Chapter Ninety-Five: The Ming Military System

Yang Hong spoke very slowly. But the thoughts in my heart are fast.

Yang Hong, as the first person in the Ming military, said that he had no idea about the current situation, it was false. But Yang Hong understands his position very well.

Although Yang Hongnai is the first person in the Ming military, he can be called a high authority, under one person, above ten thousand. But in fact, the power of the Ming army has always been in the hands of Zhu Qizhen.

From armaments, quartermasters, generals, weapons, strategy, tactics, officer education, etc. Zhu Qizhen is directly and indirectly involved.

If Yang Hong really thinks that he can completely control the Ming army, then hehe.

Therefore, what Yang Hong thinks is not too important, but the emperor's opinion is important.

Yang Hong quickly summarized what Zhu Qizhen had done before, and said: "Now the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies should be in charge of the army, but now the Five Armies are not enough, originally there were front armies, rear armies, left armies, right armies, and middle armies, a total of fifty battalions of the five armies, but now they are distributed in various places in the north and south, and there are only four armies near the Beijing Division." It is no longer enough, and there should be two armies, the northern army stationed in Longcheng, and the southern army stationed in Nanjing, so that the seventh army is 350,000. ”

Zhu Qizhen also understands that in the Book of Changes, seven is the yang number.

And the army also uses more yang numbers, such as three, five, and so on.

And Yang Hong obviously answered the question.

Zhu Qizhen wanted to ask a question about the Ming military system, but Yang Hong answered that there was actually a thing that had to be done, that is, to expand the army, in fact, Zhu Qizhen was already doing it.

If the establishment is not expanded, how to place the victorious division after the victory of the southern expedition to Annam.

Yang Hong seemed to say a lot, but in fact he didn't say anything.

In the military, Yang Hong dares to act boldly and decisively, but politically, he is an old slippery head.

Zhu Qizhen said: "Luo Tong, when Mr. Wang was here, he placed a heavy responsibility on you, what do you think of this matter?" ”

Luo Tong said: "This matter can only be judged by His Majesty." ”

Luo Tong was very simple and pointed out the key points. Regarding the army, only the emperor can decide, look at the old practice of Taizu Taizong Renxuan, for the affairs of the army, the emperor makes a decision.

No one else can be allowed to interfere.

It was also the change of Tumubao in history, Jingying was rebuilt by Yu Qian, so that the army was controlled by civilian officials.

Zhu Qizhen said: "So, then everyone listens to my opinion." ”

Regarding this matter, Zhu Qizhen has thought about it I don't know how many times. Zhu Qizhen said: "The battle of Maoerzhuang proves one thing, the founding of the Ming Dynasty for nearly a hundred years, the founding of the military system, has reached the point where it is unsustainable, and it has to be changed. This is also my use of the world-changing soldiers as recruitment. ”

"It's just that I think about recruiting soldiers also has a lot of flaws, and the first is that it costs too much. This can still be bearable, and secondly, recruiting troops with money, and the army fighting for money will inevitably be suspected of being arrogant and fierce. ”

"And although the health center system has such and such problems, it can also be used to garrison at the border gates."

Therefore, in my opinion, the soldiers are mainly recruited, and the garrison is mainly guarded. This is the general principle of the Ming military system. ”

Zhu Qizhen's tone paused slightly.

"Your Majesty." The ministers said in unison.

Zhu Qizhen said: "In the future, all military systems will be based on this principle as the core, first of all, the Governor's Office of the five armies is in charge of all the Beijing camps, and all the recruits are in the Beijing camps. ”

"Let's start with recruitment."

"Before recruitment, the recruitment was very unsystematic, and it was recruited by the Tongzhou battalion."

"But in the future, the recruitment of soldiers cannot be so hasty, so in my opinion, the recruitment should be the responsibility of the military department, I intend to put this matter to the provincial commanders, and now after the reduction and merger, there are not many things that the provincial commanders are responsible for, and there is also a shortage of troops in the provinces. Therefore, I intended that the provincial commanders would be directly responsible for the battalion of men, and this expenditure would be paid by the local treasury. He was also responsible for the training of non-commissioned officers. ”

"The Daming Beijing camp is stationed in the world, with a quota of 400,000, plus all departments of the water division. These people are not prepared to let them serve for a lifetime, usually twenty enlistment and thirty return to their hometowns. The age of most non-commissioned officers was limited to between 20 and 30 years old, and the military department was responsible for recruiting, discharge, and resettlement. ”

"Rotong, it's your business."

Luo Tong said: "The minister understands, the minister must sort out the upper and lower levels, determine the quota of each province, and has recruited soldiers from all provinces and sent them to Beijing, please rest assured that Your Majesty will be able to do so." ”

Zhu Qizhen's intentions are obvious.

It is impossible to change the checks and balances between the military department and the governor's office of the five armies.

After all, of all the rights in the world, only the military power is the most important, even for the sake of future generations, it is necessary to make sure that under the condition that it does not affect the combat effectiveness, it is controlled at all levels, and under no circumstances can the army be in a situation of losing control.

Therefore, the military department, such as military registration, troop recruitment, and the place of origin of each non-commissioned soldier, are all responsible for the military department.

In this way, even if the soldiers are recruited, the court must determine their roots.

This is actually related to the re-compilation of the Yellow Book, and it is precisely because the Yellow Book became reliable after the Qing Dynasty that this can be done.

Of course, that's just the case. Zhu Qizhen will not be relieved.

Zhu Qizhen's second means of control is actually the officer corps.

If the soldiers remained between twenty and thirty years old, they would become mobile. The control of the Ming Jing camp is in a relatively stable officer corps.

What officer corps, naturally it is an officer from a martial arts background.

This is one of Zhu Qizhen's methods to control the army. I won't mention it at this point.

However, the focus is not on the military department. And above the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies.

Zhu Qizhen said: "The Governor's Office of the Five Armies has to bear two responsibilities, one is to lead the troops, and the other is to be responsible for the military situation in the world. These two cannot be the same. ”

The military department is responsible for military and political logistics, and the Shaofu is responsible for military production, but even so, the power to lead the troops and the power to use the troops must be separated.

"I want to rebuild the Privy Council. It is the responsibility of the meritorious veteran. Directly responsible to me, Changguo Gong, you can put aside the affairs of the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies first, and you will be responsible for the reconstruction of the Privy Council. ”

When Yang Hong heard this, he was slightly stunned in his heart, and suddenly understood that the emperor had been prepared for a long time.

Because Yang Hong has broken away from the management of the soldiers and horses in Beijing in the past two years, this was originally Yang Hong's instinctive measure to avoid suspicion. But the emperor pushed the boat along with the current, as if he intended to see him so.

Yang Hong originally thought it was the emperor's suspicion, but now it seems that this is not the case, but the important task of the Privy Council, and Zhu Qizhen has long taken a fancy to him.

Yang Hong said: "The minister obeys the order. ”

Zhu Qizhen said: "The metropolitan governor was changed to the northern army, the southern army, and the central army of the three armies, which were respectively led by the governor of the northern army, the southern army, and the central army. The former Metropolitan Governor was transferred to the Privy Council, and the Yanbian armies were also in charge of the Privy Council. ”

The mutual checks and balances between the Privy Council and the three armies are also the proper meaning of the question. The judge system is an important pawn for the Privy Council to control the three armies.

There is even a system of judges, and the relationship between the three armies and the Privy Council is not much better.

After all, who in the army has a good relationship with the gendarmerie.

As for why the Seventh Army was replaced by the Third Army, it was because Zhu Qizhen paid more attention to the checks and balances between the armies. It's too much. Instead, it looks chaotic.

Among these three armies, the Chinese army guards the Beijing division and guards the palace, similar to the Praetorian Guard, and generally does not fight.

It is the northern and southern armies that are really the main forces of foreign affairs.

As for the border army, as the only army that retains its combat effectiveness, among the garrison troops. It is also under the jurisdiction of the Privy Council.

In fact, the division between the Privy Council and the Ministry of War is internal and external, and the military power of all inland provinces is under the control of the Ministry of War, and the armies in these places, even if they are strengthened, are not reused.

And the really powerful border army. But it was under the control of the Privy Council.

In this way, the military department, the Privy Council, and the three armies divided the military power layer by layer. Of course, this is just a framework, a real internal detailed charter, how to check and balance, so that an army that can fight abroad is firmly controlled by the emperor, and does not affect the internal political pattern of the Ming Dynasty too much.

This is a big project, but the one in the cabinet is not a master of political disputes, and is very good at power schemes.