Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 52 New Pukou Camp

On the north bank of the Yangtze River in Yingtian Prefecture, west of Jiangpu County, next to the Pukou Camp, which was originally the Nanjing Beijing Camp, there are densely packed thatched huts, and in the camp, brand new brick and tile houses are rising from the ground.

Many young and strong men in the surrounding counties and villages were conscripted by the government to perform labor service after the spring plowing. Among them were the families of the soldiers of the Tianwu Left Camp of the Palace Army. They had to complete the reconstruction of the Jiangpu Camp as quickly as possible, and then renovate the surrounding barren land to prepare for the next season of farming.

After Zhu Cilang reviewed the Palace Army, he immediately dispatched a battalion of troops to be stationed at this key location for crossing the river from the north. The original Pukou camp was being renovated and could only accommodate some of the troops at this time.

This location is extremely important for the deployment of Nanjing’s defense in times of crisis, so Zhu Cilang must arrange for his own troops to garrison there.

After receiving orders from Zhu Cilang and Li Banghua, Chang Denggui took personal charge of the matter. After arranging a plan for his officers to train the recruits, he personally crossed the river to inspect the construction of the military camp.

The Pukou Camp originally had a series of facilities for garrisoning and training troops, such as barracks and parade grounds. Previously, when Li Banghua was the governor of the Nanjing Beijing Camp, he recruited civilians to repair it. However, as he was transferred away to mourn his father, most of the plans were not implemented. The Pukou Camp, which had been slightly improved, returned to its dilapidated state after a few years.

Zhu Cilang was naturally generous to his own personal army. The army's housing, treatment, equipment, status and victories on the battlefield were all part of the soldiers' sense of honor and belonging. It was difficult for an army of beggars, known as "Qiuba", to have strong combat effectiveness.

Now, after more than ten days of construction by nearly 10,000 corvée laborers and soldiers' families, the new barracks in Pukou Camp are just waiting for the final tiling, and the leveling and repair of the training ground and the command platform have also been basically completed.

Zhu Cilang ordered officials from all prefectures to recruit corvée laborers to repair military camps instead of using soldiers directly, in order to intensify the soldiers' training.

At the same time, he also asked the officials in charge of this matter in the Ministry of War to purchase military supplies from the shops of local gentry and officials in the prefectures and counties. This cost a lot of money, which also eased the conflict between the army and these local tyrants.

Since there is money to be made, many things can be easily discussed. Originally, they were dissatisfied because the deployment of the Palace Army had occupied a lot of wasteland around them, but now because a considerable number of them have suffered minor losses when purchasing military supplies from them, their attitude has changed.

In fact, these abandoned lands have not been cultivated for many years due to high rents and taxes, tenants fleeing famine, wars, and plagues. Even if we start leveling the land and fertilizing it again, the yield in the first few years will not be high, and huge manpower investment will be required.

But most of these gentry and bureaucrats have tax exemption powers and usually run rampant in the countryside. How can they swallow their anger when they see that the land they originally occupied was taken away by a group of soldiers from the north?

If they had not heard that this was the personal army of the new Ming emperor, led by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, who had just suppressed a rebellion in Fengyang, the Zhongdu, and beheaded the awe-inspiring eunuch Lu Jiude, it would probably be more than just dissatisfaction.

Zhu Cilang adhered to the principle of "occupy as much as possible and occupy as much as possible" and was not polite at all. These lands did not originally belong to the nearby officials and gentry.

He was worried that he had no chance to discipline the local gentry. If someone washed his neck and stretched it in front of him, he would not mind chopping it off with a knife.

However, Zhu Cilang also knew that these gentry would not dare to provoke the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty. No matter how greedy they were, they knew that he was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty. This was the greatest reliance of the Palace Army. If they dared to sue him, they would be suing the court. Who would have the courage to do that?
After the soldiers' barracks were built, the conscripted laborers would then build training grounds, as well as workshops for producing bedding and military uniforms, forging weapons, and repairing water conservancy projects in the surrounding wastelands. Zhu Cilang planned to hand over the work to the new recruits.

At this time, Southern Zhili had not yet experienced the Qing Dynasty's massacre, and was less affected by war and natural disasters than the north. The population was still very dense, making it very convenient to conscript labor.

Zhu Cilang also changed the previous government law that required laborers to bring their own food. In the name of reward, he provided every meal for these laborers during their labor service so that they would have the strength to work.

As for paying wages, that was impossible. In such an era, people were the least valuable, and Zhu Cilang's actions were already considered benevolent.

In addition, Zhu Cilang also planned to build a primary school for every ten large villages built on the wasteland outside the Pukou camp. At that time, he would invite teachers and literate craftsmen to train the talented children of these soldiers to become grassroots officials, craftsmen and management talents. They would be a core force that would always be loyal to him, and would also be the talent foundation for his comprehensive reforms in the future.

The newly built bedding and uniform workshops and the abandoned land were used to house the families of the soldiers, while the weapons workshop was prepared for the soon-to-be-hired craftsmen. At this time, Zhu Cilang had no intention of being a philanthropist. Men serving in the military were being trained as animals, and women working were being used as men. Children who couldn't learn a craft or had no talent for reading and writing were to farm and help the women with their work.

After so many years of war, especially the repeated invasions of bandits and the spread of plague, there were many wastelands in Jiangbei. The families of the armies under the command of the three generals Gao Jie, Huang Degong, and Liu Zeqing in Jiangbei were all transferred to relatively safe places such as Luzhou Prefecture and Anqing Prefecture.

Although the fields in these places had been abandoned for several years to more than ten years, there were many rivers around them and the water conservancy facilities were simple to build, so it was not difficult to cultivate them again. They became the best place for Zhu Cilang to accommodate the hundreds of thousands of military dependents.

The three generals had more than 30,000 combat-capable soldiers under their command, all of whom were registered as military households. On average, each family was allocated more than 30 mu of land. Apart from paying a 12% tax on the output of the land, they were exempt from all other rents, taxes and chores, and their income was very considerable.

Of course, the prerequisite is that they can defend Jiangbei, otherwise the land, houses, and the harvests in the land will all become spoils of the Qing army.

Through this method, Zhu Cilang successfully controlled the troops of the three generals in Jiangbei. Their families, the newly allocated land, and the newly built houses were resettled in new villages and settled in the baojia system. Now, they were all under Zhu Cilang's control.

Zhu Cilang not only needs to reduce the cost of maintaining the army to a minimum, but also needs to tie every aspect of these three armies to the survival of Jiangbei, to ensure their loyalty and reliability, as well as their combat effectiveness.

These are all things that must be done. As he uses these troops as a foundation to further expand his army, he will need more land.

At that time, the large amount of wasteland in the north caused by war became a major source of land for him to settle his troops and reward his soldiers.

In this era, nothing can give ordinary people more peace of mind than land, especially land without unnecessary rent, taxes and levies attached to it.

Even for professional soldiers, the land allocated to their families could be rented out to tenants for cultivation.

After Chang Denggui inspected the construction of the barracks, he went to check the logistics of Tianwu Zuoying. Dozens of fire soldiers were preparing to go to the nearby area to purchase supplies. Rice, grain, salt, and meat were all within their purchasing range.

The soldiers now maintain a training intensity of one major exercise every three days and one minor exercise every two days. They need to replenish enough salt, oil and water, especially during the major exercises, when they must eat stewed meat. These supplies can only be purchased from nearby.

Even some nearby gentry and merchants saw the business opportunity and took the initiative to contact the army's chief logistics officer, hoping to get a fixed supply of rice and meat.

After inspecting the military camp that was about to be completed, Chang Denggui felt very satisfied. Then he returned to the abandoned land that was temporarily used as a training ground. Officers at all levels were coordinating the new recruits to line up and form formations.

These trackers were already well organized and disciplined. Under the guidance of the officers' sticks and slogans, they quickly adapted to the new team and made rapid progress in training, which demonstrated the excellent quality of the trackers as a source of soldiers.

However, because apart from some swords, guns and armor, the rest of the equipment has not been distributed, the soldiers are still wearing the original temporary military uniforms, which still seems to lack something in terms of momentum.

In the team, Zhao Zhengdong was training with his soldiers. He did not announce a quarter-hour break until the flag team soldiers' formation training barely met the requirements in the military manual.

Gu Defu was already sweating profusely from practicing, but as soon as he stopped, he ran to Zhao Zhengdong and asked anxiously:
"Brother, can you tell the captain to finish training early today? After we go back tonight, we can secretly hoe the remaining land under the cover of darkness and see what to plant. My sister-in-law can't do it alone!"

(End of this chapter)