novelSusiti Chapter 32: Reward
Chapter 32: Reward
Li Ang has not attended court for several days.
Logically speaking, such a matter would inevitably provoke pressure from all levels of the court, especially from the Council of State Affairs.
But the truth is, it wasn't!
Apart from Li Xun and Shu Yuanyu, the other two prime ministers of the Council of State Affairs, Wang Ya and Jia Su, remained silent on the matter.
Some officials from Li Xun's faction in the court kept submitting memorials inquiring about the matter, but none of them were heard back after being sent to the palace.
As news of Zheng Zhu spread, various speculations arose throughout the court.
Among them, members of the Niu and Li factions were the most active and proactive.
If it weren't for senior ministers like Linghu Chu and Zheng Tan keeping them in check, they probably would have already been unable to restrain themselves and would have taken action at the first sign of trouble.
Of course, the two men's strict discipline of their own party members at this time was not out of kindness or cowardice, but simply because they felt that the real opportunity had not yet arrived.
Surrounded by various forces, a massive storm is brewing within this imperial court.
Meanwhile, Li Ang, the instigator, left the palace instead.
Although the absence of court for the past few days was intended to cooperate with Xue Jiling and others' plans, it also conveniently freed Li Ang from various paperwork.
Almost half a month has passed since the incident involving Qiu Shiliang.
After intensive study over this period, combined with the memories left by the original owner and his own scattered understanding of the late Tang Dynasty, Li Ang has basically gained a general impression of this era and its important figures.
The saying goes, "Reading ten thousand books is not as good as traveling ten thousand miles."
Staying cooped up in the Zichen Palace all the time, facing those dry classics and documents, is neither interesting nor helpful in understanding the real situation.
As a young person who has been influenced by Marxist philosophy for decades, Li Ang naturally knows the importance of field research.
Therefore, his first stop was the Shence Army, the decisive force behind all the key events in the late Tang Dynasty!
This time when Li Ang left the palace, he did not make a big fuss, but he also did not intend to disguise himself as a commoner.
It was just a simple inspection tour. He only brought a few dozen palace servants with him, along with Liu Hongyi, the Left Commandant, and Liu Xingshen, the newly appointed Commissioner of Xuanhui.
"Everyone, the Left Shence Camp is just ahead. This old servant has already instructed General Chen Junyi to wait for me at the camp gate."
As they rode forward in the imperial carriage, Liu Hongyi began to recount some basic information about the Shence Army.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, since I took over the Left Shence Army, I have been ordered by Your Excellency to conduct a basic inventory of the military registers in recent days."
"The Left Shence Army currently has a total strength of 76,000 men. Of these, 34,000 are stationed in the capital, taking turns to guard the city. The remaining 42,000 are stationed in the eight counties surrounding the capital and in places like Fengxiang. Some of them have also been ordered to be transferred to places like Jingyuan and Shuofang to guard against the southward advance of the Tubo."
"In the Shence Army, from the lieutenant down, there is one general, two commanders, four generals who are the officers in charge of the troops, one central guard, three judges, two chief judges, one review officer, one report officer, and one accountant, who are in charge of criminal and prison affairs in the army. There are also dozens of other miscellaneous officers who are already in the camp awaiting their summons..."
As they were saying this, the imperial carriage had already arrived at the camp gate.
As Liu Hongyi said, General Chen Junyi had already led several hundred Shence Army soldiers to line up outside to welcome them.
As soon as the imperial carriage landed, hundreds of Shence Army soldiers knelt down in unison.
"General Chen Junyi, the Left Shence Army Commander, along with Pei Yan, Lu Heng, Shence Army Generals Fan Tuan, Yao Jing, Wei Zhenbei, Luo Heng, and others, respectfully welcome Your Majesty."
The military flag fluttered in the wind, and Chen Junyi's voice was strong, deep, and resonant.
Hundreds of people joined him in shouting "Long live!"
This scene inexplicably stirred a sense of heroism within Li Ang.
"Rise."
As Li Ang stepped down from the imperial carriage with the help of a servant, he quickly waved his hand and said...
"The Shence Army guards the palace and is stationed in the capital region. They work hard day and night. I have ordered that 32,000 bolts of silk and 15,000 strings of cash be taken from the imperial treasury to reward the army. All of these will be given to the officers and soldiers. In addition, 1,000 bolts of damask and 800 taels of gold will be given to the generals in the army."
Li Ang felt somewhat helpless after hearing these words.
At this moment, he finally understood why ministers throughout history had always wanted to keep the emperor confined to the palace for life, minimizing his outings.
There's really no other way, it's too expensive!
Just like now, when Li Ang, as the emperor, personally visits the Shence Army, even if it's just a casual inspection, he always has to give some rewards.
In this way, these Shence soldiers can truly receive "imperial favor" and feel grateful.
In contrast, if Li Ang comes here merely to take a look around and doesn't give any reward, the soldiers' expectations will be dashed, and they will inevitably harbor resentment over time.
Even if such a situation didn't exist, if the emperor didn't give a reward, there would naturally be plenty of others who would.
The Shence Army was originally controlled by eunuchs, and all kinds of military pay and benefits were distributed by the Shence Lieutenant. As a result, in recent years, there has been a tendency in the army to only recognize the Lieutenant and not the emperor.
If we don't show some favor to Li Ang after his visit, the Shence Army might really become the eunuchs' private army.
But that's precisely the problem.
If we're going to reward people, we have to be generous and not stingy. We can't just reward the generals; the ordinary officers and soldiers have to get something too.
This will cost a lot more money.
After all, the Left Army alone has more than 30,000 troops stationed in the capital, and the two armies combined have at least 50,000 to 60,000 troops.
The rewards alone, including various kinds of cloth, millet, gold and silver, would cost at least tens of thousands of strings of cash.
It should be noted that just a few days ago, Li Ang had someone calculate the inventory of the inner treasury.
In total, it's only about two million in cash and cloth.
While this reward wasn't exactly crippling, it certainly wasn't a small sum either.
"Thank you for your generous gift, Your Majesty!"
The money spent had a good effect; at least the soldiers below seemed to be more energetic in their expressions of gratitude.
"You need not be so formal. I am just here to take a look around. Chen Junyi, you take two commanders and come inside with me. The rest of you can continue your training as usual."
After the greetings were completed, Li Ang dismissed the welcoming party and began to train. Accompanied by Chen Junyi and others, he began to inspect the so-called Imperial Guards.
"Your Majesty, please look, this is the place where the Shence Army conducts its daily drills."
Although Li Ang came on a whim, since ancient times, whenever a leader makes an inspection, there has never been one that doesn't put on an act.
As a lieutenant in the Shence Army, Liu Hongyi must have given prior notice.
Therefore, the officers and soldiers we met along the way were in good spirits and were training very hard.
Chen Junyi and two military commanders walked ahead, explaining to Li Ang as they went.
"Your Majesty, the Shence Army's daily drills consist of five events: archery, slashing, pillar lifting, formations, and raids. They are reviewed every ten days to test their combat capabilities. Today is the day for the review, and I have already made the arrangements. Your Majesty, shall we move to the drill ground now?"