Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 401 Soldiers eat rations, officers drink blood.
After entering the city, the group saw soldiers everywhere on the streets. However, all the shops were open, with a dazzling array of signs and banners, and young men and women were using all their charm to try and lure the soldiers into the shops.

Okay, Guangling City was just a special case. In fact, once it became a military city, commerce would only flourish even more.

This adds up to 100,000 new consumers. Historically, wherever the military camps go, business follows, so in the past two years, restaurants, casinos, brothels... have sprung up like mushrooms after rain in Hefei.

You can tell from the age of the storefronts and signs that most of them were opened in the last year or two.

Ren Yuan and his group were also pulled into a restaurant, where they saw many soldiers sitting there, noisily playing drinking games and drinking.

"Please have a private room upstairs, sir. It's quieter there," the waiter said considerately.

"No need, we just like a lively atmosphere." Ren Yuan, however, was unimpressed.

"The soldiers are drunk and acting recklessly..." The waiter glanced at the beautiful Ah Yao.

"Thank you for your concern." Ren Yuan smiled and gave him a few copper coins, but still insisted on sitting in the main hall.

"Sigh..." The waiter shook his head, thinking to himself that young people just don't believe in superstitions and only learn their lesson after suffering a loss.

However, after Ren Yuan and the others sat down, the soldiers continued to drink and play drinking games by themselves, without giving them a second glance.

"This is weird..." The waiter scratched his head upon seeing this. In the past two years, young women and wives in Hefei have hardly dared to go out, let alone eat out. This girl is much prettier than any woman he has ever seen, so why are the soldiers treating her like she's invisible?

Actually, as soon as Ren Yuan entered the hall, he used the 'Forgetful River Reflection' technique, causing the soldiers to ignore their presence and continue eating, drinking, and chatting as they pleased...

After sitting down, Ren Yuan listened carefully to the soldiers' conversation, skillfully filtering out the vulgarities and extracting the useful information.

Soon, he heard many complaints...

"Damn it, the imperial court is treating us like dirt! The rations we received yesterday were all made of yellow rice that's been sitting for who knows how many years. The stench of mold was so strong it stung our eyes!"

"Damn it, before they would mix half new rice and half old rice together. Now they don't even bother with that!" One table of soldiers complained the loudest.

"Really?" The person at the next table asked incredulously. "Are you planning to starve us to death?"

"When you go to collect your rations tomorrow, you can see for yourselves," the soldiers at the table said irritably. "We all got our rations from the same warehouse, so I don't believe we'd give you any special treatment!"

“They’re telling the truth, we can vouch for them.” Another table of soldiers said indignantly, “The rations we received the day before yesterday were all stale rice. We tried to exchange it for anything on the street, but nobody wanted it. This stuff is completely inedible!”

"We couldn't even get a proper meal yesterday. The whole building was having diarrhea, and some people were vomiting and had to lie down." Soldiers at another table joined in, saying, "We had no choice but to come out and eat."

"Damn it! Soldiers get their due rations, that's only right! We serve the Emperor, yet we're given stale rations that even rats wouldn't touch!" This enraged all the soldiers in the hall, who slammed their fists on the table and shouted:

"The imperial court shouldn't blame us for getting sick from food poisoning and losing battles because of diarrhea!"

“This matter really can’t be blamed on the imperial court.” At this moment, someone suddenly said quietly.

"Why don't you blame the imperial court?" the crowd asked.

"It was sent by the imperial court, not Chen Su," the soldier said in a deep voice. "Really?" Everyone looked at the soldier.

“If you don’t believe me, go to the dock and take a look. All the bags of military rations are last year’s new rice.” The man said firmly, “I’ve been on guard duty at the dock for half a year, and I’ve never seen a single bag of old rice being transported here.”

"Then where did our old rice come from?" everyone asked, puzzled.

"Yeah, where did it come from?" the man sneered. "It certainly wasn't transported by the imperial court!"

"Damn it, those officials are just being inhuman again! Last year, they used cattail fluff as wadding for winter clothes, and we made a fuss about it, but we let it slide because of the two young generals." The soldiers, already drunk, were even more hot-blooded. One of them jumped onto the table, furious, and shouted:
"They've even dared to escalate their actions this year; we absolutely cannot let them off easily this time!"

"We will not let them off easily!" the crowd retorted angrily. "Tomorrow when the grain is distributed, we'll all go together. If it's old rice, we'll storm into the warehouse and settle accounts with them!"

"Let's go! Let's go!" The soldiers in the restaurant slammed their fists on the table, their shouts nearly lifting the roof off.

~~
Ren Yuan and the others looked at each other in disbelief. What a coincidence! They had just arrived and already encountered such a major event.

But after visiting several more restaurants, they discovered that the soldiers were all talking about the matter; it turned out that public outrage had been completely aroused...

In principle, the armies of the Northern and Southern Dynasties were all the same; ordinary soldiers were on military service. Since it was service, they naturally didn't receive pay, only rations. Now that someone dared to tamper with their rations, how could they not explode?

An emperor will not send hungry soldiers; this is an age-old truth, because hungry soldiers not only lack fighting power, but are also extremely destructive.

Emperor Xiao Yan, especially, was well aware that mistreating the army would lead to repeating the mistakes of previous dynasties, so the Liang army was treated quite well...

It was generally divided into three parts. The largest part was the staple food, with soldiers receiving twelve shi of millet per year. That was basically one shi of unpolished rice per month.

The other allowance was for salt and vegetables, which amounted to 300 copper coins per month to buy salt, soy sauce, and other non-staple foods. Later, when iron coins were introduced, they depreciated severely, causing widespread discontent among the soldiers who refused to accept them, and even leading to mutinies.

Therefore, Ren Yuan and his guards paid with silk instead of cash, one bolt of silk worth five hundred coins. They weren't very clear about the situation in the local areas, but it certainly couldn't compare to the emperor's personal guard.

In addition, there are clothing gifts, including single-layer clothing, trousers, and shoes in spring and winter, and a cotton-padded coat in winter.

Therefore, in this era, being a soldier meant a much better life than being an ordinary citizen.

Especially now that iron coins are depreciating daily while commodity prices are soaring, the income of officers and soldiers, which is mainly in kind, has ironically made them the beneficiaries. The bulk of their income—rations—is a huge quantity and a consumable item used as needed, making it a historically serious area for embezzlement.

In this era of soaring prices, it's no wonder that they've become targets.

“In the capital, the price of two-year-old grain is only half that of new grain. The older the grain, the cheaper it is, and there is a huge profit in it.” As soon as Yang Zhong returned to the Southern Dynasty, he resumed his usual self and analyzed for everyone: “And the best part is that once it’s eaten, there is no way to verify it. Without the commander-in-chief keeping an eye on things, it’s impossible for the subordinates not to reach out.”

"Second brother is indeed experienced." Chen Baxian finally seized the opportunity to say something to Yang Zhong.

"I only take from the government, not from the soldiers." Yang Zhong shook his head resolutely and said, "The government's things have no owner, so why not take them? Every grain of the soldiers' rations belongs to someone else. If you take their rations, don't blame them for stabbing you in the back."

(End of this chapter)