Fifty-six, "Master with Juice"

Fifty-six, "Master with Juice"

Although at the beginning, Grand Secretary Fei was extremely surprised by the loss of the Ministry of War seal for no reason. However, after actually entering the Ministry of War and seeing the actual situation, Fei Liguo realized how disorderly the daily management of the imperial court in this year was.

The vendors selling fruit and snacks, the coolies carrying sedan chairs, the waiter who recruits customers, even the turtle man in the brothel, and the singer-songwriter who sells arts, come and go all day long, passing by in the Ministry of War. Every noon, there are a bunch of servants who come to deliver takeout lunches, and officials at all levels of the Ministry of War turned a blind eye to this. They have long been used to it. No one thinks it is inappropriate, and no one wants to ban it.

In fact, even the current appearance is the result of the emperor's repeated edicts to rectify. Before, many famous taverns and brothels in the capital simply opened branches directly in the yamen...

Emperor Kant was extremely furious about the case of theft of the Ministry of War's seal, and ordered the Ministry of Justice to arrest the thieves. After a month of investigation, there was no clue. As a result, the officials of the Ministry of War had to share the costs of recasting the seal, and announced that it would not be an example, and it was left alone.

As for the official documents of Grand Secretary Fei Liguo, because he could not afford to delay the time, he could only temporarily put a carrot seal and dipped it in cinnabar ink to stamp it.

Since even the Ministry of War, located under the emperor's nose, such a funny frustration will happen. As for how the officials outside the capital work, it is even more conceivable.

Therefore, when Grand Secretary Fei Liguo took the official document stamped with a carrot seal and went around to the imperial guard station and the Ministry of War arsenal, he returned to the mansion and was in a daze and shaking his mouth, and kept muttering:

"...What should I do?! What should I do?! My big gold disaster is coming!"

When he just went to the imperial guard camp outside the city to convene troops, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo originally wanted to give some rewards to inspire morale, and then calmly assess and eliminate the old and weak... But when he really saw the appearance of the military camp, his heart was so desperate that he was cold!

How come this is called a military camp? It’s just a ruin?

The barracks have been idle for a long time, and there is not even a post to watch. The soldiers will only delay the last time when they perform and pay their wages. The weeds on the military field have grown half a person tall! The edge part has even been reclaimed into vegetable fields by the nearby people!

After hearing that there was a reward to be given, the soldiers gathered together in a hurry made the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo almost irritated.

There are generally 30% to 70% of the staff in each battalion. Even those who stand on the school grounds and wait for inspection have a very suspicious identity. Their age structure is quite comprehensive, from twelve to seventy years old, and their standing posture is also erratic, without any soldiers. Just by scanning the guy standing in the front row, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo was fortunate to recognize a barber whom he used to visit, an old man selling chaos in his mansion, and a smart turtle man from the famous brothel "Hongxiuzhao"...

——Obviously, these guys are all "actors" who were temporarily brought in to cheat their wages. It would be better to expect the sows to climb trees than to expect them to fight.

As for the soldiers who are actually registered on the roster, they probably are farming, doing business, and doing business. The current people, the gangsters who are mixed with gangsters... they have even passed away, but they are still receiving money in the grave... Anyway, they basically do not exist in the military camp.

There was also a bannerman officer with a distant relative of the royal family who was wearing the title of Marquis. He actually came to Damao alone with two servants, and then directly published a roster from his sleeve, throwing it to Fei Liguo in a big way and said, "There are thousands of soldiers under the banner, and all of them are here!"

Okay, this guy is so bold that he has no more soldiers after he has eaten his empty salary!

But he was a bannerman and a noble relative. He lay on the credit card of his ancestors, enjoying countless privileges and his status was extremely valuable. Grand Secretary Fei Liguo had no choice but to pinch his nose and pass by.

After some inventory and statistics, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo finally made the foundation of more than 20,000 imperial guards in the capital to make a preliminary analysis.

The more than 20,000 imperial guards were organized into two towns according to the new military system, one stayed in the capital and the other stationed outside the capital. One town chief was called the commander and had two assistants under his jurisdiction. In theory, each town should have more than 10,000 soldiers, but in fact it would be good to be able to make up 30%. As for horse armor and firearms, they have been stolen or sold out completely, leaving only a bunch of bare-handed infantry.

Among the imperial guards in these two towns, the chief of the first town of the imperial guards in the city was "remotely led" by the Manchu royal family, but he did not actually take office. The soldiers under his jurisdiction were all Eight Banners masters, and they rarely took office. They basically turned the military camp into a welfare institution.

The second town of the Imperial Army outside the city was mainly Han people, but the collapse was even worse. The commander was a fat man with a heart-wrenching weight of about 230 kilograms. Therefore, he never rode a horse and had to sit in a sedan chair. Moreover, the four sedan chairmen were absolutely unable to lift it, and eight strong men had to serve him... Obviously, with his body shape, once he rode on the horse, he could directly crush the horse to death. Not riding a horse means he had a self-knowledge.

Because the court's military expenditure allocation policy has always been a polite man and abstaining from the Han Dynasty. If there are any good things to reward and show off, they only think about the first town of the imperial guards in the city, and almost tossed the second town raised by the stepmother into a beggar.

Therefore, in order to maintain his pampered living standard, the fat chief had to work hard to eat empty salary in a variety of ways, counting all the housekeepers, clerks and servants in the mansion as officers, while servants, grooms, chefs, and tenants became soldiers of the imperial guards. Considering that a large number of soldiers were always unable to receive military salary and were working on second jobs to make a living, they were really capable of fighting and were only a few hundred soldiers who were used to fill the Mén face.

In other words, if the Second Imperial Army Town is going to go to war, you may be able to get enough people before the start of the battle, but after the actual start of the battle, once the temporary hired "actors" escape, they will immediately shrink from more than 10,000 to several hundred... It's simply a trick to play the bone shrinkage skills!

Therefore, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo picked up his nose and picked it up. Even if the standards were lowered again and again, he only collected 500 people to use it. In addition, some of them were bare-handed infantry or holding rusty spears and big swords, and they had to be dressed up first.

In addition to the imperial guards responsible for the periphery, there are more than 5,000 real soldiers and horses in the city and the imperial palace. Although the actual combat effectiveness has not been tested and is quite suspicious, at least it looks bright and bright in clothes and horses, and the armor and helmets are bright. Unfortunately, the soldiers of the infantry commander need to often rush to the streets to maintain public order, which plays the role of a policeman. Once they leave their capital, they may have to be trapped, and they really cannot take them out for war. The Shiwei Army guarding the imperial palace is even more forbidden to His Majesty's ban, and they cannot tolerate ministers to get involved.

In this way, the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo, who was already quite pessimistic about the war, suddenly realized even more painfully that his seemingly majestic commander of the Jiangdong Expedition Camp was in danger of becoming a commander without a single position!

With such a tragic situation now, how should we go to fight against the enemy next?

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After learning about the embarrassing situation faced by the employer's boss, several staff members at the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo's residence also sighed.

"... Speaking of which, in fact, there are some inspiring soldiers in our capital. Most of the royal relatives and officials and clans each have their own strong guards, and they are fed with silver and soil every day. The swords, swords, clothes and armor are also inspiring and inspiring, even more aggressive than the emperor's personal guards. Ordinary fights with the soldiers of the imperial guards, and it is absolutely no problem to fight one against three... It's just that no one is willing to send them to loyalty to the court!"

An aide sighed, and the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo gave him an angrily blank look.

"...Isn't your words meant to be vain?! Although it is common for the tyrants to raise soldiers, it is a big violation of the taboos of the court. It can only be done under the straits, and cannot be told to others! Even if the emperor asks, the ministers and officials will only deny it. No matter how high the qualifications and the face are, how can I be moved? Even if I pull it out, how can I afford it?"

"...Sir! Since the imperial guards are corrupt and the noble soldiers cannot be collected, we will instead use the 200,000 taels of salary allocated by the court to recruit soldiers, temporarily recruit the people in the city to stimulate the strong people, and give them armor and armor. After the departure, we will train while walking, which is always better than those soldiers!"

Another scholar also made a suggestion. He just followed the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo to the military camp and did not dare to express any confidence in the soldiers. Now, I think about it, I should find some honest and obedient ordinary people, which may be better. Even if I can't fight, at least I haven't developed the bad habits in the army yet. "...I don't believe it! In such a large Nanjing city, there are only a few hundred soldiers available for a million people?"

In response to this, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo also responded with a bitter smile.

"...200,000 taels of silver? Hehe, how can I have so much silver in my hand?! The emperor gave 200,000 taels of silver in the inner treasury, but when he sent it out of the palace from several father-in-laws, he would be deducted 20% - this is a very honest standard. When the father-in-law Yayi'an was in charge of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, he would deduct 60% of the silver in the inner treasury that the late emperor would deduct 60% of the silver in the treasury that the Ministry of Revenue and the corrupt officials of the Ministry of War walked around and deducted it layer by layer. In the end, the official only received 60,000 taels of silver!

According to the current market price for hiring coolies in the capital, and then dialing off the cost of buying military uniforms, flags, cars and horses, it is probably a bit difficult to recruit a thousand soldiers. Not to mention that the five hundred people picked out from the imperial guards today are all victims who owe salary for more than ten months. If you don’t make up your salary in advance and pay enough excise fees, do you think that just a single imperial edict can make them work hard with your official position? What’s more…”

Speaking of this, he finally couldn't help but sigh again, "... The imperial arsenal of the Ministry of War has already been completed! Apart from the scrap copper and iron, they are still scrap copper and iron. Even if the official recruited the people into the army, they were not qualified to have all weapons. How could they join the formation?"

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This imperial arsenal has always been the most important factor in the Central Military Commission of Beijing. It is in charge of the manufacturing, storage, distribution and other important matters of weapons and weapons in the world. Every year, there are fewer than millions of taels of silver in and out of the books!

The arsenal's errands are here, but the tricks are here - after hundreds of years of "experience accumulation", the cutting corners of the ordnance in the manufacturing process, the stealing of the storage process, and the disposal of the scrapping process have all become the way for officials of all sizes and big and small to make money.

Generally, when the imperial court customizes weapons, it first asks the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds to the Ministry of War at the market price, and then sends them from the Ministry of War to the arsenal. During this period, after officials at all levels of officials blocked and deducted them, only 50% or 60% were left. The arsenal swallowed most of the money and allocated a fraction to the private iron factory. If this amount of money is produced according to the quantity and quality of the Ministry of War, the iron factory will have to lose money. However, since it is the unspoken rule for the official to share money together, it is naturally impossible to drive the iron factory to death. Most of them just need to hand over some broken copper and iron to make up the number.

Therefore, in order to ensure that their financial channels are smooth, the arsenal officials have always regarded their own account books very strictly. The production, procurement and inventory of all military equipment are not allowed to be noticed, and it has made it more cautious than the spy agency.

This time, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo took the imperial edict and official documents and urged him for a long time. The officials of the arsenal were really out of the way, so he bit the bullet and opened it. Before Fei Liguo had entered, he let a smell of musty choke and almost fell down at the mouth. Then he was sobbing by the dust that he was soaked in tears. He barely pinched his nose and went in and saw that except for the rust iron sheets that should be returned to the furnace, they were still rust iron sheets that should be returned to the furnace. I don’t know how long it had been piled up, and even the wooden handle was rotten. He immediately burst into his lungs, pulled his throat and made noise and scolding, and kept attacking the lawsuit to the Military Affairs Office.

When Emperor Kant and King Qing heard about this, they were all shocked, but it was too late to make rectifications. No matter how powerful the emperor was, he would not make any tricks out of nothing. In the end, he had to open the royal arsenal of the Shiwei Army, seized hundreds of surplus swords and spears, and then allocated 10,000 taels of silver for the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo to find a way to raise weapons by himself.

——But the battle is about to go out, and the ancients were too late to sharpen their guns in the face of battle, let alone opening the furnace to create weapons in the face of battle?

When the staff heard this, they were stunned for a moment, standing still as if they were fools. Everyone knew that this battle could not be fought. Now the imperial soldiers were only left with such an empty body, and they could be pushed down. How to fight with people!

Seeing that everyone had no idea, the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo sighed a few times, then burst into laughter, and tears flowed through his eyes, "...hahaha! It's ridiculous, it's ridiculous! I, Dajin, I, claim to be the country of the Celestial Empire, and this place is a key place in the capital. I actually want soldiers but no soldiers, money and no weapons! I can't even get the weapons together! How can I fight this battle? Could it be that I really have to rely on the Demon Cult to protect the country and resist foreign invaders? Hehe, if this world is really like this, then I will also set up an incense altar at home, invite the gods, and none of the genius to fight with foreigners!"

Seeing that the Grand Secretary Fei Liguo was crying and laughing, his face was full of tears and snot, he became the " Grand Secretary with Juice" for a moment. Seeing this, all the staff quickly stepped forward to persuade and comfort him one by one. Finally, they comforted Fei Liguo who was almost crazy.

Then, Fei Liguo finally received another good news. The emperor considered that the imperial guards were useless and the arsenal was short of weapons. In order to avoid miscarriage during this expedition, he issued an order to transfer the Eight Banners Firearms Battalion and the Yangtze River Navy to enrich his combat forces.

So, the "Master of the Cheese" wiped away his tears and snot, and with the last of his luck, he went to inspect these three new forces.

Then, he felt completely desperate about the military machine of the Great Jin court.

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As the saying goes, the world is like a crow. Since the imperial guards in the imperial court are so decayed, the cavalry, the Yangtze River Navy and the Eight Banners Firearms are naturally not much better.

Due to the shortage of military expenditure and corruption, the so-called cavalry army basically had no horses. In order to welcome the chief inspector, they had to find a way to hire them temporarily. However, the court had already lost the horse-producing place in the north. The horses in the water town of Jiangnan were rare and precious, so they could not be hired for a while. In the end, they had to hire a bunch of donkeys to make up for the numbers. They also claimed to Fei Liguo that this was "adapting to local conditions and giving full play to the characteristics of Jiangnan"...

Faced with such a group of "donkey knights" who were in chaos, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo really had the intention to vomit blood.

The warships of the Yangtze River Navy were 70% shorter than those on the roster. The rest were nailed with thin wooden boards and old nails. The shape was like large floating garbage, and it leaked as soon as it sailed. It had to be arranged to scoop in the bottom cabin. Most of the naval soldiers were ate empty salaries, and the remaining half were busy working in the second profession. They had never been accustomed to water, so they had to hire fishermen to replace them during the exercises. However, because the commission staff also wanted to fill the bag, in order to save money, they just randomly collected a group of beggars and refugees and handed them over to make up for the matter.

As a result, during the actual inspection, Grand Secretary Fei Liguo felt something was wrong when he saw these guys. In order to test their water nature, he instructed his personal entourage to kick ten sailors into the river. They were all landslides, and they almost drowned...

Therefore, before this round of review was over, Fei Liguo was already in tears again and restored his true nature to the "Grandmaster with Juice".
Chapter completed!