Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 146 Cao Wenzhao's Family Letter
"Dear Father:
Since the beginning of September last year, I received the imperial order for transfer. I was shocked and confused when I went to Beijing. Lord Wang of the Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War in Beijing told me that it was Lord Wen of the Ministry of Personnel who specifically transferred me to Henghai Guard. I went to Lord Wen to thank him, but Lord Wen said that this transfer order was personally requested by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Hearing this, I felt deeply moved. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince heard of my humble name and selected me. I will never repay it until I die!
We arrived in Nanjing at the end of October, and in early November, His Highness personally gave us a lecture. He informed us of the military salaries, rewards and punishments, and other matters... His Highness treated us military men with such generosity that I have never heard of before! Such a wise ruler must be loyal to me to the utmost, even if I die, I cannot repay him even a little!
That month, I entered the military camp. I was honored to be one of the five thousand households in the guards, and I was under the command of the commander, Ma Dusi. Ma Dusi, the eldest son of Datong Ma Shuai, was a man with a cold face but a warm heart. His words and deeds were worthy of the title of a tiger son of a general. Although he always had a serious face during the training, the soldiers would be punished with military sticks if they were not careful. However, after the training, when the soldiers returned to the camp, they could often see Ma Dusi accompanying His Royal Highness the Grandson to visit and comfort the soldiers in each camp. If there were soldiers who were beaten with military sticks and could not get up, His Royal Highness and Dusi would personally apply medicine to them. In the past three months, I have cried many times because of this. Since I am like this, I think there is no need to say more about the gratitude of the soldiers.
Under the Madusi, I, Kunshan Du Hongyu, Ningyuan Zu Dashou, Nanchang Liu Zhaosun, and Shaanxi Jinglu Wei Zhao Shujiao are all thousand households. Each of them actually leads a thousand combat soldiers, including 800 infantry and 200 cavalry. These four people are all sons of generals, and their fathers, brothers, and even uncles are all famous generals of our dynasty. In training soldiers, each has his own strengths, and they can share the joys and sorrows with the soldiers. Despite this, I am also confident that the thousand households I lead will never fall behind my four colleagues!
Among the thousand households of my child, there are ten hundred households, twenty general flags, and one hundred small flags. Among the hundred households, there are two people who are good generals. One is Ma Shilong. Although this boy is only fifteen years old this year, he is proficient in riding, shooting, bow and horse. If you ask him about military strategies, he can answer fluently. Although he comes from a general family and is young, he can still get up the earliest and go to bed the latest among the hundred households every day. If the army is managed like this, elite soldiers will not be far away.
The second one is Man Gui. This boy is only fifteen years old this year. However , it is said that he has taken up the sword and fought in Xuanfu many times, and has killed more than ten northern barbarians. Although this boy is not good at writing and his words and deeds are rude, his martial arts are really amazing. I am ashamed that I am no match for him in both infantry and horse battles. In my opinion, in the whole army, only the chief instructor Cheng Zongyou specially hired by Your Highness can capture him in infantry battles. However, let's not talk about Instructor Cheng's horse battles. Man Gui is a generous and sincere person, and is very popular with the soldiers. However, his temper is too rough and straightforward, and he sometimes contradicts his superiors and even Your Highness. Fortunately, Your Highness is magnanimous and always comforts him with kind words. Although Madusi often scolds him, he likes him most of the time. However, Your Highness treats us warriors with courtesy, and we warriors cannot forget our duties. This boy must pay more attention to him and teach him from time to time. In order to prevent his talent from being wasted, we must help him become a good general of the Ming Dynasty.
Among the general flags, three are fourth-grade students of the Fangshan School under the palace, all of them are seventeen years old. These three men are physically strong, but their martial arts are mediocre, and their swordsmanship is not worth mentioning. However, when it comes to long spears, they are fast, accurate, and ruthless. When it comes to the control of firearms, they are also very proficient, and they never miss the target when shooting with bird guns. Moreover, these three people are knowledgeable, and have dabbled in astronomy, geography, history, classics, and even the situation of various countries in the world.
Alas! It is said that Ma Shilong, Man Gui's two sons, and Huang Degong under Liu Zhaosun were all personally selected by His Highness. I heard from Liu Zhaosun that Huang Degong is also a brave and loyal man. Looking at the omnipotence of Fangshan's three sons... Your Highness's ability to judge people must not be damaged by my performance. Therefore, every morning when I wake up, I am grateful and forge ahead. I only hope to improve day by day and live up to His Highness's high expectations!
Under the small flag, the boy actually led 1,000 soldiers. Some of them came from disaster victims in Xuzhou, Huai'an and other places. Another part came from miners in Luzhou and Huizhou. The oldest was 27 or 28 years old, and the youngest was 17 or 18 years old. More than 90% of these soldiers were single, and less than 10% had families.
I have been here for a few months and have heard about your wealth. But after I entered the military camp, I realized that your wealth is no less than that of Tao Zhugong in the past. As for the soldiers under my command, each person has two sets of daily uniforms and two sets of training uniforms for each season. The armor is also divided into seasons. There are plate armor in spring and autumn, leather armor in summer, and thick cotton cloth under the plate armor in winter. All kinds of armor are lighter than those in Liaodong, and their defensive power is far better.
Soldiers had three meals a day. In the morning, each soldier had two steamed buns with green onion sauce and meat, one egg or duck egg, and porridge to choose from. At noon and in the evening, they had two meat dishes and two vegetables, and rice to choose from. Compared with the Liaodong soldiers who had only two meals a day and only had meat for ten days, the difference was not known in terms of distance. The meat was mainly lean meat, and there were few large pieces of fat. However, the soldiers did not need a lot of fat to fill their stomachs with such food.
Each soldier in the team has a bird gun. This bird gun is very different from the bird guns commonly used in Liaodong. It has no matchlock, but uses flint to ignite. The projectile is not spherical, but the so-called "rice grain bullet". "There are rifling in the barrel of this gun, and the firing speed is very fast. According to my rough estimation, this bird gun fires five to six rounds, while the Liaodong bird gun only fires two rounds. The quality is excellent. My troops have been training for several months, and no gun has exploded. The range is very long, and the maximum range can reach 300 feet (933.3 meters). The accuracy is very high. After using this bird gun for several months, the child rarely misses the target within 100 feet. If it is a head, it will be a head, and if it is a shoulder, it will be a shoulder.
In addition to the bird gun, each soldier also has a bayonet and a dagger. The bayonet is usually used as a waist sword, and if a blade is needed during war, it is inserted into the barrel of the bird gun. The dagger is very well designed and can be used for chopping, stabbing, and opening bottles. Children like it very much.
According to the regulations of the Madusi, the troops drilled twice a day, each time for an hour and a half. In the morning, they practiced marching in formations, and in the afternoon, they practiced bayonet and dagger fighting. They practiced shooting once every three days, and had one day off every ten days.
Each cavalryman is equipped with two war horses and a groom is assigned to take care of the war horses. There are two types of war horses. One is the Western horses, which Your Highness spent a lot of money to buy from the Jesuits in Macau. Because Your Highness selected a considerable number of war horses for breeding, there are only 20 Western horses in the thousand households of the children. The remaining 380 horses are all Liaodong horses or Shaanxi-Gansu Hetao horses. Each war horse has a number, and one cent and three cents of silver for special war horse fodder are issued every month.
The cavalrymen all wore half-body armor, and each had a cavalry sword and a hand cannon. This cavalry sword was said to be the latest product of Fangshan Material Laboratory. The boy used this sword against the Liaodong sword he brought here, and the Liaodong sword broke. As for the hand cannon, it was said to be developed by Zhao Shizhen, the strongest firearms master of the Ming Dynasty. It can fire six bullets in a row after the flint is ignited. However, after firing, the gunpowder residue blocked the revolver, and it was basically impossible to reload and use it in battle.
In addition to the infantry and cavalry, there is also an artillery unit, with 20 12-pound cannons and 40 8-pound cannons. They are directly under the control of the Madusi. There are also military police and scouts, all of which are directly under the control of the Madusi. The total number of combat soldiers is 600, and the number of auxiliary servants is 800. The auxiliary servants are selected by the crown prince from good people, and the monthly salary is 1 tael and 5 coins of silver, and many people follow him.
Your Highness attaches great importance to military discipline. Before the restoration of this guard, he had sent a letter to the magistrate of Jingjiang County, and provided a subsidy of 30,000 taels of silver, so that all the Qinlou and Chuguan, casinos, etc. in the county could be moved out of the island. I agree with this arrangement very much! Otherwise, the military camp would inevitably be tainted with worldly atmosphere, and the soldiers would not be able to maintain their simple and courageous fighting spirit.
Even so, in order to ensure that the soldiers would not have nothing to do during their rest periods, His Highness introduced chess, various cards, and other games in addition to Chinese chess, and built a chess and card room for the soldiers to have fun. He also repaired the lawn outside and encouraged the whole army to practice football. The children even liked this football game, and not only the children, but also the whole army liked it. Now every hundred households in this guard have a football team, and on rest days, at least four games are played every day...
Such an army, with sophisticated equipment, generous military pay, capable generals, and high morale! Moreover, the Crown Prince promised the army to train every day, regardless of the cost, and to continuously supply firearms and ammunition. I firmly believe that the goal of building the strongest army of the Ming Dynasty, as the Crown Prince said when we arrived in Nanjing, will be achieved within three years!
As a thousand households, the prince has treated me very well. I don't need to say much about the daily uniforms, combat uniforms, training uniforms, and armor for each season. The bird guns, hand guns, swords, and war horses are all top-notch. Even the house is a separate courtyard and building. There are also two servants and two maids to serve. However, I have received such great kindness from His Highness, and now that I have made an inch of contribution, how dare I enjoy it peacefully? Moreover, Madusi and his four colleagues, as descendants of generals, eat and live with the soldiers. How dare I not follow suit?
Moreover, when I got here, I realized that what I learned the day before was almost a joke. From the Madusi to the ordinary soldiers in the army, all of us in this guard attended the night school held here by the teachers of Fangshan School entrusted by the Grandson. Thanks to my father's early teachings, I can be considered to be roughly proficient in writing, so I don't have to start from the Three Character Classic. But every time I talk with the general flags who joined the army of Fangshan School, I feel that their vision is very small and their knowledge is very short. Therefore, every day off, as long as it is not my turn to be on duty, I will rush to Fangshan School in a small boat to listen to the master's teachings.
Your Highness is very caring towards the officers of our garrison. He will go to the garrison one day every ten days. Sometimes he even stays for three or five days. When the prince stays, he drills with ordinary soldiers during the day and gives lectures to us at night. In the past month, the prince has been lecturing on the military systems of the Chinese dynasties. Only then did I know how the tyrannical Qin Dynasty, which awarded titles based on military merit, became so powerful and how it fell so quickly. The heyday of the Fubing system in the prosperous Tang Dynasty is really what I yearn for... I also heard that the changes in our military system have led to the fact that the court is now unable to make ends meet due to the military pay of the military garrisons... Your Highness is really a god. As my knowledge has grown recently, I have read history books and even asked many masters in Fangshan. They all said that your Highness is so wise and brave that perhaps only Taizu and Chengzu can be compared with him in this dynasty.
The child was more and more excited when he heard this. In the past, when Taizu founded the country, there were the King of Zhongshan and the King of Kaiping, and when Chengzu pacified the rebellion, there were the Duke of Ying and the Duke of Chengguo. I see your ambition, and I know you will have many battles in the future. So I will work hard to improve myself. If your Highness is useful, I am willing to be the sword in your hand and kill all your enemies!
At the end, I told my father again that Your Highness treated the officers and soldiers of our guard very well. Therefore, the problem that the Liaodong military households have difficulty in marrying wives is absolutely impossible in our guard. It has been less than half a year since the restoration of our guard, and more than 700 women from Jingjiang Island, where the guard is stationed, have married into our guard. The thousand households under my control have taken in 232 new wives. Therefore, my father does not need to worry about my lifelong affairs. With such a strong army as a foundation, when the child makes meritorious services for Your Highness, it is possible to emulate the feat of General Liu in Sichuan.
I only hope that my father and mother will take care of their health. In my lifetime, I will achieve success and fame, and I will be able to show it to you two adults. Liaodong and Jingjiang are thousands of miles apart. I feel deeply uneasy that I cannot always be in front of my father and mother to show my filial piety. However, since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety cannot be achieved at the same time. I have made up my mind at this moment, and I will serve His Royal Highness the Crown Prince for the rest of my life! I only hope that my brothers will show my filial piety on my behalf.
Enclosed is a bill of exchange worth 500 taels of silver, which can be cashed at Luhesheng Company under the name of Li Shuai in Liaodong. All clothing, equipment, and food are provided by the guards in this military camp. Except for leaving a few dozen taels to help the soldiers under my command in case of emergencies at home and unable to make ends meet, there is no other use for the silver. Therefore, father does not need to worry about the expenses of the children. I only hope that with this silver, my brothers at home can have three meals a day, grow up quickly, and contribute to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Ming Dynasty as soon as possible!
Er Cao Wenzhao bowed and kowtowed again.
On March 12, the 38th year of the Wanli reign, at Jingjiang Island, the station of Henghaiwei.
