Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Gu Yanwu thought that the promotion of hereditary titles was a good thing, but Qian Sheng did not think so.

After more than two hundred years of stable inheritance, what the hereditary officials of the Ming Dynasty most desired was stability rather than promotion in rank.

If they must be promoted, they hope to stay in their original guard station rather than be transferred to other guard stations.

Therefore, the number of commanders and thousand-household officers in many garrisons is increasing, but there may be vacancies for hundred-household officers.

At this time, Qian Sheng smiled and said:
"The number of hereditary officers in the Capital Guard is limited to 135, and there are only 35 quotas for commanders and thousand-householders."

"I, Old Qian, dare not be promoted to deputy captain. If I am promoted, I will most likely be transferred out."

As an old guard station established during the Hongwu period, many of the commanding families of Fuyu Guard were passed down from the Hongwu and Yongle periods.

Since the emperor said that their hereditary positions could not be reduced, most of these people would be able to stay. They could take up more than half of the 35 places.

Qian Sheng had no confidence in competing for the remaining dozen or so positions. It would be fine if his hereditary position was not promoted, but once he was promoted to deputy thousand households, he would most likely be transferred out of Fuyuwei.

Therefore, Qian Sheng’s greatest wish was to keep his hereditary title of centurion rather than to move up.

If possible, he hoped that Fuyuwei could still stay in Jiqingfang so that he could still manage the property that his ancestors had invested in this area.

With this in mind, Qian Sheng continued to ask:
"Does Mr. Gu know about the situation of Fuyuwei?"

“Where will you be transferred to in the future?”

Although Gu Yanwu was invited by the Privy Council to participate in the reform of the guards, he only made some suggestions. He did not know the specific situation of the reorganization, let alone the accuracy of a particular guard.

So he shook his head and said:
"I don't know the specific guard station."

"But since Captain Qian is here, as Qian Wu's superior, I will sincerely give you some suggestions."

"You must remember this and think about it carefully when you get back."

He motioned to Qian Sheng to take a pen and write down his words.

Qian Sheng's family did not participate in the imperial examinations, so they could not be called scholars. However, as a hereditary official of the Wei Suo, he had studied at the Wei School and was able to read and write.

Although he felt that his handwriting was not presentable, Qian Sheng still gritted his teeth and recorded Gu Yanwu's words.

He knew that this opportunity was rare.

If Gu Yanwu hadn't been interested, he would never have been able to meet this person.

Accustomed to having written records during military meetings, Gu Yanwu sorted out his thoughts and said:

"The reform of the garrisons is inevitable. The imperial court cannot afford to support both the garrisons and the soldiers in the camps, and bear two burdens."

"In the future, the court will distribute land to the soldiers in the garrisons and give the land in the garrisons to individuals."

"Hereditary officers, sergeants, and military households will be allocated land according to their ranks and assume military service responsibilities."

"After that, soldiers were given allowances such as silver for salt and vegetables and silver for fur coats when they served as battalion soldiers, while officers and sergeants received salaries according to their ranks."

This is the general principle and also the reason for the reform of the garrisons.

The Ming Dynasty could no longer afford to maintain two military systems, so it separated the functions of the garrisons and battalions and abandoned the responsibility of maintaining the garrisons.

From now on, not only will the garrisons not receive military pay, but they will also have to pay taxes to provide money and food for the soldiers in the camp.

What the Privy Council is now arguing with the Emperor is to transfer the military farm tax revenues from the garrisons that were allocated to the Inner Treasury to the Privy Council for distribution.

The emperor agreed to use this income for military expenses, but demanded that it be controlled by the inner court. The two sides are still struggling.

Naturally, Gu Yanwu would not mention these secrets to Qian Sheng.

But what he mentioned had already opened Qian Sheng's eyes and helped him understand the reasons for the reform of the garrisons.

Qian Sheng kept asking Gu Yanwu to speak slower while taking notes with a brush. After he finished taking notes, he asked:

"There is little land in the capital's garrisons. How should the land be distributed?"

"Even if the entire Shuntian Prefecture's arable land is not enough for the Beijing Guards to cultivate, right?"

Because of his relationship with Qian Wu, Qian Sheng was very familiar with the reform of the three guards in Zhuolu. He knew that the guards in the capital could not distribute land like the three guards in Zhuolu.

Gu Yanwu replied with a smile:

"So the Privy Council took a multi-pronged approach and proposed three measures:"

"The first is to clean up the abuses and recalculate the merits of all hereditary officials and military households."

"If you have enough merit, you will naturally retain your hereditary position, and may even be promoted."

"Those whose achievements are not good enough will need to be demoted. The newly created trial 100 households need someone to take up the post."

"This way, the rank of hereditary officials will be lowered, and naturally there will be less land to be distributed. A large number of hereditary officials who are corrupt will be demoted."

This has been mentioned before, but Qian Sheng was not worried about it because he knew that as a hereditary official of the early days of the country, his hereditary position would not be reduced.

But even so, he was secretly surprised in his heart, because he knew that if this method was followed, more than half of the total number of officials in the future would be centurions and trial centurions.

At least 20,000 to 30,000 hereditary officials will be demoted to lower hereditary positions

Those who were demoted will obviously feel resentful.

Gu Yanwu then mentioned this point and said:

"The ministers in the court are planning to reduce the number of hereditary officials by tens of thousands and completely purge the corrupt officials."

"However, Your Majesty has considered the merits of the hereditary officials and has requested that they be demoted to a trial centurion at the lowest. To completely abolish the hereditary positions, a military court must be tried and confirmed by the Privy Council, the Five Ministries, and the Ministry of War."

"Especially for the removal of hereditary officials above the rank of commander, the emperor's approval is required. For those whose ancestors have made great contributions, they may be pardoned."

This was something the emperor emphasized in court, and the Privy Council's documents were also required to note, in order to show the emperor's great grace and to make those hereditary officials who were demoted maintain their loyalty to the emperor.

As a scholar personally promoted and appointed by the current emperor, Gu Yanwu naturally had to emphasize this point and ask Qian Sheng to write it down and pass it on.

Sure enough, after hearing this, Qian Sheng excitedly expressed the emperor's great grace and how, as a hereditary official of the garrison, he was deeply grateful.

In fact, after learning that the capital's garrisons were about to be restructured, these hereditary officials were most worried not only about relocating the garrison's location, but also that there might be further changes after this restructuring, and their hereditary positions might be revoked.

Now Gu Yanwu's words undoubtedly gave Qian Sheng peace of mind. He knew that no matter how he changed, he would at most be demoted from a centurion to a trial centurion, and his hereditary position would not be abolished.

After all, even if he had committed some minor offenses, he would not be brought to a military court.

In this way, the hereditary official position would naturally not be completely removed.

Moreover, the removal of hereditary officials required the joint approval of the Privy Council, the Five Ministries, and the Ministry of War. Even if the civil servants of the Privy Council and the Ministry of War disliked hereditary officials, the nobles who controlled the Five Military Governors' Offices would definitely protect them.

It can be said that this measure put Qian Sheng's heart at ease, and he was happier than before he knew that the rank of officials in the early years of the country would not be lowered.

Gu Yanwu took the opportunity to persuade him:
"Gu mentioned before that if the rank of a hereditary official can be raised, it should be raised, preferably to the position of commander."

"Your Majesty will pay attention to this step. It will not be easy to completely eliminate it."

Qian Sheng nodded repeatedly, but he didn't care much in his heart. Because even if his ancestors had made many contributions, it would be impossible for them to be promoted to command after recalculating their military merits.

He had no thoughts about this at all, so naturally he didn't take it to heart.

Seeing this, Gu Yanwu sighed inwardly and continued patiently:
"In addition to the fact that the ranks of hereditary officials at the beginning of the country will not be reduced, the ranks of hereditary officials currently holding military positions above the rank of General Saeki will not be reduced either."

"If you don't have either of these, and you don't want to be demoted, then there is another way, which is to voluntarily go to the frontier or overseas."

"These places will have garrisons in the future, and officials from the interior will need to be transferred there."

Qian Sheng found this kind of thing terrifying, because in their eyes, the areas beyond the Great Wall and overseas were barren lands.

In particular, Fuyuwei was previously located outside the Great Wall, and was later moved to the capital.

He was well aware of the hardships of the garrison outside the Great Wall, so naturally he would not take this option to heart.

Gu Yanwu looked at his reaction and almost frowned. Only then did he understand why the emperor wanted to give preferential treatment to officials who were willing to go to the frontier and overseas, and even planned to give them a promotion.

There are really too few hereditary officials willing to go to the foreign garrisons. Even if the previous titles were converted into allocated territories, not many hereditary officials were willing to go.

Thinking about what he had seen and heard in Jiangling Principality, Gu Yanwu said patiently:

“Don’t look down on the outside world and overseas. There are also rich places there.”

"Think about it, if your hereditary title is deputy thousand households, then you can be transformed into a hereditary baron, and the largest fiefdom you can own is a hundred miles."

"One hundred li is 10,000 li, or 3.75 million mu. Even if only one-tenth of the land can be cultivated, that's still 370,000 mu of land."

"Even if it's all grassland for grazing, it can still support thousands of people."

"This is equivalent to Baili Hou, you must seize the opportunity."

It also mentioned Man Gui's Dongping Marquisate, Mao Wenlong's Dongjiang Territory, and the issuance of bonds some time ago.

Qian Sheng was persuaded by Gu Yanwu and gradually became interested. Because compared with the more than 300,000 acres and more than 3 million acres of land, the ancestral property accumulated by the Qian family in the capital for more than 200 years was indeed not worth mentioning.

What particularly touched him was what Gu Yanwu mentioned:
"The donation price for a hereditary baron is 3.75 million shi. This is the highest level of nobility that can be donated with money and grain."

"The next one is the hereditary knighthood of Fang Ershili, which costs 150,000 shi. Gu is currently wearing this title."

"Brother Qian, your centurion title is also a knight. If you have the opportunity to be promoted to a noble, don't be ungrateful and give up when you can be promoted to a baron."

"The difference between the two is 3.6 million dan of grain."

This shocked Qian Sheng and made him realize how valuable his hereditary title of centurion was.

Fifteen thousand dan of grain, his entire family fortune did not have that much. Not to mention more than three million dan, he felt that the Qian family would never be able to accumulate so much wealth even if they accumulated it for ten lifetimes.

And after taking into account his command achievements, he might indeed be promoted to the hereditary title of baron.

Thinking of the gap, he said to Gu Yanwu solemnly:
"I've taken note of what you said, sir."

"Whether or not I want to convert it into a title and open up a territory in the future, Qian thanks you, sir."

He made up his mind to sort out the achievements of his ancestors in detail to prevent any omissions by the Ministry of War.

After finally persuading Qian Sheng, Gu Yanwu felt that he had made a contribution to supporting the emperor's policy. He finally smiled and continued:
"It's not easy to open up territory, so there's no need to be so anxious."

"Your Majesty intends to set up garrisons overseas and outside the Great Wall, and let the hereditary officials who are interested in opening up territories go to the garrisons first to adapt."

"This is the second measure to reduce the pressure of land distribution. It is also an opportunity for you."

"Look at the officials of the Three Guards of Zhuolu who were moved out. Aren't they doing well now?"

"After the five guards of Dongning were designated as the prince's personal guards, will their future prospects be worse than before?"

Qian Sheng agreed with this point. Many hereditary officials felt that those who were relocated to Dongning were extremely lucky.

Before, it could be said that he was exiled overseas with basically no chance of turning things around.

Unexpectedly, the Dongning soldiers first made great achievements in Liaodong and showed their fighting power. Then the emperor assigned the five Dongning guards to the prince, which meant that they became the prince's retainers.

With this kind of connection, the hereditary officials of Dongning Guard will most likely be able to occupy a place in the army in the future.

This is an opportunity that many worldly officials would love to have.

Gu Yanwu's words did not mean this, he continued:

"The minimum amount of land allocated to each hereditary official of Dongning Guard is ten square miles. The highest hereditary commander can reach one hundred square miles, which is equivalent to the ten square miles of territory opened up by a hereditary knight."

"In comparison, the capital is far behind. Because there are too few garrison farms, the third measure taken by the Privy Council to reduce the pressure of land distribution is to only allocate 300 acres to hereditary commanders, 200 acres to hereditary thousand households, and only 100 acres to hereditary hundred households."

"Brother Qian, do the math yourself and see how big the difference is compared to moving overseas."

Ten square miles is 3750 mu, which is only the lowest level of hereditary trial hundred households. However, this number is already more than ten times the mu of hereditary command of the capital guards.

Qian Sheng, who was familiar with the land distribution policy of Dongning Guard, even knew that a first-class hereditary sergeant of Dongning Guard could be allocated a li. That was 375 mu, which was higher than the commander of the capital.

As a centurion, he had a hundred acres of land. Not to mention compared with the hereditary officers and sergeants of Dongning Guard, even ordinary military households could have so much land.

Especially Qian Sheng knew that the hereditary sergeants of the three guards of Zhuolu were allocated 50 mu for each level. This means that the second-level hereditary sergeants can be allocated 100 mu.

It was equivalent to the amount of land he, a hereditary centurion, could get.

Thinking about the distance between Zhuolu District and the capital, Qian Sheng almost broke down and said in disbelief:
"A hereditary hundred households only have one hundred acres, which is only equivalent to two first-class sergeants in Zhuolu District."

"How can you support your family like this? And raise a hereditary official?"

Being an official by birth not only means hereditary wealth and honor, but also responsibility. Supporting a full-time professional officer is not an easy task for any family.

What's more, many hereditary officials need to maintain servants as personal guards, which costs even more money.

Qian Sheng believed that a hundred acres of land was too little and it would be difficult to support an officer.

Seeing him like this, Gu Yanwu felt pleased.

He had persuaded Qian Sheng so much before, but Qian Sheng was only reluctantly moved. It was impossible for him not to be angry, but he just suppressed his anger in order to persuade the other party.

Now looking at Qian Sheng's appearance, he secretly rejoiced in his heart, but said with a heavy face:
"It can't be helped. There are only so many garrison lands around the capital."

"Even if we give all of them away, it won't satisfy all the hereditary officials, so we can only reduce the land of each hereditary official."

"If Brother Qian wants more land, it's best to move to the outskirts of the Great Wall. There, like Dongning, the land is divided by square miles."

The policy of the reform of the capital's guards was explained to Qian Sheng in detail. In addition to the limit of 135 hereditary officials, there was also a limit on soldiers, and only 500 could be left.

As for military households, there will be no such households. The existing military households in the capital's garrisons will be relocated to garrisons with vacancies. If they do not want to relocate, the court will allow them to become military-civilian households, but they will not be allocated land.

After planning to include the tenants of official fields into the scope of military and civilian households, the court had more sources of soldiers. It was prepared to release the military households and even officers who did not want to stay in the guards as military and civilian households.

For those who want to leave the guard post, this is an opportunity. (End of this chapter)