Ming politicians

(Thanks to Yueyu Xinlou, Floating Cloud Rabbit Xiaoyue, and No. [-] Bai in the World, for making sure to work hard to let Su Tiancheng create more brilliance.)

The Ming Dynasty implemented a professional military service system.That is to say, a soldier once served in the army for life, and the father is replaced by the son, and the succession system is inherited from generation to generation. The family of a soldier is called a military household, and the household registration of a military household is directly managed by the Ministry of War.Soldiers receive different salaries and rations according to the rank of officers and non-commissioned officers. The higher the rank, the higher the salary. Soldiers retire at the age of 60 and enjoy preferential benefits (retirement benefits) according to their ranks, while ordinary soldiers receive very few preferential benefits.

The biggest difference between the Ming Dynasty and the previous dynasties is that in the management of the army, the system of military settlements was created. The founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang stipulated that all the troops of the guards under the jurisdiction of the outer guards should be engaged in farming. The land around the guards, Most of them are nationalized, called official land, and allocated to guards and border areas, three for soldiers guarding the city, seven for sergeants for farming, and the interior for two for guarding the city and eight for farming.Each of the soldiers in the village was allocated [-] mu of land, which was counted as a share, equipped with cattle and farm tools, and collected taxes.

The army of the Ming Dynasty consisted of inner guards and outer guards. The inner guards were divided into the Jingying and the Pro-army Duhu Fu. There are twelve guards in the Army Capital Guard Mansion, and the first guard is the famous Jinyiwei.The inner guard has a special status and does not need to farm.

The army accounts for the overwhelming majority, and it is the outer guard. The army of the outer guard is roughly divided into four types, the garrison army, the garrison army, the transport army, and the squad army. For farming, the army is responsible for transportation and communication, and the army squad takes turns to perform duties in the capital or the border.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the total strength of the regular army reached 200 million. With the local famous regiments, the total was 310 million. Such a huge army, relying on the imperial court to support it, may be too small, so Zhu Yuanzhang thought of the method of military settlements , Let the army support itself, the sergeant farms, collects taxes, and is self-sufficient.

This idea is good, and the effect was very good at the beginning. The guards are basically self-sufficient, and some money and food are used to expand and repair the guards. But as time goes by, the military system gradually collapsed. .

The most important reason is that the taxes in the military settlements are too high, even far higher than the taxes borne by the peasants. If they can't afford to pay taxes, the government has to take into account the actual situation, and sometimes turn a blind eye and refuse to collect taxes.

Based on this situation, sergeants began to flee in large numbers, and military households became the poorest group among all household registration personnel.It is an open secret that the poor want to change, and the sergeants began to sell horses, weapons, military uniforms, etc.

However, during the reign of Tianqi and the reign of Chongzhen, the harassment of Hou Jin forced the imperial court to implement a recruitment system, specially recruiting sergeants. Since recruiting sergeants to fight, they have to pay money. If there is no money, who will fight for you? The incident of payment arrears happened frequently, so that the sergeants in some places could not receive the payment or food for a year. Since the first year of Chongzhen, the sergeants of the guards in various places began to mutiny and gradually became the backbone of the peasant uprising army.As for killing the good and pretending to be meritorious, it's not a big deal at all.

This has to be said to be a tragedy.

Knowing the history is beneficial, because of this, Su Tiancheng dared to sell war horses outside Xiangling City.

The imperial court had very strict control over horses, and a large number of military horses were needed for combat, resulting in a shortage of horses among the people, and the horse market was very hot.But the horse market is generally outside the prefectural, state and county towns. On the one hand, it avoids the inspection of the government and saves the face of the government. On the other hand, it is for the smooth transaction.The guards and inspection departments in various places know a lot about the situation, but they still turn a blind eye. As long as the person in charge of the horse market pays filial piety, they don't care at all.

At Yinshi, Su Tiancheng and Su Ertong arrived outside Xiangling City on horseback.

The children of a rich family must learn to ride a horse, including the servants who follow. This is a reflection of the family's face, just like the children of a rich family in modern society can drive. Su Tiancheng feels lucky that he can ride a horse.

"Ertong, find an inn. You wait at the inn. I will ride a horse to the horse market. Take care of the rest of the war horses. Don't contact anyone. Ask the innkeeper to help feed them."

After Su Tiancheng finished speaking, he took out a silver coin and handed it to Su Ertong.

This ingot of silver is about five taels.

"Master, the young one doesn't need so much money, one tael is enough."

"What are you talking about so much, take this money and use it as you want."

Su Ertong hurriedly took the money, and his young master has undergone earth-shaking changes.

The horse market is very lively when the time of Yin arrives, and most of the transactions are carried out in the middle of the night. After dawn, the horse market becomes sluggish. The government is right, besides, after the new year, Pingyang Mansion is full of rogues, and the government can just find any reason to say that you are a rogue, and if the horses are confiscated, there will be no people and money.

Su Tiancheng changed his clothes a long time ago. Fortunately, when Su Ertong went out, he thought of bringing two sets of clothes.He was still well dressed, brocade robes and satins, which looked different from ordinary ones.

For the sake of safety, Su Tiancheng put on a bamboo hat and covered his veil so that no one could see his face.

There are really many people in the horse market, bustling and bustling. In the early winter season, the cold is overwhelming, but in the horse market, you can see many shirtless men sweating profusely.

Su Tiancheng was very cautious. In this kind of place, there are three religions and nine streams, and dragons and snakes mixed together. If he can't figure out the situation clearly and makes a deal hastily, he might be targeted by someone.

The people here are all elites, and they have never seen any kind of situation. If you want to fool others, you just wait for the murder and looting to happen. Five sergeants have been killed, and Su Tiancheng doesn't want to continue killing.

After a little calm, Su Tiancheng began to slowly digest the information in his head.

The previous Su Tiancheng was full of nerd thinking: if you are good at learning, you will be an official, honor your ancestors, and men are superior to women, which makes him, a person in the 21st century, feel funny or even absurd.The most hateful thing is that I know how to study hard all day long, and I became a student at the age of 16. I was so stressed that I became crazy.

Of course, there are also some objective reasons, including the family's disregard, the eldest wife's bullying, and the pressure of real life, but men have to bear pressure.

After a while, Su Tiancheng did not find the price of the horse transaction.

He was a little discouraged. Studying hard is really killing people.

If you don't know the price, you can't trade. If you know yourself and the enemy, you can win a hundred battles. No matter what you do, you must have a bottom line in your heart. This is Su Tiancheng's principle in doing things. He must inquire about the price clearly, and only when he can ensure his own safety, can he start a transaction Otherwise, I would rather not sell war horses for the time being.

The transactions in the horse market are very hot. There are people holding torches everywhere, and horses are constantly being led into the horse market, or riding in. It doesn’t take long before someone rides out. This is obviously a successful transaction. .

Su Tiancheng soon realized that he had made a mistake. He walked around the horse market, and he rarely saw people dressed like this. Even if there were, they bought horses here, and they all brought their servants with them.Leading a war horse like this, wandering around in the horse market, people know what you do.

After a while of observation, he discovered that the transactions in the horse market are quite different from the usual business situation. The horses brought in are all in a unified place. Many buyers look here, and there are horses they like. , Negotiate the price directly with the seller. These negotiations are all carried out in private, and others don't even know what they are discussing.

Seeing this, Su Tiancheng understood that it was nothing short of fantasy if he wanted to inquire about the price of the horse transaction.

After being a little disappointed, Su Tiancheng quickly adjusted his emotions. It was no big deal. He met a sergeant yesterday evening, and he was able to handle it. What's more, he came to the horse market to sell horses. It's not a big deal things.It's just that my time is limited, so I can't delay it for too long. After all, I have five war horses in my hand, so I need to trade them quickly.

After a little thought, Su Tiancheng made up his mind and was ready to start trading. If it comes, it will be safe, and when soldiers come to cover it up, it will be able to deal with the current predicament by adapting to the situation.