【Chongzhen 17th Year March 11th】
On this day, the soldiers who guarded the city were paid for half a year, "each with a total of fifty yuan of yellow money, and the complaints filled the ears."
The salaries of the Ming army were more complicated. To summarize the statement in the "Ming Shi Food Chronicle", in the early Hongwu years, the monthly food of soldiers was two stones of rice per month for horse soldiers and one stone of rice per month for infantry, which was called "monthly grain".
During the Yongle period, a part of the monthly grain began to be converted into cash, and the proportion was different in different places, with some places giving eight points to rice and two points to cash. Later, it was unified, and soldiers with family members were paid in cash for six buckets of rice per month, and for soldiers without family members, four buckets of five liters of rice per month.
In addition to the monthly grain, there is also moon salt, usually soldiers with family members, two pounds of salt per month, and one pound of family members. Some places give physical salt, and some places give cash. This kind of subsidized things, the name is not the same, such as called salt rice silver, salt vegetable silver, etc., there are many names.
In addition, soldiers also have the so-called "main soldier", "recruit" and "guest soldier", and the treatment is different. Moreover, the phenomenon of generals withholding soldiers' salaries is quite serious.
The fifty copper coins sent out on March 11 should be the cash part of the monthly grain. In addition, each soldier was given some grain and salt. At this time, there is no shortage of grain in Beijing, and the supply of materials is normal, so the grain and salt parts should not be in arrears.
In any case, a soldier's salary for half a year is only fifty copper coins, which is indeed a pitiful amount. At such a fatal time, the Chongzhen Emperor would certainly not be stingy with silver for the soldiers, but he really had no money.
Fifty copper coins also revealed another piece of information, that is, at that time, the deflation of the whole society was quite serious, and the price was very low.
The Jiashen Transmission Records and the Ming Dynasty Northern Chronicles record that the Chongzhen Emperor issued another edict on this day.
However, the same edict, the End of the Chronicle of the Ming Dynasty, is believed to have been issued in mid-February, when Li Zicheng had just captured Taiyuan and was invincible in Shanxi, with his sword pointing directly at Beijing.
In this edict, the Chongzhen Emperor recalled his seventeen years of experience on the throne, and he had always had the ambition to revive the country. Unfortunately, the result of diligent efforts and conscientious work is that disasters and famines continue to occur everywhere, thieves are everywhere, and they spread everywhere like a fierce fire in the grassland, and Shaanxi, Henan, Jianghan and other places have been plagued by military disasters for many years.
The Chongzhen Emperor deeply blamed himself for this, "The sin is not a degeneration, who lets it be responsible!" The Chongzhen Emperor admitted that he was responsible, specifically, he considered his responsibility in these areas:
Those who make the people die, the water and fire, the blood flow into the valley, and the skeleton accumulate into a mound, all of them have passed away.
Let the people lose the sword and save the millet, send off the scoundrels, add the sign of multi-artlessness, and pre-enlist those who have the pain of the loan, and also degenerate the transgression.
Let the people's room be like a hanging chime, the field pawn dirty, look at the fireworks and have no door, and call the cold wind and despair, and the one who has passed away.
Let the people complain of the sun and the moon, the drought is recommended, the division and brigade are located, the plague is a disaster, the sum of heaven and earth is dry, and the complainer of the lower cong family is also transgressed.
Appointing ministers but not lawless, using small ministers instead of being honest, saying that officials are the first rat and not clear in their deliberations, and military generals who are arrogant and cowardly and do not perform their deeds, all of them are driven by the degeneration and lose their ways, and their sincere feelings are not enriched.
What does that mean? It is because of their own faults that wars have harmed the people, taxes have been excessive, the people have been plundered to the situation of extreme poverty, coupled with natural disasters, epidemics, and finally improper employment, illegal civilian officials, and cowardice of military generals.
Therefore, the Chongzhen Emperor was determined to make some changes. He also promised that if he did not discuss the warlords and Kusanagi Haojie, as long as he could restore one county and one county, and his merits were like opening up the territory, he would definitely be given a hereditary office. If the soldiers in the thief's camp can lead their men to surrender, they can forgive their sins and make meritorious deeds. Anyone who can capture the head of a thief will definitely be rewarded with a marquis.
Finally, the Chongzhen Emperor called on the subjects of the world to be loyal to the king and patriotic, and to eliminate the evil in shame.
The Chongzhen Emperor had a clear understanding of the current situation and reflected deeply, but the people's hearts had long since been frozen. Moreover, it is doubtful that the measures enumerated in the edict can be implemented, let alone their effects.
Carefully tasting the tone of the edict, the emphasis everywhere is on "the transgression of degeneration", but in the edict of the sixth day of March, the sin of sin has always been said, and the tone is obviously heavier. Therefore, the time of publication of this edict should be earlier than the sixth day of the first month of March, and the time recorded in the "Ming History Chronicle" is more credible.
However, the record of the "Reborn Strategy" proves from the side that the time of the "Ming Ji Beiluo" is not wrong, and on March 11, a copy of the emperor's edict of sin was indeed posted all over Beijing. The edicts were engraved and printed, sealed with royal seals, and posted throughout the city. Of course, there may also be a third edict of sin.
Whether the edict was issued in February or March, it could not save the defeat and crisis of the time. The sinful edicts posted everywhere are just useless propaganda texts.
Thirty Days of City Change (Eleventh), written by Yu Zuo