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

Chapter 359 Expansion and Selection
No matter how much war raged in the Central Plains or how turbulent the court was, the southwest region could still be considered a peaceful land.

It's March to May, spring is in full bloom, and all things are thriving.

From the Chengdu Plain to the hills of Yunnan and Guizhou, hardworking figures can be seen everywhere in the vast fields and countryside.

Not only farmers toiling in the fields, but also local officials stepped out of their offices and went deep into the fields to supervise production.

All of this was in response to Jiang Han's ambitious plan to "expand the army by 500,000 in three years".

To feed such a large army, food is essential.

At the beginning of the year, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Revenue jointly issued clear grain production and collection targets to the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan.

Without considering natural disasters, Sichuan Province, as the land of abundance, naturally had to bear the main responsibility for supplying money and grain.

According to central accounting, Sichuan Province's planned total grain output for this year has been set at 42 million shi (a unit of dry measure).

Based on a 50% land rent calculation, 21 million shi (a unit of dry measure) of grain needed to be paid to the government granary.

The newly designated provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou will share the remaining production quota of 20 million shi and the tax revenue of 10 million shi.

Considering that Sichuan had the heaviest task, under Jiang Han's instruction, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Revenue further refined the targets, specifying them down to each prefecture.

Take Baoning Prefecture, a major town in northern Sichuan, for example. Although the area is mountainous, its arable land area is not the largest.
However, due to its proximity to the Jialing River system, the land along the river is very fertile and the irrigation conditions are excellent, making it an important granary in northern Sichuan.

This time, with the allocation of quotas in Chengdu, Baoning Prefecture was burdened with the responsibility of paying two million shi of grain tax.

At this time, Prefect Zeng Rui was still in charge of Baoning Prefecture.

Zeng Rui was the first scholar-official magistrate in Guangyuan County to surrender to Jiang Han.

The prefectural assistant prefect who was in charge of finances, water conservancy, agriculture and sericulture was Wu Xi, who had been the top scholar in the imperial examination in Baoning Prefecture.

As the first top scholar handpicked by Jiang Han, Wu Xi's career can be described as smooth sailing, with his promotion speed soaring like a rocket.

In his first year, he served as the sixth-rank Assistant Prefect of Jianzhou. In his second year, he was promoted to the fifth-rank Prefect of Jianzhou for his meritorious service in disaster relief.
In the third year, he was directly promoted to the fifth-rank position of Assistant Magistrate of Baoning Prefecture, becoming the second-in-command of Baoning Prefecture.

Wu Xi felt deeply grateful for the King of Han's patronage and could not repay him. He devoted all his energy to his official duties and worked diligently.

Last year, after getting married and starting a family, he only rested at home for three days before leaving his bride behind and heading to various prefectures and counties with his subordinates to inspect and supervise agriculture and sericulture.

Since receiving the task from Chengdu this spring, he has been working tirelessly day and night, spending months in the countryside to ensure the smooth progress of spring plowing.

At this time, Wu Xi was personally inspecting agricultural work in the Fengguang Village area south of Jianzhou.

When the second-in-command of the prefecture came down to inspect, the state government naturally dared not neglect him.

The official accompanying him was also an old acquaintance of Wu Xi's, Chen An from Nanbu County, who had taken the new imperial examination in the same year as him and ranked second.

Chen An's promotion was equally rapid, and he has now become the prefect of Jianzhou.

Zhou Defu, an experienced veteran official who studied alongside them, was transferred to Tongchuan Prefecture to serve as its prefect.

Those who were classmates in the imperial examinations in the past are now each in charge of their own region, serving the King of Han together.

Since we met again after the same year, we naturally had to catch up, but business still inevitably came up in our conversation:
“Younger brother, I see that your agricultural work in Jianzhou is quite good.”

"The ridges are neat, the seedlings are thriving, and the field management is very effective."

Wu Xi and Chen An walked side by side along the ridge of the field, admiring the beautiful scenery before them.
"Surely we've more than met this year's grain tax quota, right?"

As the two looked around, they saw a vibrant spring scene in the fields.

Hundreds of farmers are busy in the paddy fields and dry land. Some are bending over to protect the seedlings, some are wielding hoes to weed, and some are drawing water to irrigate. There are many figures in the scene.

The shouts, the sound of water, and the mooing of cows mingled together, creating a noisy yet incredibly pleasant sound.

Further away, the newly reclaimed slopes are also planted with drought-resistant corn and various grains, lush and green.

This thriving scene is inseparable from a series of measures taken by local officials.

Last winter, Baoning Prefecture organized a large number of laborers, with the government providing rations and tools, to dredge the main irrigation canals within its territory and build many new ponds and weirs to ensure water supply for spring plowing.

In addition, each prefecture and county established government-run "manure farms" in accordance with the guidance of the Ministry of Agriculture.

Every day, designated personnel collect manure, bone fragments, and hair from the town and slaughterhouses, ferment them, and turn them into more effective compost.

At the manure farm, farmers can purchase manure at cost price by presenting tax receipts or coupons.

Meanwhile, the organic-rich river mud dredged during the dredging of the river was also fully utilized.

After the river mud is spread out, dried in the sun, crushed, and sieved, it becomes an excellent base fertilizer, mainly used in newly reclaimed barren wasteland to quickly improve soil fertility.

Looking at the busy yet orderly scene before him, Chen An's face also showed a look of pride:
“What you say is true, brother.”

"As long as no major natural disasters occur, completing or even slightly exceeding the targets should be more than enough."

"After all, Jianzhou has reclaimed a lot of wasteland since last year."

“Even the small, scattered hillsides that were previously looked down upon are now being planted with drought-resistant corn, mung beans and other grains, as instructed by the Ministry of Agriculture. This will increase our income considerably.”

Wu Xi nodded in satisfaction, but still remembered to add:

"His Majesty is benevolent and compassionate towards the people's hardships. All newly developed areas will enjoy a three-year tax exemption period."

"As for those scattered, fragmented fields, they were not required to be forcibly included in the Yellow Register for taxation."

"There should be plenty of grain stored up in the hands of the people now."

"As representatives of any party, we must not be impatient for quick results in order to complete the tax collection task, thus needlessly ruining the people-benefiting policies set forth by the King."

"If the state granaries are indeed insufficient, it is better to use the stored silver to purchase from the people than to forcibly impose levies, which would ruin His Majesty's good intentions and the court's reputation."

"Rules are dead, people are alive."

"In the unlikely event of a natural disaster that leads to a reduction in grain production, as long as the facts are reported and the reasons are explained, the Chengdu authorities will naturally reduce or exempt the amount as appropriate."

Chen An nodded upon hearing this, and said seriously:
"Brother, please rest assured, I understand this principle."

“We were all selected by the King from the countryside, and we would never do such an ungrateful thing.”

Wu Xi patted Chen An on the shoulder with satisfaction and looked around the vibrant field once more.

In the distance, the green mountains are like dark eyebrows, and nearby, the green rice paddies are like a carpet. This is what a prosperous age must be like.

A surge of pride welled up within him, and he blurted out:
"I till the green fields hoping for a bountiful year, and the fields overflowing with ripe grain to comfort the people; I only wish that all people are well-fed and clothed, and that I will not fail to stand by the fields in my green robe."

Upon hearing this, Chen An repeatedly praised:
"Brother, your writing is excellent; you truly deserve to be the top scholar."

Wu Xi simply took a deep breath, then composed himself and waved his hand:
"It's just pedantry, nothing to brag about."

"Alright, that's settled. We should head back to the city now."

"In a couple of days, I will have to go to Guangyuan and Zhaohua to inspect the area. I will try to conduct a thorough investigation of several major prefectures and counties before the end of April."

Having said that, he turned and strode quickly onto the official road.

A servant brought over a horse, and Wu Xi nimbly mounted it. Surrounded by his entourage, he galloped off towards Jianzhou City.

It was during the imperial examinations, and along the official road, besides merchants and travelers, one could see many students carrying book boxes and hurrying along.

They were heading to Jianzhou City from all directions, intending to board government-arranged carriages to travel to Chengdu to take the examination.

The imperial examination was originally scheduled for March, but Jiang Han, considering the long distance and inconvenient transportation between Yunnan and Guizhou, issued an edict to postpone the examination to April.

It is worth mentioning that, according to the department's statistics, a considerable number of students came from Yunnan and Guizhou to take the exam.

Although the two regions had only recently submitted to the government and the new imperial examination system had only been in effect for a short time, many aspiring scholars had already taken notice and were secretly studying the new examination syllabus, making thorough preparations.

Anyone with eyes to see can see that after the Han army occupied Sichuan, it was only a matter of time before they took over Yunnan and Guizhou.

After all, the imperial court is currently preoccupied with its own problems, so embracing the new dynasty's policies ahead of time is not necessarily a bad thing.

Although some elderly scholars who considered themselves loyal to the Ming court clung to their old beliefs, many more ambitious and insightful young scholars chose to participate in the imperial examination without hesitation, hoping to secure a place in the new regime.

This change was somewhat unexpected by Jiang Han and Wang Chengbi.

According to Jiang Han's initial plan, the Ministry of Education had limited human and material resources, so it could only expand its enrollment by establishing more government-run schools in key prefectures and counties such as Baoning, Chongqing, and Xuzhou, which were densely populated and had a strong literary tradition.

Seeing the high enthusiasm of scholars from Yunnan and Guizhou, Jiang Han took the opportunity to order the establishment of several government-run schools in Kunming and Dali in Yunnan, and Guiyang in Guizhou, to attract talent and educate the local people.

This caught Wang Chengbi, the head of the academic department, somewhat off guard.

Qualified instructors were already in short supply, and now some of them have to be assigned to the newly developed Yunnan-Guizhou region, making the situation even more dire.

So he repeatedly wrote letters, hoping to temporarily transfer some teachers from Tianfu Academy to support the local area.

Jiang Han would naturally not agree. Tianfu Academy was a key location that he personally oversaw and managed. Every teacher and student there was a precious gem, and he couldn't easily give it away to other places.

Left with no other choice, Wang Chengbi had to settle for second best.

He urgently established an institution called "Chuanxi Institute" in Chengdu, intending to select promising talents from among failed candidates and learned individuals in the general public. The Chuanxi Institute was mainly responsible for short-term intensive training, focusing on teaching new content in order to quickly cultivate a group of instructors.

Jiang Han had no time to pay attention to Wang Chengbi's complaints; he was fully focused on another important matter.

The army selected elite soldiers from across the entire force to replenish its ranks, and held a major military competition.

According to the established expansion plan, the Han army will expand its combat troops to 80,000 and its militia to 150,000 this year.

Expanding the military is no easy task and must be done in strict accordance with regulations.

The selection of militia members is relatively simple, mainly involving choosing able-bodied young men from various villages and towns who are physically strong and have a clean family background.

During the off-season for farming, the militia will organize concentrated drills to ensure they are competent in local security, defense, and order maintenance tasks.

But warriors are completely different.

These fully-fledged soldiers will undergo long-term and rigorous military training before they can become elite soldiers in the field.

At present, the main source of soldiers is selected from the militia.

The selection process consists of three steps, corresponding to three possible outcomes:
Direct qualification: Those who pass all assessment subjects and have excellent physical fitness and basic military skills can be directly incorporated into the combat ranks and receive more intensive professional training.

Partially qualified or on standby: This category consists of those who excel in some subjects but do not meet the overall standard.

These promising recruits will be assigned to reserve battalions for targeted training, and only after passing all assessments will they be converted into combat soldiers.

Those who fail to meet the standards will be returned to the militia or used as auxiliary soldiers.

As for the selection and assessment subjects, Jiang Han divided them into four basic subjects.

Physical fitness, martial arts skills, discipline, and culture.

The physical training is very simple: long-distance running with weights.

The militia members participating in the assessment had to carry 30 kilograms of armor and run five laps around the training ground within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

One and a half sticks are considered as candidates, and more than two sticks are eliminated.

Next comes lifting a stone, requiring a 200-pound stone weight that must be lifted one foot off the ground, reaching the knee or chest.

(Taken from the requirements of the Ming Dynasty elite troops: In the fourth year of the Longqing reign, it was approved that all soldiers and civilians in the country who could weigh more than 500 jin, 400 jin, or 300 jin, or who had outstanding martial arts skills, should be reported by the prefectures, counties and cities to the governors and inspectors for strict examination.)

Next comes drawing the strong bow. Ordinary soldiers need to draw a bow with six strength (72 jin), while elite soldiers need to draw a bow with eight strength (96 jin). Those who cannot draw a bow with six strength are considered eliminated.

Some miscellaneous tasks, such as jumping over trenches and clearing low walls, are also assessed to test the ability to "exceed heights and distances".

Secondly, martial arts skills are assessed, primarily the use of knives, spears, and rattan shields.

The most important test is archery. Taking foot archery as an example, at a distance of eighty paces, hitting the target three out of ten times is considered passing, and hitting it five out of ten times is considered excellent.

For those accustomed to using firearms, the reloading speed and accuracy of firearms would be specifically tested.

As for archery, Jiang Han has not yet included it in the assessment.

Firstly, many of the militia recruited in Sichuan had never been in contact with horses, making it difficult for them to even ride horses, let alone shoot arrows.

Furthermore, the army didn't have many horses to begin with; most were draft horses, which were fine for carrying goods, but not good enough for mounted archery.

Cavalry training would only begin after militia members were selected, at which point they would gradually come into contact with horses.

In addition, there are many skilled horsemen and archers in the Ming army, so we can just recruit them when the time comes.

With ample food and money, there's no worry about finding qualified cavalry.

In the physical fitness and martial arts assessments, the militiamen who were eliminated out the largest number of times were eliminated, since not everyone can become an elite soldier.

However, these militiamen performed quite well in terms of discipline.

They can basically do things like responding to drums and commands, and obeying orders without question.

After all, discipline is the most important aspect of militia training.

The most important thing for a farmer to transform into a militia member who is both a farmer and a soldier is to understand discipline and know how to use bugles and drums; otherwise, they will be a disorganized mess that cannot be commanded at all.

The cultural assessment is not difficult; all you need to do is recognize a few hundred commonly used characters and be able to do simple calculations.

To be fair, during this period in the Ming Dynasty, the literacy rate among ordinary people was quite high, generally maintaining a level of 20% to 30%.

The rate is even higher in the Jiangnan region, probably around 30%-40%.

Unfortunately, all of this was destroyed when wild boar hides were brought into the country.

As for the selection of soldiers, Jiang Han was not worried because the procedures had already been established; he could simply follow the rules.

His attention is now entirely focused on the ongoing All-Army Competition.

The level and standards of this competition are far higher than those for selecting ordinary soldiers.

In order to prepare for the establishment of the intelligence bureau, Jiang Han directly ordered a grand competition to be held throughout the army to select key personnel for the foreign intelligence department.

Since they are the backbone, they should be selected from the best of the best, so they should be chosen from the tens of thousands of existing soldiers.

Yang Lin, a native of Qingjian, Shaanxi, was one of the earliest veterans to follow Jiang Han in his uprising.

He experienced the bloody battles of the Lüliang Mountains and fought back and forth at the Yellow River crossing, witnessing the Han army grow stronger step by step to its present state.

Therefore, after Jiang Han declared himself king and established his own system, he was among the first to be assigned a wife. (Chapter 274)
At this moment, he is standing in the selection area of ​​Dajiaochang in the northern suburbs of Chengdu, participating in this all-army competition.

He was surrounded by his comrades, who were just as skilled in archery and horsemanship and had been through many battles.

The first item was still the traditional martial arts assessment, but the standards were much higher than usual.

For archery, the bow needs to be drawn from more than 100 paces away, and the minimum requirement is to hit the target six out of ten times.

Mounted archery not only requires skill in parting the mane, adjusting the stirrups, and smoothing the swing, but also demands accurate hitting of the target while galloping.

The martial arts of swords, spears, and rattan shields are no longer just simple techniques, but require simulating real combat and going into battle.

It not only tests individual martial arts skills, but also requires forming teams to test teamwork and coordination.

As a veteran, Yang Lin has achieved outstanding results in martial arts thanks to his years of battlefield experience and solid basic skills.

He thought he had it in the bag, but the following tests took him by surprise.

After the martial arts test, all the selected soldiers were taken to the barracks on the west side of the training ground.

Here, their cultural level will be assessed.

Yang Lin and twenty others were led into a makeshift tent, which was filled with tables and chairs. The officers in charge of the army then distributed the test papers one by one.

The questions weren't too difficult; they mainly involved recognizing common characters, maps, and some arithmetic problems.

Although Yang Lin had never attended a private school in his hometown, fortunately, literacy classes had been implemented in the army long ago, and Yang Lin learned a lot from the commander, so this part was completed relatively smoothly.

He noticed that several of his comrades who had been fighting fiercely on the training ground were now scratching their heads, sweating even more than they had on the field.

"You son of a bitch, that's what happens when you don't pay attention in class."

Yang Lin smiled to himself, then handed in the exam paper and left the tent with a flourish.

As expected, he passed the written test smoothly.

Having passed two tests in a row, Yang Lin thought he should be in the bag by now, but the following tests were getting stranger and stranger.

The soldiers who passed the test were then taken to the south side of the training ground, where a camp had been set up.

Everyone was told they could rest for a while, but they were not allowed to touch any of the plants or trees in the camp.

Yang Lin was completely confused. Wasn't the rule about rest? Why are there so many restrictions?

Helpless, he and his comrades could only squat outside the camp gate, staring blankly at the camp.

But just a short while later, the examiner suddenly appeared from some hidden corner and brought the soldiers back to the barracks.

However, unlike the previous cultural assessments, this time the soldiers were taken away separately.

Before Yang Lin could even ask a question, the examiner spoke first:

"I've been in the camp for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. Now I have a few questions for you. Please answer truthfully."

"First of all, what kind of flags are hanging in the camp?"

“Describe everything you see, such as colors, flags, and styles.”

"Secondly, where are the haystacks stored in the camp? Approximately how much is there?"

"Based on your estimation, how many men and horses can this batch of fodder support?"

(End of this chapter)