Ming Dynasty 1627

Chapter 63 What kind of soldiers are they training?

Duke Zhang Weixian of England was awakened by a commotion.

The sounds of cannons, horses' hooves, and soldiers' shouts came from the Yongwei Camp on the opposite bank of the river, disturbing his peace of mind.

He put on his coat, stood on the attic of his own house, and looked across the river with his hands behind his back.

The morning mist had not completely dissipated, and only dark figures could be seen moving about, with banners waving and a lively scene in sight.

His son, Zhang Zhiji, also stood aside, looking equally bewildered.

"Father, has the Brave Guard Battalion gone mad?" Zhang Zhiji couldn't help but ask. "They were so lazy just two days ago, what's going on today?"

Zhang Weixian didn't speak, but his brows were furrowed.

Just then, the old butler rushed upstairs, slightly out of breath.

"Lord Duke, we've found out."

Zhang Weixian slowly turned around, his eyes questioning.

"The servant just reported that His Majesty personally visited the Yongwei Camp today to inspect the training."

Zhang Weixian suddenly realized, and he muttered to himself, "So that's why... it was His Majesty himself who came."

Zhang Zhiji's face was instantly filled with excitement and reverence: "Your Majesty has only been on the throne for a short time, yet you are already so concerned about military affairs. This is truly a blessing for our Great Ming! Now the country is beset by internal and external troubles..."

"Alright." Zhang Weixian waved his hand helplessly, interrupting his son's sigh. "I know your emperor is capable."

His gaze returned to the opposite bank of the river, his expression complex.

“Selecting new soldiers for training is a good thing.” He sighed softly, more to himself than to his son.

"But I really don't understand why, with thousands of soldiers in the camp, we still haven't filled up a few decent battalion commanders or centurions. We just leave a bunch of squad leaders to lead them. What kind of soldiers can we train like that?"

He shook his head, his expression growing increasingly confused.

To be honest, ever since he received the line "With lofty aspirations, we dare to change the world," Zhang Weixian wasn't too worried that the new emperor would become the Wanli Emperor.

This poem uses straightforward language, yet it is imposing and even carries a hint of treason. It is almost impossible for it to have been written by someone else; it could only have been written by the emperor himself.

It was only after calming down and reflecting on the past two days that I realized it wasn't quite appropriate to apply Liu Bang's model to this new ruler.

The actions of this new ruler are truly... somewhat unconventional.

Anyway, he couldn't understand it, and he wasn't in a hurry to understand it.

Zhang Weixian stopped looking and turned to go straight downstairs.

"Looks like I won't be able to take a nap today. I'd better go to the government office early to start my shift... Sigh, this old man is really suffering."

Zhang Zhiji did not see him off. He remained standing on the attic, facing the morning breeze, gazing intently at the bustling military camp, his eyes filled with fervor.

……

Meanwhile, on the other side of the river.

Zhu Youjian's brows were furrowed even more tightly than Zhang Weixian's.

The Brave Guard Battalion has three thousand men, divided into six divisions, each with five hundred men.

However, looking around, apart from the division led by Sun Yingyuan, which was still able to maintain a basic formation.

The other five divisions were in disarray, their ranks crooked, looking like a mob.

This formation was even worse than the drills performed on the training ground that day.

"Xu Yingyuan".

Zhu Youjian turned his head and called out.

Xu Yingyuan, the eunuch of the Imperial Horse Administration, felt a tremor in his heart and quickly stepped forward, saying, "This servant is here."

"How are the training exercises of the Yongwei Battalion and the officers' calligraphy practice at the palace progressing these past two days?"

Xu Yingyuan's forehead was covered in a fine sweat; he was both apprehensive and embarrassed.

"Your Majesty...we are all a bit lazy." He quickly added, "It's just that only Sun Yingyuan has been appointed as a battalion commander in the camp, and the other five divisions are leaderless. We servants are just assisting from the side, and...we don't really have the authority to command these warriors."

He cautiously suggested, "Your Majesty, should we select some veteran generals from the Five Military Commands and the Ministry of War to fill the vacancies of battalion commanders and captains in various departments?"

Zhu Youjian did not answer immediately.

He held the riding whip in his hand, gently tapping his palm as he fell into deep thought.

Xu Yingyuan is a good-for-nothing, there is no doubt about that.

But as useless as he may be, he was still a member of the mansion.

In order to win people's hearts and avoid being labeled as mean and ungrateful, we can't touch him for the time being.

Moreover, he can't be entirely blamed for this.

This is essentially a matter of management scope.

He certainly knew that one person's effective management scope is limited, with seven people being the optimal limit; once that number is exceeded, it is easy to lose control.

This is especially true in the military; even Qi Shaobao's Mandarin Duck Formation only has a unit of twelve men. Now, these other five departments have no commanding officers, which is equivalent to letting fifty squad leaders act independently, naturally resulting in a disorganized mess.

Laziness and chaos are just symptoms; the root cause lies in the absence of a management system.

However, he was not keen on directly transferring those seasoned officers from the Beijing Garrison, the military posts, or even the Nine Border Garrisons.

This would also bring with it the lethargy, corruption, and banditry of the Ming army.

Once a canvas is stained, it's not easy to clean it again.

The problem is that the elite officers and vanguards he ordered to be selected from the nine border regions are still on their way.

According to what I learned yesterday about the transportation conditions in the Ming Dynasty, even the fastest routes from Xuanfu and Jizhou would take half a month to reach.

People from Liaodong and Shaanxi can't reach the capital in less than a month or two.

We can't just let these three thousand people drift along in chaos for a whole month.

Emperor Zhu's rice is not so easy to eat!
Having made up his mind, Zhu Youjian gave the order directly.

"Xu Yingyuan! Convey my decree."

"Firstly, starting today, the Yongwei Battalion will receive an additional two ounces of pork daily."

"but……"

Zhu Youjian paused, but ultimately couldn't suppress the wicked smile on his lips.

"The bottom five teams in the daily drills and competitions will have their extra meal for the day cancelled."

"Secondly, a grand feast is held every ten days, with an extra pound of meat and a pound of wine."

"However, only the five teams that perform best during the ten days will receive the reward."

He then said:

"Thirdly, on the first day of the tenth month, I will personally select a new captain."

"At that time, the two best team officers will be selected for promotion to captain based on the written test at the end of September and the training results of each team officer in mid-September."

"Fourth, if a team ranks last in training for three consecutive days, the entire team, including the team leader, will be dismissed and sent back to the old camp."

"The vacant positions will be filled by selecting replacements from the veteran battalions of Warriors and Guards!"

"Let's get started on these four points."

Zhu Youjian gave Xu Yingyuan instructions in a calm tone.

"This servant... obeys the decree!" Xu Yingyuan nodded emphatically, silently reciting the mantra in his mind, afraid of forgetting it.

Having finished explaining the matter, Zhu Youjian didn't even bother to see Sun Yingyuan, whom he had originally intended to meet. He turned his horse around and left directly.

The theory that the optimal management radius is 7 people is correct.

However, later generations of major internet companies all implemented flat management structures.

Companies like Google and Nvidia often have dozens of reporting lines running in parallel, yet their businesses are still thriving.

How is this done?

Simply change "I'm telling you what to do" to "This is what you want to do yourself."

The initiative involved here is achieved through rule design and the distribution of rewards and punishments.

Of course, this shortcut only applies to low-organizational tasks like training troops; when it comes to actual combat, it's still necessary to have a full complement of officers.

Whether this method works or not, let's check back in three days.

This also serves as a good opportunity to verify the compatibility of later methodologies with those of the Ming Dynasty.

If all else fails, it's not too late to compromise.

"Let's go, next we'll go to the Inner Study Hall."

The sound of horses' hooves clattered as the group quickly turned into the North Gate and headed straight for the Directorate of Ceremonial.

　The reward standards were based on Lü Kun's "Records of Practical Governance" from the Wanli era:
　　A single reward for ten thousand troops cost three hundred taels of silver, more than enough. (This was the Wanli era standard; the price would probably be double that now.)
　　One pound of rice wine is cooked in the rice wine, and one pound of pork ...

　　-
　　At that time, pork in Beijing cost about 4 fen per jin, or about 40 wen.

　　I couldn't find the price of Shaoxing wine.

　　The price of rice in the capital was around 0.5 to 1 tael per shi (a unit of dry measure). This was mainly because the price was lowest when the grain tribute arrived and the people of the Beijing garrison would sell it.

　　In addition, the price of rice in Liaodong fluctuates around 1 to 2 liang (50-100 grams).

　　P.S. This is the only update today.

　　Tomorrow I plan to organize the detailed outline and properly organize the upcoming plot.

　　People have been complaining that time is progressing too slowly, but now that everything is in place, we can finally begin the time-travel technique.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)