Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 304 Other developments in the 19th year of Chongzhen
In the 19th year of Chongzhen, apart from naval training and warship building, the major events related to military affairs were the reorganization and training of the Fourth Guards Army.

The more than [-] troops of Huang Degong and Yuan Jixian's troops were partly added to the First Army, Second Army, and Third Army of the Guards, and some were abolished on a voluntary basis, and the abolished officers and soldiers were unified by the Ministry of War. He went to the localities to serve as officials in Jiangnan, Jiangbei and other places at the grassroots level.

Some officers and soldiers of the First Army, Second Army, and Third Army of the Guards were transferred to the Fourth Army as officers, and generals such as Weng Zhengchun and Li Shichun of the Fourth Army and a group of middle and lower-level officers were transferred back to Nanjing to serve as the Central Military Academy of the Ming Army. The trainees receive modern military training and thermal weapon warfare command training.

Zhu Youjian transformed the former Huaian Lecture Hall into the Daming Army Central Military Academy, which was also located in Nanjing.

At the same time, Zhou Yuji, Liu Fangliang, He Xin, even Liu Zhaoji, Liu Xiyao, Qin Bangping, and even Gu Yanwu, Zheng Chenggong, Yan Yingyuan and other military officers followed Zhu Youjian's will and began to practice firearms and artillery warfare based on the experience of using firearms and artillery in previous battles. Combat command courses and suggestions for improvement.

At the same time, Liu Zhaoji, Liu Xiyao, Liu Qian, Chen Zilong, Jiao Lian and other deputy commanders of the [-]st, [-]rd and [-]rd Guards Army served as instructors and personally taught generals such as Weng Zhengchun and Li Shichun.

He Xin, the eunuch in charge of the imperial horse supervisor and the commander-in-chief of the Second Guards Army, served as the Jijiu (principal) of the Central Military Academy of the Ming Army.

The eunuch with the seal of the horse supervisor is the third person in the inner court besides the eunuch with the seal of the ceremonial supervisor and the eunuch who holds the pen. I am not afraid that these students and instructors will not accept it.

The instructors are all newly rising generals of the Ming Dynasty, and they have just made great achievements in defeating the Tartars. Among them are great talents like Chen Zilong and veterans like Liu Zhaoji.

Even though Weng Zhengchun, Li Shichun and others are the confidantes of Huang Degong and Yuan Jixian and have made great contributions, they dare not dissatisfy the instructors.

It is more than enough to complete the training and reorganization of the Fourth Guards Army in one year. By the end of the year, most of the grassroots officers of the Fourth Guards Army have been filled by officers and soldiers from the First, Second and Third Guards Armies. In the past, the military attache of the Fourth Army of the Guards was transferred to the First, Second and Third Armies of the Guards as officers after receiving training at the Central Military Academy of the Daming Army.

In this way, Huang Degong and Yuan Jixian's Fourth Guards Army have all been reborn as court soldiers directly controlled by Zhu Youjian's Grand Marshal's Mansion, rather than Huang Degong and Yuan Jixian's private soldiers.

At the beginning of the 19th year of Chongzhen, the only armies that were not directly controlled by Zhu Youjian were the Fourth Guard Army of Huang Degong and Yuan Jixian, and the Fifth Guard Army of the Mielu Army and Gao Jie.

Zhu Youjian didn't intend to reorganize all the three armies at the beginning, which would easily cause great changes all at once. Gao Jie and the generals of the extermination army could accept appeasement, but he was naturally unwilling to accept the reorganization and lose military power.

Therefore, Chongzhen Zhu Youjian only reorganized the Fourth Guards Army of Huang Degong and Yuan Jixian first.

Both Huang Degong and Yuan Jixian were veteran officials from the Ming Dynasty. They had no objection to Zhu Youjian's control of military power, and they did not worry about losing military power. What's more, they also knew that Zhu Youjian, who is now the emperor, has the most powerful army in Ming Dynasty. , they naturally did not dare to violate the holy will.

In addition, the two are not ambitious people.

After all, the process of reorganizing the Fourth Army of the Guards went smoothly. By the end of the 19th year of Chongzhen, the Generalissimo's Mansion of Chongzhen Zhu Youjian controlled six group armies with modern army specifications.

These six group armies have a total of more than [-] people, controlling five theaters, and will be the absolute main force to resist Jiannu going south again in the future.

These six armies are all equipped with Chongzhen [-]-style flintlock guns, and each artillery battalion is equipped with three types of artillery, ranging from three-pound cannons, six-pound cannons, and twelve-pound cannons, up to a thousand, which is enough to form a powerful artillery strike. .

Coupled with the emergence of the bearing system, the gun cart is no longer as difficult to steer as before, and the transportation of the entire artillery is much cheaper, and it is convenient enough to move forward in the mountains in the south.

Although the Ming Navy is still not as strong as the Zheng Group's navy, there are already more than [-] hard sailing ships, including more than [-] large Fuchuan, more than [-] soft-sailing warships, and countless small warships. It is enough to control the situation in the East China Sea and South China Sea.

However, the strength of the navy naturally cannot only depend on the number of warships, but also the combat effectiveness of artillery and naval officers and soldiers.

The current first batch of trainees of the Daming Ship Administration Bureau have completed classroom training in Chongzhen for 19 years, and now they have begun actual combat training, and are arranged to serve as naval soldiers in the Daming Navy and the Navy of the Zheng Group.

Since most of the navy was transferred to the local guards or directly abolished as commoners, the current Ming navy has more than [-] officers and soldiers in addition to more than a hundred large warships.

Each warship is equipped with the Ming Dynasty's new naval artillery, a new type of naval artillery improved by the Frang machine, which strengthens the airtightness of the sub-barrel and the mother barrel, greatly improving the range and success rate of the artillery.

Every naval soldier is equipped with Chongzhen [-]-style muskets.

Moreover, in the 19th year of Chongzhen, the Chongzhen [-]-style flintlock gun also began to be developed. The firing device and barrel material will be further improved, and even try to draw the rifling to enhance the firing range and accuracy.

Of course, the Ministry of Industry is responsible for the research and development of weapons. At this time, the Ministry of Industry is not only starting large-scale research and development of weapons, but also large-scale construction of water conservancy projects.

Since the 17th year of Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian has used military power to severely crack down on the gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, which has greatly reduced the power of the gentry in the entire south of the Yangtze River. Coupled with the impact of the war, a large number of self-cultivating farmers have emerged, and the construction of agricultural water conservancy has been handed over to the imperial court. hands.

The imperial court also assumed the main responsibility for the construction of water conservancy in the world.

In this era of frequent natural disasters such as droughts and floods, due to the timely follow-up of water conservancy construction, Chongzhen's agricultural production in 19 years has been significantly improved compared with Chongzhen's 17 years and Chongzhen's 18 years.

Of course, this is also related to the end of the war and Zhu Youjian's policy of reducing agricultural taxes.

The national education of the Ministry of Rites has also begun to enter the process. Social schools have been established and rebuilt in various places. A large number of students and students, especially those who failed in their careers, began to take the initiative to transfer to teaching positions in order to gain fame.

However, there is a shortage of labor in this era. Many ordinary people are unwilling to send their children to social schools, and would rather let them help with farm work at home. After all, children in this era are also laborers.

However, in order to fulfill the targets issued by the Ministry of Rites, the local government can only force local people to send their children to private schools, and many even let girls enter schools to make up for it.

(End of this chapter)