Zhu Biao asked Lan Yu and Quan Xu to stay with him, and the rest went to arrange their own military affairs.
After Zhu Biao distributed the big cake, they also had to distribute the small cake and arrange their own direct lineage, otherwise they would not be able to command the soldiers on the battlefield.
It's as if there is an obvious ambush ahead, but there is no way to retreat. When he must rush, what if he arranges for someone to come up, but he is too afraid to step forward?
By then, it will be too late to kill him with a knife. The morale of the army is already in chaos, and the remaining people are even more afraid. If the pressure from the rear is too great, they will die if they go forward, and they will die if they go back, and mutiny will happen in an instant.
Therefore, the closer it is to attacking a difficult situation, the more important it is to arrange for your direct relatives. Only they will be willing to charge into battle for you without fear of sacrifice.
Zhu Biao led people up to a high platform in a school ground. Below, formal soldiers were practicing using firearms, but most of them were just posing. After all, ammunition was rare and there was no way to waste it.
Zhu Biao looked at the dense crowds and military camps around him, and asked Lan Yu: "How many people are there in the 300,000-strong army? Tell me the truth, and I won't blame you."
Lan Yu's mouth twitched and she said, "This..."
Zhu Biao said: "It's just that the generals drank the blood of their soldiers. This has been the case in all dynasties. I have no intention of pursuing it, but I don't know how many troops I have when I can't go on an expedition!"
Lan Yu took a step closer and whispered: "The 30,000 pro-army people from the Duwei Mansion brought by General Quan are real people. There are 30,000 of our 160,000-strong army..."
Zhu Biao frowned, but he didn't say anything. The 160,000 and 30,000 living dead were enough to give him face as a prince.
Soldiers who were killed or retired did not report their deaths, but still received military pay according to the original roster, or even forged rosters to defraud military pay. Of course, the benefits flowed into the pockets of the officers.
Things are pretty good now, but in the late Ming Dynasty, the corruption of army officers directly led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.
The Ming army was expected to send 400,000 troops in the Battle of Sarhu. If it really was 400,000, Nurhachi would definitely lose. The problem would be short pay.
Since the Ming army's biggest hobby was empty pay, when the army was assembled, the officers couldn't figure out how many soldiers they had, and some even made up the entire battalion out of thin air.
As a result, the Ming army's expected army of 400,000 actually turned out to be 200,000 (some say hundreds of thousands, at least 120,000). Such an army would have to adopt the tactic of "divide and attack together", dividing each group of soldiers into one. There are no more than 10,000 or 20,000 horses, and both the officers and soldiers are old and cunning. Although there are some loyal and brave generals, it is strange that such a rotten army can win the battle!
Lan Yu looked at Zhu Biao's face carefully, thinking that if His Highness got angry and wanted to rectify military affairs, he would desperately try to persuade him. This matter could not be changed overnight, not to mention that this expedition was of great significance to the Crown Prince.
Seeing that Zhu Biao frowned but had no intention of summoning the generals, Lan Yu breathed a sigh of relief and persuaded: "This is your commander-in-chief, otherwise even if King Kaiping comes, there will be a deficit of 50,000 people. These generals I have already brought my own pro-military servants, just because I’m afraid you won’t be satisfied.”
Zhu Biao almost laughed angrily. Do you have to thank them?
However, Zhu Biao was not too angry. He had expected this. Drinking the blood of soldiers and eating empty pay is just like corruption among civil servants. It cannot be eradicated. All dynasties have tried their best to improve it, but the results are not good.
Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty described the chaos of the army's "empty pay" at that time and said: All the generals in charge of the army all over the world falsely reported their military status in order to receive food and pay. According to actual verification, the actual number of soldiers was less than six out of ten. 7. If there are deaths or escapes, the actual number of soldiers will be reduced by 23/10 within ten years. "
The proportion of "registered and unregistered" troops in the country has reached more than half, which shows the seriousness of the problem of "empty pay" at that time.
Not only that, even among the soldiers who are actually registered, there are still many invisible "empty pay" phenomena. Many soldiers just go to work on time, but usually make a living. Some soldiers even set up stalls in the market all day long to do small business.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, in view of the "redundant expenses" and "redundant soldiers" caused by the military recruitment system in the Song Dynasty, turned around and changed to the "military household" system of "integration of soldiers and farmers", and was classified as a "military household" family. After being allocated a piece of land, he went on expeditions during wartime and farmed during peacetime. He did not receive any salary from the court, so the amount of free money he received was reduced for a time.
However, this kind of military household system that does not distinguish between good and bad and compulsorily restricts military status will inevitably embark on a path of rigidity and decline over time. Because the military household soldiers were too weak to be used, the recruitment system was reintroduced in the late Ming Dynasty, and the old historical problem of "empty pay" also appeared. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, it was worse than that of the Tang and Song Dynasties.
Zhu Biao sighed and said: "I don't care about their original rules. I will never deduct the pay of these soldiers on this day. Lan Yu, you go and convey it to the army. If I find out by then, Don’t blame military law for being ruthless!”
Lan Yu's face turned bitter. It was an offending job, but he had to listen to Zhu Biao's instructions and immediately agreed.
Zhu Biao was no longer in the mood, turned around and took Quan Xu back to the military tent, sitting on the chair feeling a little bored.
Quan Xu stepped forward and said, "Your Highness, don't worry. Our army is like Beiyuan. They claim to have 100,000 cavalry every time, but they only have 30,000 or 40,000 cavalry."
Zhu Biao laughed helplessly, this was still a competition.
This situation must change, but not now. This matter involves almost all the nobles, and we cannot kill them all. Otherwise, the world may be in chaos again.
But it doesn't matter, Ming Dynasty has just been established, everything has a chance.
After Zhu Biao let Lan Yu go down, he asked Quan Xu: "Do all 30,000 of you have firearms?"
Quan Xu replied: "The Holy One has stipulated that one hundred households of ordinary soldiers should be equipped with ten blunderbuss, twenty swords, thirty bows and arrows, and forty spears."
Zhu Biao nodded. The end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty were indeed an important node in the development of firearms, and Zhu Yuanzhang was particularly fond of firearms. Among the heroes of the late Yuan Dynasty at that time, Zhu Yuanzhang's troops were a wonder.
According to historical records, Zhu Yuanzhang's army used various old and new firearms on many large-scale operations, and they were used in sieges, defenses and water battles (gunboat bombardment).
There are so many firearms such as fire dragon guns, fire blunderbuss, large and small general barrels, iron cannons, magic arrows, fire caltrops and "no help (incendiary firearms)", and even the gunpowder formulas required for different weapons have been figured out. many kinds.
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