Ever since Yan Jizu, Zhao Caiming and others finished drinking at the Governor's Mansion, news spread that Liu Yan was going to reorganize the troops in various guard posts in Shandong.
When Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty created the guard system, his original intention was to imitate the imperial military system of the Tang Dynasty and establish a national standing army with sufficient strength, wide distribution, and sufficient combat power at the lowest cost. Therefore, in addition to the various guards, there are also some special guards in the vassal fiefdoms across the country, that is, the vassal guards in various places.
For example, Jinan Prefecture City has the guards of King De, Qingzhou Prefecture City has the guards of King Qi and King of Han, and Yanzhou Prefecture City has the guard of King Lu. Although these guards are also under the jurisdiction of the five major governors, and the vassal kings of various regions have no right to mobilize them, but in the chaotic times of the late Ming Dynasty, not to mention that the five major governors have ceased to exist in name only and have been completely reduced to "honorary titles". The commanders of the guards of the vassals in various places, The commander-in-chief also became the vassal of the feudal king, and the guards and horses also became the actual troops of many feudal kings.
Of course, it was only the great vassals like King De and King Zhou who had the real power to mobilize the vassal king's guard force. After all, they were only a minority. The relationship between most feudal kings and their guards is similar to that of mutual assistance and each getting what they need.
Therefore, when the news came out that Liu Yan was going to completely abolish the guards in various places and reorganize the troops in Shandong, not only the guards and generals in various places were in panic, but even the vassal kings in Shandong were greatly shocked.
So the vassal kings from all over the country contacted secretly and wanted to collectively report to the court to impeach Liu Yan.
Less than half a month later, Liu Yan had received the news from the Intelligence Department. Liu Yan actually had a headache for the vassals everywhere. kill
Hong Chengchou had hired a general who was auxiliary to the country, which had caused him a lot of trouble. Hong Chengchou wrote twice, asking him to explain the situation and promptly write an apology letter to Emperor Chongzhen. However, Liu Yan accused Zhu Shuxing of "intending to rebel." He refuted it on the grounds that he led his troops to suppress it.
Then the military pay and food distributed by the Ministry of War to various parts of Shandong was reduced by 10%. This can be regarded as a lesson for Liu Yan from Hong Chengchou, the chief minister of the cabinet.
At this time, facing the backlash from the vassals from various places, Liu Yan decided to focus on surveillance by the Intelligence Department and collect relevant information as much as possible after thinking again and again. At the same time, the Qianhu Station, Baihu Station and various guards guarding various places should be reorganized first.
Dongchang Mansion, Pingshan Guard.
Pingshan Guard Commander Zheng Yi stood on the school grounds and looked at the guardsmen who had been summoned from various places including Qianhu Station, Baihu Station, Tunbao and Huolu Dun. Sicheng Jia Hongyu smiled apologetically and said, "Master Jia, the situation here is indeed not very good. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
At this time, Jia Hongyu had been promoted from the Dasong Guard Integrity Officer to become the Chief of the Shogunate's Military Department. It could be regarded as a shotgun exchange for a cannon, and he had stepped onto a new level in life.
Jia Hongyu looked at the more than a thousand guardsmen who had gathered in front of him, frowning and looking sad, and said: "Commander Zheng, you are a little unreasonable. Although now the country and the dynasty are eating empty pay, people everywhere are All the military households are fleeing, but you, a Pingshan Guard, should have 5,600 soldiers on the military roll, but now there are only more than 1,000, and most of them are old, weak and disabled soldiers. I can't handle this situation!"
"Haha, sir, you are so noble, we should remember it in our hearts!"
Jia
Hong Yu looked at Zheng Yi who handed over the silver coins, waved his hands hurriedly and said: "Don't harm me, the governor has an order: officials in the shogunate who are corrupt and violate the law will be punished with an additional penalty! Take it back."
"Yes, yes, I don't dare anymore."
"well!"
Jia Hongyu may have been reorganizing the soldiers in various guards during this time, and he was used to seeing all kinds of bad scenes. At this time, he just sighed and said: "Okay, let's start working. Come here, register all the soldiers." Register to verify life, health center affiliation, age, family size, etc."
"yes!"
Among the troops brought by Jia Hongyu, in addition to officials from the shogunate's military department, there was also a group of soldiers from the right battalion of the New Army. At this time, everyone began to enter the school grounds to run errands.
Commander Zheng Yize came over anxiously and said, "Sir, after this verification is completed, what will happen to me and these subordinates? Are we all going to be dismissed as rumored?"
Jia Hongyu said: "Not necessarily. After the verification is completed, I will demobilize the soldiers under the age of fourteen and over forty on the spot. The remaining soldiers who are strong and without disabilities will be reorganized and trained. Those who pass the test will be incorporated into the Dongchang Prefecture garrison."
"What about the general banners, hundreds of households, and thousands of households at all levels?"
"It's the same. Anyone who doesn't meet the regulations will be dismissed and severance pay will be paid according to their level."
Jia Hongyu glanced at Zheng Yi and added: "Including you."
"ah!"
Zheng Yi grimaced and said, "My subordinates should meet the requirements, right? As for the training, I will definitely work hard to pass it."
"That's good. As long as you pass the training and follow the governor's strategy, you can enter the Qinglai Town Martial Arts Hall for further training and graduate.
Once you come here, you will have a bright future. "
Zheng Yi was immediately happy, what good thing is there?
Although Liu Yan has been promoted to the governor of Shandong, the names of Qinglai Town Military Academy and Qinglai Town Martial Arts Hall have not changed. At this time, they have become famous all over Shandong, and Zheng Yi naturally knows about them.
"My subordinates must be well trained. Please rest assured, sir."
Jia Hongyu stayed at Pingshan Guard for more than ten days. After the more than 1,000 guardsmen were disbanded, only 352 remained.
Later, Jia Hongyu, accompanied by Zheng Yi, traveled throughout Pingshanwei. With the assistance of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Household Affairs, he checked the situation of military households, civilian households, and cultivated land in various places, and replenished the amount of cultivated land for all military households. , and then select qualified young adults and recruit them into the guard.
But even so, due to the serious desertion of military households, the number of troops was still far behind. Jia Hongyu selected some young men from civilian households and incorporated them into the guard station.
However, these civilian households have not been converted into military households, because Liu Yan plans to convert all military households into civilian households on the spot after reorganizing the strength of the Shandong Guards Station, and now Qingzhou Prefecture and Laizhou Prefecture have begun pilot projects Since then, those civilian households serving as soldiers no longer need to be military households.
After a busy period, Jia Hongyu replenished all the 5,600 soldiers of Pingshan Guard, and then left the officials of the shogunate military department and a group of new army soldiers at Pingshan Guard to continue training the Pingshan Guard soldiers and horses. Jia Hongyu himself prepared to take the The men went to Texas Guard to reorganize.
Commander Zheng Yi specially prepared a farewell wine for Jia Hongyu. During this period, Zheng Yi was very active and assisted Jia Hongyu in everything. He also revived his long-lost martial arts skills.
Xin picked it up, which made Jia Hongyu look at it with admiration.
After drinking for three rounds, Jia Hongyu said with a smile: "When the training here is completed, I will recommend Commander Zheng to go to Qingzhou Fucheng. Then he will study hard at the Qinglai Town Martial Arts Hall and serve the governor after he completes his studies."
Zheng Yi patted his chest and said, "Don't worry, sir, I understand."
Just like Jia Hongyu, at this time, the shogunate's military department sent more than a dozen teams to various prefectures, states, and counties to dismantle and reorganize the garrison soldiers throughout Shandong.
After more than a month of reorganization, almost all the guard posts in Shandong have gone through the process of dismantling and recruiting. Guard soldiers from various places who have replenished their strength have begun full-time drills and strict reorganization training.
The cultivated land in the soldiers' families was cultivated by their families, or the soldiers' families with a small population directly leased the cultivated land and became small landowners, collecting the rent.
As a result, Liu Yan's military strength increased greatly. In addition to the eight battalions of the New Army, there were also a considerable number of guardsmen and horses who were undergoing training.
In May, Jinan Fucheng, Governor's Mansion.
Tian Huixu, the Minister of War of the shogunate, was reporting to Liu Yan with the troop strength reported by various guards.
"My lord, the guards in various places and the guards of each vassal king have all completed training. The total number of troops has reached 137,000, of which the total number of guards of each vassal king is 25,000."
Tian Huixu looked solemn and said: "Master Governor, these 137,000 people currently do not receive military pay. They still rely on the output of the military villages as their income. The Ministry of War has supplemented the amount of cultivated land for them, which has also made their lives much better. .”
"Just according to the governor's plan, the next step
It is necessary to select the best among 137,000 people and carry out downsizing. At that time, the military expenditure of the Ministry of War will increase sharply. Even if it is doubled, the financial pressure on the shogunate will be great. "
Liu Yan said: "The Governor knows this and has expected it for a long time. However, Minister Tian should not use the current fiscal and tax revenue to measure future expenditures. Our Governor's Office is in charge of the entire Shandong Province. Now the Ministry of Commerce has begun to fully bloom. The iron yard and various workshops have begun to expand greatly. Mines are being opened, workshops are being built, and shops are being set up everywhere. In time, the revenue of the Ministry of Commerce will increase dramatically."
"The same is true for the Chamber of Commerce. Now merchants from Yanzhou Prefecture, Dengzhou Prefecture, Jinan Prefecture, and Dongchang Prefecture have begun to join the association on a large scale, and the income from membership fees and commercial tax revenue has surged. There are even merchants from South Zhili and North Zhili. Let’s discuss joining the association. My old Taishan complained to me last time, saying that he was so busy that he didn’t even have time to eat, so he asked me to give him an extra salary.”
Tian Huixu said with a smile: "I think President Wang is energetic and stronger than ordinary young people. He can work for at least another ten years!"
"Ha ha."
Liu Yan continued: "So don't worry about military expenses, just go ahead and do it. When the garrisons in various places are built, the Ministry of Commerce, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Ministry of Agriculture will naturally provide enough money and food."
Tian Huixu clasped his fists and said, "My subordinates have learned a lesson."
"Is there anything else?"
"have."
Tian Huixu put away his smile and said: "Master Governor, now the voices of opposition from the feudal kings everywhere are getting louder and louder. Even when people from the Ministry of War were training the feudal king's guards, they encountered resistance many times. If it hadn't been for King De's several They sent people to deal with it, but it is estimated that the training in various places will not be completed now.
"
"The next step for the Ministry of War is to follow the governor's plan and start reorganizing the local garrisons. My subordinates are worried that the reaction from the local vassal kings will be even more intense by then, so..."
Liu Yan waved his hand and said: "The Ministry of War just continues with the next plan and don't be affected by these external factors. As for the vassal kings, I will find a way."
Tian Huixu said: "No matter how much I say, although the vassal kings in various places do not have military and political power, and they have no affiliation with the vassal kings' guards, most of them are just collusion, but after all, the vassal kings have direct access to Tianting, they are not General of the auxiliary country, your supervisors should think twice before acting."
Liu Yan smiled and said, "I have taken note of Minister Tian's reminder."
"Then my subordinates will leave first."
After Tian Huixu left, the smile on Liu Yan's face gradually disappeared. He looked at the map of Shandong that had just been replaced in the main hall. At this time, the positions of various vassal kings were marked on it.
"I don't want to fall out with the vassal kings. I can give them a chance, but it also depends on whether they know what's going on!"
