"First, you should have seen the power of firearms. Not only do we have them in Ming Dynasty, but Jiannu is also developing them. How can the Tengxiang Four Guards you formed block firearms?"
Fang Zhenghua seemed to have thought about this problem for a long time, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, I admit that firearms are very powerful, but judging from the current firearms, we can divide them into firecrackers and artillery. No matter which type, they are equipped with The fatal problems of slow bullet speed, high chamber explosion rate and poor accuracy.
Within twenty steps, I am confident that I will not be hit by the fire gun, let alone the cavalry.
Artillery is good at siege, but poor at field battles. It moves slowly. It takes half a tea time (about two minutes) to reload. In this time, the cavalry can run three miles away. This distance has long passed the buffer zone between the two armies. "
"Your Majesty, the Tengxiang Four Guards Cavalry I built is mainly for the cavalry of Jiannu. I have two ideas about the cavalry.
The first is the fully mounted heavy cavalry, which can deal with the enemy's cavalry and prevent the enemy's cavalry from charging;
The second is the light cavalry, armed with muskets and sabers, relying on speed to get away from the battlefield, reloading ammunition and then spinning and strangulating. "
Chongzhen did not directly comment on Founder's idea. After all, he did not pay much attention to the military in his previous life.
I don’t know much about this kind of professional stuff, so let professionals do it.
For example, some generals of the nine frontier armies have been fighting foreign enemies for a long time, so they naturally know how to effectively face the enemy's cavalry and firearms.
"I can't give you an answer to your suggestion now. I will find someone to prove it."
"I'll ask you a second question."
"Cavalry, where do you recruit from?"
Recruiting people is what Chongzhen is most worried about.
In an agricultural society, cavalry is what the court pays the most attention to in any dynasty. It is not infantry, it can be done by individuals, and it takes a long time to train.
"Your Majesty, there are three sources in the short term. First, recruit people from the six counties of Xihe. The children in these areas have been influenced by the nomadic people's habit of riding and shooting since childhood, and most of them have very superb riding skills;
Second, recruit from Liaodong. I remember that the current Yiding Tuqi (Guanning Iron Cavalry) in Liaodong are recruited from the local area, and we can also recruit people;
Third, there is a nationwide conscription. Our Ming Dynasty has nearly 20 million people, and there are still many people who can ride.
Finally, in the long term, it would be safer for us to recruit and train our own people, but it is estimated to take at least one to two years. "
After Fang Zhenghua finished speaking, he added: "As for the cavalry horses, on the one hand we raise them on our own pastures, and on the other hand we buy them from nomads through the horse market."
Obviously, Fang Zhenghua already has very comprehensive thoughts on these issues, which shows that Fang Zhenghua is really thinking seriously.
After pondering for a while, Chongzhen praised: "Fang Zhenghua, I am very pleased with your idea, but the pattern is not big enough."
"First, the four Tengxiang guards don't need to stay in Beijing. You can form another battalion with a number of between 3,000 and 5,000 people. It's called the Warrior Battalion. Together with the Jinyi Guards, it's enough to protect my safety."
There are nine frontier troops on the periphery, and there are twenty-one guards and Beijing camps in and around Beijing. If the safety of Beijing can no longer be protected, it will be useless no matter how many people are left in the palace.
"Second, the establishment of the Tengxiang Four Guards has been expanded from 5,600 to 10,000. I will first allocate you one million taels of silver from internal funds to form the Tengxiang Four Guards.
Although the establishment has increased, what I need are absolute elites. Every one of them is someone who dares to fight and kill. You have to find a way to pay for the follow-up military pay. "
Is more than one million taels a lot of silver? It depends on what it is compared to, but when used on cavalry, it really doesn't count.
Yiding Tuqi's monthly salary is 1 tael and 6 qian plus one stone of rice, and the annual salary is about 30 taels.
The purchase and maintenance of horses, fodder consumption, and battle losses amount to almost 30 taels a year.
The annual consumption of cavalry armor, weapons, etc. is about 15 taels. In addition, a cavalryman also needs about 8 taels per year for training, dispatching, patrolling, and post-war pensions.
Taken together, a cavalryman needs 83 taels of silver a year. The four guards of Tengxiang are the emperor's personal troops. It is not too much to increase the cost, so let's calculate it as 100 taels.
One million taels of silver is only enough to support the cost of 10,000 cavalry for a year, so there is a saying that "a horse is given to a border town, and three to five people are used as infantry".
How could such a small place like Jiannu be able to raise so many cavalry? Because they didn't receive any salary at all, and the soldiers would plunder their wealth and population for themselves. Except for part of it that had to be handed over to the leader, the rest of the spoils were their own.
This is very tempting.
But as long as the cavalry is formed, Chongzhen can implement the strategy of supporting war with war. The Jiannu cavalry cannot fight now, but there are still many soft persimmons around the Ming Dynasty that can be pinched.
As long as you move quickly enough, you can kill the enemy and the outside world quickly before they can react.
Fang Zhenghua was in disbelief and his voice was trembling: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, do you agree with my idea?"
"Why don't you agree?"
Chongzhen stepped forward and gave Fang Zhenghua a hand: "I agree with the formation of cavalry by the Tengxiang Four Guards, but I need to discuss the types of cavalry and how to train them with the generals of the border army before deciding. I hope you can understand. !”
"I understand! I thank Your Majesty for your grace!"
Fang Zhenghua, who had just stood up, knelt down again, his voice choked up and his eyes slightly red.
Teng Xiang's four guards were the emperor's personal soldiers. If there were no accidents, they would have been near Beijing. Although he was the censor of the imperial horse, he did not have the pleasure of commanding an army alone to fight against the enemy.
"Qin Liangyu will come to Beijing in half a month, and you still have half a month to prepare. What I hope is that with the imperial edict, you can quickly control the Royal Horse Prison and form an effective force in a short time.
After the reorganization is completed, the warrior battalion will be formed first, and the cavalry will be formed after spring. "
"I will live up to your majesty's trust and die with all my heart!"
At this point, the matter between the Royal Horse Supervisor and the Tengxiang Four Guards was completely settled, and an iron cavalry that swept across the entire Eurasian continent was born.
Wang Chengen had some envy in his eyes, but his own family knew about his family affairs, so even if it was left to him, he wouldn't be able to handle it.
After a while, Fang Zhenghua calmed down.
Chongzhen continued: "As for the candidates for the new commanders of the Tengxiang Four Guards and the Warrior Battalion, do you have any suitable candidates?"
Fang Zhenghua nodded first, and then shook his head. Chongzhen was a little confused by this scene.
"Your Majesty, I currently only have one candidate."
"who?"
"I received a letter from my hometown some time ago, saying that an interesting thing happened in Daming Mansion. There was a group of thirty or fifty bandits outside Daming Mansion, specializing in robbing passing merchants and tourists.
Daming Prefecture sent officers and soldiers to attack. When there were more people, the robbers ran away. When there were fewer people, the robbers could not fight. After doing this for more than ten times, the robbers became more and more rampant. As a result, the prefect of Daming Prefecture was angered.
The prefect and seven or eight servants dressed up as businessmen, broke out when the bandits attacked, and killed about twenty bandits with one person, and the rest surrendered.
The minister investigated and found out that this prefect was a Jinshi in the second year of Tianqi. He first served as the head of the household department, was promoted to Yuanwailang, and later became the prefect of the daimyo. When he was young, this man loved reading military books and learning about riding and archery. Although he was a scholar, he was With superb martial arts skills, he is truly an alternative among scholars. "
Hearing Fang Zhenghua talk about Daming Mansion, Chongzhen's heart suddenly moved, and a person appeared in his mind.
