the first army (ten thousand people), compiled into files, naturalized, and directly selected by the military headquarters. Regiments and battalions have no involvement at all.

So starting from them, they were awarded military ranks, mostly right sergeant and sergeant, which meant that they could receive the Galu brought by the military rank.

In other words, they will receive 1.5 times the salary, which is a great improvement in their lives.

"Do you think I'm an ordinary person?"

Zhu Yixi smiled and then said softly: "I was also born in the military, and then I was injured, so I came out to be an official."

"If I were still in the army now, I would definitely be a fellow soldier with you."

As soon as these words came out, the group of soldiers at the bottom started talking instantly, with a lot of doubts and curiosity on their faces.

The leader was surprised and said: "It turns out to be a senior."

As they spoke, the two people unconsciously sounded much closer.

"Senior, I wonder what kind of official you are now? You actually have more than a dozen guards."

At this time, a certain bold sergeant asked.

"The patrol battalion of a certain local county is a seventh-rank official."

Zhu Yixi said softly, his performance was very profound, and he unconsciously felt a bit proud.

"ah--"

These words aroused a burst of envy from everyone.

The leading team couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise: "That's the battalion's officer in charge, so you are the commander!"

Now, everyone was making a noise.

There is no fear, because the local patrol camp and the Beijing camp are two separate systems, and there is no impact at all.

Zhu Yixi also felt a sense of grounding at this time. He couldn't help complaining: "The local patrol camp is much busier than the Beijing camp. There are endless thieves and thieves caught. They are chased away by the superior officers every day. They are exhausted to death."

"You are so blessed that you don't know how blessed you are." Duan Zheng said with envy:

"I heard that there were only about a thousand counties in the entire Ming Dynasty. In the past, one could be the commander of a patrol battalion or the commander of a team, but now even a commander of a battalion has to make money."

"Make money?" Zhu Yixi was angry, but she suppressed it and continued to guide: "Is the Governor's Mansion so greedy?"

"It's not just the Governor's Mansion. It used to be the Organization Department, and now it's the Staff Department. They are all in charge of our official positions, so we don't have enough money to be ranked?" Dui Zheng sighed.

As early as the Huguang period, Zhu Yixi implemented a military academy in the army, requiring every ordinary soldier to know 500 words, and for promotion to a team leader, the basic requirement was 2,000 words.

It is precisely because of this that a large number of officers and soldiers retired after being injured and were arranged by the shogunate at that time to serve as local officials, at least as yamen servants.

I can continue to eat royal food and solve my worries.

After the emperor ascended the throne, the governor's office was responsible for recommending officers, and the staff department was responsible for arrangements, controlling the most critical places.

Over the past decade or so, a lot of corruption has unexpectedly sprung up in the dark corners, or in other words, a lot of unspoken rules have been born.

This made Zhu Yixi extremely angry.

Everyone knows that the most important thing for this emperor is the army. As early as the Huguang shogunate period, he bluntly implemented the military-first policy, and more than 70% of his finances supported the army.

Even after he ascended the throne, he still attached great importance to the military.

Unexpectedly, the bureaucracy still had cancer.

Before he could think too much, one of the soldiers said: "I heard that the three elders recently also have to use money. If they don't have a hundred or ten yuan, they won't be able to get it at all."

"These people are all obsessed with money."

These words resonated with everyone, and they continued to curse without taking into account Zhu Yixi's ugly face.

The so-called three elders are essentially one of the new policies that the emperor has been trying to implement in the past four or five years. The three elders in the townships are established in about a thousand households and a dozen villages.

That is, the township head is responsible for tax collection, the township elder is responsible for education and litigation, and the township police is responsible for commanding thieves and militia.

Township elders are generally held by respected local elders, while township chiefs and township police officers are basically retired soldiers from the military.

They were all born in the ninth grade, and their salaries were only ten silver coins and ten shi of grain. They served as lubricants for the county government and the countryside, which was very important.

They were also the biggest supervisors of the imperial court's rule over the countryside, such as household registration checks, trivial civil lawsuits, and the policy of reducing interest rates and rents.

Such an important basic official position was also sold, which made Emperor Zhu almost uncontrollable in anger.

He showed a smile that was uglier than crying: "Why do you need to spend money? As far as I know, there are many official vacancies among the three elders."

"You don't know?" Dui Zheng said in surprise: "According to those former colleagues, the position of San Lao has been taken over by the local patrol battalion. There are very few places in the Beijing battalion and can only be found in the capital and near Hebei.

"

As he spoke, his tone became louder and louder: "Besides, you don't know, those people in the county government are very greedy. Many gentry mixed some children from the side branches into the patrol camp, and after just a few days, they could be arranged to become the third elder...

…”

Hearing this, Zhu Yixi's anger disappeared.

Sure enough, how could the gentry be dealt with so easily?

Since the imperial court has appointed three elders, they will arrange their own people.

The imperial court required that he must be an officer, so they would let the detachment sneak into the patrol camp, and they would gain seniority by being there for a few days.

The county government was naturally very cooperative.

Because everything is in compliance with the rules, there is no violation at all.

It's directly a bug.

If it were a novel, as the protagonist, he should go on a killing spree, kill all the disobedient gentry, confiscate their homes, and then distribute them to ordinary people.

On the surface, it appears to have won the hearts and minds of the people, but in reality it has dug its own grave.

Because the allocated land will still be annexed violently, new gentry will appear within ten years.

Not allowing land annexation is just like not allowing real estate transactions in China in the 21st century. Those who want to buy and those who want to sell will complain.

Then the bureaucrats will reap the benefits.

Of course, with the efficiency of the feudal era, it was impossible to equalize land and prohibit land sales.

"There are very few in our county," Zhu Yixi said, "Probably because the county magistrate is very honest!"

"That's right, it's different when you have a good official."

"It would be great if Hai Qingtian appears again anytime -"

"No, we still have to fight."

Suddenly, someone raised an objection, holding his head high and attracting everyone's attention.

"Let me tell you, in the final analysis, their official status is too low."

"As long as you become a baron, hey, what kind of patrol camp or county magistrate is nothing?"

"Don't think about becoming an official after joining the army, just fight hard!"

At this time, the team leader who came out nodded, first agreed a few words, and then smiled bitterly at Zhu Yixi:

"The battles in the world are almost over, so what achievements can be made?"

"So all the sons and daughters want to go out. Even if you are a third-year-old, you are still an official after all!"

Next, Zhu Yixi asked about pay, military justice, logistics and other matters in a timely manner. What made him feel relieved was that the capital camp was currently in relatively good condition, and there was no shortage of military pay, shoddy goods, or lack of food and clothing.

Case.

He attributed all of these achievements to the supervisory role of the Military Justice Department.

The Military Justice Department adheres to the idea of ​​placing military judges on teams, so each team has a military judge who serves as a supervisor and is also responsible for recording meritorious deeds during wartime.

The chief military officer is responsible for command, while the deputy commander is responsible for coordination and daily management.
To be continued...