The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 83 What to do if there are not enough generals

Dong Yikui and Ma Gui controlled Xuanfu Town and Datong Town respectively.

There was finally a solid line of defense west of the capital.

So, how strong is this line of defense? How many border troops are left in Xuanfu Town and Datong Town?
In fact, there were originally many border troops stationed in Xuanfu Town and Datong Town.

Because during the Yongle Dynasty, Xuanda was the front line in the defense against the northern barbarians.

At that time, there were still the Beijing Xingdusi and the Three Guards of Doyan to the north of the capital, and Jizhou Town could only be regarded as the second line of defense, so there were not many troops in Jizhou Town.

Xuanfu and Datong were different. Not only were these two towns close to the Northern Tartars, but they also lacked the natural barrier of Mount Yanshan. Their terrain was relatively flat, making them suitable for the Northern Tartars' cavalry to invade. Therefore, during the Yongle Dynasty, Xuanfu Town and Datong Town were both heavily garrisoned.

Among the nine frontiers of the Ming Dynasty, Xuanfu Town and Datong Town had the largest number of troops except Liaodong Town.

Dong Yikui and Ma Gui were both from border military garrisons. In addition, their two families had been generals in Xuanda since the Yongle Dynasty. So it was naturally a piece of cake for them to reorganize the border military garrisons in Xuanda.

Not long after, the border troops and garrisons of the two towns were counted, and even the war horses were counted.

In Xuanfu Town, during the Yongle Dynasty, there were more than 126,000 households of garrison troops stationed on the border, and more than 40,000 war horses. Due to the serious losses caused by wars over the past hundred years and the escape of the garrison troops, there are now more than 80,000 households of garrison troops on the border, and more than 20,000 horses. Among them, there are more than 50,000 young and strong men who can be selected for training and preparation for war, and about 10,000 war horses that can be selected.

In Datong Town, during the Yongle Dynasty, there were more than 135,000 households of garrison troops stationed on the border, with nearly 50,000 war horses. After more than a hundred years of war losses and escapes, there are now more than 76,000 households of garrison troops on the border, with less than 20,000 horses. Among them, there are more than 40,000 young and strong men who can be selected for training and preparation for war, and about 10,000 war horses that can be selected.

The number of border troops stationed in Datong Town was originally nearly 10,000 more than that in Xuanfu Town. Why does it now have fewer troops than Xuanfu Town?

This has a lot to do with the Gengxu Incident during the Jiajing period.

In the 29th year of Jiajing, the traitor Xianning Hou Qiu Luan colluded with Altan Khan to invade. Altan Khan directly attacked Datong Town. General Zhang Da and deputy general Lin Chun were killed in the battle. Nearly 30,000 elite border troops of Datong Town were wiped out!

It took more than 30 years for Datong Town to recover from this battle.

At that time, Xianning Hou Qiu Luan was in Xuanfu Town, so Altan Khan naturally could not attack Xuanfu Town. Under the guidance of Xianning Hou Qiu Luan, Altan Khan directly bypassed Gubeikou and attacked the capital.

Therefore, Xuanfu Town has more border garrisons than Datong Town.

After Dong Yikui and Ma Gui completely controlled Xuanfu Town and Datong Town, Wanli recalled them back to the capital along with Xuan Da and Shanxi Governor Jia Yingyuan.

The Xuan Da cannot be controlled in one's hands, and the border garrisons cannot be controlled by just counting their numbers. If they are not assembled and trained properly, the garrisons will remain garrisons and will never become elite border troops.

Xuanfu Town is about 400 miles away from the capital. The three of them agreed to gather in Xuanfu Town and set off together. They kept changing horses along the way and arrived in the capital before the hour of You.

In order to facilitate discussions with them, Wanli specially selected an empty side hall and ordered people to set up a large round table with many maps on it.

As the sun sets, the three of them, with red glow on their faces, stepped into the side hall at the same time. Their auras were surprisingly similar, all of them exuding an iron-blooded aura, as if the three of them were generals of the border army.

In fact, Jia Yingyuan was a member of the Jizhou Border Guard Army. However, because he passed the imperial examination and was extremely brave and fearless, Zhang Juzheng sent him to the lair of the three major families in Puzhou to survey the land.

In history, this iron-blooded governor was buried. At that time, he had just finished measuring the land in Datong Town when he was impeached by the censors under Zhang Siwei, dismissed from his post, investigated, and brought back to Beijing for trial!
It’s different now. He has been promoted to the governor of Xuanda and Shanxi because of his merits. His momentum is like that of a fierce general on the battlefield, brave and unmatched.

Wanli looked at the three of them carefully and nodded secretly.

After the emperor and his subjects exchanged greetings, he stood up and beckoned, "Come, Renfu, General Dong and General Ma, come and look at the map."

There were several maps on the table, and the top one was a map of the nine borders of the Ming Dynasty.

The three of them quickly gathered around and began to look at the map carefully.

Wanli asked directly, "Do you know roughly how many border troops are stationed in Pianguan Town, Yansui Town, Guyuan Town, Ningxia Town, and Gansu Town?"

This one.

Upon hearing this, Dong Yikui and Ma Gui both looked at Jia Yingyuan.

They may all know it, but he is the governor, so he should be the one to speak.

At this time, the status of military generals is far lower than that of civil officials, and the general is nothing in front of the governor.

Seeing this, Jia Yingyuan estimated: "According to the Yongle Dynasty's deployment, Pianguan Town has about 53,000 people, Yansui Town has about 56,000 people, Guyuan Town has about 60,000 people, Ningxia Town has about 70,000 people, and Gansu Town has about 96,000 people. The total is about 330,000.

However, there is a serious shortage of border garrisons now. According to the situation in major border towns, only 60% to 70% of the garrisons are still in operation. Moreover, most of these garrisons are exploited by those in power, and not many of them can fight.

In other words, there are currently about 200,000 troops stationed in these five border towns. After training, the maximum number of troops who can go into battle is estimated to be 120,000 to 130,000."

The shortage of border garrisons is indeed serious. However, every coin has its pros and cons, and a serious shortage of garrisons is not necessarily a bad thing.

Judging from the current situation, the serious shortage of garrison troops in the five border towns is actually a bit of an advantage for him. He now has 90,000 troops in the Beijing Camp and the Jizhou Border Town, and with the border troops in Xuanda, that's 180,000.

On the surface, his strength is already stronger than the three major families in Puzhou.

However, the three major families in Puzhou also have external aid. The combined strength of Tumen Khan and the Tumed tribe is more than 180,000, and there is also Nurhaci. It is unknown how their expansion will be.

Moreover, the Xuanda border army is just a number and does not have much combat power.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then asked, "What is the current state of the Xuanda Border Army's weapons and equipment?"

Dong Yikui said helplessly, "Your Majesty, Xuanda's military has been in disrepair since the Jiajing period. Now Xuanfu Town has less than 20,000 swords and spears available, and even fewer shields and bows, not to mention armor."

Ma Gui sighed slightly and said, "Datong Town was in an even worse situation after the Gengxu Incident. Now Datong Town only has a little over 10,000 swords and spears in use, and even fewer shields, bows and arrows, and armor."

This problem is not a big deal, because making cold weapons is nothing to him.

Wanli thought about it carefully and then said decisively: "Well, Renfu, you help them deploy the troops so that the young and strong men in the two border towns will reach about 45,000. Then divide them into three groups for training. I will give you 30,000 taels of food and wages each month.

As for weapons and equipment, I will order them immediately. In addition to armor and bows and arrows, swords, spears, and shields should be fully equipped for you by the end of the year."

This one.

Dong Yikui and Ma Gui looked at each other when they heard this.

In the end, Ma Gui, who was more familiar with Wanli, carefully reminded him, "Your Majesty, now only one in ten of the military farms in Xuanda remain. Most of the border troops and garrisons have to do hard labor to support their families. I'm afraid that rotating training won't work."

These bastards only know how to dig into the Ming Dynasty's territory.

Upon hearing this, Wanli said coldly, "You now control the military power. You don't have to worry about anything. All the military farms will be forcibly cleared out. All the military officers who have annexed the military farms will be dismissed and investigated!"

Such a mess!

Ma Gui said helplessly, "Your Majesty, Xuanfu Town might be a little better. Most of the military farms in Datong Town were annexed by the Dai Wang Mansion. Can we forcibly clear them out?"

The most serious problem was the annexation of land by the feudal lords.

I will deal with these parasites sooner or later.

Wanli snorted coldly, "What's wrong with the Dai Wang Mansion? They will be forcibly cleared out as well. Tell the people in the Dai Wang Mansion that if they dare to cause trouble, I will directly reduce their power!"

So cruel!
That should be fine.

The people in the Prince of Dai’s Palace should know how terrible the current emperor is when he gets angry. The nine clans of the dukes and nobles will be punished, and the royal family members will have their property confiscated and be exiled.

The Prince of Wuqing is the uncle of the current emperor, but he was also confiscated and exiled. The royal relatives of the Dai Palace are so related to the current emperor that it is unknown how many generations apart they are. The current emperor will definitely not care.

If the Prince of Dai's Palace refuses to clear out the military farms, it will really be reduced in power. The current princes are not as powerful as those in the Hongwu Dynasty, so he doesn't have to be afraid.

Ma Gui quickly bowed and said, "I obey your order."

It is a good idea to use a general who originally came from a border town to control the border town.

If the other border towns could also have loyal generals like Ma Gui and Dong Yikui who had some local power, it should not be difficult to take back the other five border towns.

Wanli asked again, "Renfu, General Ma, General Dong, do you have any other generals from the border towns to recommend to me?"

This cannot be recommended casually, if something goes wrong it will be a big trouble.

Jia Yingyuan thought about it carefully, then shook his head helplessly and said, "Your Majesty, I'm not very familiar with the other border towns."

Dong Yikui and Ma Gui also shook their heads helplessly.

No?

These people didn't know, and he didn't know even more that in history, the five northwestern border towns during the Wanli Dynasty seemed to have never produced a single famous general.

How to do it?

Upon hearing this, Wanli frowned and fell into deep thought.

(End of this chapter)