I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 490: Reform of the Guard
Leopard room.

"Brother, you came at the right time. I was just about to issue an edict to reward you," Zhu Houzhao said with a smile.

"Oh? Reward me?" Zhu Houxuan said in surprise.

"Yes, everyone else has been rewarded. Jiang Bin and Jiang Jiangong have both been made marquises. Now the only one left is you," said Zhu Houzhao.

"This is the decree to be issued. Please take a look at it." Zhu Houzhao handed over a scroll of imperial edict.

Zhu Houxuan took it and opened it to have a look. He saw that the content was to continue to give him a title of honor. This time, four words were added at once - Sincerity and Enlightenment. In addition, his two sons were granted the title of princes.

In this case, his full name is Prince Jing, and his three sons are princes. In this way, the lineage of Prince Jing will have four princes in the future.
"Do you like it?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

"I like it!" Zhu Houxuan nodded and said, but in fact, he was in a calm state of mind.

"The information about the Western Regions that you provided last time was very useful. We conducted deductions based on that information and revised the battle plan. I'll take you to see it!" Zhu Houzhao was very interested.

"Brother Emperor, I came here this time because I have something important to discuss with you." Zhu Houxuan sat there without moving.

"Important things?" Zhu Houzhao asked doubtfully, and then he pulled Zhu Houxuan and said, "Brother, you can make all the decisions on state affairs without asking for my opinion! Come on, I'll show you our plan to attack the Western Regions."

"Royal brother, this matter is different from ordinary state affairs, and it is also related to the subsequent war in the Western Regions, so I would like to discuss it with you." Zhu Houxuan still did not move.

Zhu Houzhao noticed that Zhu Houxuan's attitude was unusual, so he said: "If that's the case, then tell me what you think."

"I want to reform the Wei system," Zhu Houxuan said seriously.

Zhu Houzhao's expression turned serious and he asked, "Change everything?"

"Yes, if we have to change it, then we will change everything. But there is still a sequence, first the north and then the south," Zhu Houxuan said firmly. He had long been dissatisfied with the corrupt Wei Suo system.

"There are more than 400 garrisons in the world, involving nearly 2 million soldiers. Together with their families, there could be tens of millions of people. We must be extremely cautious about this matter!" Zhu Houzhao said seriously.

"Brother, have you thought about how to reform?" Zhu Houzhao said.

"Since I want to do something, I must have thought it over carefully," Zhu Houxuan said lightly.

Zhu Houzhao nodded and said, "Brother, I always trust you to do things. Tell me how you will change it?"

"The Wei Suo system is Taizu's collection of the best military systems of all generations. It is a good system in itself, but the problem lies in the hereditary system of military officers. Therefore, to reform the Wei Suo system, we must first change the hereditary system of military officers." Zhu Houxuan continued.

No matter how good the system is, it cannot withstand the hereditary system. The solidification of social classes will lead to the loss of vitality of society.
Zhu Houzhao nodded slowly. He also knew the root of the problem with the Weisuo system. "You are right, but this will affect the interests of all hereditary military officers. What are you going to do specifically?"

"I plan to reduce the number of hereditary officials, increase the number of temporary officials, and finally let temporary officials gradually replace hereditary officials," Zhu Houxuan said softly.

"Tell me in detail!" Zhu Houzhao said with his eyes lighting up.

The military officer system of the Ming Dynasty was divided into hereditary officers and temporary officers. There were nine ranks of hereditary officers, from commander-in-chief, associate commander, commander-in-chief, to thousand households, hundred households, and trial hundred households, all of which were basically hereditary.

There are eight ranks of officials, from the governor-general, the governor-general's associate governor, to the local governor. All of them need to be promoted based on their merits and cannot be inherited.

In addition, the garrison system, namely the positions of general, deputy general, lieutenant general, guerrilla, garrison commander, and captain, were basically held by nobles in the early Ming Dynasty. Now they have basically become military officials and cannot be inherited.

In addition, there is always a loophole, that is, the guard system, which can also let officials take up the post. This is a loophole that Zhu Yuanzhang deliberately left.

In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, no matter whether it was the commander-in-chief, a thousand households or a hundred households, as long as there was a vacant vacancy, officials would be promoted to take up the position first, in order to maintain the vitality of the army.

However, as time passed, those officials gradually became hereditary.

Nowadays, it is still possible to let officials serve as Qianhu or Baihu, but according to the unspoken rules, they should be granted hereditary titles after serving for many years. This is how the military examination system was destroyed. Military scholars and military candidates were granted officials, which could not be hereditary, but they became hereditary while serving.

This made hereditary officials the mainstream in the Ming army. An army with all its advancement channels blocked by hereditary officials was lacking in vitality, which led to the Ming Dynasty's later shift to the recruitment system.

Now the largest faction in the Ming army is actually the Imperial Guards. The Imperial Guards can send a group of officers every year to serve as military officers in various garrisons. In this way, there will be more and more military officers.

There will always be a time when local hereditary military officers will die out or be convicted. Once a position becomes vacant, someone from the Imperial Guard will be immediately appointed to take the position. If this is practiced over a long period of time, a new group of military officers can be formed.

These new military officers could not inherit the title, so they had to rely on meritorious service to get more benefits for their descendants. They would also spontaneously compete with the hereditary military officers for benefits and promote people with the same background.

Moreover, Zhu Houxuan would gradually raise the threshold for hereditary military officers. For example, a person who wanted to inherit an official position had to undergo some assessments, such as personal martial arts and military books and strategies. Those who failed the assessments would be disqualified from the hereditary opportunity. This would reduce the number of hereditary official positions.

Then, performance assessments will be added to the hereditary officers, and those who fail the assessment will be dismissed, further reducing the number of hereditary officers, and finally sweeping hereditary officers into the garbage heap of history, completely eliminating hereditary military officers.
Of course, this plan needs to be implemented slowly.

After listening to Zhu Houxuan's plan, Zhu Houzhao felt it was very thorough and laughed, "Brother, you are indeed a man with a lot of ideas in mind. I think this plan is feasible! Just go for it."

"Well, this is a long-term plan. We still have some things to do right now, and we need to rely on the prestige of our royal brother!" Zhu Houxuan continued.

"Just tell me what's going on, brother!"

"I want to gradually relocate some garrisons to the newly recovered territories," said Zhu Houxuan.

Zhu Houxuan wanted to reform the garrison system in order to make better use of the manpower of the garrisons, so that the soldiers of the garrisons would no longer be serfs of the hereditary officials, but would play a greater role under his command.
The number of military households in the Ming Dynasty may exceed many people's imagination.

There are now more than 5600 garrisons, with a staff of 200 people in each garrison. The total number of garrison soldiers is more than 5 million. Together with their families, assuming people per household, the Ming Dynasty's garrison system has more than million people.

But in fact, there were not that many, because the corruption of the Weisuo system led to a large number of military households fleeing.

In history, in the eighth year of Jiajing, Gui E announced the military register of the whole country, and there were only 70 soldiers. In many guards, % of the military households had fled.

(End of this chapter)