"Your Highness, judging from Mr. Li's memorial, Governor Zhang actually predicted that the Japanese pirates might attack Xinghua, but..."
Wei Guangde didn't know what to say. He guessed the Japanese pirates' movements, and the result was... Can be beaten like this.
At this time, footsteps sounded outside, and a waiter stood outside the door and whispered to the room: "Your Highness, there is a note coming in from outside."
Hearing Hearing the voice outside the house, everyone looked towards the door.
Li Fang, the eunuch beside King Yu, had already walked over quickly without going out. He took the note from the man directly at the door, turned around and returned to King Yu, and then handed the note respectfully. To King Yu.
Everyone's eyes followed Li Fang and finally fell on King Yu, staring at the expression on his face, wanting to know what was written on the note.
I don’t know whether it was because King Yu was naturally dull or because the city was extremely deep. At least Wei Guangde didn’t see anything from King Yu’s face.
After King Yu read the contents of the note, he handed it to Yin Shizhen and then circulated it one by one.
"My father dismissed You Zhende, appointed Tan Lun to replace him, and dispatched Qi Jiguang to lead his troops into Fujian again to suppress the Japanese."
Seeing that the note finally fell into Zhang Juzheng's hands, Everyone has seen it , King Yu then said: "I remember, this Qi Jiguang is very good at fighting. It was his subordinates who were the first to defeat Zhang Lian's rebels. Later, they also suppressed the Japanese in Fujian. It was not long before he joined the army."
"It's November. In previous years, the Japanese pirates have retreated at this time, so he was asked to lead his troops back to Zhejiang. It seems that the soldiers he recruited are all from Zhejiang. After all, they have to go home to celebrate the New Year."
Zhang Juzheng answered. road.
"Uncle is very familiar with this Qi Jiguang."
Wei Guangde chuckled.
In Wei Guangde's impression, later generations seemed to have arranged that Qi Jiguang bribed Zhang Juzheng and gave him a seal dog or something, which was said to be an aphrodisiac.
Now that he heard that he knew about Qi Jiguang's recruitment of troops in Zhejiang, Wei Guangde couldn't help but joke.
“Haha, just reading the military newspaper, I seem to see his name often, so I asked about it when I was chatting with the adults in the Ministry of War, so I don’t think I am familiar with him.”
Zhang Juzheng stroked his beard and replied. .
“When the country is in crisis, we miss a good general, and when we are sick, we miss a good doctor.”
King Yu smiled and said: “The current Japanese invasion in Jiangnan requires a general who can turn the tide. I hope that this Qi Jiguang can live up to his father’s wishes. Expect it.”
"I remember when I went to Zhejiang a few years ago, I saw Qi Jiguang's new army training outside Hangzhou. They seemed to be miners recruited from Yiwu. I also paid attention to this team later, and it seemed that the record was not bad."
Wei Guangde recalled.
When he went to Zhejiang to supervise and kill Wang Zhi, Qi Jiguang led troops to garrison in Hangzhou. However, at that time, the Qi family army had not yet been fully trained, so they did not fight much. They mainly relied on Yu Dayou to support him from the front.
However, Qi Jiguang was famous in later generations, so Wei Guangde also took a second look at him at that time.
"New Army?"
King Yu was surprised and said: "He is leading a battalion?"
"Yes, your highness, Qi Jiguang felt that the soldiers in the guard station were mixed, making it difficult to command, so he asked Governor Hu for an order, and he independently recruited a group of soldiers. It is said that because he thinks the miners have a lot of strength, they only need to practice the battle formation well before they can go to the battlefield, specially selected people."
Wei Guangde replied, "But these battalions and soldiers. The Jiubian soldiers are slightly different, that is, their pay is less, but the rewards are much higher. They use gold, silver, and silk to stimulate the combat effectiveness of the soldiers."
"It seems that most of the soldiers in Jiubian can fight. They are also camp soldiers."
However, King Yu thought of the camp soldiers in Bian Town and asked curiously: "Shandai, are the camp soldiers really more powerful than the guards?"
"It's really hard to say."
Wei Guangde didn't know how to answer after thinking about it.
Are you saying that guard soldiers are not as good as camp soldiers?
This seems to be a bit of a slap in the face. The so-called military status is guard soldiers. If you want to say that guard soldiers are not as good as camp soldiers, it is really unreasonable.
The Guards Corps was established in the early Ming Dynasty after the emperor proclaimed himself the emperor and began to comprehensively reorganize the army. First, the command departments of the 17 guards including Wude, Baotao, Feixiong, and Weiwu were established. The pro-army was planned with "guards" as the unit, and then thousands of households were set up to guard the local areas, and the establishment of "stations" was formed.
During this process, he verified the number of soldiers under his generals' command. The one who commanded 5,000 troops was called the commander, the one who commanded 1,000 troops was called a thousand households, the one who commanded 100 troops was called a hundred households, the one who commanded 50 troops was called the general banner, and the one who commanded 10 troops was called the small banner.
On the one hand, the status of an officer is mainly based on the size of the army he has; on the other hand, the guards and bureaus are the basic organization of the army, and the commander, qianhu, and baihu are the officers of all levels. The numbers are uniform, the name is worthy of the name, and the troops are neat. This is the so-called "Ministry Law" and is the basic content of the Ming Dynasty Guard System.
After reorganizing the country's troops, a complete Ming Dynasty guard system was finally formed in the seventh year of Hongwu. There were roughly 5,600 people for one guard, 1,120 people for one thousand households, and 112 people for one hundred households. , 50 people are a general flag, and 10 people are a small flag.
One guard governs five thousand-household offices, one thousand-household office governs 10 hundred-household offices, and one hundred-household office governs two general banners, each with five small flags.
All armies across the country are organized into guard posts according to this organization, and are led by commanders of small banners, general banners, hundreds of households, thousands of households, and guards.
At this point, the garrison system became the basic organization of the Ming army and was customized. Whether it was the garrison in Beijing or the province, or the personal troops and guards of the emperor and vassal princes, they were all organized according to the garrison system.
The earliest battalions actually appeared in the early Ming Dynasty. They were the strongest soldiers drawn from various guards and temporarily assembled into wartime establishments.
However, this temporary military system in the early Ming Dynasty soon changed due to the increasing intensification of border troubles. Especially in the border areas of the Ming Dynasty, temporary troop deployments gradually became a regular system. The camp system also emerged due to the needs of the situation.
Of course, the camp soldiers during this period were actually elite soldiers drawn from the guards, and they were still military households.
In the Ming Dynasty, except for the border army and the Beijing camp, the guards in other places were quickly demobilized.
Because there were frequent wars, the frontier army could barely retain a certain amount of combat power. Therefore, it was not completely transformed into a garrison and was closer to a garrison, because they could only devote a small amount of energy to farming and more to fighting.
The Beijing camp was supported by the strong finances of the Ming Dynasty, so although the decline in combat power was faster than that of the border army, it was still barely adequate compared to other guard armies.
However, after Tumubao, Jingying also completely declined.
The reason for the collapse of the guard system was due to social stability and relative peace. Guard officers began to occupy military fields and exploit soldiers. The living standards and social status of soldiers became increasingly low. As a result, deserters from various guards gradually As a result, armaments were gradually depleted.
Looking at it this way, the natural battalion soldiers are naturally much more powerful than the guard soldiers. However, it is also because the elites of each guard are selected and they participate in the most dangerous places in the battle formation, so the military pay given is higher.
So at the beginning, the camp only appeared as a temporary combat response and was not common.
The soldiers in the garrison could not be used, so the Ming government had to recruit soldiers from the private sector. Unlike the garrison army, the recruits were not hereditary. Although they were soldiers, they were subject to civilian citizenship. In other words, they were only soldiers who joined the camp. Household registration remains unchanged.
The soldiers of the guard station are mainly stationed. In order to solve the problem of military food, they farm and defend. The sergeants of the guard station have lived in the same place for generations. However, because the guard station's occupation is farming, its mobility and combat effectiveness have naturally declined.
The establishment of the camp is to make up for the lack of mobility and combat effectiveness of the guards. With a higher salary than the guards, they will naturally participate in the most dangerous wars, and their combat power must be stronger than that of the guards. Soldiers, of course, are not wrong.
However, thinking that the two were completely different from each other, Wei Guangde simply said: "The guard soldiers have to farm and defend. It is naturally difficult to have the best of both worlds. As the saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it, and the camp soldiers specialize in The pay for the battle array is much higher than that for the guards. If the fighting strength is not as good, it is better not to recruit."
King Yu nodded, also agreeing with Wei Guangde's words.
However, Wei Guangde did not stop there, but continued: "Actually, there is an old saying, 'A soldier is a raging soldier, and a general is raging in a nest.' Whether it is a guard soldier or a camp soldier, they must give full play to their abilities. The combat strength mainly depends on the generals who lead the troops.
Just like the Datong Army, at the beginning. When Yu Dayou was in Datong, the Datong army could march hundreds of miles deep into the desert to capture Bansheng City, and on the way back, they could defeat the pursuers sent by the Anda Khan.
But after Yu Dayou transferred from Datong, the Datong army was able to conquer Bansheng City. Liu Han lost consecutive battles and has now been relieved of his post as chief military officer."
"It makes sense. It was only in the past two years that Qi Jiguang's Ministry played a huge role in the fight against Japanese pirates on the southeast coast. Before that, Yu Dayou led the Ming army in the battle, and now the Japanese pirates' power is not as strong as before."
Yin Shizhen is also more optimistic about Yu Dayou. In fact, the results between the two are completely unequal.
Yin Shizhen now smelled some signs that Zhang Juzheng valued Qi Jiguang, while Wei Guangde must have valued Yu Dayou.
That’s not to say that the two of them should not show off in front of King Yu, but they did say that the general they liked was better.
As for what he said about the unequal performance between Yu Dayou and Qi Jiguang, it was mainly due to the number of troops under command.
Yu Dayou has the experience of commanding hundreds of people in battles, and also has the experience of commanding tens of thousands of people in battles, and most of them won the battle. Looking at Qi Jiguang, he commanded more thousands of troops in battles, and it seems that he did not command tens of thousands of troops. It has been demonstrated on large-scale battlefields.
Also, when Yu Dayou was commanding the war against the Japanese, each of the main Japanese pirate forces had tens of thousands of troops. However, these Japanese pirate gangs had all disappeared, leaving only countless small and medium-sized forces. A gang with thousands of people is considered a very powerful group among the Japanese pirates.
"It is cheaper for Dayou to fight wars."
For some reason, King Yu said this when he opened his mouth.
Perhaps King Yu had calculated the military resources between the guards and the camp soldiers, so he felt this way, but Wei Guangde did not dare to tell the truth.
During that time in Datong, most of the trophies that the army went out to snatch were directly divided among the officers and soldiers participating in the battle. It was a desperate battle.
If you win, you will gain people and money; if you lose, you will lose both people and money.
This time when he entered Fujian to suppress bandits, Wei Guangde wrote more than a dozen letters to Jiangxi to find someone to help him after confirming Yu Dayou's transfer, because he was worried that Jiangxi's Chief Secretary and Dusi would get in trouble with Yu Dayou on the issue of money and food. neck.
He knew the urinal nature of those civil servants very well. Even if the rebels came to the city, they would have to scrape a layer of masters from them to transfer money and food from the treasury.
Youdao means that before the soldiers and horses are moved, food and grass go first. Wei Guangde, who has been influenced by the war experience of later generations, naturally understands the importance of logistics.
To say that Yu Dayou saved more money than Qi Jiguang in fighting, Wei Guangde really didn't dare to agree shamelessly.
"By the way, are you familiar with this Tan Lun?"
After saying so much, King Yu finally remembered the most important part of the emperor's decree this time, which was to replace the governor of Fujian.
Wei Guangde shook his head, "When I went to Zhejiang, Mr. Tan should have been the prefect of some prefecture."
Wei Guangde was not impressed by Tan Lun, so naturally he would not How to pay attention, let alone someone you have never seen before.
Looking at Yin Shizhen and Zhang Juzheng, he found that they both shook their heads like him.
But Zhang Juzheng seemed to remember something immediately and said: "This Tan Lun, I seem to have read the Zhejiang report. When he was the prefect of Taizhou, he once organized and trained local braves to fight against Japanese pirates. It’s also good that this team of rural warriors was later incorporated into Qi Jiguang’s subordinates.”
"Then he is quite a strategic person. No wonder he was sent to Fujian at this time."
Zhang Juzheng's words gave everyone a preliminary impression of Tan Lun, that is, he is a military and civilian official , the highest official position in the future can be a governor or minister of the Ministry of War.
“Governor of Fujian, it’s a pity that his previous official position was low, so this transfer will be lower than that of Zhao Bingran.”
Yin Shizhen said.
“He is not from the Metropolitan Procuratorate. He is the governor of Fujian. In the end, he may be promoted to the title of Qiandu Censor. If he is the Qiandu Censor, how can he be transferred to Fujian this time? "Added the title of deputy capital imperial envoy."
Zhang Juzheng said regretfully.
In the Ming Dynasty, governors and governors did not have fixed grades. It depended on what title was added to obtain the corresponding grade, and the most important title was naturally the title of the Metropolitan Procuratorate.
For example, Tan Lun was directly appointed by Emperor Jiajing. The highest official position he could get after directly joining the Metropolitan Procuratorate was that of the Imperial Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate and the fourth rank of governor.
Because he is the governor, he does not need to hold the title of Minister of War, so his rank as governor is only the fourth grade.
“I don’t know how long it will take him to take over the Fuxinghua Mansion?”
King Yu is not concerned about the official position that Tan Lun may be awarded. Maybe this is because he is the emperor’s son. Because they only value the ability of ministers to do things, as for their rank, they are actually secondary to real power.
Whether you are a governor with the title of Shangshu or a governor with the title of Yushi, there is actually no essential difference between the second and fourth grades, they all exercise the same power.
However, it must be said that Emperor Jiajing’s order to dismiss You Zhende was decisive. Just before the imperial edict came out, countless censors were already preparing to file impeachments, and there were more than just targets. It was You Zhende, and even the newly appointed Governor of Fujian and Guangdong was within the scope of their impeachment.
However, after Emperor Jiajing issued the direct decree, the direction of these impeachment memorials was unanimously aimed at You Zhende. Perhaps because it was near the end of the year, many censors who had not completed the impeachment targets were trying their best to impeach him for his incompetence.
It was also because of this edict of removal that a possible impeachment storm in the capital was eliminated.
All the officials in the capital are looking at Xinghua Prefecture in Fujian, waiting for Tan Lun to take over Fuxinghua Prefecture. If there is a slight setback, he is afraid that he will become the second You Zhende.