The Ming Dynasty: Starting with the border troops, it was overthrown and the Qing Dynasty was destro

Chapter 191 How expensive is it to raise an army?
At this moment, Jiang Han was unaware of everything that had happened in Gansu Town, nor did he know what kind of surprise the commander he had sent out would bring him.

He was currently in Zhongwei, Ningxia, near a border fort called Mingshazhou, his brows furrowed as he looked at the desolate frontier region before him.

The recruitment work in Ningxia Town was more difficult and less smooth than he had imagined.

Since leading his troops across the border wall of Ningxia Town, Jiang Han felt an immense sense of oppression, as if he had stepped into a corner forgotten by God.

Without the shelter of the Helan Mountains, the sky here is always shrouded in a layer of grayish-yellow mist, and even the sun looks sickly.

The north wind, carrying the yellow sand of the Tengger Desert, is like countless small files, relentlessly polishing everyone's skin day and night.

The sand was everywhere, seeping into the gaps in the collar, falling into the rice cooker and water sac, and even when I was sleeping I could feel grains of sand rolling around in my blankets.

Looking around, apart from a few scattered clumps of tenacious camel thorns, there was no other green to be seen.

The situation in Ningxia Town is even worse than in northern Shaanxi. The drought is terrible enough, but the shifting sand dunes are the real nightmare.

The Great Wall is covered with shifting sands on both sides. Those fortresses that were originally built on high ground have long lost their strategic location and have been swallowed up by the yellow sand little by little.

One can only imagine what kind of life the Ningxia border soldiers stationed here lead.

During the day, the soldiers would carry all the sand out, one load at a time, but when they woke up, the sand would grow legs and come running back on its own.

Hundreds or even thousands of people carrying sand for several days cannot withstand the northwest wind blowing for one night.

Faced with such a harsh environment, quite a few border soldiers in Ningxia Town were indeed willing to follow Jiang Han in rebellion.

However, the newly appointed Ningxia commander-in-chief quickly noticed the anomaly and immediately mobilized troops to block Jiang Han's northward route.

The current Commander-in-Chief of Ningxia is named Ma Shilong, a veteran of the military.

Ma Shilong was born in the 21st year of the Wanli reign. He was a military officer and had a dignified appearance.

As early as the Tianqi era, he was active in Xuanfu and the Liaodong front, fighting alongside Sun Chengzong against the Eastern barbarians and repeatedly making meritorious contributions.

During the Jisi Incident, he was awarded the title of Junior Guardian of the Heir Apparent by the imperial court for his military achievements in recovering the four cities of Zunyi and Yongzhou, and his descendants were granted the hereditary title of Commander of a Thousand Households.

The general of Ningxia Garrison was originally He Huchen, but after He Huchen was transferred to Yansui Garrison, the imperial court issued a decree to reinstate Ma Shilong, who was claiming to be ill at home, and ordered him to guard Ningxia.

As a native of Ningxia, Ma Shilong is very familiar with the local situation and he is well aware of the difficult circumstances faced by the border guards in Ningxia.

He knew the hardships and resentments of the border soldiers at the grassroots level, and he understood even more how much trouble would be caused if these long-suppressed grievances were ignited.

Therefore, when Jiang Han's troops marched north along the border wall in an attempt to recruit those discontented border soldiers, Ma Shilong immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

He acted decisively and quickly recalled all the troops scattered near Zhongwei in Ningxia to the vicinity of Lingzhou for unified management and command.

As a result, Jiang Han's recruitment efforts in Ningxia Town suddenly became extremely difficult.

He braved the wind and sand, working hard for more than half a month, but in the end he only managed to recruit a little over 500 soldiers.

Ma Shilong managed Lingzhou like an iron barrel, keeping a close watch on Jiang Han and his group.

Jiang Han knew very well that with his current forces, it would be extremely difficult to launch a strong attack on this fortified city.

Seeing that he couldn't gain any advantage, Jiang Han also began to consider retreating. He didn't want to waste time with a veteran in this kind of place.

Just as he was about to order the camp to be broken up and return to join Shao Yong, a messenger suddenly arrived with news:
"Commander!"

The messenger dismounted, his voice urgent.

"Behind us...behind us, there's a...a large army is heading towards our camp!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Han's heart tightened:
"Did you see the banners of the approaching people? Are they our own people or government troops?"

The messenger, panting heavily, shook his head:
"I don't know, it's too far away, and the sandstorm is too strong, so I can't see anything at all!"

"But Commander Li has already ordered his men to conduct close reconnaissance, and we expect to have definite news soon."

At this time, Jiang Han's army was stationed near Mingshazhou, in an open area close to the south bank of the Yellow River.

The terrain here is relatively advantageous, with the Yellow River at its back, so there's no need to worry about being attacked from both sides by government troops.

Nevertheless, Jiang Han still dared not be careless.

He turned his head and looked at the guard beside him:

"Go and relay my order: all troops on alert!"

"The infantry should first don their armor and form ranks, and then the artillery battalion should set up their positions in advance. Everything should be done with caution."

Jiang Han waited anxiously for most of the day, and finally the scouts sent out by Li Laowai brought back definite news:

It was Shao Yong who led his troops to join them.

"Shao Yong?"

Jiang Han was stunned after hearing this. Only a month had passed, how come Shao Yong was back?
I only allocated a few hundred cavalrymen to Shao Yong back then, so how come so many people have suddenly appeared out of nowhere?
Jiang Han was unaware of what had happened, but subconsciously used his own experience in Ningxia to infer Shao Yong's experience.

He thought that his recruitment efforts in Ningxia were not going well, and he estimated that Shao Yong's situation would only be worse in the more remote Gansu.

Jiang Han estimated that if Shao Yong could recruit seven or eight hundred people on this trip, that would be quite good.

Not long after, Shao Yong burst into the tent with an excited expression.

Jiang Han looked at Shao Yong, who was travel-worn but unusually excited, and handed him a bowl of water.

"Thank you for your hard work, Shao Yong."

"Why did you bring so many people back? Are they all starving people from Gansu Town?"

Shao Yong took the bowl of water, drank it all in one gulp, wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and his face was filled with barely suppressed excitement and agitation.
"General! You have no idea, we accomplished a great deal in Gansu Town this time!"

"Gansu Town has been thrown into complete chaos by the surrendered troops we sent out!"

"Many of the soldiers guarding the border walls responded to your call and rose up in rebellion after hearing your name."

He paused, then dropped a bombshell:
Do you remember Wang Wu, the commander from Gansu?

"This kid is simply a genius. He and his five riders managed to bring together more than two thousand border soldiers!"

Upon hearing this number, Jiang Han nearly dropped the bowl of water in his hand.

"How many?"

Shao Yong, looking smug, quickly replied:
"A full two thousand one hundred people!"

Fearing Jiang Han wouldn't believe him, he counted on his fingers, carefully recounting the details.

"Wang Wu alone brought more than two thousand men, plus the other surrendered soldiers we sent out, and the Dun Army who voluntarily joined us. For this trip to Gansu, we have recruited a total of more than three thousand men!"

Seeing Shao Yong's beaming expression, Jiang Han was dumbfounded; it was a case of one problem being solved while another was solved.

He racked his brains in Ningxia, working tirelessly for more than half a month under the cover of yellow sand, before he finally managed to recruit more than 500 soldiers.

Meanwhile, Shao Yong and Wang Wu quietly brought back more than 3,000 people for him in Gansu!
By this calculation, he now has nearly seven thousand men under his command.

But amidst the surprise, Jiang Han suddenly thought of a serious question: could he afford to support so many soldiers?
Thinking of this, he dared not delay and immediately gave orders to the guards outside the tent:

"Quickly! Go and fetch Secretary Zhao here!"

Zhao Sheng is no longer just a simple clerk in Jiang Han's army.

His current role is more like that of a meticulous logistics manager. With Zhao Sheng's help, Jiang Han can also extricate himself from trivial matters and concentrate on military strategy.

Zhao Sheng rushed to the central command tent. When he heard that Shao Yong had brought back more than three thousand men, he was filled with mixed feelings of joy and worry. He was happy because the size of the army had almost doubled overnight, and its strength had increased dramatically.

However, what worries him is that with the current food and supplies in the army, it may be difficult to support nearly 7,000 elite soldiers.

Thinking of this, he took out his abacus, ready to do some calculations:

"First of all, there is the military pay. Since the start of our army, we have always insisted on paying the full amount of our pay and have never withheld it."

"According to the standard, each soldier receives one and a half taels of silver per month, which adds up to eighteen taels of silver per year."

As he spoke, he moved the abacus beads, the crisp "clattering" sound particularly jarring in the quiet command tent.

"So, with 7,000 soldiers, at 18 taels per person per year, the total expenditure for military pay alone would be 126,000 taels of silver per year."

"This is just the basic salary."

"Adding in the daily consumption of grain and meat, it would cost at least 100,000 taels a year."

Upon hearing this number, Jiang Han and Shao Yong exchanged a heavy glance.

But Zhao Sheng didn't stop; the abacus beads clicked in his hands.
"Then comes the equipment."

"We are taking the elite route. A standard set of infantry equipment, including armor, helmet, spear, bow and arrow, etc., costs about twenty taels of silver."

"For example, the elite troops under Commander Shao must wear double armor and carry long shields. A full set of armor would cost at least thirty taels of silver."

"These are just the infantry, not to mention our cavalry."

"Since we captured more than a thousand warhorses last time, we now have about 1,300 cavalrymen in our army."

"Putting aside other things, just considering the feed for warhorses, according to the regulations of the imperial border army, 'each horse is given a bundle of hay and three liters of bean feed per day.' Calculated, the feed cost for a warhorse per month is at least two taels of silver."

"Thirteen hundred warhorses, just eating them costs us more than thirty thousand taels of silver a year! This doesn't even include the wear and tear on the horses, the replacement of horse tack, and the equipment for the cavalry."

Zhao Sheng skillfully manipulated the abacus, glancing up at Jiang Han as he did so.
"The commander is benevolent and righteous. He likes to give his brothers some bonuses during festivals to boost morale."

"If it's like last time in Shanzhou City, where they give out thirty taels at a time, then seven thousand people would be worth two hundred thousand taels."

"In addition, there are military supplies such as medicine, tents, vehicles, and ordnance maintenance."

As Zhao Sheng rattled off a string of numbers, Jiang Han's eyelids twitched:
"Stop, stop, stop!"

"Just tell me the total. How much silver will it cost to maintain an elite army of 5,500 infantrymen and 1,500 cavalrymen per year?"

Zhao Sheng lowered his head, picked up the abacus and began to fiddle with it. After a long while, he finally uttered a number that left everyone speechless:

"Remove the odd amount, it's about 550,000 taels."

"Hiss!" Jiang Han gasped upon hearing this.

Five hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver! What does that mean?
It should be noted that when Jiang Han was in Shanxi, he practically dug up every inch of the land and looted all the wealthy and corrupt merchants in Fenzhou Prefecture, and in the end, he only managed to plunder 820,000 taels of silver.

Furthermore, nearly half of them consisted of supplies such as grain, cloth, gunpowder, and military equipment.

Now that Zhao Sheng is asking for 550,000 taels of silver, where is he supposed to find another Fenzhou Prefecture?

Zhao Sheng looked at Jiang Han's expression with a helpless expression:
"General, I know you want to pursue a policy of elite troops, striving to ensure that each of your men can be worth ten men."

"But the reality is that, based on the current food and gold reserves in the army, these 7,000 people can only last for another six months at most."

“We already have enough financial resources; any more and we really won’t be able to afford to support them.”

"Once we run out of money and supplies, our army will probably collapse on its own without the government troops even coming to fight."

Zhao Sheng's words hit the nail on the head, accurately pointing out the predicament Jiang Han was currently facing.

While a lean and efficient troop policy is effective, it is extremely costly.

On the battlefield, a force of several thousand elite soldiers can often easily defeat a rabble several times their size, and they are not afraid of even facing government troops of the same number.

Secondly, the policy of elite troops is generally small in scale, which makes command more convenient and allows commanders to execute tactical intentions more accurately.

At the same time, because soldiers are well-paid, have a strong sense of belonging, and are relatively more loyal, they are less likely to mutiny.

However, its drawback is also obvious: it is expensive.

Just as Zhao Sheng calculated, the cost of supporting an elite soldier is several times, or even ten times, that of an ordinary soldier.

From military pay and food to armor and weapons, everything was a money-devouring behemoth.

Secondly, replenishing elite troops is extremely difficult.

The death of every elite veteran means that a huge investment has gone down the drain.

Training a new recruit to the combat level of a veteran requires a long time and a huge amount of resources, which puts elite troops at a natural disadvantage in brutal wars of attrition and makes them unable to withstand large-scale casualties.

Finally, the policy of keeping the army small and elite also limited the expansion of the military's size.

When it is necessary to occupy and control a vast territory, a force of only a few thousand men will be insufficient. Dividing the troops will leave them vulnerable in every aspect, while not dividing the troops will make it impossible to govern effectively.

Now, with the addition of more than 3,000 soldiers from Gansu Zhenbian, problems have arisen for Jiang Han.

Should we lower the standards and assign them as lower-cost auxiliary soldiers, or grit our teeth and arm and train them to the standards of elite troops?
Seeing Jiang Han's dilemma, Zhao Sheng changed the subject:
"My lord, I do have a way to solve this problem."

"In the long run, as long as we can occupy Sichuan and establish a separatist regime, then supporting our army will not be a problem. We can discuss this later."

"In the short term, we can target wealthy households in the surrounding area to ensure a steady income."

"But the most important thing is how to transition from the short term to the long term."

Zhao Sheng looked at Jiang Han and offered his opinion.

"I think we should launch a surprise attack and return to Guanzhong."

"Back then, we were in a hurry to go north to recruit soldiers, and we only did a cursory search of Guanzhong. Even so, we easily seized more than 100,000 taels of silver and a large amount of supplies."

"If we can firmly occupy Guanzhong like we did in Shanxi, and then send Li Liyuan out to squeeze every last drop of water out of the local officials, we should be able to easily raise the military expenses for one or two years."

Jiang Han stared at the map for a long time, then shook his head:
"It's a little difficult."

"Cao Wenzhao and his men must have already reached Guanzhong, and Hong Chengchou's army should also be on its way back to reinforce."

"At that point, forget about robbing us; we'll be in trouble if we can even escape unscathed."

As they were talking, Jiang Han's gaze suddenly stopped on Yinchuan City, which was not far away. That was where Qing Fan was located.

Jiang Han looked at the map in front of him and hardened his heart.

There was no other way but to cause trouble for the most powerful landlord in the Ming Dynasty, the prince.

Jiang Han never expected that he had just been criticizing Wang Jiayin for his ambitions to seize power from the princes, but now he himself was also plotting against the princes.

"Let's attack Yinchuan. Once we take down Qingfan, we should have enough funds and supplies!"

Zhao Sheng hesitated after hearing this:
"But General Ma Shilong of Ningxia is blocking the gates of Yinchuan at Lingzhou Fortress. How can we fight?"

Jiang Han snorted coldly, his eyes flashing with murderous intent:

"Whether it's a dragon or a tiger, anyone who dares to stand in my way will be slaughtered!"

"Go! Gather your troops and beat the drums! I will conquer Yinchuan!"

(End of this chapter)