Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 187: Decision! Old Zhu runs away in anger!

Outside came the thunderous cheers of the people of Jinling City.

The people were running around telling others the news of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's generous reward and congratulations, and their favorability towards the Ming Navy, which could bring them wealth, increased greatly.

The carriage was still rolling forward.

Zhu Yunhuan lifted a corner of the curtain and glanced outside.

After lowering the curtains, he said calmly, "Well said."

"The collusion between local officials and gentry has been a chronic problem in every dynasty."

"If we want to vigorously rectify the situation, it will inevitably cause a strong backlash."

"So before that, we must rely on the military as a back-up."

"First, we need to manage the military well and separate the military leaders from the profit chain."

"With the support of the army, the tax commissioner can sweep away all the trouble and bring the clerks and gentry who are causing trouble to him into obedience."

Reorganizing the army was something Zhu Yunhuan had been planning for a long time.

He had long ago advised Zhu Yuanzhang to implement a dual-chief system in the army.

However, due to the lack of sufficient suitable candidates, it has never been implemented.

Zhu Yunhuan had already made this plan since the Ming Military Academy started recruiting new soldiers.

All of the 10,000 new troops under his command were trained according to the model for training officers.

They are soldiers, but they can also be generals.

They have experience as grassroots soldiers, and they have all been educated and can read and write.

They understand military strategies and are brave and skilled in fighting.

Any one of them could be appointed as a centurion or even a thousand-man commander.

Many of them were former officers, not ordinary soldiers.

They were attracted by the reputation of the Ming Military Academy and the idea that being students of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would bring them a brighter future. So they gave up their original status as officers and enrolled in the Ming Military Academy to become members of the new army.

If he is released now, there will be no problem in promoting him one or two levels to become an officer.

Yang Shiqi was still a little worried and said, "Your Highness, it is a good thing to rectify military discipline, but should we proceed step by step?"

"If we carry out a comprehensive rectification, once a mutiny occurs, the situation will be out of control."

Zhu Yunxun smiled faintly and said, "It doesn't matter. This time we not only need to rectify military discipline, but more importantly, we need to disband the army."

"Only by retaining the best soldiers and generals can the court provide better treatment to the army, and military discipline will naturally be strict."

When these words were spoken, Yang Shiqi and Yao Guangxiao were both stunned.

The Wei Suo system of the Ming Dynasty was created by Zhu Yuanzhang. In a sense, it can even be said to be the fundamental system of the Ming Dynasty.

But in Zhu Yunhuan's view, although the Wei Suo system has its merits, it is only suitable for special areas and special environments.

It is not appropriate to make the entire country's standing army into garrison troops.

The era of hot weapons has arrived. With the addition of guns and cannons, the Ming Dynasty does not need to maintain so many troops.

What the Ming Dynasty needs is a professional, elite and strong army.

Instead of the guards who only think about farming all day long.

"Disarmament?" Yang Shiqi said hurriedly, "Your Highness, think twice."

"Improving military discipline and completely prohibiting military officers from engaging in business is already too much of a hindrance. If we withdraw the troops, the consequences will be unpredictable!"

Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "Simply cutting down the army will naturally cause dissatisfaction among the generals and soldiers."

“But what if we arrange a better place for them after the layoffs?”

The methods of disarmament in feudal times were usually very simple and crude.

After the battle, all the soldiers were dismissed.

Where you come from, where you go back.

As for their life and death after retirement, the imperial court mostly did not care at all.

This creates a very contradictory phenomenon.

That is, when the imperial court needed to recruit soldiers, no one was willing to volunteer, and the government often had to force them to join.

After a few years or even more than ten years, the war was over and the imperial court wanted to downsize the army, but those soldiers were unwilling to retire.

Because many of them are actually homeless and have nowhere to go.

I left home at a young age, and when I returned, everything had changed.

This was especially true for the soldiers who followed Zhu Yuanzhang to conquer the world during the war.

Most of their family members have died in the war.

Where can they go back to?
It was precisely because of this that Zhu Yuanzhang did not disband the army in large numbers, but instead implemented a system of military farming and garrisoning troops in the garrisons.

"How to arrange it?" Yang Shiqi asked.

It is not easy to arrange better places for the disbanded soldiers.

He thought quickly in his mind, but couldn't come up with anything.

"Aren't the clerks in the local government offices very arrogant?" Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile: "Then let them go and let the retired veterans replace them."

Yang Shiqi was dumbfounded.

The clerks in the Ming Dynasty were divided into two categories: clerks and yamen runners.

Officials make decisions, clerks handle documents, and servants provide assignments.

The imperial court could select and appoint clerks from among the students of the Imperial Academy.

The yamen runners mainly relied on local people.

Yamen runners were divided into regular runners and unpaid runners.

Zhengyi were yamen runners with formal positions and could receive salaries from the government.

White labor is usually conscripted temporarily, without any organization, and according to court regulations, cannot receive any salary, which is considered unpaid "service."

But regulations are regulations, and the actual situation is very different.

There are policies and measures to counter.

The yamen runners in various prefectures and counties were humble and lowly compared to the high-ranking officials in the imperial court.

But for the lower-class people, the yamen runners who hold power are people that ordinary people dare not provoke.

With power that scares the people, they have countless ways to make money.

People were scrambling to do the unpaid labor without a penny.

The imperial court stipulated that white-collar workers could only serve for a maximum of one year, and then they would be rotated.

But in fact, some places have come up with a shortcut, which is to change the name every year.

This year he is called Li Er, next year he is called Li San, and the year after that he is called Li Liu...

The names of the yamen runners reported to the court were different.

This was not uncommon in government offices across the country.

From this we can also see that being a yamen runner is something that many people yearn for.

You should know that in the early Ming Dynasty, many high-ranking officials in the court came from clerks.

After a long while, Yang Shiqi came to his senses and said, "The local government offices cannot accommodate so many people. If we ask them to do unpaid labor, the situation will be even worse."

He had lived at the bottom of society for a long time and was well aware of the harm that clerks could do.

Regular servants might still be a little afraid, fearing that they would be reported and lose their jobs, but unofficial servants are even more ruthless.

After all, they could not receive any compensation from the government and could only rely on themselves to find ways to "make money".

A county often has only dozens of regular soldiers.

There are more than a thousand counties in the country, with a total population of only tens of thousands.

Old Zhu established more than 300 guard posts across the country.

According to regulations, each garrison had about 5,600 people.

The total number of troops in more than 300 garrisons was more than 1.8 million.

Even if only one-third of the staff were laid off, it would be difficult for all government offices across the country to accommodate so many people.

Not to mention, all the clerks in the original yamen cannot be laid off.

There must be someone who is familiar with the affairs of the government to lead the team. Otherwise, those retired soldiers who have just returned may make a mess of everything.

Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "The court can increase the number of yamen runners in various yamen offices, and also set up assistants who can receive salaries."

"As for the current unpaid laborers, those who are outstanding can be transferred to regular laborers or assistant laborers, and the rest will be laid off."

The workload of local government offices was extremely heavy, and the previous staff was simply unable to meet the demand.

On the surface, using "white labor" to do these jobs could save the court money.

This is also the original intention of Lao Zhu's arrangement.

The troops in the garrisons supported themselves by cultivating land, so the country did not have to spend any military expenses.

Government offices used free labor and the court did not have to pay any salaries.

Old Zhu has always found it difficult to break away from the simple farmer's mindset and he always saves every penny he can.

It would be best if things could be done without spending any money.

But in reality, human nature cannot be violated, and acting in this way will only lead to chaos.

The army's farming caused the army to gradually lose its combat effectiveness.

If the white servants are not paid, they will find ways to make money on their own.

In Zhu Yunhuan's view, these were all drawbacks and must be vigorously reformed.

He had already made up his mind, and when he spoke about it now, it was clear and logical.

“Post-disarmament arrangements can be divided into three categories.”

"First, give them severance pay. After receiving the pay, let them leave on their own."

"Secondly, we will distribute the land and give them the same share of military farms as the original military households. With the land, they will no longer have to fight on the front lines. How can they complain?"

"Third, they were transferred to become regular servants or assistant servants in local government offices."

"As for the generals, some will be transferred to corresponding local officials, and some will enter the Daming Military Academy for further studies and will be incorporated into the new army in the future."

"If they are unwilling, they can also receive a sum of money and return home to enjoy the rest of their lives."

"Or, like military settlements, they can distribute corresponding fields."

"As long as the soldiers and generals can be properly resettled after the disarmament, there is no need to worry about the army causing chaos."

"Disarmament and military discipline can be carried out simultaneously."

"Only keep the elite soldiers."

"If all the soldiers in the country were like the current Ming navy, with high pay and a bright future, why would they worry about not being able to enforce strict military discipline?"

"By then, when the tax commissioner conducts tax inspections, the army will no longer be an obstacle!"

Yang Shiqi was stunned again. He suddenly remembered the new army soldiers outside. With only 10,000 people, they could easily conquer Japan.

If the Ming army had such combat power.

The number of Ming troops can indeed be significantly reduced.

"Your Highness's ability to govern a country is far greater than that of this humble official by a thousand times."

"This arrangement is very appropriate."

"However, to accomplish this, the amount of money required is probably not a small amount."

Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "We have to rely on your Ming Bank to make a loan first."

"The imperial court will have huge commercial tax revenue every year, so there is no need to worry about repayment."

This is the benefit of having money.

Without money, all his plans would be castles in the air.

"Your Highness, the Crown Prince has a thorough plan and a plan in mind. I admire you very much."

They were talking in the carriage, and before they knew it, they had arrived at the gate of the palace.

Yang Shiqi smiled and said, "The last thing is that His Majesty is extremely angry about Your Highness the Crown Prince's violation of the order to go to Japan. I'm afraid Your Highness needs to apologize to His Majesty!"

Yao Guangxiao clasped his hands together and said, "Your Highness, the Crown Prince, do not need to worry too much. In the past, Your Highness disobeyed the imperial order and did not return to the court, leading the army on a long expedition. Someone in the court submitted a memorial to impeach Your Highness, saying that Your Highness acted on his own, openly disobeyed the imperial order, was disloyal and unfilial, and might not be able to inherit the throne."

"After reading this memorial, His Majesty flew into a rage and immediately issued an order to have the person who submitted the memorial beaten to death."

"From then on, no one in the court dared to impeach His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"From this, it can be seen that although His Majesty is angry about His Royal Highness's violation of the order and going on the expedition, he still loves His Royal Highness very much in his heart."

The corners of Zhu Yunxun's mouth rose slightly.

One of Mr. Zhu's greatest strengths is that he is extremely fond of his descendants.

Of course, from another perspective, this may also be his biggest flaw.

The carriage stopped in front of the palace gate.

"Your Majesty's oral order!" the eunuch shouted in his shrill duck voice.

Zhu Yunhuan hurried forward to receive the order.

All I could hear was the eunuch saying loudly: "I am old, how can I stand such a commotion? I will never participate in this captive offering ceremony!"

"I have a terrible temper and I can't stand even the slightest bit of anger. I don't even want to see that disobedient and unfilial grandson who disobeys my orders!"

"We are going to go outside the city to have a good rest!"

"This palace should be left to that rebellious grandson alone!"

……

(End of this chapter)