Chapter 342: The Southern Capital Region

In the Qipan Street of the capital, Liang Tingdong sat at ease in the second hall of the Ministry of War, slowly savoring a cup of tea. A secretary rushed in flustered, handed over a border report, and said in a low voice, "My lord, Shen Qi of Xuanfu has actually signed a peace treaty with the Jianzhou Chieftain without authorization, along with the army-supervising eunuch and Xuanfu Regional Commander Dong Jishu. They even... even went and swore an oath to Heaven with the Jianzhou Chieftain."

Liang Tingdong sat bolt upright with a whoosh. "How many cities were breached?"

"Not a single one was breached."

Liang Tingdong relaxed and leaned back against his chair. "If no city was breached, that's fine. What did Shen Qi himself say?"

"Shen Qi claims the Jianzhou Chieftain committed no offense whatsoever, that the cost was no more than the old quota for the Chahar tribe, with no excess, saying it was solely to withdraw troops, and that the oath-swearing does no harm to the imperial court."

Liang Tingdong furrowed his brow slightly, gave a noncommittal grunt without changing expression. The secretary stared blankly and asked with some surprise, "My lord, are you not worried the censors will impeach you?"

"Impeach? The memorials impeaching this minister over the past three years could fill an entire room. If I still worried about that now, how could I get through the days?"

The secretary said urgently, "But my lord, this matter is an unheard-of scandal for our dynasty. Previously Yuan Chonghuan merely discussed peace, but Shen Qi has arbitrarily taken it upon himself to conclude a peace treaty. The treaty text refers to the Jianzhou tribe as the Jin Kingdom — this is an act that humiliates the state. His Majesty will surely be furious."

Liang Tingdong narrowed his eyes, his two feet gently tapping the floor. Back in the eighth month, there had already been reports that the Jianzhou tribe had appeared near the former Tumote territory, seemingly heading to attack the Chahar. He had immediately issued orders to strictly guard the Nine Border Garrisons. So this was how Shen Qi carried out his defense. As for his claim that the Jianzhou Chieftain committed no offense, not even a child would believe that. It was not as if Huang Taiji had broken through the border to burn incense. The silver given to the Jianzhou Chieftain would certainly not be limited to the old rewards for the Chahar. Shen Qi had also solicited contributions from wealthy households in Datong and Yanghe. He could even make a profit from it.

"Heh heh." Liang Tingdong chuckled softly.

The secretary looked at him strangely. Liang Tingdong did not explain further to him. The victory report from Fuzhou had already arrived. He had personally reported it to the Grand Secretariat and the palace. Lu Zhi's internal report had also reached the Directorate of Ceremonial. Two garrisons had achieved the great merit of beheading over a thousand Jianzhou bandits, second only to the battle of the four cities. Dengzhou and Laizhou reported nearly another thousand Jianzhou bandits dead within the city. With those thousand-plus heads, it was entirely justifiable. Since the fall of Liaoyang and Shenyang, this was utterly unprecedented. The Emperor had personally summoned him to inquire about the details, even calling the relay horsemen who delivered the message into the palace to question them in detail about the battle. As Minister of War, what the hell did he have to fear? At least this year his position was secure. The Dengzhou garrison had also lost over two thousand men, but such losses were beneath his notice. What did the deaths of a few soldiers matter?

As for this matter in Xuanfu, Shen Qi was Zhou Yanru's man, and Liang Tingdong had now thrown in his lot with Wen Tiren. Since no city had been breached, there was no major problem for him as Minister of War. What he needed to do now was to make his stance on Shen Qi's affair clear.

Liang Tingdong said flatly, "Forward this border report to Vice Minister Liu. Ask him to draft a ministry deliberation first."

The secretary nodded with tacit understanding. That Vice Minister Liu was Liu Yulie, also one of Zhou Yanru's men. Last year he had made a farce of the Liaodong Grand Coordinator appointment, going to Shanhai Pass for a few days before returning. In the original course of history, Liu Yulie should have gone to take overall command of the Shandong pacification campaign, but now that Chen Xin had swiftly crushed it in a few strokes, he remained in the capital as Vice Minister of War.

By having Liu Yulie draft the ministry deliberation, Liang Tingdong wanted him to stand with Zhou Yanru's faction and shield Shen Qi. Then Liang Tingdong would escalate the matter to the Grand Secretariat. Once the affair blew up, naturally some censors, like wild dogs, would go after Liu Yulie, and by extension drag in Zhou Yanru as well. Although the matter seemed minor in relation to Zhou Yanru, Liang Tingdong was deeply versed in the way of political struggle. Political victories were accumulated from one small triumph after another; one must never let any opportunity slip by.

Having grasped the spirit of the matter, the secretary added in a low voice, "My lord, this humble official believes we can dispatch ministry personnel to Xuanfu to investigate the facts. Shen Qi's border report claims the Jianzhou bandits committed no offense — this humble official absolutely does not believe it. Once that gentleman in the Grand Secretariat has shielded him, we can produce the findings of this investigation..."

"Good, handle it that way."

Liang Tingdong nodded slightly in approval. This bootlicker was not bad; he could grasp the leader's intent and then flesh it out in detail.

If he toppled Zhou Yanru, Liang Tingdong could enter the Grand Secretariat. This was what Wen Tiren had promised. Of course, it still depended on Dengzhou and Laizhou fighting well. As long as no major disasters occurred elsewhere, everything could be smoothed over.

"Is there anything else?"

"The disgraced Vice General of Changping, Zuo Liangyu, requests the issuance of arms from the imperial armory to train his troops."

"Zuo Liangyu, eh. Has he paid his 'summer greeting' this year?"

The secretary put on a fawning smile. "My lord, you are a busy man with many things to remember. Zuo Liangyu did pay, and more than the other garrisons, though of course it cannot compare to Regional Commander Chen's."

Liang Tingdong laughed. "Regional Commander Chen can send human heads. Even if he sent no summer greeting, this minister would still give him what he needs. What ability does Zuo Liangyu have? At Changshan he ran even faster than Wu Xiang. If he were not a guest army, he could not have escaped being sent into penal exile. It still took Hou Xun helping him pull strings just to remain in his post under a cloud of guilt. Let him wait a while longer. Tell him to pay his 'charcoal greeting' first, then we'll talk."

"This humble official understands. Additionally, Shanxi reports that over thirty bands of roving bandits, one after another, have shifted toward the western Shanxi area, and seem to have intentions of moving toward Zhending and Shunde."

"What?" Liang Tingdong shot to his feet with a cry, even knocking his chair clattering to the floor. He strode over and slapped the secretary across the face. "You muddled fool, you didn't mention something this urgent first."

The secretary touched his face and dodged back two steps, looking at Liang Tingdong with some bewilderment. He saw Liang Tingdong pacing back and forth in agitation, still muttering, "They absolutely must not be allowed to reach the southern capital region. Issue arms to Zuo Liangyu. Order the Baoding main-force battalion and the Zhending personal battalion to strictly reinforce patrols at all the Shanxi passes. The orders must go out tomorrow."

The secretary hurried off to draft the ministry order. Liang Tingdong paced two more circles, his good mood instantly vanishing into thin air. Let the roving bandits cause whatever havoc they wanted in Shanxi and Shaanxi. The Emperor now seemed to have accepted the news of these roving bandits running rampant everywhere. News from the outer provinces could always be touched up a bit; by the time it reached the Emperor, it had undergone artistic processing, so it would not cause the Emperor to fly into a rage.

But entering the capital region was an entirely different matter. Once they reached Zhending Prefecture, only Baoding lay between them and Shuntian Prefecture. The feeling would then be immediate and visceral. At that point, it would become a major incident.

Liang Tingdong returned to his desk and pulled out the map of the Nine Border Garrisons. The frontier troops that could be redeployed had all been moved. Those tribes — the Taokou, the Tumote, and the rest — could not be left unguarded against. The Henan troops had long been stationed in the interior; their combat effectiveness was probably on par with the rotation troops. The Shandong personal battalion's combat effectiveness had been exposed in front of the Liaodong troops and was also useless. His gaze then shifted to Dengzhou and Laizhou.

"It can only be here. But this Chen Xin just sent his tribute, and he suffered heavy losses at Fuzhou. Transferring him to suppress bandits at this time seems rather inappropriate. And it would be hard to explain to Old Mr. Wen." Liang Tingdong shook his head slightly. "How is it that only Dengzhou can produce strong soldiers? I wonder how this Chen Xin trains them. With two thousand casualties at Fuzhou, does he still have any troops left?"

"This time the Long Qibing company headquarters suffered the greatest losses, and the casualties were again mostly in the second battalion. The No. 3 and No. 4 tun-bao of Wendeng were dealt a heavy blow. Many families lost their pillars. The casualties are concentrated in these two tun-bao, which has greatly damaged the morale of both. The older children in both schools have dropped out and returned home to work. A similar situation occurred once on Shenmi Island — that time it was the No. 1 tun-bao of Weihai. It is very difficult to recover vitality. I suggest some changes to the conscription system."

At the civil affairs station outside the west gate of Pingdu Department, Chen Xin listened to Mo Huaiwen's report while smoking. Mo Huaiwen was responsible for tun-bao affairs and worked nearby in Pingdu. Chen Xin, together with Liu Minyou, was inspecting Pingdu this time and had convened an impromptu meeting to discuss the structure of military manpower.

In the two battles of Shenmi Island and Fuzhou, the losses among the farmer-soldiers had been relatively large. The most troublesome aspect was their concentration in a few tun-bao. Among them, the No. 1 tun-bao of Weihai had its vitality severely damaged at Shenmi Island, which set a very poor example for the community.

Sure enough, Mo Huaiwen continued, "The people in these several bao are all extremely worried about their relatives in Jinzhou. The tun-bao chiefs have reported back that long queues have formed at the general store to write letters, all saying things about saving their own skins. The letter writers refused to write them."

Chen Xin nodded gently. When he had originally designed the farmer-soldier company system, it was a high-intensity mobilization. He had modeled it on the contemporary Swiss model. Swiss mercenaries all came from mountain folk, forming pike squares with village and community ties. They trained together in peacetime and possessed a high degree of cohesion when they went to war — something that was inimitable in Europe at the time.

This unique troop structure made the Swiss square highly proficient and extremely cohesive, giving the pike square offensive capability. Various countries used it as a template for improvement, producing the even more powerful Spanish and Dutch systems, including the later Gustavus square, all of which were born from it. It can be said that the Swiss square brought about the revival of infantry in Europe.

The Later Jin's structure was similar. Their niru, which integrated military and civilian populations, were basically organized around village settlements. Such communities bound by local ties possessed a certain degree of cohesion. Although the Ming army's system appeared to be professional soldiers on the surface, the severe flaws of the system and the overall decay of the Great Ming made them inferior to these community-based troops.

Now the Dengzhou garrison's tun-bao system exceeded three hundred and fifty thousand people. The various trading companies were still spreading word everywhere, and more refugees would arrive later. During such migrations, many people of poor physical condition would not make the long journey to Dengzhou. Therefore, in Chen Xin's tun-bao structure, able-bodied young men made up the majority. He currently had no shortage of manpower. The Dengzhou garrison's professional army system allowed soldiers to spend long periods together and train jointly; its cohesion would be no lower than the community-based method. Indeed, some adjustments could be made to this system.

Chen Xin asked Li Donghua of the Military Affairs Office, "Are there any other company headquarters in a similar situation?"

"They are all among the first batch of farmer-soldier companies formed. The Fourth Battalion is the most severely affected. The other battalions reorganized after the restructuring have all been rearranged; within the same battalion unit, there won't be a concentration of too many people from the same tun-bao."

"Carry out an adjustment for each company headquarters in the Fourth Battalion, especially the Long Qibing company headquarters. They were restructured from the First Farmer-Soldier Regiment and are stationed at the forward position of Jinzhou. They should not suffer excessive attrition. Some older veterans with families can be discharged, and a batch of selected reservists should be brought in as replacements. Choose the best from each bao. Also, non-commissioned officers are not to be discharged. A few officers with families can be retired and assigned to the cavalry department of the military academy as Long Qibing instructors."

Li Donghua and Zhu Daichun were both taking notes simultaneously. This matter involved both the Military Affairs and Mobilization offices. The leader moved his lips, and those below ran their legs off. They had just barely finished sorting out the major reorganization, and the Third Company Headquarters still had not been fully replenished, yet a new task had arrived. The workload was also considerable. Generally, the tun-bao would first report family situations, then each entry would be checked against the troop rosters one by one, and finally there would be spot checks for verification. All the various documents and rosters of the Fourth Battalion would also have to be redone.

Once the veterans were discharged, new recruits would have to be drafted to fill the gaps, which also involved transport to Lushun, post-replenishment training plans for each unit, and so on. Li Donghua got a headache just thinking about it. He said to Chen Xin, "My lord, the Liaodong sea may freeze over soon. If we follow the usual replenishment schedule, this batch of replacements will have difficulty reaching Lushun ahead of time..."

"Then first draft a thousand reservists and send them to Lushun. Discharge and replenish simultaneously. Skip the tun-bao verification step for now, and conduct spot checks after the replenishment is complete." Chen Xin always operated in this style. Liu Minyou called it oversimplified management, but this approach saved Chen Xin a great deal of mental energy.

Chen Xin had originally also wanted to make an adjustment to the troop composition. Some of the old veteran soldiers and farmer-soldiers had successively married and had children. Once they were killed in action, the pressure on civil affairs for pensions was enormous. It was best if the soldiers were unmarried. From Chen Xin's utilitarian perspective, it was also the most cost-saving, just like conscription in later ages — the most numerous conscripts were all young single men, with relatively few family burdens and attachments.

"Alright, that's how we'll handle this matter." Chen Xin stood up. "Where has Lord Liu gone on his inspection?"

Mo Huaiwen hastily flipped open his own notebook, looked at it for a moment, then raised his head and said, "Lord Liu went to inspect the schools today. He went first to the Pingdu vocational school. There are over thirty students there from the old tun-bao who are said to have passed the exam for the Wendeng college. Mr. Liu went along the way to see them off."

"Mm, let's go take a look too." (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to Qidian to cast recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)

PS: Working overtime lately, updates have been lacking. Still asking for monthly tickets. Will update more when I have free time later.