A ratio of one to four.
The old, weak, sick and disabled versus the elite?
No hope!
Of course, this is just his wishful thinking. If he wants to defend Beijing, the most important thing is money.
If there are not enough people, you can recruit soldiers, but recruiting soldiers requires money.
The relationship between the emperor and his soldiers is like that between a boss and his employees.
Having money does not necessarily mean you will work hard for it, but having no money definitely means you will not work hard for it.
Why should those soldiers, who are hungry and cold, risk their lives to protect the emperor who is sitting firmly on the throne?
Where the money went and how it disappeared was none of their business. Soldiers who did not receive their money would think it was the emperor's fault.
Chongzhen understood this principle well.
Moreover, the combat effectiveness of the Ming army was not low in the late Ming Dynasty. There is a widely circulated saying: The Ming army is not fully paid, and it is invincible when fully paid. Where can you find full pay? It’s Huang Taiji of Liaodong.
"How many months of wages have been owed?" Chongzhen continued to ask with his eyes closed.
Wu Mengming and Wang Zhixin looked at each other and stammered at the same time. They were too embarrassed to speak, fearing that they would expose the bottom of the Ming Dynasty and embarrass the emperor.
Chongzhen's face darkened, "Tell the truth!"
"Yes, the Jinyiwei owed five months' salary."
"The East Factory also took five months."
Chongzhen sighed, wanting to scold someone but not knowing who to scold. As far as he knew, the Jinyiwei and Dongchang in the capital were the ones who owed the least salary.
"You can calculate it yourself. To make up for the previous arrears and give each person another five taels of silver for defending the city, how much will it cost in total?"
Wu Mengming's eyes lit up. He didn't care where Emperor Chongzhen got the money from, as long as he was given the money.
After a moment, the two reported the total to Chongzhen, "Your Majesty, the Jinyiwei and the Dongchang require a total of 75,000 taels of silver."
"Well, do you know how much money the three camps owe?"
Wu Mengming frowned. As the top figure of the Jinyiwei, he knew this kind of news. The governor of the three camps was Xiangcheng Earl Li Guozhen, and he didn't want to offend him.
Wang Zhixin was afraid of offending people, so he kept silent.
"Wu Mengming, just tell me what you know. There's no need to be secretive at this point."
"Yes, the three major battalions are basically owed eight months' wages."
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