Soon, the three fastest runners came back. They were all regular soldiers of the Three Thousand Battalion.
They are all very outstanding Ye Bushou, and have been sent to Liaodong and the grasslands to execute people.
The Ming Dynasty’s capital camp was in ruins, but there were still three thousand nails in the broken ships. Among the more than twenty thousand people in the three thousand camp, there were still some highly qualified people. These people were either veterans with actual combat experience, or soldiers from the frontier army.
Supplemented.
The top three are all veterans of the Three Thousand Battalion who are known for their bravery.
In the final sprint, Ma Xiaoping broke into the top 100. Zhao Yongtang and Zhu boldly ran into the top 200.
According to the previously announced rules, the top 100 people will be rewarded with 10 taels of silver. The top 10,000 people will be rewarded with 2 taels of silver. Immediately all three of them were very happy. They all got money.
Those who arrive must first be brought to a row of tables by people sent by the Ministry of War to register. Personal information such as age, place of origin, name, battalion commander, etc. are registered. First, ten kilograms of cornmeal in a small cloth bag are given out. Then they are told that the first 10,000 people will gather.
Afterwards, I went to Nanyuan and received the money.
Ma Xiaoping didn't think much about it and was overjoyed. Ten taels of silver was enough to be used as a betrothal gift for his marriage. He fell in love with Wang Xiaohua, who lived next door and was also a military household. His parents wanted a betrothal gift of five taels.
None of the neighbors could afford it.
Now that he has this money, he plans to ask his mother to propose marriage when he returns home.
The first ten thousand people, escorted by cavalry, went to the nearby Nanyuan. Nanyuan is very close, only two kilometers away from Yongding Gate.
Before dark, 100,000 people had come back. Statistics were also released. For the remaining people, it was obvious that the Minister was not prepared to wait any longer.
Lord Shangshu was sitting on the city tower, looking through the statistical reports compiled by the soldiers in the Beijing camp. The more he looked at it, the uglier he became. His face seemed to be like a cloudy day, and he was almost wet with tears.
Bang! Li Banghua slapped a chapter on the table. Anger flashed across his face.
"Get ready, I'll go to the Forbidden City to meet the Holy Spirit."
Chongzhen finished his day's work, stretched his body, and prepared for some dinner.
At this time, Wang Chengen walked in.
"Your Majesty, Li Shangshu of the Ministry of War is here and is asking for an audience outside the Meridian Gate."
Chongzhen has some differences. I don't know what he is doing at this time. The palace doors are locked. Normally, foreign ministers should not enter the palace at this time.
Now, except for the officials on duty in the south study room of Qianqing Palace, there are no foreign ministers in the palace.
"Did anything big happen today?" Chongzhen turned to look at Wang Chengen.
Wang Chengen panicked. There was nothing important today. He thought for a long time and said: "Oh, I remembered it. Li Shangshu organized a long-distance running competition. At the beginning of noon today, he asked the soldiers of the three battalions to run around the city wall. The one before
Ten thousand people have been rewarded, and many people in the city went to the city wall to watch the excitement."
Chongzhen was stunned, what was he doing?
Immediately, he frowned and said, "Invite Li Shangshu to come in immediately."
He immediately returned to his chair and finished.
"Hey, I'll go right now. Your Majesty, you haven't had your dinner yet. How about I serve you something first?"
Chongzhen also felt very hungry and said, "Let's make a bucket of noodles."
"Okay, Your Majesty, I am not a talkative old slave. Although your Majesty's state affairs are important, you must also pay attention to your health." Wang Chengen hurriedly nagged while instructing the young eunuch to make instant noodles for Chongzhen.
Soon a bucket of noodles was ready, and Chongzhen was really hungry. Not only did he finish the noodles, he also drank the hot soup.
"Uh!" Chongzhen burped. "This rattan pepper noodles, although my tongue is a little numb after eating it, my whole body feels warm. Uncle Dingyuan's food is really good. My dear friend, are there any new instant noodles coming recently?"
"Yes, what is it called tomato stewed noodles? Why don't you try it next time."
Chongzhen nodded, he was very satisfied with every new product from Xinghe Supermarket.
The first thing Chongzhen ate were braised beef noodles, which were delicious. He ate them for more than a month. Later, he started to like spicy beef noodles, and the taste became stronger and stronger. Now, if he doesn’t eat something spicy, he feels like he hasn’t had enough. .
The dishes cooked by the imperial chefs are all mediocre. They don't seek merit, but seek no faults. The imperial cuisine is really not delicious.
How can the condiments of later generations be so attractive?
After the instant noodles were removed, Li Banghua came to Qianqing Palace.
"Your Majesty, Li Banghua, bows to your Majesty."
"It's so late and you still ask to see me. Is there something important?"
"I have found out the situation in the capital camp. I am here to report back to Your Majesty."
"What! When did this happen?" Chongzhen suddenly stood up.
The Qing army was what he was thinking about, and he couldn't understand the actual situation in the capital camp. He really couldn't eat or sleep. This was the largest military force in the entire Ming Dynasty, and he, the emperor, was so close to Chi Chi that he didn't understand the situation. .How is this possible?
From the time he became King Xin, he knew how serious the problems in the capital were. However, the nobles were one of the important cornerstones of the Ming Dynasty's rule. They could not be touched casually.
The reason why he appointed Li Banghua as Minister of War was because he dared to do something.
Li Banghua has been in office for half a year. Obviously, there has been little progress. The nobles are secretly resisting because they are afraid that the Qing army will lose their own interests.
Chongzhen didn't understand how Li Banghua could suddenly figure out the situation.
Seeing His Majesty's puzzled look, Li Banghua told Chongzhen in detail about Zhang Shize's private visit to him, as well as the transactions between the two parties, including today's events.
Chongzhen did not expect that Yang Fan could bypass such a difficult matter and handle it directly.
Chongzhen did not rush to express his position, nor did he give instructions on how to deal with it in the future. After all, there are now 100,000 people waiting outside Yongding Gate. It is not known whether 40,000 of them have been taken to Xiyuan.
Chongzhen grabbed the report and read it at a glance. He really wanted to know the actual situation in the Beijing camp.
Chongzhen looked through the report, his breathing gradually became faster and his face became paler. His hands couldn't help shaking.
A total of 125,761 people participated in today's long-distance race. They all came for food and money. Li Banghua left when the 100,000 people returned, so only the 100,000 people were counted.
But this is enough. We don't know whether the remaining 20,000 people will be able to come back tomorrow morning.
"There are a total of seventy-two guards and more than 400,000 soldiers on the Beijing camp roster. Where are the remaining 280,000 people?"
"Your Majesty, many of these people are soldiers from the early Wanli period. I even saw soldiers from the Jiajing period on the roster."
"What did you say!" Chongzhen stood up.
It has been fifty-eight years since the early year of Wanli. If these people were alive, they would be over seventy years old. There is an age requirement for soldiers in the Beijing camp, and the minimum age is sixteen.
Although there is no statistics on the average life span of people in the Ming Dynasty, the emperor has a general understanding. Very few people can live to be sixty. Most emperors only lived thirty or forty years old. Not to mention these soldiers who lacked clothes and clothing.
As for the soldiers of the Jiaqing Dynasty, Chongzhen could only laugh.
He didn't even want to ask. Unless these soldiers had taken the elixir, how could they still serve as soldiers in the military camp if they were over a hundred years old?
"Since these soldiers are no longer alive, why not cancel their military status?"
"Your Majesty, many people in the Ministry of War find various reasons to delay the retirement of soldiers. This has been a bad policy for more than a hundred years."
Chongzhen sat down slumped. Yes, this was not something unique to this dynasty. When he was the king, he had also heard that when soldiers in the Beijing camp retired, they still asked for people and gave gifts. However, he did not expect that this bad habit would actually happen.