The "guard station system" or the "military household garrison system" was an important part of the court's ability to stabilize the situation in the early Ming Dynasty. It was one of the main ways that Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, rewarded all his soldiers. It also allowed him to achieve the goal of "raising millions of soldiers but not having enough. A penny for a flower."
After years of fighting, he finally eliminated his powerful enemies internally and drove Bei Yuan away from the outside. After the world was settled, the only thing the cash-strapped Zhu Yuanzhang could do was to acquire a large tract of unclaimed land, and he could achieve the best of both worlds.
As a result, tens of thousands of soldiers can guard the border with peace of mind. Obtaining dozens of acres of land is almost a lifelong dream for most ordinary soldiers. Only with land in hand can both the military and the people's hearts be completely appeased.
Secondly, as a large amount of wasteland near the border is reclaimed, each guard station can become self-sufficient and greatly reduce the burden on the court. Otherwise, extraneous branches and troubles will inevitably arise.
However, this relatively clever strategy completely failed after the fierce land annexation process in the late Ming Dynasty. Most of the land of military households was occupied by clans, nobles, and gentry.
Coupled with the lack of pay and frequent natural disasters during the imperial period, a large number of military households became pitiful victims with neither land nor source of income.
The national land statistics in the sixth year of Kangji was 10 million hectares, but Zhang Juzheng's measurement result was 7 million hectares, which was more than 3 million hectares different from the 10 million hectares recorded in "Records of Ming Shenzong".
It can be seen that the data is basically true. This difference is the land area owned by the guard, and at present, almost all of it has been embezzled either openly or covertly.
But when it came time to actually handle the case, it almost turned into a mess, because the original owner of the land had either died or left, and the guy who occupied the magpie's nest had nothing to fear.
At present, the imperial court does not have enough manpower and time to deal with the endless cases of land embezzlement in various places one by one. The only thing it can do is to allocate a large amount of land in Nurgan Dusi to the families of the soldiers.
Due to the remote location, the rewards this time must be greater than those in the early days of this dynasty. Soldiers who go to fight in the "Northland" can receive a hundred acres of land as long as their family members are willing to accompany them.
A certain prince believed that the vassal princes who were seriously short of troops would agree to this method. It was impossible for them to take the initiative to spend money. They could only exchange large tracts of land in exchange for people's hearts.
Moreover, a certain prince was also worried that the various vassal states located in the "Northland" were relatively weak and could not withstand the aggressive Tsarist Russian army, and might even be destroyed.
Adopting the strategy of farming, it is feasible to at least defend the territory along the western Pacific coast, so that the vassal state can achieve a territory of hundreds of miles in depth.
Regarding taxes, the imperial court also reached an agreement with the vassal king in order to attract people to immigrate overseas. As long as the vassal land is cultivated within three years, the people will enjoy tax-free treatment. From four to six years, they can pay half of the tax. After six years, the vassal state will Only 20% tax is charged.
All taxes and fees collected belong to the feudal lord, and the court will never take a penny. If the vassal kingdom intends to purchase various goods produced in this country, it can be exchanged by barter. The specific types, styles, prices and quantities will be provided by both parties at that time. As agreed.
As the combat effectiveness of the guardsmen became increasingly low, a certain prince no longer wanted to spend a lot of money on reorganizing and training them, so he simply arranged for them to move overseas in batches and give them to the vassals from each country, just in time to invest in them. Its good.
Judging from the bad situation in western Liaoning, this move is very feasible.
As long as Huang Taiji's army is dispatched, the guards stationed in the local fields can only shrink to various strongholds and spend the whole day in panic, watching the pigtails harvest their crops.
If the food is grown for the braids, so that the braids can eat and drink enough and then go into the pass to plunder everywhere, then what is the point of such farming in western Liaoning? It is equivalent to capitalizing on the enemy!
In the Western Liaoning War Zone, it was better not to plant crops than to let the pigtails take away all the farmers during the autumn harvest. For the imperial court, this was simply a great shame and humiliation.
Although there are still 70,000 troops in western Liaoning, they have long lost the determination and courage to fight in the field and can only implement turtle tactics throughout the year.
After Braid created a large number of Hongyi cannons, most of the small strongholds became veritable targets and could be captured at any time.
Taking the initiative to abandon these fragile small strongholds is a top priority. It is estimated that Lao Wangtou is starting to supervise this matter, but the cycle will be relatively long.
Many military households outside the customs still have a sense of luck, thinking that they can complete the harvest before the pigtails come. It's okay to say that south of Ningyuan, the area north of Ningyuan to Jinzhou is a dangerous zone.
Braid has heavily stationed troops in Yizhou, which means that within a day and night, their cavalry can appear anywhere north of Ningyuan. It is completely fanciful for military households to want to harvest crops safely.
A certain prince estimated that Huang Taiji had suffered this defeat, and because he heard that Emperor Chongzhen was unconscious, he would definitely mobilize before the autumn harvest. Similar to the last time, one group of troops would rush straight into the pass, and the other group would re-siege Jinzhou.
The situation in western Liaoning can be divided into three types: generally bad, relatively bad, and very bad!
No matter who it is, sitting in the position of Governor of Western Liaoning and reading these unfavorable reports every day, they will definitely not be in a good mood!
From the reports that the court has received, it can be seen that Zu Dashou is having sex with Lao Wang, but the two have not yet fallen out, and there is still some distance from the relationship between Yuan Chonghuan and Mao Wenlong.
It is well known to everyone that Zu Dashou relied on his troops in the Jinzhou area. Before receiving the news about Wang Zaijin, Wang Jiayan, the Minister of War, had already reported the relevant matters.
This is understandable for a certain prince. With few soldiers, Jinzhou City and peripheral strongholds cannot be defended, and the value of their own existence cannot be reflected. The tribes in western Liaoning are becoming warlords, especially Zu Dashou.
Zu Dashou and his nephew Wu Sangui are two double-edged swords inserted in the western Liaoning region. If used well, they can naturally solve problems for the court. If used poorly, they may become a negative example at any time.
After receiving a batch of grain and grass sent by Lao Wangtou and the fact that all the people in the city had been transported south to Shanhaiguan, Zu Dashou said that it could last for two years for the time being.
In other words, Jinzhou was still relatively safe until the autumn of the 14th year of the scapegoat. Huang Taiji could only adopt a long-term siege strategy for this strategic location.
Considering that Zu Dashou's second son, Zu Zepu, was still on duty in Jinyiwei and had been promoted to Deputy Qianhu, a certain prince had a bargaining chip and it was safe to let Zu Dashou continue to stick to Jinzhou.
Anyway, this guy didn't want to take the initiative to join Huang Taiji. Huang Taiji had nothing to do with him for the time being. The court still had to rely on its own troops, and Lao Wangtou didn't make things difficult for him.
Had it not been for the consideration that transferring or punishing Zu Dashou would cause great indignation among the Jinzhou garrison, there might even be a second Li Yongfang, and a "kind reminder" from a certain prince, Wang Zaijin would indeed have changed the Jinzhou garrison. .
Regarding the military affairs in western Liaoning, a certain prince did not interfere too much, and would provide the promised four million taels of silver and more than 400,000 shi of military rations.
But there is only one thing that reminds Wang Zaijin not to make the same mistake as Yuan Chonghuan, especially in dealing with the generals in western Liaoning, and not to be too hasty.
These generals have different ranks and personalities, and they cannot be generalized. At the moment, we still need to give priority to comfort and encouragement, and order them to continue to hold on to strategic locations.
Seeing that a war is imminent, only a fool can do such a thing to intensify conflicts. As long as the court does not make serious mistakes regarding border affairs, it can ensure that the western Liaoning region will have peace of mind within two years.
In fact, if Chen Xinjia, the Minister of War, who hoped to win the favor of the Holy Family with a great victory, had not repeatedly urged Hong Chengchou to lead the army to rescue Jinzhou, Huang Taiji, which had been besieging Jinzhou for two years, would not have found a good opportunity at all.
The competition between masters is to see who makes a mistake first. Once a mistake is made at a critical moment, it will undoubtedly be very fatal to the party that made the mistake.
Chen Xinjia was just a civil servant and had never been admitted to the imperial examination. According to official customs, he was not qualified to be a minister at all. He was able to climb to this position entirely with the help of Emperor Chongzhen's exceptional promotion and the "death or demotion" of his predecessors.
He was only good at writing memorials, allocating ordnance, and maintaining supplies. He knew nothing about how to lead troops in battle and achieve victory. He also had the fatal flaw of collecting money and paying his salary, and he met an emperor who was eager for quick success...
It can only be said that the defeat of the Songjin War was due to the fact that Emperor Chongzhen and Chen Xinjia teamed up to deceive Hong Chengchou, and Hong Chengchou also made a fatal mistake, which was to hoard food and grass in Beacon Mountain, which was later obtained by braids, resulting in a shortage of food on the front line, and ultimately the entire army. The army collapsed.
The Songjin War lasted for three years. Although the Ming army did not have the upper hand in terms of strength, morale, and coordination, the Ming army still fought hard and killed many enemy soldiers, including many braided generals. It ended miserably.
This is a reasonable thing, because the battlefield commander is most afraid of his immediate superiors thousands of miles away. He does not know the enemy situation on the front line, but he likes to command remotely. This is what makes Hong Chengchou most annoyed and helpless.
Considering the strength gap between the two sides, the commander-in-chief of the army may not have thought that he could repel the Qing army. He only hoped that through a long-term confrontation, he could force the Qing army to realize that it could not achieve a decisive victory and take the initiative to withdraw north. Following this The Battle of Songshan is similar.
In this way, Hong Chengchou could bring all the more than 100,000 elite Ming troops back to the pass to suppress the rogue bandits who had already set fire to the prairie fire. Otherwise, the main force of the Ming army would be wiped out outside the pass, and the Ming Dynasty would be destroyed in name only.
This arrangement was undoubtedly the best policy, but it was unacceptable in the eyes of Emperor Chongzhen. Hong Chengchou had to not only relieve the siege of Jinzhou, but also defeat Huang Taiji in order to meet his expectations.
Facing the Qing army, which is waiting for work, defeating the opponent in the field is no more than a big gamble for the current Ming army. If the gamble wins, the reward will not be much. Once it loses, it will be considered bankrupt.
Emperor Chongzhen's vision was undoubtedly completely divorced from the actual situation and became a daydream. He was like a gambler who was red-eyed after losing, hoping to make a complete comeback with the help of a lucky victory, and to be ashamed of himself.
"If all my dear friends have no objections, the imperial court can act according to this policy. The next step is to publish the battle of Songshan and its results in newspapers to boost the morale of our Ming army."
Although not many pigtails were killed, they were able to repulse Huang Taiji's attack without losing a single city. This kind of result can indeed be treated as a big book.
Rewards for this service have already been issued. Jin Guofeng was promoted to Songshan Commander-in-Chief, with a reward of 10,000 taels of silver. The ancestor's wife, Dashou, was granted the rank of second-grade imperial concubine and was rewarded with a silver reward of 10,000 taels. Anyone who dies in battle will be promoted to one level and their family members will be given corresponding silver pensions.
Any enemy who is killed, regardless of the battalion flag he belongs to, as long as the whole body remains, will be given a full reward of 100 taels of silver after inventory and verification. For this part of the reward alone, the court will have to spend nearly 50,000 taels, and other rewards will be counted. If it goes up, it will reach one hundred thousand taels.
The number of pigtails killed was close to 500. The number reported must be fictitious, but the imperial court also recognized this amount. Songshan was besieged by the Donglu, and the fighting was fierce. This was the actual situation. The 500 Donglu killed were still reimbursable by the court. within the range.
This was considered a great victory for Master Wang since Dalinghe, and it was already very rare.
After that, under the command of Emperor Chongzhen, Wang Shi was defeated all the way until he died...
The matter of the airship cannot be published in the newspapers for the time being. Even if Huang Taiji hears about it, it can only be reported back by the pigtails, and then let the bunch of pigtails over there guess.
It seems that the Ming Dynasty Air Force has not been able to form combat effectiveness in a short period of time, at least in the past two years. At most, it can only serve as an eyesore for the army, responsible for high-altitude reconnaissance and early warning.
However, a certain prince still had high hopes for using this high-tech weapon to cash in and even obtain enough mercenaries. Starting from 10,000, the more the merrier.
"My dear friends, if you have nothing else to do, you can leave the court. Non-urgent matters can be left to the court the day after tomorrow to deal with them!"
A certain prince couldn't stand the "immortal energy" spread by a group of great men. He would suffocate if he held on for a while. This was definitely a standard "biochemical attack". We should reduce the occurrence of similar situations in the future. Just fine.
The concubine is very peaceful and quiet, because going out for a long time is really a physically demanding thing. Led by the beautiful mother, all the concubines and even the younger brothers and sisters of a certain prince are still sleeping soundly.
If he hadn't been so exhausted that he couldn't still be "cooking the pig's head" right now, even the dinner time would have to be postponed, and it would probably become a late-night snack.
However, a certain prince knew that there was someone, or rather a group of people, who would have trouble sleeping all night, and that was a group of warlocks headed by Lao Tang.
After seeing the domineering airship take off, Lao Tang was so shocked that he would definitely rack his brains to get this epoch-making high-tech weapon.
So this afternoon's work is not in vain. It is not only "showing muscles", but also showing off capital. I have shown the chips in my hand, and it depends on what decent exchange items Lao Tang can come up with.
Even if the Ming Academy of Sciences can only build one, they can still raise the price, because with the first one, there will be a second and third one, not to mention that the first batch has already built two airships. There will be more and more.
The problem with the scope is that there are too few qualified pilots, but with time and patient training, at least the number of people on board can be gathered.
A certain prince looked at the three books placed on the table, namely the "Airship Manufacturing Manual", "Crew Training Manual", and "Airship Operation Manual", and couldn't help but chuckle. Lao Tang would have dreamed of reading through it. …
