"This time, do you know how many horses Uncle Dingyuan got? There are a hundred thousand war horses, and there are countless horses and stallions in captivity. This is what I know. There must be much more than this in this century."
Master Xiao said softly.
The three of them looked at each other in surprise. The Ming Dynasty was indeed short of horses. A good war horse could be sold for fifty taels or even more than one hundred taels. One hundred thousand horses, how much is that? At least five million taels.
Xiao Zhubo said mysteriously: "But do you know where all these horses have gone?"
All three of them immediately pricked up their ears. This was a lot of money.
"They were all sold privately by Uncle Dingyuan and Zhang Shize. Only 23,000 horses were paid as tribute to His Majesty. The rest were auctioned in some way. Of the war horses worth fifty taels, more than ten taels and twenty taels were sold."
The three of them looked at each other. No wonder Uncle Dingyuan had enough money to repay the arrears of the Jingying camp. He also repaid the arrears of the 20,000 people in the four towns. This is an astronomical amount of money.
Almost every soldier in the Beijing camp received more than fifty taels. The officers received even more, and they, the civil servants who were on official business, all received a total of more than two hundred taels.
"The ministers in the imperial court are very dissatisfied. It is said that as a rule, 30% of the military pay will be lost as soon as it leaves the household. This time the Beijing camp went to the west, the bank of the household had no money at all, and the money was all from your majesty's internal funds. Let's go.
The exchange at Xinghe Bank never went through the Household Department, and everyone in the Household Department was very dissatisfied." Xiao Zhubo said.
Wang Daxing thought for a while and said: "Your Majesty received 23,000 war horses, which are also worth two million taels of silver. It can be regarded as recouping the military expenses. Your Majesty will not lose money."
Chen Liu said: "I have also heard some rumors. Your Majesty is very unhappy that Uncle Dingyuan gave the money to the officers and soldiers of the Beijing Camp and the Four Towns to make up for the shortfall and unpaid wages. He thinks that the current government finances are so tight that the money should be given to your Majesty's internal funds."
. Let’s do something more valuable. Good steel should be spent on steel blades.”
Ma Haogu said: "I have also heard that your Majesty is very unhappy about this matter. Originally, Uncle Dingyuan regained Guihua City and made an imperial edict to reward his merits and make him a marquis. But in the end, he was not allowed to leave. Now
The explanation is to ask Uncle Dingyuan to defeat the Mongolian tribes in the desert."
Xiao Zhubo said: "I have heard about it too. Those who benefited from this auction are all noble disciples, and those of us who are with the army also got the news immediately and notified our relatives. Especially Dong.
Lin didn't catch a single hair, and his eyes were red with hatred. He was studying day and night to try to put a stumbling block behind Uncle Yuan's back."
Ma Haogu was the head of the Ministry of War. He went on to say: "I heard that Governor Yuan was also very angry. Your Majesty also stopped the money that was given to Guan Ningjun every year to buy horses from Lin Danhan. After all, Yang Fan has cheaper prices here.
The horses are gone, aren’t they?”
Xiao Zhubo sneered: "Master Yuan's tricks are too outrageous. Every year the money is collected, but not a single horse is bought. Accounts are made according to the cavalry. But the cavalry without horses are paid according to the infantry. The cavalry
It's seven or eight times worse than the infantry. I don't know where all the money went. Others were living on empty wages, but he was lucky. He didn't lack any personnel, and ended up eating 80% of the money. It's really high. All of us at Taipu Temple are all paying for it.
I’m convinced.”
Wang Daxing said: "To be honest, I am grateful to Uncle Dingyuan in my heart. For so many years in the Ministry of Household Affairs, apart from working, I have not gained any benefit. If it were not for following the army on the expedition this time, I got hundreds of taels of silver, and gave me
The family found some business selling cattle, sheep and horses, and their lives were miserable."
Chen Liu is from the Chu Party, and he is also very dissatisfied with Dong Lin.
"Donglin has been causing trouble to Uncle Ding Yuan all these years. This time the army went on an expedition and he didn't take any money from them. Why should he pay tribute to them? Everyone really doesn't know how much he weighs."
Xiao Zhubo took a sip of rice wine and said: "The words are like this, and the reason is also like this. However, there are still people who can reason today. In the imperial court, strength is all about strength. Who can reason with you if you have strength? Just watch.
Soon they will have to start adjusting Uncle Yuan."
Chen Liu said: "I heard that Li Biao and Qian Longxi wrote to His Majesty several times, requesting that the military pay and food for the Beijing camp should be handed over to the Ministry of Household Affairs. Your Majesty has never agreed. In fact, Your Majesty also wants the Ministry of Household Affairs to pay.
Your Majesty is not willing to use internal funds."
"It seems that Your Majesty will also give Uncle Dingyuan a beating this time. It is estimated that in all likelihood, the military supplies in the northwest will be handed over to the Ministry of War."
Ma Haogu looked around and whispered: "There are rumors in the Ministry of War that as soon as the Oirat people retreat, Uncle Dingyuan will hand over the errands of the Beijing camp. I am afraid that he will hang up in the future. It will be difficult to control the army.
.”
Wang Daxing asked in surprise: "Uncle Dingyuan's contribution must be rewarded with a title of marquis. No matter how dissatisfied His Majesty is, he will just delay it. Once the matter in the northwest is resolved, Uncle Dingyuan is now the second-rank official, and he is expected to be appointed as the Governor of the Fifth Army."
The title of Governor has been changed. He is a first-grade military attaché. He has handed over the military and military affairs of the Governor's camp in Beijing. Where to put them? How to put them?"
Ma Haogu sneered and said: "Your Majesty is killing the donkey. I heard that Monan was divided into two provinces, Suiyuan and Rehe. The Suiyuan capital was handed over to Uncle Dingyuan, and the Rehe capital was handed over to Governor Yuan.
people."
Chen Liu said: "It's been a long time since we last met. Uncle Dingyuan captured Monan and gave half of it to Donglin. What do you say?"
Xiao Zhubo curled his lips and said: "Return to Liao in five years, that's what I said."
Everyone sneered for a moment. None of them were from Donglin. At this time, Donglin was so powerful that it suppressed other factions. Now, the various factions have a tendency to unite to overthrow Donglin.
The key is that people like Dong Lin not only engage in unilateralism, but also live alone.
The train ran through the wilderness. Although it entered the border of Beizhili, the farmland along the way was barren. This year the drought continued. Most of the seeds planted did not germinate.
At this time, Qian Longxi and Li Biao were in a study room in Wenyuan Pavilion, studying strategies to deal with Uncle Dingyuan.
"This time, Yang Fan made a huge fortune. The war horses, camels, plus cattle and sheep are estimated to be worth tens of millions of taels. In addition to those given to His Majesty and the payment of back wages to win people's hearts, he at least has some money in his hand.
There are four to five million." Qian Longxi said.
Li Biao's cheeks turned red with anger. He cursed: "This guy, the country's finances are so difficult, how can he have the nerve to enrich himself? This is the tax revenue for the next year. How many major national affairs can he do? No, we must let him spit it out.
.”
Qian Longxi looked at Li Biao and said, "It's not like you don't know that that guy has always clearly divided the emperor's money, the court's money, and his own money. It's probably not easy to take food from him."
ah."
Li Biao's eyes flashed gloomily, and he said bitterly: "Your Majesty has already planned to transfer the food and salary from the northwest to the cabinet. Cut off his food, grass and military salary. Let's see if he is convinced."