Ming Dynasty: My father Yongle, Forever Reigns Over Mountains and Rivers

In Wenyuan Pavilion, there was silence.

All the generals were shocked by Prince Zhu Gaoxu's generosity!

For example, this pamphlet clearly states that in the future the army will adopt a recruitment system, and soldiers will be paid salaries and salaries on time according to their rank and position from top to bottom!

The lowest level of low-level soldiers, the military salary is the same every month!

One level up is the small flag, which was changed by the prince to Shi Chang, with ten people and Shi Chang's monthly salary of two!

The small flag goes up to the general flag, and now the one level above it becomes the platoon leader. There are five flags in a row, fifty-one people in a row, and the platoon leader is paid three times a month!

There are hundreds of households further up the flag. Now they are called captains. Two rows form a team, with a total of 102 people. The two extra people are the captain and the deputy. The deputy is paid four times a month, and the captain Five monthly salary!

Above a hundred households there are a thousand households. Now he is the battalion commander. There are five teams in one battalion, with a total of 510 people. In addition to the chief and deputy battalion commander, there is also an instructor. The deputy battalion is paid six times a month. The chief battalion and the instructor Seven monthly wages!

This booklet also specifically states why the names of these official positions need to be changed.

The reason is very simple, because in the future, the Ming Dynasty's army will all be based on firearms, supplemented by pikemen. Being familiar with the use of firearms will become the main training content of the soldiers of the three armies. In the firearms queue training, one platoon will form a horizontal line, and one battalion will form a horizontal line. A phalanx was trained individually on this scale, so all changes were made accordingly.

After the battalion commander was the regimental commander, similar to today's guard commander, who was paid ten guan per month, and was also equipped with four staff deputies, each of whom was paid nine guan per month.

As the commander of the guard post moves up, he becomes the commander of the capital department. Now he is called division commander, and his salary is also increased accordingly, with a monthly salary of twenty guan!

Looking at this booklet, Xue Lu didn't even have time to read the other contents. The salary alone was shocking!

Prince, this treatment is indeed too much!

The Ming Dynasty now has millions of soldiers on the books. Just this military expenditure alone will cost at least one million taels of silver every year if there is no war!

If a war breaks out, then five million taels of silver will not be required directly for food, grass, supplies, wages and pensions? Even if the court can afford it, how can those civil servants and gentry agree?

No wonder Xue Lu is so worried. It is really unlikely that this new military salary system will be implemented.

Xue Lu had previously served as Zhu Di's right-hand man in the Northern Expedition, and he knew very well how difficult it was to fight a war.

Old men like Xia Yuanji, together with the former crown prince Zhu Gaochi, refused to allocate military supplies.

Don't ask, he will tell you that he has no money or food!

As for where the money and food went, isn't that obvious?

The imperial capital of Peiping was built, the Dacheng of Documents was compiled, the Grand Canal was dredged, Zheng He's voyages to the West...

Anyway, if you pick any one of them at random, they are all big projects that require countless manpower and material resources.

So Xia Yuanji and Zhu Gaochi cried and sold themselves out in poverty, which really made people lose their temper at all!

In the past, if His Majesty the Emperor wanted to fight a war and go out to the grasslands to have fun, he would really be begging grandpa to sue grandma, which was extremely humble.

Isn’t it all because there is no money, no food, no military expenditure?

At that time, the officers and soldiers of the three armies did not receive military pay!

The worst that happened was that the battle was won, and the emperor was delighted and gave some rewards, with the generals taking the big heads and the soldiers taking the small heads.

But now, the prince's new military system directly pays monthly salaries to the soldiers of the three armies, and the salaries are so high!

This military expenditure must be increased at least ten times!

Only those civil servants and gentry would agree if they were crazy!

Hearing Xue Lu's words, Zhu Gaoxu just smiled faintly.

Maybe you don't know that the royal family has separated financial power from the household department.

From now on, the Ministry of Household Affairs will be responsible for collecting agricultural taxes and salt taxes, all of which will be used to develop people's livelihood, and will no longer be responsible for military expenditures.

The royal family is responsible for collecting commercial taxes and other miscellaneous taxes. In the future, all military expenses will be allocated by the royal family. Civil servants and gentry are not allowed to interfere randomly, so you can rest assured that they have no right to make irresponsible remarks!

Upon hearing this, Xue Lu not only was not happy at all, but his face turned green.

My prince!

Why are you so confused!

How much money can we get from miscellaneous taxes?

You are really losing the watermelon and picking up the sesame seeds!

The other generals were also a little angry and started to accuse.

They have a good relationship with Zhu Gaoxu, so they don't care about their status as monarchs and ministers.

In addition, the generals were really a little angry. In their impression, the court's taxes were mainly agricultural taxes and salt taxes, while miscellaneous taxes such as commercial taxes and mining taxes added up to less than 10% of the total tax revenue!

In this ridiculous land, the royal family and the Ministry of Household Affairs have divided their financial power, which is almost equivalent to giving the financial power to the Ministry of Household Affairs.

Then when generals like them ask for military expenses in the future, they are not allowed to go to the Ministry of Household Affairs to see the faces of those civil servants and gentry?

Isn't this deliberately disgusting?

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly lost his composure when he heard that these arrogant and powerful generals dared to scold him.

Shut up, everyone!

Do you know how much the business tax is? Just scream here!

How many can there be? How many millions are there? Chen Mao mocked angrily.

However, Zhu Gaoxu smiled and said, How do you know? Beizhili's commercial tax last year was indeed several million taels, accounting for 40% of the total tax revenue!

Generals: ???

What?

How many million taels?

How many million taels are there in commercial taxes a year?

It also accounts for a full 40% of the imperial court's total tax revenue?

All the generals were shocked and looked at Zhu Gaoxu in disbelief.

This is just Northern Zhili. When industry and commerce develops in the south and sweeps the entire world, the amount of commercial taxes will far exceed your imagination!

So, your structure is still too small. After all, you are a famous general with a difficult position. You have to open up the structure!

Don't worry about the royal family not being able to provide military pay. It's only a few million taels of silver a year. The current business tax alone can even it out. Why are you worrying so much!

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the generals with disdain and mocked them back unceremoniously.

Alas, your structure is too small!

Generals: !!!

Damn it!

You should have told me earlier!

You said earlier that business taxes are so high!

Then we still have to worry about military expenditures!

Xue Lu's face turned green and white, and he wanted to beat Zhu Gaoxu.

Of course, one can only think about this. If Zhu Gaoxu was still the king of Han, he would beat him whenever he asked. But it is different now. He has become the prince, but he is also the heir apparent!

But this is always a good thing!

With the salaries of the soldiers, the originally difficult life will be greatly improved!

And according to this new military salary system, each military rank is higher than the corresponding civilian salary!

In other words, once this new military system is implemented, it will definitely bring joy to the officers and soldiers of the three armies.

At that time, there will be no more deserters, I'm afraid everyone is vying to join the army!

After all, the salary and treatment are here, it can be said to be extremely generous!

The salary issue has been clarified.

Next we should talk about the issue of free money!

Zhu Gaoxu looked at the generals with a smile and showed a kind smile.