Chongzhen's domineering

Chapter 335 Soldiers Fight to the Death and Massively Produce Troops
Zhu Jue suddenly issued an edict to increase the rations and pay of all soldiers!

This time, the increase wasn't just a small amount, but a direct tripling, with ordinary soldiers now receiving three taels of silver and three shi of grain per month!

The soldiers of the Beijing Garrison, the navy, Liaodong, and even the border troops in other border towns were overjoyed upon hearing the news.

Many soldiers were already struggling financially, especially those who didn't farm. Their monthly salary of one tael of silver and one shi of grain was barely enough to support a family, let alone provide them with enough to eat and wear.

Things are different now. Three shi of grain a month is enough to feed a family of four or five. With three taels of silver, they can easily buy new clothes every month.

In other words, they went from not being able to even have enough to eat and wear to having plenty of food and clothing, and they were naturally overjoyed.

This is not over yet.

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Jue issued another decree to conscript naval officers and soldiers. Regardless of whether they had experience in handling ships or were garrisoned soldiers, as long as they passed the selection, they would receive three taels of silver and three shi of grain per month!

The recruitment of soldiers is not limited to the Ming Dynasty itself; those from Southeast Asia and even the Americas are welcome, and there are no restrictions on the household registration of garrison troops. Anyone who wants to join the navy can give it a try.

He even dispatched naval vessels directly to the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty and the South Seas to recruit and select people on the spot. Anyone who passed the selection could directly train with the naval vessels.

This caused an uproar throughout the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, and even in Southeast Asia.

Three taels of silver and three shi of grain a month—that's enough for a family to live comfortably.

These days, some artisans earn more than that amount a month, but those are only experienced artisans.

The Ming Dynasty was not entirely made up of artisans. In fact, almost all of the artisans in the Ming Dynasty were concentrated in the capital region and Liaodong area. These artisans all had work to do, and the rest were basically no longer artisans.

In other words, ordinary people, unless they are exceptionally lucky, would not be able to earn three taels of silver and three shi of grain a month.

Of course, this does not include those who migrated to Southeast Asia or the Americas. If they had fifty acres of land, their income would naturally be more than that.

However, those willing to leave their homes and migrate to Southeast Asia or the Americas did not account for more than half of the total population of the Ming Dynasty; the rest were still the majority.

Even if a family is willing to leave their homeland and migrate to Southeast Asia or the Americas, there may be more than one able-bodied person.

These days, it's common to have three, four, or even five children. If there are many male offspring, even if the family is allocated fifty acres of land, it's impossible for all the male offspring to get married, establish themselves, and live a life of plenty.

Therefore, population migration did not have a significant impact on the conscription of soldiers, as there were plenty of able-bodied young men who wanted to join the army.

At this time, the population of the Ming Dynasty is at least 100 million. Even if you exclude artisans and garrison soldiers, there are still more than 10 million able-bodied men. If even half of these able-bodied men wanted to come and try, that would still be more than 5 million.

More importantly, the requirements for recruiting naval officers and soldiers this time were not very high. Basically, the newly recruited officers and soldiers did not need to operate muskets and cannons, and they did not need to operate ships. To put it bluntly, they were just there to load and unload cargo, and basically all they needed to do was be physically strong.

With such low requirements, naturally not many people will be eliminated. And the able-bodied young people who dare to give it a try certainly have some strength.

Soon, Lu Xiang-sheng could no longer hold on.

Around 9 a.m. that day, he rushed to Yuxi Palace to see Zhu Jue.

Zhu Jue also wanted to ask about the soldiers' situation. After exchanging greetings with his subjects, he couldn't help but ask, "How is it, Jian Dou? What are the soldiers saying now that the rations and pay have increased?"

Uh, that's not what I meant.

Lu Xiang-sheng was stunned for a moment before saying with a touch of emotion, "The soldiers are overjoyed. They never expected that their pay and rations would increase so much. They're all saying that it's worth risking their lives for this."

Very good. Only when soldiers fight with their lives can they be invincible.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then asked, "How is the recruitment of troops going? How many soldiers have been selected?"

You finally asked about this.

Lu Xiang-sheng quickly explained, "Your Majesty, in less than half a month, over a million soldiers have already been selected, and this is only in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty. The situation in the South Seas has not yet been reported."

Your humble servant estimates that if this continues, the number of soldiers selected will likely exceed two million.

"Your Majesty, I dare to ask, do we really intend to recruit so many soldiers? Shouldn't we raise the selection criteria?"

Are you still worried about having too many men under your command?

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly and said, "Jian Dou, didn't you say you didn't have enough men?"
The one million I mentioned is not the upper limit, but the lower limit. We need to conscript at least one million troops, do you understand?
This force of one million men wouldn't last long. Based on the speed of the Beijing Shipyard and the Haihe Shipyard, they could build at least three batches of Zhiyuan merchant ships a year. Each batch from the Beijing Shipyard consisted of five hundred small Zhiyuan merchant ships and five hundred medium-sized Zhiyuan merchant ships, while each batch from the Haihe Shipyard consisted of thousands of large Zhiyuan merchant ships and even super-large Zhiyuan merchant ships.

Even with the lowest possible configuration, this batch would still require nearly 100,000 people. That's at least 300,000 a year, and a million people would only last for three years.

Moreover, we can't just build the Zhiyuan merchant ship. Once the 1,000-jin cannons start mass production, we also need to build the Weiyuan and Zhenyuan warships, which will require even more manpower. 500,000 a year won't be enough.

Therefore, the selection criteria don't need to be raised any higher. Being able to carry a hundred catties of grain is already quite good. You probably don't know, but those colonial bandits even recruited old men. We're considered good; at least we're young and strong.

Uh, we're not conscripting laborers!
Lu Xiang-sheng hesitated for a moment, then carefully reminded him, "Your Majesty, if we calculate the cost of three taels of silver and three shi of grain per soldier, then an army of one million men would incur an additional fifty to sixty million taels of silver in wages each year."

"Your Majesty, I dare to be bold, but our provisions and pay are already insufficient. Even conscripting a million men wouldn't be enough. If we conscript another million, where will the provisions and pay come from?"

You're asking this because you don't know how to make money.

Zhu Jue shook his head slightly, then explained carefully: "Jian Dou, there are many ways to make money these days. Fifty or sixty million taels a year is nothing."

For example, we can expand our business to the West and take over all the business from the Netherlands, England and France. Wouldn't that bring in an extra 10 or 20 million taels or even 30 million taels a year?

For example, we could take over Japan directly and rob all their gold and silver mines. Wouldn't that bring in an extra 10 to 20 million taels of silver a year?

For example, we can also send people to explore those unclaimed territories and search for gold and silver mines. This would certainly generate an extra 10 to 20 million taels of silver or even 30 million taels of silver per year.

If all else fails, we can directly seize territory from those colonial bandits. The territories they seize usually contain gold and silver mines. For each piece of territory we seize, we can earn at least ten to twenty million taels of silver a year.

Therefore, these days, as long as you have military power, you don't need to worry about making money at all. Just recruit; you don't need to worry about the money, I'll take care of that."

Uh, should we just start shooting?
Fine, this isn't my responsibility.

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded slowly, then carefully said, "Your Majesty, the problem is, having strength alone is not enough. Soldiers who can truly go to the battlefield must not only be proficient in firearms and cannons, but also at least in swords, spears, and halberds."

"Your humble servant dares to ask, isn't it a waste of resources to only recruit strong men?"

This amount of food and pay is really nothing.

Zhu Jue patiently explained, “Jian Dou, we don’t have too many people, we just don’t have enough. Operating ships is only one aspect. Guarding the grasslands beyond the Great Wall also requires a lot of manpower. Just think about it, just the former territory of the Beiping Commandery alone, wouldn’t it require more than 100,000 troops to guard more than 20 garrison cities, plus tens of thousands of troops to guard large cities?”

If we only wanted to recover the former territory of the Northern Pacification Commandery, that would be fine; we could simply have the Beijing garrison stationed there. The problem is, our goal is to take over all the grasslands beyond the Great Wall and completely resolve the Northern Barbarian problem.

Have you considered how many people this will require?

Lu Xiang-sheng was taken aback upon hearing this.

He hadn't really thought about that.

He had been thinking about how to reclaim the former territory of the Beiping Commandery and how to defend it. Just this alone required a lot of consideration. After all, they needed to build more than twenty garrison cities and several large cities.

During this time, he was still considering where to build the acropolis and where to build several other large cities.

As for the troops stationed in these garrisons and large cities, he hadn't had time to consider them carefully.

He subconsciously thought that it would be enough to station the troops from the Beijing Garrison.

Only then did he realize that if all the conquered grasslands were garrisoned by the Beijing garrison, they wouldn't be able to defend many grasslands. The former territory of the Beiping Regional Military Commission alone would require more than 200,000 troops to garrison, while the Beijing garrison only had 400,000 chariot soldiers available for land combat.

In other words, if the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison were used to guard the area, they could at most capture two grasslands outside the Great Wall, each about the size of the former territory of the Beiping Regional Military Commission. Then they would have no troops left to advance further. The grasslands outside the Great Wall are vast, and the former territory of the Beiping Regional Military Commission is just a small corner of it, accounting for less than one-tenth of the area.

If they were to take over all the grasslands beyond the Great Wall, they would need at least two million soldiers to defend them!
He paused for a moment, then nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. It is indeed necessary to have a lot of troops to guard the grasslands beyond the Great Wall. If we use the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison to guard it, then we will not have enough troops to continue our advance."

you understood?

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then explained in detail: "Actually, the places that need manpower are not only the former territory of the Northern Pacification Commandery, nor only the grasslands beyond the Great Wall."

Both the South Pacific and the Americas require a large number of personnel. For example, when we sent troops to the Americas this time, Zhilong and his men took more than 100,000 experienced naval officers and soldiers with them. We need to fill this gap as soon as possible.

Furthermore, we also need to station troops in the South Pacific and the Americas. Our naval officers and soldiers also need to operate ships at sea, so we can't possibly send them to garrison those areas.

Moreover, there are many things we still need a lot of manpower to do, such as laying tracks. The tracks in Southeast Asia should have been laid a long time ago, but we had to put them on hold because we didn't have enough manpower. After we take over the grasslands beyond the Great Wall, we will definitely need to connect them with tracks.

All of this requires a lot of manpower. Without enough manpower, we can only delay many things. Only when we have enough manpower can we handle things with ease. Do you understand?

Yes, there are so many places that need manpower right now.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng slowly nodded and said, "Your Majesty is wise. It seems we need to recruit as many people as possible."

Now you really understand.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and then explained in detail: "The issue of the quality of the soldiers you mentioned is actually quite easy to resolve. We can divide them up based on their abilities."

For example, if someone is all strength but not very bright, let them load and unload cargo. They'll definitely be fine doing such simple work; they just need someone to guide them.

For example, those who know a little about swords, spears, and halberds can be trained a bit and used to guard the grasslands beyond the Great Wall and even the Americas and Southeast Asia. These stationed soldiers can also lay some tracks along the way.

For example, those who are quick-witted and can be trained to operate firearms, cannons, or even ships can be selected and trained to do so.

Of course, there is a prerequisite for operating muskets, cannons, and ships: one must be completely loyal, not have ulterior motives, and certainly not be a spy.

These will require your careful selection. Anyway, we have plenty of time. Zhilong and the others can only go together after the American fleet returns in December, and the former territory of the Northern Pacific Command won't be reclaimed until next spring. You have plenty of time to select them.”

This screening time is sufficient.

The problem is, if we recruit so many men, we won't have enough generals and officers to lead them.

Lu Xiang-sheng nodded slowly, then said cautiously, "Your Majesty, there is another issue, which is the matter of the officers and soldiers in command."

The officers and soldiers I have selected this time are barely enough to command one million troops. Any more than that, and there won't be enough to command them all.

Zhu Jue nodded slightly and pondered, "Those who only know how to load and unload cargo don't need training. Just assign them to the Zhiyuan merchant ships and let the naval officers in charge of the ship handling command them as well."

Those with sharp minds, who can be trained to operate firearms, cannons, and even ships, can be directly assigned to the Zhenyuan and Zhiyuan warships, where the Jingying soldiers will train them properly.

We can gradually assign these soldiers to the newly built ships based on their training progress; there's no need to rush to send officers to command them right now.

As for the remaining soldiers to be stationed there, you can have someone lead them to Southern Zhili first, so they can learn how to lay tracks from the craftsmen there, and also practice their city defense skills.

This way, we won't need too many generals and officers. The only troops we'll really need are those stationed on the grasslands beyond the Great Wall. We haven't even conquered a single grassland yet, so we don't need too many officers to command these new recruits.

Yes, there aren't many new recruits who immediately need to be led by generals and officers.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise, I understand."

Zhu Jue nodded slightly, then asked, "Any other questions?"

That should be fine now.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng thought carefully before solemnly saying, "Your Majesty, there should be no problem."

Zhu Jue waved his hand without hesitation and said, "Then continue to recruit. Recruit as many as you can."

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiang-sheng quickly bowed and took his leave.

Next, he went on a crazy spree of recruiting soldiers. He didn't care whether they could fight or even whether they were smart. He just wanted anyone who could carry hundreds of pounds of grain.

This is going to be very serious.

In the end, the number of new recruits exceeded three million, and when combined with the existing soldiers, the total number of soldiers in the Ming Dynasty exceeded five million!
With so many troops, the cost of provisions, rations, equipment, and supplies would easily exceed 20 million taels a month.

When the officials of the outer court heard the news, they all thought that the young emperor had probably gone mad!

Why are they mobilizing troops so recklessly? Don't they need to pay them rations and salaries?

The Ming Dynasty's annual tax revenue was only a few million taels, but now the grain and salary alone cost more than 20 million taels a month. Who can afford that?

If there aren't enough provisions and pay, let's see how the young emperor handles the situation!

(End of this chapter)