Emperor Chongzhen was too extreme.

Chapter 22: The Ming Army is dissatisfied with its pay

On his way from the palace to the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters, Cao Huachun was summoned back by Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian allocated him 100,000 taels of silver as initial capital for managing the Embroidered Uniform Guard, allowing him to make his own decisions.

This naturally moved Cao Huachun deeply.

After Cao Huachun finally arrived at the Embroidered Uniform Guard headquarters and completely sorted out the situation...

Only then did he realize just how outrageous the Embroidered Uniform Guard had become.

Although he had prepared himself mentally before coming.

But he never expected that this once mighty and fearsome behemoth would have fallen so low.

Putting everything else aside, the fact that he was receiving a salary without working left him speechless.

The roster lists tens of thousands of Jinyiwei (Imperial Guards).

But in reality, there were fewer than a thousand people in the capital who were actually on duty and held the rank of regular colonel.

These people did not resemble military officers at all; in short, they looked pale and were unable to draw a bow or ride a horse.

Cao Huachun took a deep breath, thanking His Majesty for killing all the officials from the Hundred-Household Commander and above.

Otherwise, it would be a pipe dream to want to become the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Since His Majesty has paved the way for us, we naturally cannot fail to live up to His Majesty's favor.

Cao Huachun immediately dispatched men to gather all the Imperial Guards who were on duty in the city.

With only a thousand or so people, it's easy to divide them up; it's just less than ten units of a hundred households each.

Moreover, these lower-ranking officers had also heard about the execution of all the officials of the Embroidered Uniform Guard yesterday.

So when they heard the order to assemble, they immediately dropped everything and rushed over.

now.

The crowd, already lined up on the drill ground, looked at the grand eunuch from the palace in his red robe with eyes full of fear.

They were terrified that one wrong move would cost them their heads along with them.

Cao Huachun watched as everyone slowly stood up, a lukewarm smile appearing on his face, and spoke loudly to the crowd:
"By the grace of His Majesty, I shall be in charge of the Embroidered Uniform Guard from this day forward."

"You must have already heard about His Majesty's killing of hundreds of Jinyiwei officials yesterday, so I won't say anything more about it here."

"But whether those people deserved to die or not, you should know better than I do."

At this point, Cao Huachun paused, picked up the teacup on the table, and glanced at the foam on the surface.

A murmur arose from the crowd.

These lower-ranking officers harbored deep resentment towards their superiors.

In the eyes of ordinary people, these captains could indeed be addressed as "sir," but in the eyes of these officials, they were not even considered servants.

They don't involve me in corruption and embezzlement, but when it comes to assigning blame for my work, they all come after me.

So when they heard that those people had been killed, these low-ranking officers were both afraid and happy.

After a pause.

Cao Huachun continued, "Therefore, you need not be too afraid. His Majesty is killing corrupt officials. As long as you perform your duties well in the future, you will naturally be safe and sound."

At this moment, several bold and quick-witted individuals immediately knelt down and shouted:

"We will serve you wholeheartedly from now on, even at the cost of our lives!"

Cao Huachun's expression hardened: "You are the eyes and ears of the Emperor, and you serve His Majesty!"

These people also hurriedly changed their tune.

Cao Huachun's expression softened somewhat: "His Majesty, mindful of your hard work, has specially ordered me to pay you three months' salary as a supplement."

As he spoke, several eunuchs carried over boxes filled with silver and began distributing them.

The captains who received the silver were truly shocked.

The claim that the Ming army was dissatisfied with its pay was not unfounded.

This is the first time these people have received their full salary. The first time! The full amount!

Therefore, after the silver was distributed, the morale of the Imperial Guards instantly soared, and everyone immediately knelt down and shouted "Long live the Emperor!" with heartfelt admiration.

The shouts even reached outside the government office, alarming the people on the street.

Cao Huachun nodded in satisfaction, and then began to give instructions on the two matters that His Majesty had entrusted to him.

"."

"You who receive the emperor's salary naturally have to be loyal to the emperor. In addition to these two tasks personally ordered by His Majesty, from this day forward, all members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard will also have to practice riding and archery, hand-to-hand combat, and reconnaissance every day."

"Those who perform exceptionally well will be promoted by us."

As soon as Cao Huachun finished speaking, the hearts of all the captains were instantly warmed.

To be honest, they didn't want to end up like this.

Previously, all the efforts made seemed to offer no hope:

All the credit for the work they did went to their superiors, who, having exploited their soldiers, amassed large families with wives and concubines, while the soldiers themselves had a portion of their basic salary taken away from them.

In this situation, the only option left is not to give up.

But things are different now.

The real money is already in their hands.

All the officers are dead, and a large number of positions are now vacant. As long as you work hard, there is hope for promotion.

Now that hope is before me, I must consider whether this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
So, after Cao Huachun gave the order, the Embroidered Uniform Guard immediately became busy with an unprecedented level of enthusiasm.

Several days passed quickly in this busy atmosphere.

A large portion of the Embroidered Uniform Guard has been coming and going these past few days, distributing overdue salaries to officials at all levels.

Another small group was tasked with identifying local bullies and thugs in and around Beijing.

Cao Huachun gradually learned something from these two incidents.

First of all.

His Majesty's move to have the Embroidered Uniform Guard distribute salaries to officials at all levels was quite clever.

Leaving aside those high-ranking officials.

However, for some lower-ranking officials, such as those in the Six Ministries, Hanlin Academy, editors, and teachers, the political implications were very strong.

Their salaries were originally received from the Ministry of Revenue.

Now, the Embroidered Uniform Guard is directly paying the salaries of these low-ranking officials, using money from the imperial treasury.

Those officials who usually can't even get enough to eat will naturally be grateful to His Majesty.

After all, everyone knows that the Emperor is about to have the Embroidered Uniform Guard under his control.

Even if only one or two out of ten people are truly loyal, that's still a considerable sum.

This way.

With a group of helpers in the court, Your Majesty no longer needs to rely on the inner court for everything.

This also relieved a significant amount of impeachment pressure on these eunuchs.

More importantly, this gradually had a huge impact on the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Any change comes from concrete actions.

For the past few days, the Imperial Guards have been receiving their salaries as ordered.

Cao Huachun could sense that the staff's mindset had begun to change—we were doing this for the Emperor, and it was an honor that belonged only to the Embroidered Uniform Guard!

In that case, it would probably take less than six months for the atmosphere within the Embroidered Uniform Guard to be greatly reformed.

　During the late Ming Dynasty, not only the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but also the lower-level staff in various departments lived miserable lives, with a huge gap between the rich and the poor.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)