Chapter 62: Talent, truly a talent

Chen Mo sat on the carriage, flicking the horse whip as he hurried toward the military camp; the warhorse he had been riding followed leisurely behind the carriage.

He did not intend to leave the carriage or the warhorse he rode at home; not to mention that horses have a rather strong odor, feeding them at home would also be too much of a hassle.

Unless he hired a groom, but that would require spending more money; it was better to send them to the military camp to be fed, saving himself the worry and effort.

The military camp was established right beside the official road, less than ten miles away from Zhu Niu Ji.

Compared to the Personal Soldier camp he had stayed in before, this military camp was more like a large, messy courtyard.

A low wall, over four feet high, enclosed several rows of casually built earthen barracks; under the battering of Wind and rain, the outer walls of the thatched mud houses were already pitted and full of gullies.

Looking at the entire military camp at a glance, one could not see many Soldiers; there seemed to be only thirty or forty people, and most of them were old or weak.

Seeing this, Chen Mo could not help but knit his brows; even if the previous Salt Transport Commissioner was embezzling military pay, he couldn't have done it so severely.

A military camp for five hundred men had actually been reduced to fewer than fifty.

If this were truly the case, then the previous Salt Transport Commissioner was being far too brazen!

He himself had never even thought of doing such a thing; how massive must the background of the other party be to dare to act like this.

Chen Mo felt suspicious and hurriedly waved the whip to accelerate toward the military camp.

Arriving before the military camp, an honest-looking old man of over forty, dressed in coarse cloth military attire, did not dare to be careless upon seeing him arrive and cupped his hands to ask.

"May I ask this official, are you the newly appointed Salt Transport Commissioner?" The old man had a keen eye and could tell that the horse following behind Chen Mo was a warhorse.

"I am indeed. Why are there only a few of you in the camp? Where have the others gone? Who is in charge here?"

Chen Mo took out the appointment letter from his Huai, which was stamped with his foster father's seal, proving he had come to take up the post.

The position he was taking up this time was merely a sesame-sized ninth-rank official, so it was sufficient for him to come alone.

If it were a higher official position that required managing more people or a larger area, then even if Chen Mo didn't want them, Sun Shouren would have sent a few people to help him with his work.

After all, Chen Mo was his foster son; if he didn't do the job well, it would be a loss of face for him as well.

"Please wait a moment, official; I will go call the two Team Leaders right away." The old man did not dare to look at the appointment letter; his originally hunched figure quickly became agile, and he dashed straight toward a barrack.

Chen Mo drove the horse slowly into the military camp; quite a few Soldiers noticed him, but they didn't care much.

As the lowest-ranking Soldiers, they didn't care who their superior was; in any case, whoever it was, it was actually about the same to them.

Not long after Chen Mo entered the camp, two Soldiers dressed in cotton-padded clothes ran over from not far away.

The two were wearing the clothes of Team Leaders; there wasn't much difference in color from the ordinary Soldiers, except that they were made of cotton cloth.

"We, Wang Qi (Liu Quan), pay our respects to the official." The two hurried to bow before the carriage; as for the appointment letter, they naturally did not dare to ask for it.

Even if Chen Mo took it out for them, the two would not dare to actually look at it.

In any case, no one would dare to come and impersonate a Salt Transport Commissioner; impersonating an official of the Imperial Court was a capital crime punishable by waist-chopping.

"Speak, why are there so few people in the camp? Where did the others go? Don't tell me there aren't any." Chen Mo's expression was tense, his gaze stern.

If the previous Salt Transport Commissioner really dared to embezzle the pay of so many people, then he had to report this matter quickly; he absolutely could not let himself take the blame.

If he had embezzled half the pay, that might still be understandable, but embezzling ninety percent was just too excessive.

Wang Qi and Liu Quan stammered, looking at each other; in the end, Chen Mo pointed at one of them and told him to explain everything clearly.

One started to speak, and the other also gathered the courage to add to it.

With the two of them speaking one after another, Chen Mo soon understood the general situation in the military camp.

He understood why there were only a few dozen old and weak men left in the camp now, because the able-bodied men in the camp had all been arranged by the previous Salt Transport Commissioner to go out and work.

Digging and transporting salt required not only enough oxen, horses, and mules, but also a large amount of able-bodied labor.

In Zhuniuji and a fairly large area nearby, able-bodied labor had always been in a state of relative shortage.

Able-bodied men working here could earn at least thirty to forty wen in wages per day; if it were during holidays or if there were some urgent tasks, it could even reach fifty wen.

Compared to other places, this wage was definitely quite generous; in Xiaopao Town, an able-bodied man working hard for a day could mostly only earn twenty wen.

And the previous Salt Transport Commissioner had arranged for all of his nearly two hundred able-bodied men to go out and work.

As for the wages earned by these able-bodied men, he only took a twenty percent cut.

After all, if you made people work every day without giving them a single cent, even if being a deserter was a capital crime, most of these able-bodied men would probably run away.

Because even if it were a capital crime, one had to be caught for it to be a capital crime; if they couldn't be caught, it was useless.

Plus, as the Salt Transport Commissioner, he knew quite a few private salt smugglers and had a certain amount of power.

Being able to mobilize two hundred able-bodied men at once was no small number.

Therefore, there was basically no shortage of work nearby, and most Soldiers could have work to do every day.

Other able-bodied men worked at most twenty days a month, while the able-bodied men under the previous Salt Transport Commissioner could work twenty-five or even twenty-eight days a month.

So even though the previous Salt Transport Commissioner exploited the Soldiers under him, most people could still endure it.

Relying on this method, he could earn thirty or forty taels of silver every month.

Of the profits extracted, Chen Mo, as the Salt Transport Commissioner, took eighty percent, the two Team Leaders each took five percent, and the remaining ten percent was divided among the Squad Leaders, Shizhang, and others.

This method was effective, and the silver earned was more than what could be made by taking these Soldiers to farm the land.

Besides this silver, he also didn't have to pay monthly military wages to these Soldiers who went out to work.

Chen Mo had previously thought that the Wang Xiaowei he knew didn't pay his Soldiers because he had embezzled it all.

It wasn't until he actually sat in the official position and began to manage the Soldiers under him that he knew.

The military pay given by the Imperial Court could only be described in two words.

As if.

It was supposed to exist, but whether it actually did, it was hard to say!

Each Soldier was supposed to be given one qian of silver per month; that sounded nice, but most of the time it wasn't issued, and at most it was issued for three or four months a year.

Even that was already considered not bad.

Fortunately, the grain rations were relatively timely; not to mention eating well, at least it guaranteed they wouldn't starve to death.

Because if they couldn't get the money, that was that; most Soldiers would at most complain a few words.

But if they can no longer get enough to eat, it is hard to say what these people might do.

Currently, most of the soldiers in this military camp go out to work to make a living, so the provisions issued by the Imperial Court only need to be enough to feed a few dozen of the old and weak.

As for the provisions and military pay for the others, it is all converted into silver and distributed; embezzlement is embezzlement, but the required military pay and provisions must still be distributed, otherwise why would the subordinates work honestly?

But even if he only takes half of the embezzled pay, he can still get about forty or fifty taels of silver every month.

It must be said that the previous Salt Transport Commissioner was indeed a rare talent.

With the embezzled pay, the commissions from the many soldiers going out to work, and the ninety taels of silver from He Luoyun, he can pocket nearly two hundred taels of silver each month.

With this much money, not only can he ensure he eats meat every day, but the matter of taking medicinal decoctions daily to supplement his Qi and Blood can also be put on the agenda.

In fact, the Qi and Blood supplemented from medicinal decoctions may not necessarily be more than what comes from eating meat.

But medicinal decoctions can be drunk like water, while he cannot drink meat like water.

Although his internal organs have been strengthened several times, Chen Mo's stomach has not yet reached the point where it can digest infinitely; there is still a limit to its capacity.

Medicinal decoctions only serve as a supplementary means to additionally increase the speed at which he accumulates Qi and Blood.

"As for matters in the military camp, everything shall continue as it has in the past; I do not wish to manage you too much, but you had best not cause trouble.

I believe you are clear about my background; even if something happens, I can still serve as an official elsewhere."

Chen Mo's tone was stern, his eyes carrying a hint of murderous intent.

This is what is called following the established rules; since the previous Salt Transport Commissioner did a decent enough job, there is no need for him to go to the trouble of changing things.

Anyway, his goal is not to rake in money, but to improve himself faster; as long as the money is enough, having a little more or a little less makes no great difference to him now.

Although Wang Qi and Liu Quan are Squad Leaders, they have never been on the battlefield and do not even possess any martial arts skills.

The reason they were able to become Squad Leaders is, firstly, by grinding out seniority, and secondly, through good luck and a modicum of ability.

Now, how would they dare to look Chen Mo in the eye? They lowered their heads in fear and spoke repeatedly, "Rest assured, My Lord, we would never dare to have any disloyal thoughts toward you."

They understood what Chen Mo meant; at the very least, they would not dare to harbor any ulterior motives in the short term.

Of course, if more time passes, it is hard to say whether Chen Mo's intimidation will still be effective.

"From now on, for the soldiers remaining in the camp, add two wen to their daily provisions each, and take out an extra two taels of silver to feed my horse well."

Using both the carrot and the stick, Chen Mo adds two wen of provisions to each person's daily pay, which comes to over two taels of silver a month.

It is enough for the remaining people in the military camp to eat an extra meal of meat and improve their diet.

And as for this money, the two of them will also be able to get a little bit of it.

"Rest assured, My Lord, we understand." The two bowed repeatedly again.

"In this military camp of yours, I won't ask you for any overt or covert sentries, but there must be someone to beat the Gong and Drum every night, right? Where are the Gong and Drum?" Chen Mo looked at the two and threw out the question he cared about most.

The Gong and Drum are very important; one could say they are a Protective Talisman for him to explore the secrets of this world. Only by obtaining them can he feel at ease to do what comes next.

(End of chapter)