I have 800,000 private soldiers. The emperor forces me to hand over military power?

In the big tent, Wu Sanjia listened to the news brought back by the escort officer who had just transported grain and grass baggage from Mozhou City and rushed to the Huben Army's frontline camp outside Zhuozhou City.

On the resolute and calm face, there was a rare expression of unspeakable shock.

Wu Sanjia grabbed the escort officer by the collar, stared at him, and asked again: "What are you talking about, the salary and pension allocated by the court are only one million taels of silver?"

Um!

The escort officer looked solemn and nodded firmly.

call--

After receiving the affirmative answer, Wu Sanjia was as frustrated as an eggplant beaten by frost.

Then, he waved his hand and said: "General, I know, you can go down first!"

"Yes, General!"

Just as the escort was about to retreat, Wu Sanjia stopped him again: "Wait!"

"About the disbursement of salaries and pensions from the imperial court, without my general order, no news will be allowed to spread in the army. Anyone who disobeys the order will be subject to military law!"

"The general will get the order!"

The escort officer hurriedly left the Chinese army's tent, leaving Wu Sanjia alone sitting in the tent feeling lost.

After thinking for a long time, Wu Sanjia finally decided to summon his deputy general Zhao Kui to the Chinese army's tent to discuss the matter together.

"Come here, go and call General Zhao!"

"Got the order!"

Soon, a tall and powerful man wearing armor and a sword came in from outside the Chinese army's tent.

Before anyone arrived, the voice came first: "General, you are looking for me!"

"General Zhao, sit down!"

Seeing that Zhao Kui was wearing armor, Wu Sanjia offered him a seat before Zhao Kui saluted him.

The latter didn't show any pretense, and sat down face to face with Wu Sanjia in a carefree manner.

Wu Sanjia said: "General Zhao, the transport officer who just escorted the food and baggage from Mozhou City came to report that the food, wages and pensions allocated by the imperial court to our Huben Army have arrived."

"What?"

Hearing this, Zhao Kui jumped up from his chair with a sudden movement, and a look of ecstasy flashed across his face.

He laughed and said, "Haha, General, that's great!"

"In the past few days, I have been worried that I can't find a way to motivate the soldiers who are the first to climb the camp. Let them climb to the top of Zhuozhou City in one go, capture the flag first, and behead the generals. The pay and silver allocated by the imperial court have arrived!"

"In this way, a full-scale attack on the city by the army can be put on the agenda!"

"The capture of Zhuozhou is just around the corner!"

Zhao Kui was extremely excited and danced.

He didn't notice at all that the mighty general and commander-in-chief Wu Sanjia sitting opposite him had a rather ugly look on his face.

Until Wu Sanjia said calmly: "General Zhao, the salary and pension allocated by the court are only one million taels of silver in total!"

brush!

As soon as these words came out, it was like a basin of cold water pouring on Deputy General Zhao Kui.

The wild and proud smile on that rough face also solidified.

Zhao Kui couldn't believe his ears and asked tentatively: "General, what are you talking about? The salary and pension allocated by the imperial court are only one million taels?"

"General, you must be joking with me, amusing me, right?"

Wu Sanjia shook his head and said in a low tone: "General Zhao, there is no joke in the army!"

"How could I, the general, joke with you about such an important matter?"

Ding!

After receiving a positive answer, Zhao Kui sat back on the chair, with a slumped face, but with a somewhat unwilling tone, he asked:

"General, how could the imperial court do such unfaithful things?"

"At the beginning, when the imperial court had no generals available, this was not what Prime Minister Qin said when he went to the Archives Management Office of the Ministry of War to visit the thatched cottage and ask the general to come out and lead the troops!"

Zhao Kui couldn't suppress his emotions and continued: "To organize and train the new army, you should be paid two taels of silver per month; for military merit, you will get a head, and the military reward is thirty taels; for those who died in battle, you will receive thirty taels of pension; "

"These are all promised by Prime Minister Qin in black and white to our Huben Army. They are also stamped with the emperor's jade seal and kept in the Ministry of War's archives!"

"Now, the brothers fought bloody battles outside Mozhou City, killing and capturing more than 50,000 Longcheng rebels. The military rewards; the pensions for the 30,000 Huben Army soldiers who died in the battle are all gone, right?"

"It's only a million taels of silver. The imperial court and Qin Ruhui are treating our 300,000 Tiger Soldiers as beggars, right?"

"If the brothers in the army knew the truth, who would put their heads in their belts and work for the court?"

Zhao Kui was emotional and every word hit the mark.

As a result, Wu Sanjia, as a general, didn't know how to answer.

It turns out that Wu Sanjia was ordered in the face of danger and agreed to Prime Minister Qin Ruhui to serve as the commander-in-chief of the Huben Army and lead his troops in Ying and Mozhou to resist the Longcheng rebels moving south;

It has been clearly stated that the salaries and military merit rewards of Huben Army officers and soldiers must be paid in full and on time.

This was a prerequisite for Wu Sanjia to agree to lead troops to fight against the enemy.

Wu Sanjia, who had been sitting in the Archives Management Office of the Ministry of War for three months, had already clearly grasped the dark and dirty things of the New Dynasty's army that was eating empty pay and drinking the blood of soldiers.

Wu Sanjia, who was born as a general's son, was well aware of the great impact of "full pay" on an army's combat effectiveness and morale.

At the beginning, the reason why the late emperor Zhao Mang was able to use a small force to compete in the world and aspire to dominate the Central Plains was not unrelated to his implementation of a strict military pay and military merit system.

It was precisely because of Prime Minister Qin Ruhui that he agreed to Wu Sanjia's request with red lips and white teeth. He also wrote it clearly in black and white and sent it to the Ministry of War for archival purposes.

Wu Sanjia then felt confident and bold, and ordered his deputy Zhao Kui to go to the land of Yanzhao, where the folk customs were strong, to recruit troops and train a hundred thousand new tiger and ben troops.

It was even before the Mozhou War that the soldiers' salaries were paid in full in advance, which aroused the morale of the Huben army.

In the end, the Dragon City soldiers and horses were defeated outside Mozhou City, giving Deputy Marshal Chang Yuchun his first defeat since the Southern Expedition.

Who would have thought that Wu Sanjia and Huben's army, which had just won a great victory, were on their way to the Northern Expedition, but were immediately stabbed in the back by the imperial court.

During the Mozhou War, just the pension for the fallen soldiers of the Huben Army required a full 900,000 taels of silver.

If more than one hundred generals in the army were killed in battle, the pension would have to be increased by one hundred thousand taels.

Not to mention, there are military rewards for killing and capturing more than 50,000 Longcheng rebels. Add one piece to all the rewards, which is two million taels of silver.

In addition, the salary owed to the officers and soldiers of the Huben Army for half a year added up to another three million taels of silver.

These were all done by Wu Sanjia, who was the mighty general and chief military officer of the new imperial court, in front of the officers and soldiers of the three armies before the army set off for the Northern Expedition;

It was promised that 300,000 soldiers of the Tiger and Ben Army would be fully paid out to the soldiers before the first battle of the Northern Expedition in Zhuozhou.

Good thing now, this mere one million taels of silver is enough to provide compensation for the fallen soldiers.

Without the incentives of salary and military rewards, can the 100,000 new tiger troops outside Zhuozhou City still maintain the morale and combat effectiveness that defeated the Longcheng rebels in the Battle of Mozhou?

Wu Sanjia couldn't help asking himself in his mind, but he couldn't get the answer he wanted!

All he knows is that if the new army is not satisfied with its pay, it will be invincible if it is fully paid!

Seeing that the general Wu Sanjia remained silent, the deputy general Zhao Kui, who finally calmed down, couldn't help but put forward his own suggestions.

Zhao Kui said: "General, the matter has come to this. According to General Yimo, if the army wants to continue the Northern Expedition, the only way to move forward is to seize food!"

"No!"