On August 15, Cao Bianjiao rode on horseback on the school field outside Taiyuan City to review Shanxi soldiers and horses.
The 60,000 new troops alone may not be able to defeat Li Zicheng, who has hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Cao Bianjiao wanted to select a few combatable troops from Shanxi soldiers and horses to coordinate with him to fight in Shaanxi.
However, the situation of Shanxi's soldiers and horses made Cao Bianjiao extremely disappointed.
Most of these soldiers and horses from Xuan, Da, Shanxi and Jizhen are in rags. Compared with the bright armor of the Beijing camp, they look like beggars. I don’t know where the equipment money transferred to the border towns from various places has gone.
The equipment of the frontline soldiers was actually damaged to such an extent.
Unlike the new army that the emperor used to raise his army from the warehouse and the inner treasury, the soldiers in the border towns basically relied on the money "transferred" by the local government. These financial funds were directly allocated from local taxes and transported directly to the border without going through the central government.
Town. In military towns, although the governors and governors were directly appointed by the emperor, there were civil servants such as Hubu Langzhong and Tongpan in the military towns to manage the food and wages transported to the border towns. These civil servants were appointed by the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the cabinet.
Because of this relationship, the Ming Dynasty's frontier army was actually highly dependent on civilian officials, and their actions depended entirely on the civilian officials' faces. Military attachés had to live on empty pay, drank soldiers' blood, and even deducted silver from craftsmen who made equipment, squeezing out money to bribe civilian officials in various yamen.
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Of course, the military attaches themselves also had to line their own pockets.
Corruption is an unspoken rule of Ming Dynasty officialdom, and Cao Bianjiao also understood this. But the officers of these frontier armies looked too ugly.
It was just the simplest form of standing in line, but Shanxi's soldiers and horses were all in shambles. On the school field, tens of thousands of people stood in a sloping line. It was like a group of bastards who were forcibly arranged in a line.
If Li Zicheng attacks Shanxi, can he hold the whole of Shanxi with these 80,000 men? I'm afraid it will be a huge defeat within a few months.
Cao Bianjiao was riding in the procession. When he looked around, he couldn't see a strong team, so he couldn't help but sigh.
The bottom line of the Ming Dynasty's bureaucrats has not improved with the rise of Li Zhi in recent years. On the contrary, because of Li Zhi's efforts to turn the tide, the Ming Dynasty's bureaucrats have more space to manipulate and act more unscrupulously.
The original frontier troops were often called to the battlefield to carry the Qing army, and they would be held responsible if they lost. But it is different now. The Ming Dynasty had Li Zhi to support them and they could sit back and relax. The Tatars were all wiped out by Li Zhi.
As long as the emperor says a word, the thieves will not be able to stop Tianjin's Tiger Army. The so-called border troops are basically dispensable.
The Ming Dynasty's frontier army now has no external pressure at all.
Li Zhi's influence was limited to one town and six provinces, and other parts of the Ming Dynasty continued to deteriorate. If the frontier soldiers in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen could still fight with the Qing army in Jinzhou, by the twenty-first year of Chongzhen,
The Ming Dynasty's border troops have been reduced to less than a bandit army.
Cao Bianjiao frowned and turned to look at the general soldiers behind him.
The general soldiers did not dare to look at Cao Bianjiao, their eyes flickered and they hid.
These military attaches were all promoted by the Donglin Party when it was in power. Speaking of which, these military attaches are inextricably linked to the Donglin Party. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that these border troops are civilian armies.
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The military attaches know this fact, and the emperor also knows it. So now that the emperor has taken control of the court, a purge of the military attaches is bound to take place. The reason why this purge has not started yet is probably because the emperor has never led any troops.
Confidant. If the generals promoted by the Donglin Party are replaced, the emperor will have no one to use.
If someone with no actual combat experience is put in charge of the army, I am afraid that not only other officers will be dissatisfied, but even the emperor himself will doubt whether he will bring down the army.
In fact, what Zhu Youjian was thinking was that after he had made meritorious service in defeating thieves in the Beijing camp, he promoted officers from the Beijing camp to take charge of the army in the border town.
This point is understood by the border army officers in the border towns. Therefore, these border army generals have a feeling that time is running out, and they are even more unscrupulous in making money.
The Shanxi general soldier was glanced at by Cao Bianjiao. He panicked and turned his eyes to look at the soldier next to him.
He kicked a soldier on the butt and shouted: "Donkey Hair Ball, you can't even stand in line!"
The soldier was kicked by the commander, with an angry look on his face.
It's not that these soldiers don't stand up well, it's just that the treatment in the army is too poor. Almost all military pay is deducted by the officers. It's good if the soldiers can have enough to eat. Soldiers fight with their heads in their belts. It seems like today
An'an, we might have to fight for our lives with bandits tomorrow. Who would be willing to do it without military pay?
The commander-in-chief also kicked the soldier on the scene, and the soldier endured it. If the officer beat him with a stick a lot on weekdays, and if he had to be beaten without pay, I'm afraid these border troops would mutiny and fight for pay.
There were frequent incidents of rioting over pay during the Chongzhen Dynasty. From time to time, senior officers and even general soldiers were killed by soldiers who were quarreling with pay.
Who is afraid of whom these days?
Cao Bianjiao looked at the soldier, then at the Shanxi general soldier, and shook his head.
He continued to ride his horse forward, and when he reached the front of the Xuanfu Zhenzheng Barracks, his eyes suddenly lit up.
Like other military towns, the regular soldiers in Xuanfu Town were also dressed in rags. Under the scolding of the officers, the soldiers in Xuanfu Town also lined up in sparse lines, and seemed not to take those officers seriously - these officers only knew
They are greedy for money and food, but they want the soldiers to rush to the front during the war. How can the soldiers listen to the officers?
But the temperament of these soldiers is somewhat different. There is a rebelliousness in the eyes of these soldiers that only comes after seeing blood.
Cao Bianjiao glanced at Wei Dazhong, the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu, and secretly thought that Wei Dazhong was timid and did not do his best. At least he did not dismiss the veterans who could fight and recruit new recruits who knew nothing - veterans are always more demanding than new recruits.
Even higher, many officers retire veterans and recruit new recruits, which makes it easier to be corrupt.
Cao Bianjiao used to be the commander-in-chief of the ASEAN Association in Ji Town. He just looked at the ASEAN Association in Ji Town and found that not even one out of ten veterans were left. But here in the main barracks in Xuan Town, all the veterans are still there.
Yang Guozhu, who was behind Cao Bianjiao, saw Xuan Zhen's soldiers and horses and jumped off his horse excitedly.
He walked a few steps in the main barracks of Xuanzhen and patted some of the soldiers on the shoulders.
Before Yang Guozhu fell into the Beijing camp, he had been serving as the commander-in-chief of the Xuanfu. When some junior officers in the march saw Yang Guozhu, their unruly eyes became serious, and they all bowed to Yang Guozhu.
"Military Gate!"
"Military Gate!"
In the past, Yang Guozhu always took the lead in battles and had a high prestige in the army. Although he was transferred to the Beijing camp, his prestige in Xuanzhen still existed. He was very happy to see that his veterans were still there. He turned to Cao Bianjiao and said loudly:
"Jing Lue! This is my Xuanfu veteran!"
Cao Bianjiao glanced at Wei Dazhong curiously, but he didn't know why this Wei Dazhong was different from other general soldiers. Wouldn't he get a lot less benefits by keeping these veterans?
Is he really a loyal minister who cares about the country?
Wei Dazhong was stared at by Cao Bianjiao, his eyes twinkling and he laughed.
Cao Bianjiao nodded and said, "Xuanfu's fifteen thousand soldiers and horses are available."
Fifteen thousand soldiers and horses were not enough, so Cao Bianjiao meditated for a long time on his horse and said: "Modify Ji Town and Xixie again, and the main barracks of Datong will enter Shaanxi."
