Daming Town Haiwang

Chapter 435, Military Reform

In Liu Jin's house, Liu Jin is drinking tea leisurely and reading the latest Ming Morning Post.

It took almost a month to go out with Zhu Houzhao, and now it is October of the twelfth year of Hongzhi.

After going out for a month, I traveled all over Daming's border towns with Zhu Houzhao, and visited many guards, and I had a clear understanding of the situation of the entire Daming army.

It is not an exaggeration to describe it as rotten to the root, there are too many various problems.

From the highest level, it does not pay attention to it, or even suppresses it deliberately, because the civil official group is in power, and the civil official group keeps suppressing military generals for their own interests. Naturally, in terms of army building, it is also constantly suppressing.

Suppress military expenditures, equipment updates, military training, military supplies, and many other aspects. In terms of military expenditures, save as much as possible, withhold as much as you can, and embezzle as much as you can.

There is basically no equipment update. Many armor weapons used by the frontier troops are even decades ago. The quality of the weapons and equipment distributed every few years is so poor that people can't bear to look directly at them.

In terms of artillery, the artillery issued by the Ministry of Finance can only fire a few shots with [-]% of the gunpowder. If there are a few more shots or a little more gunpowder, it will explode immediately, so that the artillerymen even prefer to fight with knives He was also unwilling to fire, for fear of being killed.

As for the army training, that's even more nonsense. It's not bad to be able to practice once in ten days and a half months. This is the frontier army, which often needs to fight against the steppe Tartars.

As for military households, they are already complete farmers, so naturally there is no such thing as training.

As for the guarantee of military supplies, five years ago in Hongzhi, there was still a supply of food to ensure that, if you want salt, you must transport food to the frontier army, thus ensuring the demand for food for the frontier army.

However, after five years of Hongzhi, after Naliang Kaizhong was changed to Nayin Kaizhong, salt merchants only needed to pay a certain amount of silver every year to obtain Yanyin, and then the imperial court used the silver to buy grain for the frontier army.

It doesn't sound like there is much difference, but because the civil servants are in power, they are constantly suppressing the generals' honorable group and reducing military expenditure.

In the past, it was no problem at least to have enough food, but now, the money allocated by the court is getting less and less, and the food purchased is also getting less and less.

More importantly, the grain is in the hands of the grain merchant. If you want to buy grain, it depends on the color of the grain merchant. The price is determined by the grain merchant, so often the grain merchant colludes with the commander above, and the money is not less. But the quality is getting worse and worse, and gradually everyone can't even eat enough.

It is still the Hongzhi Dynasty. In the late Ming Dynasty, this problem became more and more serious, and eventually dragged down the entire Ming Dynasty's finances.

Food is only one aspect of military expenditure, and it is also the most basic aspect. If soldiers can't get enough food, one can imagine what kind of guarantee can be obtained for other aspects of military supplies.

The top level does not pay attention to it, and even deliberately suppresses it. In addition, the military household system has been completely rotten now.

Because of the restrictions of the household registration system, this military household can only serve as a soldier, and it has been restricted to this for generations. Originally, this is nothing, the key is that there is no hope of serving as a soldier in the Ming Dynasty.

The civil official group is in power, they have no desire to expand abroad at all, they are very Buddhist, and everything is expected to be solved by their way of Confucius and Mencius, Cheng Zhu's way of Neo Confucianism, that is simply impossible,

Coupled with the suppression of the civil service group, the combat power is low, and it is a dream to rely on serving as a soldier to turn salty fish over.

If serving as a soldier can be like the Qin Dynasty, have status, be able to stand up, and bring substantial benefits to yourself and your family, such as winning a battle, everyone will be rewarded, rewarded with silver, rewarded with land, promoted and made a fortune, etc. Wait.

Naturally, some people will squeeze their heads to become soldiers, and this military family is naturally superior.

But this happened to be the Ming Dynasty. Soldiers didn't have enough to eat and couldn't wear warm clothes, and their family members also suffered hardships and hardships. The dilapidated military households were talking about them.

There are no battles to fight yet, and every year when the Tartars go south, they hide in the city to defend the city, and they dare not take the initiative to attack at all. It is simply a dream to turn Xianyu into a soldier.

Not to mention salted fish turning over, it is difficult to support a family and live a decent life. This is the status quo of military households in the Ming Dynasty.

Originally, military households still had a few mu of land at home, but now, the fields of military households are basically occupied by thousands of households, hundreds of households, and general soldiers from above, and they have become their landowners. Like domestic slaves, working as cattle and horses, they have to be exploited by thousands or hundreds of households from generation to generation.

To sum it up, being a soldier in the Ming Dynasty has none of the advantages, and there are no less disadvantages. Naturally, even if this system is completely rotten, what combat effectiveness do you expect such a Ming army to have?

"It is also a miracle that the Ming Dynasty can survive from Emperor Hongzhi for more than a hundred years."

Putting down the Daming Morning Post in his hand, Liu Jin couldn't help sighing.

A huge empire with a population of nearly [-] million and the largest economy in this era. The fighting power of the Ming army can't even be counted as war scum, and anyone around you can come and bully you.

There are prairie tartars in the north, and Japanese pirates on the southeast coast. Even the chieftains in the southwest have never stopped. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, they were even replaced by mites. It has to be said that it is ridiculous, lamentable, and sad what.

"Emperor Hongzhi took back the general power, and I don't know how the military system will be changed. If it is just to take back the general power, then it doesn't mean much. It can't really change everything about the Ming army. History will still repeat itself."

Then Liu Jin thought about it again, because he traveled through time, so many things happened in the past few years, and Emperor Hongzhi also took back the general power.

From then on, the emperor no longer needed to go through the Ministry of War when using troops, and could directly mobilize all the troops of the Ming Dynasty. From this point of view, it was a good thing.

The Ming army has become what it is now, and these civil servant groups have contributed a lot. Their suppression of the general Xungui group has reached the point of frenzy.

It even happened in history that a third-rank military general had to kneel down to a seventh-rank civil official.

The military power was returned to the emperor, and the civil servants no longer held military power. Naturally, the military generals Xungui Group could slowly recover, and the Ming army was expected to become stronger again.

But in essence, this is only a problem of military power, and it cannot fundamentally change the problem of the Ming army. If the military household system is not changed, the combat power of the Ming army will not be improved. It is impossible to say that every war will be fought Fundraising is stimulated by money.

"Stinky boy~stinky boy~"

Just as Liu Jin was thinking, the rough voice of British Duke Zhang Mao came, and he had already shouted before the man arrived.

Soon, Zhang Mao walked in quickly. He came to Liu Jin's residence so many times that every time he came, he went straight to Liu Jin's study, not even going to the living room.

"Mr. Zhang~"

Seeing Zhang Mao, Liu Jin hurriedly saluted.

At the same time, I also guessed the purpose of Zhang Mao's trip in my mind, and it was probably for the purpose of reforming the military system.

In the past, Zhang Mao was very leisurely. As a prince, he went to Liu Jin every day to make a fortune. He also bought a lot of properties with Liu Jin, and now he is very rich.

But recently, Zhang Mao has been very busy. Emperor Hongzhi didn't trust the civil official group, and began to pay attention to military general Xungui. As the representative of military general Xungui, he was also reused by Emperor Hongzhi.

The work of offering sacrifices to ancestors is still being done, but he is also more involved in the affairs of the court, and his presence is indispensable in every discussion.

He also has to participate in various major events, so he naturally becomes busier.

Now Zhang Mao, Li Dongyang, and Liu Jian are also entrusted with important tasks by Emperor Hongzhi to be responsible for the reform of the military system, so the whole person is also busy and dizzy. The key is that he doesn't know where to start.

As in the past, I habitually come to Liu Jin, wanting to consult Liu Jin's opinion, and see if Liu Jin, a high-ranking son, has any good suggestions.

"No, no~"

Zhang Mao waved his hand, then sat down, thought for a while and said, "Boy, you already know about the reform of the military system."

"In the past few days, you went to inspect the frontier army and guards with the crown prince. You must have an understanding of the current situation of our Ming army. I wonder if you can tell me how to change the military system."

Zhang Mao is also anxious, this is a major event, not only related to Emperor Hongzhi, but also a major event related to the interests of the Generals Xungui Group, countless pairs of eyes are watching all over the world, the Generals Xungui Group is all Looking eagerly at Zhang Mao being able to fight for more benefits for everyone.

It was too miserable to be suppressed by the civil official group in the past. The military general Xungui group didn't have any sense of existence, and they didn't have any right to speak above the court.

But are these military generals Xungui Group really willing to do this all the time?
It is obviously impossible. Everyone has their own ambitions, and naturally they also want to have more voice and participate in the major affairs of Ming Dynasty, instead of just being a decoration and not having the slightest voice.

This matter is in my own hands, it is an opportunity for Zhang Mao to perform well, and it is also a hot potato, because everyone is looking at you, Zhang Mao.

If you can't handle this matter well, you must satisfy Emperor Hongzhi and the generals Xungui Group, otherwise, you Zhang Mao will never get a foothold in the military generals Xungui Group in the future.

Thinking of this, Zhang Mao couldn't eat or sleep well, and he had been thinking about it these days.

But after much deliberation, I still can't come up with a good plan. More importantly, the plan I came up with must not be able to get Liu Jian and Li Dongyang to agree. Considering that it is too difficult for each other to come up with a satisfactory solution for the three parties.

So Zhang Mao also habitually thought of Liu Jin.

Of course, he didn't think of Liu Jin randomly.

He has been to Tianjin and visited Tianjin Maritime Academy. Tianjin Maritime Academy is only a semi-military management. In just a few months of training, these students from Tianjin Maritime Academy are a strong army in his opinion.

His grandson Zhang Lun went to Ryukyu, also trained in Tianjin Maritime Academy, and also fought against Japanese pirates. The letter he wrote back also described the victory in detail.

So he knew that Liu Jin was well versed in military training, and he would definitely be able to give him some advice.

"Mr. Zhang, to be honest, this time I inspected the frontier army and the guard army with His Highness, and I also had a lot of feelings."

Liu Jin thought for a while and said slowly.

"If His Majesty just wants to take back the military power, the reform of the military system is very simple. You can refer to the military systems of previous dynasties, and concentrate the general power in the hands of Your Majesty."

"But in my opinion, His Majesty is not just taking back the military power. His Majesty loves the people like a son. He has been watching the Tartars go south and wreaking havoc, and is very anxious. He is very eager to have a strong army to defend the country."

"So I think His Majesty is not just taking back the military power, but more importantly, building a strong army, a strong army that can sweep the world."

"If you want to achieve this, the reform of the military system will be more difficult."

Liu Jin first briefly analyzed the purpose of Emperor Hongzhi's military system reform. It was not just as simple as taking back military power. He was already quite dissatisfied with the fighting power of the Ming army's fighting five slags.

Every winter in the past, he couldn't sleep well. Every year, the Tartars went south, wantonly burned, killed and looted, and his own people were poisoned, which made him very dissatisfied as the emperor.

He wanted to have a serious fight with the Tartars a long time ago, but he had no money before, the treasury was empty, and there was no silver in his internal funds, so he couldn't fight if he wanted to.

He could only swallow his anger, and endured it for twelve years, because Liu Jin, who had crossed over, made Emperor Hongzhi's pocket bulge, so he made up his mind to fight the Tartars.

If there is no silver, it is estimated that Emperor Hongzhi will have to continue to swallow his anger, continue to save the silver in his pocket, and wait until there is enough, and then fight to determine the world.

This is the case with Emperor Hongzhi in history. After being the emperor for seventeen years, he lived frugally and left Zhu Houzhao a lot of money. This is also the reason why Zhu Houzhao was able to fight the little prince later.

Hearing Liu Jin's analysis, Zhang Mao also nodded solemnly.

Regarding this point, he knew better than Liu Jin, and it was precisely because he clearly knew that Emperor Hongzhi wanted to build a strong army, so he was troubled and didn't know how to change it.

"From what I have investigated, if you want to build a strong army, you must abolish the military household system!"

Liu Jin pondered for a while, thought for a while and said.

"Abolish the military household system?"

When Zhang Mao heard this, he immediately said in surprise.

"Yes, the military household system must be abolished. The military household system has rotted to the root."

"Originally, according to the military household system formulated by Taizu, military households have military land, and rely on military land to support their families. While farming, they protect their families and the country."

"But this system has completely failed to function and is completely corrupted."

Liu Jin nodded solemnly and said.

"Tell me in detail."

Zhang Mao frowned, thought for a while and said.

"The reason why I say that the military household system is completely corrupt is mainly from three aspects. First, the existence of the military household system looks very good. Soldiers are soldiers in wartime and farmers in peacetime, which can save money."

"However, because of the existence of the military household system, a very strong army, after several generations of farming, how effective can it be?"

"It can even be said that it doesn't need to go through a few generations, it only needs a few years without training, and it will basically be useless. This is the fundamental reason why the combat power of our Ming army is getting weaker and weaker."

"Secondly, the root of the military household system is military land. Most of the military land below has been occupied by thousands of households, hundreds of households, and general soldiers. There is no military land in the hands of military households. No matter how many, it is difficult to support a family, and the military households are dilapidated and the poorest.”

"What's more important is that these military households will also be squeezed by the thousands and hundreds of households above, helping them work for free and being enslaved."

"Thirdly, the military fields of military households have not changed, and even continue to decrease, but the number of military households is increasing. During the Taizu period, a military household could be allocated dozens of mu of land. You need to feed your family."

"But now, a military household may only be able to allocate a few acres of land, but it needs to feed a family of dozens of people. The existence of the military household system restricts them from developing in other areas, so it will naturally become more and more difficult. Poor, more and more dilapidated, not even enough to eat, how could it be possible to build a strong army."

Xie Jin sorted out his thoughts slightly, and also pointed out the problem of the military household system in one breath, pointing out that the military household system has been completely rotten to the point where it must be abolished.

If the military household system is not abolished, no matter how much it is changed, it will still be impossible to build a strong army.

After listening to Liu Jin's words, Zhang Mao pondered for a long time, and finally had to nod slowly.

As a representative of military generals, he can also be regarded as a vested interest in the military household system. Zhang Mao is also responsible for the occupation of military land. Otherwise, where do you think the land of the British government, which is worth thousands of land, came from? here?
Of course, Zhang Mao no longer looks down on those lands. He has transformed into a new capitalist. How much money can the land earn each year?

It's not as much money as his family's boat going out to Japan, or as much money as his textile factory earns in a month.

He is also aware of these things, but if the military household system is abolished, it will be tantamount to hurting the interests of the military generals, and everyone will no longer be able to occupy military land and enslave these military households.

He, Zhang Mao, will inevitably be sprayed to death by the military general Xungui Group, and anyone who scolds him will scold him to death.

So from the beginning, he didn't think about it, and he didn't think about abolishing the military household system at all, because that would harm the interests of the generals and noble groups.

　[-] in [-]~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)