The New Army's strategy was implemented in Peiping in winter. There was no farm work in winter. Everyone got up early every day to run and exercise, so there was no problem.
But it's spring now, and everyone is still thinking about the dozens of acres of land in their hands. They can't continue training every day, right?
The imperial court stipulated that each military household in the guard station must cultivate a portion of land.
The person said, it's just a piece of land, just dig it up a few times and it's ready. As for how long it will take and delay training?
Sorry, one share of a military settlement in the Ming Dynasty was generally fifty acres.
According to regulations, for each sergeant's share of land, he had to collect 18 shi of grain, hand over 6 shi, and eat the remaining 12 shi himself. If the year is bad and the harvest is poor or even non-existent, you will have to pay the full amount, which is commonly known as back-payment.
The guard system and military garrison system indeed played a great role in the early Ming Dynasty.
By the first year of Jianwen, more than 1.2 million troops were involved in reclamation, an increase of nearly 90 million acres, and the annual grain harvest amounted to more than 23 million shi. This is why the agricultural tax in the early Ming Dynasty was still low, and it could still feed two people. The key to an army of three million.
However, the guard system and military garrison system have been implemented for 20 or 30 years, and many problems have arisen.
Regarding the guard system, Xu Huizu pointed out four issues:
First, the problem of military households escaping.
This is actually forgivable. Who can guarantee a good harvest every year?
If it doesn't rain this year, the harvest will be ruined. You still ask us to hand over food. How can we pay?
If you can’t survive anymore, why can’t you run away?
Second, there is the issue of military officer encroachment.
The gentry all know that they can gain benefits by occupying farmers' land. Although the officers are rough men, they are not stupid. They know that more land means more money.
Soldier: Fifty acres, okay, you go to the Gobi Desert eighty miles away and open fifty acres. These fifty acres of fertile land are mine.
By the way, after cleaning up the land in the Gobi Desert, remember to come back and water my crops.
When an officer speaks, you must obey.
Third, the vassal kings merged.
Take a look at the northern border of the Ming Dynasty and then look at the feudal vassal kings. You will find that wherever there are vassal kings, farming is indispensable.
Especially in Ganzhou, Guyuan, Ningxia, Yansui, Datong, Xuanfu, Jizhou, Liaodong and other nine-border areas, there were both farms and large armies, and they were also controlled by the vassal kings.
It seems understandable that the vassal king's fiefdom was adjacent to his farmland. If he accidentally occupied millions of acres more, it seemed understandable.
The land is adjacent to everyone, including you soldiers, so why don't you lay down the fields?
I didn’t see it, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry.
Fourth, the land in the field is poor and the harvest is not guaranteed, which greatly affects training.
The military settlements in the Ming Dynasty did not seize civilian land. The land in many military settlements was either the unclaimed land left by the landowners and peasants who were killed in the Yuan Dynasty, or it was obtained by clearing wasteland by oneself.
Fertile acres are naturally not suitable for serving as soldiers. For most sergeants, the land is often sandy and alkali-thin, making it difficult to cultivate. It is also scattered and requires weeding in the west in the morning and digging in the east in the afternoon. There is a gap and it is difficult to meet the quota.
In addition to the farming tools promised by the court, they were okay at first, but then they were not available at all.
Yes, the imperial court said that sergeants would be allocated cattle, but the key point was that there were very few cattle in the Ming Dynasty. How could there be a large number of cattle allocated to military camps.
You are lucky, a cow was given to you ten years ago. Now you say that the cow has died of old age and you still want the cow.
No way, just use it as a cow.
This is the guard system and military garrison system that Zhu Yuanzhang was proud of. The once heroic words of "I raise millions of soldiers without costing the people a grain of rice", in Zhu Yunwen's hands, only a suppressed pathos remains.
Zhu Yunwen wanted to rectify the guard system, but he also knew that the guard system was a minefield. If he was not careful, it would cause a mutiny.
When Zhu Houzhao was the emperor, the eunuch Liu Jin wanted to rectify the military camp, which resulted in the rebellion of Anhua King Zhu Chixiu. Although it did not cause any big waves, it was enough to tell Zhu Yunwen that changing the guard system would not happen overnight.
However, if the defense system is not solved, the new army's strategy will only be superficial and will not be able to achieve the goal of strengthening the army. In the future, the Ming Dynasty can only adopt a defensive strategy.
Only defending, not attacking, is not the result Zhu Yunwen wants.
Since Mongolia will attack sooner or later, he cannot let them go home to graze easily.
If they dare to invade the Ming Dynasty even a small step, the Ming Dynasty should have the courage to enter Mongolia thousands of steps until they completely capture that grassland and make it the richest pasture of the Ming Dynasty!
Zhu Yunwen sighed, ended his contemplation, put Xu Huizu's report on the table, and said seriously: "This is a critical period for the implementation of the national policy of whipping the law and curbing annexation. I am afraid that the current court cannot support the abolition of the guards." expenses.”
Xu Huizu naturally knew this and understood Zhu Yunwen's difficulties.
The whip method and the national policy of curbing annexation offended countless gentry in the Ming Dynasty. Although these people did not have the strength to resist the court, they lost their flesh after all, and they could not avoid the pain and always had to scream a few times.
There are many voices criticizing the one-whip law and the national policy of curbing annexation. Of course, the majority are from the gentry.
Zhu Yunwen won the hearts of the people, but offended the gentry, which was okay. But if we continue to use the guard system, it will not harm the interests of the gentry, but the interests of the generals and officers of the various guards.
Generals and officers have strong control over soldiers, and they have not only kitchen knives but also eighteen kinds of weapons at home. Once they are cornered, they will fight with others.
If there are secret support from the gentry, and a certain vassal king is also ambitious and stands up and shouts the slogan "Restore the ancestral system and defend my land", that will be troublesome.
Although Xu Huizu also knew that these guards could not defeat the Beijing army, chaos would always be a big problem.
This matter can only be done slowly.
Zhu Yunwen frowned and said: "The strategy of the new army in Peiping cannot be stopped. As for the issue of farmland cultivation in the guard station, let Peking Chief Envoy Zhang Bing and Du Si Ping'an think of a way to find a way."
Xu Huizu nodded in agreement.
Zhu Yunwen looked at Zhu Di and said: "Uncle King Yan, I am far inferior to you in the art of war and battle formations, and the Duke of Wei and Ru Shangshu are also inferior to you. I want to entrust you with the restructuring of the capital camp. What do you think?"
"emperor……"
Zhu Di couldn't believe it.
As a person who had done something wrong, I came to the capital to plead guilty. I originally thought that the best result would be to retain the title of King of Yan and become an idle prince.
After that frank and drunken conversation, Zhu Yunwen did not pursue his past, but asked himself to study the strategy of the New Army. Later, he arranged for himself to go to the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army to discuss the strategy of the New Army and the Ming Dynasty border defense with Xu Huizu.
I thought I was just a staff member, giving out ideas.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Yunwen would entrust such an important task to himself!
Beijing Camp is undergoing restructuring!
This is a major event concerning the country!
Zhu Yunwen looked deeply at Zhu Di, his eyes full of expectation.
The new army's strategy has been implemented in Beijing Camp for more than half a year, with remarkable results. Even Zhu Di couldn't help but praise that Beijing Camp is a great army in the world!
However, as the new army strategy continues to deepen, the individual combat effectiveness of soldiers has been improved, and the research on battle formations of thousands or tens of thousands of people has basically achieved results. However, there have always been coordination problems in the large-scale legion warfare of the Beijing Army.
The method of fighting a large army of 100,000, 200,000, and 300,000 people is completely different from the method of fighting thousands or tens of thousands of people.
Xu Huizu had no experience in commanding a large army in combat, and neither did Ru Jin. It was far from enough to rely on paper talks and the experience of his ancestors.
Therefore, Zhu Yunwen needs Zhu Di. He needs Zhu Di, who has been on the battlefield for a long time and is good at commanding large armies to fight, as the chief surgeon in charge of the restructuring of the Beijing camp!
