Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 15 The Ming Dynasty entered a deep-water zone before even beginning its reforms.
Zhu Youjian remained expressionless, took a sip of the old hen soup, and then said slowly, "Minister Zhang, are you complaining that I didn't support your reorganization of the Beijing Garrison?"

"Your Majesty, I dare not resent you," Zhang Weixian said, rising from the table and bowing.

"Heh." Zhu Youjian twitched the corner of his mouth, put down the porcelain bowl and golden spoon in his hand, looked calmly at Zhang Weixian, and said, "Since the Duke of Yingguo wants to reorganize the Beijing Garrison, then talk to me about what you plan to do."

Zhang Weixian's spirits lifted; this was the emperor and his ministers' audience, and he still had a chance.

Therefore, he dared not delay and quickly revealed his plan: "I intend to gather the troops by beating the drums. Anyone who fails to arrive after three drumbeats or is late will be punished with thirty strokes of the cane and expelled from the capital camp."

Then, roll call was conducted according to the roster. Only those whose names matched the roster on the spot were allowed to stay in the Beijing Garrison; the rest were dismissed.

Then, those who arrived were dismissed: those who were too old or too young; those who were too tall or too short; those who were too fat or too thin; those who could not maintain their formation for two hours; those who could not march more than three miles in armor; those who disobeyed military orders and were glib-tongued…”

"Very well, stop for a moment. I have a few questions that I need Zhang Qing to answer."

"Your Majesty, please ask."

"After all this, how many people do you think will stay in the end?"

"This... I estimate that there are probably less than 10,000. But the quality of an army is more important than its quantity. The 10,000 soldiers I have left are far superior to the previous 100,000. Furthermore, I plan to recruit young men from the populace to train tens of thousands of soldiers for Your Majesty."

Zhu Youjian sneered: "I'm afraid it will be easy for you to reduce the army, but it will be difficult to restore it. When the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue refuse to pay the Beijing garrison's wages on the grounds of the urgency of the Liaodong situation, what will you do then?"

"How could this be?! How dare I?!" Zhang Weixian exclaimed in shock.

"It's not that they won't pay at all, but since you've cut over 100,000 and left only a few thousand, then they'll give you the pay for those few thousand soldiers. Do you think they can't do that? When the Ministry of Revenue claims to be broke and delays payment, what can you do about it? What will you do then? Are you willing to ruin your family's fortune to help the poor, or will you try to steal my private funds?!"

"You still want to disband the garrison troops, don't you? The corruption of the garrison troops didn't begin today; signs appeared even during the Hongwu era. During the Jiajing era, a garrison of several thousand men dared not fight against an invasion of over a hundred Japanese pirates, allowing them to advance unimpeded and causing countless suffering to the people. Wasn't it around that time that Qi Jiguang, whom you admire, began recruiting soldiers?"

"Since Your Majesty also knows that the garrisons are incompetent, why not abolish them?" Zhang Weixian was baffled when Zhu Youjian told him this ancient story.

"That's because you only know one side of the story, not the other. Why didn't Emperor Shizong, Emperor Shenzong, and the late emperor dismiss the garrison troops?"

No matter how bad the garrison was, at least in name, the garrison land was not allowed to be bought or sold, and people still cultivated the garrison land and it could still produce military rations.

Each soldier in the garrison received less than five taels of silver from the imperial court each year, but recruiting soldiers required three taels of silver per month. In those days, Qi Jiguang's army received a monthly salary of three taels and five qian. Every victory was rewarded, and a Japanese pirate was worth thirty taels of silver.

"The silver was worth much more back then than it is now. Can you afford to pay that much?" Zhu Youjian said with a grim expression.

“But the garrisons are no match for the enemy.” Zhang Weixian was still unconvinced. He continued, “Since the garrisons need to farm, they shouldn’t be paid military pay. Instead, the money should be used to train a new army.”

"Do you know what kind of soldiers are capable of fighting now, Zhang Qing? Have you ever been on the battlefield yourself?" Zhu Youjian asked rhetorically.

Zhu Youjian's words struck a nerve with Zhang Weixian, whose face flushed slightly. Years ago, his father had sent him on a short, illustrious trip to the Liaodong army, where he hadn't even seen a glimpse of the enemy.

He stammered, "Your Majesty, after the Battle of Sarhu, I served as a military officer in Liaodong, but I never personally killed any enemy soldiers."

"Ever since Li Chengliang took to adopting sons and keeping servants, the generals and captains of our Great Ming have had to rely on their servants to fight."

Only their trusted retainers, who were well-fed and clothed, trained day and night without having to work, received double pay, were compensated for those who died in battle, and were adopted for the disabled, were able to fight against the Jurchen soldiers without being routed.

The officers in the garrison are corrupt; some will use the money to maintain personal servants, while the hopeless will squander it on buying land and houses. But if the garrisons are abolished, they won't have the money to support their servants. As the saying goes, it's hard to go from extravagance to simplicity; can you guarantee that these people, driven mad by poverty, won't rebel?
When they rebel, what will we use to suppress them? The useless Beijing garrison?

Is it right to push the elite troops, who were originally loyal to the court, to the opposite side?

Zhang Weixian opened his mouth, but was speechless.

Zhu Youjian said with a sigh, "You know, Zhang Juzheng also came from the garrison."

“Sun Chuanting is one of them,” Zhu Youjian added in his mind.

"Zhang Qing, how many soldiers do you have that are capable of fighting?" Zhu Youjian asked.

Zhang Weixian said bitterly, "If we judge it by the standard Your Majesty just mentioned, that they are capable of fighting the Jurchens, then there are none."

The last time the Duke of Ying's lineage saw combat was back to their ancestor, Zhang Yu. Now, they have no veterans left, only a bunch of incompetent servants. And these aren't the real servants, the kind who survived the carnage of Liaodong.

Zhu Youjian was speechless, thinking to himself: No wonder in your original historical timeline, you had to ask Emperor Chongzhen to borrow the Embroidered Uniform Guard to clear the way for the Beijing Garrison to investigate the accounts.

Since Yu Qian made a big move, the nobles no longer have military power, only temporary command authority.

Today, even the command authority has been lost, and it has been handed over to civil officials. Execution relies on military leaders and generals, while the nobles can only stay in the capital, indulging in a life of debauchery, acting as mascots and enjoying the last bit of privilege and wealth brought by hereditary succession.

However, Old Zhang is still useful. After all, his whole family died for their country, which is quite valuable. If you don't win him over but instead push him away, then you really have something wrong with your head.

Zhu Youjian first wiped his eyes with his hands, which had just touched garlic, without making a sound. Then he got up, walked around to the dining table, took Zhang Weixian's hand, and said, "Zhang Qing, actually, what I'm most worried about is your safety."

My brother has always been in good health, so why did he suddenly fall into the water and then fall ill and never recover?
I know Zhang Qing is loyal and devoted. But it's easier to dodge a spear in the open than to guard against an arrow in the dark. If something were to happen to Zhang Qing, I would truly be all alone.

The Duke of Ying was astonished to see Zhu Youjian with tears in his eyes. Just moments ago, Zhu Youjian had been speaking so eloquently, leaving him speechless with refutation. Why was he acting like this now? Was he perhaps putting on an act?

Although Zhang Weixian did not believe Zhu Youjian's performance, as a master of court politics, Zhang Weixian still shed tears of emotion.

Zhu Youjian's tears were spicier than garlic, but Zhang Weixian's were not.

After Zhang Weixian had dinner, Zhu Youjian personally escorted him out of the palace gate. Even if it was an act, it was enough to demonstrate his favor towards the Duke of Ying.

Watching the Duke of Yingguo's departing figure, Zhu Youjian felt a pang of melancholy. How difficult it was to change the world at the end of a dynasty! Anti-corruption agencies would ultimately become new sources of corruption, serving no purpose other than adding a massive organization, a huge number of positions, and increased government spending.

All reforms that seem beneficial may ultimately not only fail to achieve their goals, but could even make things worse.

Emperor Chongzhen abolished the national postal service, which resulted in the rise of Li Zicheng. The more than 600,000 taels of silver that had been painstakingly saved were divided up by various departments under the pretext of filling the deficit before he even saw a penny of it. His soldiers didn't even get a taste of it.

At this point, the choice was either to smash it all and start over, but he was the emperor! Did he really want to overthrow himself? His position determined his perspective, and he certainly didn't want to risk his life sitting at the same table as Louis XVI.

The more you do, the more mistakes you make. It's best not to do anything at all; maybe then this "mountain of shit code" of Daming can still barely run. He's just an operations engineer; he shouldn't be thinking about programmer stuff.

It's been submitted for cross-review, but unfortunately, I can only sign a revenue-sharing agreement. Why? Qidian keeps rejecting me, sob sob sob.

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(End of this chapter)