Zhu Yuanzhang can see my dreams

Chapter 355 Chapter 355 Is there really something wrong with the system?
What Wen Ke said made Zhu Yuanzhang stare at him in a daze.

After thinking about it for a while, I have to say that what he said does make sense.

I have given them a chance to mend their ways, but instead of correcting their mistakes, they continue to conceal the truth.

That is the crime of deceiving the emperor. If we don't kill them, how can we make people fear the laws of the Ming Dynasty?
Wen Ke’s words also surprised Fang Xiaoru. He didn’t expect that the problem could be approached from this angle.

"You are right." Zhu Yuanzhang hummed, "As expected, he has gained experience in the county government. His future is limitless."

"I have such ability because I was influenced by my husband."

Wen Ke quickly attributed the credit to Wang Buli. Without Wang Buli, he would be nothing.

"Ah."

Zhu Yuanzhang responded and had a deeper understanding of Wen Ke, a slick official.

If Wen Ke took all the credit for himself, he would be hated by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Don’t you see who brought you into the hall? Without Wang Buli, you would never have the chance to come in in your life.

Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang felt that Wen Ke would definitely not just be a minor official working in the Dali Temple in the future.

Wang Buli smiled but did not deny it, otherwise it would embarrass Wen Ke.

He never stops others from making progress, but always creates opportunities for them to make progress.

Otherwise, why would those people in Jiangning County think that Wang Buli was their benefactor?

Without Wang Buli giving them the opportunity, they might never have been able to climb up in their entire lives.

In the officialdom, each person has his own position and resources are very limited.

Even if many vacancies were created by moving Hu Weiyong, Zhu Yuanzhang had already prepared successors. There would not be so many vacancies left for a small clerk like you in the county government!

"Hmph, this kind of official." Zhu Yuanzhang shook his sleeves and couldn't help but scolded:

"These military commanders ignored the laws of the court and persecuted the lower-level soldiers without any mercy, making the lower-level soldiers of our Ming Dynasty worse than pigs and dogs.

The food and clothing of these military generals and their entire families had to come from the lower-level soldiers (the Ming Dynasty implemented the military settlement system).

These grassroots soldiers are actually equivalent to the generals' cooking pots, rice in the warehouse, and fields for growing crops, and they need to be well protected and cherished.

But when it comes to persecuting the lower-level soldiers, they are even worse than animals and plants."

Wang Buli was speechless in response to Zhu Yuanzhang's scolding. In fact, this policy came from your hand.

It may not be so easy to push all the responsibility on them now.

Wang Buli discovered that Chongzhen was actually learning something from Zhu Yuanzhang, which was the non-stick pan.

How could the emperor be wrong!

Zhu Biao glanced at Wen Ke who was standing behind Wang Buli. Although the boy tried his best to hide it, the happy expression on his face could not deceive anyone.

How could I not be excited when the idea I came up with at such a young age was adopted by the emperor?

Who knows, this incident may have to be recorded in the county annals.

Zhu Biao discovered that Wang Buli was quite good at cultivating talents.

Most of the people who have left Jiangning County in recent years have been clear-headed and have not brought shame to Wang Buli.

In this way, Zhu Biao could also send his son to the county government office in the future to train incognito for three years, which would be much better than studying hard.

Geng Bingwen didn't really understand what was good about it, because it was no different from the way he thought of killing people.

"And you, the generals in Nanjing." Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Geng Bingwen and others and shouted angrily:
"I have spoken countless words of exhortation at court every morning and evening, but the result is that 'few people listen, and many people do not.' Few people are willing to listen to me. They all think it is noisy and do not take it to heart.

When they broke the law and were arrested, "many of them held a grudge, saying that the court would not tolerate them, and added slanderous words, and as a result, some of the slanderers were tortured to death."

In short, for such foolish people, I am so old, my mouth is dry and I am out of breath, so I just say that he is unconscious. I will be too lazy to say anything more in the future. This has violated the laws of the Ming Dynasty, so don't blame me for not cherishing our friendship.

Get out of here!"

Geng Bingwen and others quickly withdrew.

Zhu Yuanzhang's anger had not completely subsided. He said angrily:
"Is there really something wrong with our military system?

It's a pity that Liu Bowen has passed away, otherwise I would have to ask him carefully."

The Wei Suo system established by Zhu Yuanzhang was a rather special military system based on the military guard method designed by Liu Ji.

The Duzhihui Headquarters is equivalent to a local military region.

Geng Liang was so lawless as the commander of the military region that he really made Zhu Yuanzhang angry!
Zhu Yuanzhang liked to employ clerks, but he also thought that they were very slippery and looked down upon them.

During the Hongwu era, many clerks who were purged were not sent into exile, but were instead punished by being made labor slaves and forced to perform heavy labor.

Zhu Yuanzhang did not want clerks to join the army because he felt that clerks were well-informed, had knowledge and connections, and understood the operating logic of grassroots power in the Ming Dynasty.

When these people join the army, they will use their abilities and experience to protect their own interests.

This kind of maintenance is not conducive to creating a "combat-capable force"!
But as things stand, what he has created is not the combat-ready force he expected.

"Buli, do you think the military households are miserable?"

"It's miserable." Wang Buli also stood up and said:
"Zhou Di's tragedy is by no means an isolated case. The Ming army households have not become the soldiers that Your Majesty expected. Instead, they have all become slaves of the officers, which is not conducive to Your Majesty's rule."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked somewhat displeased.

Zhu Yuanzhang felt that Wang Buli was in possession of important secrets and was not greedy for military power at all. Even though he became a royal consort, he did not show off his power.

In addition, he was filial to Empress Ma, and this alone made it easy for Zhu Yuanzhang to keep him in his heart.

He really didn't expect that Wang Buli would take advantage of the situation and directly deny him.

Zhu Yuanzhang was very unhappy with the advice from many people.

Not everyone is Han Yike, so it's okay to give so many suggestions to Mr. Zhu.

He put a lot of effort into the military household system.

He is not dead yet, but it has become like this.

When he died, he also saw the consequences of being a military household.

"Fang Xiaoru, you have been to the northern border. Tell me about the problems you have seen." Wang Buli started calling out names directly.

Fang Xiaoru was a young man after all. Just now, because Wen Ke's idea was accepted by the emperor, he wanted to fight for it, so he said:

“From what I have seen in the north, soldiers who were recruited according to the military household system generally did not serve in the garrisons near their hometowns, but went to garrisons thousands of miles away, and paid for all the expenses themselves.

Some soldiers were even extorted by officials when they first started serving in the garrisons.

The monthly salary of the banner soldiers in the camp was only one dan of rice from the warehouse. In addition to their own use, they also had to support their wives and children. However, the officials of the garrison often deducted and delayed payment from them, or converted the money into banknotes to pay them, exploiting them and making it difficult for them to support their families.

If a banner soldier was on a business trip, his wife and children would have to pay for the transportation and the grain transport to the camp to collect their wages. They would also have to pay for the transportation and the warehouse officials would deduct a few liters of grain from their wages. So, the nominal load of grain would only have seven or eight dou when they got home, which was barely enough to support the family's food and clothing.

Therefore, I believe that the contradictions between officers and sergeants are becoming increasingly acute. In order to suppress the resistance of sergeants, the officers of the garrisons often use military law to punish them, which makes the sergeants unbearable and forced to flee in large numbers.

Wang Buli nodded slightly, this was Fang Xiaoru's correct way of using it.

It is much easier to let him find faults than to ask him to come up with solutions.

Zhu Yuanzhang encouraged people to migrate north based on Wang Buli's suggestion and gave them money, but the money was for civilians, not military households.

At this time, Zhu Yuanzhang and his son did not react much after hearing what Fang Xiaoru had seen.

Since the military settlement began, they have witnessed various contradictions.

In particular, most of these officials are people who have made contributions in wars.

Zhu Yuanzhang scolded these grassroots officers:
"You, the thousand-householders and hundred-householders, have all achieved military success through the collective efforts of the troops. If you lose your military positions, even if you are a good man, you can only stand up to a few people on the battlefield. If you can't hold on, you will lose.

Now that all the soldiers have been let go, no matter how powerful you are, you will not be able to stop a few people on the battlefield. If you can't stop them, you will be defeated and die. You are really blinded by money and don't even care about your own health!"

But after Zhu Yuanzhang scolded them, did these people no longer care about money and become fair and honest? If so, then the matter would be simple.

As long as they don't catch me, I will continue to make money.

"Then how do you think it should be improved?" Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed the dissatisfaction in his tone.

Fang Xiaoru nodded but could not speak.

He was very angry when he saw it, but he had no power and could do nothing.

After much thought, I still haven't come up with a solution that has the best of both worlds.

Wang Buli took over the conversation and said, "Your Majesty, I actually think that the Ming Dynasty does not need to maintain so many soldiers. We should turn them all into civilians.

Maintaining a strong military force of some freed soldiers in the central government and on the border can prevent many people from becoming serfs of officers.

With such a huge gap, even if there are rebellions in some places, can they defeat an army that has been well trained and has powerful equipment?
Nowadays, there are too many soldiers in the garrisons in various places. It is very easy for them to become serfs, which leads to large-scale escape. In the end, the number of soldiers in the garrisons is not enough, and the land becomes barren. The policy of using military settlements as income to supplement military pay has failed. "

Zhu Yuanzhang believed that military farming was useful because since he set up the military farming system until now, many military granaries have been well stocked and the soldiers no longer have to worry about food shortages.

This is true.

The fields everywhere have become cultivated fields, the output has increased and is piled up in the warehouses, but the lives of ordinary soldiers have become difficult. How can there not be problems?
Either it was a false report from below, or Zhu Yuanzhang was willing to believe the facts that he hoped to see.

"Once the number of garrison soldiers is reduced, what will happen to local public security? Will it all depend on the yamen runners and constables?"

Zhu Biao believed that such a big change would inevitably encounter many obstacles. If an army was ambushed and wiped out in a foreign war, it would be an extremely heavy blow to the Ming Dynasty.

"They usually farm the fields and go to war when needed, but in reality, apart from being cannon fodder, how much combat effectiveness do these people have?
If we really get to the battlefield, it will destroy our own morale and lead to disintegration."

Wang Buli looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "Your Majesty, you have seen the fighting power of farmers. The quality of soldiers is more important than the quantity."

Zhu Yuanzhang walked slowly up the steps and sat back on the dragon throne.

Of course he knew what Wang Buli was talking about.

The soldiers who besieged Lao Si were just a bunch of losers. They were scattered by the eight hundred people and had no power to fight back.

Is it really useful to maintain so many soldiers?
However, there were too many strategic military locations in the Ming Dynasty, and many soldiers were needed to guard them.

At least it is extremely intimidating internally.

Zhu Yuanzhang himself had a very low sense of security, and he did not want his millions of soldiers to suddenly become very few.

"For a garrison with less than 6,000 people, it is completely sufficient to support one or two centurions without production. The rest can be used as auxiliary troops and concentrate on farming."

Wang Buli became bolder and bolder as he spoke: "If the number of regular soldiers is insufficient, we can recruit the simple and unsophisticated children of farmers from mountainous areas as soldiers. These people are easy to train and good at obeying orders.

Your Majesty mostly chooses families with three or four male adults as military households, and does not allow them to split up, nor does it allow the males in the household to be adopted by outsiders. The main purpose is to ensure that there will be no problems with the recruitment of military personnel in the short term.

This practice produced a negative effect. Many people in the Hongwu era chose to leave their large families and form smaller families in order to reduce the size of their family members in order to avoid being conscripted as military households.

Counting the whole country, there are no less than 10 million civilian households and no less than 2 million government troops. This means that one-fifth of the world's population today are military serfs who are "worse than pigs and dogs" and are controlled by the Ming Dynasty's Ministry of War.

I personally think that the Ming Dynasty does not need so many useless soldiers, it is better to let them farm in peace."

Zhu Yuanzhang leaned on the dragon throne and remained silent while Wang Buli said this.

"What do you mean by military serfs who are worse than pigs and dogs?" Zhu Biao immediately began to refute: "How can it be that just because of a small individual case, it will spread to the whole country like this?"

"Prince, you can send people to the southern region to investigate first. After all, the north is experiencing war right now, so we should maintain stability. Investigating the south is also to prepare for the attack on Yunnan. This way, no one can say anything."

Wang Buli thought that there were no outsiders in the hall, so what did it mean to say this directly?

Now that you asked, I will tell you that whether it is adopted or not is none of my business.

"Anyway, if this goes on for a long time, I think many soldiers will run away." Wang Buli turned his head and looked at Wen Ke: "I remember there was a centurion in Yingtianwei?"

"In reply to the Prince Consort's words, Wei Zhen, a captain of Yingtian Guard, took four taels of silver, twenty strings of banknotes, and a silk jacket from soldier Ye Deji, and then let him run away. Chen Lin gave him fifty-one strings of banknotes and then let him run away."

Wang Buli looked at Zhu Biao and said, "Look, the situation in Yingtian Prefecture, which is right in front of us, is already like this. You can imagine how chaotic it will be in other places."

"In recent years, Prince has always focused on civil officials and paid little attention to the military. You still need to pay more attention to it in the future."

Wang Buli saluted Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao shook his head. He felt that he really didn't have enough energy.

After looking at one side, you will forget the other side.

What's the point of doing both? It's extremely difficult.

Besides, his father asked him to practice Ba Duan Jin well, so he had to practice it even if it didn't work, just to gain peace of mind.

Zhu Biao has drastically reduced the time he spends handling government affairs.

"For most soldiers, regardless of whether they have money to bribe officers or not, and regardless of how strict the surveillance in the barracks is, running away is their only option and their only hope in life."

Zhu Yuanzhang himself turned so many people into military households. He felt happy and thought that everywhere had become safe.

But in fact, the interests of this group of people have been damaged, and it is inevitable that some people will feel resentful, thus undermining the policies set by Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Let the Ministry of War check it out first. I am a little tired."

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hand and told them to go back and do what they were supposed to do.

He knew that Wang Buli was right. He had established a strict punishment system when the Ming Dynasty was first established.

Three of the flag's men deserted, and the flag was demoted to a common soldier;
Fifteen men under the general flag fled, and the general flag was reduced to a small flag;

If 15 of a centurion's men deserted, their monthly salary would be reduced by one stone. If it was reduced to more than four stones, all the centurion's titles would be revoked and he would be demoted to a general.

If fifty people under the command of a thousand households desert, their monthly salary will be reduced by one stone. When the salary is reduced to ten stones, they will be demoted to a hundred households.

The most important thing was the terrifying situation of reporting on each other, but it still did not scare the soldiers who wanted to escape.

Minister of War Zhao Ben received the order and sent someone to deliver the summary information to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Last year, the Ministry of War issued a total of 1,432 documents, instructing local governments to capture deserters and recruit military households.

As a result, there has been little progress until now.

Many places did not catch the real deserters and male members of the military households, but instead forced other people with the same surname to replace the military households and serve in the army, which led to more escapes.

There were only more than 1,400 government offices at or above the county level in the entire Ming Dynasty. It can be said that there were soldiers fleeing to varying degrees in every local household.

The desertion situation has become very serious.

"We, father and son, need to pay more attention to the military reform."

Zhu Yuanzhang gave instructions to Zhu Biao who was standing beside him.

"I understand what Wang Buli said, and I have also seen the damage done to the Wei Suo system. However, I have not yet made up my mind about this policy that will affect the Ming Dynasty for a hundred years."

Zhu Biao felt that Wang Buli was being too relaxed. After all, the Ming Dynasty was not his, so he could just take it for granted.

"How much do you think Wang Buli's words make sense?"

"Three points." Zhu Biao said leisurely:
"He just controlled the personal relationships of most of the people under the control of the soldiers. Naturally, these soldiers became generals, and it would be easier for them to cause trouble in the future."

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly. Wang Buli's move was merely to expose the hidden dependent relationship between officers, soldiers and serfs.

This would make it easier to create military leaders of all sizes, but a decline in the combat effectiveness of the hereditary garrison troops was inevitable.

Just as Fang Xiaoru said, many people do not have enough food to eat, and even their families have to go hungry. Isn't it a bit unrealistic to ask them to fight for and protect the Ming Dynasty with all their might?
"Forget it. This matter still needs to be considered in the long run. I have long known that there are some problems with the military settlement system, but I have not taken it too seriously because of the good response in recent years."

Zhu Yuanzhang sighed. The reform of the Ming army was imminent, but he had no idea at all.

Wang Buli led his subordinates out of the hall and then spoke:

"Fang Xiaoru, you should use your strengths to point out problems in the future. Wen Ke, you should use your experience to think of more solutions to the problems raised by Fang Xiaoru. If we cooperate with each other, our work can be carried out better."

(End of this chapter)