As soon as Gao Pangshi finished speaking, Zhu Yijun was a little puzzled and asked: "Isn't this just repeating the old things about the Tenth Regiment Battalion and the Twelfth Regiment Battalion? And you just said that the three major battalions actually only have 40,000 people.
How can 40,000 people carefully select 60,000 people?"
Gao Pragmatic said helplessly: "This is just a public announcement... Your Majesty, you have to know that the outside world still thinks that there are many people in our Beijing camp. There are definitely not 400,000, but they still believe in 200,000."
"Oh..." Zhu Yijun breathed a sigh of relief: "When you were in office, did everyone outside think so?"
"Of course." Gao Pingshi affirmed, and then continued: "As for the issue of regiments and camps, whether it is Yu Zhongsu's Tenth Regiment Camp or the Twelve Regiment Camps during the Xianmiao period, the people in charge are too scattered. Although
This helps ensure that the power of the Beijing camp is not grasped by those with ulterior motives, but the result is that the Beijing camp is corrupted and has no fighting power."
When Zhu Yijun heard this, he frowned slightly and said, "You mean, in the process of cleaning up the Ding Dynasty in the capital camp, I can only make a choice between combat power and loyalty?"
Gao pragmatically said: "If you want the strongest combat effectiveness or the most secure loyalty, then the emperor can only make one choice. However, if the emperor wants to balance the two, I can't make some suggestions.
, for the Emperor’s reference.”
Gao pragmatically played a little trick here. The source of the trick lies in a passage by Lu Xun: "Chinese people always like to compromise. For example, if you say that this room is too dark and you need to open a window here, everyone will not allow it.
But if you advocate removing the roof, they will mediate and be willing to open the windows."
Zhu Yijun's idea was obviously caught by Mr. Lu Xun, and he immediately asked: "How to compromise?"
Gao pragmatically said: "This starts with the establishment and composition of the Guards and the job arrangements of the main generals."
As soon as Zhu Yijun saw Gao Pragmatic's posture, he knew that this might take a while. He looked at the sky outside and said to Chen Ju: "It is my decree that we will not go back to Qianqing Palace for dinner today. Let them be sent to Wenhua."
When I came to the palace, I gave Qiuzhen a seat at the royal table. Then I sent someone to tell the Queen Mother and the Empress of the two palaces that I would discuss the military management with Qiuzhen tonight. I was afraid I would be back late and would not have time to pay my respects to the Queen Mother. Oh, there is also
, inform the Donghua Gate guards that Gao Gongbao may leave the palace later tonight, and I will give them a badge so that they don’t have to go to Qianqing Palace to ask for instructions."
The Ming Dynasty had a lot of palace rules and regulations. If you didn't explain them, you would be in trouble later. Of course, Zhu Yijun knew this very well, so he simply said hello in advance.
After arranging this, he turned to Gao Yingshi and smiled: "Speaking of which, Qiu Zhen and I haven't talked in detail like this for a long time. Thinking about it, I feel quite nostalgic... Come on, don't talk about it in this lobby.
Let’s go to Jiyi Hall, it will make you feel better staying there.”
Jiyi Hall is the auxiliary hall of Wenhua Hall. They studied in Jiyi Hall back then, because the main hall was sometimes used by Longqing to receive ministers.
Zhu Yijun mentioned that going to Jiyi Hall was "feeling good". He didn't seem to be hypocritical at all. Gao Pragmatic could even feel that he had relaxed a lot. He couldn't help but laugh and even made a joke: "Look
The time chosen by Lai Chen is not bad, and we can even enjoy a royal meal."
At this time, they both had already stood up, Zhu Yijun was walking in front, and Gao Gongshi was a step behind him.
Zhu Yijun laughed when he heard this: "Do you need to eat rice?"
"Imperial food is always imperial food. How many times can a minister eat it in a lifetime?" Gao pragmatically said with a smile: "Eating it more than once is just one time. When I get older in the future, I can still brag with my grandson when I am entertaining him, no?
Is it pretty good too?”
Zhu Yijun laughed heartily, and then scolded: "Nonsense." But when he smiled, his face darkened again, he sighed, shook his head and said: "You are the only one who still talks to me like this... That's great.
.”
"If a king treats his ministers like his brothers and sisters, then his ministers will regard him as his heart." Gao Jingshi was very calm and smiled slightly: "Gao Jingshi is always the same Gao Jingshi and never changes."
Zhu Yijun nodded vigorously, reached out and patted Gao Pragmatic's shoulder, and said: "Zhu Yijun is always the same Zhu Yijun. I remember what I said, and I also remember what I said."
The second half of this sentence seemed a bit awkward, but Gao Qingshi understood what he meant and smiled again and bowed slightly.
When they arrived at Jiyi Hall, this time because Chen Ju had already gone to deliver the edict, Zhu Yijun was not so polite to the other eunuchs. He simply asked them to wait outside the hall, and then he and Gao Yingshi sat down in the same position as before when they were studying.
——Zhu Yijun, of course, still takes the main seat, but Gao Pragmatic does not have to sit far away, but sits right next to him, but the seat and desk are slightly tilted to show the meaning of "accompanying reading".
"Tell me, what is the difference between the Imperial Guards and the regimental camp? Is it worth your troubles?" Zhu Yijun knew Gao Jingshi very well. He knew that Gao Jingshi never did useless work, even if it looked very complicated.
Inconspicuous suggestions are usually full of profound meaning, not to mention that if he talks about it in such a formal way, it must be a big deal.
Gao pragmatically said: "When Liu Shouyou was the commander-in-chief of Jinyi, he should have reported to the emperor the matters related to Annan's two garrison forces?"
Zhu Yijun was startled for a moment, but he didn't feel guilty at all. Instead, he nodded and said: "I have reported some, but you know what his report will tend to be." As he said that, he even winked.
Gao pragmatic also smiled and said: "I can probably guess a little bit. I guess it means that I have these soldiers and horses in Annan. Not only are they incompatible with the system, but they are also easy to lose, etc."
Zhu Yijun chuckled and asked, "Are you finally planning to give me an explanation when you mention this matter?"
"Do you need an explanation?" Gao Pragmatic looked surprised: "I think that with the emperor's sage, there is no need to say such an obvious truth."
"Don't come here with this set of Tai Chi push hands." Zhu Yijun sneered: "I only know that if there were not those two soldiers and horses, most Annan people would not be so honest. As for other inside stories, Liu Shouyou didn't investigate deeply. I still don't know.
It’s really not very clear. To be honest, you have to know that the reason why I didn’t take his words to heart is not because there is anything wrong with your actions, but because I think there will be no problems with you. Do you understand?”
"I thank you for your trust, Your Majesty." Gao pragmatically said, "Annan's garrison has many tasks. One of them is that I would like to use the garrison for a pilot project."
Zhu Yijun's heart moved and he asked: "Just like when Mr. Gao first used Yuegang as a pilot during the 'Longqing Opening of the Sea'? What do you want to try?"
"Beijing Camp - Guards." Gao Pragmatic nodded and said: "The establishment of the Guard Army was because I was considering the reform of the Beijing Camp and hoped to find a suitable way. This way, it is best not to touch too many people.
It is an ancestral system, and don’t think about forcing the nobles to hand over all...well, all their livelihoods."
It's actually quite ironic that drinking soldiers' blood has become a profession. But although Zhu Yijun is young, he knows very well that this chronic disease is rooted in the Ming Dynasty. Gao Pragmatic said this to avoid causing too much political impact.
——Gao Pragmatic had often discussed this with him many years ago, and he no longer needed Gao Pragmatic to explain it again.
So Zhu Yijun acquiesced to this statement and just asked: "Do you have any experience?"
Gao pragmatically said: "Dividing into ten or twelve regiments and battalions is too scattered, which is not conducive to concentration of forces for command, so there is actually no problem with the abolition of regiments and battalions. There is nothing wrong with the move to restore the three battalions. The real problem is
It depends on the resources of the three major battalions."
"What happened to the source of troops?" Zhu Yijun asked.
Gao pragmatically said: "There are basically two types of soldiers for the three major battalions: one is selected from military households, and the other is recruiting soldiers from the people. But in fact, neither of these two sources can recruit good soldiers. If the emperor wants his ministers to be honest,
To put it bluntly, those two sources of troops that actually ended up in the third battalion are actually waste."
The muscles on Zhu Yijun's face twitched, he took a deep breath, nodded and said: "Okay, I'm very happy if you can tell me the truth...Then tell me why these two major sources of soldiers are waste."
"The military household system has been in operation for more than two hundred years. Some of its shortcomings have been discussed by many ministers. I don't need to say more here. I will only talk about the current situation: all those selected into the three major battalions are military personnel.
They are the poorest and weakest people in the household because they cannot afford to pay for all the connections. Do you think that if a group of people like this enter the three major camps, how can they train elite soldiers? Today, the governors and ministers are talking about the three major camps.
There are still 40,000 people in the camp, I estimate that they dare not lie about this number, but it will be difficult to pick a few young men among the 40,000."
Zhu Yijun hesitated and asked: "But before the parade and so on, I saw that the soldiers around me were indeed young and strong."
"How many soldiers can the emperor see clearly with his eyesight?" Gao Pragmatic smiled and said: "I still have some experience in this aspect - if you can see the faces of the soldiers clearly within the range of your eyesight, you can see at most two or three thousand people.
.This is still in the state of training. Once the soldiers are changing formations, marching and other actions, it will be good to be able to see the faces of three to five hundred people clearly."
Zhu Yijun understood and said: "You mean, they put all the young and strong around me for me to see, and the other places farther away are all old and weak?"
Gao pragmatically said: "This is on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is the second source of the soldiers of the three major battalions - the soldiers recruited will be relatively younger, and their physical fitness will be much better than the selected military households, but that
It's useless, because these people are almost all children from the market. Some of them are even the so-called rangers in the industry. They were hired at a high price to fill the scene. After training in the school for three to five days, they can understand simple formation changes.
That’s it, once everything is done and the money is paid, everything will disappear immediately.”
(Note: Daxing, as explained in the first volume of this book, is similar to some "vibrant social organizations".)
Zhu Yijun gritted his teeth, as if he wanted to curse, but he held it back in the end, took a deep breath, and asked: "Then how did the Annan garrison handle this soldier resource issue? Like Qi Jiguang did?"
Gao pragmatic shook his head and said: "Captain Qi's method is good, but the emperor may not know that Yiwu is not big in the first place. He may not have recruited half of the men among the people over the years, so that now the people of Yiwu are nothing but ordinary people."
The soldiers have to eat food, and almost all industries have withered. And many men in Yiwu were originally miners...I can't bear to use the miners in this way. Besides, relying too much on the military resources of a certain area is not very good in itself."
Zhu Yijun nodded to express his understanding, and then asked: "Where do the troops of the Annan Guard Army come from?"
Gao pragmatically said: "The core part are the servants of the minister, the main part are the refugees in the Ming Dynasty, and the remaining part are the refugees in Annan."
Zhu Yijun suddenly realized: "Oh, I understand, it means that the main source of troops are refugees?" He suddenly thought about it: "Is this approach... a bit like the Xiang army of the former Song Dynasty?"
Gao Pingshi said: "The former Song Dynasty incorporated many refugees and bandits into the Xiang Army, and then selected some of the strongest men from the Xiang Army to serve as the Forbidden Army. This idea is somewhat similar to the garrison army, but there are also differences."
"What's the difference?"
"The Yuxiang army has a low status, poor treatment, poor equipment, and is not well-trained, while the Imperial Army... is similar to the Ming Dynasty's Beijing camp today. As a result, it is naturally useless."
"What about the garrison?"
"The treatment, equipment, training, etc. of the garrison are all the best in Annan." Gao pragmatically said: "The garrison is not like the Xiang army, which accepts everyone. The garrison only recruits the strongest."
Zhu Yijun said in surprise: "What if they were originally refugees with their families? After you take them in, their families will be gone?"
"Yeah, it's precisely because many of them have young families, so it's easier to handle." Gao Pragmatic smiled and said: "The military salary of the garrison is enough to support their whole family. If by any chance, we can still get some military exploits,
You can even live a pretty good life.”
Zhu Yijun was immediately discouraged: "Another expensive transaction?"
"We can't let the horses run and not eat grass, right?" Gao pragmatically said with a smile, "Didn't I already tell the emperor how to raise the army?"
"Uh..." Zhu Yijun was stunned for a moment: "When?"
"Soldiers, farmers, and craftsmen are separated." Gao pragmatically said: "After farmers and craftsmen are separated, they are obliged to provide part of the food and salary to the soldiers, which is considered as the price for them not to fight. However, this money should not be left alone to the nobles.
To collect it, it is best to have multiple parties work together to collect it, and then send dedicated personnel to supervise and verify it."
Zhu Yijun suddenly understood, nodded and said: "This is a good idea, I think it is very reasonable, but how much will it cost?"
"The specific amount to be collected is yet to be determined. This kind of thing cannot be done without investigation. If we collect too much, the farmers and craftsmen will be miserable. If we collect less, the soldiers will not be able to feed themselves. I have to wait for my ministers to deal with this slowly."
"Well, we can always solve part of it." Zhu Yijun said: "There are a lot of refugees now, so for the time being, we shouldn't worry about the supply of soldiers. As for the future... let's talk about it in the future. Apart from the supply of soldiers, what other problems are there?
I remember that the issue of drills was raised every year, but as you know the consequences, it was never mentioned. How did the Annan Garrison Force solve this problem?"
"There are two main ones: one is to adjust the organizational structure, and the other is to have military competitions every year."
Zhu Yijun suddenly stretched out his hand: "Let me guess - you don't want to use your honor to lead the army?"
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