The Prosperous Era of Longwan

Chapter 893 982 Breaking into the camp?

“Many people impeached him at the beginning, saying that he was dirty and greedy for money.

Wei Guangde said to Tan Lun seemingly unintentionally while gnawing on a pear.

When Tan Lun heard Wei Guangde's words, he did not refute. He looked at Wei Guangde for a long time and then said with emotion: "Shandai, are you a sensible person? Are the salaries issued by the court enough for officials to support their families?

Those people under him are not guardsmen. The reason why they follow him to fight is just for the few taels of silver.

At least, those sergeants who fought with him had their rewards cashed. "

Wei Guangde nodded slightly, Qi Jiguang trained good soldiers, because the military pay and rewards he received were much higher than those of other Ming armies.

The source of this silver is also very questionable.

Some of them are free wages, and some are the military wages of the soldiers in Fenrunwei, and the various expenses he reported to the above are magnified countless times. Even if the Ministry of War cuts these expenses a few times, in the end What you get is much more than what you actually spend.

"Qi Yuanjing is greedy for money and gain, but he is also good at fighting. He is better than those generals who are greedy for money and don't know how to fight.

Moreover, a lot of his greedy money was spent in the capital.

All departments in the imperial court must take care of things, otherwise even if I approve the note for him, if I want to actually implement it, I will encounter unexpected obstacles at all levels. "

Finally, Tan Luncai said another word for him.

In the Ming Dynasty, some things were really weird.

For example, everyone knows the relationship between Tan Lun and Qi Jiguang, but if Qi Jiguang wants to get good things from the arsenal, even if Tan Lun has agreed, the chiefs and doctors below may not sell Tan Lun's face. They take the meager salary from the court, You also need to eat.

It's okay to act on Tan Lun's advice once or twice, but if it continues like this, how can those people pursue their own careers?

As for the weapons allocated by the imperial court to Ji Zhen, it doesn't matter if there are official documents. If you want to get sophisticated weapons and equipment, you have to stuff money into the hands of the officials in the Arsenal Department.

Only when someone has money will they give him the green light to give him the best things.

I don’t want to use money, and I have Tan Lun’s face. Well, I’ll give you something, but it’s just mixed with more defective products or even scraps. Do you want it if you like it?

Is it useful to send defective or scrap products to the military?

Of course it doesn't work.

If it cannot be used in battle, and the lives of the officers and soldiers who use it are even in danger, what should we do?

You can only give people money and choose the best things.

As for the money collected by others, of course he doesn't keep it all to himself. If a higher official position becomes available, then he has to run around and spend some money.

To put it bluntly, among the corrupt officials in the world, except for the money they keep for themselves, the rest is shipped to the capital and used to bribe officials in the capital.

After all, who doesn’t want to progress.

When it comes to corrupt officials, in fact the most corrupt officials are all in the capital.

"Shu Da has been planning to rectify the administration of officials. The purpose of taking the law test is to urge officials to handle official duties in a timely manner, and at the same time to single out those who are incapable of doing things."

Wei Guangde said something for no reason.

"No matter how we rectify the officialdom, it's just a new group of people who will continue to be corrupt. This is the official atmosphere."

Tan Lun was not optimistic after hearing what Wei Guangde said, and just shook his head slightly and said.

"So someone like Yuan Jing can go further in the officialdom, haha."

Wei Guangde suddenly smiled and said, "He is very popular. Whether it's people from the court or superiors, he always takes good care of them, not only giving money, souvenirs, and even beautiful women."

"hehe."

Tan Lun didn't say anything else, he just laughed twice.

"Let me tell you this, you have to go back and make a fuss over the city by sending some souvenirs, as if you are afraid that others will not know that he is generous.

At this level, he should think about it carefully. "

Wei Guangde just reminded him, and without further words, he gnawed on the white pear in his hand.

Because of Tan Lun, Wei Guangde and his party stayed outside Zunhua City for one more day before continuing eastward and entering Qianxi County not long after.

"Should we go to Qianxi first or go directly to Santun Camp?"

The general military headquarters of Ji Town is not in the county seat, but in Santun Camp, twenty miles northwest of the county seat, where the military camp of the Ji Town army is also located.

"Bypassing that mountain is the Qianxi County seat. Do you want to go around it?"

Tan Lun asked aloud on the horse.

"We won't go into Qianxi County, just go straight there.

The longer we are delayed on the road, the more likely it is that the other side will get the news in advance. "

Wei Guangde didn't think much and answered directly.

"Okay, let's just walk along this avenue. We won't turn when we reach the three forks ahead. We have to speed up."

Tan Lun said.

"Is this the passage through which Jizhen's army marches westward?"

Wei Guangde looked at the surrounding terrain and asked.

"Of course this is the only way to move troops to the west."

Tan Lun said immediately, but he immediately understood the meaning of Wei Guangde's words, so he continued: "There are Ji Town sentry detectives lurking on both sides of the road. This is also part of their training."

Wei Guangde, who was on the horse, just said "hmm" lightly and didn't say much. He just urged the horse to move forward.

It took another half a day before we approached Santun Camp.

When we arrived here, the atmosphere was obviously different from the places we passed before. From time to time, we could see soldiers and convoys carrying luggage.

After all, tens of thousands of people are fed, drank and defecated, so don’t think that a single supply can guarantee the food of Santun Camp for several months.

Carriage convoys come and go from Santun Camp almost every day. Even though there is the largest military storage warehouse in Ji Town, there is a continuous flow of supplies delivered here every day.

Otherwise, it would be extremely expensive to raise an army of soldiers and horses, and the Ming Dynasty was eventually dragged into bankruptcy by the war.

Wei Guangde led the horse to the side of the road, looked at the passing motorcade, and asked Tan Lun in a low voice: "How many days will the food and grass be delivered to Ji Town?"

"Three days, these should be transporting other supplies."

Tan Lun replied in a low voice, "Yuan Jing's military training consumes a lot of money, but for gunpowder, a batch needs to be sent here from the capital every month.

These are all used for soldier training and are not sent to workshops in the city, haha."

"How far is it from here to Santun Camp?"

Wei Guangde smiled casually and then asked again.

He knew what Tan Lun meant by what he said. Naturally, he meant that the old Wei family had engaged in the business of reselling gunpowder distributed by the imperial court.

How should he answer this? Could it be that the quality of the firearms issued by the imperial court was not good enough, and the guards generally did not dare to let the soldiers fire for training, for fear of exploding the chamber?

That's just an excuse. The fundamental reason is that the world has been at peace for too long. The generals of the guard have lost their sense of crisis, so they are not willing to train soldiers at all.

The amount of gunpowder distributed by the imperial court was severely deducted. Even for training, it was not enough, so it was better to exchange it all for silver.

In fact, most of the troops in the Ming Dynasty's mainland did not conduct any training according to the drill code, and many guards may not drill once a year.

As for the things distributed by the imperial court, materials such as gunpowder were relatively easy to resell for money.

After all, reporting to the military headquarters is all consumed by training, so how can you check it?

The imperial court strictly controlled gunpowder, and there were few raw materials for gunpowder among the people. However, the firecrackers and fireworks that pop up all over the country every year around the New Year are not deceiving. Where did the gunpowder come from?

But it’s not all thanks to the generals of the Ming Dynasty. Without their contribution, the people of the Ming Dynasty would not be able to live a stable, peaceful and festive festival.

"It should be less than ten miles."

Tan Lun said.

Seeing that it was still early and there were still an hour or two before the sun set, Wei Guangde said, "Then go directly and spend the night in the camp tonight."

Seeing that the convoy had passed, Wei Guangde also got on his horse and continued to move forward with everyone.

"Is this still a trade route?"

Perhaps because large vehicles passed by for a long time, the road surface was smoothed. They also saw two caravans with three or five large vehicles along the way.

"Caravans going to Qian'an will pass through here, and those going to Fuzhou will usually take a highway on the other side of the county."

Tan Lun seemed to be very familiar with this place, after all, he had been here not long ago.

Most generals who have led troops are sensitive to terrain and roads.

"There will be no civilian convoys when the fork in front of the road turns north. That road leads directly to Santunying. There is no inn for them to stay there. There will be sentries at the intersection."

Tan Lun said again.

Not long after, the convoy that had just given way appeared in front of them again, but they were heading north on the branch road at this time.

"Let's follow up and see if we can sneak in with the convoy."

Wei Guangde said suddenly.

So more than 20 people accelerated their horses and soon caught up with the convoy. The convoy quickly turned into a side road.

"Stop, who is it?"

Just after turning around and taking a few steps forward, he was stopped by a Ming soldier wearing a battle jacket on the side of the road, with two spears pointing diagonally at Wei Guangde's chest.

Wei Guangde had no choice but to rein in his horse and looked at the convoy going further and further away. His idea of trying to get through clearly failed.

However, the two soldiers in the last car looked back when they heard the sound, then turned back expressionlessly and continued to drive away.

Wei Guangde was not angry at being stopped. At least the sentry set up by Qi Jiguang was considered competent.

Without him having to say anything, Tan Lun ordered from behind: "Show them the order."

Soon, Tan Lun's guard came forward, took out an official document from the Ministry of War, and handed it to the flag officer leading the other team.

I don’t know if the other party is literate, or if they can only tell the difference through the seal. In short, after the little flag official read the official document, he quickly let it go.

Continuing forward, Wei Guangde asked in a low voice not long after walking.

"Most of these sergeants don't know a few words, but they can only judge by the seals on official documents."

Tan Lun replied in a low voice.

"Then if the seal is made privately, wouldn't it be easy to deceive these soldiers?"

Wei Guangde frowned and said.

"There is a military camp in front of us. If we don't go directly to the military camp and take out the official documents, they will know that someone has sneaked in after changing their defenses."

Tan Lun said, "Except for the scribes in the camp, does Shandai think that many military households can read?"

"Um"

Wei Guangde thought about it and then said, "Brother Zili, I dare not say anything about other guard posts. Although there are not many literate soldiers in Bengshan Fort, there are still 30%."

When Wei Guangde was studying, there were more than a dozen children from military families who went to town to study with him, and there were also many children who studied with his brother.

Speaking of which, some of these people have already entered the guard to serve as regular soldiers.

In fact, 30% is still a bit exaggerated, that is, only 10% or 20%.

"Haha. Then you, the military households of Bengshan Castle, are blessed."

Tan Lun just smiled.

It is impossible for ordinary military households to send their children to study.

After all, most people are still running for five buckets of rice.

Wei Guangde also always felt that although his father was not an incorruptible person, he was still kind among the generals of the Ming Dynasty, at least not as bad as other generals.

"Should we go directly to the General Military Mansion or the military camp?"

Tan Lun asked again.

Wei Guangde thought for a while and then smiled and said: "Since we are here to see the military training, it is natural to have a look at the military camp first. Qi Jiguang will know that we are coming by the time it is too late."

"Then let's go this way."

Tan Lun began to lead the way, and patrolling soldiers could already be seen around him, "In front of us is the Santun Camp, which is a small fort with a wall. The General Military Mansion is inside, but the military camp is outside the fort. The troops should not have been gathered yet. .”

"Look at these patrol soldiers, Qi Yuanjing is well trained."

Wei Guangde just stared at the soldiers in the distance and praised them.

"When it comes to military training, I really haven't seen anyone better than him. Even Yu Dayou is much worse at military training."

Tan Lun smiled.

Soon, a group of them arrived outside the military camp, but what they thought they would see was the tightly guarded camp, but what they saw was a different scene.

The camp gate was wide open, and although there were horses arrayed on the road, the soldiers around him were not faithfully performing their tasks as they had seen before.

The soldiers guarding the gate gathered together in twos and threes, talking and laughing, and they could no longer tell that they were a well-trained army.

"hehe."

Seeing this, Wei Guangde couldn't help but chuckle.

The soldiers of Jiujiang Guards seem to be like this, and they usually cheat and play tricks.

"No, the soldiers here in Yuanjing shouldn't be like this."

However, Tan Lun was a little surprised to see such a scene.

"Who is your battalion officer? Ask him to come over."

Tan Lun felt a little hot on his face at this time, but he kept telling Wei Guangde that Qi Jiguang was very good at training.

But the appearance of these soldiers at the camp gate did not deserve his praise.

"Who dares to break into the camp without permission? I don't want to ask the chief."

From the wooden house on one side of the camp gate, a general dressed as a hundred households came out. He looked at the cavalry outside and shouted loudly. Then his voice became quieter. Then he saw the man running quickly in front of Tan Lun's horse and bowing: "Greetings to Lord Shangshu."

"Do you know me?"

Tan Lun asked in surprise.

"My lord came for inspection at the beginning of the year, and I still remember it."

The hundred households replied hurriedly.

When the hundred households came out, the scattered soldiers in front of the gate had already repositioned themselves and guarded the camp gate tightly.

"Are you usually this undisciplined? Why do you get together in twos and threes to talk about?"

Tan Lun asked politely.

"It was a villain who neglected his duty and failed to restrain his subordinates in time. Please atone for your sins."

Those hundreds of households stooped even lower.

"What's going on? The camp door is also wide open."

Tan Lun asked.

"Sir, yes."

"What is it? Is Qi Jiguang in the camp?"

"Here, the Commander-in-Chief is in the camp, just..."

"Haha, let's go in and take a look."

Wei Guangde on the side suddenly laughed.

"grown ups."