Chapter 316: The Key to Military Reform

The wind during the New Year season was truly too cold.

Just the few steps from the main hall to the document office made everyone feel as though steel blades were scraping their bones.

Sun Chengzong took a sip of hot tea and only then felt slightly more comfortable.

The old Supreme Commander set down his teacup, let out a long breath, and said slowly:

"These examination cells were originally used for selecting government students from the guard schools. To truly handle the great situation ahead, their number is still far too few." "However, after I received the finalized plan, I have already had men find a spacious location and begin constructing new examination cells."

"They should be ready for use in about ten more days, just in time for this wave of major affairs."

Sun Chuanting followed closely behind, pulled over a wooden chair, and sat down at the lower end.

After motioning for the others to take their seats, he nodded in agreement:

"Precisely so. From now on, the selection for the demonstration battalions, the examination and recruitment of officers at all levels, and even the tax police selection currently being planned will all need to use these examination grounds." "A shortage of examination cells will indeed hinder the progress of many matters."

The matter the two men were discussing was precisely this minor affair of adding more examination grounds.

This could not really be blamed on the inaction of the local Liaodong officials.

Liaodong, whose full name is the "Liaodong Regional Military Commission," is fundamentally a military district, not an administrative province.

But no matter how much its military nature is emphasized, as long as it is territory of the Great Ming, it is impossible not to hold civil examinations.

Without holding civil examinations, one cannot win the hearts of the scholars, nor can one truly speak of incorporating it into the Great Ming's governing map.

Therefore, as Liaodong's population grew, its Confucian schools would also select tribute students for the Imperial Academy and participate in the provincial examinations.

But this path of provincial examinations was no easy matter for Liaodong scholars.

At the very beginning, Liaodong government students took the examinations under the jurisdiction of Shandong Province.

This is also why many Liaodong officials always carry a concurrent Shandong official title.

In those days, Liaodong itself lacked grain, and sea transport of grain was frequent. The students would board grain ships sailing with the wind to Shandong to take the exams, arriving in about ten days, which could not be considered too troublesome.

But later, Liaodong gradually became self-sufficient, and the sea route for grain transport consequently fell into decline.

When the students needed to take the exams again, they had to travel the long overland route, a round trip of over six thousand li to Shandong, which became a deadly ordeal. During the Jiajing era, the Liaodong students raised a great uproar over this, hoping the court would show compassion for their plight and reassign them to take the exams in the Northern Metropolitan Region.

The Ministry of Rites ultimately granted this request.

But when some gain, others must inevitably lose.

In order to balance the admission quotas for the Northern Metropolitan Region provincial examinations and protect the interests of the original examinees,

after the tenth year of Jiajing, military-registered examinees from Dezhou in Shandong and various other guard stations would no longer take the Northern Metropolitan examinations, but would instead take the provincial examinations directly in Shandong itself. From then on, examinees from the Dezhou guards and others bitterly lost their precious Northern Metropolitan "examination hukou."

But no matter how they struggled, from beginning to end, Liaodong government students never took the provincial examinations locally.

So it was for the civil examinations, and the same held true for the military examinations.

For several hundred years, no large-scale examinations had ever been held locally, so the scarcity of examination cells was naturally no surprise.

Sun Chengzong nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping across the room.

Seeing that everyone was seated, Sun Chengzong pressed both hands on his knees and asked in a deep voice: "Who will begin?"

A few days earlier, the grand strategy for Liaodong had been completely finalized.

The time points for each phase and the principal responsible persons had been clearly defined.

But under the style of the new policies, how could everything be halted, waiting dryly for the first phase of rectification to be completed?

All matters had to proceed in parallel, intersecting and advancing fiercely.

Therefore, while many officers were scratching their heads in the examination cells, a meeting on concrete affairs was convened as usual.

And for the military reform and defense work of the second and even third phases, Sun Chengzong was the undisputed supreme responsible person, and naturally had to control the entire process. After all, although the broad strategic plan was set, the details of implementation still required repeated deliberation and adjustment.

Sun Chuanting was the first to raise his hand and stand up. "Perhaps it would be best if this subordinate and Circuit Intendant Bi begin."

Sun Chuanting turned his gaze to Man Gui, who was seated to the side, and said:

"Regional Commander Man cannot afford to linger too long at Shanhai Pass. Let us first confirm these two matters, so he can depart sooner to take up his post at the Ji Garrison."

Ningyuan Circuit Intendant Bi Zisu, upon hearing this, nodded silently and turned to look at Sun Chengzong.

Seeing no objections from the others, Sun Chengzong raised his hand: "Very well, then let us first discuss these two major matters: the examination and selection of officers, and the tax police and tariffs. Baigu, you speak first."

Sun Chuanting stood in the center of the hall and began:

"The advancement paths for officers of our dynasty are broadly four: military examinations, hereditary posts, brevet appointments, and purchased ranks."

"Each of these four paths has its own deep-seated maladies and accumulated abuses. Taken together, they have resulted in the uneven quality of officers, a mix of dragons and fish, here in Liaodong and indeed across the entire realm!"

Uneven?

Everyone present knew full well that Sun Chuanting had put this extremely politely.

The officers in Liaodong were still somewhat passable, but many officers in the Ming hinterlands were first-rate merchants; when it came to the skills of deploying troops, training soldiers, and killing the enemy, they had long since cast them to the winds.

Ignoring the subtle expressions of the others, Sun Chuanting continued:

"First, the abuses of the military examinations. The abuse lies in valuing literary over military skill, emphasizing the Four Books and Five Classics while neglecting practical military preparation."

"On this matter, Minister of War Huo Weihua has taken the lead in reforming it. This year's military examinations will undergo a thorough transformation."

"At that time, in addition to greatly increasing the weight of practical skill assessments, there will also be a secondary selection. Those who pass and become military juren cannot be directly appointed to office; they must first be sent to the Valiant Guard Camp for rotational training."

"During the training period, their retention and appointment will be decided based on comprehensive performance in war games, daily drills, route marches, practical operations, and so on." "For this very reason, the arrival of large numbers of staff officers will likely have to wait until April. Before that, the Ministry of War will first select and appoint a wave from the vicinity of the capital and dispatch them here; the first group is expected to arrive in February."

This piece of information clearly struck greatly at the interests of the military examination students.

Yet no one present showed much reaction.

In the Great Ming, if you dared to speak of reforming the civil service examinations, it would be an absolutely earth-shattering event. Without one or two years of advance signals and guidance, the scholars of the realm would batter down the gates of the Forbidden City.

But when a change of the same magnitude fell upon the military examinations... it truly was no great matter.

If the court said to change the examination content, then it was changed directly, with no concern for whether the students in the military schools across the land could adapt to the corresponding content.

The reasoning was simple.

—If you cannot even calculate how many hours it takes for five hundred men to set camp and erect watchtowers, or do not know in which direction to send out how many scouting parties on the march, then what damn kind of officer are you even testing for?

Sun Chuanting's gaze was like a blade, sweeping over the assembled generals: "Therefore, the Liaodong Demonstration Battalion, the Ji-Liao Command, and the Ji Garrison Mongol Demonstration Battalion must all prepare in advance to receive these two groups of personnel."

"And civil officials currently serving in the various camps must also prepare for handover and clearance. If there are truly exceptional individuals, you may recommend them for retention or transfer. The Ministry of War will conduct a retention assessment every three months."

Ma Shilong, Man Gui, and the others straightened their expressions and cupped their hands in salute, accepting the order.

Sun Chuanting was about to continue when Cai Ding, an advisor seated to his rear and side, suddenly leaned forward and cut in.

"Sir Sun, the situation of the Mongol demonstration camp in the Ji Garrison is vastly different from elsewhere."

Cai Ding spoke rapidly: "The civil staff there should ideally all be conversant in Mongolian. At the very least, one in every five must be able to serve as an interpreter. Furthermore, the Ji-Liao headquarters here also needs a dedicated ratio of interpreter personnel. Next year's campaign, the Mongol front is the top priority — if communication breaks down, it will be fatal."

At these words, the room fell silent for a moment.

A flicker of approval crossed Sun Chengzong's eyes.

Cai Ding's remark had squarely struck a blind spot in the plan.

This was not because those who drafted the plan back in the capital were incompetent.

Rather, time was tight, the task was heavy, and too many offices were involved. Many details, when worked out on paper, simply could not be perfected. This was precisely why, after a plan was set, meetings were still held locally to align views, and even frequent revisions were made.

Sun Chuanting paused briefly, then nodded gravely. He drew a charcoal pencil from his sleeve and made a note on the document:

"Master Cai is right to remind me. I have noted this."

Having noted it, Sun Chuanting raised his head and continued: "As for the route of purchased rank, let us set that aside for now."

"His Majesty, at the fiscal budget conference, explicitly rejected the Ministry of Revenue's proposal on contributions for rank."

"The imperial will has decreed that lower civil and military official posts, as well as clerks and sub-official functionaries everywhere, are all excluded from the scope of purchase."

"Therefore, at least in the first year of Yongchang, the paths of advancement in the army, apart from the military examinations, are reduced to just two: hereditary rank and brevet rank."

What was meant by hereditary rank was military household hereditary privilege.

Zu Dashou, for example, was a typical case of hereditary-rank background.

When his ancestor assisted the dynastic founder Zhu Di in ascending the throne, he was granted the hereditary rank of Centurion.

Passed down through the generations, by the time it reached his father, Zu Chengxun, he had risen to the position of Vice Regional Commander of Liaodong.

Brevet rank, on the other hand, stood in opposition to hereditary rank.

It referred to military officers promoted directly from the ranks, or through recommendation.

The difference between the two was that hereditary-rank officers were imperially appointed officials with substantive grades, enjoying generous benefits such as grain stipends, fodder and remount allowances, official attendants, and household retainers. Brevet-rank officers, to put it bluntly, were merely temporary appointments.

They held no formal grade. Even if you rose to Battalion Commander on military merit, in essence you were still a temporary hire.

The decay of the Great Ming's guard-station system was a decay of both soldiers and officers together.

Thus, to solve the manpower problem, the recruited-soldier system was introduced; and to solve the officer problem, the brevet-rank officer system was introduced.

The two were two sides of the same coin, fruit borne from a single vine.

Of course, if a brevet-rank officer truly achieved great merit, the court would also grant a guard-station post, allowing them to "regularize and come ashore."

But any system often works only when first established. As time passes, the new system breeds new malignancies of its own.

Sun Chuanting continued: "Among hereditary-rank officers, there are many greedy and indolent sorts, unfit for employment."

"And brevet-rank officers, since the Wanli reign, have proliferated to the point of disaster, even more worthless than the hereditary ones."

"The grand secretaries and ministers of the two capitals casually distributed blank commissions to friends and relatives!"

"At first, they merely sought the title of brevet Company Commander. Now, if a document does not read Assistant Regional Commander, it must read Garrison Commander! At first it was only one or two men doing this; lately, it is practically everywhere under heaven!"

"Cui Chengxiu's concubine's brother, Xiao Huaizhong — a commoner with not a shred of merit — was promoted in a single day to Assistant Regional Commander of the Miyun Wagon Camp. That is the most absurd example!" Sun Chuanting's voice echoed through the office, stirring indignation in the hearts of the officers present.

Men like Ma Shilong, who came from hereditary rank, naturally detested this brevet path that squeezed their own prospects.

And men like Man Gui, who had first taken the brevet path before converting to hereditary rank, also looked down on such incompetents who advanced not by ability but by connections and favor.

"His Majesty, in consultation with us, has determined that to thoroughly purge these entrenched abuses, we must grip one word firmly: 'examination'!"

Sun Chuanting swept his hand down sharply and spoke with finality:

"First, we seize upon the examination for hereditary-rank succession! Those who fail the examination for three consecutive years shall be summarily stripped of their hereditary rank and deprived of its benefits!"

"Second, beginning with the Ji-Liao, capital, and other demonstration camps, we will rigorously enforce routine examinations!"

"Regardless of whether an officer comes from hereditary rank or was promoted through the brevet path, all shall be examined!"

"Monthly examinations on drill and training, on formation and array; quarterly examinations on military texts and practical affairs, and on sand-table exercises!"

"The court must ensure that the officers commanding the Valiant Guard, capital, Ji, Liao, and other demonstration camps — over twenty-three thousand men in total — are the finest elite troops under heaven!"

Sun Chuanting fixed his gaze on Man Gui and Ma Shilong, his tone extremely grave:

"On this matter, when you return, you must clearly explain it to the officers under your command. It must absolutely not be treated as child's play!"

"The imperial commissioner's pay audit and rectification campaign — that is the first blade swung at Liaodong."

"Henceforth, whether your subordinates can retain their posts, and whether they can still earn a future, will depend entirely on their true ability in these monthly and quarterly examinations!"

Man Gui and Ma Shilong felt the pressure bearing down on them and nodded repeatedly in assent.

Only then did Sun Chuanting rein in some of his edge and continue: "As for the transfer and promotion of officers between camps, it is tentatively set at once every three months."

"The Valiant Guard Camp is the highest tier; the three demonstration camps — the capital, Ji-Liao, and Mongol — are next; Liaodong Left and the various garrisons of the realm are next after that."

"Those who distinguish themselves in the assessments will be promoted upward. If they can rise all the way to His Majesty's presence, they will naturally be personally examined and verified by the Son of Heaven. Once they have served in an elite unit like the Valiant Guard Camp and still performed satisfactorily, they will then be dispatched outward from the Valiant Guard Camp to serve as senior commanders." Hearing this, the advisor Cai Ding spoke up again to press the question:

"Sir Sun, according to this, if officers are dispatched outward from the Valiant Guard Camp, they should be sent preferentially to Liaodong Left, correct?"

"How many elite officers can be sent here next year?"

There were some things Sun Chengzong could not conveniently say himself, and at such moments it fell to Cai Ding, the advisor, to charge into the breach.

After all, facing this national-destiny battle in the first year of Yongchang that the Great Ming was determined to win, who would complain of having too few resources in hand?

Funds, troops, officers, equipment — whatever resources could be gathered, they had to fight to gather them all.

Once Cai Ding opened his mouth to ask for men, the military officers beside him could hold back no longer.

Man Gui immediately followed up and asked:

"Secretary Sun, the Mongol demonstration camp is nominally set at a strength of two thousand one hundred men, but when can these troops be fully recruited?"

"Before I left the capital, I went to ask Vice Director Hong, but he said the matter was still undecided."

"If my troops and horses still aren't fully equipped by the third month, shouldn't my quarterly examination be pushed back a bit — to start counting from after the third month?" The moment Ma Shilong heard Man Gui open his mouth, he set aside whatever petty grudges lay between them and immediately followed up with his own complaint:

"Exactly, Secretary Sun! My demonstration camp currently has only three thousand men; the remaining six thousand will take a great deal of time to recruit." "Shouldn't this assessment… also start counting from the third month?"

Bi Zisu, who had remained silent all along, sat to the side watching these men grow so agitated, and he began to feel uneasy himself.

Since the new policies began, he had been stationed in Jiliao the entire time, so his feel for this "performance evaluation" wind blowing in from the capital was not yet very deep — he had only experienced it a few times through the letters from his elder brother Bi Ziyan.

That fiscal budget for the first year of Yongchang had practically tormented his elder brother to the point of wishing for death.

Hearing Man Gui and the others speak now, Bi Zisu hesitated a moment, wondering whether he too ought to cry out a few grievances.

But on second thought, he realized his own affairs did not fall within Sun Chuanting's scope of work, so he could only swallow his words back down.

Bombarded by this rapid-fire volley of questions, Sun Chuanting was momentarily caught off guard.

He frowned and pondered in silence for a moment, then replied to each in turn:

"Whether priority will be given to dispatching to Liaozuo — I do not currently know. The Supreme Commander Sun may write a letter to inquire of Chen Renxi, the current head of the military affairs group." "The detailed rules for assigning officers to the Valiant Guard Camp — before I left the capital, only the broad direction for external postings had been set; the detailed rules have yet to be decided, so I do not know either." Having answered this, Sun Chuanting's expression hardened, and he looked toward Man Gui and Ma Shilong.

"As for the matter of deferring performance evaluations that the two Regional Commanders have raised…"

Sun Chuanting's tone was resolute: "One examination per quarter is iron law — it cannot be altered!"

"When troops and horses are not yet complete, there are naturally things that can be done even with incomplete troops and horses! Does a shortfall in manpower mean you cannot drill formations, lecture on the military classics, or select officers and appoint commanders?"

"The two of you had best put away those thoughts, push forward and fully prepare the matters at hand as quickly as possible, and think carefully about what targets you intend to present to His Majesty in the third month to account for yourselves!"

The two fierce generals, having tried to gain an advantage only to be rapped on the knuckles instead, could only lower their heads sheepishly and hastily protest that they would not dare.

Although authority and responsibility for the various affairs in Liaodong had already been delineated,

among the detailed tasks, there were naturally differences in priority and importance.

Sun Chuanting controlled the promotion and selection for the various camps in Jiliao as well as the military reform rollout, and he also held the status of a close attendant to the Son of Heaven — he was, implicitly, the overall head of these many new armies. Having steadied the room, he now turned around, faced Sun Chengzong in the seat of honor, cupped his hands, and summarized:

"Supreme Commander Sun, the military and administrative matters under this subordinate's charge — these are their broad essentials."

"Before the third month, my core task here is to thoroughly push forward the evaluation of officers in Jiliao."

"After selecting the superior and eliminating the inferior, complete the first round of transfers for officers of every route among the Valiant Guard Camp, the demonstration camp, and the Liaozuo local forces."

"Thereafter, riding this great momentum, drive the new army's Drill Manual and the iron law of monthly and quarterly examinations firmly and solidly into Jiliao — to take root and sprout!"

Sun Chengzong had been listening quietly the entire time, and now at last a trace of a smile appeared as he nodded in approval:

"Excellent. Baigu handles affairs with thoroughness and precision indeed — swift and resolute."

"Then this old man shall sit and wait for the third month, and come see the performance results of all that Baigu has undertaken."

With that, Sun Chengzong's gaze passed beyond Sun Chuanting and settled upon Bi Zisu, the Circuit Intendant of Ningyuan.