Chapter 86 The average combat power of the Ming Dynasty
Lin Qingcai also sighed. The clan brother also knew that he was recommended as an official this time because Sun Dianshi used him as a spearman.
But Sun Dianshi had already recommended his clan brother. If he didn't go, the family's incense these years would be in vain.
Xiong Yue said to Chen Chaoyuan: "Brother Chen is so clear about the affairs in the county government. Could it be that he also has family members working as officials in the county government?"
Chen Chaoyuan sighed and said, "My cousin has some connections in the county government, and he is also familiar with Sun Dianshi. Yes, to tell you the truth, last year I wanted to go all the way and get a job in the county government."
Chen Chaoyuan's cousin is a famous litigator, and he must have known Sun Dianshi, who controlled the torture chamber.
Chen Chaoyuan was not even a scholar. If he wanted to go to the county government to find a job, he would naturally go to the county government as an official.
Xiong Yue and Lin Qingcai were shocked and said quickly: "Brother Chen, you must not do it. Once you become an official, you will always be a subordinate!" The
status of subordinate officials in the Ming and Qing Dynasties was very low. In the early Ming Dynasty, imperial examinations were not allowed to hold officials. Children of members of the Communist Party of China took the exam.
However, in the middle and later periods, the restrictions on the imperial examinations for the children of officials were relaxed, but once they became officials, they could not participate in the imperial examinations.
However, Chen Chaoyuan is already so old. He has not been able to pass the imperial examination for many years, so it is normal for him to have the idea of becoming an official.
Although the officials in the Ming Dynasty did not have salaries, they had various methods of plundering them. Many officials were extremely fat, and many ordinary people wanted to join the county government as officials.
Chen Chaoyuan is the kind of honest person who has no independent opinions. Over the years, he has spent a lot of money on studying and studying. Although he can make a living by writing petitions with his cousin, now that his children are getting older, it is not an option to continue studying like this. .
Su Ze sighed. Even if Chen Chaoyuan's character went to the county government, he would not be able to fight against the subordinate officials who were like tigers, leopards and wolves in the county government.
However, Su Ze didn't say much about his family affairs. He was very interested in Lin Qingcai's clan brother.
"Brother Lin, I want to invite your family brother to a banquet tomorrow. There are some things I want to know about the county government."
Lin Qingcai said immediately: "Then I'll make an appointment after school!"
"Then go to Yaoyue Tower."
Lin Qingcai said He glanced at Su Ze in surprise, but seeing Su Ze's magnanimity, he even gave away rock candy, so his family was probably not in a bad situation.
It's just that Lin Qingcai couldn't figure out why he always wore rough cloth shirts like himself.
While the four of them were chatting, Hai Rui walked over wearing the patched Confucian shirt.
The four people quickly saluted Hai Rui. After Hai Rui responded, he led the four people to the school and started the afternoon lecture.
[Listen in the school, "Imperial Examination" skill experience +10, Lv3, 215/300]
[Listen in the school, "Imperial Examination" skill experience +10, Lv3, 225/300]
It's great!
I gained 20 points of imperial examination experience in two hours. Compared with practicing skills at home, I gained experience much faster in class.
After the lecture was over, Hai Rui said to the four of them,
"It's not peaceful in Nanping County today. Please be more careful when going back and forth."
Su Ze quickly asked, "Are the Japanese pirates coming?"
Hai Rui nodded and said, " Yes, the Haidao Yamen has issued an official document, and the Japanese deer king is going to raid the border again. Especially Su Ze, you must be extremely careful." The reputation of the deer king was known to the
entire Fujian government, and everyone trembled. , then looked at Su Ze who lived by the sea.
Chen Chaoyuan lives in the county, Lin Qingcai's family is not far outside the county, and Xiong Yue's family is at the foot of Wuyi Mountain, still far from the sea.
Only Su Ze, who lives in the military guard on the seaside, is the most dangerous.
Hai Rui added another sentence: "If it doesn't work out, I'll give you a room. Please don't go back to Changning Guard during this period." Su Ze handed over
to Hai Rui and then said, "Thank you teacher, but Changning Guard is my clan. My hometown, if the deer king comes to invade, I will stay in Changning Guard and fight together with my brothers."
Su Ze said this, and everyone admired his bloody spirit. Hai Rui stopped persuading him and could only tell him again. He pays attention to safety.
Hearing that the Japanese pirates were about to invade the border again, everyone felt a lot lower. Last time, King Lu showed off his power outside Fuzhou City. This time, no one knows how many people will suffer.
Hai Rui said angrily: "It's mostly these sea lane officials and coastal military commanders who have left their corpses untouched. This is why the southeastern sea area is unrest and the people's lives are in ruins!" Hai Rui naturally looked sad when talking about the current situation
.
Hai Rui was an official, so it was okay to criticize his colleagues, but Chen Chaoyuan and the other three couldn't, they just lowered their heads and said nothing.
Su Ze felt that the problem of Japanese pirates in the Ming Dynasty was not just a problem of officials.
The imperial court lacked long-term coastal defense and maritime trade policies. Orders were often changed day by day, and the attitudes of the officials in charge were often diametrically opposed.
The most fundamental reason why the Ming Dynasty boycotted maritime trade was Zhu Yuanzhang's "techniques of controlling the people."
According to Zhu Yuanzhang's career system with complex levels and various types, everyone's responsibilities are fixed when they are born.
The kitchen household is responsible for making salt, the military household is responsible for serving as soldiers, the farmer household is responsible for farming, and the craftsman household is responsible for craftsmanship.
Everyone does their own thing, and they are all serfs of the Zhu family. The descendants of the Zhu family only need to accept the support of all the people.
It's just that the family business is too big and there are too many things. Except for the previous generations of emperors, they can still manage it, but the subsequent descendants can't handle it anymore.
At this time, some civil servants and eunuchs could only be promoted to serve as domestic slaves to manage the household.
The most important thing about this system is naturally "each person performs his own duties." The strict household registration system of the Ming Dynasty was also designed to prevent population flow and imprison everyone on the land.
This is also the reason why an area as large as Penghu was never developed during the Ming Dynasty.
To develop, people must relocate, and Penghu is isolated overseas, making it inconvenient to manage.
If the Penghu separatist regime rebels, it would be better not to develop it at all, and prohibit coastal people from landing on the island. Only set up an inspection department to be responsible for patrolling, and isolate coastal people from smuggling.
Under such circumstances, how much motivation do generations of military households have to die for the Ming Dynasty?
Therefore, military guards like Changning Guard are anomalies among aliens, and guards like Yanping Guard are the norm in the Ming Dynasty.
If you win, your old Zhu family won't get any reward. If you lose, you'll lose your head, so it's better not to fight.
As long as you don't fight, there is no loss!
King Lu has bombarded Fuzhou City, and Fuzhou City still reported to the court that "nothing happened this year." It doesn't matter how many villages King Lu plundered. Anyway, as long as the court can collect enough taxes, the higher authorities don't care whether you have Japanese insurrection. .
Su Ze didn't think that Hai Rui couldn't see the essence of the problem. Now Hai Rui was just a new official who had just entered the officialdom and was an unqualified county school teacher.
In his view, the problem along the coast is naturally the official's job. People are always growing, and the current Hai Rui and the Hai Rui who will write "Public Security Shu" in the future definitely don't have the same thoughts.
But his concern for the country and the people remains unchanged. This is why Hai Rui is Hai Rui.
After Hai Rui left, Chen Chaoyuan said to Su Ze, "Brother Su, I still have a spare room in my house. If you don't mind, you can stay in Nanping City temporarily." Su Ze knew
Chen Chaoyuan's kindness, so he said, "Thank you very much. Brother Chen, I still want to go back to Changning Guard."
Seeing his determination, everyone couldn't continue to persuade him.
Hai Rui provided meals to the four of them. Although it was only rice and pickles, the four of them ate with gusto.
After eating, he returned to the school building and Chen Chaoyuan said again: "The last time Lu Dawang invaded the southeast, he almost captured Jianyang, Zhangzhou. There was also a small team that fought at the foot of Nanping County. At that time, the commander did not dare to climb the city to fight. It was Li Hu of the county government village who led people out of the city and drove away this small group of Japanese pirates."
Su Ze asked: "How many people are there in this small group?"
"Fifty people."
Su Ze was even more speechless. Yanping Guards The guard station of 5,000 people was actually blocked in the city by 50 Japanese pirates and beaten?
This is too magical!
But when Su Ze thought about it, it seemed that this was not magical enough.
If there are no mistakes in the development of history, next year, that is, the 34th year of Jiajing, a group of Japanese pirates will land in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, plunder the three provinces of Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangsu, and plunder more than 20 places in Hangzhou, Yan, Hui, Ning, Taiping and other prefectures and counties. , approached the city of Nanjing, the remaining capital, and rampaged for more than 80 days, killing and wounding four to five thousand officers and soldiers.
Records in the history of the Ming Dynasty are: "Suddenly invaded Kuaiji County, plundered Hangzhou, invaded Shexian County in Huizhou, reached Jixi and Jingde, massacred and looted Jingxian County, headed towards Nanling, and reached Wuhu. Burned the South Bank, headed towards Taiping Prefecture, and invaded Jiangning Town. Heading straight to Nanjing."
In the battle of Jiangning Town, the Ming army commanders Zhu Xiang and Jiang Sheng led their troops to resist. "They could not resist, Xiang died in the battle, Sheng was wounded and fell from his horse, and more than 300 officers and soldiers died." This caused shock in the three provinces
. , and even attacked the Japanese pirates under the city of Nanjing, one of the two capitals of the Ming Dynasty. How many were there?
The answer is fifty-three.
After this calculation, Yanpingwei's combat effectiveness is also at the average level of the Ming Dynasty.
Su Ze asked again: "Isn't there a general cannon on the wall of our Nanping County?"
Chen Chaoyuan said again: "Brother Su, do you think it's the one on the city gate? That one was already a cannon cast in Chenghua. It has been exposed to the weather for a long time and cannot be used. Besides, it is hard to say whether anyone can be found in the Yanping Guards who can operate this cannon."
Well, Su Ze just felt that he had asked a stupid question.
The problem of the Ming Dynasty was not only a problem of the military's combat effectiveness, but also a problem of the entire system. Even military technology had regressed.
Su Ze asked again: "Yanping Guard has five thousand regular soldiers anyway, do you still need Minzhuang to fight?"
Chen Chaoyuan said disdainfully: "Yanping Guard? How many regular soldiers are there in Yanping Guard? Who can tell clearly? I'm afraid Even the commander-in-chief doesn’t know how many soldiers he has under his command.” “
I remember when the Qing censor came to Nanping five years ago, all the beggars and arhats in the city and outside the city were dragged into the army to beheaded. ."
Su Ze then remembered that it was the Ming Dynasty's characteristic of eating empty wages.
The supplies of the Ming Dynasty were calculated based on the number of troops. On the basis of the military system of guard posts for generations, there emerged families of officers who had held military positions for generations.
Most military officer families are examples of vegetarian meals, such as the commander's family.
Officers at all levels were also corrupted under this system. Airspace pay was one of the problems of the Ming Dynasty's army.
One is to withhold the rations and wages from the soldiers. This is a basic operation, and basically all the officers of the Ming Dynasty would do it.
There is also the possibility of directly fictionalizing the identity of a soldier, and then letting his family members pay the military salary.
There are also generals who deduct soldiers' military pay and then use them as domestic slaves. This is considered an ordinary magical operation.
There are also those who privately sold the farmland of the guards to others and suddenly became landlords.
There are also those who directly smuggle ordnance, and those who sell armor and weapons to make money.
Those who sell fake salt, those who set up cards to force donations, and those who engage in business, the army of the Ming Dynasty can be said to be full of "flowers".
Putting it this way, it is no wonder that the reason why the Yanping Guards were so frightened when they heard that the imperial court was going to send a censor to the Qing army was because they had a guilty conscience.
After talking about the Japanese pirates, the atmosphere became a little dull.
Lin Qingcai said: "So Brother Xiong's hometown is still stable, and the Japanese pirates will not attack the foot of Wuyi Mountain."
Chen Chaoyuan also nodded.
Xiong Yue sighed and said: "Stop talking, the tea tribute from the imperial court is getting heavier and heavier now. Half of the people in my hometown have fled to the mountains and become refugees. It is even more chaotic than along the coast. ."
Everyone was shocked. They didn't expect that Wuyi Mountain was also unstable.
Su Ze asked: "Is this tea tribute so important?"
Xiong Yue nodded and said: "I heard that the founding of the country abolished the tribute group. Although tribute was paid, it only had to go to Nanjing at that time, and the amount of tribute tea was not what it is now. It's so big that it's been a few good years. My ancestors also opened tea gardens in Wuyi Mountain at that time." "Nowadays, the
number of tributes is getting bigger and bigger, and they need to be escorted to the capital. My family's tea garden just completes the tea tribute task every year. You have to be busy for a year, and you have to pay someone to deliver it to the capital. If you continue like this, you will really be unsustainable."
Before the Ming Dynasty, Tuancha was popular in the Central Plains.
At that time, the method of steaming tea was used to make tea. The steamed tea had a strong bitter taste. Various spices and complicated production processes were needed to remove the bitter taste from the tea leaves.
Spices themselves are luxury goods, and Tuancha is even more expensive, with extremely high production costs, so tea has also become a high-end luxury product.
At that time, the method of making tea was also the brewing method, which required various tea sets and tea cups. The upper class not only pursued tea drinking, but also developed a ritual of ordering and tasting tea, which was something only the top educated people could afford.
Fried tea had also appeared in the Southern Song Dynasty, but at that time it was only consumed by ordinary people and was not popular among the upper class.
After Zhu Yuanzhang conquered the world, he didn't like loose tea with strong fragrance and complicated production, so he ordered that the Tuan tea sent as tribute from tea gardens in various places be changed to loose tea. With the further development of tea-frying technology, the technological process of blending green tea and frying green tea appeared. , reducing the bitter taste of fried tea.
The royal family drank loose tea, and nobles and ministers naturally followed the trend. From the Ming Dynasty, loose tea began to enter the upper class and became popular throughout the country.
Tea sets in the Song Dynasty were generally black, because Tuancha tea needs "rich tea soup" to match the dark tea sets.
Most of the tea sets in the Ming and Qing Dynasties were made of white porcelain, because fried tea requires a clear color, and white porcelain can show this clear color.
Unexpectedly, everything was going to be difficult in the Ming Dynasty, and Su Ze couldn't help but curse:
"This is a hell of a world!"
(End of Chapter)