In the military system of the Ming Dynasty, one guard was subordinated to five thousand-household offices, and each thousand-household office was subordinated to 10 hundred-household offices. The so-called hundred households, as the name suggests, are leaders in charge of 100 people. In fact, one hundred-household office manages 112
officers and soldiers, including 2 general bannermen, 10 small bannermen and 100 soldiers. There are 50 positions for hundreds of households under the entire Nanchang Guard. It is also very easy to give one to Su Hao.
The rank of a hundred households is the sixth rank. On the surface, it is higher than the rank of a county official. But in fact, a hundred households is equivalent to a company commander in later generations. Corresponding to the local level, it is a stock-level cadre. Why?
Can it be compared with the chief of a county? The military ranks of the Ming Dynasty were all high, but they were not comparable to civil servants. When a high-ranking military officer met a civil official one or two grades lower, he often had to treat him as a subordinate, with emphasis on civil service.
The style of light martial arts can be seen clearly.
"Master Fang, the students don't understand. Since I am asked to teach surveying and mapping methods, why have I been assigned a position of 100 households? Do I still need to lead troops?" Su Hao asked strangely.
Fang Shu said: "You must lead soldiers. The soldiers you lead are the scouts you want to teach. Wouldn't it be more convenient to have a position to manage them?"
"Master Fang is saying that if I no longer want to serve in the military, I can take off my military status at any time?" Su Hao asked again.
Fang Shu said: "That's natural. These words were told by Zhang Dusi himself before I came to Fengcheng."
Su Hao turned to look at Hao Tong again. Since Hao Tong had concealed the cost of the telescope for him, Su Hao believed that Hao Tong was on his side. Hao Tong should give him some hints about such a matter.
Sure enough, when Hao Tong saw Su Hao cast an inquiring look, he raised his hands and saluted: "Master Su, Master Fang's words are true. When Zhang Dusi explained this matter, his subordinates were also present. Zhang Dusi said, Su
Master Su is very talented and will definitely become a general or prime minister in the future, and he will definitely not fetter Master Su with his military duties."
"Well. Well, the student will accept the appointment of the Hundred Households. When the scout training is completed, the student can resign from the position of the Hundred Households." Su Hao said.
"Please do as you wish." Fang Shu said.
The next thing is to fill in the personal information, including Su Hao's name, age, place of origin, appearance, etc. After completing the filling, Fang Shu put away the relevant materials, which will be reported to the Ministry of War in the future. Fang Shu
He also told Su Hao that his clothes, waist badges and other items would be delivered to him later, and he would be able to take office at that time.
"Su Baihu. Your Baihu Office is under the Nanchang Guard's Xiaogang Thousand House Office. However, you are directly controlled by Jiangxi Dusi. If you encounter any problems, you can report them directly to the Dusi... Of course, it is best to report to Nanchang Guard first.
Let me inform you to avoid any misunderstanding." Fang Shu specifically explained.
"Student...ah, no, I understand." Seeing that Fang Shu had changed his name, Su Hao quickly changed his own title as well.
Fang Shu pointed at Hao Tong again and said: "Hao Tong and Deng Kui were originally under the command of Deputy Commander Deng of the Yunnan Frontier Army, but Zhang Dusi said that he was going to sell a favor and get these two people.
, let’s put them under your command as two general banners. Those soldiers you recruited, if there are not two powerful people, I’m afraid they won’t be able to control them.”
"Thank you, Sir." Su Hao said smoothly. After saying that, he suddenly felt something was wrong. He quickly asked: "Master Fang, what did you mean by the soldiers I recruited just now?"
Fang Shu pretended to have just remembered it and said, "Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention it. Zhang Dusi said that this surveying and mapping method is very complicated and ordinary soldiers may not be able to learn it. I hope Su
The Hundred Households will recruit some literate farm children themselves to be incorporated into your Hundred Households. I have also brought you the recruitment documents."
Su Hao took the document handed over by Fang Shu and was stamped with the seal of the Nanjing Ministry of War. He really couldn't laugh or cry. It seemed that the other party had already arranged the matter, and then came to notify him as the person involved. Fortunately, he had just agreed to accept this hundred.
Otherwise, we still don’t know whether the other party intends to be soft or hard. In a word, the other party has decided on us.
"There is no problem in recruiting soldiers, but where will the recruited soldiers be trained?" Su Hao asked, "I can't let these more than 100 people live in my backyard, can I?"
Fang Shu said: "Let General Hao Qi handle these things. He has been in the army for many years and has experience in this area. After the sergeants are in place, the Nanchang Guards will allocate all the necessary food, salary, soldiers, armor, etc. to you."
At this point, Su Hao had no choice but to say Wei. Fang Shu also explained some other things to Su Hao, including introducing him to the officials of the Qianhu Office, Nanchang Guard and other departments and their responsibilities.
Su Hao wrote down the business one by one. These are all things he must know when dealing with the superiors in the future.
After Fang Shu introduced this, he stood up and left. It seemed that he was really here to inspect Su Hao. After the inspection, he would go back to Nanchang to report to the capital. Su Hao hesitated for a moment, wondering how many taels of silver he would have to give to him at this time.
I thought about whether it was appropriate as a thank you gift from my superior, and the other party said:
"Sir Fang, for such a trivial matter, I have troubled you to come all the way from Nanchang. I am so moved. I know that you are an honest official, so I have some specialties from Fengcheng that I would like to present to you. Please accept it."
Fang Shu waved his hands and said: "Hey, that's not necessary. You just need to do your job well and live up to Lord Dusi's high expectations. There is no need for specialties and the like. Everything that is available in Fengcheng is also available in Nanchang.
"
Su Hao smiled and said: "Master Fang, if it's something from Nanchang, I would be too embarrassed to take action. I have a friend who runs a coal kiln and has some good anthracite, which is very convenient for heating fires at home in winter. Fang
If you don't mind it, I will arrange for my friend to send 2,000 kilograms to Master Fang's house as a token of my gratitude for my humble position."
"Anthracite? This is a good thing." Fang Shu's eyes lit up as expected. It seems that Nanchang Mansion is indeed short of coal. With Fang Shu's position, it is difficult to get some good coal. He said: "It's winter in Nanchang.
The weather is wet and cold, and it would be really difficult without coal for heating. If Su Baihu can buy some anthracite for me, it will be a great help to me. However, I have to say it first.
This coal price must be paid."
Su Hao said: "Mr. Fang is out of touch. My friend runs a coal kiln there. I asked him to scan every corner of the coal yard and he was able to collect 2,000 kilograms of charcoal. These are all things dug out of the ground.
, how can I ask for money from the master? The master told me the address of the house, and I asked them to deliver it directly to the house of Mr. Fang. "
Fang Shu said a few more polite words, and finally told Su Hao an address half-heartedly, and at the same time warmly invited Su Hao to visit his home when he went to Nanchang. Su Hao naturally agreed readily. With the benefit of Su Hao's gift,
Fang Shu wiped away the stinky look on his face when he first arrived, looking like someone who owed money but had not paid back. He laughed, praised Su Hao a few words, then got into the carriage and went back to Nanchang accompanied by his own soldiers.
After seeing Fang Shu off, Su Hao returned to the main room, sat down, and looked at the other half of the confession document left for him on the table, feeling very funny.
Deng Kui appeared out of nowhere at this time. Together with Hao Tong, he stood aside, waiting for Su Hao to speak. Su Hao played with his confession document with one hand and looked up and down.
Deng and Hao waited for a long time before they sneered and called out: "Deng Kui, Hao Tong."
"I'm here to serve you!" The two men stood at attention together, clasping their fists and saluting.
"A humble position..." Su Hao was a little uncomfortable with this statement. He patted his head and said: "Oh, I remembered, I am now a hundred households, and you two are the general flags assigned to me by Zhang Dusi.
So it’s indeed a humble position, right?”
"Exactly." they replied.
Su Hao said: "I have a question for you. You two are both soldiers of Deputy General Deng. You are loyal and highly skilled in martial arts. Don't you have any positions in the army?"
"My lord Baihu, my humble position in the army is just that of a soldier and has no position." The two men replied.
Su Hao said: "I don't believe it. Even if you are a soldier now and have no position. Hasn't Deputy General Deng thought about finding a future for you and letting you become an official in the army?"
Hao Tong smiled and said: "It seems that Su Baihu is quite familiar with the rules in our army. General Deng did say to our brothers that he would arrange a position for us in the army in a few years, which can be regarded as an explanation for us.
Yes, some soldiers in the past settled down like this when they got older."
"Generally speaking, what positions can you arrange?" Su Hao continued to ask.
Hao Tong and Deng Kui looked at each other, and Hao Tong said: "This depends on each person's merit and ability. If brothers like us join the army, they will have to be Deputy Qianhu."
"Humph, I knew there was some fraud in this." Su Hao said, "You two, who can serve as deputy commanders of a thousand households, actually condescend to serve as the general banner under me, a hundred households. Are you so willing?"
Deng Kui chuckled and said: "Su Baihu, we brothers have discussed it and we all feel that Su Baihu has a bright future. We brothers follow Su Baihu. Our position seems to be low now, but we will definitely be able to flourish in the future, so there is nothing condescending about it."
Condescending. Su Baihu is willing to accept us, it is a blessing for our brothers."
"Yes, yes, Deng Kui, if you don't know how to tell lies, don't tell them. It's so disgusting that I have goosebumps all over my body." Su Hao made a cold look and said, "You think I am a very heartless person.
?"
"No way!" the two soldiers replied in unison.
"That's right, I don't look like a short-sighted person at all. I am actually a short-sighted person." Su Hao said, "Okay, don't beat around the bush with me, Hao Tong, what do you think Zhang Hong, or does your Deputy Commander Deng have any ideas?"
What are your thoughts? Tell me from the facts. If you don’t give me a clear explanation, aren’t you afraid that I won’t be able to do my job and the scouts you want won’t be able to leave the army in three years?”