The Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 52: Go head-to-head with Japanese pirates

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"His Royal Highness, I have more than 100,000 soldiers in Shandong, who were killed by Japanese pirates and fled. His Royal Highness and General Qin led a 6,000 capital army to wipe out the Japanese pirates at a small price, and they will surely be recorded in the annals of Ming Dynasty. Your Highness, General Qin, I offer a glass to the two of you. Thank you for saving the people of Shandong." Li Yuan, the magistrate of Linzi, admired the Fenwuying camp. Although he is a civilian, he still understands basic military knowledge.

Fighting against the Japanese pirates with extremely strong individual capabilities, you can have 1:1 casualties, or even 2:1, 3:1 casualties, and defeat your opponent, which is a big victory. There were only 6,000 soldiers in Fenwu Camp, and it was a miracle to wipe out the Japanese pirates with only ten deaths. Zhu Youjian and Qin Yongnian's use of troops has already caught up with Qi Shaobao.

"Master Li praised. It is the duty of soldiers to protect the environment and the people. Fenwuying is also a soldier of Daming." Zhu Youzheng was humble, but he was proud of it. After all, this was the first time he led troops and defeated the Japanese pirates. Not only did the soldiers get the training of blood and fire, but also strengthened his confidence. To save Daming, it seems that this path works. "It's just that although the Japanese pirates are eliminated, the local people's homes are destroyed, and the people are resettled, production is restored, and local order is stabilized. There are civil servants like Lord Lao Li."

"The people of Linzi, they are the responsibilities of the officials, and they should do their best. Although they dare not compare with Fenwuying to annihilate the Japanese pirates, the officials will soon stabilize the local order and let the people live and work in peace and contentment as soon as possible." When it comes to people's affairs, Li Yuan talks freely, that is his strong point.

"Master Li knows how much he will lose under the rule?" Qin Yongnian was not interested in local affairs, but when Zhu Youjian and Li Yuan talked about the common people, he wanted to see how the Japanese pirates ravaged Shandong.

"In response to General Qin, Fenwuying had to attack in time. Linzi County suffered little loss. Only part of the farmland was destroyed, which affected the normal growth of crops. Apart from that, the people of Linzi had no other losses. It was the Qingzhou Prefecture to the east of Linzi. … Linzi, as a county under the rule of Qingzhou, is obliged to assist the people of Qingzhou to tide over the difficulties. As for the Laizhou and Dengzhou Prefectures to the east of Qingzhou, it is not the small Linzi County that can be rescued. General Qin and King Xin His Royal Highness still played the Ming court and made arrangements early." As a magistrate, Li Yuan was still very capable. As soon as Fenwuying annihilated the Japanese pirates, he sent people to check on the losses of the people. This spirit is by no means comparable to ordinary officials. of.

But he is neither the East Forest Party nor the Eunuch Party, so he has been a magistrate for fifteen years and has not been promoted, but he has been transferred from one place to another and continued to be his seven-rank magistrate.

Qin Yongnian nodded. Li Yuan can help Qingzhou Prefecture, which is beyond his duty. If the provinces and counties in the eastern part of the Shandong Peninsula are restored, it is indeed not what Linzi, a small magistrate, can do. But he is a soldier, and he doesn't have many suggestions for local construction.

"Master Li, I don't understand some things. I hope Master Li will not hesitate to enlighten me." Zhu Youjian has already seen that Li Yuan is still a diligent magistrate. He feels a little settled and has a good impression of Li Yuan. "This time the Japanese pirates invaded Shandong, where did they land? Also, after the Japanese pirates looted, why didn't they go back to Dongying, but all the way to the west, what was their purpose?"

"Report to Your Highness that this time the Japanese pirates landed from Dengzhou. Although the lower officials did not see them with their own eyes, the Shandong soldiers who fought against the Japanese pirates were defeated from Dengzhou and spread all the way to the west. As for why the Japanese pirates went all the way to the west, why? There are two: First, from Dengzhou to Jinan, there are many wealthy prefectures and counties, and Japanese pirates naturally go to the wealthy prefectures for the purpose of looting. Second, the local government soldiers in Shandong are relatively scattered, with guards as the unit. Scattered in various places, usually difficult to supervise, neglected to train, and even the number of soldiers... Therefore, the Japanese pirates regarded Shandong government soldiers as nothing, and looted westward only for tourism." When it comes to military affairs, Li Yuan frowned. He was just a county magistrate. The rank is too low, even though it is a civil official, because there is no background, it is impossible to interfere in the local military affairs at all.

"As Mr. Li pointed out, but the place is eating empty money?" Zhu Youjian has long understood the peculiarities of the Beijing Army, not to mention Shandong? Based on the Fenwuying's free salary, it is not bad for Shandong's military soldiers to have fifty thousand. These soldiers are scattered in different guards, and they are basically not trained.

The military expenditures of the imperial court were all allocated to the front lines of Liaodong, and the local guards did not have sufficient military expenditures. The money the imperial court owed them was probably astronomical.

Without military expenditures, the soldiers had to farm their own fields, but the military system of the Daming Mansion has gone through more than two hundred years, and it has long been eroded. It is impossible for these soldiers to farm their own fields, because the land allocated to them has long been lost. The rich and powerful in various places have merged. They have become long-term or day-time labors of the rich and powerful. They rely on working for others to earn a pitiful living allowance, and they usually don't have time to train.

Except for their identities, they are no different from ordinary people. No wonder they heard the news of the Japanese pirates and fled. If they did not escape, they would probably become the dead souls of the Japanese pirates just like ordinary people.

Daming's military system has come to an end, and it is inseparable from the current economic situation of the imperial court.

Daming’s land was increasingly concentrated in the hands of the clan and civil officials. Those who owned a large amount of land in Daming did not have to pay taxes. In order to avoid taxation, some ordinary farmers often put their land under the name of scholars and Donglin. The party repeatedly obstructed the imperial court from collecting commercial taxes, resulting in a sharp drop in the income of the household department. However, the expenditure of the imperial court is increasing. The military expenditure of Liaodong alone has exceeded 5 million vehicles, occupying most of the expenditure of the household department.

At present, the imperial court has no money to pay for the military expenses of the soldiers. Without military expenses, the soldiers cannot engage in training and have no combat effectiveness.

The nine border towns in the north of the Ming Dynasty needed a capable army to deal with Jiannu and Mongolian cavalry. Military expenditures were allocated to the border towns, especially Liaodong. Of course, government soldiers who are not capable of combat cannot get military expenditures. This is already a deadlock.

Since the "Tumu Fort" change, both the cabinet and the Ministry of War have realized that the army is unreliable in wars, so they began to recruit troops from all over the country, creating the Ming's recruiting system.

These recruited soldiers, soldiers are called war soldiers, which is commonly referred to as "army", and government soldiers are called "soldiers". The difference between army and soldier is not only literally, but their treatment is also different. , "Military" can receive more military pay, although the military pay is not full. With military payment, soldiers can leave production and specialize in training. Therefore, the combat effectiveness of the "army" has been improved compared with that of the "soldiers." Now Daming's combat effective armies are all "army", such as Liaodong, The soldiers in the capital and other military towns in the north are "army", that is, war soldiers.

The emergence of the recruiting system has improved the combat effectiveness of the army to a certain extent, but the ills of the government soldiers have not been eliminated. Now there are more than one million government soldiers in the country. They have no salary, no income, and no training. If they are peasants. They basically have no land and no freedom of life. They must live in places designated by the military, no matter how poor they live. They say they are soldiers, nor are they. They have no military expenses, nor will they participate in any military training, and they have no military training at all. The combat power of Shandong is more than 100,000 soldiers, who fled in front of the two thousand Japanese pirates. Not only Shandong, but also the whole country's army is similar.

Although the imperial court had to recruit troops across the country due to the military pressure from the north, the military soldiers did not solve it. In fact, no one in the imperial court cared about them. In the eyes of the civilian officials, they were untouchables and were not worth considering; in the eyes of military commanders, These soldiers have no combat effectiveness, they will only ask for military pay and discredit the army. They disdain to consider a way out for the army.

In Zhu Youjian's view, the imperial court is currently in financial difficulties and cannot afford to pay them full military salary. The imperial court does not expect them to fight, but the way out is always to be given, even if it is like laid-off workers in later generations, the state is unable to raise them. , But it is good to be able to give them a policy to let them find their own way. It will not allow these people who should have defended Daming’s safety, but instead become a possible bomb in the society in the ages.

But Zhu Youjian is now only the commander of the Fenwu Camp, and the title of King Xin is only a virtual title. There is no absolute power and authority. It is impossible to change the malignant tumor left over the past few hundred years.

"It turns out that His Royal Highness already knows..." Li Yuan is not a military commander, so he could not criticize too much military affairs, so he had to take advantage of the trend and push it to Zhu Youjian.

Zhu Youjian is the King of Letters, the emperor's own brother. If he wants to rectify the military affairs, it is a matter of the royal family, with the royal backing. I’m just a seven-tier prefect. In the Ming court, I’m not influential at all. If I interfere too much in military affairs and violate the interests of some people, I don’t know who my opponents are when I die. Those who dare to eat empty salaries will not vomit. Lord of the bones.

Zhu Youjian also knew that Li Yuan's rank was too low, and he was unable to shake Daming's military system at all. He didn't want to embarrass Li Yuan, so he left with Qin Yongnian and returned to the camp.

"His Majesty, it's still early, go to my barracks!" The young Zhu Youjian commanded Fenwuying, with ease. Qin Yongnian had something to ask Zhu Youjian early. In Fenwuying, Zhu Youjian was His subordinates and Zhu Youjian are not difficult people to deal with, so Qin Yongnian does not have any special etiquette for Zhu Youzhen, just like ordinary superiors and subordinates.

"I just don't have the habit of going to bed early." Zhu Youzhen also has something to say to Qin Yongnian.

The two settled down in Qin Yongnian's barracks, and the soldiers made tea for them.

"You go down first, and I'll call you if you have something to do." Qin Yongnian walked away from the soldiers, leaving only two of them in the room.

Qin Yongnian stared at Zhu Youjian who had taken off his armor. He had a broad chest, handsome face, delicate skin, and the entire dude of the capital. Only the fortitude on his face could have the killing air of some soldiers.

"Your commander?" Zhu Youjian felt embarrassed.

"Haha, it's disrespectful." Qin Yongnian realized that he was staring at the prince and was a little wrong. "His Royal Highness, I have long wanted to ask, how can your Highness be good at training the army? How did you work out a strategy for annihilating Japanese pirates in the capital. His Royal Highness is so young, he must have never been to the battlefield before. Could it be that he went to school in the book of war?"