Chapter 81: Volume Three: Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander, Chapter Eighty-One: My Ideal

Volume Three: Shunxiang Fort Garrison Commander, Chapter Eighty-One: My Ideal

By the middle and late period of the dynasty, due to financial difficulties, it could no longer supply the enormous military demand for provisions and pay, and inevitably had to cut rations and funds, satisfying only the material needs of a small fraction of so-called elite soldiers.

When those above have a preference, those below will carry it to extremes; reflected in the army, commanders inevitably used this portion of provisions and pay in a situation where many soldiers served the general's private purposes. The retainer system of the late Ming was a classic example.

Such armies were full of resentment and extremely weak in battle; when victorious they swarmed in together, when defeated they fled a thousand li. Even if the commander had some brave and skilled personal guards and retainers beside him, they could not reverse this vicious situation.

With commanders holding elite heavy troops in their hands, the danger of warlordism was inevitable; they cared only for the interests of their own small clique and ignored the interests of the state. The army the court had raised at great expense might, at a critical moment, pose the danger of defecting to the enemy. There were far too many such examples in the late Ming.

The Xuanfu army at the Ming's fall, the Guanning army, and the several garrison armies of the Southern Ming were all like this. Wang Dou did not believe that someone as shrewd and ruthless as Wu Sangui would, for the sake of a mere woman, commit the foolish act of so-called "flying into a rage for a beauty's sake"; it was simply that, seeing the situation turning unfavorable, he found himself an excuse to defect and surrender to the enemy.

In the early rising stage of a dynasty, because the civil administration was clean and honest, provisions and pay were ample, and the army had good treatment and training, the so-called modern army held no advantage whatsoever against the early rising army of any dynasty.

The modern army only accumulated sufficient provisions, pay, and material to maintain its equipment and training because of industrialization and the great expansion of trade. In essence, it was a restoration of the composition and discipline of the classical Qin-Han and ancient Roman armies.

As long as there is enough money and grain, what army cannot be trained? Discipline and training are merely by-products; any commander with the will can achieve them. The bitter training and strict military discipline of the Qi Family Army and the Yue Family Army were not necessarily inferior to any modern army. However, with insufficient funds and grain, the society of that time could only produce these few armies, which flashed briefly like a flower in the pan.

Compared to feudal armies and modern armies, Wang Dou valued the contemporary army more.

The difference between the three lies not in equipment or training, but in ideology.

Feudal armies and modern armies can both be well-equipped and rigorously trained, and both can fight using the skilled tactics gained from strict training; in essence, they both fight with hearts driven by compulsion and fear. But the contemporary army, inspired by a certain ideology and faith, can fight consciously and willingly — the superiority is immediately clear.

At the end of the Yuan, the Han people had one kitchen knife for every four households. Under the slogan "Expel the barbarian invaders, restore China," they sang the military song: "Holding steel blades ninety-nine, we will not stop until all the barbarians are slain; I am a dignified man of Han, why should I be a beast of burden for the Tatar!" Wearing tattered clothes and wielding crude weapons, with a courage that did not fear death, they defeated the Mongols, who were then invincible under heaven — that was the power of ideology and faith.

In this sense, the Han armies of that time could be called contemporary armies; only their equipment was not as sophisticated as the armies of later ages, but in the power of ideology, they were second to none.

Discipline, courage, loyalty, and knowing why one fights — these are the sources of a strong army's power.

Well-equipped and highly skilled in combat arts, but ideologically ignorant, not knowing what they are soldiers for — in essence, they are merely simple-minded, physically strong brutes, akin to the fang-bing of the late Tang military garrisons!

Whether at the end of the Song or the end of the Ming, both were eras when nationalist thought surged and the debate between Hua and Yi flourished, though a concrete ideological system had not yet formed. Moreover, with illiteracy rampant everywhere and the common people impoverished, this also hindered the birth of such a system. Yet that simple, unadorned ideology existed in the hearts of many Great Ming commoners.

On this point, Wang Dou could make use of it, and could also add many things from his own understanding.

The twenty-sixth day of the twelfth month, the eighth year of Chongzhen, inside the Shunxiang Fort military camp.

All the soldiers of Shunxiang Fort sat on the training ground in front of the camp, officers and soldiers alike. Only Lin Daofu, the Garrison Commander Chi Dacheng, and a few others sat beside Wang Dou.

Looking at the rough, dark, and simple faces below, Wang Dou pondered for a long time. Wang Dou had no money to make military uniforms, so these soldiers all wore no uniforms; each wore the cotton-padded jackets and fur robes from their own days as military households, a motley assortment of every kind. Only their ramrod-straight sitting postures showed that they were soldiers.

Gathered before the military camp today, the soldiers were also puzzled, not knowing what Wang Dou wanted to do. The Garrison Commander was usually a man of very few words.

Finally, Wang Dou spoke. He said: "Some time ago, I heard that some soldiers found the training bitter and complained a great deal, not knowing what it was for."

He swept his gaze over everyone in the field. Meeting his eyes, some people hurriedly lowered their heads, their hearts uneasy; these were all people who usually complained. The Shunxiang army had strict military discipline, and they feared Wang Dou would charge them with undermining morale and spreading demoralizing rumors.

Wang Dou sighed: "I, Wang Dou, am not a heartless man. How could I not know the bitterness of the officers and men's drill? Seeing it with my own eyes, how could I not feel pained?"

"It is just that I have no choice!"

"I know you drill very bitterly and privately blame me for being hard-hearted. If these were times of peace, why would it need to be so? Everyone would be a soldier eating their rations; though life would be hard, one could still survive!"

"But now these are chaotic times, and the Tatars plunder and raid the borders year after year. If we do not train our martial skills well, how can we protect our homes? Can you bear to watch your own brothers die cruelly and your sisters be defiled?"

"I, Wang Dou, also rose from a common soldier, and I know the bitterness of chaotic times and the brutality of the Tatars! Back when I was a garrison soldier at Jingbian Outpost, the Tatars raided us, and the wife of Ma Ming from my outpost died cruelly under the Tatar blade. I watched helplessly, powerless to do anything. I hate it!"

At this point, Wang Dou could not help but choke up.

Everyone below was stunned; they had not expected this.

They would shed tears. For the first time, they saw the stern and steady Garrison Commander reveal his true feelings before them, and they were all at a loss.

After a long moment, they cried out in unison: "My lord!"

Everyone knelt down one after another. Han Zhong suddenly jumped up and shouted: "Which wretched curs were muttering and gossiping behind our backs, undermining the army's morale? Stand out for this old man! This old man will beat you into pulp if I don't!"

"The Garrison Commander gives everyone their fill of food and drink every day and only drills us lightly. If there is anyone who still does not recognize this kindness and virtue, heaven and earth will not tolerate it!"

Wang Dou waved his hand and said: "Do not blame them. Picket Officer Han, sit down. Everyone, sit down as well!"

Han Zhong sat down, still seething with anger.

Wang Dou said: "In truth, I have no great demands. I only hope that after training a strong army, when the Tatars invade, we can protect the safety of Shunxiang Fort. If I have any extravagant hope, it is that in the future, when peace comes, everyone will have clothes to wear, food to eat, and land to till. In my daily life, when I listen to plays and storytelling, I always envy how the common people sing the praises of Grandfather Yue and Grandfather Qi. I hope that one day I, Wang Dou, will also have a day when my name is recorded in history!"

Han Chao stood up abruptly. He raised his arm and shouted: "Follow the lord, protect the home and defend the country, peace under heaven!"

All the soldiers stood up, every man raising his arm and shouting: "Follow the lord, protect the home and defend the country, peace under heaven!"

Amid the surging emotion, even those old army retainers of Shunxiang Fort were all stirred; many of them raised their arms and shouted along.

Lin Daofu stood beside Wang Dou. This tough, stubborn middle-aged military officer was also so moved that he said repeatedly: "The soldiers' hearts can be used! The soldiers' hearts can be used!"

Wang Dou also stood up, waving his arm along with the crowd. His eyes seemed to burn with a fire, as if wanting to consume everything!

After this baptism, the mental outlook of the Shunxiang army from top to bottom would surely change considerably; at the very least, they understood why they had to drill so bitterly — it was to protect their own homes. However, a momentary inspiration cannot last long; a long-term, cyclical system needs to be formed. In the future, when they follow Wang Dou to fight everywhere, they will need another kind of ideological inspiration to make them take the initiative in battle.

Even if they do not understand at first, it does not matter. If this system is instilled in them repeatedly every day, they will naturally form an ideology.

But this requires a great deal of work. Where will the relevant ideological control personnel come from? Unlike fighting battles, ideological control requires a large number of high-level educated personnel with patience and meticulousness. Such personnel cannot be pure scholars either; they must be versed in both civil and military affairs. Where in a place like Shunxiang Fort can such talent be found? They must be slowly sought in the future, or slowly cultivated by Wang Dou himself.

Yet the inner world of the soldiers cannot be ignored. Whatever emotions they have, they need dedicated personnel to soothe and understand them. Wang Dou could only temporarily have the officers pay more attention to the soldiers' mental state in daily life and listen more to their voices. As for the officers, they could confide in Wang Dou. At present, Shunxiang Fort was only a small place, and Wang Dou could still manage.

At the same time, Wang Dou also planned to increase the soldiers' daily recreational activities: invite more theater troupes to perform, invite storytellers to tell tales. In the afternoons when there was no drill, he could let the soldiers hold more cuju matches, martial arts competitions, and other activities to enrich their lives.

At the same time, Wang Dou also planned to strengthen the cultivation of the officers. Currently, the ideological control system in Wang Dou's army was not yet mature; at most, Wang Dou could only train a modern army. To implement clear discipline and training, high requirements were placed on the literacy rate and professional quality of the officer class. When Wang Dou had more talented people in the future, he would regularly instruct these officers and select the elite.

Only after the officers were well cultivated could the cultivation of the soldiers proceed next.

As the hour approached its end, Wang Dou announced a ten-day annual leave for the entire army, leaving only a portion of the garrison duty personnel.

In addition, each soldier was given two dou of grain and rice and two jin of meat, drawing a wave of cheers.

On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month, inside and outside Shunxiang Fort, the atmosphere was jubilant; everyone was busy preparing for the New Year.

Because of the distributed grain, rice, and meat, every household could have a good New Year this year, and the rare sound of firecrackers rang out as well.

Amid the festive cheer, Wang Dou also brought his wife Xie Xiu Niang, going door to door to comfort and visit the widowed, orphaned, and childless within the fort. Elders over seventy were each given wine, meat, cloth, and silk, drawing a large crowd of onlookers and sounds of tearful gratitude.

Although Xie Xiu Niang beside Wang Dou was small in stature and not outstanding in appearance, in the cold weather, as she followed Wang Dou to provide relief to the lonely and suffering, her demeanor was gentle and meticulous. Yet she won a wave of praise. After that day, Xie Xiu Niang gained the affectionate title of "Kind Mother" among the military households of Shunxiang Fort.

On the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth month, compared to last year, this year there was only snow across the various parts of Bao'an Prefecture; it seemed next year's harvest prospects were not optimistic.

Wang Dou also saw the court gazette that had just arrived today. Starting tomorrow, all civil and military officials of the Great Ming would begin a five-day holiday. Wang Dou read in the gazette that at the beginning of the twelfth month, the former Viceroy of Xuan-Da, Yang Sichang, had been replaced by Liang Tingdong, who, as Right Vice Minister of War and concurrently Right Censor-in-Chief, was made Viceroy of Xuan-Da-Shanxi military affairs.

According to Wang Dou's understanding of history, this Liang Tingdong was also a figure of ridicule. In the seventh month of the ninth year of Chongzhen, when the Qing army pressed toward the capital, Liang Tingdong and the Grand Coordinator Zhang Fengyi, timid and afraid to fight, took large doses of rhubarb daily to seek death, and finally died in the ninth month under the weight of their crimes; even after death, they were still sentenced to the crime of execution by dismemberment.

Also, the original Imperial Commissioner General of Zhenshuo and Regional Commander of Xuanfu, Lu Baozhong, had been replaced by Li Guoliang, and the annual activity of going beyond the frontier to burn the grasslands was carried out as routine.

Bits and pieces, it contained a great deal of information. Wang Dou read it very carefully. Although he had a fairly good understanding of late Ming history, reading the gazette allowed him to better grasp the actual developments across the Great Ming.

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