Chapter 23: Shaving the Han People
Li Hao remembered that in the original history, when Yuan Chonghuan was the governor and commander-in-chief of Liaodong, he carried out a large-scale military camp reform in Liaozhen, claiming to have purchased tens of thousands of horses. Together with the 20,000 horses, mules, camels and other transport animals that Liaozhen already had, there were a total of 80,000 horses on the books outside the Great Wall.

It is not known how many horses there were in fact. It is only known that during the Battle of Beijing in the second year of Chongzhen, Liaozhen had only more than 10,000 cavalrymen. After the four areas of Zunyong were recovered in the third year of Chongzhen, the horse shortage in Liaozhen expanded to more than 30,000 horses.

The invading Eight Banners were similar to bank robbers, and the humanoid creatures in the late Ming Dynasty relied on this to report bad debts.

Li Hao didn't care about these dirty things. He only knew that he had to prepare for the expansion of the cavalry. He would use the power of the Ming Dynasty to recruit more soldiers directly under his command, and at the same time urge Liaozhen to purchase more military horses.

Wait until the flag of rebellion is raised and then take it away.

During this period of time at the end of the Ming Dynasty, only the force with cavalry and strong transportation capacity could have the dominant position in field battles and siege warfare.

The candlelight flickered. Yuan Chonghuan, who was sitting on the main seat, closed his eyes and thought for a long time. After a few breaths, he opened his eyes and said:

"It is indeed the best policy to control cavalry with cavalry, but the chariot camp cannot be completely abolished. The responsibility of defending the territory depends entirely on the chariot camp. While training new cavalry, the chariot camp should be slowly disbanded. Around the 40th year of Wanli, the imperial eunuchs allocated more than 117,000 taels of silver for horses to Liao Town every year. After the Liao incident, the horse price silver rose to about 220,000 taels. The Liao incident cost the court more than 5 million taels of silver every year, and it cannot be increased any more.

Jizhen is peaceful and stable, so we can cut back on Jizhen’s troops and use the saved food and money to increase the Liaozhen Cavalry Battalion. The same is true for Dongjiang, where 300,000 or 400,000 food and money are wasted every year, and none of them have been recovered so far. I will write a memorial tonight, first reporting on General Li Hao’s great victory in killing the Tatar chief Daishan, and then reporting on the changes in the chariot camp to the cavalry camp, the change in tactics, and the reduction of the two towns.”

These words sounded loyal to the country and were high-sounding. Their implicit meaning was to save money for the court and make the best use of food and money.

But Li Hao himself guessed that it was probably because Emperor Tianqi did not trust Yuan Chonghuan enough that Yuan Chonghuan did not dare to apply for an increase in Liao salary.

The reasons why Sun Chengzong could spend money lavishly in Liaodong were very complicated. In the 2nd and 3rd years of the Tianqi reign, it was because Sun Chengzong had served as a Grand Secretary and was a cabinet minister. At that time, there were an unprecedented six cabinet ministers in the cabinet, two of whom were affiliated with the eunuch party. Sun Chengzong and Han Yu were allies of Donglin, and the Donglin and eunuch parties were half and half. There was also a clear cabinet minister of the imperial party, and Sun Chengzong was also considered an imperial party. Therefore, in the midst of party struggles, he was able to mobilize a large amount of court tax silver and garrison soldiers to build the Guanning Fort City defense system.

In the fourth and fifth years of the Tianqi reign, the Donglin Party was defeated. Ye Xianggao and Han Yu from the Donglin side were successively dismissed. Zhu Guozhen, who supported Ye Xianggao, was also overthrown by Wei Zhongxian. Sun Chengzong did not have much support in the court, and he also wanted to retire, so he resigned and returned home after the defeat at Liuhe.

Zu Dashou immediately expressed his support for the change from chariots to cavalry. "Li Zhonglie dominated Liaodong for 24 years, relying on cavalry. After the campaign to aid Korea, there were only 5,000 cavalry left in Liaodong. It was at that time that the Jiannu rose to power. It can be said that the number of cavalry determined the safety of Liaodong."

Lord Li Zhonglie is Li Rusong. The two battles in support of Korea killed more than 20,000 war horses of the Ming Dynasty. When Li Rusong died in battle, Liaozhen could only mobilize about 5,000 field cavalry. As the leader of the nine frontiers, Liaozhen declined.

But the decline did not mean a complete loss of field combat capability. In the 27th year of Wanli, one year after Li Rusong was killed in battle, there were more than 40,000 horses, mules and other livestock registered in the Liaozhen Yuanma Temple. Before the rise of the Jiannu, the situation could barely be stabilized. After a few battles wiped out the field troops, the Liao situation was completely ruined.

"Thirteen cavalry battalions mean 20,000 to 30,000 men, and at least 40,000 horses. Even the Liao garrison cannot afford to support them. The monthly bean fodder for a warhorse that can fight in the field costs nearly 150 taels of silver, which is equivalent to the salary of a family servant."

A general named Deng Maolin expressed his opposition. He was from the Beijing camp and led foreign soldiers. He did not come from the same background as the generals from the Nine Frontiers.

People like this from the Beijing Camp will generally be transferred back within a few years, so his opinions are actually of little reference value.

But because of his good background, the officials in the Ministry of War and the Censorate preferred to listen to him rather than the generals from Liaodong or the Nine Frontiers.

"Bean fodder needs to be transported south, but grass fodder can also be obtained outside the Great Wall. The garrison troops can raise their own horses. The cost of raising horses is actually about the same as that of a battalion of soldiers."

A general on Li Hao's right replied. General Li Qian did not know this person, so he turned around and asked He Kegang on his left.

"This is Lü Yingjiao, also known as Lu Youji. He is from Baoding Youwei." He Kegang, who had a wisp of mustache on his philtrum, explained to Li Hao in a low voice.

Yuan Chonghuan had been staring at the generals on his right. He caught a glimpse of his central army garrison commander He Kegang whispering with the popular Li Hao, so he asked, "Brothers Chengliang and Tianqiong, what are you talking about?"

Chengliang is He Kegang's name.

Li Hao replied loudly: "I think that General Lu has a good idea. This is how our Dun Army's war horses are raised. Although they are a little thin, they can still be ridden into the battlefield." When he was in Shahe North Fort, he and five servants owned a total of eight horses, all of which were raised by the servants' own families or relatives.

If the war horses were left to other military households to raise, not only would the horses be lost, but the military households would also be forced to flee.

Because in the Ming Dynasty, if civilians or military households kept official horses, it would be equivalent to the destruction of their families.

As a native of Liaodong, He Kegang also agreed that only by forming a cavalry battalion could the fight be fought.

Needless to say, Man Gui, Zuo Fu, Zhu Mei and others all wanted to expand the size of the cavalry. Later, Xu Fuzou, Xie Shangzheng and other generals close to Yuan Chonghuan also expressed their support for the conversion of chariots into cavalry.

Yuan Bingxian then expressed his emotion that there were still loyal ministers and capable generals in Liaodong, and then served tea to see the guests off, saying that they would still be needed to defend the city in the next few days and needed to rest.

Li Qianzong naturally followed everyone and left. He guessed that Yuan Dudu might want to use the opinions of these generals to endorse the purchase of military horses.

Among the nine borders and thirteen towns of the Ming Dynasty, live animals were the most vulnerable to manipulation, and death in battle or from disease was common.

The rest of the Liao salary was either spent on building cities or on casting iron armor, weapons, and artillery, and the civil servants who handled it could not make much free money.

The amount of silver that the Imperial Household Department allocates every year to buy horses is actually more than 200,000 taels of silver. Even if each war horse is calculated at 20 taels, the number of new horses added each year should be more than 10,000. However, the war horses outside the Great Wall are still the same, which is very telling.

……

At the beginning of the hour of Hai, in a courtyard on the north street of Ningyuan City, several soldiers were holding torches to illuminate the area, and Li Hao was wielding several heavy axes.

"General, those Han people are brought here."

The servant Yang Shigong led five Han people with shaved heads and wearing fur hats into the yard.

The shaved Han Chinese leader ran quickly and stopped behind Li Hao. He bowed his head and said, "Master Li, we are all Han Chinese who defected from the Jiannu side. I wonder why you summoned us so late at night?"

This was a skinny middle-aged man with a flushed face and two lines of sweat running down his temples. It was obvious that he had been running.

Li Hao didn't say anything. He just raised a heavy axe as long as his body and chopped down at the iron helmet of the Jiannu placed next to him.

boom!
As expected, a large deep crack appeared on the iron helmet. Li Hao aimed at the side of the helmet pin. The large deep crack extended from the helmet pin to the brow guard. Due to the huge impact, the lower edge of the four iron plates of the iron helmet had cracked.

The five Han Chinese who were called to the scene were startled. The skinny middle-aged man in the lead turned pale and his legs swung involuntarily. After swinging for a while, he could not hold on and knelt down.

"Master Li, Yuan Bingxian has already pardoned our sins..."

The more he spoke, the softer his voice became, until it was as thin as the flapping of a mosquito's wings.

When the atmosphere was almost set, Li Hao turned around with a sly smile on his face, "Don't be nervous! I just want to ask you some questions."

PS: Please give me recommendation votes and monthly votes.

(End of this chapter)