Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 128 Zhu Cilang's Big Pie
After the Palace Army completed its drill, the other five armies, which had originally seemed somewhat undisciplined, all became extremely alert. Whether it was the generals watching on the reviewing stand or the officers and soldiers on the training ground, each one was more nervous than the other.

At this moment, they seemed to see the Qing army that they once feared, but they had nowhere to escape and could only bite the bullet and go on stage one by one for training.

As a result, during the entire exercise, as expected, accidents occurred one after another for Zuo Zhen's five troops. They basically only carried out the simplest engagements, battles, and harassment. They did not even carry out roundabout maneuvers and proactive attacks, let alone coordination between infantry and cavalry.

These were the elite troops of the five armies of Zuozhen. After receiving the armaments allocated by He Tengjiao, not only were all of them armored, but some officers and soldiers also wore double armor.

But these five elite troops are at this level when their food and grass supplies are basically sufficient.

Of course, the soldiers in the camps and garrisons across the Ming Dynasty were much worse than theirs. This was an era of worse than worst, and there was no worst, only worse.

He Tengjiao looked at the training performance of the five armies of Zuozhen, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat. He turned to look at Yuan Jixian, but he didn't expect that the other party also turned to look at him with a worried look on his face.

The strength of the standard battalion under his and Yuan Jixian's command is not as good as that of the five battalions of Zuozhen. In fact, it is only stronger than the ordinary local militia. It is usually used to support the scene and can only defend the city at most.

He Tengjiao's financial and taxation capabilities, his ability to control subordinates, and his ability to win over colleagues and generals are all great, but his military talent is limited to raising a standard battalion with stronger combat power than the local militia, and his command of large-scale military operations is limited to battles with an absolute advantage.

Now, seeing the visible gap in strength between the Palace Army and the Five Battalions of the Left Town, they were all a little worried that the young emperor who ordered the grand military parade would get angry and eventually affect them.

After all, if their troops were also brought in for drills, their true colors would be exposed.

The total strength of these two newly formed battalions is close to 6,000. In the past six months, they have spent nearly 100,000 taels of silver alone, in addition to countless food and military equipment.

But they are not the only ones who have such concerns.
Even if Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shenghuan and others gathered all their elite troops, they would not be able to gather the number of troops previously reported by each battalion.

Now, the Palace Army dealt them another heavy blow. The truth that they had falsely reported the number of troops, were weak, and were inadequately trained was exposed at the same time, causing all these military leaders to feel insecure.

They knew very well that Zhu Cilang came to northern Jiangxi to take the opportunity to reorganize the army and take action against these military leaders who were self-reliant, but they still had many loopholes.

However, Zhu Cilang did not get angry. After the troops finished their drills and returned to their positions on the training ground, he called Chen Fu, Zhang Huangyan, Zuo Menggeng, Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shenghuan, Xu Yong, and Li Guoying to his side and asked them to give a good evaluation of the drill.

Chen Fu and Zhang Huangyan naturally understood what Zhu Cilang meant. They sang the same tune and briefly criticized the Palace Army. Then they stopped and waited for the other generals of the Left Town to evaluate themselves.

But none of the generals in Zuozhen were willing to be the first to speak at this time. Not only did they all look down at the ground, but they were also sweating profusely with anxiety. They really didn't know how to evaluate themselves.

He Tengjiao, Yuan Jixian, Fu Shangrui and other civil servants could no longer laugh at this time. They gradually realized the seriousness of the matter. The most important thing was that the young emperor in front of them was completely out of their control.

In their expectation, arrogant and domineering warriors such as Zuo Menggeng, Ma Jinzhong, and Jin Shenghuan must be disciplined, but the Holy Emperor should listen to their opinions, give them greater power, and then let them handle these matters.

But now, everything was beyond their expectations. They were isolated before they even started to make a move in the contest with the imperial power that controlled the military.

"Zuo Menggeng, you are the general I admire most. Among all the generals in northern Jiangxi, you are the most promising and young, with outstanding military achievements. Even Oboi almost died at your hands."

Zhu Cilang started with Zuo Menggeng, his tone was very calm, but with a hint of oppression.

"First, tell me how your personal army performed just now. The military pay report after the battle clearly stated that there were 6,000 soldiers and horses. Why are there only a little over 4,000 now?"

"Your Majesty, minister."

When Zuo Menggeng heard Zhu Cilang's question, he felt his head buzzing and didn't even know how to answer for a moment. The military pay of the Qinding was several times that of ordinary soldiers, so he naturally had to report more.

“I am incompetent and have no idea how to lead the troops. After the battle, due to the lack of medical care and medicine, many soldiers’ injuries worsened and their recovery was greatly affected. Now they are unable to move flexibly, so I did not bring them with me. This is why the two battalions of the army only assembled more than 4,000 men.

Your Majesty, they are all heroes who resisted the Qing army and made great contributions to the country. Although I am unable to accommodate them, I cannot drive them out of the barracks and ignore them.

I had no choice but to keep them in the army!"

When Zhu Cilang heard this, he knew that Zuo Menggeng was panicking. This remark directly offended He Tengjiao and other civil servants. They were responsible for the allocation of military medical care and the arrangement of post-war pensions.

"What nonsense!" Yuan Jixian didn't even need He Tengjiao to give him any warning and started to criticize him directly.

"During the Battle of Nankang, your troops were still waiting to go into battle. How did you get those thousands of wounded soldiers? Initially, you reported over 5,000 wounded and requested compensation, but when Supervisor Yan personally investigated, he found it was completely false. Even the military register couldn't be produced."

Zuo Menggeng actually regretted what he said right after he finished speaking, but things had come to this point and he had no choice but to fight to the end.

"Military registers? Over the years, my father has led the army on campaigns across the country, suppressing rebellions everywhere. Soldiers have died in droves, and the military registers are nothing more than a pile of waste paper. Within a few months, they're all useless. During that time, who even mentioned post-war compensation?

Even so, my father still made a military register according to the court's rules, but it was all in Wuchang City. The rebels and the Tartars were chasing us one after another, and even General Ma was attacked. In such a chaotic situation, who would have time to take care of the military register?
This general has said this more than once, but you all refused to believe it, and even used it as an excuse to withhold military pay, food, and even life-saving medicine."

When it comes to the military book, Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shenghuan and others also speak out in support, trying to muddy the waters. This is not just Zuo Menggeng's problem, they all have it too.

Not only that, they also insisted on the issue of casualties in the "Battle of Nankang". All the previously falsely reported casualties were recorded. Now is the time when they cannot afford to reveal any flaws.

"Enough!" Zhu Cilang didn't want to listen to a group of people arguing in front of him anymore, and he had a vague feeling that these two groups were avoiding the important issues and wanted to lead him into trouble.

"We will discuss the military register and compensation later. If there are any hidden secrets, please report them before I personally inspect the camps. Otherwise, you will be guilty of deceiving the emperor!"

Until then, the civil and military officials who had been confronting each other finally calmed down.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Cilang actually understood that although the current system emphasized civil officials over military officials, there was a tacit understanding between civil officials and military generals regarding the distribution of military pay. Although there was a difference in status between the two sides, they were both above the ordinary soldiers below.

But now, he obviously wants to establish new rules. This set of rules will definitely seriously damage the interests of military generals, and for civil officials, the outcome is still uncertain.

In other words, those civil servants have actually realized the disadvantages and are now trying to direct things to areas they are familiar with, where they can maintain the original system and ensure that "civil officials can suppress military power."

"Zuo Menggeng, are these 4,000 soldiers on the parade ground your elite troops? Are there any wounded soldiers?" Zhu Cilang went straight to the point this time, his tone was aggressive.

"Yes." Zuo Menggeng didn't dare to evade the issue any further and immediately replied, "There are no wounded soldiers among them. They are all elite soldiers under my command."

"These are the elite troops who were able to annihilate the Eight Banners and repel Ajige's army. How dare these soldiers ask for eighteen taels of silver per year?" Zhu Cilang asked sternly again.

Zuo Menggeng didn't dare to speak. The other generals also bowed their hands, clasped their fists, bent their waists and lowered their heads. They didn't even dare to breathe heavily, for fear that they would be suddenly pointed out by Zhu Cilang.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang did not let them go. He turned his head and looked at Chen Fu, saying:
"Chen Fu, you commanded most of the battles in the Fengyang Defense Camp. The Palace Army, the Beijing Battalion, and the Fengyang Standard Battalion all went into battle several times under your command. Tell me, how effective are these two battalions of General Zuo's personal troops?"

Chen Fu naturally understood what he was going to say, and immediately clasped his hands and said:
"Your Majesty, I have just carefully observed the marching and formation of General Zuo's personal troops, as well as their performance during battles and harassment. If my judgment is correct, they should only have the combat strength of the Fengyang Battalion. Compared with the Beijing Battalion, they are still far behind, and compared with the Palace Guard, they are far behind."

"What about General Jin's troops? In the previous battle of Nankang, General Jin's troops suffered heavy losses. How much combat effectiveness do they have now?" Zhu Cilang did not try to comfort them and continued.

"General Jin's troops are slightly stronger than General Zuo's. Perhaps it's because they suffered heavy casualties among their officers, and the army formation became chaotic when advancing to engage in battle. The spearmen's counterattack was not strong, which may be related to this." After hearing the latter sentence, Chen Fu immediately made amends for Jin Shenghuan.

"That's understandable, but it also shows that the troops still need to train hard. Even with two or three times the number of troops and occupying advantageous terrain, they still couldn't surround 1,500 Eight Banners."

Zhu Cilang paused, glanced at the soldiers in front of him who were bowing their heads, and continued slowly:
"In the Battle of Tushan, I led an army of 20,000 by land and sea to pursue over 100,000 Qing troops. Chieftain Duoduo fled in panic, and I surrounded 5,000 Eight Banners horsemen on the vast plain south of Tushan.

Although the Palace Army and the Beijing Camp ultimately suffered from a shortage of cavalry, allowing some of the Eight Banners' cavalry to escape, they still managed to kill more than half of the enemy. This is the combat effectiveness that a cavalry unit costing dozens of taels of silver a year should have."

At this point, Zhu Cilang's meaning was very clear, but he did not intend to end it yet, and immediately turned his attention to Ma Jinzhong.

"What about General Ma's cavalry? Chen Fu, you came from the Three Thousand Battalion and know the most about cavalry. Can these cavalry be compared with the Tianqi Battalion?" "I don't think so. Although these cavalry are skilled in horsemanship, they have almost no tactics. They can only carry out harassment in normal times, or pursue with the whole army after gaining the upper hand. But once they encounter a strong army, they will definitely not be able to take on major tasks." Chen Fu continued.

He had almost no relationship with these generals of Zuozhen, and was not afraid of offending anyone. He just followed Zhu Cilang's hints about what to say, and he would say whatever he wanted.

As for Zuo Menggeng, Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shenghuan and others at this time, they did not dare to refute at all. The biggest problem was that their troops were not strong enough. Even the lack of military registers and the mismatch of troop numbers were secondary.

After Chen Fu criticized all the troops of Zuo Zhen, Zhu Cilang sighed and said:
"One million seven hundred thousand taels of silver a year, not to mention the Palace Army, even if it's just to renovate the Beijing Camp and improve its combat effectiveness, even if it's from scratch, I can train at least 30,000 strong troops.

The Chu garrison first received 500,000 taels of silver as a reward for the army, and then obtained food, fodder, silver, and silk from the important town of Wuchang. Now, judging by the final combat effectiveness of the various divisions, it is actually inferior to that of the Fengyang Biaoying.

Before Zhu Cilang finished speaking, Zuo Menggeng, Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shenghuan and other generals knelt down to apologize.

They had not expected such accountability. They had not expected that His Majesty, who had been so polite a few days ago, would be so direct now. It completely caught them off guard.

But when Zhu Cilang saw them kneeling, he did not show any intention of stopping. Instead, he emphasized his tone:
"I originally wanted to review the strong army, but I saw this scene. If the Qing army's 100,000 cavalry come again next time, what will you use to stop them? Just these soldiers and horses? Ah!"

"Your Majesty, calm down. Zuo Liangyu's previous campaigns were indeed forced by the situation. Before his various battalions could reorganize, the rebel army and the Qing army arrived one after another."

He Tengjiao came out to play the good guy at the right time. Since Zhu Cilang started to play the good guy, he naturally thought that he was going to play the bad guy.

"After the Qing army has learned their lesson this time, I'm afraid they'll march south again in half a year. Your Majesty is a master strategist, as perceptive as seeing through fire, illuminating a thousand miles away. It's urgent to reorganize the army and count the troops."

"Yes, that's true. This matter concerns the combat effectiveness of the army and even more so the safety of the Yangtze River defense line. It is indeed urgent."

Zhu Cilang nodded, but then changed the subject and asked:
"But how can we ensure that military pay and rations are effectively used? How can we ensure that the troops in each battalion are properly trained? How can we ensure that military registers are not lost? Most importantly, how can we ensure that my soldiers will not deceive the emperor? Yun Cong, what are your plans?"

When He Tengjiao heard this question, he felt excited. He was waiting for Zhu Cilang to say this. As for the response strategy, he had already prepared it in his mind.

But Zuo Menggeng, Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shenghuan and others dared to be angry but not to speak out. They colluded with each other in order to be free from the constraints of civil servants and even threaten civil servants, but now it is completely a waste of time and effort - all in vain.

"Your Majesty, I have instructed all departments and agencies to dispatch supervisors to each camp shortly. They are loyal officers whom I have carefully trained. They are proficient in distributing food and wages, counting troops, supervising drills, and even commanding battles."

"Is this method feasible?" Zhu Cilang's face turned cold and he asked indifferently.

"Your Majesty, don't worry. This has been implemented for a long time and will definitely work!" He Tengjiao vowed.

"Everything should be based on actual results. Yun Cong, you said it is feasible. What evidence do you have?" Zhu Cilang asked again.

"This..." He Tengjiao couldn't help but be stunned. The Ming Dynasty has always used this method to govern the army. He even specially trained some officials who had read military books in order to prevent people who knew nothing about military affairs from giving random orders.

Zhu Cilang actually knew what He Tengjiao meant by careful training. The Jinyiwei had reported this to him long ago, but he did not think that a group of scholars knew about military affairs just because they had read a few pages of military books.

The biggest problem with the Ming Dynasty's unique military theory is that a group of civil servants huddled in government offices and private residences in the capital formulated and implemented strategies that determined the life and death of soldiers on the front lines. The names of these strategies sounded very nice, even catchy, but they were bound to lose every battle.

Under such circumstances, the Ming Dynasty's rulers and ministers naively believed that every time the Ming Dynasty was defeated, it was because there were disloyal ministers on the front line. As long as loyal ministers were sent, all problems would be solved and the Ming Dynasty would be able to win.

"Is Yuncong's battalion using this method?" Zhu Cilang immediately asked.

He Tengjiao was stunned for a moment, but faced with Zhu Cilang's questioning, he had to answer: "Yes!"

"How does the combat effectiveness of Yun Cong's standard battalion compare to Zuo Menggeng's personal battalion?"

"."He Tengjiao was speechless.

Zhu Cilang sneered and shook his head, but did not stop asking: "How does Zuo Menggeng's personal army compare to the Palace Guard?"

"." He Tengjiao still couldn't answer, and even wanted to find a hole in the ground to crawl into.

"If you look at it this way, the five battalions of the Left Town must also implement the military discipline of the Palace Army, which is the right way!" Zhu Cilang finally revealed his true purpose.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the civil and military officials looked at each other in surprise, realizing that they had gained nothing from this action of rectifying the army. They were surprised and couldn't help but feel regretful.

"Zhang Huangyan, tell me, how does the Palace Army control military pay and food and supervise the soldiers' training?" Zhu Cilang looked at Zhang Huangyan and said.

Zhang Huangyan seemed to have been prepared. After receiving the order, he immediately clasped his hands and replied:
"Your Majesty, the Palace Army's entire operation, from recruiting new soldiers, training them, distributing their salaries, managing their armaments, supplying them with food and fodder, to inspecting their military discipline, and commanding and supervising them, is all handled by the specialized Military Affairs Department, Logistics Department, Military Law Department, and Training Team.

In the Palace Army, soldiers' pay, supplies, and rations were no longer distributed by officers, but instead managed by specialized officials. Civilian supervisors were no longer appointed, but instead oversaw the work of the training corps. The chief training officer was responsible for overseeing peacetime military affairs, coordinating the soldiers' daily lives, and boosting morale, while the battalion commanders were responsible for both wartime command and peacetime training.

When Zhang Huangyan finished speaking, even He Tengjiao opened his mouth in astonishment. On the one hand, this management method was far beyond his imagination. On the other hand, this would completely separate the civil service and the military.

Of course, this does not mean that the army no longer has civilian officials, but that civilian officials in the traditional sense of the Ming Dynasty can no longer interfere in military affairs. In this way, it is equivalent to undermining the civilian officials.

Not only that, if the various departments mentioned by Zhang Huangyan were responsible for managing the military affairs and arranging food, wages and military supplies, instead of having the confidants of the generals in command do the job, then the entire chain of corruption from the court to the army, from top to bottom, would be completely broken.

In other words, Zhu Cilang's reform in the army, through the redistribution of powers, not only enabled the army to be free from the control of civil officials, but also prevented the army from becoming the private army of military generals, while also ensuring that the military generals effectively supervised the training of their soldiers.

This was the military system reform in later generations. Zhu Cilang would need to rely on rivers to establish the army's wartime logistics warehouse system.

But as a result, the civil servants who had originally hoped to benefit from Zhu Cilang's purge of the army jumped up one after another. He Tengjiao was speechless after being asked the question and did not speak himself, but his confidant Fu Shangrui was eager to step forward.

"Your Majesty is so wise and powerful, and your strategy is so great that I have never heard of it before, and I am amazed."

Fu Shangrui first flattered Zhu Cilang, and then naturally brought up his own concerns.

"But the Qing army is eyeing us covetously, ready to march south at any moment. Time is running out for the reorganization of the army in northern Jiangxi. If we launch such a large-scale war and carry out comprehensive reforms, if someone misleads and causes chaos, I'm afraid the situation will be difficult to control, and the consequences will be disastrous!"

"Your Majesty, I also think that it is only natural to reorganize the army this time, but I am afraid that it will be difficult to find officials for the newly established departments in the army." Zuo Menggeng also interrupted. He did not want to be directly sidelined after following Zhu Cilang to Nanjing.

"If we select them directly from the military, it would be inappropriate. If we transfer them from other places, I'm afraid the soldiers won't be able to adapt and won't obey the rules, which could lead to conflicts. Then things will be difficult to handle."

"Oh, a conflict? Who dares? In the army, there is only military law, and there has never been any disobedience. If anyone dares to disobey discipline and violate military rules and laws, he will be executed. As you good ministers have said, this is an extraordinary period. This is true in the army and in the court as well."

Zhu Cilang refused to give in. He was determined to push forward this reform forcefully, but he would not give any benefits at all. If the civil officials retreated, he would naturally lend a hand to the military generals.

"As for the officials of each department, I have brought a group with me, but no more than a hundred people. I also ask each general to recommend a group of people who can command the support of the people to ensure the unity of the army."

Hearing this, Ma Jinzhong, Jin Shenghuan, Xu Yong, Li Guoying and others couldn't help but relax their frowns. Even Zuo Menggeng stopped talking. What they were most worried about just now was the complete loss of the army.

After all, if they couldn't get the money right away, they could always get it later, but if they lost the army, they would be worthless. The solution Zhu Cilang offered was at least acceptable to them.

Upon seeing this, Zhu Cilang immediately said:

"After this reform, the army will no longer be short of food and fodder. Every soldier will be paid the amount of silver, clothing, and bedding he deserves each month. There will be no deductions.

You all need no longer think about those petty gains. I have a vast empire, encompassing the nine provinces and four seas, and hundreds of millions of people. You, my loyal ministers, are following me in the revival of the Ming Dynasty. Do you still worry about not being able to achieve great things and enjoy eternal prosperity? "

(End of this chapter)