The treatment for the template soldiers of Taichu Palace is significantly higher than that of Qingming templates, not just marginally but by more than tenfold. Even an ordinary Daoist soldier of Taichu Palace receives much higher compensation than Qingming template soldiers.
It's inevitable, as Qingming produces over a million templates a year, where are there so many decent jobs where they can stay in formations and enjoy air conditioning?
Currently, Qingming templates do whatever they can find, but many still find themselves without a steady livelihood, working various odd jobs, calling it autonomy and flexibility.
But these old template Daoist soldiers of Taichu Palace have accumulated battle honors, having contributed in past years. Although in Wei Yuan's eyes, these contributions aren't much higher than those of Qingming templates, since the Northern Mountain Gate mostly finds itself on the defensive, without expansion as long as immortals remain inactive.
