As the Ming army gained successive victories in the two Xinjiang regions, more and more local soldiers were recruited, and the status issue of these new armed forces became more and more prominent. In the past, the Ming army always classified them as the "White Guards" and planned to let them
Nominally it belongs to Free Russia. But now several ministers have raised objections, saying that since the soldiers are recruited on the land of the two frontiers, and the two frontiers belong to the territory of the Ming Dynasty, why should the army recruited from the territory of the Ming Dynasty be called
What about the "White Guards" and will they be under the jurisdiction of Russia?
The Headquarters quickly realized this problem. This was not so much a question of the status of one unit, but rather related to the status of two Xinjiangs. The Headquarters and the Cabinet held a meeting, and the military and political teams discussed it.
It was decided that in the future, all armies recruited in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, or in the land to be included in the territory of the Ming Dynasty, will be integrated into the Ming army system. If the army is recruited further west in the future, such as Kazakhstan, then the troops recruited there will
It can be called the White Guard, and it will be under the jurisdiction of Free Russia.
After the decision was made, the cabinet and the headquarters drafted a telegram in the form of a memorial and sent it to Zhu Yourong, requesting approval for implementation. After reading it, Zhu Yourong thought it made sense, but she couldn't make up her mind, so she showed it to Xiang Xiaoqiang. Xiang Xiaoqiang
After reading it, I had a feeling of awakening: This is indeed what happened! This is related to the legality of the two Xinjiangs, and it really cannot be careless. - Such an important issue, I did not think of it, the cabinet minister thought of it first... But to me
Xiaoqiang thought about it and could comfort himself: This is normal. What does a cabinet minister do? Isn't it just this kind of political thing that he is best at? To say that he, a young man, is better than those old men who have been engaged in politics all their lives.
If they are still awesome, then the requirements are too high, haha.
"Yes," Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded and handed the memorial back to Zhu Yourong, "That makes sense. Mr. Shen Ge has thought quite carefully."
"Then shall I approve it?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang knew what to measure, he smiled and said:
"It's up to you to decide. If I were you, I would approve it."
Zhu Yourong smiled and said:
"Then I approved it?"
"Oh, why is it so annoying... approve it, approve it."
Zhu Yourong chuckled, picked up the red pen and painted it with red, and then handed the memorial to Wei Zijin to have it stamped.
…
Since then, the new troops recruited in the two Xinjiang areas have all become Ming army troops. However, these local troops have been divided into two types. One is the regular Ming army troops, which are designated according to the Ming Army uniforms and wear the Ming Army uniforms. The Ming Army rations
They had the same weapons, equipment, food, military pay, and long-distance mobile marches in military vehicles. In short, everything was the same as the Ming army.
The other type is called "training troops", which are much worse than regular troops in terms of equipment, weapons, food, military pay, etc. Even the uniforms are designed individually, and the quality and workmanship are also much worse. These troops don't have that many military vehicles.
They are either infantry or cavalry, and the means of transportation are mostly horse and donkey carts. The hardware level is similar to that of the Soviet army.
The former type of "regular army" has a small number and a high threshold. Not everyone can enter. It must be carefully selected. In addition to being physically strong, brave in combat, and having outstanding training results, it must also be educated and have certain qualifications.
Culture. In other words, the overall quality cannot be too far from that of the Ming army. The latter type of "training troops" is very numerous, accounting for 80%-90% of the newly recruited troops.
This kind of differentiated treatment was Shen Rongxuan's idea. The main reason is that if the standards of the regular Ming army are followed, the expenditure will be too high and the country cannot afford such a large new army. But if these Muslims are The troops are completely regarded as second-class troops. If they are discriminated against in all aspects, it will not be conducive to the stability of military morale. It will easily arouse the dissatisfaction of these Muslim officers and soldiers, thinking that the Han people are using them as cheap cannon fodder. Even if nothing happens, these ethnic troops will They will have no sense of identity with the Ming Dynasty and feel that this war is not their own war and has nothing to do with them. They are fighting for those "masters". As time goes by, the combat effectiveness and morale of the national troops will be greatly reduced, similar to the European War in China. Those "servant soldiers" of the Hungarian Empire.
In fact, the Ming Dynasty originally established the White Guards and recruited locals on a large scale, just to have a large number of cheap cannon fodder in addition to the limited elite troops. "High-quality products" and "mass production" complement each other, and the effect will be very good. But now it is no longer possible. You can’t afford to become a “high-quality product”, so we set a threshold to maintain fluidity from bottom to top and give people hope – do you want to be a “high-quality product”? Do you want to enter a better army and have better comrades-in-arms? Do you want to fight together? Do you want to use better weapons? Do you want to eat better food? Do you want to ride in a car or an armored vehicle? Do you want to get ten times the military salary? Do you want wider promotion opportunities? Okay, then work hard and let you Be better yourself! Fight hard, train hard, and learn culture hard. When you meet the conditions, you can apply to join the regular army. Everyone has a chance.
Don’t look at your nationality or origin, just look at whether you are good enough. This is the meaning Shen Rongxuan tried to give to this threshold. If nothing else, at least one month’s military pay for regular Ming army soldiers. It is equivalent to nearly a year's income of poor herdsmen or farmers in both Xinjiang and Xinjiang. This attraction is huge enough to drive the soldiers of the "training unit" to work harder. And the Ming army also does what it says, as long as you think you can do it, You can join the regular army by submitting an application and passing both the military and cultural assessments. The Ming Army has set up a special department to accept applications and conduct assessments every day, and it does allow some ethnic soldiers to join the regular army every day. .
…
The stimulating power of this kind of example is the greatest. A living example is right in front of you: the day before, the boy Abdullah in the next class was just like us, eating bread, drinking gruel, carrying a rifle, and marching on two legs. With a military pay of eighty cents a month, and after passing the exam today, I will be transferred to the regular army to eat canned food, eat fruits, carry a submachine gun, and march in a car, and receive a military pay of seven cents a month. Moreover, my regular army will be promoted. How fast!
In this way, everyone has the hope of "upward mobility". This "differential treatment" not only did not lower morale, but made everyone in the entire ethnic army feel itchy. In addition to "killing the Soviet troops" when they joined the army, they also In addition to the original motivation of "revenge of loved ones", there is also a newer and more lasting motivation. Although only a few people are destined to enter the regular army, this is enough to motivate the vast majority of people to work hard in this direction.
Since it is called "training troops", in addition to letting them do some cannon fodder work, of course they also have to have a way to "not be cannon fodder". In addition to military training, the Ming army was based on companies, and each company had a A military instructor and a cultural instructor. The military instructor is responsible for regulating their actions anytime and anywhere and improving their military literacy. The cultural instructor is responsible for giving them lessons when they are not fighting. In addition to teaching them Chinese, Chinese characters, arithmetic, and some other Basic historical and geographical knowledge, as well as knowledge other than Islamic culture. Instructors have a very high status in the military, roughly equivalent to the "political commissar" in the Soviet army. To put it simply, military instructors are responsible for "regularization" and cultural instructors are responsible for "sinicization" , or "de-Islamization".
The instructor told the soldiers that in the future, grassroots officials from various places in both Xinjiang and Xinjiang will no longer use the princes and religious elders of the past, but will be selected from people like you who have received a new education. Whoever learns well will have the hope to become a
Lower level local officials.
In this way, the attraction to these soldiers is even greater, and their motivation to learn Chinese culture and secular culture is stronger. However, their beliefs are still 100% respected. Each of them has two books in his arms, one
This is a Quran, a textbook issued by the Ming Dynasty. You can read any book you want. But after all, your free time every day is limited. If you read more Quran, you will read less textbooks, and your cultural achievements will not be as good as others.
Then there will be fewer opportunities to enter the regular army and become local officials in the future. On the contrary, there will be more opportunities.
This is actually to vigorously promote the "separation of church and state." In this regard, the Ming Dynasty will do it more thoroughly than the previous Northern Qing Dynasty. During the Northern Qing Dynasty, although the two frontiers fell under the control of the Qing Dynasty, most of the specific political powers in various places were
It is in the hands of the local princes and religious elders. The "separation of politics and religion" here in Beiqing only remains on the surface, or at the top. But at the grassroots level, there is actually "the unity of politics and religion". That is, "Allah is in charge."
Everything". Now, the policy that the Ming Dynasty will implement is: "Give to God what is God, and to Caesar what is Caesar's." First, take the lower-level power from the hands of the elders and hand it over to officials who have received modern education. Gradually reduce the influence of religion.
, withdraw from worldly life.
According to Xiang Xiaoqiang’s idea, the ideal state of the two Xinjiangs in the future is: religion should be just a religion and a part of life like Dubai, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates in later generations, and should not become a religion like Afghanistan, Iran, and Palestine.
All of life. It is also a green religion country, but people in the former have a broader vision, are richer, are less ignorant, and are more willing to pursue money, career, love, and other beautiful lives in the secular world. They know that in addition to religion, there is nothing in the world
There are more good things. They are not like the latter, who are poor, ignorant, and closed-minded. Apart from what the Quran teaches them, they don’t know what good things there are in the outside world. Apart from religion, they don’t know that there is anything else in life.
What's the point.
The two frontiers are the territory of the Ming Dynasty and are destined to be an inseparable part. So what kind of model it will develop in the future depends on what seeds are sown by the Ming Dynasty now.