Chapter 43: Eliminate the Military Household System
From Yansui to Ningxia, there are nearly two thousand miles of defense line and countless fortresses of various kinds, relying on the Great Wall to take root in northern Xinjiang.
It is undeniable that in the era when the Mongolian power still remained and they would cheat from time to time, the frontier troops were like the pillars of the Ming Dynasty.
Wanli's three major expeditions relied on the frontier army.
Similarly, the three major campaigns against scabies had to rely on frontier troops in the end, which also illustrates the weakness of the Ming Dynasty.
You must know that in the Ming Dynasty, the most powerful of the Nine Borders was the Liaodong Army, which stretched from Phoenix City in the east to Shanhaiguan in the west, with a total length of about two thousand miles.
The army numbered nearly 200,000 at its highest and 80,000 at its lowest.
In this way, it gradually deteriorated to its current situation, and the collapse of the military household system played a major role.
As a time traveler, Zhu Yixi certainly understands the root cause of the collapse of military households - the land system.
The so-called military household system is just a variant of the equal land system in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, but the degree of dependence is stronger.
First the inland, then the coast, and finally the border towns, they collapsed bit by bit.
From the rise of Japanese pirates to Jurchens, everything illustrates this point.
During the Jiajing period, the emperor and even the court completely abandoned the military household system.
In other words, the military land has been exhausted, and the huge combination of interests - officers and gentry, makes the court afraid to act rashly.
They had to continuously increase military pay from the already fragile fiscal revenue to maintain the nine-sided situation, thereby overwhelming the Ming Dynasty.
After all, theoretically speaking, from the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, when the land was divided, it was announced that the land should be granted and fought. This obligation and responsibility formed, and the court did not need to issue military pay.
From the initial support, the military salary became logical and dependent, especially the Liaodong Army, which gradually sucked the blood of the Ming Dynasty.
Military households have completely become a cancer.
"Since the army is paid, why don't I recruit soldiers? Why use military households?"
Zhu Yixi couldn't help but shake her head while reading the information about the border army, and said without mercy:
"Now that we have reached this point, those lands can no longer be left unchecked. They will be taken back naturally."
In addition to land factors, population restrictions are also disgusting aspects of the military household system.
The existence of the garrison system allowed the army to become a self-contained entity. The military households under its jurisdiction, regardless of the increase or decrease in population, were within the military households' land and could not be separated.
In other words, the official population statistics of the Ming Dynasty never included military households. Millions, or even nearly ten million, of military households were simply ignored.
Therefore, the increase in population in the Qing Dynasty was not without reason.
Both land and manpower need to be liberated to alleviate Shaanxi's population dilemma.
Military disasters and plagues have brought Shaanxi's population to the verge of collapse.
Thinking of the chaos in Shaanxi during the Qing Dynasty, Zhu Yixi couldn't help but feel her heart sink.
The fruit of that time is the cause of what is sown now!
"No matter what, it can't be like this anymore."
Zhu Yixi said quietly, thinking silently in her heart.
He admits that he is not a so-called idealist, but more realistic.
Many officials in the shogunate were extremely indignant at the people in Jiangnan who endured the suffering of horse hoofs, and kept admonishing the shogunate to go east.
But so what?
Can it defeat the 200,000 people of the Qing Dynasty? Can the shogunate and its jade be destroyed together?
Should Li Zicheng be allowed to enter Shu?
The people of Jiangnan are human beings, but the people of Sichuan are not?
If you do it willfully, you will lose everything.
There is no dilemma for the shogunate. Sichuan is a cow. Jiangnan cannot contribute taxes, so it can only choose Sichuan.
In those books, he really couldn't imitate the protagonists who were willing to sacrifice themselves and even their families at all costs to save the people.
Why doesn't he want to rudely wipe out the world and help the people, but reality is not about writing novels or playing games, but also has to pay attention to reason and logic.
In Zhu Yixi's view, saving the people and unifying the world with him are not contradictory, but rather complementary to each other.
"Your Highness, Li Jingwu, You Shiwei are back——"
"Let them come over!"
Zhu Yixi restrained her scattered thoughts and ordered in a deep voice.
Soon, the two people, who were tired of the journey and were in utter embarrassment, saw the figure of King Yu. They were so ashamed that they knelt down on one knee:
"I will never have the face to see His Highness!!!"
"Li Zicheng ran away too?"
Zhu Yixi was not surprised, her face was calm.
People's survival instinct can unleash astonishing power. What's more, Li Zicheng is an expert in escaping and is a rogue. It's a miracle that he can catch him.
However, when faced with the two men's confession, Zhu Yixi did not let them get up, but allowed them to kneel down.
Clear rewards and punishments are the rules of the army.
In pursuit of Li Zicheng, the two of them were eager to take the lead. If they failed, they would naturally have to pay the price.
After kneeling for a long time, Li and You did not dare to raise their heads and looked at each other, their faces turning red.
This was really a humiliation for the two of them.
"Get up!"
I don't know how long it took before King Yu's voice sounded.
The two of them were grateful and hurriedly stood up. Unexpectedly, they knelt for too long, their knees softened, and they almost fell down again.
King Yu chuckled lightly and said, "It would be good to teach him a lesson."
"I will be ashamed in the end——"×2
"Go to Guyuan Town!"
King Yu's voice was elongated and sounded particularly loud in the entire palace, reaching the ears.
"Guyuan Town borders Raoyang Water Fort of Yansui Town to the east and Lanzhou to the west. It has tens of thousands of soldiers and is an important town in Shaanxi Province."
Zhu Yixi watched the two of them rubbing their knees and continued:
"You are all from Shaanxi Province, and you should know a lot about this province. The military towns and feudal kings are constantly sucking blood, so that the local people are as poor as slaves."
"Li Zicheng helped us solve the issue of the feudal vassal and town. It is up to us to find a solution for the military households."
"So, when you go to Guyuan, you are going to count the military households, sweep out the land, and catch the silverfish that are encroaching on the land one by one to serve as a warning to others."
The two of them were shocked and looked horrified.
The power of the military households inside and outside Shaanxi Province was extremely huge, and those who invaded the military settlements were not only military officers, but also gentry in many places. It can be said that a single move affected the whole body.
"Your Highness, if this is the case, the whole of Shaanxi will probably boil!"
You Shiwei said tremblingly.
As a former commander-in-chief, he knew everything about military towns. Even his You family had tens of thousands of acres of land in Yulin, which was acquired through annexation. Otherwise, how could he support hundreds of servants?
Therefore, even in the barren land of northern Shaanxi, land is the lifeblood.
"boiling?"
King Yu didn't take it seriously and sneered: "How many troops are there on the three sides to boil over?"
As he spoke, Zhu Yixi said disdainfully: "Now that I have 100,000 troops and 100,000 prisoners, I can't believe it. Who dares to get into trouble?"
"There happens to be a shortage of food, so it's cheap to rob someone else's house."
With that said, he didn't waste any time and directly ordered: "You Shiwei, you are also the commander-in-chief of Guyuan. You not only have to clean up the military settlements, but you also have to set up a defense line for me to prevent the Tatars from taking a step forward. Do you understand?"
"The general will obey your orders!"
You Shiwei and the other two looked bitter.
If they knew that Liu Tingjie had gone to raid his hometown in Yulin Town, they would be even more outraged.
However, Zhu Yixi is not one-size-fits-all and has remedies for his own people.
It is nothing more than exchanging the land to Xi'an Prefecture.