Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 272: Selecting a Guardian and Changing Standards
At the Tianjin Weicheng Martial Arts Arena, a chair had been placed on the rammed earth platform for reviewing the generals. Sun Chengzong sat on the chair, resting his hand on his forehead, quietly awaiting the arrival of the five guards.

At six o'clock in the morning, the four gates of the Acropolis began to evacuate people under the command of the Jinyiwei flag officers. Once the gates were cleared, the Acropolis was officially placed under martial law.

"Dad, what's going on?" a young man driving a donkey cart asked his father, who was carrying a load on his shoulder. "Isn't the door open? Why won't you let us in?"

This father and son came to the Acropolis to sell charcoal. With the snow melting and the rain coming, the demand for charcoal for warmth would drop significantly. They had to take advantage of the last cold snap of late spring to sell as much charcoal as possible. If the weather warmed up completely, the price of charcoal would drop.

"Could it be that the soldiers from the Qianhu Division are coming into the city for a military exercise?" The middle-aged charcoal seller squatted down and carefully lowered the carrying pole on his shoulder, but a thumb-sized piece of charcoal still fell to the ground. He bent down to pick it up and stuffed it back into the bamboo basket, which was now so black that it was unrecognizable.

"These soldiers who only know how to ask for money can also perform martial arts?" The tone of the young charcoal seller was full of disdain for the garrison soldiers.

It's no wonder he felt resentful. Although the officers guarding the city gates wouldn't harass ordinary pedestrians, they would demand benefits from merchants entering the city.

"Could it be that the Japanese pirates are invading again?" In the memory of the middle-aged charcoal seller, the last time there was a military training ground at Wusuoquanji was when Governor Wang came to Tianjin to supervise the construction of the navy to prepare for defense against the Japanese pirates.

As the middle-aged charcoal seller finished speaking, a growing noise emerged from behind him. He turned and saw a sparse formation of guards from the rear troop, gradually approaching from afar.

Frowning, the father and son waited for the guards to pass. When the last person entered the city gate, the middle-aged charcoal seller sighed, "Many of these soldiers are older than I am. If the Japanese pirates attack, can they really stop them?"

Soon, the city gates were unlocked. The soldiers guarding the gates once again shouted to the people and merchants, directing them to enter and exit in an orderly manner and avoid crowding.

The middle-aged charcoal seller squatted down, using his calloused shoulders to support the carrying pole. "Stop looking, come and help me," he called to his still-dazed son as he moved.

"Oh." The young charcoal seller turned around and grabbed the shoulder pole. His arms and his father's shoulders exerted strength together. The load weighing dozens of kilograms was lifted once again.

The father and son entered the city together. The son, driving the cart with his shoulders empty, pulled out a few copper coins from his pocket as usual and approached Xiaoqi, who was wearing the uniform of a seventh-rank military officer. His face was no longer filled with disdain, only with flawless flattery. "Sir, please."

The flag officer looked at the cocoon supporting the copper coin and the soot interspersed between the cocoon lines. He said nothing, simply waved him away.

"Sir, this is a small business. I won't make much money from selling this cart." The young man thought the officer thought the salary was too little, so he bowed and begged, hoping to be given a way to make a living.

"If you want to enter the city, then enter. If you don't want to enter the city, then get out. Stop talking nonsense and don't block the road." The flag officer was already tired. During the days of guarding the city gate, he had rejected countless merchants who were ready to give him benefits.

"Yes, yes. May you be blessed with good fortune, sir, and may you live a long life!" The young man's eyes lit up, realizing that he had, in a rare instance, encountered an honest official. He hurried back to his donkey cart and pulled the charcoal through the gate. As they passed the city gate again, the farmer, who had been selling charcoal for generations, offered the honest official a few more words of blessing.

But this honest official didn't even want to look at them again.

Two men and a donkey entered the city carrying a cart with two baskets, weighing hundreds of pounds of charcoal. After passing through the city gate, the son looked around and saw an old man dressed as a scholar, reading a new notice posted by the Commandery or the Governor's Office to a group of laymen surrounding him.

The notice was very brief, and the content was roughly: provide food, money, cloth, and recruit soldiers.

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Under the standard Wei-suo system, each Wei was composed of five Qian-hu Suo. Each Qian-hu Suo had one Chief Qian-hu and two Deputy Qian-hu. Each Qian-hu Suo was composed of ten Bai-hu Suo, each with one Bai-hu, two Chief Flag Officers, and ten Small Flag Officers. A Small Flag Officer supervised ten ordinary military households, while a Chief Flag Officer was the chief of the five Small Flag Officers.

In other words, a standard, fully-organized guard, excluding civilian personnel, should have 5,000 military households, 500 small flag officers, 100 general flag officers, 50 centurions, and 5 thousand households.

But once all the personnel from the five Tianjin bases arrived, Governor Sun Chengzong and his deputy commander, Lu Wenzhao, who stood beside him to help maintain order, immediately realized that only the officers were present. The remaining guards probably comprised less than 60% of the full complement. Furthermore, most of these men were visibly elderly and frail.

"Oh." Sun Chengzong laughed in anger. He had originally wanted to let these people practice a little bit to see if they were really strong enough, but now he felt that it was completely unnecessary. Sun Chengzong even felt that after a standard practice, he might even kill a lot of the old men.

Sun Chengzong stood up suddenly, and the ill-fitting armor immediately made a harsh sound from friction. This suit of armor originally belonged to the guard commander Shen Caiyu, and Shen Caiyu was an absolute fat pig. So even though Sun Chengzong was a burly man, this suit of armor still seemed too big for him.

Sun Chengzong stood before the reviewing platform. Five already dressed captains immediately came forward and saluted. "Your Excellency, the Governor!"

Then, the thousands of people present also saluted one after another under the command of their respective chief officers.

Sun Chengzong made a gesture, signaling them to stand up. Then, Sun Chengzong shouted:
"I am Sun Chengzong, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate. I am currently serving as the Governor of Tianjin and would like to select elite soldiers from among your guards to form a standard bearer battalion. [The text then abruptly shifts topics.] Sun Chengzong thought for a moment and decided not to make the conditions too stringent. Otherwise, the entire Tianjin Garrison might not be able to spare a single capable officer. "Those under forty-five, step out! Gather in the open!"

The captains had originally thought that Governor Sun would, as he had said at the dinner yesterday, conduct a drill before making the final selection, but now it seemed he had no such plans. The captains looked at each other helplessly and each retreated to their respective units.

Governor Sun's voice was loud, but no matter how loud it was, it could not be heard throughout the entire training ground.

The person who delivered the message to Sun Chengzong was Mao Yuanyi, the battalion commander he had chosen as the standard-bearer of the battalion, and a team of Beijing soldiers who were transferred to the military training ground to serve.

Although Mao Yuanyi currently has neither an official position nor any achievements, Sun Chengzong is 90% sure that he can promote him.

There were many factors that made Sun Chengzong so confident. First, Mao Yuanyi was from Zhejiang, and his father, Mao Guojin, was a Jinshi in the 11th year of the Wanli reign, the same year as the first and second assistant ministers of the cabinet. Although Mao Guojin had passed away, this little bit of affection prevented the cabinet from being blocked. Secondly, before Mao Guojin passed away, he asked the Jesuit president Matteo Ricci to teach his son Western learning. As a result, Mao Yuanyi became friends with Xu Guangqi, who was then a Hanlin Academy scholar. Last but not least, Sun Chengzong felt that he still had some face with the emperor, and nominating a fourth or fifth rank battalion commander should not be rejected. "Organize a standard-bearing battalion! Those under the age of 45, step out!" Sun Chengzong's order began to spread from Mao Yuanyi under the reviewing platform, and was finally conveyed to the entire martial arts field by the Beijing soldiers.

The guards didn't immediately step out of line; they were either calculating the pros and cons of changing guards to the standard, or calculating their likely ages. It was difficult to get these illiterate men to accurately state their birth year, let alone their actual age. In the end, with the exception of those who were clearly young, most of them dawdled for a while before finally arriving at the location designated by Sun Chengzong.

Seeing the guards' lack of enthusiasm, Sun Chengzong added, "Your Majesty, by your grace! Each member of the Central Army under our command will receive a monthly salary of eight cents! If there are transfers, additional rations will be provided. Those selected will receive a monthly salary and be given clothing and shoes."

"Your Majesty's grace! We will give you eight cents of salary every month! We will send it out immediately if you are selected!" Sun Chengzong's words were continued to be conveyed by Mao Yuanyi and the Beijing soldiers.

After Sun Chengzong's words were conveyed, the people below immediately began to make a commotion.

In the Ming Dynasty, the practice of unpaid salaries was commonplace. However, the conflict between the imperial court and the officers was a matter of principle. As long as there were no battles, it had nothing to do with the registered soldiers. However, the officers in the garrisons were always greedy, not only collecting unpaid salaries but also exploiting the soldiers' blood.

After the mid-Wanli reign, the Ministry of Revenue's records showed that the average monthly budget for a single garrison soldier was five to six qian of silver. However, Ming Dynasty budgets were never accurately distributed to the grassroots who received them. If even half of the budget was received, it was considered a sign of mercy from the military officers.

These days, for the grassroots soldiers, ideals are nonexistent, dynasties are illusory, and the emperor is distant. Being a soldier is just a business, but merchants sell goods, while soldiers sell their lives.

When they learned that they could earn more than double their usual pay by working for the Governor, and that they would receive a bonus immediately after being selected, the guards immediately stopped wanting to serve under these idiot garrison officers. Young and old, they all rushed to the open space designated by the Governor to wait for selection, fearing they would be left behind.

The garrison officers' control over their soldiers was already weak, and faced with such chaos, most of them were completely panicked. Only a few centurions and generals shouted orders, trying to maintain order.

Sun Chengzong watched coldly, a sense of sadness welling up in his heart. There were over three hundred guards and thousands of stations across the country, and most of them were probably similar to this.

"Sound the horn." To prevent the commotion from escalating, Sun Chengzong ordered the situation under control.

Mao Yuanyi understood and immediately gestured to the messenger.

Clang! Clang! Clang!
Even if the garrison soldiers were poorly trained and had no fighting capacity, they could still understand the sound of the bugle call.

When the commotion subsided, Sun Chengzong said to Mao Yuanyi, "Pick out the old and weak. Select a division."

"Yes." Mao Yuanyi responded with a fist salute.

The military system for the governor-general's standard troops had its own established precedents. Generally speaking, a squad of fifty men formed a company, with ten squads of five hundred men forming a division. Two divisions formed a division, and two divisions formed a battalion. Based on the actual conditions of the governor's jurisdiction, the emperor would allow the governor to adjust the number of battalions. Currently, Sun Chengzong had received imperial decree to establish a standard battalion. However, it was clearly unrealistic to recruit two thousand serviceable soldiers from the five garrisons in Tianjin at once. For Sun Chengzong, selecting a division of five hundred elite soldiers to serve as his direct commander was sufficient, allowing it to break away from the existing garrison system.

Mao Yuanyi, escorted by several imperial soldiers, walked up to the guards waiting to be selected and shouted, "Line up!"

But his shout was in vain. The guards simply didn't have the basic skills to reorganize without a flag officer. They could only look around, staring at each other.

Seeing this situation, Mao Yuanyi simply stopped organizing the troops. Instead, he turned to the Beijing soldiers and ordered, "Gather them together."

"Yes." The Beijing soldiers were clearly much more organized than the guards. After receiving the order, they immediately gathered around, surrounding the guards who had stepped out for selection, and gradually forced them into a group.

"Get out of the way." Mao Yuanyi stepped forward and ordered the Beijing soldiers to open a gap, then waved to the guard closest to the gap.

The guard stepped forward, bowed repeatedly to Mao Yuanyi, and asked him to choose him. However, Mao Yuanyi only replied with two words: "Go back."

The guard, unsure of what the lord meant, stood there in a daze. Mao Yuanyi had no intention of wasting time explaining things. He grabbed the guard's shoulders and yanked him away, throwing him out of the encirclement. "Return to your original position," Mao Yuanyi pointed toward the guard's formation.

The guard tried to beg, even to kneel, but the Beijing soldier, who had given up his position to make an excuse, grabbed him and shoved him in front of a captain. The Beijing soldier was polite, but the captain was far more ferocious. He slapped the guard in the face, instantly shattering any remaining hopes of a better life. The blow sent the old guard reeling and toppling to the ground, but no one, not even the other elderly guards, came to his aid.

"Go back." After the little commotion subsided, Mao Yuanyi continued to select, but the second person he picked was still ruthlessly eliminated because he was old and weak.

"Go back." The third one was also eliminated.

"Hmm. All right." When it came to the fourth person, Mao Yuanyi finally nodded. Though the man before him was thinner, he looked at least not old and had the appearance of a human being. "Stay. Stand over there." Mao Yuanyi pointed to the open space on the other side.

"Yes! Yes! Thank you very much, sir, and may you be blessed with good fortune!" The first standard-bearer immediately knelt down to thank his new superior.

Mao Yuanyi waved his hand and said, "Get up, go stand over there, and don't block me from picking other people."

"Yes. Yes." The first standard-bearer's warm welcome met with Mao Yuanyi's cold shoulder, but he remained delighted. For him, today was undoubtedly the best day of his life. If he could actually get eight qian of silver a month's salary, he would wake up laughing in his dreams.

(End of this chapter)