Strategy for the Revitalization of the Late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 59: Showing Off
The camp of "Xinpukou Camp" is centered on a nearly elliptical parade ground. The two rows of houses on the north side are all storehouses of the camp. To the east are soldiers' barracks, to the west are military workshops and musket training grounds, and to the south is the soldiers' canteen.

There is a gate in the north and south of the camp, with watchtowers and arrow towers on both sides. There are two layers of chevaux de frise and a trench on the outside, a thick wooden door in the middle, and another layer of chevaux de frise inside. It can be said to be "heavily guarded".

At this time, on the parade ground of the military camp, Zhao Zhengdong led his soldiers and followed the entire camp's troops to run out of the camp.

Chen Tao glanced at Sun Da secretly, and after confirming that the other party had finally distinguished his left foot from his left foot, he couldn't help feeling relieved. This kid should not have to be beaten with a military stick.

However, he did not dare to look at it any longer, for fear that he would lose his pace. If he was seen by that damn military law enforcement officer, he would probably be beaten up.

The battalion of nearly three thousand soldiers, formed into a square with fifty-four flag teams in front and behind, were slowly speeding up, one after another forming a long and wide dragon on the circular runway.

However, just as the team started running, the flag bearer in front suddenly signaled to stop, and the captains of each flag team immediately shouted at their soldiers to slow down and stop.

Although no one knew the reason, no one made a noise. The first reaction of these recruits when they heard the order was to execute it, not to question it. This was something they had learned from dozens of beatings and scoldings.

Soon, Zhao Zhengdong, who had stopped, saw Zhu Cilang wearing gilded armor and surrounded by a group of fully armed cavalrymen. He was riding a tall horse and slowly heading from the outside of the runway to the camp office on the east side of the military camp. Thunderous cheers immediately rang out on the runway.

This is the army formed by Zhu Cilang himself. His prestige is extremely high, and everyone in the army is willing to die for him!

When Zhu Cilang rode past, the square formation was immediately restarted. These new recruits, who had received more than two months of training and were not yet well-trained, but had already become very familiar with the formations, officially began to run drills.

Before Chen Tao started running again, he glanced at Sun Da again, making sure he could still distinguish left from right. Only then did he feel truly reassured. Gu Defu, by comparison, was much more agile. He had clearly taken a wrong step, but he took the opportunity of stopping to immediately correct it.

Soon, all the soldiers in the camp ran out of the camp and began to run drills around the camp on the leveled ground outside.

Zhu Cilang had already climbed up to the watchtower at the gate of the military camp and began to observe the training of these soldiers. If they could maintain the formation even while jogging, it meant that the training was basically in place.

He originally planned to review the navy brought by Zheng Hongkui from Fujian and win over people's hearts at the same time, but he did not expect that Zheng Zhilong would actually go against his will and let Zheng Hongkui lead a navy consisting of more than 100 small warships to deal with the matter.

Not only that, when Zhu Cilang asked for firearms to be carried on board, Zheng Hongkui was hesitant and could not explain clearly.

Zheng Hongkui originally wanted to follow Zheng Zhilong's instructions and get away with it, but he didn't expect that the new emperor of the Ming Dynasty was so powerful and would not give him any chance to get away with it.

Therefore, Zhu Cilang directly canceled the original naval review plan and ordered Zheng Sen to return to Fujian to deal with the matter personally. At the same time, he asked Li Banghua to quickly mobilize the Guangdong Navy to transfer the purchased muskets and artillery, as well as the mercenaries from Macau to Nanzhili.

He had previously planned to take out 30,000 taels of silver from the treasury to reward the Zheng family navy, but now he has saved it all. Zheng Zhilong's domineering behavior was somewhat beyond his expectations.

After all, after the Battle of Songjin, although Zheng Zhilong did not obey orders, he at least sent a batch of firearms to Dengzhou. But now, apart from this perfunctory navy, Zhu Cilang didn't even see a single turtledove-foot musket.

Fortunately, the performance of the Palace Army did not disappoint him. After landing at Jiangpu, he was very satisfied with everything he saw along the way. Not only the appearance of the Palace Army, but also the new village forts around it were being built in full swing.

Surrounding the military camp were fields allocated to the families of the soldiers. Within a radius of a dozen miles, new villages were springing up. At this point, all soldiers with families were allocated fields. In return, Zhu Cilang promised that any bachelors in the army who married and had children would also be allocated fields to provide for their families.

For the people of this era, land is the most precious asset. A complete military system cannot rely solely on faith. If the problem of their death in battle or retirement is not solved, it will also affect the soldiers' determination to fight.

However, these lands had just been leveled, and after the great epidemic a few years ago, the water conservancy ditches had gradually become abandoned and dilapidated, and there was no time to repair them at this time. As for the agricultural tools, seeds and oxen needed for farming, the Ministry of Households was still preparing them.

Although Gao Hongtu was honest and fair, his ability was far inferior to Li Banghua, and the Nanjing Ministry of Revenue was unreliable. Many officials relied on the allocation of money and grain to make money. Zhu Cilang did not trust them, so he could only ask Li Banghua to send people to keep an eye on it on the grounds that the matter involved the military.

With the repair of cities in various prefectures and cities in Southern Zhili, the development of military farming, and the construction of military camps and arsenals, especially in response to the silver shortage, Zhu Cilang continued the in-kind taxation of the late Chongzhen period, making the taxation system of the Nanjing court still very complicated, which gave those officials an opportunity to take advantage.

But Zhu Cilang no longer had time to deal with them. In half a year, the Qing court would launch a western expedition, and once the "Shun-Qing War" was over, Duoduo would lead his troops south within three months.

He must complete the preparations for war before that, and if he wants to speed up the preparations, he has to rub sand in his eyes and tolerate some officials, gentry and doctors in Jiangnan to continue to live a life of drunkenness and dreams.

Apart from the blatant corruption and procrastination, Zhu Cilang did not carry out a large-scale investigation. The seeds, agricultural tools and oxen purchased by the Ministry of Revenue officials and the newly built villages were also accepted one by one.

Anyway, in the first year of reclamation, Zhu Cilang didn't expect to grow anything on these wastelands, so he just treated them as fertile fields. However, after the war, he would definitely use this as an opportunity to launch a rebellion and purge a group of officials. This was a rare opportunity.

Taking advantage of the fact that it was the slack season for farming and the school in the village had not yet been built, Zhu Cilang arranged the women and children who had just moved into the village to work in the workshop attached to the military camp, to help make military uniforms and bedding and to assist the craftsmen in the workshop.

He should have also recruited some refugees from the north to continue expanding the garrisons outside the military camp, and at the same time trained peasant soldiers in preparation for the next stage of military expansion.

However, the Nanjing court's dire financial situation meant that he lacked the corresponding resettlement funds and food. This reserve force system, which combined agriculture and warfare and was basically self-sufficient in food, could only be postponed temporarily.

"Do you practice like this normally?" Zhu Cilang watched for a long time, frowned slightly, and suddenly asked.

Chang Denggui watched as the formation of the soldiers marching below gradually became chaotic, and many soldiers began to fall behind due to exhaustion, and then were beaten with military sticks by the military law soldiers and forced to run. His heart tightened, but he immediately replied:

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Zhu Cilang looked at the soldiers below who had run five laps and were gradually exhausted. When he heard Chang Denggui's words, his face immediately darkened:

"Call Zhao Guanhu up here. I want to hear what kind of heavenly soldiers and generals he has under his command, and how many laps he plans to run around this huge military camp."

Zhu Cilang would never allow such a show of flattery that disregarded the actual situation of the soldiers and the reasonable training of the army to appear in his army.

(End of this chapter)