The Great Seminary

Chapter 65 News from an Old Friend
Regulations on local militia in the Ming and Song dynasties.

When fully staffed, 'Zhihaizhai' had five warships.

I dare not even think about a thousand tons, not to mention five hundred tons. I will just calculate it based on a small or medium-sized warship of three hundred to six hundred tons.

Five ships also need five 'Hundred Guards' as captains;

Ten deputy 100 guards acted as civil and military lieutenants;

Fifty team leaders serve as backbone personnel such as boatswains and assault captains;
Five hundred regular soldiers and fifteen hundred soldiers served as armed sailors.

The military camp consisted of more than 2,000 officers and soldiers, and the number of military dependents must be close to 10,000.

That's why 'Zhihaizhai' was built so big.

However, it is a rare thing that only a local militia would have an eighth-rank seal in command of 2,000 troops.

The eighth-rank seal holder of the Ming-Song regular army, the 'Da Xing Chang', had only 343 soldiers under his command.

However, their "soldiers" must be young and strong, well-fed and well-drinking, and must follow the instructor to practice weapons and formations for at least three to five months.

'Regular soldiers' must survive on the battlefield for more than three years without being injured or disabled, and must be brave enough to fight and kill.

When facing a group of scattered soldiers like "Zhihaizhai", a single land battle can bring about a complete victory.

In a naval battle, the militia soldiers of Zhihaizhai might be able to hold out a little longer, but they would be killed by fishermen, which would be even more shameful.

Therefore, no matter how many militia soldiers there are, the imperial court is not afraid.

Instead, they encouraged militia commanders to act arbitrarily when recruiting soldiers, using numbers to counter quality, making it easier to suppress rioters...

There are five hundred guards and ten deputy hundred guards. Even if the military camp is short of personnel, there will definitely be one.

Li Yunbo was forced by Zhang Gui's questioning and had no choice but to tell the truth, "General,
Zhihai Village was originally owned by your Pingyang Zhang family;
The Li family of Muxiangchuan where I live;
Erected by the Tao family of Zhehai and the Zhao family of Xiongsen Island.

Therefore, regardless of the rise and fall of the military camp, officials above the rank of deputy guard can only be held by the sons of our four families.

Even today, although most of the personnel are still vacant, there are still some who are not even a hundred guards or deputy hundred guards.

But, Tao Songbai, the former governor of the military camp, had a close personal relationship with Zhang Yan, the powerful man from Heimu Town on the Giant Snake Island in Waiyeyang, who was once your Zhang family's ancestor.

About ten years ago, Zhang Yan's men would occasionally transport goods from Heimu Town to the village..."

Zhang Gui interrupted Lao Li with his eyes wide open.

"Are you saying that Zhihai Village became the port where Zhang Yan used to smuggle goods to the inland for personal gain ten years ago without the knowledge of his family?"

Li Yunbo corrected dryly, "That's exactly it.

What’s even worse is that Zhang Yan’s fleet is still bringing in cargo from time to time.”

“But Zhang Yan is no longer the head steward of the Zhang family in Pingyang. He is a sea-based bandit who has murdered his own family and betrayed his clan.

If we catch Lian Tang, we can tear him into pieces without any hesitation.

At this point, he had no scruples at all.

Who knows, he might suddenly get the urge to invade a county and become a rebel leader.

If they are mixed together, once something happens, it will not be as simple as smuggling for profit.

How many heads do you have?

“That’s exactly why all the hundred guards and deputy hundred guards in the village have taken sick leave to recuperate.

I'm afraid he will never show up again in this lifetime."...

Zhihai Village is similar to Zhang Gui’s previous life, a “self-financing and independent business unit”.

The logic behind this is that several local powerful people in Pingyang County used to protect their property and reputation.

After spending a lot of money on favors and public relations with higher-ups, we got a self-financed and self-managed eighth-grade militia organization.

At the beginning, the bosses contributed money and effort for their own interests and face, and the government office was running prosperously.

But time passes.

The big guys who were in charge of this matter are all old and weak, and either died of old age or gave up their positions and retired.

However, as the situation changed, the role of this yamen became less and less, even close to zero.

As a result, the boss's family began to be reluctant to continue investing. However, in any stable and mature government in any dimension, abolishing something that affects the stability of the organizational structure is more difficult than establishing it.

Therefore, although Zhihai Village no longer has any need to exist, it must exist.

Even if it has become a cancer now...

Zhihai Village has become such a quagmire that it is hard to say how many successful people the descendants of the four families, Zhang, Li, Tao and Zhao, can become.

Even they all knew that the military camp was in danger because of its involvement with the pirate Zhang Yan.

Even if part of the reason is because they are the parties involved and the ducks know when the river water is warm in spring, this matter must be no secret among the top management of the four companies.

After understanding the cause and effect clearly and adding his own experience, Zhang Gui guessed the truth after a little thought and suddenly laughed out loud.
“In that case, Zhang Yan’s power at sea has actually frightened all four of our clans.

Especially our Pingyang Zhang family, whose younger brother died and whose father was implicated and had to abdicate in disgrace, the new head of the family, Zhang Qitai.

I was also frightened by the person who started all this.

However, Zhihai Village could not be withdrawn. It did not matter that the village was missing a hundred guards and deputy hundred guards, but it was really unacceptable that there was no commander-in-chief.

The current commander of the military camp must be a member of the Zhang family.

As a result, just at that moment, a big shot of the Zhang family in Pingyang casually sent me, a lowly person who hadn't even had a generation name a few days ago, to take the blame.

What a thoughtful person!

Ha ha ha ha…"

But I don't understand why you, the deputy commander, would stay in the village all this time, Mr. Li?"

When Li Yunbo heard Zhang Gui's laughter, he felt his heartbeat quicken for some reason, and he felt dizzy and his head swelled. He trembled and said:
“I, I’m already ninety years old.

There was a plague a few years ago, and all the children and grandchildren died.

While we are alive now, we are also accumulating good karma for our next life.

To be honest, if he wasn't too old, it would be inappropriate to promote him to the position of commander of Zhihai Village.

The clan elders disagreed.

I would have taken over this tank a long time ago."

Zhang Gui heard the sincerity in the words and stopped laughing.

After calming down for a moment, he pondered for a moment and finally asked, "Are there any stolen goods brought by Zhang Yan in the military camp now?
How often do his people usually come here?"

"Zhang Yan's people usually come to visit us once every ten days or half a month.

The leader is called Guan Xihui, who looks gentle and bookish.

But the legend goes that there is a green shrimp demon in the sea that can swallow boats and break them.

Less than half a year after becoming a bandit, he got the nickname "Green Shrimp Demon".

The last time he came was on the 28th day of the lunar year.

Not only did they fail to bring in any goods, but they also took away thousands of red and white spears, swords, ringmails and other items stored in the military camp.

Calculating the time, excluding the Chinese New Year, it’s time to come after the Lantern Festival.”

Zhang Gui was stunned, "So many weapons were taken away from us, it doesn't look like they were looted.

This means that after Zhang Yan overthrew Tiangang, he did not just become a pirate, but also reopened his own weapons workshop.

He's really versatile."

"Ok?"

"That is to say, Zhang Dakou is not only an expert at piracy now, but he also maintains his previous ability to run a part-time smuggling business in overseas towns.

And I used to know his subordinate, Guan Xihui, who was good at tearing whale sharks apart.

He is also a capable person.

I'll be there next time I come."

As he spoke, Zhang Gui couldn't help but grit his teeth when he thought of Guan Xihui's gentle smile and his face with teeth as hard as steel and eyes showing a beast's heart.

(End of this chapter)