My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 318 The Beijing Garrison's Ghost Employees
Su Ze just returned from the Five Military Governor's Office today.

After the New Year, the students of the Imperial Academy of Military Sciences were assigned to temporary posts in the Beijing Garrison by the Ministry of War. They were all assigned to the garrison as captains.

Generally speaking, 5600 people constitute one sanctuary, 1120 people constitute one thousand households, and 112 people constitute one hundred households.

Each hundred-household unit had two general flags and ten junior flags in charge of management.

The sergeant and squad leader have no rank; they are considered the lowest-ranking officers.

The Ministry of War had given this matter considerable thought before appointing these military academy students as commanders.

A squad leader is equivalent to a modern platoon leader, and usually has ten to twenty soldiers under him. Since the military training institute is for training junior officers, the rank of a squad leader is too low.

Further up the ranks, positions such as centurion and commander of a garrison were military officers with official ranks.

These positions are all one-person-one-job, and they are hereditary. If the Ministry of War rashly allows students from the Imperial Academy to temporarily fill these positions, it will irritate the nerves of the Beijing Garrison and cause chaos within it.

Therefore, the position of General Flag is just right, neither too high nor too low.

Xia Zhongxiao, a student of the cavalry class 2, was assigned to the Sanlitun Hundred Household Office outside the city as a squad leader.

Xia Zhongxiao, the temporary commander, oversaw five smaller banners, totaling fifty men.

The Ministry of War intends to use the opportunity of temporary assignments to reorganize the Beijing Garrison, and the Beijing Garrison is already aware of this.

The civil service system had long criticized the Beijing Garrison, but no change had been made in any dynasty, and the Beijing Garrison had not taken the matter to heart.

However, after the emperor's military review before the new year, the tide gradually turned.

First, the attitude of the nobles gradually changed.

Some nobles who had previously protected the Beijing Garrison changed their attitude, and many families returned the annual allowances sent by the garrison before the new year.

The family that was most thoroughly dismantled was the Duke of Cheng's family.

As one of the top noble families in the capital, the Duke of Chengguo had always served as a high-ranking officer in the Beijing Garrison. When the previous Duke of Chengguo was alive, officers of the Beijing Garrison would visit the Duke of Chengguo's residence when they encountered problems.

However, after the current Duke of Cheng inherited the title, he refused to see any of the generals from the Beijing Garrison, indicating that he intended to completely sever ties with the garrison.

The generals of the Beijing garrison were now somewhat panicked.

The Beijing Garrison was established by Emperor Yongle (Zhu Di) and was under the jurisdiction of the Five Military Commissions. Nobles and meritorious officials generally held important positions in the Five Military Commissions, which served as the Beijing Garrison's protective umbrella in the imperial court.

Under the Five Military Commands were the Five Military Camps, the Three Thousand Camps, and the Divine Machine Camp, also known as the Three Great Camps.

The officers of the three major battalions were mostly hereditary; these people were not considered part of the nobility circle, but rather high-ranking officers in the Beijing garrison.

When the Beijing Garrison was first established, it was quite powerful in combat. Emperor Chengzu used the troops of the Beijing Garrison to conquer the grasslands.

However, after Emperor Chengzu's death, the fighting strength of the Beijing garrison declined rapidly.

In the early Ming Dynasty, many emperors attempted to reorganize the Beijing Garrison.

After the Tumu Crisis, the fighting capacity of the Beijing garrison declined further.

By the time of the Jiajing era, Anda's troops had suddenly entered the outskirts of Beijing, and the emperor had to transfer troops from the nine border regions to defend the capital. The Beijing garrison was already in complete disarray.

Therefore, the Ming court began to pay attention to the Nine Garrisons system again and increased the deployment of troops stationed in the Nine Garrisons.

However, the financial black hole of the Beijing Garrison has never been dealt with.

In the original timeline, since the Jiajing reign, the "border defense silver" required by the Nine Garrisons system has been continuously expanding. From the beginning of the Ming Dynasty until its fall, the expenditures of the Beijing Garrison consistently occupied a large portion of the treasury.

On one hand, the Beijing garrison, which was drawing salaries without working, could not be dismissed; on the other hand, the Nine Border Army was short of soldiers and food.

In addition, the increasingly severe land annexation that began in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty and the encroachment of national wealth by the imperial family and princes ultimately led to the demise of the Ming Dynasty.

In the modified world created by Su Ze, the border issues have been temporarily resolved, and with Su Ze's appeal, a consensus on reforming the Beijing Garrison has been reached again in the imperial court.

By this time, the high command of the Beijing garrison had also realized what was happening.

The change in the attitude of the nobles made the generals of the Beijing garrison wary.

But the current situation is what's most difficult for the Beijing garrison.

If the imperial court were to launch a major crackdown on the Beijing Garrison, the garrison's commanders could incite their soldiers to riot, thus coercing the court to abandon its plan to subdue the garrison.

Previous attempts by the imperial court to reorganize the Beijing garrison had all failed in this manner.

This time, however, the court only said that it would send military academy students to the Beijing garrison for temporary posts, without mentioning any plans to reorganize the Beijing garrison.

If that were all there was to it, why would soldiers risk their lives to follow officers in causing trouble?

Moreover, in the past, whenever the imperial court wanted to reorganize the Beijing Garrison, it was always hampered by a lack of manpower and a lack of understanding of the situation within the garrison. The officers of the Beijing Garrison could also take advantage of this information gap.

Furthermore, their interests were tied to those of the nobility, and they used the power of these nobles, relatives of the emperor, and eunuchs to undermine civil officials, ultimately ensuring that the matter was dropped.

After much discussion, the majority of the Beijing garrison still held onto a glimmer of hope.

There's nothing we can do. It's not a chaotic time now. The people in the Beijing garrison are just there to make a living. They can't really rebel.

The Nine Garrisons are very close to the capital. Qi Jiguang's army in Xuanfu and Datong could even defeat the Mongols, let alone the rabble of the Beijing Garrison.

Therefore, the final decision made by the Beijing Garrison was to strictly prevent the students from the Imperial Academy from finding any fault with them and to let the three-month temporary assignment pass by unnoticed.

It was under these circumstances that Xia Zhongxiao came to Sanlitun Garrison to serve as its commander.

Although Xia Zhongxiao also came from a family of soldiers, his family were officers in border garrison units, which was completely different from the Beijing garrison system.

Simply put, the Beijing garrison still operated under a hereditary military system with a strong foundation of income.

However, in order to ensure combat effectiveness, the border troops could no longer use the hereditary military system, so they also adopted military system reforms.

Simply put, officers in the Nine Garrisons system still held hereditary positions, but when soldiers were lost, they would be recruited at a cost; this was known as the Garrison System.

Before Xia Zhongxiao's father died in battle, he often heard his father talk about the hereditary soldiers of the Beijing Garrison.

The soldiers of the Beijing garrison did not need to go out of the city to fight in the freezing cold, and they were able to receive enough food to keep them warm every month.

Officers in the Beijing garrison didn't need to train in martial arts; they were born into a life of luxury.

Xia Zhongxiao had longed to join the Beijing Garrison for a long time. Although he felt that something was wrong, wasn't he also studying at the Military Academy for a better life?

No one is born wanting to fight on the border; who wouldn't want to stay in the capital and live a good life?
When Xia Zhongxiao first arrived at the Sanlitun Garrison, he also had a very good first impression of the garrison.

The garrison was well-maintained, and the armory was fully equipped. His garrison also had a cavalry squad, and the warhorses were well-bred.

Aside from the soldiers' lax discipline, unfamiliarity with the drill manuals, and somewhat scattered morale, the Sanlitun garrison was similar to the garrisons in his hometown. It seems the rumors about the Imperial Guard drawing salaries without working were just that—rumors!
Xia Zhongxiao felt a little more at ease.

Before the temporary assignment, there were rumors within the Military Academy that the imperial court was going to reform the Beijing Garrison, and that the Military Academy students were the ones the court was using to deal with the Beijing Garrison.

But now it seems that the Beijing garrison wasn't so bad after all.

Since they were all comrades in the Ming army, Xia Zhongxiao did not want to become a tool of the Ministry of War to target the Beijing garrison.

Zhang, the garrison commander, treated Xia Zhongxiao very well. As soon as he took office, he invited him to a banquet, but Xia Zhongxiao remembered Li Rusong's instructions before his departure and resolutely refused to attend.

Although the first impression was good, Xia Zhongxiao still drilled his soldiers according to the drill manuals he had learned at the military academy.

The purpose of sending military officers to serve in temporary posts is to provide them with practical combat training.

Therefore, in accordance with the Ministry of War's requirements, all military academy students on temporary assignments would be assessed by Ministry of War officials before the end of their assignments. This assessment would also be included in the students' evaluations and affect their final assignments after graduation.

Even if it weren't for his personal future, Xia Zhongxiao didn't want to embarrass the Second Cavalry Platoon.

So Xia Zhongxiao put in his utmost effort and, imitating the drill instructors of the time, trained his soldiers.

Xia Zhongxiao was not satisfied with the results of this drill. Why were these soldiers so incapable of being trained?

It's one thing to not have any training, but how come they don't even know the basic procedures?
These sons of soldiers from the Nine Border Regions grew up in the garrison. Even if they don't understand the drill manuals, they are familiar with the military orders, right?
Moreover, these soldiers are so undisciplined; they hardly resemble soldiers.
However, Xia Zhongxiao quickly put aside his suspicions. When he first entered the Martial Arts Academy, his performance was not good either. He just needed to persevere for a few days.

Next, Xia Zhongxiao diligently trained the soldiers, but the soldiers' resistance grew stronger and stronger. Many soldiers asked for leave to participate in the training under the pretext of sick leave, and their superior, Zhang Baihu of the Sanlitun Garrison, approved them all.

As Xia Zhongxiao watched the number of soldiers going to drill dwindle, his anxiety grew.

Three days earlier, Xia Zhongxiao rushed into the barracks and found that the soldiers who had asked for leave were skipping morning exercises and instead gambling in the barracks.

This infuriated Xia Zhongxiao. He ordered the soldiers to be disciplined according to military law, but no one did anything. In his anger, Xia Zhongxiao had no choice but to beat them with military sticks himself.

Xia Zhongxiao originally thought that after enforcing military law once and making an example of someone, the discipline of his troops would improve a lot and no one would ask for leave anymore.

However, the next day, most of the soldiers in the camp had deserted.

Xia Zhongxiao ran to his superior, Zhang Baihu, and asked him to send men to capture the soldiers, but Zhang Baihu refused his request and told him to suspend training and rest for a few days.

Xia Zhongxiao immediately turned hostile and threatened to report the matter to his superiors, which finally made Zhang Baihu compromise.

Zhang Baihu agreed to send troops to capture his soldiers and persuaded Xia Zhongxiao to return to the camp, but trouble broke out the next day.

After returning to camp, Xia Zhongxiao fell into a deep sleep after dinner. When he woke up the next day, he found himself embracing a woman.

Immediately afterwards, Zhang Baihu investigated the camp and discovered that the woman was from the Jiaofangsi (a government-run entertainment institution).

Bringing women from the Jiaofangsi (a type of entertainment institution) into the camp without authorization is a serious crime. Zhang Baihu (a military officer) did not give Xia Zhongxiao a chance to explain and sent him to the Five Military Commands.

Zhang Baihu's idea was good, but he didn't know that as soon as he sent Xia Zhongxiao to the Five Military Commands, the Five Military Commands relayed the news to the Military Supervisory Bureau and the Ministry of War.

Upon hearing the news, Xu Wenbi, the Vice-Supervisor and Duke of Dingguo, immediately informed Su Ze.

Su Ze got up and went to the Five Military Commander's Office. After listening to Xia Zhongxiao recount his experience of being temporarily assigned to the Sanlitun Garrison from beginning to end, he took out the "Post-Event Picture Book".

After looking at the picture book, Su Ze understood what had happened in the Beijing garrison.

It turns out that these garrisons in the capital have been receiving salaries for generations without actually serving, and there are hardly any real soldiers left in the barracks.

However, in order to deal with the temporary assignments, the officers of the Beijing Garrison discussed that for each military camp that was temporarily assigned a post, soldiers would be drawn from the surrounding garrisons to make it look more presentable. If the number was still insufficient, the officers of each garrison would pay to hire idle men from the capital to impersonate soldiers.

Sanlitun Garrison is a garrison very close to the capital. It has long been severely understaffed, and the surrounding garrisons are in a similar situation.

Zhang Baihu managed to scrape together enough men, but he was still short of a lot of them, so he had to pay out of his own pocket to hire people to serve as soldiers.

Zhang Baihu originally thought that as long as he could get through these three months, he could just accept the loss.

Unexpectedly, Xia Zhongxiao was serious and drilled the soldiers every day.

These borrowed and hired soldiers could hardly endure this.

Zhang Baihu could only try his best to appease them, increase their reward money, and approve their leave in order to keep them with him.

But after Xia Zhongxiao enforced military law, these fake soldiers couldn't take it anymore and fled the camp one after another.

This is it, we're doomed. Xia Zhongxiao has been training these soldiers for days and he remembers them all. Even if he spends more money to hire more people, it won't work.

Fearing exposure, Zhang Baihu had no choice but to resort to other methods.

He drugged Xia Zhongxiao's dinner and hired women from the brothel to frame Xia Zhongxiao.

As long as Xia Zhongxiao is sent away, the matter will not be exposed.

Zhang Baihu thought he was being clever, believing that by punishing Xia Zhongxiao, a lowly soldier, he could get rid of Xia Zhongxiao and stop spending money to support these recruited fake soldiers.

However, Zhang Baihu was unaware that from the moment Xia Zhongxiao was sent to the Five Military Commands Office, the nobles of the Five Military Commands Office immediately notified Su Ze and the Ministry of War. Just as Su Ze was bailing out Xia Zhongxiao, Cao Bangfu, the Minister of War, also personally went to the Five Military Commands Office.

"She was taken away by Su Zilin?"

Upon hearing this, Cao Bangfu couldn't help but glare at the officials beside him. If these people hadn't been so slow, Su Ze wouldn't have gotten there first!
"Grand Marshal, we've been holding out for so long, and Su Ze has gotten there first again!"

Cao Bangfu glared at his subordinate and said:

"What's the use of saying all this? Hurry up and go to the newspaper office to find Su Zilin!"

When Cao Bangfu arrived at the newspaper office with a group of Ministry of War officials, Xia Zhongxiao was sitting in front of Su Ze, trembling with fear.

Xia Zhongxiao experienced a major change in one day. First, he was falsely accused and sent to the Five Military Commands, and then he was personally bailed out by Su Ze. Now he is sitting in the newspaper office, looking at Su Ze, the Dean of the Military Academy.

Xia Zhongxiao, a tall and fat man who is 1.8 meters tall, was hugging Su Ze like a little wife, crying as he recounted what had happened.

Sitting opposite Xia Zhongxiao were Su Ze, Luo Wanhua, and the other editors from the newspaper.

Xia Zhongxiao was cautious, not daring to cry too loudly in front of these civil officials, yet he still wanted to express his grievances. He managed to control his emotions with great difficulty, but after Minister of War Cao Bangfu led the Ministry of War officials into the newspaper office, he could no longer control himself.

Xia Zhongxiao hugged Su Ze's leg and said:

"Dean! I really didn't solicit any prostitutes!"

Su Ze glanced helplessly at Cao Bangfu, then comforted Xia Zhongxiao for a while before telling him to rest in the room behind the newspaper office.

"Grand Marshal, the capital garrison is indeed unable to hold out any longer."

Su Ze smiled. He had thought that the Ming guards could keep up the act for a while, but he didn't expect them to be exposed so quickly.

(End of this chapter)