I have a cornucopia

Chapter 339 King Yang Releases Military Power with a Cup of Wine
After burying Wu Sangui, King Yang returned to Nanjing.

The Ming Dynasty finally came to peace.

It is truly peaceful.

Let alone a large-scale war, even the chieftains in the southwest dare not cause chaos now.

After all, the current military advantage of the Ming Dynasty is recovering to the level of the early Ming Dynasty. It is said that during the time of Zhu Yuanzhang, they took the initiative to build roads to facilitate the Ming army to suppress them. These chieftains are all smart people. Their bottom line is actually to change the chieftains into officials. As long as they are not changed, then let alone the current Ming Dynasty, even in the past they would have no motivation to cause chaos.

And change the land to flow...

Yang Fengcai is not interested in this!
How could he possibly want to reform the feudal system when he was already playing with the separatist regimes?

Besides, what these chieftains want is nothing more than to ride roughshod over their subjects, so not only should we not interfere with them, but their power should be protected.

As long as they pay their taxes honestly.

Tusi also have to pay taxes, but it is a tax-farming system. Of course, the court's inability to collect taxes is another matter. After all, in the past, the court did not even have the ability to collect taxes from the gentry, but they still need to pay taxes. Now that Her Majesty has taken over, they will definitely pay taxes. In addition, there is the problem of the guards in the southwest. The corruption of the latter is the key to the Tusi's courage to cause trouble. As long as those guards are still useful, the Tusi will not dare to cause trouble, so the transformation of the guards is the key. But this is another project, and not only the southwest, but also the guards across the country need to be transformed. Next, King Yang will personally preside over the transformation...

After all, he is a military household.

As for the chieftains’ subjects, if they can’t stand this, they can run away!

The current Ming Dynasty no longer needs a pass, and the population can move freely. The subjects of the chieftains are of course also the population of the Ming Dynasty, so they have the right to leave. It is the chieftains' business if they don't let them go, but as long as they have the ability to leave, the local officials outside have no obligation to send them back. They can even be re-registered as stateless refugees, because the previous 20 years of chaos caused a large number of people to become refugees, and many of them hid in the mountains. Her Majesty the Queen specifically ordered these people to be re-registered and resettled nearby. As for where they were originally from, they can say it themselves. Where they say they are from, then that is where their original place is. Even if they can't remember it, the local officials can fill it in at will.

This kind of thing is not uncommon.

Twenty years of chaos.

In fact, many young people were born in this turbulent world. If there are no elders in their family, or if their elders have never told them where they were originally from, then of course they have no way of knowing where they were originally from.

Such information can be filled in by any local official.

Even if they speak the language of the southwestern chieftain area but fill in the north, no one will care.

Besides, what's so strange about this?

They fled and hid in the southwestern mountainous areas, and more than a decade was enough time for their accents to change.

Language can prove nothing.

And this project will continue.

If it is not possible to spend huge amounts of money and invest a large number of troops to eliminate the chieftains in the southwest by force, then the simplest solution is to allow them to oppress their subjects, but to accept them and register them as citizens outside, so as to encourage their subjects to flee, and even give them certain benefits, but disperse them, and eventually gradually drain the population under the chieftains' control.

Without population, it is just an empty shell.

It breaks if you poke it.

Of course, this project will not be effective in the short term, but fortunately, King Yang has enough time...

He is only in his twenties!
In this era, most local forces cannot outlast him.

There's no need to work hard if you can win easily.

As for the war outside the Great Wall, because the Empress and Yang Feng had no interest in retaking Liaoshen for the time being, the Qing Dynasty under the rule of Jirgalang had a bit of a last gasp. They quickly completed the reconquest of Korea and began to establish a stable rule. The Korean King Yi Jong fled to Jeonju and was protected by Lin Qingye. He once again requested the Ming Dynasty to send troops to rescue them. Looking at Lin Qingye's face, King Yang sent 10,000 troops to protect them.

Of course, that’s all.

There are all kinds of natural disasters everywhere in the Ming Dynasty, and there is also reconstruction in the north. It would cost a huge amount of money just to restore the canal, so there is no time to care about their lives.

However, the aiding Korean army still frightened the Qing army, which stopped at Cheongju, but turned its focus of attack to the Chungju route. In the end, it was unstoppable all the way, accompanied by a series of massacres, and killed all the way to Busan in one breath. Along the way, they forced people to shave their heads and change their clothes, and even rebuilt the Green Flag Army to recruit a large number of Koreans. Completely copied the previous set in Guannei, the earliest surrendered people in the north of Korea were incorporated into the Eight Banners Korea as loyal dogs, the surrendered Korean army in the south was incorporated into the Green Flag Army, the local tyrants were incorporated into slavery, and the resistance was suppressed by massacres in towns, and the control of all Korean territories except Jeolla was quickly established, and even contact with Japan began.

Of course, King Yang still didn't care.

Nanjing.

Yuejiang Tower.

This is newly built.

However, it is not used for viewing the scenery. It is actually the main fort of Lion Rock Fort. Even a large amount of cement was used in its construction, so its sturdiness is based on the standards of modern heavy artillery.

At least 155mm high-explosive bombs can't blow it up.

Then, with the addition of a large number of river-locking cannons, the Nanjing River at that time would be a suicide mission even if the third-level ships came over at dawn, not to mention at that time. In fact, even if the Victory was sent over, it would be sunk in the Yangtze River. Of course, the Victory could not make it over because it could not withstand the deep water.

"Everyone!"

King Yang held up his wine glass and looked at the commanders who were entering the court in front of him.

It’s time to solve the problem of the garrison.

In fact, the problem has been solved in most of the garrisons.

Northern Zhili, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Henan, all the garrisons no longer exist. Northern Zhili and Shanxi were purged for being traitors, including Xuanda. Although Xuanda later rebelled, it does not mean that the crime of surrendering to the Jianlu in the past is completely gone.

It is impossible to continue to let them inherit the command even for the thousand households and hundred households.

All the military households under his command were stripped of their citizenship and turned into civilians.

All the garrisons in Shaanxi were abolished by Li Zicheng during the reform of the battalion system.

Henan...

What other garrisons were there in Henan before, as they were all empty?

Among all the garrison systems in northern China, only Shandong Province has a complete system.

But Yang Feng from Shandong has the final say.

Only a part of Nanzhili remained in the south. After all, during the pseudo-Ming period before Huaixi, those remaining garrisons had also rebelled, including the ones in Fengyang. Of course, they would not be retained after the recovery. During the previous wars in Suzhou, Songjiang, Changzhou and Zhejiang, a large number of garrisons were also involved. After all, the garrison commanders had long been gentry by then, and they were also part of the gentry. Therefore, the garrisons in this area were also abolished by the empress, and all the military households were transferred to civilian registration, and some were still the households of the imperial farms of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The only ones that have not been abolished are those in western and southern Zhejiang that were not involved in the war, and several prefectures centered on Nanjing.

But in reality it is only in name.

After all, when the local elders' councils were in charge before, the generals of the garrisons had actually joined forces with them.

Military households were no longer considered military households. For example, the military households in the Nanjing garrisons were no different from civilians.

So all it takes is an imperial decree to abolish it.

Among the remaining provinces, the garrisons in the northern part of Huguang had long been gone. Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and Jianlu swept through time and time again. It was a miracle that they could still stay. Only the part south of the Yangtze River could basically be maintained...

However, some of them were eliminated by Li Zicheng, Jianlu, and Zhang Xianzhong.

Most of Jiangxi is still maintained. Then comes the key point.

Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan.

These five provinces remain intact.

Sichuan was in ruins, after all, Zhang Xianzhong would definitely not preserve anything there.

In front of Yang Feng were all the remaining hereditary commanders and deputy commanders of the guards. They were sitting around round tables, enjoying the food and wine, and looking at King Yang in the autumn breeze. They were ordered to come to the court, after all, most of them had never seen the empress, and now that the world had been settled, it was time for them to come and see her. However, only some of them had real power, and the others were just holding official positions.

Provinces like Jiangxi and Shandong had already merged with the gentry long ago, and there was no difference between the military households under their command and the civilian population. Even the grain that was originally required to be handed over to the garrisons was abolished.

The three southwestern provinces plus Guangxi and Xiangxi are the ones that still have some real strength.

Those in Guangdong and Fujian are similar to those in Shandong and Jiangxi.

Now, of course, everyone must be treated equally.

"I have also made it clear that the garrisons will definitely be abolished. Whether you like it or not, there will be no more garrisons in the future. The military households have defended the Ming Dynasty for nearly three hundred years. It is time to put down this burden. There will be no more military status in the future. All of them will be abolished and converted to civilian status."

Yang Feng said.

Reforming the Wei Suo system is too troublesome; it would be simpler to just abolish it and then create a new one.

After all, it's just a blank piece of paper to draw on.

The commanders looked at each other.

"Your Majesty, there are many chieftains in the southwest. If there are no guards to suppress them, they will inevitably cause chaos!"

An old commander said with a smile.

Others quickly followed suit.

"First, abolishing the garrisons does not mean that there will no longer be local garrisons. On the contrary, the garrisons will be strengthened. Secondly, there will indeed be no more military households, but all civilians will have the obligation to serve in the army. Military registration will no longer exist, but all citizens will be soldiers. The court will set up new imperial camps in the four provinces of Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan and Guizhou. Soldiers will be recruited locally, and military pay and other matters will be in accordance with the standards of the imperial camps in the capital. One or more armies will be maintained in each province for mobile operations. All young and strong people in the local area will be incorporated into the militia. The county will maintain a battalion, and the prefecture will maintain a brigade. They will conduct daily training and suppress local bandits. If there is a rebellion by the chieftain, they will assist the imperial camp in combat. However, the militia will not leave the prefecture without the order of the court.

From then on, all county magistrates, prefects and governors would hold both military and civilian positions and have the power to mobilize militia within the territory.

When necessary, call up all young and strong men.

It's not just about training to suppress bandits, it's also about repairing water conservancy projects and roads. Militia can also be recruited, and they will be paid half of the salary of the imperial camp during their service."

Yang Feng said.

The military pay for the imperial camp is six taels!
This number is actually a later standard, and basically all parties can give this number.

After all, the current grain prices in Ming Dynasty are still very high.

Six taels of silver could only buy six or seven dan of rice even in Jiangnan, which was about the same as the level of the Zhejiang Army during the Wanli period. The latter had a total of more than three taels of silver, which was equivalent to the purchasing power of six or seven dan of rice in the south. This purchasing power can be said to be the minimum standard to ensure that soldiers have the will to fight. This is all tested, but even half of this number is still a high income in the southwest.

Of course, high income is a guarantee that soldiers will be loyal to the queen.

After all, it is hard to say whether such cuts will lead to resistance or even rebellion.

Military households don’t.

They were eager to get rid of these generals.

The unanimous wish of military households in various places is to abolish military households and return them to civilian status.

But it is hard to say what will happen to the generals.

But as long as the garrisoned imperial camp and local militia are all loyal to the empress for the sake of silver, the generals can only endure it obediently. Besides, it is not going to deprive them of their wealth. They are all rich men, so why would they want to fight to the death!

Yang Feng was still willing to give some preferential treatment to the southwestern garrisons. After all, they had indeed fulfilled their duties to the Zhu family. After all, the southwestern garrisons did not welcome the Qing army like those in the north, and they still resisted in adversity.

"My family has been guarding Yunnan for the country for nearly three hundred years since the time of Emperor Taizu Gao. Even if I have no merits, I have worked hard. Now that the Empress has just established the new empire, how can you abandon us?"

A commander said with a sad face.

Others also made the same gesture, and some even stood up and knelt before Yang Feng.

"Three hundred years, everyone. With the merits of your ancestors, isn't three hundred years of prosperity and wealth enough? In other dynasties, how many noble families have inherited the throne for three hundred years? The Zhu family really deserves you. The military households under you are indeed getting more and more miserable, but which of you is not prosperous and wealthy? People should learn to be grateful. With the merits of your ancestors, you have enjoyed three hundred years of prosperity and wealth, which is enough. We are all from the same background, so don't put on these gestures in front of me.

Of course, even if Her Majesty shows mercy, it doesn't mean she will just ignore you.

The limit is sixty, and your salary will continue to be paid until you reach sixty.

Now, whoever accepts, drink this wine with me.

You all have hundreds of acres of fertile land, countless houses and shops. Even if you don't become an official, you will still have a good life. As for your children and grandchildren, you can send them to the capital to study. Her Majesty is about to build a university. They can all be sent to school by the Queen. The Queen will pay for the expenses during the period. After graduation, they will inevitably become officials. After all, the Queen still wants to treat you as her own people.

Of course, if you don’t give face to the Queen, you are no longer one of us.

Come, pick up your glass!"

Yang Feng said.

The commanders looked at each other, and then those from Shandong raised their glasses.

Of course, this was all arranged.

Then those in the south also raised their glasses, and they looked at those in the southwest together.

the latter……

The latter has no other choice.

No matter how they deal with it after they return, at least they have to drink this glass of wine now, and in fact, most of them also know that there is no other way to deal with it after they return. Now that the war in the north is over, there are more than 200,000 soldiers in the imperial camp alone, and it is also easy to transfer another 200,000 soldiers from the western army to the south. These are all elite troops. What can they use to fight?
What's more, all the military households under his command were eager to abolish the garrisons and become civilians to avoid being exploited by them from generation to generation.

Can't resist!

There is no doubt that those who really dare to resist the military households under his command will take their heads in exchange for wealth and honor.

In the end, the commanders and deputy commanders in the southwest raised their glasses.

Yang Feng drank it all in one gulp.

Then he watched as all the guys drank from their glasses.

At this point, the Ming Dynasty’s Wei Suo system became history.

(This book ends here. I will not write any more. I will post the last chapter when I publish a new book. However, I will not write a new book in the next few months. I will talk about it after the college entrance examination. I am sorry. I have been sleeping too little every day for the past two and a half years. I get up early and go to bed late. My head hurts and my heart is not good. I spend my days half asleep and half awake. My writing is a mess. I'd better try my best to get through the college entrance examination first.)
(End of this chapter)