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

Chapter 287 Greatness is justice, greatness is faith!
The debate between the merit-based system and the performance-based system in the Ming Dynasty has a long history. The reason why merit-based system took precedence over performance-based system in the middle and later period was simply a choice made out of necessity.

The advantages and disadvantages of both systems are obvious and are not the focus of today's discussion. Since the emperor demanded that the merit-based system be the primary system and the first-merit system as a secondary system, he must have already weighed the costs.

In accordance with the emperor's principle of "simplifying the military merit system," the generals finally decided to roughly divide military merit into three grades: breaking through enemy lines was the first grade, holding the line was the second grade, and beheading was the last grade.

Military merit is primarily based on collective merit, and a two-tiered distribution system is implemented. For example, the reward for the first merit will not be significantly reduced in the short term; instead, it will be divided into two parts: 40% will be distributed equally among the participating units, and 60% will be allocated differentially by junior officers based on each soldier's battlefield performance.

When a team leader reports a merit, all team members need to sign and affix their fingerprints; when a platoon leader reports a merit, all team leaders need to sign, and so on.

Those who disagree with the allocation of military merits are allowed to report anonymously to higher authorities, with the highest possible legal action reaching the Emperor. Individuals can submit their reports to the Ministry of War or the Southern Garrison Command.

Because local generals like Li Chengliang were prone to falsely reporting their military achievements, the Ming court had accumulated a wealth of experience in verifying the authenticity of military merits, and the strictness of the verification process had even reached an abnormal level.

However, the complicated procedures not only erase the soldiers' military achievements, but also have the greater drawback that it often takes several months or even years to complete the process.

This reflects both the inefficiency of the imperial court's administration and the deliberate delays caused by financial difficulties, which greatly dampened the soldiers' enthusiasm for fighting.

Therefore, Zhu Youjian pioneered the "military merit prepayment system": the court first issued 70% of the reward based on the report of merit submitted by the general; after verification, it would then decide whether to issue the remaining 30%, or to hold the general accountable for falsely reporting military merit.

In fact, these systems were not particularly advanced. Previous emperors could not implement them, but Zhu Youjian could. It was simply because he gave his generals a higher degree of trust.

Of course, adhering to the principle of "consistency between responsibility and authority," a higher level of trust also means that generals need to be responsible for every word they say and every word they write.

The crucial role of the supervising eunuchs was retained, and they had the right to report directly to the emperor.

However, Zhu Youjian did not allow them to interfere in specific military operations, nor did he require them to use "snitching" as a threat to interfere in military affairs or extort money. Generals also had the right to report supervising eunuchs. If a supervising eunuch crossed these two red lines, once verified, he would be executed without mercy!

An unspoken rule in the palace: if a eunuch messed up his job, he was doomed, as eunuchs were essentially a low-human-rights group. Emperor Zhu Youjian himself treated the palace maids and eunuchs relatively well, primarily using positive incentives to motivate them.

To encourage the supervising eunuchs to work hard, if a eunuch exposes illegal or disorderly conduct in the army or falsely reports military achievements, the inner court will directly issue a reward, and he can be promoted by accumulating merits.
To prevent them from making unfounded accusations, when there was no trouble in the army or when they had distinguished themselves in battle, the supervising eunuch, as a member of the army, was entitled to share a portion of the basic military pay, spoils of war, or rewards. The supervising eunuch could only report illegal activities, not report merits for the army, and could not interfere with the promotion of generals.

All systems are based on and serve reality. The merit system based on the number of heads taken in battle became mainstream because of the inherent distrust of the military by the civil officials and the court; the existence of supervising eunuchs reflected the emperor's distrust of generals.

The concerns of the court and the emperor were not unfounded; they stemmed from the actions of generations of generals. These generals did not act solely out of a desire for advancement; it is quite possible that the army had reached a point where it could not function without imperial rewards, a consequence of financial collapse. If the Ming army had continued to suffer defeats, then Zhu Youjian's proposed reform of the military merit system would have been utter nonsense. However, the continuous military victories provided him with the foundation to implement such reforms.

Zhu Youjian felt that he was quite lucky. Sometimes he didn't even know how he won the battle. He seemed to have no advantage in terms of timing, location, or popular support!

The discussion on the military merit system did not take much time, because the system was already in place. Famous generals such as Qi Jiguang had formulated it and written it into books, and front-line commanders such as Zhu Xieyuan, Yuan Keli, and Zhao Shuaijiao, who were present at the scene, gave their personal accounts.

In reality, they had already used different methods of recording merits in actual combat, but they needed to make up the details when reporting to the court, as each person recorded their own merits. Therefore, all that was needed was for Zhu Youjian to set the tone, for everyone to copy the results, express their own opinions, and fill in any gaps.

However, the discussion about the main equipment was unexpectedly difficult. Everyone argued for three days and went through multiple rounds of calibration and test firing before finally settling on a solution that no one was entirely satisfied with, but which was ultimately acceptable.

The focus of the debate is quite ridiculous: the theorists, led by Sun Chengzong, Xu Guangqi, and Sun Yuanhua, suffered from "fear of insufficient firepower" and believed in the "big ship and big cannon" theory. They thought that there was no need to retain those miscellaneous cannons and general cannons. Bigger is justice, bigger is faith!

However, Zhao Shuaijiao, a pragmatist, thought these people's remarks were too idiotic. Did they, who were fighting on the front lines, not know whether this small cannon was good or not?

This kind of issue shouldn't even be discussed by these armchair theorists. What he couldn't understand was why his former boss, Sun Chengzong, would support such a viewpoint.
Zhu Youjian was actually quite conflicted. He knew that there had always been a debate about caliber and rapid firing in the history of artillery development, and that pursuing large caliber had always been the main direction of artillery development.

Rapid-fire cannons, and finding a balance between caliber and rate of fire, are things of the post-technological era. The Ming Dynasty hasn't even figured out fixed-load ammunition yet, so how can they talk about rapid-fire?!
Xu Guangqi and others gave a very good reason: the next battle to recover Liaodong will inevitably be mainly siege warfare. When attacking cities, small and medium-sized cannons are not suitable, while large cannons are better at defending cities.

As for field battles, aren't there wagon units and cavalry? Using infantry in field battles is an unorthodox approach, but it's only done as a last resort. What exists is not necessarily reasonable.

The Exterminator Cannon and the General Cannon were native artillery pieces of the Ming Dynasty. Among the Ming Dynasty's active artillery, they were considered grandfathers. Their dominant position on the battlefield had been largely replaced by those two glamorous and cheap Western cannons.

They are the "Hongyi Cannon," a high-caliber, precision-firing heavy cannon loaded from the front, and the "Flangji Cannon," a rapid-fire, breech-loading mother-and-child cannon loaded from the rear!
Of course, there are also the domestic artillery pieces that are still active on the battlefield and highly praised, such as the lightweight mini "Tiger Crouching Cannon," which weighs only a few dozen kilograms, is plug-and-play, and can be carried by a single soldier.

Just as the military strategists were arguing endlessly, the God of Wealth sneered and said, "Do you all have some unrealistic fantasies about the Ming Dynasty's financial situation? Even if you have to choose, you should choose the types of firearms with the largest stock! Do you think recasting them is free?"

Bi Ziyan's words instantly brought the somewhat impulsive Zhu Youjian to his senses, and the others were also chilled to the bone by his words. The crowd looked at the emperor resentfully, seemingly blaming him for leading them astray. What they wanted to choose wasn't the most effective firearm, but the most cost-effective one! The Ming Dynasty was too vast!
Ultimately, the group finalized six main firearms, comprising thirteen variants: matchlock gun, three-barreled gun, Japanese cannon, tiger crouching cannon, breech-loading cannon, and red barbarian cannon.

Others, such as the Thunder Cannon, Mother-and-Child Cannon, Pearl-Surging Cannon, Slave-Exterminating Cannon, General Cannon, Rocket, Ten Thousand Enemy, One-Nest Bee, Five Thunder Divine Machine, and Fire Dragon Emerging from Water, were eliminated because they were too backward or too advanced!

(End of this chapter)