A winner of the fourth and fifth ranks may be an ordinary soldier. He will not have to bow down when he sees officials below rank six, including the county magistrate at rank seven.
If this soldier returns to his hometown and sees the magistrate whom he admired in the past, not only does he no longer need to bow down, but he can also pull the housework, drink wine, and stroll around the brothel on an equal basis. In his hometown, among the villagers. What kind of honor should it be in front of you! Although there is no such thing as returning home, but at least he can be proud of his hometown.
Of course, the premise is that you must get the Medal of Honor.
The Ming Dynasty was strictly hierarchical, and under the repeated preaching of Cheng-Zhu Confucianism, it has become deeply rooted and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. In the eyes of the people, the emperor is the god who descended to manage the world, which is far different from ordinary people.
How many wives the emperor wants to marry, and who to marry his wives is a matter of course and righteousness. If he can’t marry a wife himself, he has no ability. It has nothing to do with the emperor and hundreds of officials marrying a large number of wives, causing a serious imbalance between the grassroots male and female population. .
Hundred officials and all kinds of stars descended from the sky, but when they were in the sky, they were only one or several levels lower than the emperor.
This rigorously hierarchical system restricts people’s thinking, severely hinders Daming’s development, and prevents Daming from reaching the top of the world’s nations again. However, Zhu Youjian doesn’t know what to do with cultural innovation. The use of imperial power to enforce equality between people may not always work.
In the face of cultural innovation, apart from blood and gore, there is only gradual progress.
Therefore, in the last reform, Zhu Youjian only advocated that everyone is equal before the law, instead of using high-handed methods to force all scholar-officials to agree that everyone is equal in one step.
The people of Ming Dynasty themselves did not have many equal requirements.
If someone squanders lives, bullies men and women, bullies the market, relies on the strong, bullies the weak, and pushes the good into prostitution, the people naturally hope that the government will call for them. At this time, they don't care whether you are under the stars or not. This is probably the only sense of equality in the people's minds!
Zhu Youjian exempted the soldiers who received the Medal of Honor from kneeling. On the one hand, he encouraged the soldiers to strive for meritorious service. On the other hand, he gradually promoted the awareness of equality among the people.
The third content of the military reform is the question of the rank of soldiers.
Li Chunye hopes to restore the fifth ranks of Gong, Marquis, Bo, Zi, and Male as a reward to soldiers who have established military exploits.
The titles only have salary and status, but no actual titles are granted. Among them, the titles of duke, marquis, and earl can be hereditary, but each generation decreases by one level, until the viscount, the viscount and baron can not be hereditary.
In order to prevent the emergence of a large number of nobles in the country and put pressure on Ming’s finances, all noble titles cannot be replaced by inheritance, but with the special approval of the emperor, the time of demotion can be delayed, such as two generations down to one level, or three generations to be one level. .
This is what Zhu Youjian meant. In his mind, once Daming establishes the kind of system he expects, not to mention the ages, it will not be replaced at least for hundreds of years, so he cannot set up a hereditary replacement. Lordship, lest you throw a small stone in Beijing after a hundred years, and you may hit a hereditary nobleman, which is similar to the imperial clan of Daming, and will become a cancer of society again.
Of course, Zhu Youjian also has another reason. If a hereditary title is established, it will inevitably become a goal pursued by many people. Once hereditary and his descendants are happy for generations, then his descendants will only enjoy the shade of their predecessors. Loss of enterprising mind.
The knighthood of the soldiers was about to be conferred, which was unanimously opposed by the ministers.
Daming is a country where civil officials dominate state affairs. This is also the source of Ming’s lack of awareness of expansion. The civil servants who studied poems and books and eventually squeezed through the single-plank bridge of imperial examinations were all addicted to the masters after experiencing the hardships. How many people are willing to sacrifice their lives on the battlefield and shroud in horse leather
Now that the imperial court wants to impose a knighthood system on military personnel, civil servants who are not interested in expanding the territory naturally oppose it with all their strength. The opposition of the Vice Minister of Personnel Shi Fenglai is the most fierce. Even the Prime Minister Huang Liji, who has always supported Zhu Youjian, also expressed it. The opposing views believed that the court treated the soldiers too high.
Although everyone in the National Defense Agency supports this reform draft, the number of the National Defense Agency is too small.
Zhu Youzhen shook his head and smiled bitterly.
The Ming Dynasty was the dynasty of Wenzhiwu. As long as the generals did not have the status of civil servants such as Jinshi, no matter how old the officials were, they would bow down and worship when they met the civil officials, claiming to be "xiaguan".
If a military commander is awarded a knighthood because of his military merits, he will basically be on the same level as a civil servant, and of course the civil servants will not give up their privileges.
But Zhu Youjian knows the history of later generations and knows that Daming is at the crossroads of historical development. If you move forward, you can expand your territory, turn potential into effective force, and gradually build a modern country; if you take a step back , Rest on its laurels, constrained by inheritance, indulged in the great powers of the celestial dynasty, treasures and treasures, and Daming will be surpassed and left behind by Xiyi. In the future international reshuffle, it will be at a disadvantage, and even the country will be destroyed.
Daming wanted to move forward. Apart from domestic reforms, it was the soldiers' defense of the territories and frontiers, so Zhu Youjian relied on a powerful army.
Zhu Youjian can't get angry either. These civil officials are different from themselves after all. They don't have a strategic vision for hundreds of years. All their decisions are derived from the cultural circle in which they live, and culture determines their values.
Since there were too many objections, I had to shelve it and save it for later discussion.
Although this military reform was planned by the National Defense Agency, the ministers all knew that the National Defense Agency received the emperor's full support. In fact, this was the first time that Zhu Youjian was refuted by the ministers at a court meeting.
The fourth content of the military reform is the implementation of the military rank system.
The military rank system is divided into the rank of soldier and the rank of officer.
There are three ranks of soldiers: the soldiers who formally join the barracks are private soldiers, and the epaulettes are one-fold bars; after one year of service, the privates are promoted to superior soldiers and the epaulettes are two-fold bars; the superior soldiers have military merits or are assessed as excellent and can be promoted to non-commissioned officers. , The group leader and deputy squad leader, the epaulettes are all three-fold bars.
Private, high-ranking, and non-commissioned officers are not military officers, but non-commissioned officers are the reserve of military officers. If they build military merits, are assessed as excellent, or are required to expand the army, they can be promoted to second lieutenant.
This is a huge change to the military system of Ming Dynasty. In the past Ming Dynasty, soldiers will always be soldiers. Even if they have made military exploits or have outstanding performances, they will always be soldiers. They will never be promoted to officers, and at most they will receive some material rewards.
The implementation of the noncommissioned officer system has opened a door for promotion to the grassroots soldiers. Although the door is now only a gap, the soldiers have hope after all.
The rank of an officer is three tenths.
Deputy platoon commander: second lieutenant, the epaulettes are one bar and one star; platoon leader: lieutenant, epaulettes are two stars for one bar; deputy company commander, company commander: Captain, the epaulettes are three stars for one bar. Second lieutenant, lieutenant, and captain are called lieutenant-level officers.
Deputy Battalion Commander: Major, with two bars and one star; Battalion Commander and Deputy Commander: Lieutenant Colonel, with two bars and two stars; Regiment Commander and Deputy Brigade Commander: Colonel, with two bars and three stars; Brigadier, Deputy Commander : Colonel, the epaulettes are two bars and four stars. Major, lieutenant colonel, colonel, and colonel are called colonel-level officers.
Division Commander and Deputy Commander: Major General, with one-star golden branches; Commander: Lieutenant General, with two-star golden branches.
In addition, the rank of general is established, and the epaulettes are three stars. The general has the power to command several armies to participate in the battle, which is equivalent to the commander of the group army. During the war, if necessary, he can temporarily be appointed as the commander to command large-scale battles.
According to the war situation during the Chongzhen period and the ability to command the army in peacetime, six generals were established for the first time. They were Yuan Chonghuan, Commander of the First Army, Hong Chengchou, Commander of the Fourth Army, and Zuo Liangyu, Commander of the Fourteenth Army. The 19th Army Commander Mu Qiyuan, the 13th Army Commander Zu Dashou, and Liaoning Governor Sun Chengzong.
In addition, the National Defense Agency proposed that Emperor Chongzhen should be the emperor of horses. In order to better command the soldiers and horses of the whole country, Zhu Youjian should be appointed as general marshal.
Zhu You originally thought it didn't matter to such a position, but he considered that the status of Ming soldiers will definitely be improved. If soldiers only know their generals in the future, and do not know the emperor, the generals may respect themselves and establish the position of generals. , So that soldiers and officers always think that the emperor and generals are the highest commanders of the army, so they also accepted the seal of the National Defense Agency.
The National Defense Agency explained that the implementation of the military rank system was not to increase the salaries of soldiers and officers. Some time ago, Daming conducted the Northern Expedition and the Southern Expedition. After the war, the soldiers on the front line were given material rewards and evaluated based on their performance on the battlefield. After gaining military exploits, but Daming used new-style firearms, and soldiers were rarely killed in battle. Therefore, it was extremely difficult for an officer to be promoted.
For example, if a brigade commander has accumulated military exploits, he should be promoted to deputy commander, or even commander, according to the law, but the deputy commander and commander are in their original positions, and other armies do not lack deputy commander and commander, so they cannot place this person who should be promoted. brigadier.
This kind of situation was rare in the past. Every big battle, even if Daming wins, it is still a tragic victory. The officers and soldiers have suffered heavy casualties, even more than the losing side. Daming basically relies on the superiority of the number of people to fight. There will be many promotion vacancies.
The current Daming, relying on huge advantages in equipment, has few casualties. Therefore, it is difficult for officers and soldiers who have established military exploits to be promoted. If they cannot be promoted according to the law, it will weaken the enthusiasm of soldiers to contribute to the country. Only then did the military rank system be established.
The establishment of a military rank system means that those soldiers who have obtained military merit and should be promoted will be promoted first when there are no vacancies, and then promoted when there are vacancies. This is like the "alternate system" for civilian officials.
The ministers heard that the military rank system is just equivalent to the alternate system. There is no need to re-issue salaries or even extra money at all. There is not much objection in their hearts. Zhu Youzhen loves to toss and let him toss. It is best for him to think about it. It is all spent on the army, and the government is left to the ministers.
Besides, they just denied the military's fifth-class title system, Zhu Youzhen must still be on fire, and on this irrelevant issue, don't get caught up in the mold.
Of the four items of the second military reform, three were passed in the court, and one was initially rejected by the ministers. However, it was not completely blocked. When Zhu Youjian found it difficult to pass, he said, “I will discuss it later. "For this reason, contradictions and conflicts were temporarily avoided.
The North Korean meeting immediately moved to the next issue. The Minister of Finance, Bi Ziyan, reported on new land sales and cultivated land development.