Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 484: Not a Single Piece Can Be Missed
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has been a strict distinction between civilian households and military households. When the country was first founded, soldiers had land and very little tax, so their social status was not low. However, with the development of the times, the land in the hands of soldiers was annexed, and they became a kind of serfdom. Not only did they have to serve in the army and fight in wars - this was a job with only obligations but no rights, so naturally no one was willing to do it.
Moreover, starting from the Northern Song Dynasty, because the literati completely overwhelmed the military, the Chinese Empire had a very bad punishment: exile. Military service became an important means for criminals to cleanse themselves of their sins. As a result, the economic and political status of soldiers plummeted, and they naturally became discriminated against in society.
As a time traveler, Zhu Youdong certainly wants to reverse this situation: after the military reform is completed, officers in the country's regular army will be professional soldiers, and although soldiers have a service period, they will be guaranteed to be paid enough. At the same time, the military rank system will be implemented, and all officers and soldiers will be provided with formal dresses and regular uniforms in addition to combat uniforms, so that officers and soldiers can wear their military ranks with their heads held high and appear in various places in a dignified manner. Then, coupled with the vigorous propaganda in public opinion - from then on, soldiers will gradually become a profession admired and yearned for by young people in the Ming Dynasty.
Of course, as an amateur history enthusiast, Zhu Youdong also knew very well why the status of soldiers was high in the Han and Tang dynasties, but took a sharp turn for the worse in the Northern Song Dynasty: This was because during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the soldiers were too outrageous and would change emperors whenever they were unhappy. More than a dozen emperors were changed in more than 60 years. No emperor could stand this.
Therefore, the status of the military should be improved, but control should not be relaxed at all - in the foreseeable decades, the Ming Dynasty will have to fight wars. During wartime, the expansion of military power is inevitable. If it is not properly controlled in advance, it will cause big problems.
To solve this problem, a single approach is not enough, and a multi-pronged approach is required.
The first step is to strengthen education. In Zhu Youdong's plan, this military reform will completely eliminate and divert the military households, select the best and add the best to the new army to form 20 divisions. The next step is to establish a complete military education system: the Ming Dynasty now has only two military schools, the Royal Military Academy and the Royal Naval Academy, which is absolutely not acceptable - if it goes on like this for a long time, won't all officers be classmates?
Therefore, in the fourth year of Tianqi, several academies such as infantry, cavalry, artillery, engineering, military medicine, engine, and logistics support will be newly built and open for enrollment. From then on, existing field army and garrison officers can go there for further studies, and young people with ambitions in society can also sign up for the entrance examination. The two existing military academies will become advanced training classes for generals.
In addition to dispersing the problem of over-concentration of officers in the two military academies, these newly built academies will also include courses on loyalty to the emperor and patriotism. Zhu Youdong also plans to have these schools organize drills every year to form an appropriate competitive relationship.
Of course, because he knew what kind of people the Showa staff officers were in the 1930s and 1940s, Zhu Youdong was not planning to set up a military academy for teenagers: Soldiers still need to understand society. If they were simply trained in military affairs from a young age, they would eventually become a group of idiots who knew nothing except fighting. In addition to recruiting outstanding officers and soldiers from the army, the future students of various military academies could only recruit outstanding young people who were over 16 years old and had some cultural knowledge when facing society.
As for how to train these outstanding young people over the age of sixteen? Well, although the court is still unable to fully implement compulsory education, it still has a lot of money in hand. Zhu Youdong is a man who doesn't feel comfortable if he doesn't spend money, so he can't bear to see tens of millions of silver dollars lying in the warehouse. Therefore, in each province, the state will fund the construction of a middle school and two or three primary schools. This is still possible - Fangshan has developed for so many years and has already reserved enough teachers. Moreover, Fangshan must be split today, otherwise all civil officials will come from Fangshan in the future, which is also intolerable to the emperor.
In addition to adding insurance to basic education, Zhu Youdong also absorbed a lot of essence from later generations in the top-level military structure.
He planned to set up a separate Privy Council outside the six ministries of the cabinet. The duties of this Privy Council were similar to those of the later General Staff: training, combat readiness, recruitment, military organization, specific operations, and foreign intelligence were all handed over to the Privy Council - in fact, it was to allow soldiers to have independent command before and after combat. From then on, unless Zhu Youdong specifically designated them, civil officials would no longer have the possibility of interfering with the military in matters of war.
The responsibilities of the former Military Selection Department of the Ministry of War were taken over by the Imperial Horse Administration: Of course, it is extremely unscientific to give the personnel power of military generals completely to eunuchs. Therefore, as the power of the Imperial Horse Administration increased sharply, its internal power structure was also reorganized. The eunuch in charge of the new Imperial Horse Administration is Liu Shimin, but it is inevitable that the Privy Council will send a deputy envoy of the Privy Council and the Ministry of War will send a minister to sit in the Imperial Horse Administration for a long time. At the same time, the four guards of Tengxiang and the Beijing Camp were all abolished, and the relevant personnel were either added to the newly established field army and garrison army, or diverted. It can also prevent the excessive expansion of the power of the Imperial Horse Administration.
After the division of combat and personnel power, the Ministry of War was left with logistics support and equipment manufacturing. In order to appease the officials of the Ministry of War, Zhu Youdong also promised that all the newly built arsenals in the future would be managed by the Ministry of War - of course, you are responsible for making the equipment, but if the users are not satisfied and the lawsuit comes to me, if it is indeed the Ministry of War that is at fault, I will still punish you.
In short, after such a split and reorganization, the generals who directly led the troops wanted to rebel. First, they could not place their own confidants in key positions according to their own ideas during the preparation stage of the rebellion. Secondly, once the rebellion started, the military pay and ammunition would be cut off: this was the era of hot weapons. How could you rebel without guns, ammunition, money and food?
And those who are in charge of officer promotions, logistics and equipment are going to rebel? Come on, they have no soldiers!
As for what you said, what if the officials of these three yamen colluded to rebel? Well, if the emperor failed so badly that the officials of these three yamen united, how badly would he fail? Would such a failed emperor need others to rebel?
In short, there is no perfect system, only a relatively suitable system. In Zhu Youdong's opinion, the current adjustment is the limit : Fortunately, Fang Congzhe, the chief minister of the current cabinet, and Wang Xiangqian, the minister of the Ministry of War, are old, and they will retire after the military yellow book is cleared and the military reform is completed. So at this time, there is no twist with the emperor. If you really encounter those strong orders, these systems may not be established.
"Man Gui."
"I am here."
"This is what I think. Let Ma Chengzhao be the first Privy Councilor. After all, all the new armies of my Ming Dynasty are actually derived from Henghai Guard. And Ma Chengzhao is, after all, the first commander of my Henghai Guard."
"Your Majesty, I am very convinced by Commander Ma. I have no objection to this arrangement."
"Well, next, it's about your arrangements. After the reorganization of the field army's twenty divisions is completed, I plan to place three in the capital area. Liaoning, Shanxi, and Shaanxi have one each. Gansu, Qinghai, and Xinjiang have one each. Henan, Shandong, and Northern Zhili have one each. The three southwestern provinces have one each. Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi have one each. Southern Zhili, Zhejiang, and Fujian have one each. Guangdong and Guangxi have one each. One in the Nanyang region. In this way, there are still twelve divisions of mobile forces. I plan to keep three of these twelve divisions near the capital as mobile forces in the north. I will take out six and give them to General Cao to fight Luzon. As for the remaining three, I plan to give them to you and take them back to the northwest."
"Your Majesty, do you mean that the northwest is still unstable and needs to be deterred by force?"
Well, how should I put it... After I say this, it is very likely that I, the emperor, will be strangled to death by a huge pair of pliers falling from the sky.
"Man Gui, this is what I think. In addition to the 20 divisions of the field army, each province must also establish a garrison army ranging from 1,000 to 5,000. In the future, when there are problems in various places, the garrison army will deal with them first. If the garrison army cannot cope with it, the local garrison will take action. If the local garrison cannot handle it, the court will coordinate various reinforcements to rush to help... Relatively speaking, the number of garrison troops in inland provinces is a little smaller, and the number of garrison troops in border provinces such as Xinjiang will be a little more. The current plan of the Ministry of War is to set the number of garrison troops in Xinjiang at 5,000. In the future, I will gradually increase it, even if it increases to 100,000, or 200,000. Your task is to take three divisions there to garrison for a period of time, so that I can draw enough manpower and material resources to build a strong garrison corps in Xinjiang."
"I understand. Although I am a little disappointed that I cannot participate in the Luzon Campaign, as long as the Emperor needs me, I will be willing to sit quietly in Xinjiang."
"Hahaha, Mangui, I understand a man's desire to make great achievements. Don't worry, you are not without things to do in Xinjiang. In this way, in addition to giving you the rank of general, I will give you the title of commander-in-chief of Northwest Military Affairs. In this way, you can manage and mobilize the four divisions of the field army in Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai and Xinjiang provinces and no less than 20,000 garrison troops in the four provinces. In Xinjiang, in addition to staying in charge, you can also send a small-scale force from north to south to explore the passage to Tibet."
"Go to Tibet? The Emperor wants to?"
"Of course, Tibet is a territory of the Ming Dynasty, but officials from the Ming Dynasty can hardly enter, and people from there rarely leave. This is not acceptable. My plan is that within the next five to ten years, the Ming Dynasty must station troops in Tibet and have a real minister stationed in Tibet. Only in this way can this place be truly brought under the jurisdiction of China."
After saying this, Zhu Youdong smiled playfully and said, "How about this, Mangui? You conquered Xinjiang. If you can also conquer Tibet, one third of the Ming territory will be conquered by you, Mangui. How can such an achievement of expanding territory not go down in history?"
"I understand. Your Majesty's kindness, I am deeply grateful! Your Majesty, please rest assured that I will be fully prepared in Xinjiang. As long as Your Majesty gives the order, I will lead the army into Tibet!"
Well, that's right. As a time traveler, in addition to gaining a larger living area for China through the feudal system, every part of China's native land in the future cannot be lost!
