Chapter 210: The Guard System Was Full of Loopholes Since Its Creation
Hearing Zhu Gang criticize the "Weisuo System" that he was proud of, he felt that it was completely useless.

Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his anger and said, "You don't think that our soldiers are serfs who farm in peacetime and are used as cannon fodder in war.

This statement shows a complete misunderstanding of the Wei Suo system. The Wei Suo military system of the Ming Dynasty is different from the military household system of the Yuan Dynasty.

The military households in the garrisons were divided into two types: garrison troops and combat soldiers, with the ratio of the two being three-tenths for soldiers to guard the city and seven-tenths for garrisoning.

As the name suggests, the garrison troops were responsible for farming, and the imperial court allocated farmland to the garrisons.

The harvest was handed over to the garrison to be used for daily expenses and the salaries of soldiers and officers.

Soldiers can receive monthly rations from the garrisons, and during wars they can receive travel rations from the imperial court to sustain their livelihoods and meet combat needs.

Zhu Biao, who was sitting nearby, saw that the family relationship, which had finally been eased, was on the verge of breaking down again.

He quickly advised: "There is a saying that goes, those who are involved are often confused, while those who are on the sidelines can see clearly.

The fact that the third brother was able to frighten the grassland people in Taiyuan at least shows that he has relatively outstanding talents and abilities in military affairs.

Father, you might as well listen to my third brother's advice. If there is really nothing to recommend it, it won't be too late to get angry and punish him!"

Zhu Gang knew very well that his father, who was still angry, just wanted a relatively decent way out.

"I know that the Weisuo system is indeed effective and can greatly alleviate financial pressure.

Most of the garrisons were able to achieve self-sufficiency.

This system is much more economical than the conscription system, and the soldiers of the standing army can demonstrate excellent combat effectiveness in the series of wars against the Northern Yuan Dynasty and in future wars against the southwest. "

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression finally eased a little after hearing this, "You still have some knowledge. These institutional things are the result of the collective wisdom of us, Li Shanchang, Xu Da and others.

Although there may be certain limitations, there are still some advantages. "

Zhu Gang smiled and said, "Dad, what you said is very true, but it's just like what I said before.

In the process of implementing measures to prevent desertion, some serious problems have arisen.”

Zhu Yuanzhang's expression gradually became serious. "Are you saying that those arrogant and powerful generals relied on their power to wantonly oppress the lower-level soldiers?"

Zhu Gang nodded and said, "Compared with the officers of the garrison who have lived here for generations, the soldiers coming from all over the country are obviously at a disadvantage.

Although this is beneficial to officers' wartime command, it is difficult for soldiers from all over the country to form effective self-defense when faced with exploitation by hereditary officers' families.

Unless a major incident occurred that caused the court to intervene, they could not make any changes to the existing situation.

In the third year of Hongwu, Chen Tong, a citizen of Hui'an County, Quanzhou, led the people in an uprising and defeated the Quanzhou guards.

The main reason for the failure of this battle can be largely attributed to the officers' exploitation of the soldiers in the garrison."

In ancient times when people had strong patriotism, they wanted to make these soldiers loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

It was quite difficult at that time to sacrifice one's life in a foreign land.

In addition, what is even more difficult for the soldiers in the garrison is not that they have to travel through mountains and rivers to report every year, but that they have to bear all the travel expenses themselves.

Of course, in theory, the military pay allocated by the Ming Guards should be fine as long as one does not squander it and pay for travel expenses out of their own pocket.

But is it really true that there is no problem with the salaries of the soldiers in the garrison?
In fact, since the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, many guards have had problems with the payment of military salaries.

First of all, considering the garrison troops that made up the majority of the Ming army, although the imperial court allocated large tracts of land to the garrisons, the quality of farmland in different places was inherently different.

What’s even worse is that farming is a job that depends on the weather, so naturally there will be good years and bad years.

However, the amount of grain that the garrison troops had to pay was a fixed quota.

Therefore, those places that were allocated barren land often encountered disasters.

It is no wonder that the amount of grain to be handed over is far greater than the income from farming.

Even if they were lucky enough to get a piece of fertile land, the military households in the garrisons could not rest easy. In addition, the garrison farms in the Ming Dynasty were not developed around the garrisons like those on the borders of the Han Dynasty, but were scattered around the garrisons.

As mentioned earlier, the military positions of the Ming Dynasty’s garrisons were basically hereditary.

This resulted in the court having a rather vague understanding of the farmland situation in the closed garrisons across the country.

The management loopholes gave military officers, court officials, eunuchs and local gentry the opportunity to get their hands on the land of the garrisons.

The garrison troops fled and the military farms were occupied.

In terms of fiscal revenue, this has dealt a heavy blow to the foundation of the Weisuo system.
During the Hongzhi period, the "Kaizhong System" used to attract merchants to transport grain and fodder to the border was also abolished by Emperor Hongzhi.

This made the operation of the northern garrisons more difficult.

Since there was a problem with the financial resources, the soldiers naturally couldn't live in peace.

After all, since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the central government has not established effective supervision over the garrisons.

The management of closed garrisons was even more laissez-faire.

Whether soldiers can receive their pay on time depends largely on the conscience of their officers.

For those areas close to the border, they can also receive rewards from enemy heads to supplement their household expenses.

This distorted practice of fighting to support war has resulted in many border guards often becoming the creators of conflicts themselves.

It also led to the general habit of greed for merit and recklessness among the military garrisons in the northern region.

Then again, even in such a huge Ming Dynasty, there were not wars to be fought in every place.

Those garrisons that had no wars to fight could only tighten their belts and make ends meet.

Taking into account the dispersed situation of the soldiers in the garrisons, if a military household runs away with its entire family.

It is basically impossible for the garrison to get it back.

Of course, Zhu Gang could not tell Zhu Yuanzhang all of these situations at once. After all, he had to consider his father's ability to bear it.

Although Zhu Gang only told Zhuge Liang about part of the actual situation of the Wei Suo system, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty still couldn't help but feel indignant.

“I never expected that the Weisuo system had been full of loopholes since its inception.

We underestimated those aristocratic families. They colluded with arrogant soldiers and generals and even reached their hands into the army.

I guess that when you went to Quanzhou this time, besides collecting food and training soldiers, you probably also had the idea of ​​reforming the military system in your mind, right?"

In fact, when Zhu Gang expressed his plan to build the Hongwu Military Academy, Zhu Yuanzhang realized that his third son was going to take action against the army.

Otherwise, he would not have proposed to change the Grand Marshal's Office into the Five Military Marshal's Office.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang still had to ask clearly about this kind of military and national affairs that affected the entire body. At least he had to know how to cooperate with Zhu Gang.

Seeing that there was no blame in his father's eyes, Zhu Gang simply told him everything he was thinking.

"The Weisuo system did help the Ming Dynasty maintain a group of serviceable soldiers at a relatively low cost.

The war in U-Tsang is currently in full swing, and troops will be sent to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty next year.

Under such circumstances, it is not suitable to carry out major military reforms.

My idea is to adopt the conscription system in some areas where the land is barren or disasters are more serious.

Especially in prefectures and counties where civil unrest is more frequent, the chances of riots can be reduced by recruiting strong men to join the army.”

(End of this chapter)