SWDnovel Chapter 17 Disaster Relief and People's Salvation: The New Army Expands Again
Chapter 17 Disaster Relief and People's Salvation: The New Army Expands Again
The bonuses and pay were certainly a great joy for the soldiers of the Beijing Garrison and the garrison troops in the northern part of the capital.
However, some soldiers who were later in the order of receiving their pay were full of doubts when they saw the silver they were to receive as a reward while lining up.
In the main camp of the Five Armies of the capital, thousands of old and weak soldiers who had been screened out during the first wave of selection of the new army half a month earlier were dressed in tattered clothes, with sallow complexions and eyes full of numbness and exhaustion.
These soldiers of the Beijing Garrison had long since become private servants of the powerful and wealthy in the capital. They either worked or farmed on a daily basis, and many of them had not received any proper training.
When the Jurchens invaded the border, the emperor even took away all the strong and capable young men from among them to form some kind of new army.
The remaining elderly and weak were forcibly conscripted to guard the city, living in constant fear. They thought they would be lucky to get a full meal after the war and dared not even think about any rewards.
So when the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and dozens of supervising eunuchs led several carriages loaded with large boxes to the front of the procession and loudly proclaimed the emperor's edict, the camp fell silent instantly. All the soldiers stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with disbelief, thinking they had misheard.
"All soldiers defending the city will be rewarded with two taels of silver each; those who go out to fight will be rewarded with five taels of silver each; wounded soldiers will receive double the compensation; and the immediate family members of soldiers who die in battle will receive a one-time compensation of twenty taels of silver, plus ten shi of rice, and will be exempt from taxes for life..."
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty said that we, the defenders of the city, will also receive a reward? Two taels of silver each?"
An old soldier with gray hair murmured in a trembling voice. He had served in the Beijing garrison for thirty years, from his youth to old age, and had never received his full pay, let alone post-war rewards. At this moment, he felt as if he were dreaming.
That supervising eunuch was usually arrogant and haughty, always looking down on the high-ranking officers in the various camps.
But now he smiled warmly, holding the imperial edict and explaining it to the soldiers before him.
"This is absolutely true. His Majesty has decreed that all soldiers who contributed to the retreat of the enemy in the southern part of the capital, whether they defended the city or went into battle, whether they were from the capital garrison or the border army, will be rewarded."
Moreover, this silver must be distributed to each and every one of you, not a single penny less.
This is His Majesty's divine grace, a reward you earned with your lives. Anyone who dares to withhold or drink the blood of your soldiers will be executed by slow slicing by His Majesty!
As soon as he finished speaking, the supervising eunuch ordered his personal attendant to open the wooden box containing the reward silver behind him. He took out a two-tael silver ingot and beckoned the old soldier who had been muttering earlier to come forward.
The quiet scene finally became noisy and bustling after the appearance of the gleaming silver.
The old soldier also looked incredulous. In the end, he hesitated and stepped out of the ranks, standing in front of the supervising eunuch.
Another young Imperial Guard, holding a roster, verified his identity and the city's defenses during the war against the slaves. Once confirmed, the silver ingot was personally handed to him by the supervising eunuch.
At this moment, the camp of the Fifth Army Camp was in complete uproar!
The cold, heavy silver ingot landed in his palm, and the solid feel of it instantly brought tears to the old soldier's eyes.
He clutched the silver ingot, his fingers trembling. He looked at the silver in his hand, then at the direction of the imperial city. Suddenly, he knelt down with a thud and burst into tears.
"Your Majesty! His Majesty! His Majesty still remembers us!"
For thirty years, this is the first time I've received my full reward! His Majesty is wise! So wise!
This cry acted like a fuse, instantly igniting the emotions of the entire camp.
There were no more unfounded suspicions and guesses; one by one, the old and weak soldiers received their reward money with beaming smiles.
Most of them received a two-tael reward for defending the city, but some soldiers who had gone out to perform guard duties during the war received a substantial five-tael reward.
Those who had previously been ridiculed by their colleagues and superiors as "short-lived ghosts" have now become the biggest beneficiaries.
Holding five taels of silver in their hands, that was real money to survive, money that could allow their wives, children, and elderly parents to have a good New Year. It was money they had risked their lives for, and now no one dared to withhold it!
These soldiers, usually numb and worn down by life, knelt down and kowtowed deeply in gratitude towards the Forbidden City.
Their cries, cheers, and shouts of "Long live!" mingled together, reverberating throughout the entire camp of over a hundred men.
"Your Majesty is wise! Long live the Emperor!"
"We can also have a future by following His Majesty! We swear to be loyal to His Majesty to the death!"
"His Majesty has treated us well! We're ready to risk our lives! Next time there's war, I, Liu Ergou, will be the first to draw my sword and charge!"
Joyful noises filled the Fifth Army Camp.
At this very moment, the same scene is unfolding in Tongzhouwei.
The hereditary military households in the garrisons today have long lost the glory and wealth they enjoyed at the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
They were forced to serve in the army generation after generation, while their land was annexed and monopolized by their superiors, making their lives truly miserable.
In this chaotic world, many families lacked money and food, and wives and children had to endure hunger.
Unfortunately, they were forced to defend the city or even send troops to fight amidst the chaos of war. Many poor military families' sons were even prepared to die in the chaos to escape their fate.
Fortunately, they were not forced to fight the Jurchen army to the death in southern Ji. Even more fortunately, they finally received their first reward after the war.
When the supervising eunuch and the Imperial Guards handed out the reward money to them, these young military families' sons clutched the silver and burst into tears on the spot.
There was no other way; many of them had never received so much cash at once in their lives, and had never been so valued by the imperial court!
A tall, thin young soldier in his early twenties, holding five taels of silver as a reward, excitedly kowtowed more than a dozen times in the direction of the Forbidden City, his forehead bleeding from the kowtows, yet he continued.
Many military families followed suit, expressing their gratitude to Emperor Chongzhen in the most simple and sincere way.
In contrast, the more cunning and shrewd border soldiers were not as honest and simple as the military households.
In the Jizhou border army camps, with the generous rewards distributed, each camp had long since become bustling with activity.
These border soldiers were actually quite capable in terms of combat, but they had been confronting the Mongols and the Jurchens who invaded the border for many years, and had seen too much life and death, as well as too much indifference from the imperial court.
For them, delayed military pay was commonplace, and those who died in battle received no compensation whatsoever. Many of them served as border soldiers simply to earn a living, and had no loyalty whatsoever.
Having received the reward money for the first time ever, they immediately bought wine and meat, while some planned to save the money to seek pleasure in nearby towns.
Who cares about the consequences? Let's just have fun first. Who knows if the court will change the rules again and repeat the same mistakes?
However, these border soldiers still praised the emperor for personally rewarding the various tribes with silver.
Regardless, the emperor acted generously and lavishly this time, which pleased them quite a bit.
While we wouldn't risk our lives to fight for this extra reward, we should at least put in some effort and outwardly pay more attention to border defenses.
Emperor Chongzhen never intended to use a few thousand or tens of thousands of taels of silver to completely win over the loyalty of the border troops north of Beijing.
The Ming Dynasty's financial problems were too serious to be resolved in a short time, and he could not promise the border soldiers that their pay would never be delayed again.
However, it is still possible to pay the wages of the various camps in the north of Beijing on time in the short term, and it is enough to stabilize the situation and allow these border troops to barely block the northern gate of the capital.
Over the course of a few days, nearly 100,000 soldiers in Zhili Province, from the capital city and the garrison to the border defense posts, received the rewards issued by Emperor Chongzhen.
This unprecedented level of fairness undoubtedly boosted the morale of these soldiers.
The reason why the Ming Dynasty's official army had poor discipline and low combat effectiveness was that the court was indifferent, the generals were corrupt, and the soldiers did not receive the pay and bonuses they deserved. Seeing no hope, they naturally did not fight hard.
However, now, Emperor Chongzhen used the simplest and most direct method to tell all the soldiers in Zhili.
From now on, as long as you fight hard and put in the effort, you will be rewarded. He will no longer mistreat any loyal and dedicated soldier.
However, simply using rewards to win over various troops and local military leaders is not a fundamental solution to the current weakness of the Ming Dynasty's field forces.
It was inevitable to weed out the old and weak and select the strong and able-bodied to reorganize into a new army.
However, before taking this crucial step that was bound to offend many people, Chongzhen still had to continue expanding his elite troops and further strengthen the power of his military force.
The way to rule is to combine kindness and severity. Now that kindness has been shown, the next step is to establish authority by using stronger and more capable troops at your disposal.
Before Emperor Chongzhen led his troops back north, he had already sent Gao Qiqian and Sun Chuanting south along the Grand Canal to purchase grain and other supplies.
Although the millions of taels of silver at his disposal were rapidly depleted by large-scale purchasing expenditures, Chongzhen did not care. Instead, he ordered Gao Qiqian and Sun Chuanting to take the imperial edict and increase the purchase of grain.
This arrangement also gave hope to the people of Beizhili, who had lost their homes and jobs due to the Jurchen invasion, to survive the winter.
Officials from all prefectures in Zhili were mobilized to set up soup kitchens and temporary shelters in major towns and important hubs to provide work relief.
Displaced people and many refugees, seeing that the imperial court intended to provide disaster relief, flocked to the area with their families.
The first group of people who were organized took the tools provided by the government and worked hard to break the ice on the Grand Canal, taking turns to clear the waterway.
Thanks to their hard work, the grain transport fleets heading north along the Grand Canal were able to continuously deliver the people's sustenance to various places.
As soup kitchens were officially opened in various places, refugee settlements were set up right next to them.
Building shacks was very convenient, as the houses and cities destroyed in various towns after the war were readily available building materials.
Chongzhen's directive to Gao Qiqian to purchase large quantities of dry grass and tattered cotton quilts and clothing from Shandong and Huainan enabled countless refugees to survive.
There were no surplus supplies or food, but this time, the imperial court was truly doing its best to save the lives of every impoverished family.
Emperor Chongzhen did not immediately investigate the corrupt practices of some local officials.
Now is not the time to investigate corruption. As long as his subordinates are still doing their jobs, he will turn a blind eye.
After the refugee settlements in various regions had stabilized, Emperor Chongzhen issued another imperial edict, which was promulgated throughout the country by the Grand Secretariat. At the same time, the Embroidered Uniform Guard and supervising eunuchs went to the military camps and refugee settlements in Zhili to post announcements, informing the entire army and the people:
The imperial court decided to expand the new army again, adding 10,000 new soldiers. All soldiers and civilians in Zhili Province, aged between sixteen and thirty-five, who are in good health, honest, hardworking, and have no bad habits or criminal records, can apply to participate.
Candidates must have a fellow villager or soldier from the same camp as a guarantor. Once selected, they will immediately enter the camp for training. They will receive a full monthly military salary of three taels of silver, with food and lodging provided. During wartime, they will receive double pay. The court will provide medical treatment and care for the wounded, and double compensation for those who die in battle. The court will also support their families and orphans.
As soon as the recruitment order was issued, the entire Zhili region was once again abuzz with excitement.
It should be noted that the new army formed by Emperor Chongzhen had already gained a great reputation after the battle in southern Hebei.
However, according to rumors, what the people of Beizhili were most proud of about this new army was not their courage and strength to fight the Jurchens in the field, but the extremely high treatment they received.
The monthly salary is three taels of silver, paid in full every month. Three meals a day are provided. The imperial court also provides free civilian clothes and military uniforms. During wartime, double salary is paid, and there are heavy rewards for victories.
The superior treatment and generous rewards of the new army had already spread throughout the northern regions of Zhili.
Nowadays, the people near the capital are all saying that as long as they join the new army, they will not only be able to eat and dress well and receive full military pay, but also follow His Majesty to make meritorious contributions and gain a bright future.
These news truly made the young men in the village extremely envious.
However, the new army had previously only recruited refugees and laborers in Linqing, and now that it had returned to Beijing, there was no further recruitment activity.
Even though the soldiers and civilians in the various camps of Beizhi were filled with envy, they could only watch longingly.
Now that His Majesty has finally opened up the quotas and is giving priority to selecting young men from the various armies, garrison soldiers, and refugees in Zhili, this is like a windfall for young men who are eager to join the new army!
In no time, the young soldiers and military households in various military camps and garrisons gathered together, discussing excitedly, their eyes full of enthusiasm and longing, all eager to get started, just waiting for the recruitment flag to be raised.
Meanwhile, the able-bodied men in the various refugee settlements were so engrossed in the news of the imperial army's recruitment that they dared not sleep, spending their days squatting outside the soup kitchens trying to find out information from the officials distributing the soup.
However, Emperor Chongzhen did not keep them waiting for long.
On the seventeenth day of the first month of the twelfth year of Chongzhen's reign, recruitment points for the new army were officially established in various garrison camps and refugee settlements.
Squads of newly recruited soldiers, clad in armor and carrying spears, rushed to various recruitment points to maintain order.
Just as young and able-bodied men in Beizhi were eagerly signing up to become "the emperor's personal guards" in hopes of a wealthy and promising future, a huge new military camp was rising from the ground on the Nanyuan plain, about 20 li outside Yongdingmen.
This new military camp, large enough to accommodate 30,000 people for training and drills, will serve as the base for the new army and will also become Beijing's gateway to the south.