Chapter 392: Old Pawn
When Ying Yuan learned about the discussion in the court hall, many days had passed.
Daji told him everything.
After much deliberation, he wrote back to Daji as soon as possible.
The gist of the letter was that not only fifteen taels of silver should be given to the retired soldier.
They would also be given three taels of silver every New Year.
It will be issued for a total of three years.
As a result, the retirement pay for each veteran was as high as twenty-four taels.
In other countries, even if a person served as a soldier for a lifetime, he might not be able to save up twenty-four taels.
Of course, all countries currently implement the military merit system, the capitation system, etc.
That is, when fighting on the battlefield, for each soldier killed, you can get a certain amount of reward, or your title or official position can be promoted.
If we really rely solely on the monthly death allowance, then the number of people joining the army will only decrease.
After all, a soldier who doesn't want to be a general is not a good soldier.
If you join the army not to kill the enemy and gain military merit, you might as well stay at home and farm.
Ying Yuan originally planned to pay more money for a few more years.
But on second thought, he felt that based on the current rate at which the national treasury was being consumed.
I'm afraid the Qin Dynasty won't last more than three years.
At present, the issue of disarmament is kept absolutely confidential within the Qin State.
Apart from the ministers in the court, only a few people knew about it.
Outside Xianyang City.
In the capital camp.
Many soldiers are training.
There were also some new recruits squatting on the ground, listening to an old soldier leaning against a big tree talking about the "Battle of Shuozhou".
Over the years, the Qin Dynasty has waged countless foreign wars.
But when it comes to defensive battles, the Battle of Shuozhou should be the first one to be mentioned.
At that time, Cao Ren led 80,000 soldiers to resist the attack of Pang Juan's army of hundreds of thousands.
Therefore, he is also known as the best city defender in the Qin Dynasty.
"It's a pity that General Le Jin died of exhaustion in that battle. If he were still alive, it would be great to see how powerful our Great Qin is now."
After the old soldier finished talking about the Battle of Shuozhou, he couldn't help but sigh.
Looking closely, he actually only had one hand.
The other hand was obviously placed in Shuozhou.
There was a horrible scar on the old soldier's face, very clear, like the track of a centipede crawling.
After he finished speaking.
Many new recruits couldn't help but ask various questions out of curiosity:
"How did Pang Juan die in the end? Before I joined the army, I heard from a storyteller in a teahouse that he was beheaded by General Yue Fei in the midst of a chaotic battle."
"Can you tell us how the Battle of Youyun was won?"
"Did our Great Qin gradually become stronger after this battle?"
“…”
Some people even asked questions that even the old soldiers didn't know how to answer.
Just then.
Cao Ren, carrying two jugs of wine, approached them and scolded them with a smile, "Are you guys so free? Why are you running here instead of training?"
As soon as these words came out, the new recruits shuddered, quickly stood up, patted the dust off their buttocks, and said one after another:
"Greetings, General Cao."
"We'll go train now, General, don't get angry."
"We're leaving now."
“…”
Seeing them scattering like frightened birds, Cao Ren felt amused and shouted behind them:
"Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in battle. When you have nothing to do, practice riding and shooting to kill the enemy, and stop being lazy!"
Paused.
The old soldier leaning against the tree beside him smiled and said, "General, they are still children. Don't be too harsh on them."
Hearing this, Cao Ren shook his head and smiled, "Old Song, you must set a good example in the camp and not lead them to slack off all day long."
"You never know when they'll go to the front line."
Upon hearing this, Old Man Song suddenly became excited. His eyes lit up and he asked, "Is there going to be another war?"
"Who are we fighting this time? The old man who joined the army with me and participated in the war to destroy Jin, came back and kept bragging to me all day long."
"It makes me feel itchy inside."
After serving in the army for a long time, I got used to life in the barracks and on the battlefield.
Sometimes if I don’t hold a knife for a day, I feel uncomfortable all over.
Cao Ren sat cross-legged beside the old soldier, opened two pots of wine, handed one to the old soldier, and said with a smile:
"How can we fight every day? It's just that I haven't had a drink with you in a long time. Today, I have nothing to do, so let's have a drink together."
The old soldier smelled the aroma of the wine in the pot and felt relaxed and happy. He couldn't help but praise it repeatedly: "This is a good wine, and the general is willing to spend money."
"If it were me, I would have to buy a piece of land and wait for the future to drink secretly."
Cao Ren laughed heartily and said, "You are so useless! It's a shame you fought all the way from Shuozhou with me."
The old soldier took a sip of the wine first, then showed an expression of great enjoyment and said with a smile:
"General, is this considered lazy? It also violates the military law."
Cao Ren immediately puffed his beard and glared, "If you don't want to drink, just give it to me. Why are you talking so much nonsense?"
The old soldier laughed and said, "How can we take back the wine we gave away? If others knew about this, wouldn't they laugh at you, the great general?"
Cao Ren didn't say anything else, but just asked the old soldier to drink three big gulps of wine with him.
Under the influence of alcohol, he slowly asked, "Old Man Song, are you the only one left who followed this general to participate in the defense of Shuozhou?"
Hearing this, the old soldier's eyes suddenly filled with tears. He nodded slightly dully, "Well...I think so."
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