prosperous age

"Could we abolish some of the garrisons and convert the Japanese troops stationed there into battalion troops?"

I've heard that Japan is facing food shortages, and their soldiers are better trained than they are numerous; their garrison troops are slightly stronger than their regular garrison troops.

Wei Guangde said.

The army of the Ming Dynasty in its early years consisted only of garrison troops.

However, as the Ming army's fighting strength weakened and the court continued to strengthen its military, it began to allow various garrisons to recruit able-bodied men other than regular military households to join the newly added combat troops, namely, the camp soldiers.

In fact, the battalion soldiers were mercenaries, offered slightly higher pay than the garrison soldiers, and were tasked with the most dangerous missions on the battlefield.

Some of these recruited soldiers were destitute and bankrupt farmers, while others were extra sons from military households.

With no other options, he had no choice but to join the army.

After all, each military household only provides one regular male soldier, and the rest are reserve soldiers to fill the vacancies when the regular male soldiers are injured or killed in battle.

In addition, Yu Ding could only do odd jobs at the garrison or farm at home, with little income.

Wei Guangde's proposal to abolish and merge the garrisons at this time was not without reason.

The Ming Dynasty had a million garrison troops, but their actual combat strength was probably only equivalent to two or three hundred thousand men.

The imperial court no longer dared to investigate how much of the salary was for unpaid employees.

The impact would be enormous; if it were to be exposed, it would absolutely shake the world.

Seizing the opportunity, Wei Guangde believed it was time to begin disbanding and merging the garrison troops.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the garrison system established by Zhu Yuanzhang was the core of the national military system. However, as time went on, problems such as the collapse of the military settlement system, desertion of military households, and emptiness of garrisons became increasingly serious, leading to a significant decline in the combat effectiveness and management efficiency of the garrisons.

Faced with this reality, the Ming government did not simply maintain the old system, but adopted a variety of measures, including abolishing and merging military garrisons.

Some of the guard posts established in the early Ming Dynasty to defend against the Northern Yuan and northeastern forces lost their military value after the situation stabilized and became targets for disbandment.

First, they were relocated inland, and then some were merged and some were retained to reduce the number of military households.

In addition, many garrisons suffered from a severe shortage of soldiers due to desertion of military households and abandonment of farmland, even to the point of having "garrisons without soldiers".

The imperial court would abolish these garrisons that were no longer able to perform their basic military functions in order to save expenses and consolidate resources.

However, these were all passive layoffs and mergers.

In fact, during the Jiajing era, due to the need to defend against the threat of Altan Khan in the north and to prepare for the Japanese pirates in the south, the Ming court repeatedly selected military households from civilian households to supplement the insufficient number of soldiers in the garrisons, which was a flexible policy.

Now, Wei Guangde is trying to take the initiative to reduce and merge the guard posts in order to meet the needs of Japan and minimize the number of soldiers on paper in the Ming Dynasty.

Under the Ming Dynasty's garrison system, a "garrison" was a basic military unit with a standard strength of 5600 men on paper.

In addition, a large number of "Guardian Thousand-Household Offices" were established in key areas across the country.

In the 26th year of the Hongwu reign, the Ming Dynasty had as many as 329 garrisons on paper, and the total military strength of the country on paper could reach more than 1.8 million.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the country was strong, and although the 180 million was not enough to fill the quota, the shortfall was relatively small.

Wei Guangde estimated that from the Hongwu to the Yongle reigns, the Ming Dynasty's military strength was at its peak, with an actual troop strength that may have reached more than 150 million.

However, the total number of garrison troops will definitely continue to decline afterward.

Afterwards, following a large-scale contraction of the border, some garrisons were abolished or merged, further reducing troop strength.

"Jinqing, how many garrisons are there on the Ministry of War's books right now?"

Wei Guangde looked at Zhang Ke and asked seriously.

张科低头想想，才开始回答道：“不瞒善贷，明初全国共有17个都司、5个行都司、2个留守司、329个卫、65个守御千户所。

Today, this number has only increased.

Besides the regional military commands (都司), provincial military commands (行都司), and garrison commands (留守司), there were 359 guard posts (卫所) and 71 garrison commander posts (守御千户所), totaling 160 million guard troops according to the Ministry of War's records.

"Why are there so many?"

Wei Guangde was taken aback. He hadn't looked closely at the changes in the number of military garrisons in the Ming Dynasty, and he thought that the number of garrisons was probably less than 300.

After all, during the Yongle reign, the Ming army withdrew from the grasslands, and although many garrisons were preserved, several garrisons were merged.

Later, it abandoned strategic areas such as the Nurgan Regional Military Commission, and relocated and merged or abolished the garrison troops.

"During the Zhengtong era, in order to cope with the southward migration of the Jurchens, many new garrisons were built in Liaodong, and the majority of these new garrisons were located in Liaodong."

This is also why the imperial court always regarded Liaodong as a military-controlled area; the ratio of military personnel to civilians there was too high, making it difficult to govern locally.

Zhang Ke said in a low voice.

"With so many garrisons, I'm sure you, Minister Jin, are well aware of the true situation."

The annual military pay distributed to Liaodong and other parts of the country constitutes a huge expense.

Wei Guangde said seriously.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang once claimed that "I raise a million-strong army without spending a single tael of silver from the court," that was in the early Ming Dynasty, and the court did not actually spend silver to support the army at that time, but instead collected taxes in kind to pay the military salaries.

For example, in the early Ming Dynasty, due to the depleted national treasury, the Northern Army received large quantities of cloth from Jiangnan as provisions.

It was common for soldiers to use the cloth they received to make clothes for themselves or sell it at a discount to buy daily necessities.

This is also why the Ming Dynasty was slow to convert taxes into silver. Taxes in kind had a channel for being processed and could be directly distributed to soldiers as military pay.

However, most of these in-kind taxes are of poor quality and are of inferior quality, which the military does not need.

However, discounting the cash value would result in a small amount of cash, leading to a huge loss.

This is the nature of merchants: they sell high-quality goods at high prices, while using slow-moving and inferior products as tax credits.

Local officials also collect taxes based on quantity, paying no attention to the quality of these in-kind taxes, or pretending not to see it.

“This matter of lending money is of great importance.”

If the Ministry of War wants to adjust the garrisons, then His Majesty should contact them.”

Zhang Ke hesitated before speaking.

In fact, which civil official in the world doesn't know about these things? But has anyone mentioned them?
No.

All they could do was keep submitting memorials to strengthen the training of the garrisons and improve their combat effectiveness, but they dared not mention a single word about the garrison's wasted resources.

Perhaps this is why the emperors at the end of the Ming Dynasty always clung to a paper army.

At most, they would understand it as the government troops being weak and unable to win, never considering that the huge sums of money spent each year were actually on supporting officers, not soldiers.

Wei Guangde fell silent. The idea was good, but some things were very difficult to do.

Would he dare to reveal the truth about the Ming army garrisons to the Wanli Emperor?

Wei Guangde also needs to consider this carefully.

However, it was he who brought up the topic, even though it was just a flash of inspiration.

"Jinqing, do you think the current situation of the garrison can continue?"

Wei Guangde's tone softened this time, no longer as serious as before, and he asked.

Zhang Ke fell silent.

Anyone with eyes can see the situation of the government troops.

However, nobody knew what to do.

Tell the emperor that the million-strong army he maintains at enormous expense every year is a fabrication, a million-strong army created by officers embezzling salaries.

“Shan Dai, this matter is of utmost importance.”

Zhang Ke simply shook his head, but dared not say anything else.

"In that case, let's leave the matter of the garrison aside for now."

Go back to the Ministry of War and have someone you trust carefully consider how many troops our Great Ming Dynasty actually needs, and how many should be recruited if the garrisons are to be converted into battalions.

Furthermore, if possible, I need to ascertain the true financial situation of the Ministry of War; I want an accurate figure.

Wei Guangde slowly said, "As for whether or not to change the Ming military system, we'll discuss it again once you have a better idea." Wei Guangde had no other good options, so he could only resort to stalling tactics for now.

However, considering the habits of the Ming army, Wei Guangde finally said: "The garrison should be reformed, but the current number should be changed, not the military system at the beginning of the dynasty should be completely changed."

The government troops were still mainly organized into guard posts and thousand-household garrisons.

The garrison posts in key areas should be retained, as should the guard posts in important towns.

Those that are not essential will be abolished or merged into the remaining guard posts.

This is the premise of this study on military reform: to ensure that the remaining garrisons possess a certain level of combat capability.

Even in a major war, while the main fighting force comes from the battalion troops, the garrisons must at least be able to perform internal security duties, such as suppressing bandits and maintaining order.

Wei Guangde was already considering turning the garrison into a guard unit, responsible for the work of the armed police in later generations.

External warfare was carried out by recruited soldiers at high prices; they were the true field forces of the Ming Dynasty.

"In each province, only a small number of garrisons should be retained, and the rest should be merged into thousand-household garrisons."

This would ensure that troops could still be mobilized in various regions while saving some military funds.

Wei Guangde continued.

"But what about the military households?"

Zhang Ke frowned and asked.

Fissages and mergers sound simple; they can decide on them with just a few words.

But once this decision is made, it will affect millions of military households.

They all depend on the Ministry of War for their livelihood.

If they can just give up like that, how are these people and their families supposed to survive?

Zhang Ke had to consider this issue; a slight misstep could be even more troublesome than changing the canal transport to the sea.

With the shift from canal transport to sea transport, at least a large number of the canal transport troops were transferred to the navy.

Although they are not familiar with the sea, they can still engage in activities near the coast.

Moreover, for the sake of the people on both sides of the canal who depend on it for their livelihood, the imperial court continued to do its best to keep the canal running smoothly, and at the same time consciously transferred some people to coastal ports to make a living, which prevented this major reform from encountering setbacks.

why?
Isn't it because they're afraid that the people on both sides of the canal will have no way to make a living and will rise up in rebellion?
When they can't afford to eat, there's nothing they won't do.

Reforming the military system could cause a large number of military households to lose their livelihoods, which would only cause greater harm.

"Transferring to residential households and opening workshops to absorb workers."

Upon hearing Zhang Ke's words, Wei Guangde instinctively responded.

But soon, he also shut up.

These things are easier said than done.

"Let's proceed slowly. Let the Ministry of War's Department of Military Affairs begin planning."

As for whether or not to do it, and how to do it, we'll discuss that later.

It's not about expecting immediate results or starting changes right away.

After a pause, Wei Guangde finally spoke.

"Changing these things would have a huge impact."

Zhang Ke reminded him.

“I know, but it must be changed. The first step was to suggest reducing some of the garrisons to thousand-household units.”

Wei Guangde also reminded Zhang Ke, "The main purpose is to test the attitude of the Governor's Office and the reactions of the officers below."

Perhaps, in the end, we won't need to change it anymore.

The two were having such a heated discussion that they completely ignored Shen Shixing, who was standing to the side.

At this moment, the two seemed to have finally finished speaking, and the room fell into a brief silence. Shen Shixing finally found an opportunity to speak.

"Your Excellency, Minister Zhang, the reform of the garrison system is not to be underestimated. It would be best if the Ministry of War studied it privately first and came up with a plan, and then our cabinet would discuss it further."

Although these words were essentially meaningless, they were the only statement he could make at the moment.

We can't just leave them to their own devices and ignore them completely.

Neither agreeing nor disagreeing is appropriate.

However, Wei Guangde's subsequent proposal was quite thorough.

The difference is that Wei Guangde said he would have Zhang Kexian work with the Ministry of War to study the matter and come up with a plan.

Shen Shixing, on the other hand, reminded Wei Guangde that this matter was not something he and Wei could decide, and that he was treating the cabinet as a mere figurehead.

The Ministry of War should come up with the regulations, and then the Cabinet should discuss and agree upon them.

After all, everyone cleverly avoided the dilemma of how to deal with the garrison in front of the emperor.

No matter who it is, no one dares to ask the emperor if the million-strong army he supports every year is actually empty, or if someone is receiving a salary without working.

At this time, the civil service group also knew about it, but they tacitly did not report it to their superiors.

Shen Shixing's words drew the attention of Wei Guangde and Zhang Ke.

The two were so engrossed in their discussion that they were preoccupied with the Ming army and neglected the second minister.

"Yes, yes, I misspoke."

This matter is of great importance; the Ministry of War needs to draft a regulation, which our cabinet will then discuss further.

Wei Guangde quickly realized what was happening and immediately echoed his sentiment.

He realized that there was a grammatical error in his words, and Shen Shixing had caught it. What else could he do?

Do they really think the chief minister can bully the other cabinet ministers?
"The key point is that the Ministry of War must keep this matter confidential when considering it."

There were many noble families and officials in the capital, and military affairs were closely related to them.

Shen Shixing was not one to tattle, and the matter that Wei Guangde and Zhang Ke were discussing was ultimately a matter of state.

Therefore, he let it go lightly and instead pondered how the Ministry of War should act.

If the information had been leaked beforehand, it's hard to say whether these vested interests, namely the nobles, would have rushed to plead with the Wanli Emperor, thus ruining the affairs of state.

Don't be fooled by their apparent fear of civil officials; when it comes to matters concerning their own families, they're willing to risk everything and even go to the emperor to plead their case.

No matter what, these hereditary nobles all had ancestors who had made contributions to the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

The royal family also needs the support of these people to stabilize the court.

The fact that all the commanders of the Beijing Garrison were dukes is a testament to this.

Although the Ministry of War could interfere with the training of the Beijing garrison, military power ultimately remained firmly in the hands of the emperor.

In conflicts between civil officials and nobles, the emperor's judgment generally tends to favor the nobles.

“Ru Mo is absolutely right, Jin Qing. You don’t need to be too hasty about this matter. You must think it over carefully before making a decision.”

Wei Guangde spoke up.

Thinking back to the fact that some officials in the court had mentioned the issue of inspection and rotation earlier, Zhang Xueyan was in the Ministry of Revenue and Jiang Zhi was in the Ministry of Works. Although they were both diligent, they had indeed occupied their positions for a relatively long time.

Wei Guangde looked at Shen Shixing and said, "In the past two years, the court has been busy, especially after the incident with Japan. Even after that was over, the Ministry of Revenue, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Works are still very busy."

Logically, the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Works should be rotating their staff, but I think it would be best to postpone it this time.

Two years later, when the situation in Japan had stabilized, the matter of rotating the heads of the six ministries would be considered again.

The Ministry of Revenue was responsible for supplying provisions to the troops stationed in Japan, the Ministry of Works was responsible for mining, and the Ministry of War, needless to say, had many and complicated affairs to handle due to the rotation of troops.

Wei Guangde proposed postponing the rotation of ministers, and Shen Shixing nodded after a moment's thought, indicating his approval. (End of Chapter)