Fu Shanhe

Chapter 36: The accumulated problems of the guards
"Don't worry, uncle. It's impossible to check the military farms in the garrisons.

The emperor may want to conduct an investigation out of public interest, but the ministers also stand up to support him, it is simply because of the different paths of civil and military officials.

When it comes to suppressing military generals, they will not let go of any opportunity.

If you can't stop it, then just don't stop it.

If they want to investigate, let them investigate. I’m just afraid that they don’t dare to lift the lid.

I’m not sure about other places, but I know the situation in Hanzhong Wei.

It is a fact that military generals turned the military farms into private farms and made the military households work as hired laborers.

But these are not the main reasons for the loss of military land in the garrisons. The real culprit is the imperial examination system.

In every imperial examination, several Jinshi and several Juren would emerge from among the children of the guards.

In Dayu, the civil officials are respected and the military officials are despised. After these people change their family background, they will give up their status as military households.

Not only the people left, but also the military land under their names.

Those who held official positions even took away the military households who provided them with farmland and made them their hired farmers.

I remember that a hundred years ago, the military had a lawsuit with civilian officials because of this issue.

The matter was once brought before the emperor, but in the end it was dropped.

The imperial court did not deal with it at that time, and later on, more and more children of the garrisons left through the imperial examinations, continuously consuming the military land and population of the garrisons.

If the imperial court is really determined to conduct an investigation, then let these civil servants who have left return the land they have taken first.

As for the garrison commanders, the income was generated from the land they took away, not the land itself.

Except for a few fools, few people would bother to convert military land into civilian land and then transfer it to their own name to give others leverage over them. "

Li Mu said calmly.

I don’t know about other people’s families, but this is how he plays.

The land was still registered in the account books of the garrison, but the income went into the family's own pockets and was used to support servants.

Embezzlement of public funds to support private armies, this kind of warlord-like behavior would likely result in the death of one's head in other dynasties, but it was the norm in Dayu.

It is an open secret in the government and the opposition, so it doesn't matter if it is discovered.

The number of servants he employed was in no way comparable to that of the nine frontier generals, and he was still far from having his own army.

Since the land attributes have not changed, there is naturally no question of embezzling military land.

Anyway, as a hereditary commander, he never performed his duties.

Even if someone is serious about it and puts everything on the table, he cannot be held accountable.

"You are fine, but others are in trouble!

From the founding of the country to the present day, the descendants of generals have been passed down for so many generations. Aren’t there many idiots among them?
There were indeed not many people who directly annexed military land, but some bastards colluded with local officials and exchanged the high-quality land that originally belonged to the garrisons for low-quality land.

Some were simply turned into barren hills, which are completely impossible to cultivate.

The private sale of military land in garrisons was also common.

Even if the military land was taken away by the juren and jinshi, they would not have been able to achieve their wish without the full cooperation of the garrison commanders.

If we really investigate, the first people responsible will always be the local garrison commanders, followed by the military governors who supervise them, and finally the others!"

Li Yuan said unhappily.

He thought his nephew would give him some good ideas, but he didn't expect Li Mu to come up with a bad plan.

Indeed, according to the current situation of the garrisons, the scope of involvement is so wide that it almost covers every corner of the empire.

The hundreds of millions of acres of military land that once existed are now a joke.

Originally, the garrisons and local government supervised each other, but eventually, internal and external forces colluded and turned military fields into private fields.

The civil servants know that everyone has problems, but they are not afraid.

The embezzlement of military farms of the garrisons was not something they did during their tenure.

If we trace back to the past, the graves of the people involved have long been covered with grass. Moreover, when doing these things, everyone tried to cover them up, and even when embezzling military land, it had to be transferred several times in the middle.

The land registers of the military garrisons at that time have basically been lost due to manipulation by some people with ulterior motives.

It is now difficult to distinguish which are civilian fields and which are military fields.

Things without evidence can disgust the living but cannot do anything to the dead.

The generals of the garrisons were different, they were the ones who were directly responsible. Even if they didn't do the bad things themselves, it was their ancestors who did it.

The imperial court knew how much military land each guard had.

If there is a deficit, it is the responsibility of the garrison commander.

If problems arise in the garrisons, the Dusi Yamen, which is controlled by the nobles, will certainly be to blame.

Without their indulgence, the people below would not be able to embezzle military land even if they wanted to.

"Uncle, now that it has happened, we can't panic.

With so many people involved, it is not easy for the court to hold anyone accountable.

When necessary, the news can be spread to direct the fire towards the civil servants who came from the garrisons.

If they can't avoid it, they'll just dig up an old case from a hundred years ago. They'll attribute the case to a historical legacy and try to minimize everyone's responsibility."

Li Mu said evasively.

Identity determines stance!

Since there are no major problems at home, we are not afraid of investigation.

From his point of view, the court's investigation of military fields was undoubtedly a good thing.

Cleaning out some of the parasites would be more conducive to the rule of the empire. Only when the country is stable can he feel comfortable as an official.

What's more, the officialdom of Dayu is now crowded with people with connections, which is a typical situation where there are too many wolves and too little meat.

There is only one position for each person at the top. How can he make progress if he doesn't get rid of those who are blocking his way?

The struggle between civil and military officials is a game played by the upper class. It won't be too late to consider it when he gets to the position.

As a powerful figure in the noble group, the Marquis of Zhenyuan could not just sit back and watch. No matter how far the court investigated, it would be a weakening of the noble group.

Apart from anything else, the eunuch party had previously promised to arrange for the children of meritorious officials to serve in the Ministry of War, but now that this has been disrupted, there is definitely no hope.

Some garrisons that exist in name only will most likely be abolished.

Nobles who are too deeply involved will not only lose their official positions, but may also lose the titles passed down by their ancestors.

"That's it!
Since those bastards dared to do it, they must bear the corresponding consequences. Whoever is found to be responsible will be unlucky.

I hope there won’t be any big trouble!”

Li Yuan said with a sigh.

If it could be saved, he also wanted to get the guard post back on track.

The most fundamental reason why the noble group lost its voice in the court was that the military forces of the garrisons were no longer useful.

Now Dayu’s military mainstay is recruiting soldiers.

After the garrisons became corrupt, the imperial court was forced to adopt the conscription system in order to maintain its rule.

Under the conscription system, food and wages needed to be allocated by the Ministry of Revenue, and the appointment and dismissal of generals needed to be approved by the Ministry of War.

After losing its financial and personnel powers, the Governor's Office, which was dominated by nobles, could no longer stand up straight.

At present, the Governor-General's Office, which nominally commands the entire country's military, is now only left with insignificant supervisory power, and the Ministry of War is in charge of daily military mobilizations.

The newly emerging nine frontier military families rose to prominence after the imperial court implemented the conscription system.

　Thank you to the leader of Lazy Cat, I will add another chapter later.

　　Let’s go, I will always love your Haiyue.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)