After making inquiries, Li Dingguo learned that the eight thousand troops led by Zhu Cijiong had not yet received their August pay.
Among these eight thousand, five thousand were Shaanxi border troops and three thousand were Mongol cavalry. Although the Mongol cavalry had volunteered for the campaign and were not part of the official Great Ming military establishment—strictly speaking, they did not require a salary as long as they were provided with sufficient grain and fodder—there was still the matter of morale.
"The people are not bothered by scarcity, but by inequality."
Chapter 1287