Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 794 Who has such a face

As a matter of fact, the above-mentioned treatment methods for the problem of Beijing camp belong to the treatment of superficial symptoms, and none of them involve the root cause.

There is no shortage of smart people in any dynasty, and the Ming court is the same. Is it difficult to see the root cause of the Beijing camp problem?It's not difficult. For many officials, the root cause is not difficult to find, but there is no way to explain it, and there is no way to solve it.

We all know that during the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty, due to Yingzong's blind departure, the civil fortress was changed. This battle lost the elite of the Ming army in Beijing, which became a turning point for the military power of the Ming Dynasty to turn from prosperity to decline.After Yingzong, the strength of the Ming army gradually declined from the peak of the Taizu and Chengzu eras. Although there were many reforms and innovations, the trend of decline has never been reversed.

Many people in later generations regard this incident as the source of the decline of the Beijing camp, and believe that since then, the Xungui Group was suppressed by the Civil Service Group, which led to the decline of Ming's military power.

Nonsense.

For example, the Tang Dynasty at its peak was not the Tang Dynasty during the reign of Zhenguan, but the Tang Dynasty during the period of Emperor Gaozong and Li Zhi. After Wu Zhou, Zhongzong, etc., until the early and middle period of Xuanzong, the strength of the Tang Dynasty did not decline significantly. Could it be that the Tang Dynasty in that period was already the era of civil servants?
If some people don't believe the domestic examples, let's talk about foreign countries.The Netherlands at its peak was the age of merchants, and it can also be regarded as the age of civil servants; the United Kingdom at its peak, have you ever heard of any awesome general who dared not obey the orders of No. 10 Downing Street?That was also the era of civil servants; the United States at its peak... Didn't Roosevelt come from a "civilian family" but a "military family"?
Some people want to say, these are useless, how can the example of the Song Dynasty be broken?Isn't it because the civil officials were weak and suppressed the military generals, which led to the appearance of the "weak Song Dynasty"?

There are two aspects to this statement. First, the Song Dynasty was not considered weak. The strength of the Song Dynasty depends on the enemy. At the expense of withstood the Jurchen Jin Kingdom, which was known as "invincible" at its peak; and with half of the country, it supported Mongolia, which swept across Europe and Asia for 44 years... Is this very weak?
Take Mongolia as an example, let’s take a look at the speed at which the Mongols destroyed the country: in 1206, the Gaochang Uyghur Kingdom was destroyed; in 1206, the West Haralu Khanate was destroyed; , destroyed the Western Liao Empire; 1206, the Later Liao Empire; 1218, the Huacizimo Khanate; 1220, the Western Xia Empire; 1222, the Koryo Kingdom; 1227, the Eastern Xia Empire; 1231, the The Golden Empire; in 1233, the Kipchak Khanate; in 1234, the Sultanate of Roma; in 1236, the Duchy of Kievan Rus; in 1239, the Principality of Poland; in 1240, the Grand Duchy of Hungary; in 1241, Bohemia In 1241, the Kingdom of Armenia was destroyed; in 1241, the Kingdom of Georgia; in 1241, the Grand Duchy of Austria; in 1241, Bulgaria; in 1241, Modavia; in 1241, the Republic of Venice; Dali Kingdom; in 1241, the Abbasid Dynasty of the Arab Empire was destroyed; in 1241, the Eastern Liao Empire was destroyed; in 1253, the Southern Song Empire was destroyed.

How long did it take for the Mongolian expedition to the west to drink the Danube and reach the Mediterranean Sea?How many years did the Kingdom of Jin, which destroyed Liao and swallowed Song, carry it in front of Mongolia?The "weak Song Dynasty", which is only half of the country, has carried it for 44 years and killed the Mongolian Khan. Is this weak?

No, this is just to say that Mongolia at that time was indeed the brightest moment of the nomads, which was almost the same as hanging out.And if the Mongols hadn't discovered Arab engineering equipment and return artillery during the Western Expedition, it might not be able to win half of the "Weak Song Dynasty".

On the other hand, the styles of civil officials in the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty are actually fundamentally different. Although everyone is engaged in Confucianism, the Song Dynasty was taught a lesson by the Grassland Dynasty since the founding of the country, so the civil service group as a whole is more afraid of the Grassland Dynasty.

The Ming Dynasty was just the opposite. It was built on the corpse of the Mongolian Yuan Empire!Its ancestor Taizong (Chengzu was reformed by Jiajing) chased and beat the Mongols for decades like chasing chickens and dogs!So even if there is a civil engineering change and the emperor is lost, first or even start to think about how much benefit to get, and the result?

As a result, Ming Dynasty's civil servants didn't take it seriously at all. Isn't it just losing an emperor? What's the big deal?It's over if you set up another one. Old Zhu's family has no other advantages, only his mother's ability to give birth...

So I also found out first that this is not a sweet pastry in Lao Tzu's hand, but a hot potato!
So after the civil engineering change, the Mongols actually didn't get any benefits at all. Who led this matter?A civil servant group headed by Yu Qian!

Now it is clear that the civil servant group of Ming Dynasty is not afraid of war at all!To some extent, this civil official group is probably the most belligerent civil official group in Chinese history!
Then the question turns back, since this civil servant group is so belligerent and staunch that even negotiating peace with others is regarded as an intolerable shame, then why does Ming's military strength continue to decline?

Even Daming's several military reforms failed to curb this downward trend, at most it temporarily delayed it?

Because the root is crooked.

Zhu Yuanzhang, the great ancestor who knew nothing about economics, formulated a guard system that was bound to collapse quickly as the fundamental system of the Ming army, and he especially liked to engage in "ancestral training" and asked future generations not to violate it. The real reason why so many famous ministers and generals could not save Daming.

It is undeniable that the guard system established by Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed able to provide the Ming army with sufficient soldiers and food during the war-torn years at the end of the Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of the Ming Dynasty.However, with the stability of the country and the development of the economy and society, land mergers will naturally appear, and the land on which the Weisuo system depends will definitely be occupied by the gradually solidified classes, so the system has been fundamentally destroyed.

In the tenth year of orthodoxy, Jiang Gui, the general of the frontier defense, said: "Under the various fortresses of Datong and Xuanfu, there are hundreds of thousands of fertile fields, which are all occupied by Haoyou." The phenomenon of being occupied is so serious, it is conceivable that other areas can only be worse.

Sure enough, after more than ten years, the situation has not improved, but has deteriorated further.In the 22nd year of Zhengtong, "Huang Fu went out to see the wives of soldiers and soldiers without clothes, sighed and said: 'Jian'er's family is so poor, how can he face it'?"

As a soldier who defended his home and country, he even got to the point where his wife was naked, which shows how low the status of a sergeant was and how hard life was in the mid-Ming Dynasty.

In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, "Yan'an at home", the frontier troops from all over the country were idle, so the imperial court frequently mobilized foreign soldiers from all over the country to garrison the capital. Unexpectedly, the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty who stepped into the capital found that they had become the slaves of the court's yamen and nobles. Hard work, they have to do everything, especially various projects, instead of hiring craftsmen, let soldiers do it.

Therefore, the soldiers were reluctant to go to Beijing for defense, and often delayed the deadline, but the imperial court still did not care about the military situation and severely punished them. The mild ones went to the frontier fortress for several months, and the severe ones lasted for more than a year.Under this extremely strict military system, the status of soldiers fell to the bottom, so a large number of soldiers fleeing and even mutiny inevitably occurred one after another in various guards.

During the Hongzhi period, Ming Xiaozong Zhu Youtang realized that the country was in decline, so he carried out reforms in terms of economy, people's livelihood, court politics and other aspects.Xiaozong was quite a good person, generous and benevolent, diligent and dedicated, and worked hard to govern.

However, reforms in the military are entrenched.In the first year of Hongzhi, Ma Wensheng, Minister of the Ministry of War at the time, said, "Even though they are sent to the guard, there are often ninety-nine people who flee with them." Even after cleaning up the generals' retainers, only [-]% were cleared. Due to the large shortage of troops, this is just a drop in the bucket.

In the fifth and eighth years of Hongzhi, Zhang Tai, the censor of the patrol, went to Shu one after another: many fertile fields in Ganzhou were occupied by the general soldiers and eunuchs, and the food and clothing of the garrison officers and soldiers were insufficient. To the point of freezing to death!
In addition, not only the soldiers who came to Beijing to change their defenses were enslaved, but also the soldiers of the Beijing Division's "12th Regiment Battalion" could not escape the suffering of corvee.Among the [-] elite soldiers in the regiment battalion, as many as [-] are selected to work every year, and they go there for two to three years. Therefore, even the soldiers of the Beijing camp who are paid relatively "better" than other frontier troops escape.

Therefore, Gao Yushi has long believed that if the system of the guards does not change, and the system of returning soldiers does not change, this military reform will be useless to anyone, and even if Gao Yushi rolls up his sleeves, nothing will be done. Mostly just like Li Hongzhang's self-deprecating back then, he was just a "paper maker".

But the paperworker's work can only scare people, and it's not like he didn't do it. For example, the Jinghua Gun Factory and the Jinghua Cannon Factory are typical paperworkers' work-not for him Jinghua Group, but definitely for Daming!

As far as he knows, Jinghua has provided more than 11 Longqing II guns to the armies of the Nine Frontiers, and more than [-] artillery pieces of various sizes, but no one can guarantee how useful they will be.

These things are definitely useful in the hands of the Qi family army, Li family army, and Ma family army, but if they are sent to the guards, they may still be fire sticks.

Why?People can't even eat, fight a fart battle, sell a fart life!Are you a Red Army soldier?
Take a look at the memorials of these two officials of science and Taoism, "Please stop the work of the squadron and order the officers and troops of each capital to carry equipment and practice together with the original battalion. If there is a project, the Ministry of Industry will find husband and silver to recruit Gather all the rations, salt, and silver of each army, and the border ministers, even if they are honored, are not allowed to make false invitations against the prohibition."

This is about the issue of the imperial court, nobles, and border ministers using the army to work at will. It can be seen that these two old men are quite courageous and dare to point out this matter.

But it’s useless, this matter is now an endless loop: the soldiers in the guards are short of money and refuse to train and fight hard-the court thinks that the soldiers in the guards are incompetent and can only do public work-the soldiers in the guards are even more short of money and can only work, More unwilling to train hard and fight——

Endless, worse and worse.

Gao Wushi asked Zhu Yijun to investigate the land of Xungui before. Zhu Yijun has started to do this for nearly a year. The effect is somewhat, but not great, and even caused a little trouble.

Don't get me wrong, it's not that any nobleman dared to rebel after eating a leopard, but that the officers and soldiers below made a few commotions.

It sounds amazing, the emperor took back the occupied military fields and distributed them to you, but you are still making a fuss, is there something wrong with your brain?

It's really not.

Because the field is allocated to you, although you may not need to do the work and farming that you were supposed to do in the past, you have to go to practice and fight when you have to.But these people's ancestors have not practiced or fought for many generations, and have completely become farmers and handymen. Now let them go to fight, of course they are neither willing nor willing.

What's more, those things of working and farming may be paid back even more by the "bleeding" nobles.

What the hell is this?No wonder there was no commotion.

But things will be difficult in this way. It is impossible to eradicate Xungui. If Xungui is really eradicated, the emperor will be alone, and he will not be bullied to death by the civil official group?

So now this matter has reached a stalemate. If you don't know Zhang Xun Guitianmu, the next clearing work will not be done; .

Therefore, the two science and Taoist officials who inspected the Beijing camp this time did not dare to make any suggestions for "making a big news". Don't look at the seven items mentioned, in fact, they are spinning around two things: money and food and discipline.

But since they dare not take the guard system as an example, Gao Yushi can only give this evaluation:
You're right, it's useless.

However, Guo Pu is not asking him to give his opinion on the reform of the military system of Ming Dynasty, but to tell him about the Great Review, so Gao Yushi can only suppress his dissatisfaction, put down this memorandum, and said: "Should the imperial court agree? "

Guo Pu raised his eyebrows slightly and said, "Naturally."

Gao Wushi smiled meaninglessly, and said, "I'm afraid these things won't see any effect for a while. How can we organize this grand parade based on these alone?"

Guo Pu sighed sadly, and said: "When Su Qing was here, the purge of the frontier army was quite effective, but he didn't have the time to move much in the Beijing camp. When it came time to serve as a teacher and govern, the situation in the court was different. It is not easy for Xiao Guicao to be able to deal with the fluctuations, let alone attack the Beijing camp easily. Looking at the current situation, it may not be easy for the Beijing camp to even mobilize [-] reasonable troops. But how can it be good..."

It's not that my third uncle doesn't have the time to take care of the Beijing camp, it's that he can't even do anything!
Gao Wushi sighed inwardly, and secretly said: The issue of the Beijing camp is ultimately a matter of the guards, and the issue of the guards is ultimately a matter of money, not just a matter of nobles.To be honest, I have a way to solve it, but it requires a lot—no, it is backed by a huge amount of money, and then it is processed in batches and regions.You keep telling me now, I'm not a god, and I can't solve it!
However, Guo Pu was his mentor after all, and the last major matter before he stepped down had to be done properly. Even if it was impossible to solve it completely, at least he had to be able to get past it at the time.

In fact, although the Beijing Camp is rubbish, it is not enough to fail to recruit even [-] people who can see through. The key is that the nobles have been inspected for nearly a year, and they have resentment in their hearts. They will definitely not actively cooperate. .

To let them actively cooperate, even the emperor would not have the face now, after all Qingzhang and their fields were ordered by the emperor.

The only person who can make them face, there is one and only one in the world: I am highly pragmatic.

"If Yuanfu can trust the lower officials, Yuanfu doesn't have to ask about this matter. I just ask Yuanfu to give the lower officials a three-day holiday. After three days, the lower officials must give Yuanfu an explanation."

Gao Yushi changed his tone and made a promise.
-
Thanks to book friends "andychen236", "Chu Keqi", "Lu Senah", "Frost Aquarius", "Xuanyouming", "ASolaF", "Nunn in Disrepair" for their monthly support.It is said that yesterday was more than [-] in the third watch, so I wrote it wrong.Today is estimated to be three more.

(End of this chapter)