Chapter 1022 Jingnan Military City
When the rewards for the Western Expedition were announced to the various camps, it caused quite a bit of criticism. Especially those Longyou soldiers who had not experienced the Battle of Jiangling were all dumbfounded when they saw the Pingqiang military merit certificates.
Although these paper coupons are beautifully printed, they cannot change the fact that they are just a piece of paper! The results of this attack on Tuyuhun were so brilliant. Tang Gong had also vowed before that there would be heavy rewards, but he just let it go like this?
"I have always heard that Tang Gong was benevolent and righteous, and he treated his soldiers generously and generously. How can we treat our soldiers so poorly now that they have fought in foreign lands and made great achievements? There must be evil hidden in the court, deceiving the superiors, and being mean to the meritorious soldiers. Even if some of them are not greedy for rewards, , It is also necessary to tell Duke Tang to clear his eyes and ears!"
The huge gap between reality and expectations was completely unacceptable to these soldiers, and they simply did not believe that Duke Tang would treat them so harshly, so they thought that there might be treacherous officials in the court who deceived Duke Tang and withheld rewards. , for a while some people were so angry that they wanted to rush out of the camp to correct the situation.
Of course, this was just a private complaint of some soldiers. Most people still felt that there must be something more to the matter, so they were ready to inquire about it. It's just that they are not familiar with the place in Chang'an, and the only people they can know and come into contact with are their own commanders and commanders. However, these people are just as confused as they are, and they can't give an answer either.
However, these soldiers did not wonder for too long. Not long after the Pingqiang coupons were issued, officers from Guanzhong who went on an expedition with other battalions came to visit the camp and offered to exchange goods and materials for the Pingqiang coupons in their hands, and even Higher prices can be given.
This is naturally an unexpected surprise for some people, and the conditions offered by the other party are also very attractive. The real idea is to buy the capital, but I am worried that the other party is just impulsive, so I agreed without thinking. He exchanged the Pingqiang coupons in his hands for considerable supplies.
But some people need to be more careful and calm, and do not make impulsive decisions. After seeing the use of Pingqiang coupons in the military orders issued by various camps, although they feel a little weird and dubious in their hearts, they still decide to hold it. a period of time.
As the center of Jinei, Chang'an is naturally more efficient. Just two days after the Pingqiang coupons were issued, the military market in southern Beijing was officially opened to these Western Expedition soldiers after preparations. The soldiers could enter the market with Pingqiang coupons and freely exchange for any goods on the market. .
After the military market was opened, those soldiers who had experience in the Battle of Jiangling, as well as some doubtful Longyou soldiers rushed in immediately. As for those who sold their military merit coupons early in the morning, they were a little indifferent, not to mention that they did not believe that these military merit coupons were valuable at all. Even if they did, could they still get more than their previous transactions? Supplies?
In the minds of ordinary people, what is so commonly available is often not something worth cherishing. Those who cashed out early thought they were taking advantage of others' speculative greed, but they soon discovered that they had indeed easily given up an extremely rare opportunity to get rich.
This time, the Chang'an Military Market was larger than the previous Jiangling Military Market, and it provided more types and quantities of goods. After the soldiers poured into the military market, they were immediately dazzled by the dazzling array of goods. For a while, they even forgot what they needed and couldn't decide what they wanted.
Li Tai has always attached great importance to matters related to the army, so after the opening of Chang'an Military Market, he came here as soon as possible to inspect the preparations and whether they could meet the needs of the soldiers.
In order to avoid disturbing the order in the military market, Li Tai did not enter the market directly, but came to the warehouse behind the warehouse store. When they learned that Duke Tang had arrived, the officials here also came to greet him.
Although the Lieutenant Yushi is in charge of the military and city supervisors, he has a busy and important job and cannot directly manage the military and market affairs. Therefore, it is the deputy supervisor of the military and city who actually manages the affairs here.
Deputy Supervisor Liu Gong was also one of the first batch of people Li Tai came into contact with when he came to Guanzhong. He was originally a merchant, but later joined Li Tai's disciples and was arranged by Li Tai into the Qumeng to be responsible for some commercial transactions. Now that Li Tai has entered the court and assumed power, these old people have naturally become more prosperous, and each has been appointed to an official position.
Liu Gong, who was still coordinating the supply of goods, hurriedly came to greet him. Looking at the messy warehouse where the goods were piled up, he quickly bowed to Li Tai and said: "Today the military market is open for business. The soldiers have many demands. The city's personnel The arrangement was a little messy, and I was not greeted politely when the Lord came to visit. Please forgive me!”
After Li Tai heard this, he smiled and said: "You are appointed here to manage people and goods, and you are not responsible for welcoming people and seeing them off. Things should be prioritized, so there is no need to be polite. How many soldiers have entered the market today? How many soldiers have been admitted to Pingqiang? How much is the coupon?”
"Your Majesty, as of now, a total of 12,400 soldiers have entered the market, and more than 870,000 Pingqiang coupons have been collected in exchange for money..."
When Liu Gong heard the question, he hurriedly replied, and the relevant data came out of his mouth, which shows that he also manages these things very carefully.
"Eight hundred and seventy thousand, which is actually less than one million, is not that much. Is there any problem with the supply of goods?"
Li Tai frowned when he heard this question and said, "At first, 870,000 coins sounded like a lot, but if it is converted into "guan" as a unit of measurement, one guan is one thousand coins, and 870,000 coins are only 870 guan. One hundred coins are equal to one piece of silk, one guan is equal to ten pieces, and 870 guan is equal to 8,700 pieces of silk, which is less than 10,000. In other words, more than 10,000 people entered the market, and the average consumption was less than one piece of silk.
Although the significance of this expedition to Tuyuhun was not as great as the Battle of Jiangling, the harvest was quite rich, so the reward was also very high. An ordinary soldier who participated in the battle could get at least five guan. There were more than 50,000 soldiers participating in this battle, and the actual face value of the Pingqiang coupons issued was as much as 600,000 guan. The amount of 870 guan recovered was really a drop in the bucket compared to this total." "Most soldiers come to the market to wait and see, and not many buy supplies. It's inevitable that there will be some hesitation in a new thing. The situation will surely change in a few days." Liu Gong replied respectfully after hearing this, and handed over a report about the general situation of the soldiers' purchase of supplies. Li Tai took the report and glanced at it, and found that the first place was food, the second category was brocade and silk fabrics, and the third was precious metals such as gold and silver. As for the Tongzhi Wuzhu coins, they were ranked outside the top ten, which showed that they were not recognized by the soldiers. Food is the first necessity of the people, and it is understandable that the soldiers exchanged food. Even if it was just the amount of basic living needs, the transaction volume of food could easily rush to the first place without letting go to buy other supplies. Fabrics such as brocade and silk have always been strong commodities. Since the price in the military market is cheaper than the current price outside, they can make a profit by reselling them, so they naturally won the favor of the soldiers. In addition to its various uses, gold and silver metals can also be used as currency for trading in Longyou and Hexi, so some soldiers in Longyou are willing to exchange some of them and take them back to Longyou.
There are hundreds of commodities provided in the military market, including various daily necessities such as food, clothing, housing and transportation, as well as many seasonal goods from outside Guanlong. There are many rare goods that are difficult to buy in the civilian market, and they are also fully supplied in the military market.
However, Guanzhong has been poor for many years, and the folk customs are not yet luxurious. Many people still have a negative view of spending a lot of money on luxury and enjoyment. Especially the soldiers who were rewarded this time, they themselves exchanged their lives for money, and it is even more impossible for them to use their life money to buy those rare commodities that look flashy.
After all, the market for these rare commodities is relatively narrow and difficult to cash in. If there is no suitable channel, they are dead in their hands. For some ordinary people who are already below the poverty line, no matter how high the profit of the investment is, as long as there is no cash to get a return, survival may become a problem.
Therefore, many people may not lack vision, but the severe survival pressure makes them focus on the present moment and it is difficult for them to have long-term plans.
Li Tai also knows that for this kind of collective benefit policy, even if the people are not aware of it in the short term, try not to use government orders to force it, otherwise it may be counterproductive and cause collective panic.
After the inspection, Li Tai just repeatedly emphasized to Liu Gong and other officials that they must do a good job in storage and supply, and adjust the supply of relevant materials in time according to the exchange situation of the soldiers.
At the same time, some large-scale trading transactions should be paid attention to and tracked. If any blood-draining situation is found, it must be reported to the lieutenant censor in time and dealt with seriously.
The organization of the powerful troops in Guanzhong has been gradually disintegrating, especially the soldiers of the various cavalry houses are no longer the troops under the command of any powerful, but have become independent small landlords with military merits.
However, the problem of privatization of the army in Longyou is still quite serious. If we want to establish a large-scale military settlement and military institutions such as the Cavalry House in Longyou to obtain supplies locally, the problem of privatization must be gradually solved. Otherwise, once the land resources are granted to the army, it is very easy to breed a separatist military power.
Li Tai gave such a generous reward to the soldiers who participated in the war. In addition to rewarding meritorious service, it is also to awaken and strengthen the soldiers' feelings and demands for their own interests.
Only when they truly feel that the Bafu rewards and supports each of them individually and eliminates privatization in the future, can the resistance and opposition of the soldiers be reduced.
For some special groups, it may be necessary to consider using some special techniques to deal with them. But for the general public, the greatest skill is sincerity.