Xingji County, Hejian Prefecture.
The northern wind in February is as cold as a knife.
Even though there are more trees in this era, most of them are big bare trees, and you can only see some green occasionally.
As soon as the order from the capital arrived, the Wugong Zuowei, Yongqing Zuowei and Yongqing Zuowei and other soldiers responsible for building the Chongzhen Palace in Xingji County were immediately gathered for training and prepared to leave.
The commander of the Wugong Zuowei is named Song Shiming. He also has the hereditary position of commander. He was promoted after the original commander died.
The three guards, the Wugong center guard, the Wugong left guard, and the Wugong right guard, were originally mainly craftsmen. Just like some who were responsible for the ceremonial guard, not all pro-army soldiers were fighting.
The country is at peace, and these people are of no use, and no one knows who has a genius and has made them work as construction workers since the Chenghua period.
In fact, to be honest, as long as the military pay is given, a person like Song Shiming who has no ideals can do anything. He wouldn't do it himself anyway.
Even soldiers who do it themselves sometimes feel that it is at least better than fighting.
Not many soldiers really like to fight.
Of course, there are different types of work to do,
People like them build houses for Uncle Guo. Uncle Guo is not a good person, so he must have resentments in private.
That's the original reason. Repair and repair the city walls for the capital, so that everyone can use them if anything happens in the future. Why not go to Xingji County to repair a house for those two men who bully men and women? What's the point of doing this job?
Now that they heard that there was a decree calling them back, everyone applauded!
Song Shiming got up early in the morning to organize the troops. First, he did one thing: count the number of people!
A crooked group of people stood in an open space. There were quite a few people, about three to four thousand. Song Shiming was accompanied by dozens of military officers, including commanders, commanders, experienced officers, and governors.
After all, we have to leave. No one wants to stay in this hellish place.
Song Shiming shook his head. He drank all day long and his head was always dizzy. He held up his hat and yelled at the soldiers and officers wearing coarse linen clothes and various shapes under his hands:
"The decree has come from above! After we return to the capital, we must first find out how many people are there to report! The decree is clear and clear. Those who have escaped, been injured or even died must be reported to the commanders of each guard. Number! Now that this burden has been given to me, I will give it to each of your thousands households, hundred households, and general banners. How many of your own people are there, how many have escaped, and why they have escaped. You have to figure it out for me. !”
"Also, when we return to the capital this time, we will no longer build a palace for the emperor. According to the decree, we will organize the army in the future! Those with big shoulders and round waists may not necessarily be together with those with thin arms and legs. Those with a handful of strength and those with walking skills may not necessarily be together. You can’t even get a share of the money! So cheer up, we soldiers all know that in a good place, military pay is never delayed, if you need food, you will have food, and if you need meat, you will have meat, bad...hehe , then you’ll have to ask for blessings!”
There really is a pair of brothers in this martial arts left guard, others call them Zhang San and Zhang Si. Although the two are cousins, their bodies are very different.
Zhang San is tall and tall, with a tiger's back, a bear's waist, and mantis legs. Although he is not very good-looking, he has a big mouth with some buck teeth, plus a beard, which makes him incomparable with that kind of Jiangnan talent.
But from a poor family, eating depends on strength.
Zhang San had never fought in a war, so he built a house. He was obedient and strong, and did an excellent job. Later, he even got a small flag for him to use as a pawn.
Zhang Si is different. He is small, has thin arms, and a thin body. It seems that a gust of wind can blow him down. Not his cousin Zhang San, who was designated to be bullied.
So the problem arises at this time.
"...I also heard that the imperial court favored warriors this time. Last year, there was news from the Yingwu Guards that the brave ones were assigned to one group, and the old, weak, sick and disabled were assigned to another group. From now on, I am not going to fight with Are my third brother separated?"
Zhang San was both excited and hesitant.
He was excited because he had confidence in his own body since he was a child. Now that the superiors are doing this, maybe they can give people like them some opportunities to get ahead. No one wants to keep building a house, right?
Damn it for those two bastards Shouning Bo and Jian Chang Bo.
The hesitation was because he was worried about his cousin.
"Fourth, don't worry. When we get to the capital, I'll go talk to the commander-in-chief and see if I can let you follow me. If there's no war, you can still cook."
When he said this, Zhang Si felt comfortable.
But the other people around who looked a little thin wailed, "...Zhang Si has you as his third brother, what will we poor people do?"
"Don't say these depressing words." Zhang San comforted: "The purpose of the imperial court is to put all of us to use. Wealth and honor are found in danger, and the future is hard to predict. As long as the military is dedicated to life, there is no fear. Can’t you hope for a bright future?”
A veteran with a beard beside him, Youzi, relied on his rich experience and said with a sophisticated look: "I think there will be big changes after returning. You don't even think about who the Zhang family is, even if they are It must have taken a lot of effort to transfer us away. Since it took so much effort, you can just let us go back to the capital to be raised?"
When everyone heard it, it seemed that this was indeed the truth.
"I heard that this time it was the prince's order... I heard the second son of Qi Gu's second uncle's in-laws who was a guard in the palace say that the prince is a person who loves talents. As long as he has the ability, No matter how big an official is, he is willing to give it."
"No, I heard that His Royal Highness the Prince offended the Tatars. I am afraid. Get us all back quickly."
"You are all wrong. The prince obviously dislikes his two uncles and even beat them last year!"
…
…
During times of drastic change, there are the most rumors. Everyone's future is uncertain, so there is naturally a lot of discussion.
Prince Zhu Houzhao invited Liu Jian, Li Dongyang, Xie Qian, Wang Yue and Han Wen to discuss.
Nowadays, although the matter of reorganizing the army is complicated, it is not difficult. As long as Han Wen, the chief minister in charge of the household department, guarantees military pay, no soldier will cause trouble because his boss or his designation have changed.
You are living a good life, but you want to lose your head?
The problem is that the brave men are picked away to form a new guard. But what to do with the remaining soldiers?
Liu Jian focused on stability, "Your Highness, I believe that no matter whether they are brave or not, it is not appropriate to abolish any guard or person in this army. Except for the arrogant people who do not follow the order, the rest should be retained. Otherwise, rumors will abound. When people are in panic, it is not conducive to the organization of the army, nor is it conducive to the stability of the overall situation."
Zhu Houzhao had similar thoughts to Liu Jian. Even if it is to be abolished, it is not done now. The current reduction in force is excessive. There are many people who have no skills at all and can only serve as soldiers. You have to drive them all away rashly. Tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of soldiers are not fed. Do you still want to organize the army?
As for the wasted money, it has been wasted for decades, so what if a few more years are wasted? It is not worth causing chaos in the capital for that little money.
His focus is actually not here. His focus is on jurisdiction.
At that time, Emperor Taizu Gao established twelve guards directly under his command, Emperor Taizongwen added ten guards, and Emperor Xuanzongzhang added four guards, for a total of twenty-six guards. Nowadays, in addition to Teng Xiang's left and right guards, who belong to Jin Yiwei and Yu Majian, and Wu Xiang's left and right guards. Most of the remaining 21 guards are under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War, and the name of direct personal guards is no longer worthy of the name.
Zhu Houzhao wanted them to live up to their reputation.
But this kind of thing cannot be settled with just one sentence, nor is it a question of whether civil servants will listen or not. But after the Battle of Tumu Fort, there were not so many people able to occupy so many positions. There are twenty-six commanders alone.
Where do these people come from? How many worthy nobles can there be now?
But Zhu Houzhao was not without hope. His hope was the military academy in the academy.
As for now, he just wants to bring over the few brave guards who have been sorted out. The other 'commander' positions are still left to the cabinet and the Ministry of War to decide.
As for the bad ones, he also thought about how to reuse them... It would be a waste of money and value.
"According to what Mr. Liu Ge said, all the soldiers in this army will be retained as long as they obey orders and laws. However, if they should be trained and drilled in the future, they will still be trained and drilled. In addition..."
Zhu Houzhao touched his nose and said, "I have an immature idea for you to take a look at. Since the reality is that after the army is reorganized, the combat capabilities of each guard are different, it is better to decide on this title. The best They are classified as Class A Guards, followed by Class B Guards, the next highest Class Guards are Class C Guards, and the last Class Guards are Class D Guards. Different ranks have different military pay, money, food, equipment and uniforms."
This was a new idea. When several people looked at each other, they all began to think deeply.
Han Wen first felt something was wrong, "Your Highness, if this happens, how should we deal with the extra money and food?"
"Eight words, the total number remains unchanged, and the allocation is flexible. It means deducting from the C and D levels, and supplying the A and B levels."
hiss.
Li Dongyang heard some hidden dangers, "Your Highness, wouldn't this aggravate the conflicts among the guards in the capital camp? This is not good for unity. Once we go to the battlefield in the future, with different levels and hatred among each other, how can we work together? Fight the enemy together?"
Zhu Houzhao said to himself, when I wanted to reorganize the army, some people said that it was a waste of time. The country was stable all over the world, so where could the enemies come from?
Now they are talking about lack of unity in fighting. Where did the fighting come from?
"Mr. Li Ge, don't worry. The initial classification of Class A or Class B does not mean that it will always be Class A, and the classification of Class D does not mean that it will always be Class D."
"Your Highness means to compete year by year and circulate up and down. You have to fight for your own military pay!" After all, Wang Yue has led troops for many years. He had already understood the first half of Zhu Houzhao's sentence.
"In this way, it's not a matter of enmity. If you want to complain, you can't blame yourself for your own abilities. Competing with each other and chasing each other is also good for improving combat power." Liu Jian stroked his beard, this method was better. .
"It's mainly about the sense of honor." Zhu Houzhao actually wanted to say this more, "People in the Class A Guards are naturally proud, and this collective is also proud. Soldiers are proud of their numbers and are willing to fight for it. Only then can they is the most important.”
Wang Yue praised: "Although His Highness has never read military books, he looks like someone who has led the army for many years. And the word sense of honor is quite appropriate."
"In order to make this honor more deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, I have decided that the Class A Guards after the reorganization of the army will be restored to the old system of direct personal guards, under the direct supervision of the emperor, and led by the emperor himself!"
Everyone's expressions changed. Didn't this mean that there were several more Jinyi guards at once?
"Your Highness, this point..."
"There is no need to discuss this point. You just issue the decree. If anyone in the army resists the decree, he will be dealt with according to military law. If anyone in the court is dissatisfied or has objections, let him come to Gu." Zhu Houzhao waved his hand, not giving him a chance to argue. , and said somewhat harshly: "I would also like to hear the reason why the ninth-five-year-old emperor cannot personally lead the army."
Upon hearing this, Li Dongyang and Xie Qian held back some of their words.
Arguing with the prince? Whoever wants to do this can do it.
