Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 593 Military Service Bureau Opens
"Your humble servants are here to see General Li!"
"Your subordinates are here to see Li Weiwei."
In March 1630, after repeated consultations, coordination and preparation, the Ming court finally came up with a rough outline of its organizational structure. And Li Shizhong, the first director of the newly established Military Service Bureau, finally took office.
This eldest grandson of Li Chengliang served as Zhu Youdong's chief guard when he was 32 years old. Now, 26 years have passed, and he has become a man of nearly 60 years old.
Looking at this old man with gray hair but still vigorous spirit and two shining stars on his shoulders, the officials below, those who were born as military men were fine, but those who were born as civil officials, felt a little uncomfortable instinctively.
Humph, Li Shizhong is the son of a general. For the past 26 years, he has either served as the emperor's guard or as the principal of a military academy. It can be said that he has never been a commander on a real battlefield. It is said that the emperor once said that Shizhong is diligent and meticulous in his work, but he is not suitable for fighting in person. Alas, it seems that he is a waste.
And now, such a piece of trash, especially a trash who comes from a military family, has actually climbed over our heads!
However, we have to endure this situation now: after the major institutional adjustments, if we cannot guarantee a position at this time when the number of official posts is expanding rapidly, we probably won’t have any chance in this life.
Therefore, although the civil servants were dissatisfied, their inertia of flattering their superiors came into play, so they gathered together in advance to discuss how to address the director.
In the Ming Dynasty, the retro style was popular, and officials in the officialdom liked to use the official titles of Zhou and Han dynasties to refer to officials of the dynasty. In the eyes of civil servants in the Ming Dynasty, calling someone Shangshu or Director directly was very rude and uncultured.
But now the problem came. In the past, the Ming Dynasty only had six ministries, which just corresponded to the six official positions in the Zhou Dynasty. But now the Ming Dynasty has more than a dozen ministries. How to call them? Finally, after repeated discussions, Yuan Chonghuan, who was transferred to the Military Service Bureau through Fang Zhuangli, proposed: the Ministry of War is gone, but the Ministry of National Defense is still there. We can't give Director Li the title of "Sima". Why not just call him Weiwei? One of the Nine Ministers, which also fits Director Li's most boastful resume in the past: protecting the emperor for more than ten years.
Therefore, on the first day of work, the civil servants all uniformly called Li Shizhong "Weiwei".
"Hehe, everyone sit down."
After taking the main seat, Li Shizhong cleared his throat and said, "Everyone, our bureau is a newly established department . But the responsibilities are actually not new. Recruiting soldiers, placing retired soldiers, and safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of soldiers are mainly these three points.
However, although this matter is simple to say, it is absolutely significant if it is done well. Everyone, especially the colleagues in the bureau who are well-read, you should know that in the thousands of years of my Chinese history, the dynasties that did well in these three tasks were the most powerful eras in my Chinese history!
Therefore, our work is of great significance!"
"General, your advice is correct!"
Looking at the subordinates below, all of them were from the military and held military ranks, while the civil officials kept their heads down and said nothing. Li Shizhong also felt a headache: conscription was easy, but the latter two items would inevitably involve dealing with other departments of the court, and this bureau would not be able to do these things without civil officials. But it was really difficult to mix civil and military officials together!
"Everyone, the next task of this bureau is to establish local military service bureaus in all provinces and prefectures across the country. Then, according to the Yellow Book, we will establish lists of people suitable for service in various places. After that, according to the requirements of the Ministry of National Defense, we will recruit new soldiers and accept retired veterans for resettlement every year.
Our Ming army now has 20 divisions, with a total of 300,000 soldiers, three fleets in the navy, with a total of 80,000 officers and soldiers, and one division of the Marine Corps, with 15,000 people. According to the consultation with Yang Dasima of the Ministry of National Defense a few days ago, in the next two years, the Ministry of National Defense is going to arrange for soldiers over 40 years old who have not entered technical positions and are still in combat positions to retire. A rough estimate shows that there will be nearly 40,000 active soldiers to retire. In addition to resettling these 40,000 retired soldiers, we also have to provide the military with 40,000 new recruits. This workload is really huge. "
As soon as Li Shizhong said this, all the officials under him, both civil and military, frowned.
"Weiwei, isn't it too hasty to give you only two years for such a heavy workload? You must know that my Military Service Bureau only exists in the imperial court. There is nothing in this place."
"That's true, so I communicated with the Grand Marshal repeatedly, and finally the Grand Marshal agreed to allow the soldiers who are about to retire to extend their service for up to one year."
"So that's a three-year buffer? That's still too short."
"There is no way to extend it any further." Li Shizhong took a deep breath and stood up. "It's difficult for us, and it's also difficult for the Ministry of National Defense. Everyone, among the three armed forces of my Ming Dynasty, the Marine Corps is a little better. Some of the veterans in the Army have been enlisted since the establishment of Henghaiwei, and the oldest are almost fifty years old. Even if such soldiers have followed the emperor through many battles in Sarhu, Bangkok, Kyoto, and Manila, they are too old and no longer have much combat power. If we don't quickly distribute land to them while they still have some spare strength, and let them bring their children to open up wasteland, are we really going to wait until they can't move anymore and directly abandon these soldiers who have fought for the country all their lives?"
"The General is absolutely right!"
Once again, there are only military men as supporting actors. Oh, it seems like it's really not easy to be the director.
Shaking his head, Li Shizhong stopped reasoning with everyone and continued to talk on his own: "In addition to the affairs of the navy and the army, according to the emperor's order, we also have to assist the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security in establishing an armed police force. The recruitment of the armed police is also ours. Therefore, our work is extremely important.
Therefore, the most urgent task now is to set up military service bureaus at all levels in the local areas as soon as possible. Otherwise, all our work will be out of the question."
"What the general said is absolutely right."
"Everyone, before the major restructuring of our Ming Dynasty, the entire capital had only 7,000 to 8,000 officials. During this restructuring, the Personnel Department's Grand Chancellor Sun transferred 1,200 people from these 7,000 to the Military Service Bureau. The Imperial Horse Administration also transferred 1,200 people from the army to the Bureau. This means that since the day our Military Service Bureau was established, there have been more than 2,000 officials, and this is not without reason.
In my plan, the number of officials from the General Administration who will stay in Beijing will not exceed 200. The rest will all go to the local areas. Those present today are all officials of the fifth rank and above. After today's meeting, you must convey the content of today's meeting to the lower-level officials of my bureau. Then, everyone should think carefully about whether they want to stay in the capital or go to the local areas to set up a local military service bureau. Within three days, write down your intentions and submit them to me. Then I and the two deputy directors will consider and make reasonable allocations. "
As soon as these words came out, the officials below were somewhat agitated: those who were a little older and didn't want to be lickspittles in front of their superiors, or those who had other ideas in mind, wanted to go to the local area to be independent princes. And those who were young and still wanted to climb up wanted to stay in the capital and keep in touch with the top leaders at all times so that they could get their ranks raised as soon as possible.
Looking at the chaotic scene below, Li Shizhong endured for more than ten minutes and finally knocked the gavel on the table.
"Everyone, I want to make it clear to you first. In the past, for the people of our Ming Dynasty, serving in the army was a last resort. But now." He bowed in the direction of the Qianqing Palace: "Thanks to the emperor's love, the preferential treatment of military personnel. This military service has often become a way for many young people who cannot study to change their own and even the entire family's situation. Therefore, if you go down to the local area and become the chief officer of a local military service bureau, you will certainly be tempted a lot! Moreover, the office funds of the military service bureau are also very generous. Moreover, because it involves the resettlement of veterans, even factories and land have to be frequently traded. Dealing with... I would like to remind you that you must not have any thoughts that you should not have. After the court's institutional reform, His Royal Highness Prince Xin became the Auditor General. Is that easy to deal with? And you have seen the strength of the Censorate in recent years. Not to mention, after this major institutional reform, the emperor is also preparing to launch a new performance evaluation law. In this new law, the emperor has put great pressure on the Censorate, requiring them to find a certain number of corrupt officials and confiscate a certain amount of dirty silver every year! If you get into trouble down there, I will definitely not come forward to protect you! Did you hear that clearly?"
"We, the humble officials, will obey the orders of the general!"
