Chapter 183: Lu Xiangsheng's Inspection (Part 1)

In mid-tenth month of the tenth year of Chongzhen, in order to sew five thousand sets of mandarin-duck battle jackets, Lin Daofu and Hui Daimin swept clean the stock of every cloth shop in the prefectural city, letting each merchant make a killing — and demand was still far from satisfied, requiring a large increase in orders, which stirred the minds of many merchants in the city. Seeing the momentum of the Garrison Commander, they realized that the future need for cloth, cotton, and furs would be enormous. If one could secure the exclusive supply rights, then in the future…

There was already a precedent. In the past, Wanshenghe Rice Shop in the prefectural city was just a small shop, but because it latched onto the thigh of the Garrison Commander, it had swelled explosively over these two years, becoming one of the largest rice shops in the city. Though its scale was great, no one dared lay a finger on it — laughable. Never mind the Garrison Commander’s backing; Zheng Jinglun’s two nieces had married Han Chao and Han Zhong, the trusted and beloved officers of the Garrison Commander. Who would dare do anything to them? Now, when Zheng Jinglun walked into the merchant guild, who did not have to bow respectfully and call him “Fourth Master”?

Thinking of that wonderful prospect, many people could not sit still, and more and more began to move, working their connections with Lin Daofu and Qi Tianliang.

As the purchases of cloth, cotton, and leather materials arrived, the Shunxiangbao clothing factory also rapidly went into operation. The young women and young wives recruited from within the fort and from various parts of the prefectural city used their diligent hands to earn their own rations and wages, greatly supplementing their household income.

At the same time, over three thousand able-bodied military household men, selected from the prefectural city and various places within its territory, also assembled at Shunxiangbao to undergo a one-month period of closed training. For these men, the old method was used: their squad leaders, platoon officers, and other junior officer heads were chosen from the veterans in each Company Commander’s unit. Combining new and old could speed these able-bodied men’s formation into an army.

After these men were organized into units, Wang Dou estimated that the forces under his hand would reach the strength of over a dozen Company Commanders.

Wang Dou placed great importance on the new troops and personally went to Shunxiangbao to encourage them. Once the unit organization was complete, formal training began. These new troops were all housed in newly built barracks outside the fort. Before training, they enjoyed several days of good living: white-flour steamed buns and large chunks of meat gave them the feeling of being in heaven.

However, the harsh training that followed made them wail for their mothers and fathers, suffering unbearably. Many of the new troops were natives of the prefectural city, slicker than the original Shunxiangbao military households, and even less able to endure hardship. In just a few short days, many began to harbor thoughts of desertion.

But before the training began, each drill instructor had already made it clear: whoever dared to become a deserter would certainly face severe punishment. Not only that, their families would also suffer along with them. They cited the earlier examples of Jiao Jiugao and others from Shunxiangbao, and also cited the recent examples of those military households in the prefectural city whose entire families had been expelled, making these new recruits think: what would be the consequence of daring to desert?

During idle moments, the squad leaders and platoon officers in each new-recruit unit also did ideological work with these men, saying that they themselves had come through the same way. “Thinking back to those years… ah, no need to say more, we finally endured and made it through.” Hearing that the officers had also suffered through the same hardship, the new troops’ minds grew much more at ease. Everyone was the same; if these old fellows could endure it, surely they could too.

After the psychological counseling by the various officers, the new recruits’ emotions gradually stabilized. In addition, each Company now also added a new officer specifically tasked with soothing the soldiers’ psychology.

These officers were selected from the literate personnel in each Company. Their features were all relatively refined, and they were more attentive and more patient. Their job was to monitor the psychological trends of the soldiers in the Company, to find those with unstable emotions and chat with them about everyday matters, listen to their confessions or tearful complaints, explain to them the necessity of training, and casually mention how they themselves had suffered through the same hardship back in the day.

Compared to the crude officers in their own squads, these men were clearly much more liked by the soldiers. Soldiers lined up in long queues to pour out their grievances to these officers, although most of the regular officers were quite annoyed by these men.

The training of the new troops proceeded in an orderly manner. In the tenth month of the tenth year of Chongzhen, while Wang Dou was busy in the prefectural city, he received a piece of news: the Garrison Commander of the guard city, Li Yian, had died of illness.

In the seventh year of Chongzhen, due to Wang Dou’s merit, Li Yian, then the Guard Commander of Baoan Guard, was promoted to the acting post of Vice Regional Military Commissioner of Wandu. In the ninth year of Chongzhen, again due to Wang Dou’s merit, he was further promoted to the acting post of Regional Military Commissioner-in-Chief of Wandu. In his last years at Baoan Guard, Li Yian accumulated great merit. After his death, the ministry deliberated to grant him an honorable funeral and burial. The Chongzhen Emperor also issued an edict: “Li Yian safeguarded the territory of Baoan Prefecture; his achievements were most distinguished. Now that Li Yian has passed, I feel a void in my heart. Bestow upon one of his sons the position of Company Commander in the Embroidered Uniform Guard.” After Li Yian’s death, the acting Garrison Commander Xu Zucheng assumed the post of Garrison Commander of Baoan Guard City.

Not long after paying his respects to Li Yian, in late tenth month, Wang Dou suddenly received another piece of news: the Viceroy of Xuanda, Lu Xiangsheng, was coming to Baoan Prefectural City to inspect.

Lu Xiangsheng’s Viceroy office was set up in Yanghe, but according to custom, in autumn it would relocate to the garrison city of Xuanfu. Lu Xiangsheng had always been diligent, and after taking office, he had traveled through almost every part of Xuanda. This time he was inspecting the eastern route of Xuanfu Garrison, and his first stop was Baoan Prefectural City.

Compared to the previous year, the scale of Lu Xiangsheng’s retinue this time was greatly reduced — just some accompanying guards and officials. Upon arriving at the prefectural city, Lu Xiangsheng declined Wang Dou’s proposal for a banquet. Waving his hand, he said impatiently, “Wang Dou, take me around to have a look.”

After carefully inspecting the inside and outside of Baoan Prefectural City, the military camp and training grounds, and even the military farmlands outside the city, Lu Xiangsheng remained silent for a long time. The accompanying officials beside him all wore expressions of admiration and wonder.

After taking office, Lu Xiangsheng had vigorously urged all localities to drill their troops and manage military farming, achieving quite good results. However, after seeing Baoan Prefectural City, he realized that the efforts here were even greater. To reclaim hundreds of thousands of mu of farmland in one go, and to fully equip them with irrigation wells and waterwheels — such boldness and vision were refreshing. What was even more remarkable was that the local soldiers and civilians lived in stability, the prefectural city was very clean, and all refugees were given relief. Everyone had the feeling of a paradise isolated from the world.

After inspecting every part of the prefectural city, Wang Dou invited Lu Xiangsheng to rest at the Garrison Commander’s residence. Lu Xiangsheng paced back and forth in the main meeting hall, seeming emotionally stirred. After a long while, he sighed and said, “In military farming and troop training, Baoan Prefecture has achieved such results. Wang Dou, you have done well — even I, your Viceroy, feel ashamed of my own inferiority.”

Wang Dou was taken aback. Such praise from Lu Xiangsheng was too weighty. Just as he was about to speak, Lu Xiangsheng waved his hand and said, “Wang Dou, there is one thing I do not understand. Your military farming and troop training must have cost a great deal of money and grain. How did you raise the funds? Can you tell me?”

Lu Xiangsheng was adept at managing armies and military farming, and since taking office, he had also achieved very good results. Yet Lu Xiangsheng was still not satisfied, feeling he had not reached what he envisioned. The main issue was insufficient funds and grain. Without grain and pay, how could one train troops? Soldiers also had to eat their fill before they could drill, could they not?

Especially now, the Great Ming’s garrison soldiers were all old army loafers. Without seeing pay and grain, they simply would not move. He could only exhort them again and again, constantly rousing them with loyalty and righteousness, and sharing their hardships. Day after day, Lu Xiangsheng felt his mind and strength utterly exhausted.

Seeing the three Company Commanders’ worth of troops under Wang Dou in the prefectural city, all fierce and formidable, Lu Xiangsheng could only shake his head and sigh. The court issued no grain or pay for these garrison troops; the guard battalions had to be self-sufficient. Yet Wang Dou could train them to such a level. Setting aside Wang Dou’s talent for training troops for the moment, Lu Xiangsheng very much wanted to know where the money and grain to support these soldiers came from. He also wished to learn and draw lessons from it.

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Old White Ox:

In reply to the book friend Lion Rolling the Embroidered Ball: the mandarin-duck battle jacket is also called the padded jacket. From the military uniform section of the Collected Statutes of the Great Ming: “Regarding levies in kind. In the eleventh year of Hongzhi, it was memorialized and approved that in Datong, Taiyuan Prefecture, and other places in Shanxi, the padded jackets shall continue to be levied in kind. For Pingyang and the five prefectures of Ze and Lu, the padded jackets stored in the provincial administration commission treasury shall, following the precedent of earlier years, be commuted at one tael and five qian of silver per jacket. Once the stored supply is exhausted, levies in kind shall resume.”