There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 413 Army Expansion
Nanjing City.

On the street, several members of the British mission were out for a stroll.

Although Sir Edmund's meeting with the Chinese Emperor ended badly, at least the two sides did not completely break down in negotiations. The delegation represented the company and the United Kingdom, not them personally, so there was still room for discussion.

Even if the talks really broke down, as members of the delegation, they wouldn't be treated too harshly. Even the old dog Qianlong would just let them go first and then forbid them from coming back.

When two countries are at war, envoys should not be killed!

The Han Dynasty and Britain are not yet at war. A little warning and intimidation will be enough to increase their bargaining power.

"Wasn't Nanjing the capital of Chinese emperors? Why are there so few residents?"

“It seems that none of these residents are home. Look, Thomas, even many of the shops are closed, and there are far fewer artisans on the street than when we first came to Nanjing.”

"Before I left, I specifically asked the Chinese officials at the vassal embassy. According to them, today seems to be a holiday for the Han emperor."

"It's about inspecting the country's military, ensuring its combat effectiveness, and giving the people confidence... That's roughly it."

The members of the mission communicated with each other in English and quickly pieced together the information.

No wonder there are so few people in Nanjing today. There are far fewer people than when they first arrived. Even the itinerant vendors selling breakfast are much fewer.

Edmund suddenly sneered, "Ah, gentlemen, the Chinese emperor is deliberately putting pressure on us. He wants to force the United Kingdom and the company to cede more benefits to China!"

However, before he could even finish speaking and before anyone could chime in, the accompanying interpreter, Henry, bluntly retorted, "Mr. Edmund, I must warn you, the Chinese Emperor has already issued an ultimatum to the mission. Please do not attempt to deceive the Chinese Emperor any further. The Chinese Emperor does not lack Britain as an ally; they also have the Portuguese."

"If the company intends to continue its business cooperation with China, and you, sir, do not wish to face criticism from the company's shareholders' meeting, then please refrain from presenting that Macartney list in subsequent negotiations. Otherwise, you will only thoroughly anger the Chinese emperor!"

Tingli didn't utter a single swear word, but his tone was completely different from his previous respectful attitude.

While the word "sir" still conveyed respect, Edmund was a member of the British aristocracy, and Henry, an ordinary merchant, should have addressed him as a knight.

Edmund was furious upon hearing this, but once his anger subsided, there was no going back; he had no choice but to acquiesce.

Several years ago, the East India Company had already declared the failure of its trade demands during Macartney's visit to China. How could it possibly do the same thing again during his second visit to China?

Edmund's real purpose in presenting Macartney's list of destinations for China was to test the bottom line of the new Chinese emperor.

Unexpectedly, the Chinese emperor was completely unmoved by the probing and immediately ordered them to leave, issuing an ultimatum.

Since that's the case, and circumstances dictate that Edmund has no choice but to accept it.

What else can we do if we don't accept it as the default?
The East India Company was already in decline. Twenty-eight years ago, the British Crown issued the Act of 1773, which clearly stated that the company's powers were granted by the Crown, not owned by the company itself.

Eleven years later, the Royal Family reissued the Pitt Act, reiterating restrictions on corporate power.

Two years later, the Act of 1786 was passed, expanding the governor's power so that he could make decisions without regard to the company.

Even the company's lobbyists in Congress have stopped speaking up for the company.

The governor is gradually eroding the company's power and assets. The company continues to expand its colonies for the royal family, but in return, the company's finances are becoming increasingly dire.

The suppression of the vast colonies and the stationing of troops for stability maintenance alone have already emptied the company's coffers, and the company's cash flow is on the verge of collapse.

The Chinese emperor was the East India Company's last hope. As long as a cooperation could be reached with the Chinese emperor, the company could act as a signatory and mediator to maximize its interests, and even allow the company to regain control of overseas colonies for the royal family and renew the company treaty for another hundred years.

Upon learning that it was the Chinese emperor's ceremony, the British delegation immediately consulted with officials of the Court of State Ceremonial and requested permission to accompany the delegation as a foreign vassal state.

It wasn't to gather intelligence; I just wanted to see what the military of this great Eastern power was like.
After reporting through multiple levels, officials from the Court of State Ceremonial finally received permission to lead the British delegation up the city wall to observe the scene.

There was barely enough room for people to stand on the city wall.

When Henry and Edmund came up, the ranks below had already entered one after another and stood in neat, orderly square formations.

Edmund commented at the time: "Not bad army, Chinese soldiers, their formations are very neat, even more so than the King's Royal Guard."

At that time, in various European countries, the kings had their own guards. These European kings would select the strongest, most disciplined and best-looking soldiers in the army to serve as their elite guards.

In reality, because the selection criteria for the Janissaries were stringent and did not consider combat performance or strength, the Janissaries selected in this way were basically all show and no substance. Only Napoleon was an exception; his Janissaries only selected loyal and brave elites, so the French Janissaries were the strongest in Europe at the time.

This is one of the reasons why Napoleon's European relatives were crying out in despair. Moreover, the French at that time were also the first colonial power in Europe to have a truly standing army.

Before France, Europe had long been characterized by a mercenary system and the aristocracy of officers, which resulted in wars in Europe being "limited wars."

What is "limited war"?
The ultimate goal of warfare is to preserve strength rather than annihilate the enemy. Often, in order to preserve strength and prevent chaos within the army, even after achieving victory, the pursuit of the routed enemy and the conquest of further gains are refused.

Therefore, European wars were not only often fought hastily and haphazardly, but they were also protracted and sporadic, with the intensity of wars perhaps not even comparable to Japan's "village chief wars".

The one who truly taught Europeans a lesson was Napoleon. During Napoleon's reign, the French army was no longer a high-cost "aristocratic" army; soldiers became low-cost consumables. European warfare quickly entered the era of the extremely intense "Napoleonic Wars."

However, all of this happened later. It was still 1801, and Napoleon had not yet become emperor; he was still the lifelong ruler of France.

Therefore, the armies of various countries are still stuck in the old era of the 18th century. Although they have a standing army system, the army as a whole has not yet transformed back from the mercenary system and the old officer aristocracy.

In the eyes of the British mission, the professional army of these burly men was indeed quite impressive.

Henry couldn't help but ask Lu Hongyu, the official from the Court of State Ceremonial who was accompanying him to supervise, "Lu, these participating troops should all be the Emperor's personal guards, right?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Hongyu laughed and said, "Of course not. His Majesty's personal guards are behind us. These are all new recruits who were conscripted at the beginning of this year and have only been training for a month."

A month of training for new recruits? You're kidding me!
The new recruits were indeed new recruits, and the month of training was indeed a month of training, but the troops below were all militia reservists recruited from Huguang, Jiangxi, and southern Anhui.

The militia of the Han Dynasty were all reserve forces. They trained in peacetime, were provided with food but not paid military pay, and could be directly conscripted in wartime. After simple training, they could be sent to fight.

The simplest example is the Sixth Division that Yang Fang previously led to fight in Jiangxi. These were militia reserves that had been mobilized and trained for less than a month before being sent to the front lines to be handed over to Yang Fang. They learned to fight and get familiar with the troops as they went.

Despite the Han army's small size of less than 100,000 men, Nie Yu could easily increase his army by four or five times in a short period of time if he wanted to, with sufficient food and logistics.

Even so, logistical pressure was taken into consideration; too many troops could not be produced, otherwise the logistics would definitely not be able to keep up.

Last year, Nie Yu had just ascended the throne and established the country. The treasury had to be used for establishing institutions and fighting wars, so there was no money to do anything else, and similarly, no troops to spare.

This year, the budget is more ample.

Nie Yu not only issued an edict to expand the army, but also announced a comprehensive expansion of the military.

The political signal sent by the expansion of the military is self-evident. When he ascended the throne last year, he had already reformed the Governor-General's Office system, expanding its powers and responsibilities as well as the division of departments.

This year, the military is expanding again, with an additional 50,000 troops to be added at once. A horse farm has also been established on Jeju Island to train cavalry.

Everyone in the Han Dynasty, both civil and military, knows what the emperor is planning to do.

Edmund asked in bewilderment, "Why are these soldiers all standing still?"

Lu Hongyu explained: "This is the standing stance military posture that His Majesty created in the past."

Qi Jiguang's "New Book of Military Efficiency" also emphasizes training soldiers in formations first, followed by training in commands and physical fitness.

Standing at attention is a unique feature of modern armies and is very useful, so Nie Yu certainly couldn't leave it out.

In addition to these, Nie Yu also made many modifications to the army's daily drills, keeping the beneficial ones and changing the unfavorable ones.

For example, if a soldier makes a mistake during training, instead of being punished with a cane, he/she will be given extra training.

If you fail to stand at attention, then go run a few kilometers of weighted warm-up run before we talk.

Training troops in this way will definitely make the army a strong force, surpassing not only the Qing Dynasty of the same era, but also the European powers.

The downside is that military spending is absolutely explosive.

After all, with such high-intensity training, especially for professional soldiers, they need to eat meat every day, otherwise the soldiers will be trained to death.

This also explains why Nie Yu didn't care about the British delegation's visit. It wasn't just about showcasing the power of the Han Dynasty, but also because the British couldn't learn this set of military training strategies, and they wouldn't be willing to spend so much money on their soldiers.

(End of this chapter)