Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 569 Empty Pay
Wu Xiang didn't know how to answer the question raised by Emperor Chongzhen.

It is impossible to say that he didn't know. The Wu family was one of the military families in Liaodong, and Wu Xiang himself had been in Liaodong for a longer time. During the period of Li Chengliang, Wu Xiang served in the army.

Wu Xiang knew the situation in Liaodong, including how Jian Nu rose and how they grew bigger step by step. At the same time, as a general of the Ming army, Wu Xiang also knew why the Ming army suffered repeated defeats in Liaodong and could never defeat Jian Nu.

But even though he knew, there were some things he couldn't say. Wu Xiang couldn't speak ill of the court in front of Emperor Chongzhen, could he? Especially since this involved Emperor Wanli and Emperor Tianqi, and even the Emperor Chongzhen in front of him.

But since Emperor Chongzhen asked this, Wu Xiang had to answer, so he could only give some bland answers. However, Emperor Chongzhen was not satisfied with Wu Xiang's answer and continued to ask Wu Xiang the same question. Wu Xiang had no choice but to come up with some useful answers.

"Your Majesty, there are many reasons for the Liaodong incident. As a military officer, I only know about military affairs, and I don't know much about other things. I think the reason why we have not been able to wipe out the Jiannu is that our Ming army is insufficient. Since the Jiannu started their army, they have been powerful and invincible in field battles. When the two armies confront each other, our army can only rely on the defense line to resist, but cannot take the initiative to attack. In addition, after the Pi Island incident, the Jiannu had no worries, which led to a great increase in the pressure on Liaodong, and we could only passively defend..."

Wu Xiang answered the Emperor Chongzhen's question from a military perspective, and specifically mentioned the Pi Island issue after Mao Wenlong was killed. The Emperor Chongzhen felt very upset when he heard this, and he hated Yuan Chonghuan who had already been tortured to death.

In the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen, it was his mistaken trust in Yuan Chonghuan that led to the subsequent series of changes. Yuan Chonghuan was a boastful person who boldly deceived the emperor. He also forged an imperial edict and killed the general Mao Wenlong, which led to the deterioration of the situation in Liaodong and allowed the Jiannu to bypass Shanhaiguan and attack Zhili directly, resulting in the subsequent Ji Si Incident.

If Yuan Chonghuan had been used instead, or if Sun Chengzong had been re-employed, perhaps Liaodong would not be in this situation now. But there is no regret medicine in the world, and Emperor Chongzhen could not admit his mistakes in front of Wu Xiang. Even today, although he knew that Mao Wenlong's death was unjust, he never rehabilitated Mao Wenlong for this reason. The key was a face issue, but this also led to the two successive mutinies in Pidao and the rebellion of Kong Youde in Shandong.

"When old Lord Sun Chengzong was the commander-in-chief of Ji-Liao, he set about forming the Guanning Iron Cavalry. Later, Yuan Chonghuan also told me that the Guanning Iron Cavalry was extremely powerful and was no less powerful than the Jiannu in Liaodong. Now that the Guanning Iron Cavalry is in Liaodong, can't we fight the Jiannu in the field?"

Emperor Chongzhen asked this question directly. Wu Xiang looked a little embarrassed. Since the Guanning Iron Cavalry was divided into two, this most elite cavalry unit was led by Zu Dashou and Wu Xiang respectively. As one of the main generals of the Guanning Iron Cavalry, he knew his own business. Although the Guanning Iron Cavalry was good at fighting, Wu Xiang didn't know how to answer the question of fighting the Jiannu in the field.

"What? Could it be that the Guanning Iron Cavalry is totally unworthy of being used? Are you deliberately deceiving me?" Seeing Wu Xiang's face changing, Emperor Chongzhen asked coldly.

After hearing this, how could Wu Xiang sit still? He immediately stood up and bowed to Emperor Chongzhen, saying, "Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you. The Guanning Iron Cavalry is as powerful as the Jiannu. I can guarantee this with my life and property. I will never lie."

Emperor Chongzhen looked at Wu Xiang, as if he was judging whether what Wu Xiang said was true or not. After a while, he asked Wu Xiang, since the fighting power of the Guanning Iron Cavalry was real, why could the Ming army only defend in Liaodong but not attack or even fight in the field? What was the reason?
At this point, Wu Xiang could only bite the bullet and reply: "Your Majesty, the key reason for this is that the Guanning Iron Cavalry is too small in number. Although they can fight, they cannot fight a big battle with the Jiannu."

"Too few people?" Emperor Chongzhen frowned and asked, "I remember that the Guanning Iron Cavalry had more than 100,000 men at its peak, and now the Ministry of War has no less than 50,000 on its books. Why? Are so many people not enough?"

Wu Xiang's mouth was bitter. How could he answer this? If he had known this would happen, he should not have explained it to the emperor in such detail. Wouldn't it be better to find some other excuse? Now the emperor is asking him about this matter. If he doesn't give the emperor a satisfactory answer, he might be in big trouble.

Seeing Wu Xiang's tangled expression and constipated look, how could Emperor Chongzhen not know that there was something hidden? He immediately slapped the armrest heavily and spoke much more harshly, forcing Wu Xiang to answer the question.

Wu Xiang, with sweat all over his forehead, had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "Your Majesty, it's not that I don't want to say it, it's that I really don't dare to say it..."

"Speak! I told you to speak! Speak the truth! Speak boldly!"

"Your Majesty... Your Majesty..." Wu Xiang had no choice but to speak: "When the Guanning Iron Cavalry was at its peak, there were indeed 100,000 people on the roster. Now the Ministry of War has no less than 50,000 on the roster, but these are only registered numbers, not actual numbers. The Guanning Iron Cavalry is well-equipped, and the soldiers are carefully selected and are all brave warriors. Their daily training and treatment are naturally incomparable to those of ordinary soldiers. Moreover, the Guanning Iron Cavalry are all cavalrymen, and it is very expensive to raise horses and soldiers. The cost of one cavalryman is almost equivalent to that of twenty ordinary soldiers."

"Since the Battle of Sarhu, the court has not allocated enough military funds to Liaodong. It is not easy to maintain the army. In order to train this army, we can only squeeze money out of our teeth. I dare not deceive Your Majesty. I am guilty, but this is the case. The situation of Guanning Iron Cavalry is different. The number of names on the list is not the actual number."

"You mean, the Guanning Iron Cavalry is drawing salaries without doing anything?" Emperor Chongzhen was stunned.

Wu Xiang kowtowed without saying anything. Looking at Wu Xiang's attitude, Emperor Chongzhen felt mixed emotions and didn't know what to say for a moment. Although he was the emperor, he knew a little about the military situation. He knew that there were some people who were not paying the salaries in the Ming army, but he didn't expect that the Guanning Iron Cavalry would also be paying the salaries in vain.

But Wu Xiang also explained why the Guanning Iron Cavalry was not paid, and Emperor Chongzhen also knew the situation of Liaodong military expenditure. When Emperor Tianqi was in power, Liaodong military expenditure was terrifyingly high, and Emperor Tianqi relied on Wei Zhongxian's extortion to barely support it.

After he succeeded to the throne, he soon dealt with Wei Zhongxian's party. Although he won himself the reputation of "an wise ruler", the bad consequences after Wei Zhongxian's death were inevitable. The biggest problem was the financial issue.

In the past few years, Emperor Chongzhen tried every possible means, first abolishing post stations in various places to save expenses, and then levying Liao taxes to fill the treasury. But he still didn't get much silver, and the taxes below couldn't be collected. The court was short of silver everywhere, and now there were bandits in the northwest, and silver was needed everywhere. As an emperor, he was exhausted and miserable.

The military pay in Liaodong has always been insufficient. It's not that Emperor Chongzhen didn't want to pay, but he really couldn't afford it. Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen was speechless. He couldn't blame Wu Xiang for this, right? Liaodong didn't have enough military funds, and there was no way to support the troops. It was not easy to maintain the Guanning Iron Cavalry by eating empty pay.

"How many soldiers of the Guanning Iron Cavalry have been demobilized?" Emperor Chongzhen asked after thinking for a while.

Wu Xiang hesitantly stretched out three fingers, and seeing this, Emperor Chongzhen breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the 50,000 Guanning Iron Cavalry, after eating the empty pay of 20,000 people, still had 30,000 troops. This number was not excessive and was within the tolerance of Emperor Chongzhen.

But when Emperor Chongzhen asked about the question "30,000", Wu Xiang couldn't help but smile bitterly. Where would the Guanning Iron Cavalry get 30,000 people? If there were 30,000 Guanning Iron Cavalry, with their fighting power, Wu Xiang would have swept Liaodong long ago and captured Huang Taiji for Emperor Chongzhen. Why would he worry about the situation in Liaodong?

"Your Majesty, there are not 30,000 Guanning Iron Cavalry." Wu Xiang lowered his head and replied: "There are 50,000 registered soldiers, but the actual number is less than 10,000. Most of them are just ordinary soldiers. The real Guanning Iron Cavalry is only 3,000..."

"What!" Emperor Chongzhen's eyes almost popped out. He couldn't believe his ears.

The Guanning Iron Cavalry, which was said to have 50,000 soldiers, actually had less than 10,000 soldiers, and only 3,000 of them could be considered the real Guanning Iron Cavalry, while the remaining 7,000 were just there to make up the numbers? This was simply unimaginable.

The actual number was far beyond expectations, which made Emperor Chongzhen shocked and extremely angry. He had never expected this result and was so angry that his nose was crooked.

Emperor Chongzhen had always relied on the Guanning Iron Cavalry, and he had been hearing about how good the Guanning Iron Cavalry was at fighting, and how the Guanning Iron Cavalry was stationed in Liaodong. Originally, he called Wu Xiang here because the situation in Liaodong had changed, and he was going to appease Wu Xiang and let him serve the country wholeheartedly in Liaodong to prevent the Jiannu from going south again and repeating the story of the Jisi Incident.

On the other hand, Emperor Chongzhen also planned to transfer part of the Guanning Cavalry into Shaanxi to cooperate with Cao Wenzhao, Hong Chengchou and others to encircle and suppress the bandits in order to resolve the internal rebellion problem.

But now Wu Xiang dealt him a heavy blow, causing Emperor Chongzhen to see stars. His previous wishful thinking was shattered and he was extremely disappointed.

In anger, Emperor Chongzhen even wanted to call for someone to arrest Wu Xiang and put him in prison. As a Liao general and one of the main generals of the Guanning Iron Cavalry, if he hadn't pressed him today, he might still be in the dark about the true situation of the Guanning Iron Cavalry. Wu Xiang was so bold that he could be stripped of his position, imprisoned, or even executed. However, as soon as this idea came up, Emperor Chongzhen suppressed it. He stared at Wu Xiang, but never made up his mind to deal with him immediately.

It’s not that he felt pity for Wu Xiang, but he thought of a problem, that is, what to do next after dealing with Wu Xiang.

Since the incident of Yuan Chonghuan, Zu Dashou, the number one military general in Liaodong, could no longer be trusted. However, Emperor Chongzhen had no way to deal with Zu Dashou because he had too deep roots in Liaodong. As a representative figure of the Liaodong generals, if Zu Dashou was dealt with, the entire Liaodong might be in big trouble.

Moreover, the rebellion of the generals of Pi Island also reminded Emperor Chongzhen that he should be cautious in dealing with military generals. If Liaodong also rebelled, the situation would be out of control and Huang Taiji would be powerless to stop it. Once Shanhaiguan fell into the hands of the Jiannu, the entire Zhili would no longer have any barriers and would be free for them to run rampant.

(End of this chapter)