The Prosperous Era of Longwan

"Your Highness, judging from Mr. Li's memorial, Governor Zhang actually predicted that the Japanese pirates might attack Xinghua, but..."

Wei Guangde didn't know what to say. He guessed the movements of the Japanese pirates and the result was like this.

At this time, footsteps sounded outside, and a servant stood outside the door and whispered into the room: "Your Highness, there is a note coming in from outside."

Hearing the words outside the house, everyone looked towards the door.

Li Fang, the eunuch beside King Yu, had already walked over quickly without going out. He took the note from the man directly at the door, turned around and returned to King Yu's side, and then handed the note to King Yu respectfully.

Everyone's eyes followed Li Fang and finally fell on King Yu, staring at the expression on his face, wanting to know what was written on the note.

I don't know whether it was because King Yu was naturally dull or because the city was so deep. At least Wei Guangde didn't see anything from King Yu's face.

After King Yu read the contents of the note, he handed it to Yin Shizhen and then circulated it one by one.

"My father dismissed You Zhende, appointed Tan Lun as his replacement, and dispatched Qi Jiguang to lead his troops into Fujian again to suppress the Japanese."

Seeing that the note finally fell into Zhang Juzheng's hand and everyone had read it, King Yu said: "I remember, this Qi Jiguang is very good at fighting. The first one to defeat Zhang Lian's rebels was his subordinates. After that, I also fought against Japanese invaders in Fujian, and I must have just started training not long ago."

"It's November. In previous years, the Japanese pirates have retreated at this time, so I asked him to lead his troops back to Zhejiang. It seems that the soldiers he recruited are all from Zhejiang. After all, they have to go home to celebrate the New Year."

Zhang Juzheng answered.

"Uncle is very familiar with this Qi Jiguang."

Wei Guangde chuckled.

In Wei Guangde's impression, later generations seemed to have arranged that Qi Jiguang bribed Zhang Juzheng and gave him a seal dog or something, which was said to be an aphrodisiac.

Now that he heard that he knew about Qi Jiguang's recruitment of troops in Zhejiang, Wei Guangde couldn't help but joke.

"Haha, just reading the military newspaper, I seem to see his name often, so I asked about him when chatting with the adults in the Ministry of War, so I don't think I am familiar with him."

Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard and replied.

"When the country is in crisis, we miss good generals; when we are sick, we miss good doctors."

King Yu smiled and said: "The current Japanese invasion in Jiangnan is in urgent need of a general who can turn the tide. I hope this Qi Jiguang can live up to his father's expectations."

"I remember when I went to Zhejiang a few years ago, I saw Qi Jiguang's new army training outside Hangzhou. They seemed to be miners recruited from Yiwu. I also paid attention to this team later, and it seemed that the record was not bad."

Wei Guangde recalled.

When he went to Zhejiang to supervise and kill Wang Zhi, Qi Jiguang led troops to garrison in Hangzhou. However, at that time, the Qi family's army had not yet been fully trained, so they did not fight much. They mainly relied on Yu Dayou to support him from the front.

However, Qi Jiguang was famous in later generations, so Wei Guangde also took a second look at him at that time.

"New army?"

King Yu was surprised and said: "He is leading the camp troops?"

"Yes, Your Highness, Qi Jiguang felt that the guardsmen were mixed and not easy to command, so he asked Governor Hu for an order to independently recruit a team of troops. I heard that because he felt that the miners had a lot of strength, they only needed to practice fighting well. The formation can go to the battlefield, specially selected people."

Wei Guangde replied, "However, these battalions are slightly different from the Jiubian battalions. That is, the soldiers' pay is less, but the rewards are much higher. Gold, silver, and silk are used to stimulate the combat power of the battalions."

"It seems that most of the soldiers who can fight on the nine sides are also camp soldiers."

However, King Yu thought of the camp soldiers in the border town and asked curiously: "Shandai, are the camp soldiers really more powerful than the guardsmen?"

"It's really hard to say."

Wei Guangde didn't know how to answer after thinking about it.

Do you mean that guardsmen are not as good as camp soldiers?

This seems to be a bit of a slap in the face. The so-called military status is a guard soldier. If you want to say that a guard soldier is not as good as a camp soldier, this is really unreasonable.

The Guard Corps was established in the early Ming Dynasty after the emperor proclaimed himself the emperor and began to comprehensively reorganize the army. First, the 17 Guards Command Divisions including Wude, Baotao, Feixiong, and Weiwu were established, with "guard" as the unit. The pro-army was planned, and then thousands of households were set up in the local areas to guard the places, and the establishment of "stations" was established.

During this process, he verified the number of soldiers under his generals' command. The one who commanded 5,000 troops was called the commander, the one who commanded 1,000 troops was called a thousand households, the one who commanded 100 troops was called a hundred households, the one who commanded 50 troops was called the general banner, and the one who commanded 10 troops was called the small banner.

On the one hand, the status of an officer is mainly based on the number of troops he has; on the other hand, the basic establishment of the army is based on the guards and posts, and the official titles of the officers at all levels are command, thousand households, and hundreds of households. The establishment is uniform and the names are The reality is consistent and the troops are in order. This is the so-called "Ministry Law" and is also the basic content of the Ming Dynasty Guard System.

After reorganizing the country's troops, a complete Ming Dynasty guard system was finally formed in the seventh year of Hongwu. There were roughly 5,600 people for one guard, 1,120 people for one thousand households, 112 people for one hundred households, and 50 people for one general banner. , 10 people are a small flag.

One guard has jurisdiction over five thousand-household offices, one thousand-household office has jurisdiction over 10 hundred-household offices, and one hundred-household office has jurisdiction over two general banners, each with five small banners.

All armies across the country are organized into guard stations according to this organization, and are led by commanders of small banners, general banners, hundreds of households, thousands of households, and guards.

At this point, the garrison system became the basic organization of the Ming army and was customized. Whether it was the garrison in Beijing or the province, or the personal troops and guards of the emperor and vassal princes, they were all organized according to the garrison system.

The earliest battalions actually appeared in the early Ming Dynasty. They were the strongest soldiers drawn from various guards and temporarily assembled into wartime establishments.

However, this temporary military system in the early Ming Dynasty soon changed due to the increasing intensification of border troubles, especially in the border areas of the Ming Dynasty. The temporary deployment of troops would gradually become a regular system, and the camp system also changed according to the situation. Appear out of need.

Of course, the camp soldiers during this period were actually elite soldiers drawn from the guards, and they were still military households.

In the Ming Dynasty, except for the border army and the Beijing camp, the guards in other places were quickly depleted.

Because there were frequent wars, the frontier army could barely retain a certain amount of combat power. Therefore, it was not completely transformed into a garrison and was closer to a garrison, because they could only devote a small amount of energy to farming and more to fighting.

The Beijing camp was supported by the strong finances of the Ming Dynasty, so although its combat strength declined faster than that of the border army, it was still barely adequate compared to other guard armies.

However, after Tumubao, Jingying also completely declined.

The reason for the collapse of the guard system was due to social stability and relative peace. Guard officers began to occupy military fields and exploit soldiers. The living standards and social status of soldiers became increasingly low. As a result, deserters in various guards gradually increased, and armaments were gradually abolished. Chi.

Looking at it this way, the natural camp soldiers are naturally much more powerful than the guardsmen.

However, it is also because the elites of each guard are selected and they participate in the most dangerous places in the battle formation, so the military pay is also higher.

Therefore, at the beginning, the camp only appeared as a temporary combat response method and was not common.

The soldiers in the garrison were no longer useful, so the Ming government had to recruit soldiers from the private sector. Unlike the garrison army, the recruited soldiers were not hereditary. Although they were soldiers, they were subject to civilian registration, or in other words, their household registration remained unchanged when they joined the army.

Guard soldiers mainly focus on garrisoning. In order to solve the problem of military food, they farm and defend at the same time. Guard sergeants have lived in the same place for generations. However, because the guards' occupation is farming, their mobility and combat effectiveness have naturally declined.

The establishment of the battalion is to make up for the lack of mobility and combat effectiveness of the garrison soldiers. With a higher salary than the garrison soldiers, they will naturally participate in the most dangerous wars. If the combat strength is stronger than the garrison soldiers, of course it does not count. wrong.

However, thinking that the two were completely different from each other, Wei Guangde simply said: "The guard soldiers have to farm and defend. It is naturally difficult to have the best of both worlds. As the saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it, and the camp soldiers specialize in The pay for the battle array is much higher than that for the guards, so if the battle prowess is not as good, then it is better not to recruit at all."

King Yu nodded, also recognizing Wei Guangde's words.

However, Wei Guangde did not stop there, but continued: "Actually, there is an old saying, 'A soldier is a raging enemy, and a general is raging in a nest.' Whether it is a guard soldier or a camp soldier, in order to display their combat effectiveness, the main thing is to look at it. The general who leads the army.

Just like the Datong Army, when Yu Dayou was in Datong, the Datong Army could travel hundreds of miles deep into the desert to capture Bansheng City, and on the way back, it could defeat the pursuing troops sent by the Anda Khan.

But after Yu Dayou was transferred from Datong, Liu Han, the commander-in-chief of Datong, suffered consecutive defeats and has now been relieved of his post as commander-in-chief. "

"It makes sense. It was only in the past two years that Qi Jiguang's department played a huge role in the fight against Japanese pirates on the southeast coast. Before that, Yu Dayou led the Ming army to fight, and now the Japanese pirates' power is not as strong as before."

Yin Shizhen is also more optimistic about Yu Dayou, but in fact the results between the two are completely unequal.

Yin Shizhen now smelled some clues, as if Zhang Juzheng valued Qi Jiguang, and Wei Guangde must have valued Yu Dayou.

That's not to say that the two of them shouldn't stand out in front of King Yu, but they did say that the general they liked was better.

As for what he said about the unequal performance between Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang, it was mainly due to the number of troops under command.

Yu Dayou has the experience of commanding hundreds of people in battles, and also has the experience of commanding tens of thousands of people in battles, and most of them won the battles. Looking at Qi Jiguang, he commanded more thousands of troops in battles, and it seems that he did not command tens of thousands of troops. It has been demonstrated on large-scale battlefields.

Also, when Yu Dayou was commanding the war against the Japanese, none of the main Japanese pirate forces had tens of thousands of soldiers. However, these Japanese pirate gangs had all disappeared, leaving only countless small and medium-sized forces, and gangs with thousands of people. They are considered a very powerful team among the Japanese pirates.

"It saves money to fight wars."

I don’t know why, but King Yu said this when he opened his mouth.

Perhaps King Yu had calculated the military resources between the guards and the camp soldiers, so he felt this way, but Wei Guangde did not dare to tell the truth.

During that time in Datong, most of the loot that the army went out to snatch was directly divided among the officers and soldiers participating in the battle. It was a desperate battle.

If you win, you will gain people and money; if you lose, you will lose both people and money.

When he entered Fujian to suppress bandits this time, after Wei Guangde confirmed Yu Dayou's transfer, he wrote more than a dozen letters to Jiangxi to find someone to help him, because he was worried that Jiangxi's Chief Secretary and Dusi would get in Yu Dayou's neck on the issue of money and food.

He knew very well the urinal nature of those civil servants. Even if the rebels came to the city, they would have to scrape a layer of money from them in order to transfer money and food from the treasury.

Youdao means that before the soldiers and horses are moved, food and grass go first. Wei Guangde, who has been influenced by the war experience of later generations, naturally understands the importance of logistics.

To say that Yu Dayou saved more money than Qi Jiguang in fighting, Wei Guangde really didn't dare to agree shamelessly.

"By the way, are you familiar with this Tan Lun?"

Having said so much, King Yu finally remembered the most important part of the emperor's decree this time, which was to replace the governor of Fujian.

Wei Guangde shook his head, "When I went to Zhejiang, Mr. Tan should be serving as the prefect of some province."

Wei Guangde didn't have a deep impression of Tan Lun, so he naturally didn't pay much attention to him, let alone someone he had never seen before.

Looking at Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng, he found that they both shook their heads like him.

However, Zhang Juzheng seemed to remember something immediately and said: "This Tan Lun, I seem to have read the Zhejiang Report. When he was the magistrate of Taizhou, he once organized and trained rural warriors to fight against Japanese pirates under his rule. Their combat effectiveness was also good. This team Xiangyong was later incorporated into Qi Jiguang's subordinates."

"Then he is quite a strategic person. No wonder he was sent to Fujian at this time."

Zhang Juzheng's words gave everyone an initial impression of Tan Lun, that is, he was a military civilian official, and in the future the highest official position could be a governor or minister of the Ministry of War.

"Governor of Fujian, it's a pity that his previous official position was low, and his transfer this time will be lower than that of Zhao Bingran."

Yin Shizhen said.

"He is not from the Metropolitan Procuratorate. He is the governor of Fujian. Maybe he will be promoted to the title of Qiandu Censor in the final imperial edict. If he is the Qiandu Censor, how can he be given the title of Deputy Capital Censor when he is transferred to Fujian this time? .”

Zhang Juzheng said regretfully.

In the Ming Dynasty, governors and governors did not have fixed grades. It depended on what title was added to obtain the corresponding grade, and the most important title was naturally the title of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.

For example, Tan Lun was directly appointed by Emperor Jiajing. The highest official position he could get after directly joining the Metropolitan Procuratorate was that of the Imperial Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the fourth rank of governor.

Because he is the governor, he does not need to hold the title of Minister of War, so his rank as governor is only the fourth grade.

"I don't know how long it will take him to take over Fuxinghua Mansion?"

King Yu did not care about the official position that Tan Lun might be awarded. Perhaps this was because he was the emperor's son. They only valued the minister's ability to do things. As for the rank, it was actually secondary to the actual power.

Regardless of whether you are a governor with the title of Shangshu or a governor with the title of Yushi, there is actually no essential difference between the second and fourth grades, they both exercise the same power.

However, it has to be said that Emperor Jiajing's order to dismiss You Zhende was decisive. Before the imperial edict was issued, countless censors were already preparing to file impeachments, and the target was not only You Zhende, but also You Zhende. Even the newly appointed governor of Fujian and Guangdong was within the scope of their impeachment.

However, after Emperor Jiajing issued the direct decree, the direction of these impeachment memorials was unanimously aimed at You Zhende. Perhaps because it was near the end of the year, many censors who had not completed the impeachment targets were trying their best to impeach him for his incompetence.

It was also because of this edict of dismissal that a possible impeachment storm in the capital was eliminated.

All the officials in the capital have their eyes fixed on Xinghua Prefecture in Fujian Province, waiting for Tan Lun to take over Fuxinghua Prefecture. If there is a slight setback, he is afraid that he will become the second You Zhende.