Here, Jin Xinpeng saw Zhang Cheng looking at his servants with bright eyes, and he couldn't help but feel a little proud in his heart. He thought he was not as good as the veterans Zhang Cheng brought.
But on the Dushi side, the nearly three hundred servants under his command are unique and are already the strongest force in Dushikou. He has been able to advance all the way over the years, to some extent by relying on the strength of this servant.
"General, you saw the Commander-in-Chief Sha Zhongwang who was guarding Beizha Pass before. He is Yan Qingrong's man, and he has nearly a hundred powerful servants under him. The one over there is Commander-in-Chief Xue Jing, and his subordinates are There are also hundreds of landlords, who can be called elites.”
Zhang Cheng followed Jin Xinpeng's instructions and looked. He had already seen Sha Zhongwang. Today, more eyes were focused on Xue Jing. He couldn't see his face clearly from a distance, but the man was indeed tall and had a military aura. , the sergeants behind him are also very strong.
In a short while, under Jin Xinpeng's guidance, Zhang Cheng had taken a general look at the Kaiping Guards garrison on the campus. Among the more than 800 sergeants, nearly half were old and weak.
The military uniforms they all wore were in tatters, and many of them were sallow and thin, with sluggish expressions. They did not have any aura of officers and soldiers. Even the weapons they held in their hands were rusty and had not been maintained at first glance.
When these people came into contact with Zhang Cheng's glance, their expressions were numb, and their eyes and faces were expressionless. In Zhang Cheng's view, these people were useless.
The only ones who are better are the hundreds of private servants raised by various officials that Jin Xinpeng just pointed out. Almost all of them are young and strong, and they are quite complete in armor and weapons. However, their array discipline is also sparse, and they are a typical rabble.
Even Jin Xinpeng was proud of the nearly 300 servants led by his cronies Jin Yong and Qiu Yingquan, and they couldn't even speak of a formation.
Even though they are so unbearable in Zhang Cheng's eyes, these servants are already the most important combat force in the border guard stations of the Ming Dynasty today.
On the high platform on the north side of the training ground, Zhang Cheng glanced at the sergeants of the Kaiping Guard on the teaching ground with an ugly expression. The deterioration of the Ming Dynasty Border Guard Army was beyond his expectation. Can these soldiers fight?
Zhang Cheng expressed deep doubts about this.
Zhang Cheng is wearing the golden helmet and armor given by Emperor Chongzhen during the reign of King Qin. Under the sunlight, it shines brightly and attracts a lot of attention from the audience. In addition, he is the new guard of Shangbei Road. The general inspected the army and horses for the first time again, and there was constant discussion below.
On the other side of him were Yan Qingrong and Wu Zhizhong, the scribes, and Xue Liangqing, the commanding officer, while Liu Zhi and He Biao, the town governors, and Cao Jinwang, the experience officer, stood beside Jin Xinpeng.
Among all the people, Xue Liangqing, the commander of the Kaiping Guards, had the worst expression. Regarding Zhang Cheng's formation of the shogunate yesterday, he had already known that night. After all, people from all sides in Dushikou were at war with each other, so it was easy to get information.
What's more, Zhang Cheng had no intention of concealing the matter. As a general on both sides, Zhang Cheng's establishment of his own shogunate was indeed not in compliance with the regulations.
But in today's Ming Dynasty, there are so many things that violate the regulations. The key is not whether they comply with the regulations. In the final analysis, it still depends on the person. Who is the person who does not comply with the regulations?
Not only is Zhang Cheng now at the top of his game, with overwhelming power, but he is also someone who is in the heart of the emperor, and is favored and trusted by all the cabinet ministers and governors. Moreover, he is someone who has been personally promised by the emperor to do things expediently. Even if he makes a small mistake, what's the problem?
Xue Liangqing's fat face had always been red before. He looked naive and very rich. But these days, his face was sallow, without a trace of smile, as if someone owed him eight hundred dollars, and even his eyes looked cold and gloomy. .
Zhang Cheng ignored him, not to mention it was him. He was just a Kaiping Guard commanding the general affairs. Even if Yang Guozhu, the commander-in-chief of Xuan Town, came in person, he would still have to be polite when he saw Zhang Cheng today.
…………
Around the school grounds, especially on the high platform in the north, there are sergeants under Zhang Cheng's command. They are either standing with weapons or cruising on horseback. Everyone is wearing bright armor, full of energy, and exuding a frightening murderous aura.
Only then can they be qualified to be called sergeants. They are all young, stout, and especially well-disciplined. Whether they are standing with weapons or cruising on horseback, the teams are lined up neatly and without a trace of noise.
This kind of military discipline and appearance, especially the murderous aura exuding from their bodies, made the soldiers standing in the school grounds very frightened. Even the servants raised by officers such as Jin Xinpeng, Yan Qingrong, Xue Liangqing, etc. mostly looked in awe. .
After looking at the audience for a long time, Zhang Cheng asked loudly: "Master Jin, is the military affairs of Kaiping Guards really in such a dilapidated state?"
Jin Xinpeng had been Tongzhi for a long time and had been in charge of Kaiping's military inspection and camp operations. Under Wei's rule, the army had never been so corrupted. Of course Zhang Cheng wanted to ask him about Jin Xinpeng.
Jin Xinpeng also calmly clasped his fists and replied in a deep voice: "General, the training of soldiers requires the support of money and food. Nowadays, the output of the fields is decreasing year by year, the income and expenditure are insufficient, and the lower officials are also powerless!"
The sergeants must carry out the most basic drills. They must have at least enough coarse grains every day, otherwise they will become weak. Even if they run around the training ground a few times, they will easily become exhausted and even fall into coma.
And if the training volume of the sergeants is to be increased, some meat must be added every day. Otherwise, those sergeants may urinate blood and die soon due to high-intensity training.
But now the North Road garrison is desolate and dilapidated, the money and food are almost exhausted, and Jin Xinpeng still has to support his three hundred servants. The Wei Department really does not have the ability to maintain a full garrison.
Zhang Cheng asked again: "It is said that there should be nearly 1,500 troops in Dushikou, but why are there so few training officers and troops in the school grounds?"
Jin Xinpeng said solemnly: "I dare not deceive the general. All the military households in Kaipingwei are diligent in farming, but they still cannot collect enough grain to feed many soldiers. The lower officials have no choice but to send some soldiers to farm. To make up for the lack of grain."
The Border Town Guards of the Ming Dynasty were divided into seven parts for garrison and three-thirds for city garrison. They were called military officers and soldiers, that is, the soldiers garrisoned by each guard division.
After the grain collected from the garrison was collected, part of it was turned over, and part was used to support the officers and soldiers in the fort. The rest was used for labor and farming as a mixture of officers and troops.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the military garrison output could almost fully meet the needs of the entire army, so the soldiers and horses were strong and the soldiers felt at ease.
However, after the year of Xuande, a large number of troops from the guards fled, and a large number of garrison troops were recruited as defensive garrison troops. The original garrison land was transferred to Yu Ding for farming. Things changed over time, and in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, they were generally recruited into the regular army. Yu Ding moved to the village.
At this time, not only the officers and soldiers trained in various military stations continued to flee in large numbers, but the rest were mostly just superficial. They rarely practiced for a few days a year, and they were only busy with their own homes and fields.
Even if there are young and strong people, they must stay and farm. They are reluctant to serve as regular soldiers and just let the old and weak in the family take their place.
Moreover, in order to support their own servants, the officers and generals not only deducted food and wages, but also encouraged this phenomenon so that they could take advantage of it.
All in all, there is only one word: food and salary.
