My father is Jiajing

Ministry of War.

Today, the Ministry of War is headed by Hu Zongxian alone, and there is no one to hinder him, so it can be said that he has the final say.

But even so, Hu Zongxian was extremely cautious.

Because the task Zhu Zaigui assigned to him was also very huge.

Zhu Zaigui asked him to combine the recruitment system implemented by generals such as Qi Jiguang in Zhejiang and the garrison system that the Ming Dynasty had adhered to for two hundred years, and to re-formulate a new recruit system that met the current needs of the Ming Dynasty in order to improve the combat effectiveness of the Ming Dynasty's army and the efficiency of the management level.

This task was indeed a heavy one for Hu Zongxian.

It should be noted that it has been nearly two hundred years since the Wei Suo System was established and implemented during the reign of Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang. Although there have been large and small patches and updates in the meantime, the decline and deficit problems of the Wei Suo System have been changed.

Take the Renzong and Xuanzong dynasties after Yongle as an example.

In order to restore the vitality of the country that had been depleted by years of military operations during the Yongle period, the imperial court at that time was forced to temporarily ignore the garrison troops that could no longer be self-sufficient and insisted on focusing on restoring domestic vitality.

These huge groups of garrison soldiers, having lost the support of war for their survival, also lost their most important source of income.

They are not professional farmers and want to achieve self-sufficiency through farming, but in actual operations, there are always many practical obstacles and problems.

For example, the officers of the garrison, such as the centurions and thousand-householders who were in charge of managing these garrison soldiers, would use their power to bully these garrison soldiers who had no official positions and make them work for them for free.

What's worse, some people would use the army to cultivate land and privately force soldiers to farm.

Under such heavy pressure, it was almost impossible for ordinary, poor garrison soldiers to survive.

After all, in an era of peace and prosperity, they could no longer go to the battlefield to gain military merits and gain new opportunities and sources of wealth like they did during the Yongle Dynasty.

Therefore, faced with such heavy oppression and endless exploitation by their superiors, by the third year of Zhengtong, the number of documented fugitives from the imperial court had reached 1633664!
As a result, the imperial court at that time had to restart the conscription system in order to maintain the Ming Dynasty's proper combat effectiveness.

However, the conscription system also has its drawbacks.

Although these recruits were considered professional soldiers, they did not need to farm the land like the garrison soldiers, and they could receive military pay and salaries from the court.

This all sounds good and seems to be true.

However, when it came to actual implementation, the imperial court was often the one that suffered the most.

In order to solve the problems of manpower and combat effectiveness, the imperial court sometimes had to increase spending and give the money and food used to recruit professional soldiers to the generals in charge of the war to deal with them independently.

After this right was given, another fatal problem immediately arose.

That is, the money and food were clearly provided by the imperial court, but they became the food of the generals who were responsible for recruiting professional soldiers for combat.

Those of them with a little conscience knew to pay more wages to the recruited soldiers. Those without conscience not only falsely reported the number of soldiers and ate the empty wages from the court, but also raised the recruited soldiers as their own private servants.

It seemed that the imperial court was giving them money to enrich themselves, while at the same time shaking the imperial court's direct control over the front-line soldiers.

If this continues, the soldiers will only know their generals and will not know the court.

By then, if a shocking change occurred and the imperial court was unable to mobilize any troops with absolute combat effectiveness to quell the rebellion and punish the violence, then everything would be over.

Therefore, Zhu Zaigui wanted to take advantage of the current window of stability in the internal and external situations of the Ming Dynasty to let Hu Zongxian make new plans for the military system at this moment, in order to provide a strong guarantee of safe manpower sources to meet the military needs of the next stage of the Ming Dynasty and consolidate the court's direct influence and control over the front-line soldiers.

Now Hu Zongxian is reviewing the information of soldiers in garrisons and recruits from various places every day. While reading these materials, he keeps complaining in his heart.

Although the garrison troops had been irreparably damaged, the interests and relationships involved were extremely huge.

Not to mention the large group of hereditary military officers and soldiers who depend on the garrison system, there is no telling how many ordinary people there are who still rely on their military household status to make a living.

Although in some places, the military households under the garrison system could be converted into farming households, after the conversion, the imperial court had to give these people corresponding land for cultivation.

Otherwise, if their iron rice bowl is destroyed and they are not given a chance to make a living, this is no joke.

However, if the original military farmland of the garrison was distributed to these transferred soldiers as compensation, another new problem would arise, that is, the loss of state-owned assets.

Even if this problem can be ignored and suppressed, is the ownership of these military farmlands really in the hands of the imperial court?
Can the people and interests involved in these areas really be resolved with just a government decree?

You have to know that land rights have been difficult to explain since ancient times.

Even in times of famine and war, as long as there are people, the ownership of these lands is unclear.

Even if someone holds the deeds to these lands, it does not mean that the person holding the deeds can dispose of the land at will.

To give the most obvious example, the ownership of a certain land in Nanjing is divided into several parts. The person with the land deed can only nominally own the land, while the person responsible for cultivating the land has the right to rent the land.

And this right to rent cannot be taken away by the landlord at will. After all, allowing people to have land to farm and something to do is also the basic stability that the court must maintain.

Otherwise, once the land is traded, the interests of the original tenants will be damaged and they will not be able to continue farming. How will these tenants survive then?
Who should pay the taxes that the court wants to collect?
Therefore, the confusing issues concerning land cannot be solved simply by a snap of the fingers.

In order to maintain social stability, the imperial court and government agencies also stepped in to protect the tenants' land lease rights. Even if the land had changed owners many times, the tenants who farmed the land could not be easily driven away.

Because these tenants have the right to rent the land, some of them treat this right as a trading right and sell it to other tenants who want to farm the land.

With so many twists and turns like this, the interests involved in the land become increasingly complicated and tangled.

Therefore, in a situation where land rights are not clear at all, it is simply a joke to hastily divide and transfer the land to those transferred soldiers of the garrison to cultivate as compensation for their hereditary land!

So Hu Zongxian is now in a dilemma. The problem they are facing this time is much more complicated than the one they faced in suppressing the Japanese invaders in the southeast.

After reading a volume of garrison materials, Hu Zongxian sighed helplessly and leaned back in the armchair behind him.

The clerk beside him saw this and immediately came in with a cup of tea, saying respectfully, "Minister, have some tea."

Hu Zongxian looked up at the clerk serving tea and waved his hand slightly, saying, "Put it down."

The clerk whispered yes, but he did not leave, and seemed to be hesitant to speak. Seeing him like this, Hu Zongxian sat up straight and asked, "What's wrong?"

The clerk quickly replied, "I dare not deceive the minister. I just want to find out whether the clerk management method that the Ministry of Personnel is going to develop will be used in our area."

This clerk is actually a clerk employed by the Ministry of War on a long-term basis and does not belong to the official sequence, but the things they usually do and the documents they come into contact with are all important affairs of the yamen.

So in a sense, these clerks are roughly equivalent to the office clerks with civil servant status in later generations, except that they do not have rigid assessments and opportunities for promotion.

When Hu Zongxian heard what the little clerk said, he couldn't help but frown and start thinking.

The Ministry of Personnel has been making great moves during this period. Not only are they busy formulating new official assessment methods, but they are also setting up a Clerks' Office to be specifically responsible for and manage the use and assessment of clerks in the central and local government offices.

At the same time, they are also cooperating with the Censorate and the Embroidered Uniform Guard to formulate some confidentiality regulations. If they really accomplish these things, it would be an enviable political achievement.

Therefore, when comparing the two, Hu Zongxian couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

This military system reform is really not something that a human can do.

However, after the reminder from this little clerk, Hu Zongxian's mind was opened. Since the Ministry of War alone could not accomplish this task, then he could involve other departments.

Moreover, given Prince Yu's character of only looking at the results and not the process, anyone who dares to shirk responsibility in this matter will definitely suffer the consequences.

So, at this moment, a light finally appeared in Hu Zongxian's eyes.

Hu Zongxian said to the clerk, "I don't know much about this matter yet, but since you have heard rumors, it means that this matter is indeed possible. Therefore, you must be careful in doing things in the future and don't violate the bottom line principle."

The little clerk also sighed and bowed, "Thank you for your guidance, Minister."

Hu Zongxian said: "These are all minor matters. Later, you will send an official document to the Ministry of Revenue and the Five Military Commands Office, saying that the Ministry of War will convene a joint meeting and ask them to pay attention to it."

The little clerk bowed repeatedly and said, "I obey your command."

Hu Zongxian nodded, waved his hand, and let the clerk leave.

After the clerk left, Hu Zongxian immediately stood up, unfolded a new page of official document paper, and began to write down his ideas and plans.

After he finished writing down these ideas and plans, he immediately took another express envelope, sealed the ideas and plans inside the envelope, and sealed the envelope with a lacquer seal from the Ministry of War. He also stamped it with the secret silver seal that Zhu Zaigui had awarded him in the name of Emperor Jiajing.

After doing all this, Hu Zongxian did not hesitate at all and immediately called an official who was responsible for conveying news from the capital and the emperor.

"Send this secret document to the emperor immediately at a speed of eight hundred miles."

When the official in charge of delivering information about the capital and the emperor heard that the message had to be delivered expressly for 800 miles, he was startled, thinking that some major military or national event had occurred.

He quickly asked in fear, "What happened? Minister."

Hu Zongxian looked at the official calmly and said, "Why are you making such a fuss? Your Majesty and the prince took the hardened road during their southern tour. On a flat road like this, if you don't spare any horsepower, you can easily travel a thousand or several hundred miles a day. What's the big deal about these eight hundred miles? It's nothing more than changing horses three or five times."

After hearing Hu Zongxian's words, the official who had been frightened finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Yes, nowadays hardened roads are so easy to drive on. A good horse can run more than a hundred miles in an hour if it is let loose, and it won’t be killed by running like before.

Therefore, under the new imperial express delivery rules, for two places connected by hardened roads, the fastest express delivery standard has been upgraded from the original maximum of 800 miles to 1,500 miles!
Of course, for those areas and sections where hardened roads have not been built, the original standards will still be maintained, with a maximum limit of 600 or 800 miles.

After all, the factor of reality is a real cause and effect that must be considered.

It is simply impossible to expect every place to implement the same set of rules according to the highest standards.

"I will arrange it right away."

The official who was in charge of delivering information about the capital and the emperor heaved a sigh of relief and then bowed to Hu Zongxian.

By the time this urgent letter left the capital, it arrived at Baoding Prefecture where the emperor was in less than half a day.

Baoding is about 300 miles away from the capital, and Zhu Zaigui and Emperor Jiajing's carriage took only two days to arrive here at a leisurely pace.

In the past, even if the emperor drove at full speed, it would still take about three days to travel from the capital to Baoding.

But now you can leisurely go south along the hardened road without having to rush. You can naturally walk more than a hundred miles a day and arrive in Baoding comfortably without having to endure the old fatigue of traveling.

The temporary palace where Emperor Jiajing and Zhu Zaigui stayed was the headquarters set up by the Shuntian Governor in Baoding Prefecture.

It’s just that the post of Shuntian Governor is not permanent, and the current Shuntian Governor is also the Chief of the Beijing Special District.

Therefore, the current palace appears somewhat dilapidated and small.

However, Emperor Jiajing doesn't care about this now. For safety reasons, Emperor Jiajing doesn't even want to live here. Instead, he wants to set up a temporary camp in the suburbs.

After all, although it had been almost thirty years since the fire in Weihui Prefecture, Emperor Jiajing still remembered it vividly.

If Lu Bing had not risked his life to save him and carried him out of the fire, the grass on his grave would be who knows how many feet high now.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing really did not find this temporary palace interesting or interesting at all.

But now with Zhu Zaigui by his side, Emperor Jiajing naturally could not show any weakness in this matter.

Moreover, the guards of this imperial palace were all reliable guards selected by Zhu Zaigui and Li Fang from the Beijing camp of the Imperial Stables. The sleeping palace chosen by Emperor Jiajing was also a pavilion near the pond.

Whenever there is an emergency, we can respond quickly and avoid being as embarrassed as we were back then.

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Ask for monthly ticket~~~(End of this chapter)