Mainly because some people say that the protagonist has more than 10,000 soldiers all day long, so I have to clarify.
How many soldiers does the protagonist have? Let me give a conclusion: there are less than 1913 people, and the cost is not all borne by oneself. The armor, weapons, and consumables that cost the most basically come from seizures.
Break them down one by one below.
Part One: Silver Spear Army
There are currently 3,600 people working part-time. In addition to training, they also tend to orchards and vegetable beds, plant a small amount of land, and graze livestock.
Each soldier received 36 hu of food per year, mainly distributed to his family members, if any.
Each soldier received three pieces of silk every year, which were distributed to his family members.
A soldier's annual ration is about 32-33 hu, which is twice that of ordinary people. It is supported by five designated households. If it is not enough, the semi-off-the-job people can earn it themselves, such as cheese made from cow and goat milk produced by grazing livestock. , livestock slaughtered regularly, etc.
So they are semi-employed, which is emphasized more than once in the book.
I count 1,800 people.
What is the most expensive part of a soldier's life? Not food, not silk rewards, but weapons and armor.
Take the Tang Dynasty as an example.
During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, there were approximately 580,000 troops in the country, including 160,000 mounted cavalry and mounted infantry.
After the Anshi Rebellion, during the Jianzhong period of Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, there were a total of 768,000 central imperial troops and local vassal troops.
During the Muzong period of the Tang Dynasty, due to population recovery, it rose to over 990,000.
It has remained basically unchanged since then and has been fluctuating around this number.
In the late Tang Dynasty, due to the long-term segregation of vassal towns, even if there were wars, they were limited to local areas. Therefore, the population recovered rapidly, with no less than 35 million, or close to 40 million. The most radical scholars believe that the population even returned to the prosperous Tang Dynasty during the Huichang period of Emperor Wuzong of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the evidence is that Hebei's population was close to that of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, and some counties even had several more townships.
I calculate based on 35 million, that is, 7 million households can support one million soldiers, and seven households can support one soldier.
Why can we raise so many?
Quite simply, what soldiers spend most is not on rations, but on combat readiness supplies.
For example, in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, a horse was worth 40 pieces of ordinary silk. According to the price of silk at that time, it was about 20 guan. In the Northern Song Dynasty, this number would skyrocket to more than 200 guan.
The price of a horse is almost enough to feed a full-time professional soldier for a year, so it is very difficult to buy one.
I haven't found a definite price for the armor, and there are different opinions, but what is certain is that it is more expensive than a horse.
There is also the loss of training equipment.
Which thing is not much more expensive than food rations?
In ancient times, it was said that "XX households" could raise a soldier, and many people subconsciously thought that it would take just a few households to earn the rations of a soldier.
In fact, in ancient times, the calculation was based on the general ledger, that is, how many households of common people could provide taxes to cover the expenses of a full-time professional soldier - in the case of small losses in the middle, the minimum number was five households.
If you only count the cost of food for a soldier, even if his food consumption in a year is more than twice that of ordinary people, it is really not worth mentioning.
The biggest expense of the Silver Spear Army: the iron armor, the protagonist has purchased it, and from now on there will only be depreciation expenses.
Weapons: Same.
Training supplies are the relatively least among the three. They used to rely on inventory, but now they have seized a batch, and in the long run they rely on the Imperial Army.
In other words, the biggest expense of the Silver Spear Army is not borne by the people under the protagonist's rule. If I count 1,800 people here, it is too much.
In fact, they only bear food and part of the silk reward.
Part Two: Yamen Army
There are currently 5,200 people, this is the Forbidden Army! Forbidden army! Forbidden army!
Say important things three times.
They are raised by the imperial court, and the protagonist does not pay for them, do you understand?
Someone actually included them in the protagonist’s number of soldiers. Didn’t you read the book?
Part Three: Long Sword Army/Fu Bing.
There are currently 900 people.
Why do we need to set up government troops? Because their maintenance costs are extremely low, they only require a one-time land investment in the initial stage, and their combat effectiveness is quite good, so they can be used for decades or a hundred years.
A hundred years later, if you let their descendants continue to serve as soldiers, they will not be happy and will beg you to become civilian households.
During the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty, when he attacked Nanzhao, Yang Guozhong even had his soldiers handcuffed and sent to the front line to force them to fight.
Therefore, the Tang Dynasty suffered repeated defeats in Nanzhao. Those soldiers were already rubbish. They only had more than ten acres of land at home. Their skills and equipment were not good, and they were extremely resistant to fighting. Only undefeated soldiers were considered ghosts.
But in the early stage, Fu soldiers are low-cost, high-performance soldiers that are easy to use.
I don’t understand why some people include government soldiers in the protagonist’s number of soldiers?
Part Four: Hebei surrenders its troops.
There are currently 3,300 people.
They farm, farm, farm themselves!
Say important things three times.
Have you never heard of the ancient field soldiers? Do the guardsmen of the Ming Dynasty always know? Farm your own land, pay yourself with the output, and then support the health center officials.
The protagonist doesn't support them, do you understand? Even with some subsidies, it would be enough to support three to five hundred people.
Part Five: Janissaries.
There are 113 people in total. These are all full-time professional soldiers raised by the protagonist himself.
To sum up, the actual cost of raising soldiers for the protagonist is only over a thousand, and most of the cost has been covered at once, and the rest is maintenance expenses.
How could anyone calculate more than 10,000?
It’s all very clear in the book, right?
Don’t we count the cost of weapons and armor that are covered at one time?
Don't you calculate the value of Fu Bing's land?
Don't we count the money and food allocated by the imperial court to support the Yamen Army?
Don’t you count the proceeds from seizures?
It's strange.
