You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 203 Supporting the Young and Energetic Cavalry of the Eight Banners

The clerk began to read aloud:
"...The first piece of experience is mental archery."

"Since the founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty rose to power in the Changbai Mountains and Heilongjiang River region with only thirteen suits of armor, he has never relied on the number of troops, but on the courage to not fear death. Spirit is more important than equipment. It is not enough for us to defeat the enemy on the battlefield. We should defeat the enemy head-on with a spirit of fearlessness and crush the enemy in spirit."

"We should not ignore the role of firearms, but we must never rely on them too much. Firearms breed cowards; mounted archery is the fundamental weapon."

"The Battle of Songzi is a typical example. The officers' suicide squad crushed the Ming army's morale with bayonet fighting, thus laying the foundation for a series of victories that followed."

"Therefore, the spirit of horseback archery must be promoted and carried forward."

"...The second piece of experience is to unify thinking."

"From the Later Jin tribes to the Qing Empire, from beyond the Great Wall to the Forbidden City, 100,000 bannermen crushed a million Ming soldiers. We created such a miracle because of unity of purpose and thought."

"Beiletunqi is a typical negative example. This man was disloyal and defied military orders, attempting to voice dissent and almost causing an irreparable defeat. Fortunately, the general decisively executed him, nipping the dissent in the bud."

"There can only be one voice in the army, and the soldiers must be of one mind."

"...Thirdly, the officers and staff are younger."

"After the Battle of Songzi, we were surprised to find that the young soldiers were more adventurous and courageous. In contrast, some middle-aged officers hesitated and overthought things. Therefore, the General decisively promoted more than 300 soldiers under the age of 18. The General specifically pointed out that age is never a problem. We should trust and boldly make good use of young people, and gradually eliminate those middle-aged soldiers who have lost their fighting spirit and only want to get by."

"The general hopes that in the future we will see a large number of 12-year-old captains, 13-year-old lieutenants, and even 14-year-old cavalry captains."

The whole place was boiling.

Excitement, shock, speechlessness—the expressions on everyone's faces were so vivid they defied description.

……

Hailin, a 13-year-old student at Jingshan Official School, stood up excitedly.

"This humble official firmly supports the General."

One call and a hundred responses.

The crowd, their faces flushed, stood up and shouted their support. Most of those present were young people, and many of them had just been promoted.

Jiang Qingyun nodded with satisfaction, and couldn't help but marvel at how effective his work had been since his transmigration, successfully uncovering and stirring up several conflicts within the Eight Banners.
Respectively:
The Plain Blue Banner and the other seven banners, remnants of many bandits and other banner soldiers, banner soldiers and banner women, banner lords and emperors, the Upper Three Banners and other banners, young banner soldiers and middle-aged banner soldiers.

It would be a grave mistake to think that we have reached the limit.

You can also find examples of Manchu bannermen and Jurchen bannermen, disabled bannermen and healthy bannermen, bannermen who are doing well and bannermen who are not doing well, tall bannermen and short bannermen, and so on.

Contradictions are like cell division in biology; theoretically, they are endless.

The situation is great!
Jiang Qingyun looked at the excited crowd below:

"Silence, silence. The court needs to establish some role models, and all you talented young people are welcome to boldly recommend yourselves."

"May I ask, General, what are the requirements for self-recommendation?"

"There are no strict requirements. Based on the three points of experience mentioned above, if you feel you've done your job well, then feel free to step forward. The opportunity is yours."

More than a dozen people stepped forward one after another.

"I have decided to establish the position of Flag Captain in the army. It is not a real position, but an honorary title. You are the first batch of Flag Captains!"

"The meeting is dismissed!"

……

A few days later~
The young flag leaders began giving speeches in various battalions.

The heroic tales, personally compiled by Jiang Qingyun, combine elements of romanticism and heroism.

Hailin, a student who was relatively behind in his studies at Jingshan Official School, was very enthusiastic about giving speeches in public and showing off.

A military camp outside the city.

He spoke vividly to the large group of flag bearers below.

"...The Ming army unleashed a cacophony of gunfire and cannon fire, several cannons aimed at me, their muzzles dark and menacing, shells whizzing past my ears. But I was fearless; I had only one thought—to kill as many enemies as possible. Seeing that the cannons couldn't kill me, the Ming army quickly brought in a hundred arquebusiers. At a command from Ming general Li Dingguo, the muzzles of their guns spewed flames—bang bang bang bang!"

The flag bearers below burst into laughter, feeling it was all too fake.

"In that instant, I remembered the general's teachings: 'Don't be afraid, bullets can only kill cowards.' I was filled with strength, straightened my back and continued to charge. The Ming soldiers' bullets rained down on my cotton armor, crackling and popping, but they couldn't penetrate it."

The soldiers burst into laughter again. "I spurred my horse and charged into the Ming army's artillery position, shouting, 'Who dares to fight?' The Ming soldiers all fled in terror. I dismounted, turned the cannon around, aimed it at a distance of several miles, and killed Li Dingguo's deputy general with a single shot."

The flag bearers at the scene laughed so hard they were doubled over.

A middle-aged man with a blue feather suddenly stood up.

"You little brat, you're such a braggart. Even the storytellers on the overpass aren't as good as you."

For every typical positive example, there must be a negative example.

Where there is a flag captain, there must be flag scum.

Since Gangyi has spoken out on his own, he has no one to blame but himself.

Hailin roared:

"Gangyi, you dare to spout such nonsense as a mere ninth-rank Blue Feather Captain? Take him down!"

A team of men he had arranged beforehand rushed in and twisted Gangyi's arms from side to side, pinning them down tightly.

Resolute Struggle:

"What are you doing?"

"I'm fucking innocent! I'm going to sue!"

The next moment, his mouth was stuffed with a lump of horse manure.

Hailin:

“Gangyi, this ninth-rank Blue-feathered Bannerman, is a coward in battle and full of complaints. He is a disgrace to the Eight Banners. As his colleagues, you should stand up and testify against his crimes.”

There was total silence.

Hailin directly called out names.

Of the five colleagues who were called upon to stand up, two could not withstand the immense pressure and confessed to one or two less important "bad things" about Gang Yi.

For example, Gangyi usually complains a lot.

Gangyi fought his way from outside the Great Wall to inside, never missing a single battle. Now in his forties, he's still just a Blue Feather Captain. It's impossible for him not to harbor some resentment.

On that day, Gangyi was publicly flogged fifty times and demoted to the rank of foot soldier.

……

The instigator, Jiang Qingyun, was engrossed in writing a memorial to the throne. After sealing it with sealing wax, he ordered it to be sent out by express courier, 600 li away.

There were two memorials inside the leather tube.

One document is a summary of the Songzi experience, and the other is a statement from a general who resigned due to illness and returned to Beijing to recuperate.

The former was to solidify his military achievements and silence any criticism from the court.

The latter was a declaration of loyalty, clearly telling Shunzhi that he had no intention of seizing military power.

He could even guess that Shunzhi would be very pleased after seeing the memorials and would approve them all without hesitation.

Footsteps sounded outside, and Zhou Cang walked in.

"General, this is an urgent report from Yunnan and Guangdong."

As expected~
After Wu Sangui and Shang Kexi officially took up their fiefdoms, in order to demonstrate their loyalty, they both dispatched their elite troops to launch a fierce attack on Guangxi.

Li Dingguo was caught in a two-front war, losing Wuzhou Prefecture in the east and Zhen'an Prefecture in the west.

……

After reading it, Jiang Qingyun tossed it aside and issued an official order to the Green Standard Army soldiers stationed in Baoqing and Yongzhou to dig deep trenches and build high walls, and to reinforce them with a batch of cannons and matchlock guns.

The military order's main message can be summarized in sixteen characters: "Active defense, no battles allowed; those who disobey the order will be executed even if victorious."

Before Emperor Shunzhi approved his resignation as Grand General, he had one last thing to do—to sell official positions! He was to fill all the vacancies in the prefectures and counties of Hunan, Hubei, and Jiangxi provinces.

If you have it but don't need it, it will expire and become invalid.

(End of this chapter)