The rest went back.

It was already the afternoon, around three o'clock, and Wang Anshi looked around the military camp.

As a battalion's garrison, the accommodation wasn't large, but the training grounds covered over ten acres. Because this was a cavalry camp, there were also stables at the rear.

The team leaders such as the casual shift workers and squad leaders who came over all greeted them with bows and nods.

They have dark skin, rough faces, ingratiating smiles, and a common air. They don't look like soldiers fighting in a war, but rather like ordinary people.

Looking at their frightened faces, Wang Anshi smiled and said, "Don't panic, everyone. This time the court is checking the headcount to reform the malpractices and will not let anyone lose their livelihood."

"Yes, yes, yes."

Everyone responded with a bitter smile.

Although they didn't get much of the empty salary, there were always one or two scraps that slipped through the fingers of their superiors. Now the court was going to check the military register, which was a disaster for them.

"Okay, let's go to the barracks first."

Wang Anshi said.

The group entered the battalion commander's barracks.

The battalion commander's barracks is divided into two floors, like a small courtyard, and there is a front room for office.

He asked the guards to stand guard in the front yard first, and asked the clerk in the camp to bring the military records.

There are two copies of military registration, one in the Ministry of War and the other in the camp.

Wang Anshi got the barracks military register he needed to check from the Ministry of War and immediately compared it with the actual situation.

However, he did not do the job immediately, but first called in more than a dozen casual shift workers and team leaders for questioning.

The question is simple: how many people are there in the camp now, how many weapons and equipment are there, and whether there is data on the inventory.

In addition, they also asked whether their superiors had withheld wages or abused their employees.

These people seemed to have reached a consensus and gave similar answers.

Wang Anshi was not surprised, and then he began to compare the military records to find out the omissions on both sides.

It didn't take long for problems to become apparent.

The number of soldiers on both sides was the same, but the contents were different, and the camp's records showed signs of being altered.

Because in ancient times, registration not only recorded identity information, but also appearance.

The military registration of the Ministry of War is completely different from that of the camp in this respect.

Wang Anshi called a man over to ask him questions. The man replied cautiously that the records in the Ministry of War were about things that happened in the past, and that the person's appearance had changed since then.

Wang Anshi smiled and did not expose the other party's lies. The practice of drawing a salary without working was something that was tacitly accepted by the entire Song Dynasty. There was no way to blame Taizu, so he did not investigate further. He only needed to conduct a thorough investigation and write a good report.

He didn't ask any more questions at the moment, but just comforted the other party and continued to look through the documents stored in the army to check if there were any omissions in the information.

The clerk left anxiously. As soon as he left, everyone asked him what had happened. He said, "The envoy is quite kind. He comforted us, saying that the court will not pursue the matter of the vacant position and that there may be new jobs available. This is a good thing."

"That would be great."

Everyone felt relieved and dispersed.

However, that night, someone sneaked into the military camp and found the stray guard.

The military camp should have been a place of strategic defense, but the military discipline in the Song Dynasty’s military camp was really poor, and the other side was quite familiar with the environment in the camp.

Sanzhi also knew the man. He used to be a colleague in the army. Later, he was transferred by his superior to work as a servant in the family.

Seeing him coming, Sanzhi was very puzzled.

But when he heard what the other party wanted him to do, he was so scared that he returned to the camp in a trance.