Chapter 328 Chapter 327 Request for Payment

Wei Guangde didn't know if there had been any trouble in the Zhenwu Camp in Nanjing in history. He just looked at the soldiers when he entered the city, and his intuition told him that there was something wrong with those people.

Well, now that it has attracted the attention of my father-in-law, it is always good to nip it in the bud.

"You don't know, tomorrow the 20th is the time for the Zhenwu Camp to gather for training according to regulations. If you hadn't mentioned this, I wouldn't have remembered it. I didn't notice that the Ministry of War had sent military pay to the Zhenwu Camp. I'm afraid that if it can't be sent tomorrow, those soldiers will make a fuss, and we really have to be on guard."

Xu Pengju frowned and thought.

"Shouldn't Lord Taishan tell that Huang Maoguan and Fang Youshan, who is in charge of the treasurer, to send the military pay over, and tomorrow's training will naturally be peaceful."

Wei Guangde said in surprise.

"Hey, who knows what those officials are up to? Let's go talk to them. Others might think we're an eyesore."

Xu Pengju shook his head, "Never mind him. I'll gather my men first and do something about it."

Wei Guangde had dinner at the Duke of Wei's mansion before returning to the courtyard where he lived, which was not far from the Duke's mansion.

But after entering the gate, Wei Guangde told Zhao Hu behind him: "Uncle Zhao, tell Liu Shouyou and others not to go out tomorrow and guard the gate of the posthouse tightly."

Wei Guangde pretended to be indifferent in front of Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, but whenever he thought of the idle soldiers he saw on the street today, he felt uneasy.

I'm afraid something is going to happen.

During the banquet earlier, Wei Guangde once again asked Lord Taishan to talk to Huang Maoguan, Fang Youshan and other people in charge of the Ministry of War to prepare military pay for the Zhenwu Camp and not to push the soldiers too hard, but it was obvious that Xu Pengju didn't take it seriously.

Halfway through the drinking, he used the excuse that he could not drink enough to let his two sons continue to accompany Wei Guangde to drink, and he went back to the backyard to rest.

On the second day, in the small parade ground in the north of Nanjing, flags were flying, drums were roaring, and more than 2,000 soldiers from the Zhenwu Camp gathered. Today was the day for the entire Zhenwu Camp to gather for training.

Although the soldiers had long lost interest in training because of the arrears of wages, they knew that military law was ruthless, so they did not dare to delay such an important event as gathering for training.

Of course, there was another very important reason, that is, the whole camp gathered today, and many soldiers were still fantasizing whether the military wages that had been owed for half a month would be paid today.

Since the establishment of the Zhenwu Camp, it has been composed of 3,000 people, including the elite soldiers of various camps and the young and strong men of Huai'an Prefecture and Yangzhou Prefecture, with meritorious officials as generals, to defend the sea.

However, up to now, Zhenwu Camp has never really been on the battlefield, so naturally tens of thousands of taels of silver are poured into it every year, which makes the Ministry of Revenue in Nanjing feel very disadvantaged. In addition, due to the tight supply of food and wages in the northern border towns, the resources that the Nanjing Military Department can allocate are becoming less and less, so naturally it is becoming less and less welcome.

Today, the people who came to review were the Left Vice Minister of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue, Huang Maoguan, the Supervisor of the Reserve, He Shou, the eunuch of the garrison, Xu Pengju, the Duke of Wei, the garrison of Nanjing, Li Tingzhu, the Marquis of the Left Military Governor's Office and the Admiral of Caojiang Linhuai, and Zhang Ao and Li Sui of the Ministry of War, all of whom have not arrived.

Last year, the discount was deducted by 20%, and the soldiers of Zhenwu Camp were very dissatisfied with Huang Maoguan on the stage. Today, they came to the small parade ground with great expectations, but when they saw that except for Huang Maoguan, no one on the stage or off the stage seemed to want to make up for the arrears, they could not help but whispered.

Huang Maoguan, a Jinshi, naturally looked down on the performance of these soldiers below the stage, not to mention wanting to receive military pay from him.

Although he also knew that it was not good to squeeze and withhold military pay from the soldiers, firstly, the current reserves of the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue had reached an extremely dangerous level. After the Beijing Ministry of Revenue borrowed one million taels of silver, the silver in the treasury was about to run out. Secondly, the Zhenwu Camp had not performed well since its establishment, so of course it was despised.

Look at the soldiers below, there is no military discipline at all. They are not soldiers at all, but are no different from hooligans fighting on the street.

What Huang Maoguan saw on the stage was no different from the truth. After seeing that the government did not send silver to reissue the military pay, the soldiers' spirit had long been deflated. Naturally, they stood and sat in a mess, and gathered in groups of three or five to curse the people on the stage. Who would care about military discipline?

As for the military leaders who stayed in the camp, they were also angry at this time. The soldiers could not get paid, so naturally, the officers in charge of the team had no money to get.

Especially last month, Huang Maoguan actually wanted to check the empty salaries and verify the identities of the soldiers before issuing the silver, which made them unable to get the empty salaries they could earn before, so they were naturally more dissatisfied with the person on the stage.

However, apart from privately scolding him as a non-human, they really had no other way to vent their anger. He was a dignified third-rank official of the court and a civil servant.

Seeing that the soldiers below were unstable, the military leaders were too lazy to care. Without silver, they could not care about the soldiers. Many of them were also considering whether to transfer out of this pit of fire as soon as possible.

The generals of all sizes were also gathered together and cursed at this time. No one went to organize the troops, let alone to see Huang Maoguan.

Huang Maoguan stood alone on the stage. Seeing that the generals of Zhenwu Camp in the distance gathered together and did not come to greet him, his anger continued to accumulate.

He was already considering whether to stop paying the soldiers of Zhenwu Camp for three months as a warning to others. This was too lawless.

Seeing the soldiers of Zhenwu Camp below, the generals were not like generals, and the soldiers were not like soldiers. Huang Maoguan did not feel like watching any more, so he turned around and stepped down, heading straight for the government office south of the small parade ground.

This is a large public housing estate. The Nanjing Ministry of Revenue manages the distribution of food and wages for the various guards in the Nanjing Beijing Camp. Naturally, there are public offices in the large and small parade grounds to facilitate the dispatch of military supplies.

With anger in his heart, he naturally skipped the review. Huang Maoguan strode into his public housing and asked the clerk to bring hot tea.

He had just been blowing the wind on the review stand for a long time, and he, a third-rank official of the court, was directly ignored by those soldiers. This made Huang Maoguan feel deeply humiliated.

When did the military dare to be so rude to these civil officials.

He made up his mind that this matter would not be so simple to end. He would first deduct three months of military pay. Huang Maoguan made up his mind at this moment to severely punish these soldiers, and the soldiers of the Zhenwu Camp on the small parade ground were also dumbfounded when they looked at the empty review stand.

There were no officials, so what were they still doing here?

Just when everyone was at a loss, someone suddenly sobbed, "When will the military pay for this month be issued? The children at home are still waiting for food."

Instantly, a sad atmosphere quickly spread in the hearts of the soldiers in the parade ground. Even if they were far away and couldn't hear what people were saying, they were also infected by the atmosphere and felt cold all over.

In fact, most of the soldiers here have families with them. The soldiers in the Beijing camp are better than those in the local garrisons, that is, the deductions are not as severe as those in the lower garrisons, and they can still get 30% to 40% of the pay.

If I can't get the silver back today, how many days can the surplus food at home last?

My wife and children at home will starve, how can I live like this?

In fact, there was no military pay at the beginning of the month, and the soldiers' families were already tightening their belts and trying to save food. Thinking about the rice jars at home that were about to run out, the anger in the hearts of many soldiers inevitably burst out at this moment.

"Go and argue with the officers, when will the pay be paid?"

Among the soldiers, someone shouted out, and then more soldiers responded, and everyone started to shout.

"Pay the pay, pay the pay"

"It is only natural to pay back debts."

In fact, at this time, the dissatisfaction of the soldiers had just arisen and was still accumulating. Everything could still be controlled. As long as the captain came out and scolded them, the soldiers' mentality would collapse. However, at this moment, none of the military leaders standing on the side stood up.

The generals who led the team looked at each other and shook their heads imperceptibly. Without their permission, the small military leaders under them would naturally not think of coming forward to control the situation. Everyone stood there motionlessly, observing the development of the situation in the training ground.

The generals who led the team felt the same as the difficulties of being a soldier. They had to support a large group of wives and concubines at home, and it was difficult for them now.

Perhaps, making a fuss can change something. Will it be worse than now? If not, just find a way to transfer.

At this time, the leading officers were not thinking about suppressing the soldiers in the parade ground and controlling the development of the situation, but other things.

Although no one spoke, the eyes between each other also said everything.

One of the generals suddenly took the lead and turned to walk towards the barracks. When the little army leaders saw the boss leaving, they naturally followed him and left without paying any attention to the soldiers who were noisy behind them.

The remaining generals looked at each other and followed suit and turned away.

The soldiers were making a fuss, so it was better for these young generals to go back to the barracks first. Usually at this time, they would go to a teahouse or tavern on the street to eat and drink, but today they could not leave and had to stay in the camp.

As for what the fuss was like in the end, who cares? It was all the fault of the arrears of military pay.

It was normal for the soldiers to make trouble when they had no food to eat. The emperor didn't lack hungry soldiers.

In the past, the soldiers' riots over pay, which only occurred in border towns, finally broke out in Nanjing, the capital.

As more and more soldiers remembered their miserable situations, they became emotional and the sound of drums soon resounded throughout the small parade ground.

The origins of the soldiers in Zhenwu Camp were complex. Some of them were elite soldiers from other Beijing camps, but in fact they were all troublemakers in each camp. Those who did not obey the discipline were sent here. It was not an exaggeration to say that they were soldiers.

The remaining soldiers from surrounding guards, such as Yangzhou, were actually idle ruffians in the local guards, but they coveted the treatment of the Beijing camp, so they used all means to get here.

For these people, it is easy to change the country, but it is difficult to change their nature. This is also the reason why a large number of children of nobles left Zhenwu Camp soon after entering it.

Such a team is too difficult to lead.

Now most of these people have already started families and careers. Although their casual habits are still there, they have families after all. At the beginning, they were still nervous when they were making a fuss. But after a while, they found that the generals not only did not come to deal with them, but walked towards the military camp. Many people became bolder.

"It's all because of that dog official surnamed Huang who didn't give us a way to live. We will block him in the government office today. If we don't pay the military salary, we will not stop today."

Finally, an angry sergeant shouted loudly, and then all the sergeants in the small parade ground shouted in unison: "If we don't pay the military salary, we will not stop today."

The shouts represented the voices of more than 2,000 people, and the sound shook the four fields. The generals of the Zhenwu Camp who had just entered the military camp heard the shouts, and they all stopped and looked back in the direction of the small parade ground.

Already, some excited soldiers began to run towards the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Affairs office in the distance. At first, it was just a small group, but as they took the lead, more and more soldiers in the school grounds began to move, and soon it became a group. A large group.

"Second brother, if they come to trouble Mr. Huang like this, nothing will happen."

Finally, some generals realized that something was wrong. Now the situation was raging and they couldn't suppress it, but something big was about to happen.

"It's a bit bad, but is there any way to do it? The person surnamed Huang will not be paid, and everyone will drink the northwest wind?"

"It's okay to make a scene, lest the man named Huang think that all of us in Zhenwu camp are cowards. Let the soldiers block the gate of the office and scare him to death."

Several generals stood inside the gate of the barracks, watching the crowd in the small school field in the distance rushing toward the Ministry of Household Affairs office, talking in low voices.

It's not that they are worried that the soldiers will make things worse. In the eyes of these generals, these small soldiers are just blocking the gate of the office and cursing. How can they pull out the official who they are all afraid of and beat him up to vent his anger?

When the fuss was over, Huang sent someone to look for them, and they went over to clean up the mess and take the people back to the barracks, and get their pay back for this month.

"Let's go in, drink and wait."

The man who was called second brother before looked at the soldiers of Zhenwu Camp going away and said with a relaxed tone.

The soldiers had all left the small school grounds. They rarely waited at the gate of the military camp and went into the camp to drink on their own.

At this time, Huang Maoguan was angry. He was really angry today. He was a Jinshi in the 17th year of Jiajing. Speaking of which, he had been an official for more than 20 years and was a third-rank official in the imperial court. He had never been so angry. He was A group of Qiuba were embarrassed.

The relationship in the capital is indeed not very good, otherwise he would not be transferred to Nanjing, but in Nanjing, he is a well-known figure, and if today's incident is spread, others will laugh out loud.

Thinking of his anger, the tea in his hand no longer smelled good, and he slammed it to the ground.

"Danglanglang"

The tea cup hit the ground hard and broke into pieces, with large pieces rolling on the ground.

The door was suddenly pushed open from the outside. A clerk was already standing in front of the door, looking very panicked. As he pushed open the door of the public room, noisy sounds from outside entered the room.

Huang Maoguan was in a depressed mood at this time. Suddenly he saw the clerk barging in without announcing anything outside the door. He felt even more irritable, and the croaking noise in his ears made him even more upset.

At least he controlled his bad mood and didn't slap the clerk, "What's going on outside?"