Haisheng Mingdi

Chapter 15 Erosion
Wu Kai, the general of Taizhou, was stationed at Haimen Weicheng and assisted in guarding the whole way.

Haimen Weicheng is adjacent to Jiaojiang River in the north and Taizhou Bay in the east. It was built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty to defend against Japanese pirates. Taizu ordered Xin Guogong Tanghe to patrol the sea and build cities in the southeast. Later, Haimen Weicheng was also one of the main battlefields where Qi Jiguang fought against the Japanese.

Next to the Town God's Temple is the Qi Jiguang Temple.

Zhu Yihai invited Wu Kai to visit Qi Jiguang.

"Haimen City and my Lu Fan also have a lot of connection, Xin Guogong Tang He is the Taishan Mountain of my ninth ancestor."

Tang He was the hero of the founding of the Ming Dynasty. Although he was not one of the six founders of the country, he was actually the top hero. When the Ming Dynasty was founded, there were actually more than 20 princes. .

Zhu Tan, the ninth ancestor of Zhu Yihai, was the tenth son of Taizu. He married Tang and his eldest daughter as his concubine when he was 14 years old. It was absurd, which led Zhu Yuanzhang to shave off Zhu Tan's hair in a rage, and executed Princess Lu to death.

But thinking about the relationship with Tang He's old brother, Zhu Yuanzhang later decreed that Tang He's second daughter was concubine Lu.

Haimen City was built by Tang He to patrol the sea. Many years later, his son-in-law, the ninth grandson of King Luhuang, chose this place as the place to start his army.

"The ancestor of the last general was the first batch of generals who were ordered to guard the gates of Taiwan Strait after patrolling the sea in the southeast with Duke Xin. My Wu family has lived in Haimen for eleven generations." Wu Kai said.

"Hahaha, speaking of it this way, we really have a very close relationship, no wonder we hit it off right away and felt so close." Zhu Yihai laughed heartily.

Wu Kai was no longer as shocked as he was at the beginning. This bear-like Fatty Wu once again displayed his excellent flattering skills.

Both of them wanted to get close, and for a while they seemed extremely warm.

"Taizhou is a good place. Back then, Qi Jiguang trained troops here to fight against the Japanese, but he established a Qi family army that was victorious in every battle. Now that the country is in peril, the imperial court is at the time of employing people. The country is in trouble and thinks of good generals. General Wu is alone. I'm relying on you."

"The Haimenwei Association has 3000 people, how many people can use it, tell Gu the truth."

After chatting for a while, and paying respects to Qi Jiguang, Zhu Yihai cut to the chase and asked the most concerned question.

Isn't the purpose of rushing for hundreds of miles just to gain a little strength and hope to change his fate against the sky?
Qi Jiguang Temple is next to the Town God's Temple in the east of the city. On one side is Dongyue Temple and on the other side is Wenchang Temple. After several temples, there is Dongshan Mountain, which extends eastward to the riverside, forming a cow head neck in the northeast corner of the city, like an old cow exploring the neck of Jiaojiang River. drinking water.

In addition to the Jiaojiang River in the north and Taizhou Bay in the east, the Haimen Acropolis has three moats on the other two sides. This Acropolis has been built for nearly 300 years. It was originally a military base for Japanese defense, but until now, Zhu Yihai felt that it was here. More like an ordinary county town.

Although there are three moats and five city gates, you don't feel much of a military fortress, and even after entering the city, you don't see many real soldiers.

Even Counselor Wu Kai is dressed in silk robes, like an official and a gentleman.

Haimen City is smaller than the state capital Linhai, the streets are not so wide, and the city is not so big, but it has a strong atmosphere of life, especially because it is close to Taizhou Bay, so there are more boats and goods at the pier.

Although the wind and rain are precarious and the current situation is turbulent, the people here are still living habitually. Although some gentlemen, businessmen and merchants have left early, the rest of them are still repeating their lives.

There was no mobilization for war, no increased alert defense.

It is said that business women don't know the hatred of subjugation, and they still sing about flowers in the backyard across the river.

The situation at Haimen Guard's place made Zhu Yihai feel that his expectations for this battalion had been greatly lowered.

Wu Kai murmured, "The last general will guard Haimen all the way, and the 3000-man battalion under his command will be divided into five battalions, front, rear, left, middle, and right..."

Zhu Yihai was not interested in these words.

He interrupted his nonsense directly, "Wu Qing, Gu now regards you as my confidant, so you don't need to tell Gu about those scenes, just tell the most truthful situation."

Wu Kai looked at Zhu Yihai secretly. This young Lu Wang gave him a very unusual feeling. When the Ming Dynasty collapsed and perished, such a young vassal prince not only refused to surrender to the Qing Dynasty, but also refused to escape, but stood up bravely He ascended the throne and supervised the country to fight against the Qing Dynasty.

He observed carefully for a long time, and basically confirmed the fact that this Lu Jianguo is not the kind of fool who wants to sit on the supreme position for a while, nor is he a lunatic who doesn't care about anything when his head is hot.

He's organized, and he's definitely a smart guy.

Thinking of this, Wu Kai told the truth in a very simple way.

Haimen Guard City was built to defend against the Japanese. After the city was built, Haimen Guards were set up to guard military households and guarded from generation to generation. Haimen Guards originally had 600 people, and they were divided into several offices, commanded by the Commander of Zhejiang Province.

Later, because of the harassment of Japanese pirates, six new anti-Japanese generals were added along the coast of Zhejiang. The six generals were equivalent to the level of the Xingdusi, and they were divided into coastal guards.

However, after the mid-Ming Dynasty, the guard system basically collapsed and corrupted.

In the early years, the imperial court designed by Taizu did not need to spend money to raise soldiers, but the guard system with millions of troops was completely broken. Most of the military fields in the guard were occupied by officers, and the sergeants in the guard were reduced to tenants of the officers. The days were miserable, and the soldiers of the guards were also neglected in training, so they couldn't fight at all.

During the Jiajing period, the Japanese invasion was serious, and the southeast guards were unbearable, so the imperial court had no choice but to start recruiting soldiers as they did in the north.

Zhejiang set up the Chief Military Officer of Zhenwa, and then set up several generals. For example, Qi Jiguang was the first Taijinyan general. The soldiers even directly recruited miners and peasants as soldiers.

So from the guard army, it became a battalion soldier.

Qi Jiguang, the ginseng general, is the coordinating battalion soldiers, which are already two different systems from the Haimen guards and other original guards.

Most of the battalion officers came from the guards. For example, Qi Jiguang was also an officer of the hereditary guards, and so was Wu Kai.

Wu Kai's Haimen general is exactly the follow-up of Qi Jiguangtai Jin Yan's general, but now there is no defense area as large as the previous three prefectures, and there is only one prefecture in Taizhou, which is stationed at Haimen.

The 3000 troops under his command were also transferred and recruited from Haimenwei and other guards. These soldiers were seconded and more recruited. They were not hereditary military households but civilians, and they were paid.

However, in these years, the imperial court has been fighting everywhere, suppressing bandits in the interior and capturing captives on the nine borders. Although the levy has been raised repeatedly, it is still not enough for military expenditures, let alone the non-critical places in the southeast.

It costs money to raise soldiers, and it is difficult for a clever concubine to cook without rice.

Wu Kai was originally the hereditary commander of the Haimen Guards, and later became a general in Taizhou all the way. He has some skills, but he can't make money for nothing to raise soldiers. What's more, these days, generals drink soldiers' blood and rely on this to make a fortune.

The officers of the guards exploited the military households, while the battalion military officers withheld military pay and so on.

Anyway, it was rotten from top to bottom, even before the military salary was paid, it had to be deducted layer by layer first, and in the hands of the generals below, there was not much left.

"How many soldiers are there that can be drawn out to fight!" Zhu Yihai saw that Wu Kaiyue's voice became softer, impatiently directing to the core.

"..."

Seeing that he couldn't explain why, Zhu Yihai thought of the corrupt army at the end of Ming Dynasty, and made the worst plan, "You have 3000 troops in Taizhou battalion, can you fight three hundred?"

Wu Kai still didn't speak.

Now Zhu Yihai was also stunned.

Still on the side, King Chuangzi of the Yongwei Battalion knows Daming's army better. Even the most capable Guanning Army has many problems, let alone these troops in the southeast. It was the Yiwu miners who were recruited instead of guards and military households.

"How many members of General Wu's servants are there?" Wang Chuangzi asked directly.

"20 people." Wu Kai answered truthfully.

"Is it only twenty?"

"Well, the householder's support expenses are too high, and I can't afford it if there are too many." Wu Kai saw that Wang Xiang directly asked the servant, and knew that he couldn't hide it from the old lady of the Yongwei camp, so he simply said, "Taizhou camp roster There are 3000 people, but in the past few years, the food and pay have not been able to meet intermittently..."

In Wu Kai's words, when he was promoted to Haimen General, there was a big problem here. He said that there were 3000 people. In fact, after he took office, he counted and found that there were only 120 people in each of the five battalions, and the rest were only [-] people. false name.

If these 600 people are real, it's not bad at all.

But the problem is that it is difficult to support 600 people without money, so in the end, Wu Kai himself raised [-] elite servants, and each of the five battalions raised [-] soldiers. Wu Kai had already let them fend for themselves, and did not ask them to go to the camp for training or anything.

Some of these soldiers worked at the pier, some worked in shops, and some went out to sea to do business, some even did smuggling, and some served as guards for others. Anyway, they made a living by themselves.

Zhu Yihai was really shocked this time.

"The generals of Haimen guard the whole way. There are 3000 people in the Haimen battalion. There are only [-] well-trained and well-equipped elite servants, plus [-] battalions?"

The Haimen Camp with 3000 people turned out to have only 120 people.

Just now Zhu Yihai thought no matter how bad it was, there should be at least one-third or at least five or six hundred people.

Who would have thought that the 3000-strong Haimen Battalion actually had only 120 soldiers?
Wang Chuangzi was not surprised, "Your Highness, it is not unusual for soldiers from the southeast battalion to be like this."

Thinking that there were more than 30 Jinling and Hangzhou Tartars and surrendered troops, but his battalion here was only [-], Zhu Yihai felt like giving up at this moment.

Wu Kai also felt embarrassed.

"If Your Highness needs it, the general will recruit people here. Give the general three days, no, ten days, and the general will guarantee to recruit 3000 people."

Zhu Yihai shook his head.

This temporary recruitment of 3000 people is a fart.

"You 120 people, can you really fight?" Zhu Yihai turned his head and asked.

"The last general's twenty servants all have armor and mounts, are proficient in bows and horses, and are also proficient in firearms. They are all equipped with knives, shields, bows, arrows, and blunderbusses. Ten." Wu Kai said with some pride, he spent a lot of money to feed these twenty servants, and each household paid two taels of silver in real money, and they were fed three times a day, and one meal of meat in two days.

The blunderbuss and muskets are not for sale, but for target practice with live ammunition every now and then. As a Haimen general, he relies on these twenty elite servants to help him control the situation.

As for the other 100 people, in fact, they are basically servants raised by his officers at all levels, and they are all guaranteed food, equipment and training.

Zhu Yihai understood that the so-called 120 elite Haimen guards were more like the bodyguards of the officers of the Haimen Battalion.

There are four generals under the chief army officer of Zhejiang, Hangjiahu generals, Ningshao generals, Taizhou generals and Wenchu ​​generals.The 3000-man battalion of the Taizhou generals is so corrupt, and the other three generals are probably not much better.

The Tartars have an army of 30 in the south of the Yangtze River. Could it be that Zhu Yihai should take these two hundred people to fight?

(End of this chapter)