open sea

Chapter 647
The two soldiers with helmets and guns falling back to Xiaohongying were taken by Chen Mu to the easternmost end of the sand table. On the model of the Nantang ship, the anchor had already fallen into Repulse Bay.

He half squatted on the edge of the sand table, raised two fingers and explained to the emperor: "Two guards, Beiyang can train two guard recruits a year, and when recruiting them, I signed a contract to serve the country for five years. "

"In January, the first batch of recruits began to practice. In February, the recruiters and officers set off to go to various places; in June, the recruits returned, and the second batch of soldiers went into training. In July, the recruiters set off. Training; in the twelfth lunar month, the first phase of the army is completed, and the third phase of recruits is put into training. This will continue to be the case in the coming year. In March, the second phase of the army is qualified for land combat and begins naval training."

"Training officers and recruiting officers will be served by students from the North and South Lecture Hall. Their armor and horse boats will be temporarily deployed by Nanyang and the North and South Military Bureau. It is planned that they will be fully supplied from Beiyang after two years."

Chen Mu counted to the emperor with his fingers: "Beiyang currently has a military bureau, a shipyard, and a ship repair yard. There are military fields and local factories. The minister's staff calculated that the money and food can be eaten by the two guards. use,"

Listening to Chen Mu's general description of the operation of the Beiyang Military Mansion, little Wanli Titi, who was not yet accustomed to wearing breeches, also squatted next to the sand table in a similar manner, saying: "North and South Lecture Hall teaches eight hundred generals a year, Beiyang trains [-] soldiers a year, and after five years the veterans return home one after another, and the imperial court can have [-] more available soldiers, Bozhen Jinghai is right, right?"

"Your Majesty's calculations are correct, because the military pay of the Beiyang Army is not fixed. The military salary of ordinary recruits is 12 taels a year. In the case of the best in all tactical subjects, the military salary and bonus are 24 taels. If you make enough meritorious service overseas And if they survive, they can receive a military salary of 48 taels a year at most."

As Chen Mu spoke, he heard the little emperor crouching on the ground and murmured something to himself, and quickly added: "In fact, the soldiers who can receive 48 taels of military pay and survive are selected one in a thousand, so if the veterans are good enough when they retire, they can They choose to stay in the army, after all, it is very difficult for them to find such lucrative jobs in China.”

Hearing that not everyone can receive 48 taels of military pay, the little emperor's brows relaxed—the annual salary of 240 Beiyang soldiers costs [-] million taels of silver, not counting food, who can bear it?
Even so, Wanli shook his head and whispered: "Five years, five years is too long, next year I will be old enough to be in charge. The teacher may not return to power, but after three years it will be my turn to be the master of the house Right? How can you do without soldiers, the Beijing camp looks far inferior to the Beiyang army, and you still have to send people overseas...how can you do this?"

Chen Mu was confused by these words. It sounds like the emperor has his own plan. He asked, "What is Your Majesty planning to use the army for?"

"What do you use soldiers for? I want to use soldiers. What else can I do?" Spreading his hands, the little emperor picked up two terracotta warriors from the sand table and put them on the boat. The terracotta warriors said: "I'll give you two more, and the remaining [-] will belong to me. Here is my head. There must be three more."

As he spoke, the terracotta warriors symbolizing the Beiyang new army were picked up by the little hands and placed in the place of the King of Korea, then another one was placed in Jianzhou, and the last one was placed in the former place of the three guards in Wuliangha, north of the Great Wall. Xi said : "Wear a helmet, you are not afraid of anything."

The little brat talks in a different way. Chen Mu heard Qi Jiguang talk about the idea of ​​retaking the homeland of Wuliangha Sanwei outside the Great Wall to consolidate the border defense, but it seems that the young emperor's idea is not to consolidate the border defense.

A terracotta warrior was pinched in Wanli's hand, gestured to the north of the Great Wall outside the Great Wall and asked, "The land here is very cold, and we can't grow much food. Is it useful?"

Chen Mu was very excited by Wanli's question.

At this time, the Tsar should be exploring east Siberia.

"Your Majesty knows that since ancient times, this land has nurtured one strong nomadic people after another, and they are all good fighters; there are grasslands where horses and sheep can be raised; there are rivers, where rivers can catch fish and refine rubber; There are forests, and the forests can cut good timber; underground there are ores and kerosene."

"It may not be of much use to us now, but in the future, 100 or 200 years later, when the transportation is more convenient, we will be able to obtain inexhaustible resources, which will be a blessing to future generations."

Chen Mu paused for a while, and said: "As of now, I have proved that the Mongolian cavalry and Jurchen warriors can be used by the court, and King Guiyi has provided the court with more than [-] troops. As long as this trust lasts , Tumed Department can be used by His Majesty."

"great!"

As soon as Chen Mu's words fell, Xiao Wanli had already placed the terracotta warriors in his hand on the position of Tu Mochuan, and said: "This year, the students of the Xuanfu Lecture Hall will graduate, and I will select a few confidantes and invite them to meet in person at home. See, let them lead hundreds of households to settle in each department, and give the sons of the leaders of each department to enter the Imperial Academy, those who can inherit the tribe, go back to inherit the tribe, and those who cannot inherit, go home to promote Sinology."

"When I am in charge, I will promote hundreds of households to thousands of households and commanders, make up a new army of guards, and fight west and north with the Mongolian soldiers to lay down a vast territory."

Chen Mu didn't say anything, and I answered the tribute, which actually just confirmed that the imperial court had reached a settlement with the rising Tumed Ministry and had a cooperative relationship. The alliance may not be counted, and the immediate conquest is farther away.

Wanli's plan for the first half was very good, but the second half was too difficult.

It doesn't hurt to recruit some prisoners and idlers who affect the stability of the tribe to be used by the court.

But Wanli's idea is obviously to directly promote the substantive annexation, and it seems that he has not planned to go to war. It is difficult to simply deter.

Wanli is very smart. Although he is still young, he has already learned to read people's faces under Zhang Juzheng's careful teaching. Seeing that Chen Mu was silent, he first laughed a little unconfidently: "Jing Haibo don't worry too much, There are still a few years before I will be in charge, and these things will not be settled until then."

Pathetic.

He was really afraid of being scolded, Zhang Ju just didn't like his militarism, not to mention Empress Dowager Li and Feng Bao, occasionally sent someone to send a letter to Qi Jiguang to ask some questions, and he had to worry about letting Mr. Zhang know that there was nothing he could do end.

Those old men in the Ministry of War would not talk to him about these things, so there was only Chen Mu who had a relatively independent authority.

If this one is scared away by him again, little Wanli will suffocate to death!

"I didn't think about anything. In ancient times, we didn't occupy the grassland much. In the next 100 years, the emperor may not be able to really occupy the grassland or even the forest in the north. But if we talk about opportunities, China has the opportunity to completely occupy the vast land in the north. These are the years His Majesty has been in power."

"In terms of weapons and armaments, we are no longer behind anyone. In the next few decades, silver, gold, steel, war horses, population, and territory will all increase day by day. People's lives will be more prosperous, and science and technology in all aspects will also be greatly improved. , the most prosperous and possibly the most powerful country in history will be born under His Majesty's rule, as I said long ago, for Your Majesty, nothing is impossible."

"If even America and Europe can try to touch it, I think the north can also try it. We only need an emperor."

The smile on Chen Mu's face gradually faded, looking at Xiao Wanli in military uniform, he said, "It's not a wise emperor like Emperor Sejong, but a heroic ruler like Emperor Chengzu."

(End of this chapter)