New Shun 1730

In matters of the navy, you can be a prophet who is stubborn and stubborn, but it is quite different for matters of the army.

Navy, navy, the mentality of more people is to grab grass and catch rabbits.

At worst, there is still a navy that can protect the sea borders.

Starting from scratch is easier than reforming the old system most of the time.

The army reform faces too many problems.

First of all, the most serious problem is to disband the old army and train the new army. What should be done with the disbanded old army?

Learn from history, and you can know the rise and fall. The lessons of the previous dynasty are here. Emperor Taizu was actually laid off as a postman, and then he was laid off and re-employed as a soldier. As a result, he did not receive military pay, so he rebelled.

The experience is here, and it is impossible not to learn from it.

Dashun is generally a recruitment system, which is no problem.

At this time, restoring the conscription system is purely to destroy the country.

Who will serve in the army? Who will not serve in the army? Everyone serves in the army, and the conscription system with a population of 200 million, in this era, is it to fight the Zenithians?

Not everyone serves in the army, so who will serve in the army, the rich or the poor? Will conscription become a "Shihao Li" or a conscription of men?

If the poor are conscripted, the whole family will starve to death; if the self-cultivating farmers are conscripted, it will accelerate the bankruptcy of the self-cultivating farmers and the annexation of land; if the rich are conscripted, there are many ways to cheat.

Conscription is not feasible, at least not before land reform. And land reform is 100,000 times more difficult than military reform. To carry out land reform for military reform is like to catch the sun to boil a pot of water.

In view of the experience of the previous dynasty not paying military salaries, the military salary of Dashun's conscription system is relatively enough to live.

Especially the children of the poor are very enthusiastic to join the army to make a living.

However, problems also arise.

The lives of ordinary people are not so good, and joining the army is a good way out.

Since joining the army is a good way out, and Dashun treats soldiers well, at least there are honorary treatments. So if the father has not saved enough money to become a local landlord, of course he hopes that his son will take over his position and continue to serve in the army.

After serving in the army for a long time, everyone in the army is familiar with it. When it comes to recruiting soldiers, the sons of veterans will definitely be given priority.

The most important thing is that Dashun has no retirement system at all. This time, the military reform must first consider the issue of disbanding a batch of troops.

So, who should be disbanded?

If the local chief officer is allowed to disband, if this chief officer is a good person, when disbanding, the young and strong will definitely be disbanded first.

After the young and strong are disbanded, they can still find other work to do and make a living.

If the old, weak, sick and disabled are disbanded, they will be left alone. Isn't that forcing people to death?

In this day and age, people still mainly make a living by digging in the soil. How do the people who are disbanded live? This is a big problem.

If I can't afford to eat, then I will rebel. You, Li Zicheng, can become an emperor by serving as a soldier without being paid. Why don't I dare to try?

The Minister of the Military Government did not raise any objections to the redistribution of power and responsibility in this military reform, but first raised questions about the issue of the disbanding of the old army.

"It is no problem for Ying Suobo to train a new army. But should the existing troops be maintained or not?"

"If they are maintained, the treasury will definitely not be able to support the training of 200,000 new troops."

"Military equipment and clothing, calculated at 20 taels per person, this is 4 million taels; annual military pay is another 4 million taels. Add to that the training expenses, etc., 10 million taels a year. This is unaffordable anyway."

"If we don't maintain it, how will the old army be disbanded?"

Liu Yu was well prepared for this. The army's affairs are different from the navy's. The navy wants to be the first to make trouble, and the army's military reform must be explained one by one.

"Now, there are about 500,000 troops in the whole country, not counting the light cavalry of the Zhechoufu. There are only a few who can really fight."

"If we can completely disband and replace the new army, it will not be done in one go, and it is better to take it slow rather than urgent."

"The training department is not under the military government, nor under the local Jiedushi and Zhenshouzhengquan, but is directly responsible to the higher authorities."

"They will go to the military camp and select soldiers according to the number. In this way, it can be guaranteed that the selected ones are young and strong, because they are responsible for the recruits who come to receive them, not the local garrison officers."

The military government minister interrupted Liu Yu.

"I don't think there is any problem with the selection of soldiers by the training department, and it can indeed prevent conflicts during the layoff process. What I want to ask Ying Suobo is that the soldiers after selection are all old and weak, what should we do? Are we going to let them have no livelihood?"

"Many soldiers are inherited by their fathers. Although it is a recruitment, my Dashun has its own national conditions. It is better to be a soldier than to starve at home. These people have no land and no skills, they can only be soldiers."

"If these people are not handled well, I am afraid that there will be changes."

The Minister of the Military Government is also very clear that this matter was raised by the emperor, and it was the emperor who made the final decision. So no matter what, you should grasp one thing: easy changes may lead to the instability of your country, you must think carefully.

If you have money, the recruitment system is the easiest to solve, just spend money to support them until they die.

The problem is that there is no money.

Dashun's annual fiscal revenue is only 30 million taels, and a series of reforms have not been implemented. There is no hope of raising the annual revenue to 40 million in a short time.

There is potential for land tax. If there is no tax increase, but only land area verification and land tax distribution, it will not be a problem to raise the tax to 45 million.

But this is much more difficult than military reform, and the emperor dare not touch it for the time being. At least before the military reform, Liu Yu probably did not dare to touch it.

Liu Yu had naturally guessed this question long ago and had considered it carefully.

"Now that our dynasty has recovered the Western Regions, the Northeast, and the Hetao area. These places are good places to open up wasteland and grow crops."

"Those who have been laid off, if they have no land, or continue to receive two years of salary, after two years, the state will no longer care."

"Or, go to the northwest, northeast, Hetao and other places to reclaim wasteland. According to the monthly salary of two taels of silver for a soldier, the salary for three years is seventy taels of silver."

"These seventy taels of silver can be used to buy oxen, farm tools, and for migration expenses."

"Some migrated to the Western Regions, and the other part migrated to the coast of the Whale Sea, such as Vladivostok and Ussuri. Jiang, Heilongjiang and other places. It can not only strengthen the border, but also give them some jobs. "

"I have already made a plan for the reclamation of wasteland along the coast of Whale Sea. Rye, buckwheat, oats, etc. from Luosha Kingdom can all be planted there. In addition, soybeans, potatoes, etc. can be planted. There is no one living there for thousands of miles. As long as you are willing to do it, land is not a problem."

"It just so happens that the Western Regions have just been established and some immigrants are needed. You can choose from these areas that have been eliminated. This money is going to be spent. If there is no elimination, will there be no money for immigrants in the Western Regions? It can kill two birds with one stone."

He had already told the emperor about this in his previous memorial.

When he was in Weihai, he had been paving this road.

Immigration is a matter that costs less and less as time goes by.

In the early stage, if you want to immigrate, you can't buy food locally even if you have money. When the population increases, you can buy food for less money and don't need to transport it from the inland.

Go to Vladivostok by sea, and there is a superior river valley grassland along the river. Further up, there is the plain area of ​​Lake Khanka and the Ussuri River. He also sent people to investigate there. It is not a large swamp like the Sanjiang Plain, but a dry grassland that can be completely reclaimed.

If you go by land, it is a long road with a high risk of death.

But if you can go by sea, it will be much simpler, and the journey will take at most one month. He has already immigrated thousands of people to Vladivostok and stored a large amount of food.

The soldiers in the Songhua River and Mudanjiang area are not short of cattle and horses, but they lack money. They can drive these large animals to Vladivostok to sell.

That place is remote, and there is no possibility of marketization of grain. Before the large-scale reclamation in the Western Regions, the grain price there was the lowest, because it could not be transported out and sold.

Immigration can ensure that local grain can be sold and make grain profitable. In addition to official reclamation, since grain is profitable, more people will spend money to buy "population". This is unofficial immigration, or population trading.

The court's money, official immigration, spend silver to buy local grain.

The local people sold their grains for silver, and bought unofficial people from Liu Yu as "long-term workers" to continue expanding the planting area and raising cattle and horses.

With a two-pronged approach, the speed of immigration increased and the cost decreased.

After controlling the coast of the Whale Sea, the land further north will sooner or later belong to Dashun. Moreover, Hokkaido in the east is also a place where grain can be grown, and it must be occupied by enclosure, and it will not work without population.

Of course, these dismissed soldiers cannot work as long-term workers for the locals, and one horse cannot be exchanged for one person.

So the price has to be slightly higher.

The price he offered to the emperor was that he could immigrate 10,000 men every year, and the price was 60 taels of silver for each man's resettlement fee. Including family members, the cost price of each immigrant has been reduced to 20 taels, which is quite low.

In the next three years, the number of immigrants each year can double, and the resettlement fee can be reduced to about 50 taels.

Therefore, if the army is to be disbanded, it is better to take it slow and not rush. First, reform the Beijing Camp and the Liangjiazi troops, and then gradually disband the troops in various places. It will take about ten years to complete the whole set of military reforms.

As for going to the Western Regions to reclaim wasteland, this is the established policy of the court. Since the emperor rejected the plan to recruit Hui farmers to settle and reclaim in order to save money, it is certain that Han people must be moved there, and the disbanded soldiers are just right for use.

The Ili River Valley is above the 400 mm precipitation line, which is definitely a good place to grow grain and cotton. It is not a piece of yellow sand as imagined.

Anyway, we have to immigrate and spend money anyway, so we might as well take this opportunity to disband the old army in Shaanxi and Gansu, which is killing two birds with one stone.

This is also a major factor that made the emperor tempted to reform the army. The longer it is delayed, the more difficult it will be to deal with.

It is just right to take advantage of the opportunity of pacifying the immigrants in the Western Regions to solve them all at once.

Liu Yu fought beautifully in the Western Regions, leaving a large amount of military expenses within the plan. This military expense was not spent, which can also ensure that the finances in the past few years are sufficient to support this whole set of plans.

It is necessary to move the interests of some people and let some people benefit, so that the entire military reform can be promoted.

The emperor knew where the basic base was, and he also knew what should be moved and what should not be moved in the military reform. This does not need to be discussed today.

But outside the basic base, there is a very special interest group.

In response to Liu Yu's answer, the Minister of the Military Government raised another sharp question about this very special interest group.

"It may be easy to dismiss these soldiers. What about the officers?"

"Ying Suobo wants to reform the military system. The officers are all from military schools. Those who come from Wude Palace can still be said. There are also some who are not from Wude Palace at all, or they are blessed, or hereditary, or they step up step by step with military merit."

"The country's 400,000 or 500,000 troops must be reduced to 200,000. There must be many redundant officers. How should these redundant officers be dealt with?"

"These people have made great contributions to the country, but they are to be dismissed just because they are not suitable for military reform? Doesn't this make the soldiers feel cold?"

"Besides, what will happen if these people are dissatisfied, incite a little bit, and start trouble?"

Liu Yu replied: "Officers have grades, and those with a certain grade will still be in charge of the army, such as the fourth grade or above. I have already said that the military reform is to train an organized army and to separate soldiers and generals, even if they cannot fight. A military commander can still be undefeated if he has a staff to make plans and fight step by step."

"If you are below the fifth rank, it will be like returning to the military academy. If you pass the grade, you will be given priority to retain it. If you fail, you will be transferred to the reserve force or you will be retired."

"For example, the military rank system can be used for the transition of sentry commanders. Some sentry commanders can be converted into veterans, but retain their military rank, and their treatment and pay will be assessed based on their military rank. But they are no longer officers, but as soldiers, receiving their original pay."

"Military ranks are determined based on grade. Those who are unqualified will be transferred to reserve service. The salary will be paid according to one-third."

"If you fail to pass the examination, and you are unwilling to give up drinking the blood of soldiers and still want to be an official...then there is no other way. Kill the chicken to scare the monkey, and set an example for others."

"Or, he could be transferred to a civilian position. For example, it would be no problem to be sent to the Western Regions, Liaodong, Whale Sea, Mongolia and other places to reclaim wasteland and guard the borders."

The Minister of the Military Government smiled and said: "What Ying Suobo said is simple, how many people will this touch?"

"There are not many people. Lord Shangshu, please don't forget that those who come from Yingxue system and Wude Palace are all literate and know arithmetic and geometry. It is easy for them to learn new calculus tutorials."

"Those who are at level 4 or above will continue to command the army, conduct training and set up camps, etc., all relying on the staff, which has no influence on them. Even if they don't understand, there will still be someone who can take over the command."

"Those who are above the fourth rank cannot move, and those who are below the fifth rank are mostly literate. It is not difficult to go back to study again."

"The remaining ones will either be abolished or transferred to military ranks based on their merits or honors. According to their military ranks, priority will be given to farming stations in the Western Regions, Mongolia and other places."

"Besides, this is not something that can be accomplished overnight. The code of conduct and the new army book have been compiled by me. It doesn't mean that you can't understand it. You will be assessed at that time."

"Divide it into ten years and slowly change, why not?"

"Reform will touch the interests of many people. In the past eighty years, the Western military system has made such progress. If there is no reform, what will happen thirty years later?"

"The tactics of the imperial court have fallen behind. The formation of spears and matchlocks is really from thirty years ago. The old one no longer works."