The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 488 Xu Shichang's Test
Teng Yuzao smiled calmly and said, "Brother Juren, I have never thought about this matter. How can you take it seriously?"

To Xu Shichang, Teng Yuzhao's words seemed insincere. After thinking about it, he couldn't help but smile bitterly, and then said unwillingly.

"Doesn't the Marshal want the country to have a strong army that can deter the great powers?"

Xu Shichang's words made Teng Yuzao smile bitterly.

"Of course I wouldn't want to! But Kikuto, you have to understand that to build a strong army that can deter the great powers, there must be a strong national strength behind it, just like the Eight-Nation Alliance in front of us."

"These great powers seem to be aggressive, but in my opinion, the only ones who can fight are the Germans and the Russians."

"Germany's interests are in Europe. They have many conflicts with the two old powers, Britain and France. Sooner or later, there will be a war. If their minister Clemens von Kettel had not been killed this time, I guess the Germans would never have made such a big move."

"Not only did they send a large number of troops across the ocean to our Zhili, they even forced Britain and France to send tens of thousands of allied troops. But in the final analysis, the Germans would never station a large number of troops in the Far East for a long time."

"Their biggest wish should be to maintain a military presence in the Far East and to gain benefits from occupying a colony."

"In a word, the Germans do not have enough military expenditure to allow them to maintain a strong military force in both Europe and the Far East at the same time."

"As for the Russians, due to their deep desire for territory, they really want to take this opportunity to seize more territory. Moreover, in terms of manpower alone, the Russians have a large number of soldiers. They are not short of soldiers even if they want to form an army of several million. They have the conditions to maintain a strong military presence in the Far East."

"But the Russians also have no military funds. They are now borrowing money from British and French private banks to invade the Western Regions and march into Zhili."

"If the Germans and the Russians had sufficient military funds, it would be impossible for us to defeat the most powerful Eight-Nation Alliance in the world in such a short time."

"In a word, if you want to have a strong army, you must have strong national support, otherwise everything is empty talk."

Teng Yuzao added, "When Juren was in Xiaozhan, he helped Yuan Weiting train his troops. He should have some knowledge of the military expenditures of the Wuwei Army, right?"

Xu Shichang sighed, nodded and said, "I heard that the annual military expenditure of the imperial court for the five armed forces is about 30 million taels."

"Yes, I heard Lord Rong tell me that number himself. Just think about it. The Wuwei Army has less than 100,000 soldiers at most, but it would cost 30 million. If the whole country has to do the same, how much silver would it cost!"

Teng Yuzao has always been conflicted about Ronglu.

Although he himself was not fond of Ronglu, the original Teng Yuzhao had received Ronglu's favor after all. He could not show disrespect to him in front of outsiders, so he called Ronglu "Mr. Rong" as much as possible.

Of course, sometimes when one is not careful, one would call Ronglu by his official name.

Teng Yuzao sighed, "So, don't say that the court is ruled by the Manchus. They will definitely not give a position like commanding the national military power to a Han Chinese like me. Even if they really give it to me, I can't afford such a large amount of military funds to support the army."

"At present, the imperial court has completely assigned the vanguard army to Zhili Province. Including the recruits, the vanguard army already has 450,000 people. Such a large military expenditure is enough to worry me as the governor of Zhili. I have no interest in that useless military marshal."

Although Xu Shichang thought that Teng Yuzhao's words that he had no interest in the position of Grand Marshal were insincere, he couldn't help feeling sad when he thought of the huge military expenditure. No matter who took this position, the court would not be able to come up with such a large sum of money.

Xu Shichang sighed and said, "The Marshal is right. If we want a strong army, we must have money. Otherwise, everything is just empty talk."

"But there is still a way." "Oh!"

Teng Yuzao couldn't help but feel a little surprised by Xu Shichang's words.

"Kikuto still has a way!"

Xu Shichang did not keep the secret and said, "Looking at the Western powers, even Japan is the same. The national army is controlled by a unified department, instead of the current situation where each province acts on its own, so that these frontier officials have military power in their hands. This is why when the country is in trouble, the court cannot mobilize the troops of the governors, and these frontier officials are like local lords."

"For example, this time, local governors could even carve out territories to protect themselves, completely disregarding the dignity of the court and the safety of the country."

Having said this, Xu Shichang stopped talking and continued.

"These military powers should be unified under the departments designated by the imperial court, and food and wages should not be distributed by the provinces, but should be handed over to the imperial court for distribution."

Xu Shichang can think of these things, and he can be regarded as a man of insight, Teng Yuzhao nodded.

"What Ju Ren said makes sense. It should be so. We can't let the local armies be like the private armies of local governors as they are now. We must nationalize them."

"Moreover, it should not only include the army, but also the navy. We must not let the Nanyang Navy and the Beiyang Navy fight on their own and not be subordinate to each other. We should first establish the Ministry of Army and the Ministry of Navy to manage the army and navy of the whole country. The level should be similar to the existing six ministries. Otherwise, there will not be enough authority."

"However, this matter cannot be rushed. We must at least wait until the foreign devils withdraw their troops from Zhili before we can start."

Teng Yuzao continued, "The total number of the Eight Banners, Green Camps, and Training Soldiers in the country now exceeds one million. These soldiers are no longer useful. On the current battlefield, they are simply vulnerable to foreigners. They have no problem bullying the people. Such armies must be disbanded."

Teng Yuzao continued along the line of thought that was evoked by Xu Shichang.

"The Eight Banners Soldiers cannot be dismissed, and the Green Camp and the Training Soldiers cannot be dismissed at will. There needs to be a method, otherwise it will cause chaos, so this matter will have to wait."

Teng Yuzao suddenly had an idea and said, "Juren, when the situation stabilizes, we can gradually start this matter. At that time, I will nominate you as the first Minister of the Army."

Hearing that Teng Yuzhao was going to recommend him as the future Minister of the Army, Xu Shichang could not help but be overjoyed. He had been in the cold and noble position of the seventh rank of Hanlin for a long time.

It was not until this time that he was named by Teng Yuzhao to come to the vanguard army and was promoted to a fourth-rank official. If the rank of the Ministry of Army is equal to that of the Six Ministries in the future, wouldn't he be able to join the ranks of second-rank officials? How could he not be excited?

He was about to bow to Teng Yuzhao to express his gratitude, but when he had raised his hands halfway, he suddenly realized that he had now joined the vanguard army and was still wearing a military uniform, so he quickly lowered his left hand and gave Teng Yuzhao a not-so-standard military salute.

"Thank you, Marshal, for your grace!"

Teng Yuzao smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Juren, don't rush to thank me yet. Whether this task will eventually fall on your head depends on your own efforts."

"You should take advantage of this opportunity to serve as the chief clerk in the army and familiarize yourself with military affairs so that you can prepare for future needs. I will not recommend someone who is unfamiliar with military affairs to take up such an important position."

"The job of the Army Department is definitely not easy. Not only do you have to lay off those redundant soldiers who only know how to eat and get paid, but also those redundant officials who do nothing all day long. It is very offensive. Even court officials and provincial governors will come to you for explanation. You should be mentally prepared."

(End of this chapter)