The questions of the three uncles and nephews of the Gao family are normal, because the position of "Chief Military Officer guarding Pyongyang" does not exist, and according to the military system of the Ming Dynasty, it seems that there should not be a General Military Officer in the vassal country. reason.
But he had a pragmatic reason. He replied: "The chief military officer is in charge of military expeditions. Our country can set up a general military commander for Pingyang and Japan for temporary wars. Why can't we set up a general military commander for Pyongyang for long-term peace?"
North Korea was invaded twice by Japanese pirates, and both times were completely defeated. During this period, China provided military training to North Korea, but to no avail. So, what if North Korea is invaded again in the future after this war?
In my opinion, instead of bothering our heavenly soldiers to go on expeditions at that time, it is better to set up a garrison in North Korea, and then permanently station an army of heavenly soldiers in Pyongyang, thinking that it will be permanent. "
When Gao Pragmatic said this, the uncle and nephew had to think about whether it was legal to do so. There is a very brief overview of the military system of the Ming Dynasty in the preface of "History of the Ming Dynasty: Military Records", which says:
"In the Ming Dynasty, martial arts determined the world and revolutionized the old system of the Yuan Dynasty. From the capital to the prefectures and counties, they all established guard posts. The capital department under external control was under the governor's office of the five armies internally, and the top twelve guards were the emperor's personal soldiers.
When the expedition is underway, the general is ordered to serve as the commander-in-chief of the army, and the troops at the guard station are transferred to lead them. When the general is ready, the general is assigned the seal, and the officers and troops return to the guard station. It was the last wish of the soldiers of the Tang Dynasty.
When Emperor Wen moved north, he followed Taizu's wishes, but his ministers watched the troops, and it was the beginning of the frost. After the Hong and Xuan dynasties, the country was in trouble for peace, so it didn't take long for the civil fort to be in trouble. Yu Qian established the regiment camp, which was simple and elite. With the first order, the soldiers and generals learned from each other, and his methods were quite good. "
There are several issues here that need serious consideration.
The Ming Dynasty used martial arts to determine the world, so after the world was pacified, when the civil war situation basically ended and peace entered, there was a question of how to deal with the troops (including soldiers and generals) left behind during the war. The reconstruction of the military system is to cope with possible internal and external wars in the future.
The military has always had two major functions: one is external defense, which is the need for border defense and how to prevent the invasion of foreign military forces; the other is internal, it must have the function of responding to various domestic emergencies and maintaining social order. The most important thing among them is the security of the imperial family, especially the security of the capital and palace. We cannot let the armed troops point their spears at us.
Therefore, for a dynasty, it is necessary not only to maintain a regular army with combat effectiveness, but also to prevent them from being combined with local administration for a long time, resulting in a situation where the tail is too big and the warlords are separatist.
However, maintaining such a large-scale and numerous regular army was an unbearable burden on the imperial finances even in peacetime, and military expenditures in wartime were a bottomless pit that could not be filled.
Almost all dynasties in Chinese history were empires founded on small farmers, and their sources of finance mainly relied on taxes levied on small farmers. If the peasants are levied and extorted violently, the result will be the exile of the peasants, the waste of production, the huge army without pay, and eventually the peasants will rebel, the army will rebel, and the dynasty will collapse.
Historically, the direct cause of the collapse of the Ming dynasty in the late Ming Dynasty was that the war in Liaodong increased taxes and levies again and again, and cut military spending in the west. As a result, the demobilized army combined with the peasant uprising army, forcing the Ming Dynasty to fight on both sides. Eventually the rule collapsed, and the empire of 277 years collapsed.
From the perspective of dynasty's rule, it needs a huge army, but it cannot afford to support them; it needs an army with combat effectiveness, but it is afraid that the soldiers and generals will learn from each other, and there will be a situation where the tail is too big to lose. Because of this, it will divide the relationship between soldiers and generals, but this will inevitably lose the combat effectiveness of the army;
It needs a trustworthy guard force to guard the palace, but it is afraid that this force will suddenly turn its guns on itself, leaving it unprepared. They are often wary and suspicious of people who are guarding them with guns. When there is any trouble, they often say sadly: "I would rather betray others than others betray me."
Yu Qian was killed for this reason.
Yu Qian was loyal to Emperor Jingtai and controlled the troops guarding the capital. Therefore, after Yingzong's restoration, the eunuchs who came to power around Yingzong for planning and participating in the palace coup had to kill him - for no other reason than because he was the general of the army. If you get along well with each other, you can mobilize the army.
You know, Emperor Jingtai said that he was seriously ill at that time, but after all, he died inexplicably only after their restoration. However, after all, it was Emperor Jingtai and Yu Qian who defended the capital in critical moments and protected the Ming Dynasty from surviving the crisis. However, they treated the critically ill Emperor Jingtai like this and killed Yu Qian so cruelly and immediately.
In order to seize state power, people are so cruel and ruthless.
There are many such examples in Chinese history, such as the Yongzhen Incident in the Tang Dynasty, and the violent collapse of Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty.
The design of the military system in all dynasties has always been haunted by these insurmountable contradictions. After understanding these pairs of contradictions, it will be easier to understand the design of military systems in various dynasties in history and the various contradictions that appeared in their practice.
Many of these designs seem to be to maintain a standing army, but these soldiers will not be familiar with each other. The army that has been raised without war experience for a long time may quickly disintegrate and collapse once faced with war.
The design of the guard system could actually only play a role in selling troops. This can be witnessed in the history of the Ming and Qing dynasties. However, Gao Pragmatic still wants to set up a health center in North Korea, and his purpose is not so simple.
It’s time to turn to the general soldier system here.
During the Hongwu period, if there was a conquest, the princes and third-level direct governors would be dispatched as general soldiers to go to the battlefield. At that time, there were six general armies, namely: Yunnan, Datong, Guangxi, Liaodong, Xuanfu, and Gansu. These military and political arrangements show that the general garrison officers and soldiers have been changed from temporary appointments to permanent ones.
According to records, the town garrison was already established in the Yongle period, but it was abolished and reestablished after several ups and downs in later generations. It was not until the Hongzhi period that a garrison was established and became permanent.
After Hongxi, general officers and soldiers have been added one after another in various places. After the continuous additions during the Xuande, Jiajing, Longqing, and Wanli years, the general officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty have been stationed in various places and have replaced the status of the original capital commanders, and they have become local governments. The highest military official.
At this point, the military system of the Ming Dynasty has undergone tremendous changes: "After Hong Yong, when the frontiers were troubled and the generals disappeared, they became permanent members." This system is called the "suppression and garrison system" in some historical materials, but it is regarded as Perhaps it would be more accurate to call it the "camp system" for its setting, and it would avoid confusion with the garrison.
What is the camp system? Why did Gao Pragmatic not only say that we should set up a guard station, but also that we should set up a general army?
The camp system is a bit complicated. For the most part, the appointment of military attachés in barracks was negotiated on a case-by-case basis, and there were no unified rules and regulations. There are five levels, namely guard, assist guard, separate guard, guard, and Japanese defense. The official ranks are divided into many levels, including chief soldier, deputy chief soldier, staff general, and guerrilla. These are all called generals. Hereinafter, they are called generals. They are also divided into Dusi, Guards, Tidiao, Qianzong, Baizong and Baizong, all of which are called battalion officers.
The main source of camp officers is the group of guards officers, from whom they are drawn, and the source is very single. Since it was very common for a guard officer to transform into a battalion officer, the position of commander of the capital among the official positions of the guard office was borrowed for the camp system. The capital commander was originally the highest official of the local guard station, but as a battalion officer, the status of the capital commander was quite low, only one level higher than the garrison.
In addition to having a single source, the camp officers were not hereditary, which was a major feature of the Ming camp military system that was different from the Wei system. Gao was pragmatic and wanted to set up guard posts and general troops. This was also one of the reasons.
What's the reason? The reason is that the guard system can stabilize the hearts and minds of some North Korean generals, while the general army system (camp system) can put the actual military power in the hands of the Ming Dynasty.
Just as Gao Pragmatic disagrees with killing all the Southern People's Party, although North Korea's military generals are of no use, it is definitely not realistic to kill them all. Removing them all may also lead to security risks, so there must be a place to arrange them.
The health center is such a good place to "raise leisurely people". Gao Pragmatic's so-called establishment of a health center is obviously impossible to set up only one health center in such a large North Korea, and several more must be established. In this way, there will be enough positions to arrange all the top military generals in North Korea "within the system", so that they can still have official status and not take desperate risks.
However, the broken system of guard posts is full of shortcomings. Even in the Ming Dynasty, except for the individual guard posts on the nine sides, there are few reliable combat effectiveness. Therefore, the real main battle force must have other arrangements. This is the significance of the establishment of the general army - —Introducing the camp system.
At present, there are dozens of generals in the Ming Dynasty. The methods of commanding the troops of each general are generally similar. Almost all of them use servants as the core and cooperate with some elites drawn from the guards to form a mobile force for combat.
Gao Pragmatic said that he would recommend Zhang Wanbang to be the commander-in-chief of Pyongyang. This raises a question: Although Zhang Wanbang's headquarters is very powerful in combat, judging from the current situation, the military post to be established in North Korea in the future may not be able to recruit any "elite" bring it on?
After all, just look at the Battle of Zhenling and you will know that in a head-on confrontation of 30,000 North Korean "elites", nine against one, the losses caused to Zhang Wanbang's department were not even double digits.
But this is the reason why Zhang Wanbang should be the commander-in-chief.
As we all know, the Southern Ming Dynasty in original history was not defeated by the Qing army, but by the former Ming army that surrendered to the Qing army. Those former Ming troops who fled the first battle before surrendering to the Qing army saw their combat effectiveness soar after the surrender. People often couldn't help but think: "I have never seen you so good at fighting before?"
Why? There are two points: first, the Qing army at that time was not as corrupt as the Ming army, and it could basically ensure that the surrendered soldiers had food to eat; second, during the battle, the Eight Banners suppressed the formation, and the surrendered troops were used as cannon fodder.
Because we are pragmatic and pragmatic now, we don’t need to talk about the first one for the time being. I will mainly talk about the second one. Question: Why did the former Ming army become so fierce whenever the Eight Banners pressed the formation, and they didn't pull their hips like they used to?
Because they had tried many times before and could not defeat the Eight Banners, so when they entered the battlefield and were sent to lead the battle as usual by the Qing army, their mentality was: "You may gain some credit by attacking forward, but you will definitely die if you retreat." So if you are forced to "move forward bravely", you will naturally always be able to "meet on a narrow road and the brave will win".
Gao Pragmatic believes that after being shocked by the Battle of Zhenling, North Koreans - regardless of whether they are officials, soldiers, or civilians, should have enough respect for the name Zhang Wanbang. Therefore, as long as Zhang Wanbang leads his troops to suppress the formation and the Korean army dares not to retreat but to advance, then even a group of sheep can have the prestige of a pack of wolves.
Of course, having said that, after North Korea has gone through this war, especially after Japan's defeat, it is hard to say how many opportunities they will have to go to the battlefield. If the political measures are successful, perhaps Zhang Wanbang's main task in staying in North Korea will be simply to intimidate. Maybe.
After listening to Gao Pragmatic's explanation, the three uncles and nephews of the Gao family understood, and they all thought this arrangement was good. In fact, Zhang Wanbang's two great achievements in the past were very crucial. If it weren't for the fact that there were always people who had merit and qualifications before him, he would have been worthy of being a general soldier by now.
What's more... Zhang Wanbang is a general of the Xuan Da family and a direct descendant of the highly pragmatic school. If he can take charge of North Korea in the future, then North Korea will become a place where the pragmatic school radiates again.
Now that the internal discussions were complete, Gao Jingshi asked the brothers Gao Wuzheng and Gao Wuruo to draft his memorial to the emperor and write a reply to Zhang Wanbang. Takagi had nothing to do, so he said goodbye and left, saying that he planned to find out about the structure of Osaka Castle from Takatora Toudo.
Not long after the three of them left, Gao Qi came back. Gao Pingshi was surprised and said: "Osaka Castle is said to be the most powerful city in Japan, surpassing Odawara Castle. Yu Fu asked clearly so quickly?"
"Uncle, it's not about Osaka City." Gao Qi came in a hurry, presented two letters with both hands, and said: "They are letters from the King of Joseon and Li Shanhai. My nephew has read them first, and they all talk about Quan Li's actions. The failure has a serious impact, I hope my uncle can come to Hanyang to deal with it in person."
Gao pragmatic narrowed his eyes slightly and thought for a while before taking the letter and reading it.
The contents of the letters written by Li Hao and Li Shanhai are actually similar, and the main things mentioned were summarized by Gao Qi just now. However, the starting points of the two may be different.
There was only some fear in Li Huo's letter, and the words revealed that he was full of worry about the emperor's attitude after this incident. It seemed that he was mainly afraid that the emperor would be angry with him, the king of Korea, for not being able to control his subordinates, causing the Korean army to dare to attack the emperor. Tomorrow the soldiers will be disrespectful, and it will be simply perverse.
Li Huan's main request is probably to meet Gao Pragmatic as soon as possible. It is best to persuade Gao Ge Lao to say a nice word to him, and at least to clarify his relationship in this matter - it is better to be incompetent than to have ulterior motives. Well, if His Majesty the Emperor thinks that he, Li Huo, is behind this matter, he will be in big trouble.
The meaning in Li Shanhai's letter was obviously different. He meant that after this incident, everyone in the Korean court was frightened. Some people were shocked by the strength of the Ming army's combat power, and some were shocked by the courage of the Southern People's Party. Bao Tian... But no matter what, Li Shanhai believed that the time had come to promote North Korea's internal attachment, so Mr. Gao Ge could already come to Hanyang to preside over the matter.
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