Chapter 154 Xiao Qi
"First, the first thing to say is the 'cultural military command' is my Taizu'. In order to prevent the general from becoming bigger, the implementation effect is also good. However, it leads to the layman commanding the insider and the generals have a low status." Xu Wei sighed and said, "Our dynasty is too strict in the defense of military generals. The generals in charge of training do not lead troops, and the generals who command on the spot do not know the troops, and they are also constrained by superior civil officials. A third-rank military general who meets the sixth-rank censor may even kneel down. Once he disobeys, the censor can actually order people to suppress him and beat him on the spot... Let me ask if the status of military generals is so low, who is willing to practice martial arts and defend the country except those hereditary military households?"
"No, not one!" Xu Wei slapped the table vigorously and said, "Young Junyan was all squeezed on the bridge of the imperial examination hall. After more than ten years of hard study, he was exhausted and his mind became a lump of wood. He only knew that he was following the rules and did not know that the soldiers were inconsistent! If such a group of nerds were in command, even the tiger and wolf army had to be led into sheep!"
"What's more, my Ming Dynasty has no tiger or wolf army at all!" Xu Wei continued in a deep voice: "The Ming Dynasty's military system has two major characteristics: one is the 'world military system' and the other is the 'self-sufficiency system'. Taizu organized the national army to join the households and ordered them to farm for generations to be self-sufficient and serve in the army for generations to defend their country. Taizu once said: 'I raise a million soldiers, so it doesn't cost the people a grain of rice.' Indeed, in the following years, there was no military expenditure in the fiscal expenditure of our Ming Dynasty. It really reduced the burden on the people and the court."
"But now it seems that such an approach is obviously a big problem. First of all, this makes the army basically a closed group, not only in organization but also in life. When defending the country is no longer the entire Ming Dynasty's "every man is responsible" but basically falls on this closed group, it is obviously extremely unfair. They must have resentment and will try every means to escape after a long time."
"Secondly, when this group is self-sufficient, the officers will inevitably increase the exploitation of the garrison troops and of course reduce the treatment of the defenders. As far as I know, the soldiers in our Shaoxing garrison generally do not cover their clothes and eat without food. Not to mention that their lives are much worse than those in the southwest inland. The contrast between the army and the people close to each other makes the soldiers uneasy and turbulent. They want to get rid of the heavy labor service and live a wealthy life, the only way is to leave the army."
"The corruption of officers further promoted this kind of escape." Xu Wei said indignantly: "In order to make a fortune, the generals' camps were turned into private land, and they were in charge of soldiers farming, which made the garrison's food and salary insufficient; they defeated the soldiers, making them even more difficult; they were greedy for bribery and indulged the soldiers to escape! They were greedy for military soldiers' monthly food, and they did not report their escape!
"As of accumulation, the vacancies of the guards have been outrageous! In the seventy years of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, that is, during the Zhengtong period, the fugitive army reached more than 1.6 million, accounting for more than half of the resident. By now, during the Jiajing period, most of the guards had less than 30% of the guards... Take the four guards in Shaoxing Prefecture for example, the guards in Shaoxing have reached 73%; the guards in Linshan have reached 69%; the guards in Sanjiang have reached 81%; and the guards in Lihai have reached 77%; and the guards who have not escaped are mostly those who are old, weak, sick and disabled, and they are unable to fight." Xu Wei's eyes were red and he said with a voice: "When Taizu, he swept the entire universe, and the powerful guards that were powerful, could not fight, and could not defend, and a group of waste that is harmful but useless."
"To pull out such an army to fight against the powerful Japanese pirates, it is not a joke to defeat them, but to win them!" Xu Wei said sarcastically: "And because of the serious shortage, the court thought that he had sent 3,000 people to fight, but in fact, those who could be pulled out were only five or six hundred, all of them were old, weak, sick and disabled. Defeating these five or six hundred and half-disabled would be equivalent to defeating three thousand people. This is the 'Japanese pirates fight ten' with one against ten'."
The silence that had been listening attentively finally interrupted: "Although General Yu's army was not enough that day, 70% of them were always... Moreover, General Yu said that his subordinates were basically farmers in coastal areas, and they lived a good life. They were just to make a living, so they were unwilling to fight for life."
"He was right, but I was even more right." Xu Wei said with a dry mouth, and drank a stomach full of herbal tea, rubbed his mouth and continued: "Most of the garrison troops escaped, and the remaining half were basically eliminated by the Japanese and pirates, so in recent years, the coastal garrisons have been destroyed in name only. But the Japanese and pirates have become more prosperous, and it is absolutely impossible to have no army... So starting from the 27th year of Jiajing, the court ordered all provinces and governments to start recruiting soldiers from the people, and Yu Dayou's troops must be recruiting soldiers."
"I remember you said that the third reason is that the source of troops is not good." Chen Si said softly: "It seems that the recruitment of troops has not been done well."
"Well, the Japanese plagues are all in the coastal areas, so recruiting soldiers are also in the coastal areas. It is said that the benevolent people enjoy mountains, and the wise people enjoy water. This is actually reasonable. The coastal soldiers are smart and cunning. When they drive them, they will go forward and see the enemy. When the enemy returns, they will chase them, and when the enemy returns, they will go back. As for luring the thieves to defend the city and camp hard, don't expect them. This kind of soldiers drive them to be broad and tame, and they will be strong and tame. They are very worry-free in normal times, but they must not be used to fight." As he said, he sneered, "Don't mention him Yu Dayou, even if he digs Chang Yuchun out of his grave, it will be useless!"
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly heard someone at the door saying, "A scholar dares to discuss military affairs, and he must arrest you to meet the official!"
These words scared Chen Mo and Xu Wei very much. When the two of them looked at the door quickly, they saw Tang Shunzhi leading a handsome young man with a burly figure. The young man looked at him with only 25 or 26 eyes, with sword eyebrows and starry eyes, handsome faces, and handsome snow-white brocade robe and black-faced bullfighting boots. They looked even more like ape-backed and bee-waisted, and they were slender. Anyone who saw him would scream: "Good man from the Han family!"
Xu Wei was still an old habit and only talked to Tang Shunzhi. He said with surprise: "Brother Yixiu, are you back?"
Tang Shunzhi nodded and said, "The traces of Japanese pirates appeared in Shaoxing, and I am afraid that there will be no peace since then. General Yu has already led his troops to the top, so he has returned with his brother." As he said that, he bowed to Chen and smiled: "The governor of Shaoxing thanked Mr. Chen for destroying the Japanese pirates incoming, so that my Shaoxing elders will avoid unprovoked disasters."
Chen Si shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Friendship only means that the government thanks me, so don't thank me yourself?"
"Who is our father and the other two?" Tang Shunzhi said with a smile, saying to the young man who came with him: "Yuan Jing, let me introduce you to the two talents in Shaoxing. The older one is called Xu Wei and Xu Wenchang, and the younger one is called Chen Mo Chen Yan." He also introduced Chen Mo two times: "This is Qi Yuanjing, the assistant minister of Zhejiang Metropolitan Command."
The young man clasped his fists at the two of them and said, "I will be the last general Qi Jiguang."
Xu Wei didn't react, but his eyes widened, looked up and down at the young man, and said in disbelief: "Are you Qi Jiguang from Dengzhou?"
It was the young man's turn to be surprised and pointed at his nose and said, "Young Master Chen knows the last general?"
I was silent and said that I didn’t just know, but the people of the whole country knew you... Of course, it’s the future. Of course, this is not worth telling outsiders. I can only say a joke: “I heard General Yu mentioned it.”
Qi Jiguang suddenly said, "So that's it," and said with a respectful look: "General Yu is rigorous in governing the army and planning the next move, which is the role model and goal of the last general."
After hearing this, he was disappointed and said in his heart: "Why are you still a good student like a good person?" The Minister Qi in front of him was too far from General Qi, who had made the enemy's fear of killing and decisive decisions as he imagined.
After the four of them sat down, Tang Shunzhi understood his purpose: "Yuan Jing and I met while guarding Ningbo, and we were able to talk very well." As he said, he said to the silent two times: "Yuan Jing is a rare versatile civil and military talent. It took a long time to find out a way to fight against Japanese and pirates. I would like to ask Wen Zhang to take a look at the problem."
Xu Wenchang couldn't help but smile and said, "I didn't expect that my mean name has been heard by my fellow villagers in Shandong."
At that time, Jiangnan was rich in the world and had a prosperous cultural heritage. Therefore, he looked down on the people in the north and called him "Some fellow villager" with contempt. Xu Wei's words were not meant to mock Qi Jiguang, but he said it without any restraint.
Qi Jiguang's face stagnated, but he immediately returned to normal and showed good cultivation. He said calmly: "It is said that as long as Mr. Xu cannot find any faults, there will be no faults, so please give me some advice."
Xu Wei nodded slightly, glanced at him and said, "Okay."
Qi Jiguang was very happy. He was about to take out the manuscript from his arms to start speaking, but Xu Wei said first: "I'll ask first, which soldiers are you going to use to implement your grand plan?"
Qi Jiguang paused and said, "What kind of soldiers should the Governor's Office give to the last general? What kind of soldiers should the last general use."
"Then don't say it." Xu Wei rolled his eyes and said, "Even if your plan is perfect, it is impossible to achieve it with those soldiers."
Qi Jiguang said stunned for a moment, "How can this be said?" Xu Wei pointed his nostrils at him.
Silence gently told Qi Jiguang the article that Xu Wei said, "The source of troops is not good."
Gratefully smiling at the silent silence, Qi Jiguang said to Xu Wei: "Mr. I may not know what this soldier looks like before. What is important is how to train. As long as the generals are strictly trained, rewards and punishments are clear, and they love soldiers as their sons, and persevere. No matter how bad the army is, they will be transformed and become a strong brigade who can fight tough battles." In order to avoid being empty talk, Qi Jiguang cited his example in the north and said: "When the last general arrived at Jimen, he was also facing a group of soldiers. In the end, he brought them out and became warriors who were not afraid of hedging with the Mongols."
Chapter completed!