My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 81 Qingtian
Datong.

"Dazhu!"

Zhao Dazhu rode a horse, followed by a dozen fellow villagers, back to the village.

When the villagers guarding the village saw Zhao Dazhu coming back, they hurriedly asked the villagers to open the gate of the fort. Zhao Dazhu and his brothers rushed into the fort.

The village where Zhao Dazhu lives is very close to the border and was often invaded by Altan's tribe in the past. In recent years, Zhao Dazhu led the villagers to buy horses on the grassland, and used the money from selling horses to arm the local militia. He also led the villagers to strengthen the fort, which resulted in a few years of peace.

An old man came out of the house. Zhao Dazhu quickly dismounted and said:

"Uncle, aren't you sick? Just take care of yourself."

The old man leaned on his cane and said:

"It's okay, it's okay. Dazhu, go home first. Your mother is waiting for you at home."

Zhao Dazhu's father died early and he was raised by his mother. When he heard his second uncle talking about his mother, he handed the material account book to his second uncle and hurried home.

Seeing her son, Aunt Zhao was very excited. Selling horses on the grassland was an illegal business. The horse bandits, the cavalry of Altan Khan's tribe, and the border troops patrolling the border would be wiped out if they made any mistakes, and even the entire village would be implicated.

But then again, who would do such a risky business if they didn't have to make a living?

The mother and son briefly reminisced about the past, and Aunt Zhao then said, "A few days ago, Captain Zhao sent someone to say that the court wanted to send troops, and asked you to return quickly."

The Qing army was an important inspection system in the Ming Dynasty.

The Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang designed the Weisuo system. Zhu Yuanzhang once proudly said: "I can support a million soldiers without spending a single grain of rice from the people."

The two key systems of the Weisuo were the father-to-son inheritance system and the military settlement system.

The son succeeds the father, that is, when a regular soldier of a garrison becomes old, sick or dies, his son or a close relative will take his place in the army to ensure the number of troops.

Of course, in many cases, the descendants of military households were unwilling to join the army, so the "Qing Army" came into being.

The so-called "Qing army" refers to the Qing army censors and Qing army officers who regularly clean up the military registration and check the implementation of follow-up and supplementary matters.

Zhao Dazhu's father was a soldier. After his father died in battle, he should have been recruited into the army.

However, the situation in Datong has changed again.

Another pillar of the Weisuo system was the military farming system, in which military households engaged in military farming in peacetime and produced their own food to meet the needs of the army.

In the early Ming Dynasty, this system was naturally implemented well.

But by the Longqing period, the land of the military garrisons had long been occupied by powerful people, and the remaining land was simply not enough to support so many garrison soldiers.

Systems are dead, but people still have to live.

The Wei Suo system designed by Zhu Yuanzhang gradually changed.

First, hereditary garrison soldiers like Zhao Dazhu began to find their own way out. Since they could not make a living by following the garrison, they had no choice but to work on their own.

Whether working as a tenant farmer or smuggling like Zhao Dazhu, a living person cannot starve to death.

The captains and centurions of the garrisons turned a blind eye to this and even tacitly allowed these garrison soldiers to leave the army.

Anyway, if the court allocates rewards or military pay, if these garrison soldiers don't accept it, the money will go into the pockets of the centurions and thousand-householders.

Once you encounter the "Qing army" of the imperial court, just recruit the soldiers back to the barracks like this. If all else fails, just catch a few beggars and bad guys from the city and let them pretend to be soldiers and report to the Qing army censor.

After Zhao Dazhu's father died, he also participated in the Qing army twice.

But his mother said worriedly:

"Mother heard that the Qing army this time is different from previous years. In short, you should be careful and bear with it, and don't cause trouble for the centurion."

"I understand."

Then Zhao said worriedly:

"Datong was just relieved a few days ago. Why don't you go out of the border for the time being?" Zhao Dazhu knew that his mother was concerned about his safety, but the entire village had hundreds of people, and they would starve to death sooner or later relying on the few wastelands in the village. They all relied on him to lead them out of the border for a living.

But Zhao Dazhu was a filial son, so he comforted his mother and said:

"This time my son brought back a lot of things, so he stayed at home to rest for a while."

Zhao then smiled and said:
"Mom has saved some money. When these things happen, I'll find someone to talk to Mrs. Fang for you. We will live a good life in the Zhao family in the future."

Zhao Dazhu felt bitter. As a military household, which daughter would be willing to marry him?

The daughters of military households in the same village were all trying to find ways to marry out of the military and escape from military service.
-
In the residence of Lieutenant General Datong, under the dim candlelight, Lieutenant General Zheng Nian squinted his eyes and looked at his officers.

This was a secret meeting. Datong Lieutenant General Zheng Nian looked around at his subordinates and said:
"This time the imperial court transferred southern troops to the north, I'm afraid there is a deeper meaning."

The military leaders present began to discuss. Zheng Nian saw that the atmosphere was becoming lively and spoke again:
"The treacherous officials in the court have long been dissatisfied with our Datong military garrison. As soon as the southern troops arrive, the court will send people to clear the fields and clear the troops."

Hearing about Qingtian and Qingjun, the military leaders present started to make noise again.

The Qing army is relatively easy to deal with. We can just capture some heads to make up the numbers, and at worst we can bribe the Qing army officials.

It’s not easy to clear the fields.

The military farms of the Weisuo have been almost completely occupied since the founding of the country.

Most of the fields owned by the military leaders present were occupied farmlands from the military garrisons.

In addition, the property rights of those that were sold were chaotic. Not only the military households of the garrisons, but also the local nobles, local government offices, and even the Dai Wang Mansion in Datong were involved.

But after investigating the field, the responsibility was finally placed on the guard post.

The court did not ask how these lands were transferred, but only asked why the military farms in your garrison were no longer registered. No one can be held responsible.

Sure enough, as soon as Qingtian was mentioned, the military leaders present could no longer sit still.

Someone shouted:

"The imperial court has withheld our rewards and transferred troops from the south to the north. This clearly shows that they don't trust us!"

"My family has served the Ming Dynasty on the frontier for seven generations, and this is how the court treats us! We might as well rebel against them!"

Zheng Nian slammed the table and scolded a few military leaders who were talking nonsense, then let everyone return to their respective guard posts.

"Captain Zhao, please stay for a moment."

After everyone dispersed, Lieutenant General Zheng Nian said:

"Someone from the capital has passed on a message that the Qing army will not be able to get away with clearing the fields this time by using the same methods as in previous years."

Zhao Cheng was Zheng Nian's confidant, and he immediately understood what his boss meant. He said:
"Commander-in-Chief, I have a military householder named Zhao Dazhu under my command. He has made a living by trading horses on the grasslands in previous years and is quite prestigious within the garrison."

"I'm going to find a pretext to arrest Zhao Dazhu, and then incite him to start a mutiny."

Zhao Chengguo was indeed a close friend, and Zheng Nian was very satisfied with his reaction.

He asked again:

"Will things get out of hand?"

Zhao Cheng patted his chest and said, "They are just farmers. It won't be a big deal. The lieutenant general just needs to exaggerate it and report it to the court."

Zheng Nian nodded. Using his subordinates' mutiny to threaten the imperial court was also a common tactic used by border military generals.

As long as the imperial court surrendered and paid the reward money owed by Datong, Zheng Nian would lead troops to appease the people.

Zheng Nian said:

"The superiors have already promised that if there's any unrest in Datong, they'll petition to withdraw the southern troops. Once the ringleader, Zhao Dazhu, is executed, I'll remember your contribution!"

(End of this chapter)