A century-old family that runs through the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 331 Recommendation, Guard

"Fifteen hundred heads?"

Shaoxing Guard Commander Lin Xiao's voice was filled with surprise and surprise.

He turned his head and looked at the large car covered with cloth. His face was full of ecstasy, and his voice was a little stuttering:

"Give all of this to me?"

Of course Lin Xiao was extremely excited to get such a big benefit for nothing without doing anything.

"of course."

"Not only that, I have asked the prefect of Shaoxing Prefecture to write a memorial for you to thank you for your merit."

"I asked him to recommend you to be the Commander-in-Chief of the Zhejiang Province, the Commander-in-Chief of the Division, and the Commander-in-Chief of Ning Shao."

Yan Ling said with a smile.

The Ningshao General is a product of the camp system. Although he has no rank, he can control the military affairs of Ningbo and Shaoxing Prefecture. He also has a battalion of soldiers, and his power is much greater than that of the commander of the guard station.

The Ming Dynasty's guard system has developed to the point where it is on the verge of collapse and can no longer meet the needs of combat. However, the camp system has continued to develop and grow. Now, in the Ming Dynasty, there are battalions and guards working in parallel. Condition.

The camp system has appeared very early. In fact, the Beijing Army, also known as the Beijing Camp, is a typical example of the camp system. After all, in the early Ming Dynasty, troops were often used for many years. If this was based on the guard system, it would undoubtedly be wrong. It's farming time.

But now, it has basically replaced the Wei Suo system.

Generals in chief, staff generals, guerrilla generals, etc. are the products of the camp system. They have no rank and only have the same authority. For this reason, those who hold them often also serve as commanders and commanders in the guard system. and other official positions to ensure their rank and treatment.

Their relationship is similar to the military ranks and positions in the army in later generations. Those with high rank are commanding generals, such as colonels and major generals, while those with senior ranks are brigade commanders and division commanders.

There is a general military officer in Zhejiang, and there are only four generals under it. Each of them is responsible for the military affairs of two to three prefectures. It can be seen that the power of the generals is still very great. Regarding the family, one is General Yan from Taijin, who has been one of our own for a long time, while General Ning Shao has been vacant for many years.

It has been several years since the last General Ning Shaosen died in office. At that time, Emperor Jiajing set up barracks in Jiangsu and Zhejiang because of the Japanese Rebellion. At that time, Jiangnan was very stable, and the role of the barracks had been greatly reduced, so the court did not pay much attention to it. Until now, the new letter of appointment has not been issued. .

Now that there was no use holding these heads, Yan Ling thought of simply reporting them to the court and taking this position into his own hands, and this happened.

Hearing this, Lin Xiao was overjoyed. He knew that since this position had been vacant for a long time and he happened to have "made great contributions", it was almost impossible for the court to refuse the proposal of the governor of Shaoxing Prefecture.

The power of the general was already much greater, and he was promoted from the third rank to the second rank. This was a double happiness. Suddenly, he looked at Yan Ling with a look of gratitude in his eyes.

But then, as if he thought of something, Lin Xiao couldn't help but smile bitterly:

"But where can I gather enough troops for the two thousand men?"

"You also know that generally speaking, half of the battalion troops are formed by selecting elite soldiers from the guards, and the other half are recruited."

"But now...my Shaoxing Guard has more than 5,000 people in name, but in fact there are only more than 1,000 people left. Where are the elites to be mobilized, and the people are even more unwilling to join the army."

Today's garrison system is no longer what it used to be. In theory, two garrison soldiers in the mainland guard the city and eight garrison the fields. However, the soldiers in the garrison are treated as serfs, the military fields are occupied, and the monthly rations of the soldiers are deducted by the officers.

As a result, a large number of military households in various guard posts in the Ming Dynasty generally fled. When it was time for Lin Xiao to hire people, he could not even find two thousand people.

You can't bring the entire Shaoxing Guard into his camp, right?

If he were in another place, Lin Xiao wouldn't know what to do, so he would just force him to be a strong man, but Yan Ling obviously wouldn't allow him to do this. Yan Ling said calmly:

"Why are there no camp troops? Didn't Commander Lin just lead his elite men in Shaoxing Guard to annihilate the rogue army? Why can't these sergeants be mobilized as camp troops?"

Lin Xiao rolled his eyes and understood, and was suddenly pleasantly surprised:

"You mean..."

The Yan family's clan soldiers numbered two thousand households, which just met the stipulated number for a battalion. The "sir" in front of him wants to use these troops as his camp troops!

Although he also knew that most of this army was under his command in name only and he would never be able to command it, but with such a strong army under his command, if nothing else, at least he would be safe in this increasingly chaotic world. It’s guaranteed!

After all, being able to defeat thousands of rogue bandits in one wave was at least as good as that of the border troops in the North, and far exceeded that of the Jiangnan Ming Army.

He knew how much he weighed and he was not a capable fighter, so he naturally put his own safety first.

"But in this case, isn't there a lack of guards in all the towns of the family? You can't let me ruin important things. Sir, I'd better think of a solution myself." Lin Xiao was about to accept it with a smile on his face, but suddenly he made a show of considering the family. Look, he declined.

Yan Ling glanced at him with a half-smile, and said in a leisurely tone:

"I have my own arrangements for this."

He planned to expand the army, but two thousand men were still too few. This time, in order to deal with the rogue bandits, after two thousand clan soldiers were drawn out, the defense force in the local town was almost empty.

It just so happens that there are three guards and one thousand households, so we can directly fill it with people, using the commanders and the thousands of households as cover.

Anyway, there were not many of them left.

Seeing that Yan Ling had been prepared, Lin Xiao naturally would not continue to be polite, expressed his loyalty again, and left happily.

Although you may lose some income as a result, if you can be promoted, your power will be greater, and overall you will still make money.

On the other side, looking at Lin Xiaoyuan's retreating figure, Yan Hongliang asked with some confusion:

"Zu, why did you choose him to be the general? Why not choose the commander of the Ningbo Guard?"

After all, the commander of Ningbo Guard should be closer to the family in all aspects. If he has this opportunity, of course he should give it to him first.

"Your Majesty may not be willing to use people from Ningbo Guard now."

Yan Ling said calmly.

Yan Hongliang suddenly realized.

After all, even Yan Shizhao has been ignored, and many officials in the court who are closely related to the family have also been expelled. Obviously, if the Shaoxing prefect recommends the Ningbo Guard Commander, the emperor may refuse and arrange If an outsider comes to serve as a general, it will inevitably lead to some twists and turns.

This ancestor had figured out the emperor's thoughts very clearly.

(End of this chapter)