Eighth year of Chongzhen

Chapter 64 Frontier Army
Zhang Zhenyuan, the general guarding the West Road in Xuanfu Town, is over [-] years old, and he is in his prime. His appearance is a typical image of a military general, with a straight nose and a wide mouth, tall and mighty. Years of frontier fortress weather makes his temples slightly gray.

His mansion is in Xuanfu Town, and his daily affairs are handled in the military camp, which is between Zhangjiakou Fort and Wanquan Youwei.Although he is only a general, he has a lot of authority and a wide range of jurisdiction. Wanquan Left and Right Guards, Huai'an Guards, Tiancheng Guards, and the following Zhangjiakou Fort, Chaigou Fort, Desheng Fort, Huailai Fort, Laiyuan Fort, etc., his subordinates Nominally, there are more than 3 soldiers, accounting for [-]% of the entire Xuanfu Town, and it is the strongest of the four routes, but in reality there are only more than [-] soldiers, and the salary of [-] people falls into the pockets of Zhang Zhenyuan and others.

In Zhang Zhenyuan's big tent, the guerrillas Chen Heng, Lu Shan, Jiao Zhigang, Geng Qing, and many thousands of households gathered together. Yesterday, the Governor's Yamen sent someone to inform that Sun Chengzong, the Governor General of Xuanda, will come to the camp today to inspect affairs. all here.

Zhang Zhenyuan was sitting on the top chair after the big case, closing his eyes and resting his mind. The generals in the big tent were discussing in low voices. The series of changes that happened in Xuandajun Town recently made them feel very uncomfortable and uneasy.

After Sun Chengzong took office in Xuanda, he inspected the whole territory of Xuan without stopping. Xuanfu Town was the key inspection target. Xuanfu Governor Zhu Zhifeng, inspector Yao Yunxi, Xuanfu Chief Soldier Yang Guozhu and others accompanied the inspection. The entourage of the official left guard followed.

Every time Sun Chengzong and others went, they would order the local generals to gather all the soldiers under their command and check them against the albums of the Ministry of War one by one. Because even Yang Guozhu didn't get any information beforehand, the generals in Xuanfu were caught off guard.

In the past, the Ministry of War sent personnel down to check the number of troops, but these generals got the news early. The officials of the Ministry of War checked one by one, and announced that the generals of the army communicated with each other. Sent to make up the numbers, Zha Donglu also acted in accordance with the law, plus the generals were willing to spend money, so the two-pronged approach, the military officials are not hard-working people, after a few months of investigation, the result is happy, the court got the news that the soldiers are in order , the division of tigers and wolves, Xuanda's generals received a large amount of food and salaries.

Who knew that Sun Chengzong had just taken office this time, and General Xuan hadn't found out the governor's personal preferences before he was stunned by this surprise investigation. The earthquake kicked off.

After a thorough investigation, even Sun Chengzong, a veteran who had supervised the battle in Liaodong and was familiar with military affairs, was shocked. On the album of the Ministry of War, the entire Xuanfu Town was full of more than 13 soldiers. Food, salaries and supplies were allocated according to the number of people. It was only found out after the inventory that the actual number of people was more than [-], and this was a figure that included all the old and weak.

Sun Chengzong, Zhu Zhifeng, Yao Yunxi and others were both shocked and angry. Although the imperial court did not pay the salary in full and regularly, after so many years, almost all of these generals were full of food.

In anger, Zhu Zhifeng and Yao Yunxi strongly demanded that Sun Chengzong use the king's order to punish these generals who were empty-paid and embezzled the court's money. Zhu and Yao threatened that if Sun Chengzong did not act cruelly, they would jointly In the first book, he was impeached for condoning the crime of raising adultery. Sun Chengzong, who was more than a few years old, deeply understood the anger of the two, and laughed at their excessive words and deeds. It is unimaginable that this matter involves almost every important general. Although Yang Guozhu, the chief soldier of the Xuanfu, looks good, he is not innocent. This is the reason why no white cloth can come out of the dyeing vat. The already turbulent situation was even worse.

Sun Chengzong invited Zhu and Yao to have a secret discussion in detail, and it took a lot of words to calm down their anger, and agreed to Sun Chengzong's safe way to deal with the matter, and then recruited Yang Guozhu alone. He also expressed his willingness to cooperate with Sun Chengzong's future actions, provided that he keeps his position as chief soldier.

After checking the number of soldiers in the Xuanfu, Sun Chengzong returned to the governor's office and convened a meeting of the generals above the guerrillas in the Xuanfu. The general will be the Emperor's Thunder Fury.

Sun Chengzong has profound qualifications, a genuine Jinshi background, and was once the teacher of Emperor Tianqi. He supervised Liaodong, was upright and resolute, and had a good reputation in the ruling and opposition circles. The army is also a man of high morals, the old man is born with a loud voice, and when he scolds, it can be said that his voice shakes the roof tiles, and his aura is overwhelming. The arrogant soldiers below are afraid of his fame, and they dare not show their arrogance, only dare to look down at themselves When they heard that the governor was going to play the imperial court, everyone's complexion changed drastically, some were worried, some were dissatisfied, and some became increasingly angry. The scene was very delicate for a while.

General Yang Guozhu stood up in time to smooth things over. After his begging and reasoning, Sun Chengzong reluctantly agreed not to go to the book, which means that he would no longer pursue the past responsibilities. The general who had the same thoughts was also relieved, because no one wanted to take that step unless it was absolutely necessary.

But Sun Chengzong asked all the generals to organize the old and weak into a heavy camp after returning to the camp, and the rest of the soldiers had to train every day and report the number of troops to the Ministry of War. It's a disguised admission by the people who have guarded the border for many years. They don't know that this is just a play played by Sun Chengzong and Yang Guozhu.

Under the supervision of the governor's office, the governor's office, and the inspectors, the generals can only implement according to the rules. During this period, various small tricks emerged in an endless stream. Without affecting the overall situation, the governor's office also turned a blind eye and let it go. The final result Both sides are reluctant to accept.

Now when they heard that Sun Chengzong was going to inspect the roads again today, all the generals were angry and afraid, wondering what kind of moth would come out of this disaster.

Just when everyone was thinking about it, Zhang Zhenyuan's personal soldiers came to report that the governor and his party were not far from the camp. Zhang Zhenyuan stood up abruptly and waved his hand: "Go! Go to meet Master Sun!"

The generals of the West Road stood at the gate of the camp. Not long after, dust was flying in the distance. Sun Chengzong came to the barracks under the escort of the standard cavalry. Zhu Zhifeng and Yao Yunxi did not follow, only Yang Guozhu accompanied him with a serious expression. aside.

Although Sun Chengzong was over [-] years old, he was still strong and vigorous. After getting off his horse neatly, he walked towards the camp gate. Go to the big tent.

When they came to the tent, Sun Chengzong sat down on the main seat, and two personal soldiers stood on both sides holding the handle of the knife. The generals, led by Yang Guozhu and Zhang Zhenyuan, were divided into two rows and stood in line.

Sun Chengzong looked solemn, his eyes swept over the generals, and he said: "I came here today to make an important announcement. This matter is of great importance, and it involves some generals in the account. The old man is also I feel like my heart is jumping!"

Sun Chengzong's loud and majestic voice echoed in the tent. Everyone in the tent was anxious and obedient. Today's incident may be more serious than checking the vacant quota. Last time Sun Chengzong only brought a few soldiers, this time it is the general The entire standard battalion was brought in, which shows the seriousness of the matter.

There was no sound in the big tent, every general lowered his head and thought wildly, the air seemed to freeze.

Sun Chengzong continued: "The old man has been in the army for a long time, and he is not surprised by the fact that he has to eat empty wages and drink the blood of soldiers. He also understands the hardships of guarding the frontier for Daming, so he reluctantly agreed to let you go last time, but! Someone came to the court. Disregarding the law, he even communicated with slaves for his own selfishness! This is tantamount to conspiracy! You probably don’t know it yet, but several wealthy businessmen in Zhangjiakoubao have been arrested! The crime is to send prohibited materials to slaves! Some people in the middle took bribes from him and released prohibited materials out of the customs! Some people even took part in it and cooperated with the enemy!" At this point, Sun Chengzong was furious and went up against the case.

Everyone in the tent was sweating profusely, Yang Guozhu and Zhang Zhenyuan looked pretty, but the guerrillas and Qianhu were already sweating profusely, I don't know if it was because of the heat or fear.

Sun Chengzong sat down slowly, and continued: "To tell you the truth, Jingshi Jinyi has already inquired about the matter here, and the guilty person is best to plead guilty. Disaster! Come on!"

The curtain of the big tent was lifted, and several captains in blue armor and brocade clothes with embroidered spring knives on their waists came in. Sun Chengzong said: "The old man who reads the name comes out!"

(End of this chapter)