Chapter 1054: The Shun Heavenly Soldiers March Forth! (Please Subscribe)

The war horn has sounded. In the Pukou–Laoshan area north of the Yangtze in Yingtian Prefecture, where the Ming military aristocracy gathered, the sound of war was naturally met with joy — and throughout the lands of the Shun Empire, there was likewise a clamorous carnival!

The military strength of the Shun had never been as powerful as it was now!

If the present Shun army had fought the Battle of Shanhai Pass, it could absolutely have strung up the Manchu troops and the Guanning Army together and given them a savage beating.

Sima Yu, a Shun veteran who had fought at Shanhai Pass and now lived in Liuba County, Hanzhong Prefecture, holding the rank of Battalion Chief and owning a large stretch of hillside land, had never forgotten the scene fourteen years ago when he followed the Old His Majesty into Beijing. That was the crowning moment of his life, and the crowning moment of the entire Shun Empire.

Unfortunately, at that time he and the Shun Empire had only been outwardly strong but inwardly hollow — it was only because the Ming had produced a great muddle-headed ruler who thought himself brilliant that they had gotten the chance to fight their way into Beijing. But the foundations of the Shun state and the Shun army were even less solid than the Ming's. On the map it looked quite large, but in reality they had never truly controlled their territory. Local governance was hollow, and they had not distributed land to the soldiers and officers.

Their so-called strength had amounted to nothing more than the few tens of thousands of elite Old Camp soldiers who followed the Old His Majesty.

Moreover, the Old Camp soldiers of that time could not even be considered strong compared with the present Shun army. They had simply fought a year and more of winning battles, gained prestige, gained morale, and come to think highly of themselves — that was all. Whether in equipment, training, tactics, or institutions, they could not compare with this present Shun army, which was founded on land and had truly sunk its roots deep into the earth.

On a drill ground outside the county seat of Liuba, belonging to a Zhechong Garrison, Sima Yu stood with his arms folded, watching some eighty high-spirited Shun garrison militiamen. These men were all garrison militiamen settled in Liu County, attached to the Fourth Battalion of the Hanzhong North Route Zhechong Garrison, and Sima Yu was the Battalion Chief of this Fourth Battalion.

The great mobilization order had been issued seven days earlier. It was a great order, not an ordinary rotation summons. Garrison militia differed from recruited soldiers: they were not professional soldiers who stayed in camp year-round and could be worked "997." They were both soldiers and farmers — they could be landlords or till the land themselves — serving in rotation.

Service was also called rotation duty. Normally it meant four months on rotation and eight months at home each year. Each Zhechong Garrison would divide its subordinate garrison militiamen into three parts and issue rotation summons to one part in turn.

Therefore, most of the time, of the one hundred twenty garrison militiamen settled in Liuba County, eighty were always at home farming or collecting rent, while only forty were serving in the military camp.

A great mobilization order, however, was issued to every garrison militiaman in the countryside. Upon receiving the great order, a garrison militiaman had to report to the garrison militia drill ground in his county seat before the designated time, bringing all his equipment, one month's marching rations, and a pack animal — donkey, mule, or horse — to carry the rations, and then undergo inspection by his superior officer.

If a garrison militiaman was old and feeble and unable to serve, he had to appoint a son or younger kinsman to take his place. Once that kinsman passed the superior's inspection and completed one rotation tour or one great-order tour, he could formally replace the old and feeble garrison militiaman and become a garrison militiaman himself — with land, social status, and eligibility for office!

In the Shun realm today, becoming a garrison militiaman was absolutely the greatest event in a man's life!

In theory, all civil and military officials of the Shun dynasty, high and low, including the Eight Deliberative Princes, were garrison militiamen!

In the Shun, if you wanted to hold office, you first had to become a garrison militiaman!

Military officials went without saying — how could you be a military official without serving as a soldier? And if you wanted to be a civil official of the Shun, you likewise had to become a garrison militiaman first!

Only after serving at least one rotation tour and receiving a superior evaluation grade did one become eligible to sit the Shun court's civil service examinations.

If you passed as a xiucai, you could serve as a minor clerk in your own county, with a fixed salary. If you passed as a juren, you could hold a low-ranking minor office. If you passed as a jinshi, that was truly impressive — you were immediately appointed to a county magistracy.

Of course, whether xiucai, juren, or jinshi, all retained garrison militia status and had to serve fifteen to thirty days of rotation duty each year to maintain their combat readiness.

These "official-soldiers," however, did not serve alongside ordinary garrison militiamen. They usually served in Chongqing or Kunming, and they were not under the jurisdiction of local Zhechong Garrisons, but under the Inner Guard Garrisons directly subordinate to the Shun Emperor and the Crown Prince.

In short, within the present territory of the Shun realm, becoming a garrison militiaman was without question the dream of every man!

The garrison militia's special blue hemp narrow-sleeved long robe was the absolute symbol of identity and status. Whoever wore one to a matchmaking meeting — the girls' eyes would shine.

There were normally only two ways to become a garrison militiaman. The first was selection. That meant examination for military service! Of course, it was not an examination on eight-legged essays, but an assessment of martial skills. However, because the Shun court had little land left to grant, the annual selection quotas were limited, and it was extremely hard to pass!

The second was a son inheriting his father's profession. But a garrison militiaman's son was not guaranteed to become a garrison militiaman. The number of sons who could inherit the status depended on the garrison militiaman's own rank — in practice, it depended on how much land the garrison militiaman himself owned, which determined how many of his sons could become soldiers!

Because a garrison militiaman had to have a corresponding parcel of land to guarantee the financial means to serve. After several reforms, garrison militia land was no longer measured in mu but by the rent it yielded. A garrison militiaman could farm it himself or rent it out, but the Shun court still granted land according to its rental yield, to avoid situations where the land looked plentiful but actually brought in little rent. A garrison militiaman of the lowest rank, a regular soldier, was supposed to possess land yielding forty shi of rice or equivalent crops in rent.

Sima Yu, as a Battalion Chief, possessed land yielding one hundred twenty shi of rice or equivalent crops in rent. That meant he could divide this land equally among three sons and make them all garrison militiamen — but he now had four sons, plus two wives and three daughters!

And he and his two wives were still young and could keep bearing children.

One hundred twenty shi of rice not only had to support his own military service, but also feed the ten mouths in his household and save dowries for his three daughters. The pressure was crushing!

So when Sima Yu saw the three characters "land voucher" on this great mobilization order, his eyes went wide.

His demands were not high: he only wanted to save up land vouchers exchangeable for forty shi of land, so that his youngest son could inherit a garrison militia status.

And the eighty-odd garrison militiamen of Liuba County standing before him all had the same thought, which was why their morale looked a full notch higher than during previous rotation tours!

Moreover, every man's equipment was in better condition than during previous rotation tours. Cloth-faced iron armor and helmets had been repaired, blades and spearheads had been sharpened until they gleamed, shields had been lacquered several times over and looked brand new, and firearms had been polished bright. Clearly every household had brought out years of accumulated reserves!

"Good!" Sima Yu nodded with satisfaction and roared, "You're all fine men! I've got more good news for everyone — His Imperial Majesty has sent land vouchers for us. You'll receive them when you reach Wudu Mountain Camp. Counted in shi, every man gets one shi, regardless of rank!"

Only thirty-nine more shi and he could supply one more garrison militiaman!

"Long live! Long live the Shun! Long live His Imperial Majesty!"

The eighty-odd garrison militiamen roared in unison.

"Right," Sima Yu swept his hand out, then pointed toward the mountains to the north. "Brothers, move out! Fight the Zhu clan, earn land!"

"Fight the Zhu clan, earn land!"

The garrison militiamen all answered the call, then formed ranks, led their donkeys — there were no mules or horses — and marched out of the drill ground with great strides.

Outside the drill ground were the family members of the garrison militiamen who had come to see them off, along with commoners of Liuba County. The two groups could be told apart at a glance: garrison militia family members, men and women alike, all wore plain blue hemp clothing, and the men all had swords at their waists — even the children had wooden swords. The commoners wore clothes of every color and carried no blades.

But whether commoner or garrison militia family member, every man watched these eighty-odd Shun heavenly soldiers with envious eyes!

(End of Chapter)