Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

But the huge warehouse was empty, with only a few tattered clothes of unrecognizable color scattered in the corner.

Chao! Where are my more than 16,000 brand new military uniforms?

He didn't have time to get angry and immediately ran to the warehouse where the weapons and armory were stored.

This warehouse was not so empty. There were indeed a lot of weapons stored in it, but there were no shining swords or the armor that he had been longing for for a long time.

What caught my eye was just a pile of scrap metal that had been stored for who knows how long.

"What's going on? Are the accounts false? Or did you embezzle the supplies?" Zhang Shikang was furious and immediately drew his sword and pointed it at the quartermaster, questioning him.

The quartermaster was terrified. He knew that these things could not be concealed. After seeing Zhang Shikang beat Qian Rulong and others to death in public, he did not dare to have any luck in his heart and quickly replied:

"Sir, I am just a small quartermaster, how dare I do such a thing?

The truth is... the truth is Duke Chengguo, and... as early as last year, they shipped this batch of supplies out.

I was of low rank and did not dare to stop them. They even threatened me, so I had no choice but to keep two sets of accounts.

What I just gave you was the actual account book, not the fake one."

The quartermaster seemed to be prepared. He took out another account book from his pocket and handed it to Zhang Shikang with both hands.

Zhang Shikang's face was gloomy. He knew that the nobles and relatives were blood sucking, but he didn't expect them to be so vicious.

Zhu Laosan, the admiral has taken note of this account book.

He didn't take the fake account book. Everything was gone and the account book was meaningless.

Since Emperor Chongzhen had already promised not to pursue the matter and this was also his idea, he could only swallow his anger.

As soon as he left the warehouse, Zhang Shikang became more and more angry the more he endured it, and the more he took a step back, the more he felt that he was at a loss.

No, after I finish the things at hand, I must go back to the capital and ask Brother Chongzhen for a batch of military uniforms. It's not decent to train a bunch of beggars as soldiers.

When Zhang Shikang returned to Huotouying again, the soldiers who had just finished their meal were talking about his performance.

"What grandson of the father-in-law, what son of the Duke Cheng, our Lord Admiral didn't take them seriously at all!"

"That's right. I was right behind the admiral at the time. He sent them all back with just a few words."

"Our admiral is very courageous!"

"I have figured it out. There is definitely a future for me if I follow the Admiral. From now on, I will leave my life to the Admiral."

"Come on, Lao Qin, you are almost fifty years old this year, can you still go to the battlefield?"

"Why not?"

……

As they were talking, the sound of drums rang out on the parade ground, and everyone rushed towards the reviewing stand, even the firemen were summoned.

Since they had all eaten a full meal, the soldiers moved much faster this time and had formed a line in just a quarter of an hour.

Moreover, due to Zhang Shikang's previous military order, the parade ground with nearly 30,000 people was surprisingly quiet, and several guerrilla generals had no chance to take advantage of the opportunity to show off.

Those soldiers with loud voices consciously stood under the reviewing stand and acted as loudspeakers, waiting for Zhang Shikang to speak.

Zhang Shikang glanced at everyone, cleared his throat and said:

"From now on, we will start paying back wages. Those over 35 will be given priority on the far right."

As soon as he finished speaking, the parade ground erupted in cheers again, which were totally out of control.

These soldiers are basically from Shuntian Prefecture and are all married. With natural disasters and man-made disasters and a sharp rise in food prices, their families have long been unable to make ends meet.

With this unpaid salary, the current situation of my family and children can be greatly alleviated.

But just as they were happy, some people began to feel doubtful.

"Admiral, why are those aged 35 given priority?"

Zhang Shikang knew someone would ask, and he looked complicated, pondered for a while, and then said:

"Demobilizing the old and weak is the first thing this admiral will do to reorganize the Beijing camp."

It is indeed a bit cruel to say this. He has become a beggar soldier and does not even want to go home. I guess the land at home has probably been almost swallowed up by the landlords, and there is no better way out for him to go back.

But there is no way, what needs to be done must be done, the military camp is not a place to retire.

Thirty-five years old is the prime of life in modern times, but these days, the average life expectancy is only thirty-five.

As soon as these words were spoken, the soldiers over the age of thirty-five became anxious.

They finally had a full meal, as the admiral wanted to re-elect generals. They had been soldiers for so many years and had not even been elected as a lieutenant general. If they were lucky, it wouldn't be a problem to be promoted to a lieutenant commander.

The Admiral is obviously different from those people, and he will definitely have a bright future.

But they had just been happy for one morning, and the admiral was going to lay them off. How could they accept this?

"Sir!" Many veterans knelt on the ground.

Zhang Shikang couldn't bear it and waved his hand to stop them. He knew that these people wanted to ask to stay, but as he said, the military camp was not a place to retire.

Those old soldiers were naturally miserable people. Zhang Shikang didn't want to hear about their sufferings. He was worried that he couldn't bear it, so he simply stopped listening.

"Except for the wages you owe, this admiral will give each of you three taels of severance pay.

Go home, it's time for you to go back and see your children."

When the old soldiers heard this, they knew that the situation was hopeless, so they had no choice but to follow orders and walk towards where Sun Dasheng and the others were.

Although Sun Dasheng and others are still rookies, they have an advantage that others do not have, that is, literacy.

The literacy rate of the Second Sons Group is 100%. Even the most dissolute ones have all been to school and can naturally do simple arithmetic.

This was something that no other soldier present could compare to. In an era when the overall literacy rate was less than 5%, being able to read had already left behind a large group of people.

Zhang Shikang was able to make full use of his talents. Of course, the main reason was that he did not trust the people of the former quartermaster general and was afraid that they would secretly do something to harm the old soldiers.

The old soldiers lined up at the place where their unpaid wages were distributed, and Xu Wenyuan asked the soldiers to give their names and compared the roster with the account book.

After verifying that he was correct, Sun Dasheng cut the silver with special scissors according to the amount, put it on the scale to weigh it, and then handed the weighed silver to the veterans.

Except for Xu Wenyuan and Sun Dasheng, the rest of the literate people also worked in pairs and began to pay the unpaid wages to all the soldiers under the reviewing stand.

According to statistics, the current actual number of troops in the Beijing Camp is 29,680, and those over 35 years old have reached more than 4,000, which is a very astonishing proportion.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhang Shikang laid off more than a thousand weak, defective or disabled soldiers. In the end, the nearly 30,000 soldiers were reduced to just over 24,000.

Those who were often lame were almost always injured and did not receive medical treatment, or were simply beaten by military generals.

Zhang Shikang sympathized with their plight, but all he could do was to pay them the military pay they deserved.

He can neither sympathize nor save everyone.

But these laid-off soldiers were still very grateful to Zhang Shikang. If those people were to lay off soldiers, their owed wages would definitely be deducted. Who told them that they were just poor soldiers?

They had nothing to say to the new admiral as they were able to receive such a considerable salary and severance pay.

Many of the laid-off people received their money and left the barracks, leaving only a few hundred old soldiers. They stood aside and looked at the barracks, seeming particularly reluctant to leave this place where they had stayed for ten or twenty years.

After hesitating for a long time, they knelt down and kowtowed in the direction of Zhang Shikang, then left towards the gate of the military camp.

Zhang Shikang felt very upset when he saw this, so he said to them:

"The Beijing Camp may expand its army in the future. You may pay attention to the notices in Shuntian Prefecture. If you are interested, you can let your children join the army. This admiral will clearly distinguish between rewards and punishments and will never treat them unfairly."

These words warmed the hearts of these veterans. They were reluctant to leave because they had just found a hope. However, they had no hope, but their children did.

It took nearly two hours to pay the salaries of more than 20,000 soldiers. Most of the nearly 500,000 taels of silver that Zhang Shikang brought back were gone, leaving only a few hundred thousand taels.

The departure of so many people means that the competition for future selections will be much smaller, so those who stay will naturally be very happy.

Zhang Shikang looked around at the remaining soldiers and said:

"You don't have to be happy too soon. From tomorrow on, everyone, including the Fire Head Battalion, will participate in the drill. If anyone fails to meet the requirements, this admiral will still dismiss them."

He originally wanted to suppress the arrogance of this group of people, but he did not expect that his words not only failed to suppress it, but made them even more excited. They regarded this as a test from the admiral.

In order to become a general, what's wrong with training every day? Isn't that what soldiers do?

What's more, they can now eat three meals a day. If the admiral does not train them, they will be at a loss.

Zhang Shikang looked at the sky and estimated that it would be less than an hour before dark, so he dismissed the fire camp and asked them to cook, then said to the remaining soldiers:

"The Admiral has an order."

The soldiers stood up straight upon hearing this. They did not want to be laid off for some reason. This was the first military order from the admiral.

"I order you to clean the barracks, the training ground, the military tents, and even the toilets inside and out before dark.

There should not be any weeds or garbage to be seen in the military camp.

There must be no unwashed dirty clothes in the military tent.

There shall be no filth left in the toilet.”

……