Chapter 360: Comfort
More than 60,000 Beijing troops were ordered to gather in the East City military camp, and the soldiers of the Royal First Division were all armed and on guard around, making the huge military camp crowded.
Although all the officers and soldiers of the Beijing army were uneasy, they were full of expectations, because the emperor ordered that all their arrears of wages be paid. As for how to settle them in the future and whether they can stay, they no longer considered it.
They joined the army to support their families. They were often owed wages and withheld by their superiors. There was no point in staying in such an army. It was already a blessing to get all the arrears of wages.
The treatment of several personal armies formed by the emperor was so good that people envied it, but it was hard to say whether they could get in. It was said that the assessment was very strict and the training was even stricter. However, if they really had that treatment, they could still grit their teeth and stick to it.
"Pay the wages." Xu Yu, standing on the high platform, was frugal with words. With a wave of his hand, he directly ordered to pay the arrears of wages to all the Beijing soldiers.
In fact, it was not that he was thrifty with words, but that he was lazy. Looking at the more than 60,000 Beijing soldiers who were lazy and standing in a mess, and whose combat power was worse than that of the five scums, he had no interest in saying a word. If it were not for the imperial order, he would not want to see these five scums at all.
A large row of tables and chairs were placed on the high platform. Behind the tables and chairs stood the logistics quartermasters and assistants of the Royal First Division. Behind them were large boxes filled with broken silver and copper coins.
Soldiers with live ammunition were on guard around. Anyone who dared to make trouble and rob silver and money would be shot on the spot.
This money was squeezed out of the stomachs of those generals who ate empty salaries and drank the blood of soldiers by the Jinyiwei. Except for those who were confiscated and shot, the rest were lucky ones who paid several times the price to save their lives.
The data on the arrears of wages for the whole army was compiled by the logistics quartermasters of the Royal First Division who worked together for a day and a night, and then submitted to Zhu Youjian's dragon case for him to decide.
Zhu Youjian wanted to reorganize the army and disband the 100,000 Beijing troops who were weak in combat. If they were not properly resettled, these 100,000 Beijing troops would most likely cause a mutiny under the instigation of some people with bad intentions. Paying all the soldiers' arrears was just one of the means of appeasement.
Paying the arrears first, appeasing all the soldiers, and then retiring all the old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers. After the remaining young and strong soldiers were assessed, those who were suitable were incorporated into the new recruit division, and all the others were ordered to retire.
All retired soldiers were given retirement benefits, that is, six months of military pay. Soldiers who were not registered in the capital and had to travel far were given travel expenses and food subsidies according to the distance of the journey.
Zhu Youjian's considerations were so thorough and humane, in order to appease all the retired soldiers. If they were still ungrateful and were deceived by some people to make trouble, he would be shot if he was caught.
Some of the principles that Zhu Youjian pursued were that if one scum was killed, there would be one less, and society would be more stable.
It did cost a lot of money to pay the overdue salaries and retirement benefits of more than 60,000 people. However, Zhu Youjian not only did not lose money, but on the contrary, he made several times more money, all from those black-hearted generals.
As for those generals who were deprived of their military power and only retained their military positions and were idle at home, if they did not know how to live or die and were instigated by some people to make trouble, then their families would be confiscated and their entire families would be executed.
Confiscating houses is the fastest way to make money. He felt that he was addicted to confiscating houses. The key was to recover a large amount of land, which would be of great benefit to future land reform.
"The emperor is wise."
"Long live the emperor, long live the emperor."
When Xu Yu announced the salary payment, the whole military camp was jubilant. All the soldiers of the Beijing Army could not help but cheer loudly. Some even knelt down, kowtowed repeatedly in the direction of the palace to thank him, and shouted "Long live the emperor".
The military police and soldiers of the Royal First Division who were on alert all around were so nervous that they raised their guns. Fortunately, the soldiers of the Beijing Army just jumped and rejoiced. Although the scene was chaotic, it did not cause a big chaos and was within the controllable range.
Under the command of the military police, all the soldiers of the Beijing Army grinned and happily lined up to receive the back pay. No one made a noise or made trouble during the whole process. It seemed calm and orderly.