Chapter 786: The Reorganization Plan of the Northern Army
"Your Majesty, although the loot in this Liaodong war is not much on the surface, there is actually a huge treasure house that can be used." Zhong Jinwei reported to Emperor Chongzhen.
The reason for this is that all the wealth accumulated by Jianlu over the years was plundered by Zhong Jinwei during the last Shenyang attack.
Therefore, compared with the rich loot last time, this time there is much less.
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, his eyes lit up. He looked at Zhong Jinwei and said, "Treasure house, what treasure house?"
"Manpower, land and the wealth under the land." Zhong Jinwei answered with a smile, and then explained in detail, "Manpower is naturally the population of Liaodong. Your Majesty, this is what I think about the manpower arrangement in Liaodong."
"First, the Jurchens, the strongest of them, that is, the prisoners of war, are all assigned to build large-scale supply points. This number of up to 40,000 to 50,000 people is enough to build the large-scale supply points planned by the imperial court."
"Okay, I have discussed this with Wen Qing, and this is what I meant." Emperor Chongzhen intervened and expressed his position.
"Second, the women, children, old and weak among the Jurchens are enslaved, and rewards are given to meritorious soldiers. But there can be a time limit. After a few years of atonement, they will be given the status of ordinary people and give them hope. Correspondingly, those who build large-scale supplies The same can be done for some prisoners of war to give them hope. Only in this way can we encourage them to work seriously."
When Zhong Jinwei said this, he explained with a smile: "In this way, the rewards given to the soldiers will be less cash."
Emperor Chongzhen understood that this was a way to use Jurchen slaves to replace the few silver coins in the imperial treasury.
"This is possible, but we must publicize that although these are old, weak, women and children, they also bully the Han people in Liaodong and have done a lot of bad things." Wen Tiren added on the side.
This is out of a high degree of morality. It is a mature and prudent opinion not to give others or future generations any leverage. Zhong Jinwei nodded and smiled at Wen Tiren.
Then he continued: "One thing I have not thought about here is how to deal with those Han people who shave their hair and change their clothes. There must be some who are willing and unwilling, and there must be some who work for the Jianlu and oppress our Han people. , but these are difficult to distinguish.”
Emperor Chongzhen frowned and thought for a while, then said to Zhong Jinwei: "Master Zhong, ignore this for now. You can continue."
The boss spoke, and Zhong Jinwei obeyed: "Third, all the land in Liaodong can be nationalized, and then distributed to meritorious soldiers as part of the reward. According to the merit, the amount of land will be obtained. In this way, part of the treasury can be spent less. Cash silver."
Under the current circumstances, this is indeed a good method. It can not only satisfy the soldiers of the Liao expedition, but also save the treasury expenditure. It is also equivalent to using the spoils of this war to reward the soldiers, which can be regarded as one of the dividends of the war.
"Xingguo Gong, Liaodong is so big. According to the general land reward specifications, there is probably a lot of land left in Liaodong." Wen Tiren reminded Zhong Jinwei.
Zhong Jinwei smiled and said with a pearl of wisdom: "This leads to an important point I want to talk about, the innovation of the Ming Dynasty's northern army."
As soon as Emperor Chongzhen heard Zhong Jinwei say such an important thing, his expression immediately became serious and he listened carefully.
Zhong Jinwei turned to Emperor Chongzhen and explained: "What I want to do is to take advantage of the power of this great victory in the war and when there is no force in Liaodong to intervene, and implement it as quickly as possible so that the resistance will be minimal."
"Your Majesty, except for the Beijing Camp, there are currently only supervisory troops in the other frontier armies, and there are no Jinyiwei political commissars. Take this opportunity to fully implement the Jinyiwei political commissar system. In addition, while there are no strong opponents in the north of the Ming Dynasty,
Reorganize the border army and divide it into two categories: field army and local ordinary army. Based on the existing number, we will conduct a large-scale streamlining. Because soldiers are more valuable than more elites, it can also effectively reduce the burden on the court and improve the benefits of the border army."
Emperor Chongzhen and Wen Tiren listened quietly and did not interrupt Zhong Jinwei's words.
"The specific method can be as follows. The first step is to implement the Jinyiwei political commissar system in the current Liaodong army. Because there are Jingying soldiers who have lived with them for a period of time, they are all familiar with the Jinyiwei political commissar system and have just experienced a great victory. The whole army has it.
There should be no problem in accepting the reward."
"The second step is to rectify the existing border armies and military residences in various places in the north. Elite men with combat effectiveness are selected and reorganized into field army groups, with priority being equipped with firearms and receiving the highest treatment; inferior sergeants form local corps and are responsible for
Local security and disaster relief, and when necessary, they will be transformed into field troops, and their treatment will be second to none. Other soldiers will be eliminated and placed in Liaodong to serve the people, and they can be given a certain amount of land to settle down."
Zhong Jinwei's plan actually referred to the military classification of later generations, which was refreshing to Emperor Chongzhen and Wen Tiren. Especially for the local army, its functions were clearly defined as local security and disaster relief.
"Master Zhong, isn't the local government's yamen and police officers responsible for maintaining security in this place?" Emperor Chongzhen asked him with some doubts.
Zhong Jinwei had future generations as a reference, so he could naturally answer quickly: "Your Majesty, the number of yamen officers and police officers is too small, and most of them are to maintain law and order in the town. But there are some situations where it is not appropriate, such as thieves, gangsters, etc. Of course.
Well, the most important thing is the disaster relief function.”
"The so-called skills are specialized, divided according to functions, and trained in peacetime. The field army is good at fighting, and the local army is good at disaster relief and suppressing bandits. This is also the practice in my hometown."
When Zhong Jinwei said this, Wen Tiren interrupted and said to Emperor Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, Duke Xingguo said before that this Little Ice Age will last for more than ten years, and disasters will continue. Even if it is not the Little Ice Age, the disasters will not stop.
But if we use the disciplined army to provide disaster relief, the effect will be good."
Emperor Chongzhen saw that Wen Tiren agreed, and it was the practice of later generations, which sounded good, so he nodded and agreed: "I also think this is a good idea. By the way, Master Zhong, the army that was eliminated from the Beijing camp last time was formed into Xiu
Is this the same idea for the road team?"
"Your Majesty is so awesome. I have forgotten this. This is what I just said." Zhong Jinwei smiled and flattered Emperor Chongzhen.
Wen Tiren went through Zhong Jinwei's suggestion in his mind, thought for a moment, and confirmed: "The field army and local army that were spun off from the army here should also implement the Jinyiwei political commissar system?"
"Haha, Mr. Wen is really strict. We must implement the Jinyiwei political commissar system. This is a necessary means to maintain the court's control over the local army. I just missed it." Zhong Jinwei answered Wen Tiren with a smile.