Unaware that trouble was brewing within their own walls,
Extravagance is but a dream, empty talk.
With sword drawn, he slew the enemy chieftain.
With a spirit that can conquer thousands of miles, he can secure the stability of the land.
Amidst the glint of swords and the clash of spears, a pot of wine...
We dare to challenge the world and change the course of history.
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Chapter 122 Everything Awaits Reconstruction
The remaining officials in the garrisons surrounding Liaoyang were going crazy. In just three days, eleven official households had been wiped out. It was a true extermination; even the dogs were killed and used as military rations.
The newly arrived general had gone mad. He forcibly confiscated all the farmland and distributed it among the peasants. The garrisons of all the fortresses and garrisons were also forcibly dispersed and reorganized into different units.
Apart from the fortresses on the frontier, Lu Xuan has not made any moves for the time being. All the troops around Liaoyang have been brought under his command.
Of the more than 5,000 people, 4,000 were recovered. The rest were buried on the spot.
Thus, Lu Xuan managed to assemble a mere 10,000-strong army. But looking at those soldiers, each one as thin as a bean sprout, he felt a profound sense of powerlessness. In this era of competing to be the worst, the Ming army had indeed reached the depths of rottenness.
At this moment, Lu Wenzhao found Lu Xuan.
"My lord, we still need you to devise a plan for the training."
"What's the point of training? Let them rest for two months first. Three meals a day, at least one with meat, and plenty of dry rations. We need to build a solid foundation first. During this period, have them jog slowly every day, practice formations, and familiarize themselves with various military orders and slogans. We'll start actual combat when spring arrives."
“Every day?” Lu Wenzhao gave a very strange look, which made Lu Xuan pause for a moment.
Is there a problem?
"My lord, you are unaware of the fact that in the Ming Dynasty, soldiers typically train every three to seven days."
Lu Xuan: "..." He swore he truly knew nothing about this. In his previous life, he had personally led troops in countless battles. He believed he was very familiar with ancient military training procedures. But now...
"How can we ensure the soldiers' combat effectiveness with training sessions every three to seven days?"
"Well, the main problem is the daily training, which is extremely costly. Neither weapons nor provisions can keep up. Moreover, these military households also need to take care of the farmland, so they don't have much time."
Lu Xuan suddenly realized. These soldiers under the garrison system were ultimately not the professional soldiers he was familiar with. In a sense, they were actually part-time farmers and part-time soldiers.
This is also one of the reasons why their combat strength is insufficient. Most of the nomadic tribes of the grasslands are more powerful than Han soldiers because they do not engage in production and their training is more concentrated. This is how their combat strength can be greater.
Throughout Chinese feudal dynasties, there were indeed powerful armies capable of decisively defeating foreign invaders. However, those armies consisted of full-time professional soldiers who devoted all their energy to warfare, rather than engaging in production. How could such armies not be powerful?
Tragically, only a very few powerful dynasties were able to accumulate enough resources to maintain such an army. Moreover, most of these dynasties became decadent in their later years. The Ming Dynasty is a prime example.
Were the Ming army weak during its founding period? They were the powerful army that had destroyed the Yuan Dynasty. Even though the Yuan Dynasty was already in decline at that time, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse; it still had some foundation.
To put it bluntly, if Zhu Yuanzhang knew that his descendants had been utterly defeated by a small tribe from beyond the Great Wall with a total population of only a few hundred thousand, he would probably jump out of his coffin in anger and strangle these unfilial descendants.
Lu Xuan was somewhat helpless about this. There was nothing he could do; they were still short-staffed.
"Before spring, maintain a daily practice routine. After spring, practice for half a day each day."
"Yes, sir. However, such troop training is too taxing. Our reserves won't last long."
The supplies Lu Xuan obtained from Li Rubai seem substantial, but that was based on the Ming army's previous standards. Now, Lu Xuan is fed three full meals a day, with meat at least once a day. His consumption has more than doubled, making those supplies somewhat insufficient.
"Standards cannot be lowered. Planting after spring cannot be stopped. As for the grain and fodder, I will figure it out."
"Yes. And sir, when we were investigating the military farms before, we confiscated the property of eleven households that had led the disturbance. They were all prominent families that had been elites in Liaodong for a long time."
Lu Xuan immediately understood what Lu Wenzhao meant.
"How much silver did you get?"
"You might not believe it, but it was a full three million taels. I deposited it all in the General's mansion."
"Why are you keeping this money here? Money is no different from scrap metal if you don't spend it. First, pay the soldiers two months' wages. Then start attracting investment!"
"Investment promotion?"
"Yes. Let everyone know that we have money. Let them come and do business with us. Grain, ore, livestock, whatever they want. In this way, we should be able to hold out until the next Liaodong tax arrives."
"More than enough. Once spring arrives and farming resumes, the autumn harvest will be plentiful. The grain from the military farms alone will be enough to sustain us for more than half a year. The magistrate previously banned all salt and iron trade. Once we reopen that line, we can also raise most of the military pay. At that time, all the garrisons in Liaoyang will be under the magistrate's control."
That's true. But are you satisfied with that?
"My lord, is there a longer-term plan?" Lu Wenzhao was a little confused. With such a favorable situation, was Lu Xuan still not satisfied?
How many firearms do we have now?
"We have sixty cannons, over a thousand shells, ten thousand muskets, and countless rounds of ammunition," Lu Wenzhao said with some pride.
"Really? How many muskets are still usable?"
Lu Wenzhao was taken aback at first, then realized what was going on. This was indeed a problem. It had been mentioned during the Battle of Sarhu.
Liu Ting's army included three thousand arquebusiers. However, all three thousand were Koreans. Liu Ting was considered a renowned general in the late Ming Dynasty, especially skilled in using arquebusiers. So why were all the arquebusiers foreigners? Because the Ming soldiers were unwilling to use them.
The firearms of the Ming Dynasty were so diverse that they were unparalleled in their time. However, they proved ineffective in actual combat.