Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

While the civil officials were busy formulating the "Court Assembly Law", the situation regarding the restructuring of the capital's garrisons had become basically clear.

The hereditary officials of each guard had been replaced, and the military households were allocated to the guards stationed in the local area according to the principle of proximity. The military merits of ancestors were also calculated, and land was distributed according to the hereditary military rank granted.

Yuan Keli, on behalf of the Privy Council, reported:
"Of the eighty-eight guards in the capital, in addition to the thirty-six guards of the imperial guards, the fifteen guards under the Five Cities Military Command have completed their reorganization."

"These fifteen guards were all organized into simple guards, with 135 hereditary officials and 500 hereditary soldiers."

"Preliminary estimates show that there are about 80,000 military and civilian households within the Third Ring Road. Based on the ratio of one out of every ten males, about one out of every four households can recruit 20,000 soldiers to serve."

"With the fifteen simplified guards, each guard will send some officers and sergeants to serve, the strength of the Shenshu Camp can be maintained at more than 20,000 people all year round."

This number has met Zhu Youjian's expectations.

Because his plan for the Shenshu Camp was to maintain a force of 20,000 to 30,000 troops, mainly conscripts who had served for three years.

After completing their service term, conscripts who are willing to continue serving in the army and can be promoted to sergeants can be transferred to professional soldiers and serve in the Shenjiying and other military units.

The Shenji Battalion will be mainly composed of professional soldiers, together with the selected hereditary soldiers and officers, as the main combat force of the Beijing Camp. Because professional soldiers need to be paid, Zhu Youjian only plans to maintain 20,000 to 30,000 troops as the main force.

In addition to the 50,000 soldiers recruited from all over the country by the five military camps to take turns to garrison Beijing, the total strength of the Beijing Camp Imperial Guards was maintained at 100,000.

After hearing Yuan Keli's report, Zhu Youjian said happily:

"The Privy Council has played an indispensable role in completing the reform of the city's guard posts."

"When the reform of the capital's garrisons is completed, all officials of the Privy Council who participated in the reform will be awarded merits, and the Merit Department of the Ministry of War will review their merits."

The Meritorious Service Department was a new department of the Ministry of War after the Privy Council was split from the Ministry of War. Together with the Military Selection Department, Military Service Department, and Education Department, they formed the new four departments of the Ministry of War. If the General Affairs Department is added, it will be the fifth department of the Ministry of War.

Among them, the rewarding duties of the Military Selection Department were separated. Modeled after the Merit Examination Department and the Honor Inspection Department of the Ministry of Personnel, a Merit Department was established to be responsible for military and civilian officers.

The Department of Merit is responsible for checking military merit records and awarding honors and ranks to officers.

The Military Selection Division was responsible for the actual selection and appointment of positions, as well as the succession of hereditary officials of the garrisons and local chieftains.

The Ministry of War’s Merit Department is responsible for recording the merits of the Privy Council’s civilian officers.

In order to encourage civil officials to become civilian military officers, Zhu Youjian decided to award honors to all officials who participated in the reform of the Beijing Guards.

He wanted to make civil servants realize that becoming a civilian officer was a shortcut to the current officialdom, which would allow them to achieve merit more quickly and be promoted to a higher rank.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian believed that the reform of the garrison system was no less important than a major war. Whether the reform was successful was related to the military foundation of the Ming Dynasty.

When Yuan Keli and other Privy Council officials heard that the emperor was going to commend them, they immediately expressed their gratitude in unison.

Zhu Youjian asked again with some curiosity:

"Wasn't it enough to draw one out of ten?"

"How can we recruit 20,000 soldiers now?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan Keli replied:

"I previously estimated that about 30% of the city's population were military and civilian households."

"After actual investigation, we found that there are more households whose ancestors were military households. Among the 140,000 households in the city, about 60,000 to 70,000 households can be classified as military and civilian households."

"In addition, the civilian households that rent government farmland are also included in the military-civilian households. The number of military-civilian households within the Third Ring Road is now estimated to reach 80,000, or even more."

"The Shenshu Camp can recruit six to seven thousand people from these military and civilian households for service every year."

Zhu Youjian nodded upon hearing this, and was very happy that this problem had been solved. He then calculated:
"Seven thousand people per year, based on twenty years, can train 140,000 reservists."

"The capital has 100,000 imperial guards, plus 140,000 in reserve, so the city defense should be worry-free!"

This was actually his biggest purpose of recruiting soldiers from military and civilian households, so that the young men in the capital could receive military training as much as possible and become qualified reservists.

In this way, even if the court will not summon them to fight in other places in the future, they can still be used to defend the city when the capital is in danger.

The various city defense works were also arranged in this way to ensure that the capital would not be breached all at once and could wait for the arrival of the royal army.

Zhu Youjian, who was very concerned about this, asked Yuan Keli:
"Has the Privy Council ever counted the number of standing troops in the capital? How many troops can be mobilized immediately?"

"How many militiamen are there in total? How many men can help defend the city?"

"How many people can be mobilized to defend the city in the most extreme situation?"

"How long can we hold out until the king's army arrives?"

The Privy Council certainly could not take care of all these issues, but Yuan Keli was still clear about some basic data.

After thinking about it, he replied:

"The capital's standing military force is about 100,000 imperial guards, and your majesty's inner court has more than 10,000 imperial guards."

"The patrol battalion, renamed the Eagle Army, also has more than 10,000 soldiers."

"These add up to more than 120,000 men, plus the 27 guards in the city, which, based on an estimate of 300 men, would make the force about 8,000."

"That's a total of 130,000 people."

This is the capital's standing military force, a force that can be deployed into combat at any time.

If these 130,000 troops were fully staffed, it would be basically impossible to capture the capital.

Many Privy Council officials also believed that this force was sufficient, but the emperor's question still needed to be answered. Yuan Keli continued:
"All 135 guards in the capital can be mobilized at the first opportunity. Based on 500 hereditary officials and 17145 soldiers in each guard, people can be mobilized, doubling the original troops."

"If we call up soldiers who have been retired for six years, we can mobilize another 40,000 people."

"If you add it all up, it will add 50,000 troops."

In Yuan Keli's opinion, this force was sufficient.

However, Zhu Youjian was still somewhat dissatisfied because he felt that more extreme conditions had not been taken into consideration.

Having witnessed urban offensive and defensive battles such as the Battle of Moscow and the Battle of Stalingrad, he believed that all citizens must be mobilized to fight in order to cope with wars in the industrial age.

So he ordered:
"The reserve forces must be graded and called up according to different situations."

"All the reserve forces belonging to the garrisons, as well as those who have been retired for less than six years, are classified as a class of reserve forces, and the annual corvée time is used for military training."

"These people usually have to report to the militia when they go on long trips, and the garrison area will conduct monthly statistics to ensure that in the event of war, there are enough reservists to transfer to active service."

"Under a Level 1 mobilization order, the first category of reservists must immediately enlist for service."

"The second-class reserve forces will also begin training to prepare for active service." "Retired soldiers under the age of 35 and militiamen who have obtained training certificates will be assigned to the second-class reserve forces."

"As soon as the Level 2 mobilization order is issued, these people will be transferred to active service."

This measure will undoubtedly recruit more soldiers.

Although Yuan Keli felt that the capital did not need to mobilize the reserve forces, there was no harm in being prepared.

After thinking about it, he said:
"Militia members are selected from civilian households that are serving in the military. Militia members who have obtained training certificates are assigned to the second-class reserve force and need to enlist during the second-level mobilization."

"Other militiamen are not included. I am worried that this will cause the militiamen to lose their motivation to train and be unwilling to obtain the qualification certificate."

"It would be better to mobilize the militiamen who have not obtained the qualification certificate at the same time as the first-level mobilization, and conscript them as laborers to help transport supplies."

"In this way, in order to avoid being mobilized immediately, the militia will naturally train actively and obtain training certificates."

Zhu Youjian nodded and said:
"It is indeed possible to let the militia serve as civilian laborers and assist in defending the city."

"Level one and level two mobilizations only mobilized the militia reserve, while level three mobilizations mobilized all men and even women as civilian laborers and the elderly and weak to produce materials."

"Level 3 mobilization will be a national mobilization, mobilizing all manpower and resources to fight the war."

"I don't want a war to disrupt people's lives, but I don't want a tragedy like the one in Guiyang to happen even more."

"From now on, all cities will be required to develop a three-level mobilization system by the garrison. This will ensure that when a war occurs, people and materials can be used to their full potential, and every effort will be made to win the war."

When the ministers heard this, they understood why the emperor had established a three-level mobilization system.

The Battle of Guiyang was so tragic that after being besieged for ten months, there were only a thousand or so people left out of the 100,000 soldiers and civilians in the city.

Zhu Xieyuan, who rose from the southwest to the imperial court and served as the governor of Guizhou, even said:

"After the invasion of She'an, Guiyang was desolate. I observed it in the first year of Chongzhen, and found that there were less than 500 households in Guiyang, and all the mountains and hills were barren."

"If we encounter a war, we really need to mobilize all the people."

"I believe that the three-level mobilization system should be implemented throughout the country."

All the ministers agreed and believed that a three-level mobilization system should be established in the capital and then implemented throughout the country, especially in the border areas.

Zhu Youjian even asked Zhu Xieyuan to write an article about the Guiyang Defense War to tell everyone the cruelty of war. Only by actively supporting mobilization can we survive better.

After Zhu Xieyuan took on this task, he mentioned another matter, which was Li Li's Jinpen case. He said:

"The Ministry of Justice and the Censorate have already sent people to investigate the matter of Li Li's golden basin. I have also investigated it again and found that it is completely false."

"I request that Li Li be rewarded for his service in Guiyang. Such a capable person should be reinstated."

Zhu Youjian took the Jinpen case very seriously and did not listen to Zhu Xieyuan's one-sided statement.
"Whether the golden basin exists or not should be investigated by the three judicial departments."

"And the most important thing is to satisfy the military and civilians in Guiyang."

Zhu Xieyuan heard this and said:

"When I left for Guiyang to take up my post, local gentry and common people such as Ma Wenqing and provincial generals such as Zhang Yougong all spoke out for Li Li."

"Everyone knows about this, and the soldiers and civilians in Guiyang all think Li Li was wronged."

This immediately changed Zhu Youjian's inclination. He had no confidence in the integrity of Ming officials and was inclined to believe that the Jin Pen Case was true.

However, the remaining soldiers and civilians in Guiyang believed that Li Li was wrongly accused, and if the court ignored it, it would be wrongly accusing a meritorious official.

In addition, the soldiers and civilians in Guiyang had no ill feelings towards Li Li, and rewarding him would not cause opposition from the soldiers and civilians, so Zhu Youjian immediately said:
"Summon Li Li to the capital, have him declare his assets and defend himself, and let the three judicial officials make the final decision on the case."

"If it is found that he is indeed wrongly accused, then Li Li will be commended for his merits and be granted a noble title."

The achievements in the defense of Guiyang were comparable to those of Zhu Xieyuan in defending Chengdu. Wang Sanshan, who died in the battle to relieve Guiyang, was granted the title of hereditary thousand households, and Li Li could at least obtain this level of hereditary officialdom.

Zhu Xieyuan could certainly understand the emperor's intention and thanked the emperor on behalf of Li Li. He planned to write a letter to ask Li Li to come to Beijing. He could not bear the stigma in vain and let the achievements of the southwestern soldiers be tarnished.

After this episode, Zhu Youjian continued to improve the mobilization system and said to his ministers:
“We need to be prepared for how many reservists of each category will be needed, how they will be mobilized in wartime, and how much weapons and food will be needed.”

"The arsenal in the capital should be stockpiled with enough weapons to support all citizens, and the food should be enough to meet the needs of the entire city for at least three months, to ensure that we can hold out until the king's army arrives."

"If there is enough time and the city is not surrounded, we should also transport grain from Tongzhou warehouse as soon as possible in the event of war to meet the needs of the entire city for a year."

"The defense of the capital city does not rely solely on the city itself. The surrounding garrison areas and military preparation roads must all be prepared to mobilize the entire population to rescue the capital city when it is besieged."

It can be said that this is the ultimate goal of Zhu Youjian’s military reform, to enable the Ming Dynasty to have the potential to fight a national war.

From now on, war will no longer be the business of guards and soldiers, but the responsibility of everyone.

The officials of the Privy Council discussed this a lot, feeling that this would strengthen the military potential of the Ming Dynasty, but the people would probably resist military service.

Under the Weisuo system, the people of the Ming Dynasty had no obligation to perform military service. At most, they served as laborers to transport grain, or some people volunteered to join the army.

Now that everyone is obliged to perform military service, you can imagine how much opposition this will cause.

In this regard, Zhu Youjian said:
"The people of the Zhou Dynasty were able to participate in government and affairs of state, and they also had the responsibility to serve in the army."

"The citizens of the Ming Dynasty must also serve in the military. Otherwise, their rights to vote and be elected, as well as their rights to serve as officials, will be revoked, and they may even be deprived of their Ming citizenship."

"This point will be written into the etiquette and law in the future, stipulating that every citizen of the Ming Dynasty cannot refuse to pay taxes and serve in the army."

This was decided by Zhu Youjian when he was preparing to formulate the "Great Ming Convention on Rites and Laws". Since the world is to be shared with all the people, all the people must assume corresponding responsibilities.

Paying taxes and serving in the military are the two major obligations of citizens. Those who refuse to fulfill these two obligations are not worthy of being called citizens of the Ming Dynasty. It is even possible that their citizenship will be revoked and they will be turned into residents who are allowed to live in the Ming Dynasty for a long time, just like the people of the Zhou Dynasty were turned into barbarians.

Zhu Youjian had mentioned this matter before, but there was a lot of opposition at the time, so he did not insist and did not finalize the matter.

Now that the Wei Suo system has been reformed and soldiers have to be recruited from military and civilian households or even civilian households, many officials in the Privy Council no longer oppose it, but believe that the people should indeed have the responsibility to perform military service.

Otherwise, there will not be enough troops to meet the border defense needs.

With their support, the issue of citizens serving in the military gradually became a consensus in the court, and the "Great Ming Etiquette and Law Convention" also drafted another article:
The territory of the Ming Empire is sacred and inviolable. Defending the motherland and resisting aggression is the sacred duty of every citizen of the Ming Empire.

Ming citizens can survive and reside in the Ming territory, and every Ming citizen should safeguard the security, honor and interests of the Ming Empire.

Citizens of the Ming Dynasty had the obligation to perform military service and had the right to participate in politics and could elect members of parliament to exercise their political power.

It is specifically stipulated in the "Ming Dynasty Military Law" and the "Ming Empire Election Law".

Military conscription and the three-level mobilization system were written into the Ming Dynasty Military Law. (End of this chapter)