The Soldier of the Red Mansion

Chapter 340 Proposes Taking a Concubine
Xue Ke walked in, carrying the right wing army's account books.

After glancing at his son, Xue Yan silently took the book and realized it was the Right Route Army's account book. He looked up at Wang Xin and, seeing Wang Xin's signal, he no longer hesitated and carefully opened and read it.

The right wing army had a troop count of 9,000, but the actual number of soldiers was 7,000.

According to the old rules, each soldier received one shi (a unit of dry measure) of rice per month.

Soldiers with families receive an additional five qian (approximately 15 grams) of salt and vegetable allowance per month, while those without families receive half that amount.

Each month, they receive an additional 1.5 taels of silver as military pay.

In addition, seven catties of cotton were distributed in winter, equivalent to three and a half qian of silver. During major ceremonies, the imperial reward was usually two liang of silver each time. There were also subsidies for cavalry to receive horse feed.

In summary, each soldier in the Beijing garrison earned approximately two and a half taels of silver per month.

However, that happened twenty years ago.

Since the new emperor ascended the throne, the Beijing garrison has never received any imperial rewards, and the five-qian salt and vegetable allowance gradually disappeared, and cotton was no longer distributed.
In the end, even the monthly food ration was reduced from five catties to one or two catties.

"A new broom sweeps clean, and I certainly did."

Wang Xin said with a smile.

Xue Yan's expression grew increasingly solemn.

Although Xue Yan didn't understand warfare, he was certainly good at accounting.

Wang Xin was not trying to tell Xue Yan how honest and upright he was.

Xue Ke volunteered, "The first thing the General Commander did was to restore the monthly rations, five catties of rice for each soldier."

As long as the General Commander is not afraid of offending people, given his status, the two levels of government in the Eastern Army can keep him in check. As for the Ministry of War, if the General Commander dares to cause trouble, everyone in the Ministry of War will be wary and will not dare to arbitrarily deduct funds.

As the town magistrate put it, this is called "the squeaky wheel gets the grease."

However, we must also be wary of those in power who are incapable of solving problems but habitually target those who create them. Therefore, we must make those in power hesitant to act against them.

The sooner you master the right flank, the more confident you'll be.

Having worked alongside Wang Xin for several years, Xue Ke has come into contact with things he had never experienced before, from different perspectives.

Not only am I growing, but I have also learned a lot of experience from the general manager.

Xue Ke looked at him with admiration and continued, "The second thing is five coins of salt and vegetable silver. The third thing is that the entire right flank is not allowed to deduct the income of ordinary soldiers; the generals are not allowed to use it to subsidize their own household servants."

After hearing his son's words, Xue Yan felt a headache coming on.

It seems I'll have to take out my 20,000 taels of silver.

Xue Yan couldn't help but complain, "General, you have calculated things clearly. I dare not hide it. I did earn 100,000 taels of silver. However, you want me to take out 20,000 taels of silver in one go. That is really too much."

When Xue Yan agreed, Wang Xin was not surprised.

Wang Xin laughed and said, "Actually, 20,000 taels of silver is far from enough. Even if it is 1.5 taels per month, it is still 5 taels short, which means 42,000 taels a year. I have already forced the various government departments to come up with 70,000 taels of silver. If I force them any further, it will be outrageous and I'm afraid I won't be able to sit in this position any longer."

"Why has the commander-in-chief come to this?"

Xue Yan simply couldn't understand it. If the right flank really was Wang Xin's private army, that would be one thing, but the Beijing garrison was different from local troops, and that was absolutely impossible.

On the contrary, it was the right wing army of Datong.

Why are they all eyeing the border troops and local armies?
Compared to the Beijing garrison, which is an open and visible army under the watchful eye of the imperial court, local and border armies are more likely to be privatized, like the one led by Fatty Feng who wielded power and influence in Datong for over a decade.

If it weren't for the combined efforts of Zhang Jifu and Wang Xin, Feng Yong wouldn't have returned to the capital in such a sorry state.

Zhu Wei is a perfect example.

The Zhu family's influence in the Eastern Army is deeply entrenched, but the Eastern Army will not be completely under their control.

Even if Wang Xin does his job perfectly, is it worth offending a private person for the sake of official business?

"Of the forty thousand taels of silver, Xue Dongjia will contribute half, and I'll continue to find a way to cover the other half," Wang Xin said decisively.

Xue Yan knew there was no room for shirking responsibility, so he nodded with a displeased expression.

At last.

Wang Xin asked Xue Ke to escort Xue Yan.

Xue Ke followed behind his father and said, puzzled, "Twenty thousand taels of silver is not much. Why should Father hurt the relationship with the General?"

Looking back at his son, Xue Yan felt both gratified and somewhat dissatisfied.

“What I’m worried about isn’t the 20,000 taels of silver.”

Xue Yan smiled bitterly.

He had witnessed firsthand how Wang Xin schemed against the merchants of Datong.

Wang Xin did indeed support merchants in engaging in business.

However, Wang Xin was indeed decisive and shrewd in taking money from the merchants; otherwise, why would all the wealthy families in Datong be hoping for his departure?

Wang Xin supported the merchants in a way that was completely different from what they had imagined.

That's not the case at all.

Xue Yan was somewhat worried that Wang Xin had more than just these backup plans.

Xue Ke could not understand his father's feelings.

Can you eat a lot of money?

The governor-general, with an annual salary of only five hundred taels of silver, lived a happy and fulfilling life and achieved great success in his career. Xue Ke longed for such a life.

Looking at his mentally challenged son, Xue Yan became even more worried.

Originally, Xue Yan wanted to send his son to Wang Xin to get more benefits, but now he had a feeling that he would not only lose money, but also his son. He couldn't help but consider whether he should call his son back.

Wang Xin has now left Datong.

Those bigwigs aren't pushovers; they'll definitely try every means to control everything outside the pass. I can bypass Wang Xin and cooperate directly with the bigwigs in Datong, especially since I'm a major shareholder of Juzhongchang.

Xue Yan gradually came up with an idea and prepared to find an opportunity to call Xue Ke back.

“Xue Dongjia is still a businessman at heart. Xue Ke’s personality is somewhat different from his father’s.”

Zeng Zhi and Yan Zhongzheng came out.

Zeng Zhi continued, "Master Xue is familiar with those big shots in Datong, and he is also a major shareholder of Juzhongchang. If Master Xue is dissatisfied, he may contact them privately."

"Isn't it necessary?"

Yan Zhongzheng didn't quite understand.

Xue Dongjia has made so much money over the years, yet the governor only asked for 20,000 taels of silver. How could he be so stingy?

Zeng Zhi gave him an expression that said, "You don't understand."

No one dislikes having too much money. For the wealthy, money is their lifeblood, and they are most sensitive to anyone who touches their money.

However, the commander-in-chief should know this.

Zeng looked directly at Wang Xin.

"The Xue family."

Wang Xin had been pondering this ever since Xue Yan left.

Xue Yan was definitely dissatisfied.

Regardless of Xue Yan's dissatisfaction, Wang Xin always made sure to have a foolproof plan.

It's like I'm setting up a business outside Datong Pass. Whether the merchants are satisfied or not, they all have to follow my pace. Is it because they have a deep emotional connection with me?

of course not.

They had no choice.

Xue Yan hesitated because he felt he had become insignificant to the Xue family.

"The wealthy families in Datong are eyeing the Western Army, and so is the Grand Secretary. Many people are pessimistic about the General Commander. It seems that Xue Yan also believes that Datong will slip out of the General Commander's control."

Zeng deduced.

Yan Zhongzheng vaguely understood. Zeng Zhi was very knowledgeable about military affairs, but in these areas, Yan Zhongzheng could only admire Zeng Zhi in his heart.

"Disapproval is the prevailing sentiment."

Wang Xin was not surprised; if he didn't have his own unique advantages, he probably wouldn't have been optimistic about him.

But it is precisely because of this that I made this choice.

Zeng Zhi and Yan Zhongzheng, along with Xue Ke, were by his side. They understood him better and therefore trusted him more, unlike outsiders who made judgments based on common sense.

He appeared to be unquestionably upright. No one would doubt it.

In truth, he is a heretical practitioner at heart.

They weren't on the right path at all.

If you make the wrong judgment from the beginning, you will naturally arrive at the wrong conclusion.

If someone tries to imitate me, they probably won't even know how they died.

Just like Zhang Can.

When Zhang Can first started training troops in the Beijing garrison, he hoped to learn from him. However, the more he tried to learn, the more confused he became. In the end, he gave up and became a pure cavalry general, never intending to catch up with him again.

Zeng Zhi and Yan Zhongzheng nodded repeatedly.

I wholeheartedly agree with what the magistrate just said.

"But the Xue family is too important to us. It's a small matter that Xue Dongjia made the wrong choice, but it's a big deal that he delayed our progress. The General still needs to pay attention to this and cannot let Xue Dongjia go down the wrong path."

Zeng Zhi seemed to be possessed by Zhuge Liang, appearing to be a master strategist.

Yan Zhongzheng was speechless.

This person wasn't like this at the beginning.

After following the General for several years, they became increasingly unrestrained, and the General never interfered, which is why everyone liked to stay by the General's side.

Although there is a clear hierarchy in the military, the commander-in-chief never arbitrarily restricts others.

No matter what kind of personality or work style they have, whether they are extroverted or introverted, even if they only want to keep their heads down and work and are unwilling to interact with others, the town leader will not care.

In any case, Zeng Zhi was a smart man. Since he thought so, then the Xue family must be a problem.

Yan Zhongzheng frowned. He would have to be more careful in the future.

Zeng Zhi knew Yan Zhongzheng's shortcomings and didn't expect him to come up with any ideas. After thinking for a moment, he hesitated and said, "Miss Baoqin is actually quite good. Although she is still young, should the commander-in-chief consider taking her in?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Zhongzheng was utterly astonished.

It's really hard to connect her with the quirky little girl in my mind.

"Unfortunately, the general is already engaged."

“Miss Baoqin’s engagement is over. No matter what the Xue family says, everyone with eyes can see what’s going on. Even if Master Xue doesn’t care, it will probably be difficult to find a good husband for Miss Baoqin in the future.”

Zeng Zhiyue found it increasingly feasible and said excitedly, "After all, the engagement was broken off, and the Xue family is not as good as the Cong family. The second wife is the daughter of a merchant. What's wrong with taking her as a concubine as a general?"

Yan Zhongzheng was persuaded.

Although Miss Baoqin is different from others, her background is indeed a problem. The biggest trouble is that she was jilted. As for being a little young, that's not a big problem.

Wang Xin was speechless. What kind of subordinates were they?

"Playing the piano randomly."

"Commander-in-Chief!"

Zeng Zhi knew that the General had always regarded Xue Baoqin as an elder, but such an important matter could not be tolerated by personal feelings.

Although she was a concubine.

Firstly, the General has a bright future; secondly, the General is young; and thirdly, Xue Yan should also know that while there are husbands with a good temper like the General outside, who knows if he can find one?
Xue Dongjia loves his daughter and would certainly not want her to suffer.

If you end up by the side of the general, although you'll be given the status of an unofficial wife, you won't lack anything else.

Xue Ke then worked alongside the general, and the two families became one family. So what did it matter if it were a mere 20,000 taels of silver, or even 100,000 taels?

Zeng Zhiyue thought about it more and more and felt that he couldn't miss it.

Yan Zhongzheng also came to a realization.

Regardless of how a general leads his troops or what combat mode he trains them in, one thing remains constant.

That's silver.

The army is growing larger and larger, and its operations are becoming increasingly complex.

We can't abandon either side, and the expenses will be enormous. The original funds from Juzhongchang can only maintain the Datong Western Army. If we want to develop the Right Route Army into a scale no less than that of the Datong Western Army, the amount of silver will be even greater.

Twenty thousand taels of silver is truly a drop in the ocean.

"You guys are really something."

Wang Xin was speechless. His thinking was always so low and unethical. He stopped dwelling on it and ordered, "Let the eldest branch of the Xue family get involved."

"what?"

Zeng Zhi and Yan Zhongzheng were stunned.

"The widow and her children came to the capital to escape the second branch of the family. They used the prestige of the Jia family to suppress the second branch. Over the years, the second branch's business has grown bigger and bigger. The first branch's widow and her children are the most worried."

Wang Xin said calmly.

Zeng Zhi understood and advised, "The General's suggestion is also a good method, but compared to taking Miss Baoqin as a concubine, I think the latter is more appropriate and has a more direct effect."

Wang Xin shook his head.

"It is better for two parties to contend than for one party to unilaterally decide."

Too much is not enough.

Monopolies are not acceptable either.

Wang Xin had actually planned this all along.

With two companies vying for the same market share, the current scale is just right.

Doing business to the point of monopolization will eventually turn you into a cancer in the industry.

A major development of an industry can actually be achieved in just a few years.

When Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, the iron and steel industry in the Central Plains had already collapsed. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the official ironworks that had been in place for many years. In less than twenty years, the scale of private ironworks in the Hongwu era surpassed that of any previous dynasty.

This is the power of the people.

By removing restrictions one by one, breaking up monopolies at the top, and eliminating bad actors at the bottom, we can quickly create small industrial engines and enter the industrial society.

There are only a little over a hundred businesses outside Datong Pass to date.

We're still a long way from having three thousand shops with signs.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 7,000 large and small businesses in Zhangjiakou, six banks in the upper fort and thirty-two in the lower fort, and the total annual trade volume reached 150 million taels of silver.

Even collecting a small amount of customs duties can bring in millions of taels of silver.

There is great potential in Datong beyond the Great Wall.

How can we allow merchants to only take in and not give out?

Wang Xin didn't expect the merchants to like him; if they did, it would be the common people who would be crying.

"Should the commander-in-chief send a reply to Datong?"

Zeng asked directly.

Wang Xin shook his head.

I left, I didn't die.

If the Western Army of Datong disintegrated simply because he left, then it would mean that his choice was wrong. Wang Xin never doubted that he was wrong.

With so many advantages, how could I make a mistake?

That means you're not very capable.

Wang Xin said without hesitation, "The four of them can't handle things internally, or they're fighting amongst themselves. In any case, it's their own fault. I believe in them, and I believe they can make the right choice."

It is right to trust those you employ and not to employ those you don't trust.

Even with all their confidence in the General Headquarters, Zeng Zhi and Yan Zhongzheng still harbored some concerns.

Tang Ping is coming to Beijing.

Under his father-in-law's scheme, he was promoted from guerrilla general to brigade commander and came to the capital to report on his duties and complete the formalities.

The Western Army of Datong will have two adjutant generals.

With the addition of the newly arrived general, if Tang Ping sides with the new general, the situation will completely change.

(End of this chapter)