on a cane, and two men, one fat and the other thin, who stood out conspicuously."Holy Maiden, Meng Po, the two Hall Masters.""My subordinate has just received intelligence from Zhao Wangfu and gone to...Chapter 1678 Military Pay

Misunderstandings are misunderstandings. Once explained, they can be cleared up.

Since they are participating in the performance, they naturally deserve their due "compensation."

The only thing left is to hope that Li Chen doesn't make unreasonable demands.

Unbeknownst to Wang En, who was blissfully unaware of the schemes and machinations swirling around him, Li Chen looked at him intently. Wang En took a deep breath and said, “I need... fifty taels.”

Fifty taels.

This number came out, and the expressions on the people around him were very strange.

For an ordinary person, fifty taels is indeed a large sum of money.

When the Qin Empire enjoyed a period of good harvests and peaceful conditions, an average household's annual income wouldn't exceed five or six taels of silver. Fifty taels would equal the entire family's income for ten years—a substantial sum.

But compared to Li Chen's status as the Imperial Crown Prince, fifty taels is a bit insulting.

Is protecting the imperial family only worth fifty taels

The onlookers wore strange expressions, but Li Chen didn't seem to mind. Instead, his attitude and tone were as warm as spring sunshine. "Alright, then tell this Palace, why do you want fifty taels of silver"

Wang En was now all in, he said: “I come from an ordinary family of farmers in Ganshan province. Although I had no nobles or high officials, our family managed a few acres of farmland and lived comfortably, not overly wealthy but not poor either. But later, our fortunes declined. We sold our assets and even incurred a large debt. I was left with no other choice but to join the army at Yueya Pass. Fortunately, General Wu noticed me and promoted me to be his personal guard. However, the military pay is too low. Even with interest included, it seems impossible to repay the debt.”

"Therefore, this lowly one humbly requests Your Highness to bestow fifty taels of silver upon me. I would like to send it back home to repay my debts. This humble one is willing to do anything for Your Highness, even risk life and limb!"

After finishing his words, Wang En knelt directly on the snowy ground with both knees, giving Li Chen a heavy kowtow.

Li Chen bent down and personally helped Wang En to his feet.

Whether it was Wang En's unremarkable story or the fifty taels of silver, they were both trivial matters in Li Chen's eyes.

What he saw and heard was a once-wealthy family now struggling financially, due to the low pay of the soldier's wages, these two key points.

If it's just a family business that fails and leads to debt, that's not surprising. Even in the most prosperous times, there will be ups and downs at the individual level. It's impossible for an entire nation to flourish and have everyone living a perfect life. However, Li Chen was well aware that such families were not uncommon in the Qin Empire. Over the years, due to natural disasters, wars, or political turmoil, countless families had been displaced and suffered hardship.

This was a matter that Li Chen, the heir apparent of this ancient empire, had to take seriously.

Another thing is that the pay is too low.

"How much is your salary" Li Chen asked calmly.

Actually, he knows this number.

But if he were to discover that the soldiers' actual pay differed from the figures Wu Qingcang and his men had reported, there would undoubtedly be a mass execution afterward.

“As for the prince’s question, as a member of General Wu’s personal army, my pay is actually quite decent. The standard monthly ration is two stones of grain, two catties of salt, and two pennies of silver. Moreover, I have dependents to care for, so on top of that, I receive an additional stone of grain and a catty of salt every month. If there's a war, the pay doubles, and if there are casualties, there is separate compensation.”

Li Chen nodded understandingly, his face relaxing slightly.

This number matches perfectly with the data that Wu Qingscang and his team gave themselves, with no errors.Chapter 364: Praying for the Emperor