Originally, Emperor Chongzhen thought that it was easy to pay as much as the salary was short of money. But unexpectedly, it was Bi Ziyan, the Minister of Revenue, and Shen Yongmao, the Minister of War, who fought a lawsuit against the imperial court for this, which made him realize that the matter here was very complicated.

At the beginning of the incident, the Minister of War Shen Yongmao Shangben impeached the Minister of Revenue Bi Ziyan Ke withdrew military salaries and did not repay the owed salaries according to the book. Emperor Chongzhen was furious when he heard this. Such a matter was still great, so he immediately ordered the Minister of Revenue to meet with him.

Bi Ziyan had already been mentally prepared. When he saw Emperor Chongzhen, he immediately impeached the Minister of War and said: "Your Majesty, the Huangcai of the Ministry of War was verified during the Tianqi period. Now there are frequent wars and many soldiers have been killed and injured. If the military pay is still paid according to the Huangcai of the Army, I will impeach the Minister of War and intend to earn an empty salary!"

"Your Majesty, I will also impeach the Minister of Revenue to withhold military pay!" Shen Yongmao also followed the action, confronting him in a tit-for-tat way, without giving in at all.

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he knew that he had thought it was simple. He didn't immediately make a conclusion. He just frowned and thought for a while before saying to Shen Yongmao: "Shen Qing, Bi Qing sounds reasonable. Of course, I don't believe that Shen Qing will get an empty salary. Can you explain the reasons for this?"

There must be some things about empty salary. Emperor Chongzhen also knew this, but he really didn't believe it. The Minister of War would be too brave to come and eat empty salary openly.

After hearing this, Shen Yongmao bowed gratefully, then stood up and said, "Your Majesty, my Ming Dynasty is vast, with a huge army of millions. If you want to make the military Huangcai the same as the actual situation, this is impossible. The practices have always been based on the military Huangcai as the certificate. Now if you conduct a nationwide verification of the Qing army, after the number of reports comes, I guess the Ministry of Revenue will have no spare silver!"

After he finished speaking, he was a little puzzled. According to the fact that Bi Ziyan, whom he knew, would not have been so uncooperative in the past. The court said he wanted to pay the wages, but the Ministry of War went to collect them. But I don’t know why Bi Ziyan was so petty this time.

Emperor Chongzhen understood what he meant and felt a little speechless. Shen Yongmao saw that the Ministry of Revenue was rich now, so he quickly took it, for fear that he would not get any money in the future.

Thinking of this, he looked at Bi Ziyan, but he had not thought about what to say. However, Bi Ziyan misunderstood. He immediately replied seriously: "Your Majesty, this reason is very absurd! I am in charge of the Ministry of Revenue and should also be responsible for the national treasury and fulfill my responsibilities for Your Majesty!"

Others may not be able to understand his persistence, but in fact he has been fed up with the pain of the Ministry of Revenue’s lack of money. Think about it, if this person asks him for money, he has no money; if that person asks him for money, he has no money either; if he wants to do this, he has no money, he has no money to do that, but he has no money.

After becoming the Minister of Revenue, the lack of money even became his nightmare. His brother, Liaodong Governor Bi Zisu, eventually lost his life because he had no money. If anyone in the Ming Dynasty was most afraid of hearing the word money, he was probably not the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but the Minister of Revenue.

Now, the Ministry of Revenue finally has money. Bi Ziyan is afraid of being poor, so he naturally cherishes the money in his hands. He has to think carefully about anyone who wants to take the money out of his hands.

If it were the past, the Ministry of Revenue had no money anyway, your Ministry of War would come over with a document and say how much money it would be owed. He had just the same attitude, as you please, I had no money anyway. But now it is different. If you come over with a document, he knows that he will definitely spend money here, so he will not do it.

After hearing Bi Ziyan's answer, Emperor Chongzhen felt that he was right and nodded, and then looked at the Minister of War.

When Shen Yongmao saw it, it seemed that the emperor was moved by the Minister of Revenue, so he became anxious and quickly replied: "Your Majesty, if the Qing army involved the Censorate and the local officials and garrisons at all levels at this time, it would not take much time to achieve a result. Just the military yellow book that was finally submitted to the Qing army after the Qing army would not be accurate! Anyway, it is not accurate to be sure whether it is early or late. It is better to pay some of the owed wages first!"

He knew that the emperor was very concerned about the owed wages. At the court meeting at the end of last year, he even emphasized the harm of owed wages. In addition, he was afraid that the Ministry of Revenue would use up the money, so he spoke a little like a scoundrel!

Emperor Chongzhen was a little confused after hearing this. After all, Emperor Chongzhen in this life suddenly became emperor from a vassal king, so it was naturally impossible for him to understand the military system of the Qing Dynasty, and it was even more impossible for him to know it in later generations. Therefore, he did not understand how many twists and turns there were?

If he didn't understand the situation, he could not make the correct ruling. In desperation, he had to let the two ministers go back and wait until he made up his homework before talking.

Emperor Chongzhen then took a whole day to understand the inside story. To be honest, it was another reason for the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

It's a bit long, but to put it simply, Zhu Yuanzhang learned from the lesson that many soldiers in the palace were recruited by generals during the Tang Dynasty, which caused armed separatism and posed a threat to the central government. He followed the Yuan Dynasty and implemented military hereditary military households to avoid the worries of separatist vassal states.

But after this, the hereditary military households began to flee from the beginning of the country. The main reasons are four.

First, the well-known low status of military households is mainly reflected in the fact that the military households must have more than five ranks, and the only one who has two ranks can be admitted to the ranks. However, even if the households only have two ranks, they can be admitted to the ranks as long as they can read. In addition, personal freedom is also restricted. They cannot pass the house, do not marry casually, learn to sing, play chess and play double land, do not do business, and do not get married casually, etc. If a crime is committed, it is a crime that is more than a family.

Second, military households have heavy taxes and additional burdens. Each military household must have one person as a regular soldier, and another person will be sent to serve as a remaining soldier, which is the kind of soldier who will be the one who will fight. If the soldier is gone, then make up for it. In addition, another successor is also required to prepare, which is to start the daily routine of the soldier and serve as a substitute. This means that at least three strong men in a family will be abandoned.

Although military households have excellent taxes and service exemptions, what is really exempted is only some "mixed service". For example, Lijia, equal labor service and other service personnel cannot be reduced or exempted, and they must also bear the same labor service as those of the people.

Third, the basic living conditions of the army and the rest of the army are not guaranteed. Although the army and the rest of the army have six dou of monthly grain in the camp, they need to make a living. In addition, the monthly grain may be deducted by the officer, or not paid due to arrears, or paid for silver, etc., which are often insufficient to support.

Fourth, soldiers are not allowed to join the army in their own homes, but instead change their troops from north to south, and suffer from the suffering of not being able to adapt to the local conditions. There are many deaths.

Such a hard thing is inevitable, and this is why the Ming army cannot be fully staffed. It can be said that the matter of empty salary naturally arises.

Of course, in the era of Zhu Yuanzhang, we had already realized this situation and took measures, which was the Qing army.
Chapter completed!