New Shun 1730

Finally, we came to the issue of lagging behind in tactics, which was exactly what the Minister of Military Government wanted to focus on.

Is there something wrong with the military system in Dashun?

Or is it just tactically backward?

If the tactics were just lagging behind, it would be enough to replace them with flintlock guns and bayonets. There would be no such drastic changes at all.

Isn't it just a new musket? Is there any difficulty?

While Liu Yu was talking about this issue, the Minister of the Military Government asked again: "Since Ying Suobo also believes that the military system of the country is only backward in tactics, then it only needs to popularize new guns. The so-called military training office, military school, staff, etc., It’s not necessary.”

Liu Yu asked back: "If there is no need for a military training department, how can we select qualified new army members? If we don't select qualified new army members, how can we abolish the old ones?"

"Local garrisons are deeply entrenched, and it is difficult to change unless the central government directly manages them. If there is no change, how can all the staff learn new formations? How can they train new tactics when the staff sent there are so indifferent? This military training is also necessary. ”

"Second, there are many changes in new battle methods and new tactics. When marching, how far apart are the columns? Why are they so far apart? When they expand into horizontal formations, how do they change? Which company goes first and which company takes the rear? Retreat. How to evacuate?”

"Don't we need to study these in military schools? Former generals have their own methods. If soldiers and generals are separated, the soldiers will not be used."

"Originally, the general used A, and the other used B. The soldiers trained by the two may be usable. However, once the generals are changed, they cannot be used."

"Now the tactics are unified and the orders are unified. In this way, even if the soldiers and generals are separated, or generals are changed on the spot, the orders can still be used."

"And to achieve unified tactics and unified orders, military academies and training centers are indispensable."

"How can Sir Shangshu say that this is useless?"

Just now, the Minister of the Military Government used a very realistic question of "abolition" to question Liu Yu. Now Liu Yu followed the same example and asked a very realistic question.

The Minister of the Military Government was still clear-headed and knew the advantages of changing the flower army into a pure army. He also witnessed the Qingzhou Army's performance in the Western Regions and was not opposed to changes in tactics.

Or they think that there is no way to refute Liu Yu on this point, so they skip these and directly ask some very realistic things.

Then Liu Yu also asked very practical questions.

If there is no training center, how can we ensure that qualified soldiers of the new army can be selected?

If local generals are allowed to train and dismiss themselves independently, how can they ensure that only the old and weak are eliminated?

Someone should have shouldered the responsibility for this offending matter. Who will bear it? Who can bear it?

Naturally, it is up to the court government and the emperor to shoulder the responsibility. If the emperor does not want to bear the infamy but also wants to save military expenses and dismantle the old army, then there is no need to discuss it.

If the emperor is willing to bear this infamy, then a military training office must be established so as to bypass the complicated local relations.

This is actually the same as what Liu Yu originally said to scare people: "The emperor trained a group of officials to parachute into places to inspect the fields."

Rely on airborne landing to solve the intricate resistance.

Neither the accounts nor the weapons were inspected, only soldiers were selected.

Everything that happened before will be forgotten, and there will be no concern about drinking the blood of soldiers or receiving empty pay.

Those who do not restrain themselves after the military reform will be dealt with again.

If you dare to touch those who have landed in the air, even if the junior officers in this military training department are only in the seventh or eighth grade, if you dare to touch them, you are treason.

Unless you lose your mind.

The emperor had just finished conquering Rakshasa and Junggar, which was when his prestige was at its highest. Who dares to rebel at this time?

We must first consider whether it can defeat the Qingzhou Army, which has created miracles, as well as the Beijing Camp, which has always been considered the most capable, and the field troops in Xijing?

Liu Yu added: "In addition, the military school system and the Wude Palace Camp Study Sanshe Method are in the same line, so it is not difficult to change them."

"In the future, the selection of candidates for military academies will be like the imperial examination. The quota for good family members to enter the Wude Palace will remain unchanged, and the Wude Palace can still be civilized or military, but the military academy only trains specialized officers."

"The new military academy, coupled with the Jinghai Palace Official School, will actually give Liangjiazi more opportunities and allow him to select more talents from all over the world."

"In the past, when nobles led armies, they were first granted the title of honorary guard. After gaining experience in the capital camp, they then attacked the knights. After the knighthood, they had a high position and had to leave the town after they left. They often failed to achieve their goals."

"The staff system and the training department can ensure a well-organized army, and even incompetent generals cannot be easily defeated. In the future changes in the Beijing camp, the noble sons who attack the lords should also start as battalion commanders and be familiar with military affairs. This can avoid the mistakes of the previous dynasty. There are no disadvantages in being expensive and corrupt.”

"You are a noble concubine, and you can join the army. You have an extra way to avoid being idle all day long."

"Abolition of the bow-drawing, archery, gun-firing, etc. examinations and selections will allow more poor children to study arithmetic, etc., and then learn firearms after entering military schools. This will also create an additional path for civilians."

"The reform in military ranks has made joining the army and becoming an official a profession. Isn't this a good thing? Those who graduate from military schools do not have to be engaged in civil affairs, so they don't have to worry about grabbing seats in the imperial examination."

"As for the General Staff or the Privy Council...that is not a decision for the ministers."

At this point in the debate, Liu Yu had nothing to say about the rest of the topic.

He could only talk about the benefits and general process of the change, and answer some detailed questions.

But the re-construction and distribution of power is what the emperor and Tianyou Palace have to consider.

Whether it's called the General Staff or the Privy Council, does the head of the Privy Council have any peace of mind?

How should the powers and responsibilities between the Privy Council and the Military Government be divided?

Since the Privy Council is responsible for military strategy, it must obtain the powers and responsibilities of the Zhifangsi, such as maps and surrounding intelligence.

This is exactly where the military government did a very poor job.

They don't know anything about the surrounding military situation.

They don't care when there is no war, and they just prepare hastily when there is a war, without any contingency plan at all.

It is said that the Zhifangsi should know about the situation of Dashun and the surrounding situation. Burma, Vietnam, Japan, Mughal, Russia...but they don't.

The thinking of the military government is not the thinking of the army, but the "world view" under the imperial examination system, and their eyes are all on the inside.

It doesn't mean that they must be militaristic, but they must make contingency plans for the surrounding areas. Whether to fight or not is one thing, and whether there is a plan when fighting is another.

The few people in the military government are not enough to do these things. Moreover, they have their own specialties, and they don't understand the military strength of the surrounding countries.

The General Staff or the Privy Council must have this in their hands, and the dedicated departments are responsible for contingency plans in different directions. At least roads, maps, towns, and customs should be clear. To do these, people who have learned practical knowledge and understand surveying are needed.

These things cannot be done by the military government that comes from the imperial examination.

As for the Military Selection Department, high-level military officers can be intervened by the emperor and Tianyou Palace.

The emperor wants to centralize power, and the military power of the military government is already in jeopardy.

The establishment of military schools is completely different from the imperial examination, and it is impossible to seize it.

Take away these items, what is left of the military government?

There may be some rights and responsibilities left, but the rest are all dispensable things.

These issues involve the redistribution and balance of power, which can only be discussed by the emperor and core personnel. Anyway, Liu Yu cannot make the decision.

In fact, these things are all scraps in Liu Yu's view.

The real core of military reform is the military rank system and the regular retirement system.

After retiring, officers will remain in the reserve and continue to receive one-third of the military salary.

After the veterans retired, the state would either arrange them to settle in the frontiers at a cost of about 70 taels per person, or directly give them two years' salary of about 30 taels as resettlement expenses. Whether it was buying land or doing small business, the rest was left alone.

However, once the state was in urgent need of soldiers, they could be quickly recruited to maintain sufficient soldiers.

Taking the 200,000 standing army as an example, after the seven-year service period and the formation of scale, 30,000 soldiers retired each year. The price of a one-time compensation of 40 taels for 30,000 people is 1.2 million taels, which the court can still squeeze out, especially after the military reform reduced the number of troops from 450,000 to 200,000.

Seven years of service and 15 years of reserve can ensure that the court can pull out 600,000 trained troops at any time when the crisis really comes.

This is the most meaningful part of the military reform for the Li Dynasty or for possible foreign invasions.

Otherwise, the military system of Dashun would be finished once the elite were written off.

The newly recruited troops had no combat effectiveness at all, and the army was just a disposable army.

600,000 trained line soldiers can basically guarantee that there is no need to worry about external threats.

As for internal uprisings, it is people who hold weapons after all, and the more veterans with military experience, the better.

Moreover, Liu Yu also has his own little plan.

In the future, when recruiting hired personnel in Nanyang, veterans will definitely be given priority. With military experience, they can play a powerful role in Nanyang where they need to be stationed.

Overall, the military rank system and the placement of retired soldiers make this military reform seem to have reduced the number of troops from 450,000 to 200,000, but the actual military expenditure has not decreased.

Only by spending money can we support a strong army.

Soldiers are not about quantity.

In the entire military reform plan, the old soldiers who benefited are the combat-ready soldiers in Beijing Camp, Shaanxi, Gansu and other places.

Because they will not be laid off, but just retrained. And the military pay will continue to increase according to the length of service. Although the increase is not much, it is also a benefit.

The path for good family boys to become palace officials in Wude Palace was not blocked. On the contrary, the opening of military academies provided a new way out for those who failed to pass the entrance exam to Wude Palace.

Especially in the short term, when there were not many new practical schools, it was equivalent to that 80% of the officers were from good families.

The emperor did not want to see this, so he wanted to open new practical schools. In the short term, good family boys could not see the competition, but felt that military schools provided a better way out. When practical schools emerged like mushrooms after rain, their advantages would be offset.

At that time, they would either accept it honestly or be purged... or, if they had the ability, they would engage in a mutiny and clear the court to retain their hidden privileges.

Once there were more practical schools, more people began to learn practical studies that had nothing to do with the words of the saints. This atmosphere could stimulate more outstanding science talents.

In fact... the things learned in military academies can actually be learned by those who passed the imperial examinations. It is not very difficult, unless they become artillery or navy.

But since the Wude Palace Sanshe system itself reserved a route parallel to the imperial examination, it was natural to pretend that one had to learn enough practical knowledge to enter the military academy.

It was just a selection.

Just like the change from eight-part essay to policy essay and then from policy essay to eight-part essay before the Dashun period, it was just to select those who were not so stupid. The real knowledge was learned slowly from practice in the future.

After the establishment of practical learning, the base number will be large, and perhaps there will be ten or eight people who are obsessed with mathematics and physics, leading the academic frontier of the times.

Moreover, without the brainwashing of the emperor, the minister, the father, and the son since childhood, it will be easier to spread some ideas in the future.

The cost of printing books is not high, and the pamphlets that can be understood by literacy are most suitable for inciting this group of people who are literate and knowledgeable, but are regarded as uneducated by the imperial examination.

For Liu Yu, the real concern for the army reform is practical learning. Using the shell of military reform, what he wants to promote is practical learning.

As for whether the emperor should make a big decision to reform the army, his attitude is that he wants to take three steps, but in fact he only wants to take one step forward.

The navy allowed it, as long as it can guarantee that there will be a new army of more than 20,000 people within five years, which can defeat Japan and capture Batavia and Malacca. This is the bottom line.

As long as the emperor has the intention of military reform, there are several places that cannot be avoided at all, and there is always one result that Liu Yu wants.