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Chapter 752 New Military System 5
Hong Tao has not yet figured out the difference between the actual number of people and the false number of people in the remaining garrisons, and has no suitable place to arrange them, so he will keep them intact for the time being and slowly disband them. Anyway, the garrisons cannot be kept, they are really useless.

In addition to the garrisons, the Ming Dynasty also had nearly one million official troops, or border troops. Some of these soldiers were strong and strong from the garrisons in various places, and some were recruited. They were stationed at the borders and key points of various provinces all year round. They belonged to the regular army of the Ming Dynasty and were also the focus of the most money and food consumption.

Starting from the fifth year of Jingyang's reign, Hong Tao began to disband the border troops. By abolishing Liaodong Town, the original border troops in various towns in Liaodong were first disbanded, with a total number of about 9.

After the Battle of Chaoyang Gate, the three major camps in the capital, which had performed extremely poorly, suffered almost all losses and were no longer replenished. The establishment of about 11 people was left vacant, which was actually equivalent to nothing.

After Du Song took office as the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan and Li Ruzhang's army was formed, the border troops originally belonging to Shanhai Town, Ji Town, Changping Town, Miyun Town and Baoding Town were also gradually disbanded, with a total of about 9.

When the Battle of Xinghe City was won, Guihua City was occupied, and Sun Chengzong's army was formed, the border troops in Xuanfu, Datong and Ningxia were severely cut, with the number of layoffs reaching 15.

In this military reform, the original system of nine important border towns was completely abolished, and the army took over the defense along the Great Wall. Except for about 15 border troops who were left as auxiliary troops, more than half of the remaining troops were disbanded, and the remaining half were handed over to Sun Chengzong and incorporated into the new army.

So far, 60% of the nearly one million border troops have gone, and there are more than 400,000 left distributed in various provinces and prefectures. Hong Tao does not plan to take action against this part of the Ming regular army for the time being. It is still the old routine, sending people to secretly check the number, and it will not be too late to cut them off after getting the first-hand data.

This task fell to the Army General Staff and Sun Chengzong. The Ministry of War would send army officers and staff to various garrisons on the pretext of organizing a new army, observe their strengths and weaknesses through training, and evaluate the necessity of their existence.

At present, the number of troops available to Hong Tao is seriously insufficient, so he smashed the old system in one go. There is army defense in the north and east, and navy guards at sea and in coastal city ports, but the west and southwest regions are like sheep, and it will be very troublesome once chaos breaks out.

There is no way. It is very troublesome to change. The longer it exists and the larger it is, the more difficult it is to change. Sometimes it is even impossible to touch it.

For a time traveler like Hong Tao, who started out as an emperor, fifteen years was just the beginning. If he wanted to make a complete change, he would probably have to spend at least another fifteen years.

Why are there so few successful politicians who have committed to reform in history? Hong Tao believes that it is not because they are not smart enough or lack the ability, but mainly because life is short.

Think about it, how long does it take for an official to climb to a position with the power to reform? He must first pass the imperial examination. If we calculate it at a relatively fast speed, then passing the imperial examination at the age of 25 is not too late, right?
Assuming that he was granted an official position back then, and had a very capable tutor and was appreciated by the emperor, and he climbed up step by step without missing a step, to become a minister of one of the six ministries or a cabinet minister, 20 years would not be a long time, right?
Well, the 45-year-old minister of real power, who was highly appreciated by the emperor, could start the reform. The first 15 years had passed, and he had worked hard to overcome all difficulties. The reform had just started and had achieved some small results. He looked in the mirror, his hair and beard were gray, he was an old man in his sixties, and half of his teeth had fallen out. He had no energy left even when he entered the brothel.

Well, I was born with strong energy and good health, and I still worked hard despite many obstacles. Then another 15 years passed, and the reform is on the fast track, but it is still a long way from success. As the old saying goes, cutting off someone's financial resources is like killing his parents. As long as it is reform, there is no such thing as a harmonious and peaceful reform. There are more enemies than friends in the government and the opposition, and more people applaud than help.

Look in the mirror again, you are almost 80! Can you still persevere for another 15 years to thoroughly complete the reform? Even if you can, can the emperor who appreciates you do the same? Two long-lived turtles have become a pair, and they have been inseparable for decades?
As long as the emperor wavers or changes the emperor, the reform will most likely fail. No matter how many 15 years it has been, as long as it is not finally completed, the successor to power must smash it to pieces, fully demonstrating the correctness of their decision to drive you out of power.

In fact, most politicians who are energetic enough to play the reform game do not have such a long time available, at most 20 years. It is not that they lack ability or wisdom, but that they really do not have enough time.

There is a saying in later generations about longevity. If technology is advanced in the future and people can live to 200 years old, what impact will it have on society? There must be many, in all aspects, but the most core and the most influential one should be the political structure.

Imagine if politicians from all over the world knew in advance that they could live to be 200 years old like Hong Tao did. How would they adjust their political rhythm? What would they pursue? Isn't it a bit scary to think about it!
The navy, army, and new army were officially incorporated into the regular army of the Ming Dynasty. It was not enough to have a military organization, but they also needed uniforms. The original weapons and armor of the Ming army were definitely unusable, but it would be too wasteful to redesign the uniforms. What should they do?
According to Hong Tao, the imperial court was not rich yet, so money should be spent wisely. It was better to save money than to ride a bicycle to a nightclub. As for research and development, manufacturing weapons, and improving the treatment of soldiers, then there was no doubt that they should all be done according to high standards.

However, there is no need to design and sew new uniforms on a large scale. The navy and army still use the original black and yellow, blue and green camouflage uniforms. The new army is more convenient. They wear navy uniforms on the upper body and army uniforms on the lower body. Anyway, it does not affect combat, and it is enough to distinguish between enemies and friends.

However, in order to show the honorary title, uniforms alone were not enough, and some conspicuous symbols had to be added. Ming officials used a piece of embroidered cloth sewn on the chest to distinguish their ranks, which was called a patch.

The pattern for civil officials is flying birds, and the pattern for military officials is walking animals. There are nine ranks from the first to the ninth, which is why they are called beasts in human clothing. In addition, the robes are different in color, so you can roughly tell the specific ranks at a glance from a distance.

As for the soldiers, most of the northern frontier troops wore red coats and iron helmets. This is a kind of cotton clothing with red outside and black inside, which has certain defensive capabilities and can resist severe cold. The southern garrison troops have more clothing styles, some are made of bamboo, some are made of rattan, some are barefoot, and some wear straw sandals.

However, it is not easy to distinguish between sergeants and squad leaders. Only some special soldiers, such as messengers, will wear belts of other colors.

Hong Tao did not intend to continue the rank identification system of the Ming and Qing armies, as it was too expensive and impractical. He decided to copy the shoulder and armbands of later generations, which were simple, cheap, and easy to identify.

(End of this chapter)