The high salary of soldiers in the Ming army was enough to shock the world. The salary of an ordinary soldier was enough to allow a family of four to live a well-off life. In addition, some corresponding preferential policies for tax reduction and exemption, making it a very good job to join the army in the Ming Dynasty. Of course, this is a high-risk job. But even so, becoming a soldier is still something that the Ming people hope for, especially for the people in the Western Region who had just joined the Ming Dynasty. Once they become a soldier, it means that they can get rid of poverty immediately.

However, high salaries have also become a heavy financial burden for the Ming government. Raising a soldier is not only a salary, but also the weapons and equipment of the Ming Dynasty are the top of the mainland. After all, the money spent by each soldier every day is a huge number. If this number is used, it will look quite terrifying.

It is precisely because of this that the Ming Dynasty could not afford too many soldiers. The three-year retirement system was a product of this background. On the one hand, it could ensure that the finances would not be dragged down by military spending, and on the other hand, it could also allow the Ming Dynasty to have sufficient military sources when needed.

But these are just policies in peacetime and will not work once the war is reached. Putting aside the astronomical expenses required by the war itself, the surge in the number of troops has also increased the military pay exponentially, which does not include the reward after the victory and the pension for the injured soldiers who died and the pension for the injured.

The war to conquer Chu State began with the number of troops increasing rapidly from the six eastern counties. Zhou Jiyun's command was 30,000, Zeng Lin's command more than 20,000, Guan Ning and Han Huafeng's command re-entered the army, more than 20,000 under Suqian's command, more than 20,000 under Guan Hongyu's command, and more than 20,000 under Bian Wenhao's command. This sudden increase of more than 100,000 is almost equivalent to the regular army of the Ming Dynasty during the normal season, and they are the army recognized by the Ming Dynasty.

Since they have been under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of War, they naturally have to treat each other equally with the original army of the Ming Dynasty. Everyone is fighting side by side, fighting to the death, not worrying about the lack of money but the unevenness. If the gap between the military pay between them is too large, it will probably seriously affect the morale of the military.

Therefore, even though they knew that the financial pressure was very high, the Ming Dynasty Political Affairs Hall and the Ministry of War could only grit their teeth and after formally accepting these troops, they increased their treatment level to the same level as the original Ming army.

This is equivalent to almost double the military pay expenses of the Ming Dynasty.

During the war, no matter how difficult it is, we have to endure it. Now that the war is over, whether it is the Political Affairs Hall or the Ministry of War, the reorganization will be put on the agenda. The so-called reorganization means laying off the army. Because maintaining such a large army for one day means more money is consumed.

"For this reorganization, the Ministry of War should have already made corresponding plans, right?" Qin Feng asked as he looked at the kitten.

The kitten nodded: "Of course, in the late stage of the war, Quan Prime Minister, Geng's Ministry of Revenue had to ask the ministers about every day, keep an eye on them."

"Tell me the general strategy." Qin Feng smiled. The huge military expenditure will indeed make the Political Affairs Hall and the Ministry of Revenue feel huge pressure. In the current Ming Dynasty, there are too many places to use money.

"This time the military strategy is roughly divided into three parts. The first part, that is, the simplest thing, is the local army, county soldiers, county soldiers, etc. that were not recognized by our Ming Dynasty War Ministry, so the way to deal with them is to evacuate them on the spot. These people were temporarily recruited by local officials, have no combat power, and have family members, so they have never been under any pressure. After disarming, they will be released from home. Most of them are afraid that they will be happy." The kitten said with a smile.

"Although these people are not very combative, they still play a certain role in maintaining local public security during the war. Will local public security deteriorate after they are abolished? After the war, some of the Chu army's troops were dispersed, and some of the defeated soldiers are likely to flee into bandits. All this has to be guarded against." Qin Feng reminded.

"Yes, these things are related to the overall security strategy of our Ming Dynasty. I will talk about it later." Xiaomao nodded and said: "The second part is our original old camp. The Ministry of War has made statistics. The veterans who have reached three years now account for two-thirds of our old camp. However, it is impossible to retire so many people at once, so the Ministry of War is preparing to retire one-third. Putting aside those who died in the war and were injured, the ones who are actually going to retire only account for one-quarter of the total number of those old camps. There will be no problem with this part, because the old camps in the Ming Dynasty have a good understanding of our policies, and this policy has been implemented for many years, so there will be no resistance to this."

"This is. Retired soldiers from the old camp first can be regarded as a demonstration effect for other military camps, right?" Qin Feng asked with a smile.

"I also have this idea." Xiaomao smiled and said, "This is also for other troops. The soldiers of the old camp of the Ming Dynasty must leave the military camp according to regulations. Not to mention the other battle camps, the old camp will be reorganized first, which is also a psychological preparation for these newly added Ming army."

"The most difficult part is the third part. For example, Suqian troops, Guan Hongyu's troops, Zhou Jiyun's troops, etc., their previous treatment was quite low. After surrendering to the Ming Dynasty, they suddenly received ten times the salary they had before. Naturally, they had quite aspirations for this profession. And now the war has ended and they are not even in danger of their lives. At this time, it may cause some dissatisfaction to be suddenly cut off their troops to make a living by themselves." Xiaomao said: "If you want to reorganize and withdraw them safely, in addition to the high cooperation of the officers of these troops, local resettlement must also be kept up."

"What are the plans of the Political Affairs Hall when relocating these retired soldiers?" Qin Feng asked.

"The plan has been made a lot. For example, Guan Hongyu's troops are basically from Anyang. If they are willing to return to Anyang, Zhu Yi has also prepared corresponding land, houses, livestock, etc. for them. Geng Qiancheng of Qinghe County has even thrown out a bigger bait. As long as these retired soldiers are willing to settle in Qinghe County, the price he gives is twice as much as Zhu Yi of Anyang."

"Geng Qiancheng has such a lot of capital?" Qin Feng said with a smile.

"The shortage of people in Qinghe County is one aspect, and the other aspect is that Geng Qiancheng wants to change the personnel composition of Qinghe County." Xiaomao smiled and said: "Now, most of the people in Qinghe County are the disbanded troops of the former Bian Wushuang's troops and their military families. The people there can be more or less related to each other. If you have something to do, you can join forces and support each other, which makes Geng Qiancheng very troubled, and this has also caused some trouble when governing the local area. Therefore, Geng Qiancheng has been trying to change the model of the personnel composition. These retired soldiers are not inferior to the local people in Qinghe. When they go to Qinghe, they will definitely rely more on the government when they are not familiar with the place. Geng Qiancheng will have more capital to manage the local area there."

"No wonder he spared no expense." Qin Feng smiled and said, "Anyway, Qinghe now has a lot of land, and every time a retired soldier is placed, the court will have corresponding subsidies. This guy wants me to make money from both sides. Speaking of which, their family really has a bloody heritage of doing business. Like a father, like a son."

"And it's better than the blue." Xiaomao laughed. He still admired Geng Jingming very much. At least after Geng's Ministry of Revenue took office, he cooperated closely with Wang Yueyao of the Commerce Department to slowly turn losses into profits. The Ministry of War gradually became generous with money.

Money cannot do everything, but without money, it cannot do anything. Kittens have a deep understanding of this.

"In other words, Guan Hongyu's troops and Suqian's Western Army headquarters focus on resettlement is Anyang and Qinghe."

"Yes, Zhu Yi is not very enthusiastic about this, but just follow the steps, because Anyang is originally crowded and has few land. Geng Qiancheng is very enthusiastic. He heard that he has sent a lot of people to Guan Hongyu and Suqian to lobby. He hopes that the two generals can help him and place more retired soldiers to him. However, I am still a little worried. After these people go to Qinghe, they will form some opposition with the locals in Qinghe. Your Majesty, our Ming Dynasty allows retired soldiers to carry their own armor and weapons. If they fight, it will be a bit scary." The kitten was obviously a little worried.

"Geng Qiancheng is not afraid, what are you afraid of?" Qin Feng glanced at him sideways, "This official is regarded as a spirit. He must have thought of what you thought of, and of course there will be a preparatory plan."

The little cat smiled and said, "That's right, since he has taken over this stall, it must be done well. If it is not done well, the Zhengshi Hall will naturally ask him. Guan Hongyu and Suqian's troops will probably cut by half, which is 20,000 people. Another big part is Zhou Jiyun and Zeng Lin's troops. When I came to the capital, I discussed this issue with Zeng Yuzheng in Jinghu. Zeng Yuzheng's suggestions were to resettle on the spot. Zhou Jiyun's troops retreated were mainly placed in Kunling County. These people lived in Kunling County for too long, and it was almost their home there. Zeng Yuzheng's troops could do the other five counties in the east. Zeng Yuzheng promised that his subordinates would never have any objections to the issue of retirement."

Qin Feng nodded.
Chapter completed!