The night wind blew the shadows of the trees and knocked on the window lattice.
If we were in the north, the cold wind in late October would make the buzzing sound of a bow string vibrating, and the scenery outside the window would be like a crazy dance.
In the south, the winter wind always seems to be blowing softly inadvertently, but it is as cold as a shadow.
King Zhu Di of Yan was sitting in front of the window, the golden cup in his hand was full of strong wine, looking at the reflection of the branches on the window that sometimes turned graceful and sometimes messy, he was in a daze.
At the old man's birthday party, he got drunk and was scolded for sobering up. He didn't want to get drunk at the time, but he didn't get drunk so suddenly and unprepared.
Now, he wanted to fall asleep with the help of a little liquor. But after drinking a lot, he became more energetic and the more he drank, the colder his heart became.
"This time I came to the capital, I really lost my sense of propriety!"
Zhu Di shook the liquid in the golden cup. Under the light, the thick wine seemed to be covered with a layer of crystal.
"Why are you so angry with a little kid!? Even if you defeat him verbally, even if you can suppress him, after all, he is the prince chosen by the old man. What benefits can you get?"
"Zhu Laosi, you are in your thirties, but you are still so impetuous! You deserve this humiliation!"
Zhu Di raised his glass with a wry smile, raised his head, and drank it all in one gulp.
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Putting down the wine glass, Yan Wang Zhu Di's eyes became clearer and brighter.
"After all these years, I still don't fit into the big dye vat of Yingtian Mansion, and I haven't learned to bow my head to others and talk in a condescending manner."
"A good man should speak with a sword and a gun. If you can't offend the crooked melons and split dates in this big dyeing vat in the capital, why waste your words!"
Thinking about it, Zhu Di laughed to himself again.
"Brother, you really gave birth to a good son, much better than you."
"That's fine, if the opponent is too weak, this battle will be meaningless!"
"The grandson of the emperor? If he is really like a quail, he will be defeated by force."
Suddenly, there was a gentle knock on the door outside.
"Who?" Zhu Di asked coldly.
"father!"
Hearing his son's voice, the expression on King Yan's face softened a lot.
"come in!"
Then, Zhu Gaoxu opened the door and came in with red eyes.
"Is something wrong?" Zhu Di asked.
Zhu Gaoxu sniffed, raised his head and asked, "Dad, do you really want Zhang Fu to stay in Beijing!"
Zhu Di sighed slightly in his heart. Zhang Fu was the riding and archery teacher of his sons, and he had a deep affection for him.
"Yes!" Zhu Di said calmly.
"My son doesn't want him to stay here. My son wants to take him back to Peking. He belongs to our family!" Zhu Gaoxu suddenly shouted loudly.
"Do you dare to disobey the grandson's will?" Zhu Di turned his head and asked coldly, "Son, do you dare?"
Zhu Gaoxu clenched his fists and gritted his teeth and said, "Why don't you dare? He is not the emperor!"
"What if he becomes emperor in the future?" Zhu Di asked again.
"He...he just relied on the power of the emperor's grandfather!" Zhu Gaoxu roared.
Zhu Di smiled, filled the gold cup with Beidi liquor again, and slowly pushed it aside.
Then, looking at his son, "If your imperial grandfather didn't have the power, would you be afraid of him?"
"Not afraid!" Zhu Gaoxu shook his head and said, "Dad, my son is not afraid of anyone!"
"Then we, the two of us, will wait until he no longer has the power of your imperial grandfather to rely on, and snatch back what we have thrown away!" As he said, Zhu Di pointed at the golden cup, "Drink, go back to bed after drinking, and then go back to sleep.
Keep everything in your heart and don't tell anyone!"
Zhu Gaoxu looked at the golden cup without any hesitation and drank it in one breath.
Then his immature face turned red from the stimulation of alcohol, and he breathed in the hot breath, stubbornly refusing to let himself cough.
"Tomorrow, we masters will go home to Peiping!" Zhu Di turned around and continued to look at the reflection outside the window, "Although this place is nice, it is not our home after all!"
At the same time, Zhu Yunxi, who was deep in the palace, did not sleep, but excitedly opened the thin booklet that the old man gave him.
Although the book is thin and light, it is as heavy as Mount Tai.
Because this book contains the most core military secrets of the Ming Dynasty, except for the emperor and a few close friends, even the Minister of War is not allowed to know.
The former Minister of War was impeached and dismissed from office because he asked the Fifth Army Governor's Office for the military registers of the Ming Dynasty soldiers and horses.
By the light, Zhu Yunxi opened the book, and it was filled with fair and dense regular script.
"Attache in Beijing, 2,747 people!"
"Sergeant, two hundred thousand two hundred men!"
"War horses, four thousand seven hundred and fifty-one!"
"Foreign attachés, thirteen thousand seven hundred and forty-two!"
"Sergeant, nine hundred and ninety-two thousand one hundred and fifty-four men!"
"War horses, forty thousand and three hundred and twenty-nine!"
This is the total number of troops in the Ming Dynasty. A rough estimate shows that the total number exceeds 1.2 million.
Zhu Yunxi couldn't help but be shocked. He was a soldier, so he naturally knew what this number meant.
These soldiers now are not the beggar soldiers in the late Ming Dynasty who couldn't afford to eat. They are the real founding army, absolute fighting soldiers, strong soldiers, and field armies.
One and two million soldiers, even if the garrison system has not yet collapsed, is a huge burden for the country. Even in modern society, many countries in the world are unable to mobilize such a large number of troops.
They were mobilizing, and the 1.2 million troops of the Ming Dynasty were elites who could attack directly with swords drawn, no matter who the enemy was.
And he knew that even in this confidential roster of sergeants, the numbers might not be correct.
The statistics of Beijing's sergeants and war horses omitted the emperor's twelve guards. Before Lan Yu went to the camp, Zhu Yunxi heard Lan Yu say privately that the most elite in the Beijing camp were undoubtedly the thirty thousand soldiers under the old man's command.
Mount iron cavalry.
In addition to the emperor's personal troops, there are no statistics on the armies of vassal kings in various places. The armed forces of King Yan and the off-duty soldiers of King Ning of Qin and Jincheng. Those soldiers are completely professional soldiers, unlike the officers and soldiers of the guards who have to farm on weekdays.
, they are fighting every day, three hundred and fifteen days a year.
They are well-equipped and commanded by famous generals.
Calculating this, the Ming Dynasty could mobilize and bring nearly one million soldiers to the battlefield.
One million troops need to be fed by the country, which shows the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty. However, it is still only the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty is full of waste and waiting to be revitalized.
"Each guard and cavalry army in the world has a monthly allowance of one stone and two measures, an infantry flag of one stone and five measures, a small flag of one stone and two measures, and a sergeant one stone. Those who defend the city will be given the full amount, and those who are stationed in the fields will receive half of it."
One stone is equivalent to one load, which is about one hundred and twenty kilograms. In the Ming Dynasty, one kilogram was ten taels.
"Well, if a sergeant has a family of four or more, one stone will be added. If there are less than three people, it will be a dou. If there is salt in the month, it will be two pounds. If there is no family, it will be one pound!"
"You will be given cotton clothes for winter at the end of the year, summer clothes and linen for summer, and fat jackets and shoes for when you go on an expedition!"
Zhu Yunxi couldn't help but feel a little excited. No wonder in the early days of the founding of the Ming Dynasty, he won consecutive battles against the powerful Beiyuan Dynasty. No wonder during the Yongle period, he went out to the outside of the Great Wall five times and defeated the barbarians outside the Great Wall so arrogantly that his horses did not dare to look northward.
The war was all about the economy, money and food. The Ming Dynasty provided such a comprehensive supply of sergeants, so the soldiers and their families no longer had any worries, and no one would complain.
Moreover, these grains and salaries are completely separated from the official system, and are all distributed by the Governor's Office of the Five Armies, which is in charge of the world's guards and has the power of the world's soldiers and horses.
Although the old man was not of high origin, he was very knowledgeable. He knew the harm of the official system to the army, so he completely distinguished Ming Dynasty from Wu Dynasty. He used the meritorious generals who knew the army to lead the army, set up guard posts, and allowed the soldiers to farm in their spare time and fight in wartime.
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The information comes from Ming Taizu's Records, Ming Food and Huo Zhi, Ming Military System and other books, and is not made up by me.
Happy Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, everyone.
There will be more later, thank you all for your support.
This chapter has been completed!