Late Ming sea owl

Chapter 127 Organization and Officers

He Rubin took the letter handed to him by Lin Hai. It was a letter asking him to transfer firearms to Zhoushan Zhongzhong. It was stamped with the official seal of Haiphong Road.

After briefly reading the contents of the handbook, He Rubin asked Lin Hai: "I heard that nephew Deng Wanxian wants to recruit an additional group of recruits. Is this relevant?"

Lin Hai did not deliberately conceal the recruitment of troops in Zhoushan. He also made this clear to his military attachés when selecting talents in Zhongzhong.

After all, he still has to use the barracks and school grounds of the Zhongzhong Institute, so this matter cannot be hidden. He Rubin is the person with the highest official position on Zhoushan Island, so naturally he has heard about it.

"To be honest with Mr. Zhong Sheng, this junior does have this intention." Lin Hai said and added, "This junior made a special trip to Haiphong Road to ask Hong Daozun for the weapons and weapons he needed. Unexpectedly, Hong Daozun only gave this junior the weapons and weapons. , saying that the firearms here are of better quality, so I had no choice but to shamelessly come to ask for help."

"It's not a busy matter. Even if there is no letter from Hong Daozun, I can help you as long as I can with just a word from my nephew." He Rubin said and added, "I also heard about you reprimanding the military officials in Cengang Division that day. "At that time, I knew that my nephew must be familiar with the art of war. I have also devoted myself to the art of Sun Wu since childhood. I wonder what military books and strategies my nephew has read?"

Lin Haidao: "It's a coincidence that the first military book read by this junior is "Military Records" by Zhong Shenggong. In my humble opinion, Zhong Shenggong's book is actually the masterpiece of military strategists..."

"Don't flatter me." He Rubin smiled and waved his hand to interrupt Lin Hai, "Although my book is widely circulated, it is just a piece of wisdom. How can it deserve such praise from my nephew?"

What He Rubin said is correct. About half of "Bing Lu" was copied from "Wu Jing Zong Yao" edited by Zeng Gongliang of the Northern Song Dynasty, and the other half was copied from Ming Dynasty military books including "Ji Xiao Xinshu".

"Zhong Shenggong is too self-effacing. "Military Records" captures the best of all families and eliminates the bad to retain the best. Lin plans to promote it among military attachés in the future." Lin Hai can always find an angle to flatter He Rubin, but he This is also true.

Also copying books, Mao Yuanyi copied a 240-volume "Military Bei Zhi" with a total of more than 200 million words, while He Rubin's "Bing Lu" only had 20 words. This is the difference between a scholar who has never been on the battlefield and a general with actual combat experience. difference.

The flattery hit the mark, and He Rubin naturally took advantage of it. He stroked his beard and said: "When I originally compiled this book, I wanted to achieve the effect of being moderate in length and eclectic at the same time. The wise nephew's words are worthy of my close friend." "

As he spoke, the conversation suddenly changed: "I heard that my nephew has been in the West for a long time. I wonder if he knows anything about Western guns?"

Lin Hai nodded and said: "This junior knows a thing or two."

He Rubin then took out a handwritten booklet from the bookshelf and handed it to Lin Haida: "My dear nephew, how about reading this book?"

Lin Hai took the book and looked at it, and saw "Pictures of Western Fire Attack" written on it. The authors were Zhang Tao and Sun Xueshi.He had never seen this military book in the Ming Dynasty or in later generations, and the two authors had never heard of it.

When I opened it and took a quick look, I saw illustrations of war guns, attacking guns, and defensive guns inside. They looked familiar, as if I had seen them somewhere.

Suddenly Lin Hai's heart moved, and he remembered that the "Military Records" of later generations seemed to involve Western cannons, but there was no relevant content in the Ming Dynasty engravings he saw not long ago, and he immediately understood that He Rubin was planning to copy the book again. .

The object he wanted to copy was the "Pictures of Western Fire Attack" which was unknown in later generations. The "Bing Lu" that Lin Hai saw in later generations should be the version added by He Rubin.

Lin Hai asked: "Where did you get this book? Who are Zhang Tao and Sun Xueshi?"

"This is a manuscript I got by accident. The two old men who wrote it have never heard of it." He Rubin continued, "I have never heard of such a big gun. Is there really such a magical weapon in the West?"

"Indeed, I have seen it with my own eyes." Lin Hai was also a little surprised. It was already the end of the fifth year of Tianqi, and the Hongyi cannon would be used in actual combat in the Battle of Ningyuan next year. I didn't expect that a senior general like He Rubin had never heard of it. explain.

It can only be said that the Ming army at this time is in disarray. There are too many internal hills. It would be good if they do not sell teammates to each other, and there is no information sharing.This is also one of the consequences of using civil society to control military force. The organization of the Ming army can no longer support a battle on the scale of a national war. This is also a major advantage of the Later Jin Dynasty over the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, there are many examples of the Ming army defeating Hou Jin in small-scale battles, but as long as the battle is almost completely lost, the organizational gap is a very important reason.

He Rubin asked again: "Then what is said in this book, is it reliable?"

"I don't know about this junior, but I do recognize the two barbarians, both of whom personally shot down Western muskets. If Zhong Shenggong wants to verify whether the information contained in this book is reliable, he might as well let the junior copy this book. One copy, waiting for me to send it to those two barbarians, Zhang Zhangyan."

Lin Hai didn't know whether the contents in this book were reliable or not. If he wanted proof, he could only go to Miguel and Jin Xi.However, He Rubin's cautious attitude in copying the book made him quite admired. At least he was not like Mao Yuanyi, who said nonsense like the powerful cannon can hit twenty miles.

Of course, some records of the Qing army in later generations are even more ridiculous. The artillery of the Yuan Dynasty can shoot for thirty miles, and the Qing army's own coastal artillery can shoot for seventy miles. Why don't you go to heaven?
"Then I'll leave it to my nephew." He Rubin added, "It would be better if I could get the real thing and let me check it myself."

"As entrusted by Duke Zhong Sheng, I will do my best." Lin Hai had a good impression of He Rubin, so he nodded and agreed. It was too easy for him to get a few Hongyi cannons. They could just dismantle them from the Bowang.

After talking about the military book, He Rubin added: "Since my nephew wants to train in the army, I have a nephew here who wants to be assigned to my nephew's army. I wonder what my nephew wants?"

"This... Zhong Shenggong's clan nephew went to Lin's army, wouldn't it have delayed his future?" Lin Hai subconsciously declined.

If he had not met Wu Guoyi, he would have originally planned to recruit someone from He Rubin. After all, he had given generous gifts to others, and ordinary people could not ask for the calligraphy treasures of the literary leader.

But now He Rubin took the initiative to send people to his place, and the person he sent was his own nephew, which made Lin Hai a little confused about what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd.

Just listen to He Rubin say: "Good nephew, don't worry, I just want to help you. This nephew of my family, his parents died when he was young, has always been with me. He has been passionate about martial arts since he was a child. He has also read My wise nephew will certainly be able to use his military books and strategies."

He said that without waiting for Lin Hai's reply, he directly called the maid waiting at the side and said: "Go and call Ying'er over."

After a while, a brave young man with a height of seven feet walked in. He looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. He was wearing a purple flower armor and had a handsome appearance. Even the skin on his face and hands was darker.

"My nephew meets my uncle." The young man saluted He Rubin. "Nephew Deng Wanxian, this nephew of my family is entrusted to you. You can test his military skills and hire him according to his talents. If my nephew violates military law, you can handle it as much as possible without looking at my face. .”

Two days later, Lin Hai left Zhoushan by boat, taking Wu Guoyi, He Ying, Zhou Yifa, Feng Yidao and others. He Ying was the nephew who was forced on him by He Rubin.

Before leaving, Lin Hai specially tested He Ying's military skills with Wu Guoyi, and found that what He Rubin said was true. This boy is indeed very skilled, especially good at using spears. He has also read several military books. Compared with the one issued on Monday, A self-taught dabbler is still much better. For the current Lin Hai, he is indeed a talent.

Since this was the case, Lin Hai was too lazy to figure out what kind of medicine He Rubin was selling in his gourd. He would use it first.If you find something wrong with this person in the future, just find another reason to send him back.

As for what He Rubin said about engaging in military law, if the leader puts his relatives into your department and asks you to beat, scold, or behead them, do you dare?
Lin Hai is really brave. Since ancient times, famous generals have always had excellent military skills. Sun Wuzi killed King Wu's beloved concubine. Zhou Yafu didn't let Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty ride his horse in the military camp. If he didn't even dare to deal with He Rubin's nephew, there would be no need to bring this soldier. .

Fortunately, this He Ying still seemed relatively low-key and humble, and did not have any dandy habits. Otherwise, Lin Hai would have stood up to He Rubin no matter what, which would be better than having to kill his nephew in the future.

Lin Hai has no plans to let He Ying go to the battlefield for the time being. He is just using him to train troops first. After all, he is currently short of available officers. He Ying is no problem at least in terms of ability.

Everyone took a boat to the Wushan Grottoes in Ninghai County. This quarry is located on the coast of the East China Sea. Not only is there a lot of stone, but there is a seaport nearby for easy transportation. Therefore, people have been quarrying here since the Sui Dynasty and have been doing so for thousands of years.

As early as the Song Dynasty, there had been large-scale commercial mining here. In the Ming Dynasty, it was abolished due to the Jiajing Japanese pirates. It began to flourish again in the late Ming Dynasty.

When Lin Hai and others arrived at Wushan Grottoes, there were still two days before the agreed recruitment date. They saw that there were at least thousands of quarrymen in the mine, far more than the thousands mentioned by Hong Chengchou.

Most of these people have good looks and their clothes are in rags. It is obvious that they all come from poor backgrounds and have been squeezed miserably by the mine owner.

Mining is not an easy job. During the Zhengtong period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a ban on private mining. Government mine workers generally came from military households, prisoners, refugees, etc. They all came from the bottom of society. Among them, military households were in the mines. His status is higher, but he is still the target of being exploited.

By the late Ming Dynasty, the ban on private mining had long been a dead letter. Many mines were run by local dignitaries, and the same was true for the Wushan Grottoes. The sources of the miners were landless farmers in Ningbo, Shaoxing, and Taizhou or refugees from other places.

Although Zhejiang is rich, it is narrow and mountainous, and it was the most populous province in the Ming Dynasty. There was never a shortage of farmers who were bankrupt and lost their land, and many refugees from other provinces also liked to go to Zhejiang.

"The source of soldiers here is good." Lin Hai pointed to the quarrymen who worked hard under the whip of the supervisor and said to Wu Guoyi, He Ying, and Yi Yifa.

These three people are the only officer candidates he currently has. When Qi Jiguang was recruiting troops in Yiwu, the sentry commander and captain were temporarily selected from the newly recruited soldiers, but the sentry officer had been selected in advance.

Lin Hai didn't have as many talents as Qi Jiguang's men, so he originally planned to select the first-level sentinels from miners.But after having He Ying, he temporarily decided to copy Qi Jiguang's method.

After all, the sentry officer level has a direct gunner, which is equivalent to the lowest level combat unit with a mixture of hot and cold weapons. It is difficult for a miner with no concept of military knowledge to be qualified as a sentry officer, and the growth period required is too long.

As for the establishment of the army, it will be determined based on the existing number of officers, that is, two officers, and the sentry officers will be He Ying and Yi Yifa respectively.At the same time, He Ying also serves as the gunmanship instructor, and Yiyi Fa also serves as the gunman instructor. These two weapons are the main output of the Yuanyang Formation.

However, the official organization sounded a bit awkward to Lin Hai, and it was easy to confuse the sentry officer and the sentry commander. After discussing with Wu Guoyi, Lin Hai decided to slightly modify the organization name in the "New Book of Jixiao".

When Qi Jiguang fought against the Japanese in the south, he mainly used infantry. The organization of the troops below the battalion general was organized according to the general, officer, sentry, and team. Officers at all levels were called general, sentry officer, sentry commander, and captain.

After arriving at Ji Town, firstly, there were more troops under their command, and secondly, the Qi army changed from mainly infantry to equipped with vehicles, cavalry and foot.Therefore, Qi Jiguang changed the formation of horse and infantry in each battalion into five levels: department, division, bureau, flag, and team. Officers at all levels below the battalion general were called Qian Zong, Ba Zong, Bai Zong, Banner Zong, and Team Zong.

Finally, Lin Hai and Wu Guoyi discussed and decided that the newly recruited army would be temporarily called the Zhoushan Battalion, which would be organized according to departments, bureaus, sentries, and teams. Officers at all levels below the battalion general would be called commanders, commanders, commanders, and captains.

Due to the limited number of troops and officers, only one division and two bureaus are currently established. Each bureau's four posts and each sentry's four teams are fully staffed in accordance with the "New Book of Discipline and Effectiveness". The numbers of troops at all levels are based on one, two, three, and four. Arranged in order, instead of front, back, center, left and right as used in the Ming Dynasty.

Wu Guoyi once raised objections to this point, because the designation and command system of the Ming Dynasty troops were compatible, and the five square flags, six Ding Liujia flags, and 28 Su flags were actually in corresponding directions.

However, Lin Hai was very determined and insisted on using numbers instead of directions as unit numbers, and said he would rather spend more time on flag and drum training. In the end, Wu Guoyi stopped insisting.

The reason why he insists on Qingshan on this issue is because the Ming army's troop organization lacks integrity. Each general has extremely limited troops. When a battle comes, civilians will command several military leaders. Such an army The organizational model cannot fight a national war.

Using numerical designations will not only make it more concise and clear when the number of troops increases, but it can also give a psychological hint that all troops are the same army. This is a very important thing in Lin Hai's opinion.

In this way, the middle and senior officers of the Zhoushan Battalion were naturally determined.

The camp commander is of course Lin Hai himself, and the officer in the camp is Wu Guoyi, who also serves as the first division commander.Zhou Yifa and He Ying were respectively responsible for the first bureau of the first division and the hundred generals of the second bureau.

After hearing what Lin Hai said, the three freshly-minted Zhoushan battalion officers nodded in agreement.

The three of them are all familiar with the "New Book of Jixiao". These quarry workers fully meet Qi Jiguang's selection criteria. They are from the countryside and are honest and obedient. Those who do not meet these two points will not work in this profession.

For example, Jiuzhi, people would rather beg for food in the city.Or like the two brothers Ruan Jin and Ruan Mei, one works part-time in a water bandit gang and the other works as a prostitute in a brothel.

　Thanks to Xiyu Beibei for the reward of 500 taels.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)