Chapter 1721: Send Troops—Go Seize the Girl!

In the seventh month of the first year of Chongzhen, at the city of Datong Garrison.

Zu Kefa and Li Chengyun, the two envoys who had "not disgraced their mission," finally arrived at the "summer resort" of Datong, now entirely under Zhu Youjian's control.

The two of them had passed through Datong on their previous trip to Kuku Hoton, and had even shared a drink with Man Gui. They were somewhat familiar with Datong's local customs and character. But they never imagined that, after just over a month, when they returned to Datong, the very temperament of this key border city would have undergone an earth-shaking transformation.

A little over a month ago, Datong's outward appearance had looked almost exactly as it did now, yet anyone could feel that thick, almost impenetrable pall of deathly stagnation.

Datong at that time could be called a city utterly frozen, and one that was marching toward decay.

As a frontier military city, it should have been brimming with vigorous, thriving energy. Life on the border was hard, but it should also have been full of hope.

Because a frontier should be where an empire grows and develops—the vitality of an empire lies in expansion, and the frontier is the very front line of expansion, so of course it should be the place most full of life.

This was where warriors built their careers and sought a noble title ten thousand li from home. It was the starting point from which merchants followed the army into the grasslands and the great desert to seize enormous profits. It was also the great stronghold from which the Great Ming Empire could realize its dream of conquering the desert grasslands and thoroughly unifying all within the seas.

But at some unknown point, the glory of winning titles became legend, trade with the grasslands and desert became smuggling, and the Great Ming Empire no longer wished to conquer the grasslands and desert, wanting only to shut its gates and live in peace.

And this shift caused the military city of Datong to gradually lose its vitality, its hope, its dreams, and its courage.

This mighty city, foremost of the Nine Border Garrisons, was no longer the sharp sword the Great Ming Empire thrust toward the grasslands south of the Gobi, but a fortress trembling under the threat of the blades of nomadic steppe tribes that were themselves quite weak. And those who held this castle, which could be called the strongest fortified city under heaven, were no longer the warriors defending the eight guards and sixty-four forts of Datong Garrison, but enemies who had weakened the military strength of Datong's eight guards and sixty-four forts!

When killing the enemy and winning merit was no longer profitable, the people at the very top of the Datong military garrison turned their profit-seeking from the Tartars beyond the passes to the military households and garrison soldiers within the Datong border walls. Thus the warriors defending the frontier gradually all became fat sheep, while the parasitic classes that should never have existed on the frontier grew ever more numerous, and the entire Datong military garrison inevitably walked into a dead end—without hope, it could only slowly die.

But when Zu Kefa and Li Chengyun returned to Datong after spending over a month in the prison cells of Kuku Hoton, they were astonished to discover that this dying city, foremost of the Nine Border Garrisons, had come back to life!

On the bustling four streets and eight lanes of Datong's main city, everywhere there were stalwart men who looked high-spirited and ambitious—some in armor and bearing weapons, patrolling back and forth; others in groups of three or five, strolling the streets and lanes, every one of them looking cheerful, as if some great future lay before them.

And the imperial clansmen who had once been everywhere, idling away their days waiting to die, seemed to have vanished from Datong's streets and lanes overnight. Idle, do-nothing imperial clansmen existed in every dynasty, but penning them up in a key border city was something only the Ming had ever done.

China's northern and northwestern frontiers were never very prosperous, and were no place to keep idle mouths. The supply of key border cities crowded with large numbers of soldiers was especially difficult, and penning up so many idle people who ate and drank well inevitably worsened the pressure on grain supply in these key border areas, and also concentrated limited social wealth into the hands of a privileged class that could not fight—thereby further worsening the economic situation of the frontier soldiers.

One could say that if the Ming could move away those idle, useless imperial clansmen enfeoffed in North China, the Northwest, and elsewhere—people who could do nothing and were allowed to do nothing—the combat strength of the border armies would certainly rise by several levels!

Because once these people were moved away, each key border city would immediately gain an enormous amount of wealth available for distribution. If that wealth were distributed to those who could fight, the Great Ming Dynasty would immediately gain a hundred or two hundred thousand crack troops that could extend its life.

Zhu Youjian, who had studied the "Emperor's Secret Manual" under his rebellious son for decades, naturally knew that the border garrisons and border armies were in fact a business—loyalty and righteousness alone would not do; the border armies had to be able to profit!

So after he took up residence in the Prince of Dai's palace in Datong, he immediately began relocating the imperial clansmen of the Prince of Dai's line. The Prince of Dai and the eight Commandery Princes below him had all "voluntarily requested the removal of their fiefs," so what courtesy did Zhu Youjian need to show? He granted every request!

With the princes and Commandery Princes above all removed, what were the generals and commandants below still doing there? Pack up and follow along!

So from late in the sixth month of the first year of Chongzhen, the great relocation of Datong's imperial clansmen began.

By early in the seventh month, not many had actually moved away, but Datong's markets had already changed completely. Because the clansmen who had not yet moved had no leisure to stroll the streets—they were all busy preparing to move!

In addition, the land survey targeting the imperial clansmen had been completed. In total, more than 1.2 million mu of land had been cleared out, one-third of which was military farmland that had been seized.

Zhu Youjian took out one million mu of it to serve as office land for the cavalry before his tent, and began recruiting brave warriors.

Furthermore, the reorganization of the Datong Garrison army had also begun.

Reorganizing the army began with reorganizing pay. Zhu Youjian first fixed the military pay for the Datong military garrison: garrison grain, civilian-transport grain, silver commutation, and capital-transport silver together were fixed at 1.5 million taels. Of this, the amounts of garrison grain and civilian-transport grain were fixed, unrelated to grain prices. The original salt levy was replaced by the Liaodong levy and merged into the capital-transport silver.

As for ministry fees, skimming, and the like—heh—Zhu Youjian was now personally stationed in Datong, so those below could weigh the matter themselves!

And this 1.5 million taels of military pay was used to support a paper strength of fifty thousand soldiers, with no distinction between main and guest troops—there was only the Datong Camp Army. The fifty thousand troop quota was distributed among one Regional Commander, two jointly-defending Vice Regional Commanders, and twelve Assistant Regional Commanders. The two jointly-defending Vice Regional Commanders each commanded four Assistant Regional Commanders, stationed respectively in the eight guards of Datong Garrison. Two headquarters Assistant Regional Commanders were directly subordinate to the Datong Regional Commander. There were also one patrol-headquarters Assistant Regional Commander and one Datong divisional-defense Assistant Regional Commander, under the jurisdiction of the Governor's yamen. In addition, the Datong Regional Commander received a certain troop quota to support his own household retainers.

Of these, the two jointly-defending Vice Regional Commanders each had a quota of 4,000 troops; the eight divisional-defense Assistant Regional Commanders each had a quota of 3,000 troops; the two headquarters Assistant Regional Commanders, the one patrol-headquarters Assistant Regional Commander, and the one Datong city-defense Assistant Regional Commander each commanded a quota of 3,000 troops; and the Regional Commander had a quota of 6,000 troops.

And the troop quota did not equal actual soldiers—it was the amount of pay entitlement!

According to the rules Zhu Youjian set for Datong Garrison, the jointly-defending Vice Regional Commanders, divisional-defense Assistant Regional Commanders, headquarters Assistant Regional Commanders, patrol-headquarters Assistant Regional Commander, and city-defense Assistant Regional Commander all had to maintain ninety percent actual soldiers, with the remaining ten percent of pay entitlement usable for supporting household retainers. The Datong Regional Commander's 6,000-troop quota could all be converted into household retainers, or partially converted. Household retainers had to be armored cavalry, and one household retainer could draw only five shares of pay.

That is to say, after the reorganization was complete, Datong Garrison's actual soldiers (not counting household retainers) could reach 39,600 men, and household retainers could reach 2,080 men.

In addition, there were about 12,000 household retainers of the Son of Heaven, now also stationed in Datong. And 20,000 troops of the Capital Camps were also temporarily stationed in Datong.

Datong, the Chengyun Hall.

Zu Kefa and Li Chengyun, the two envoys, finally met the Son of Heaven of the Great Ming, who now held a powerful army in his hands.

"This Hutudun Khan probably still has about four hundred thousand followers left, of whom about fifty or sixty thousand are warriors, but the surrounding Mongol tribes no longer submit to him and are piecing together an anti-Chakhar alliance. So Hutudun Khan has agreed to ally with us, and no longer demands market rewards."

The one making the report was the great diplomat Zu Kefa. In the prison cells of Kuku Hoton, this great diplomat had been prepared to "betray his country," but he never expected that Hutudun Khan was outwardly strong but inwardly weak, and had returned in crushing defeat. A few days after returning to Kuku Hoton, his younger sister Wuliangha was released and sent back by Zhu Youjian, bringing with her a proposal for alliance and marriage between the two houses. Hutudun Khan, who had been preparing to abandon Kuku Hoton and flee, was naturally overjoyed and immediately agreed to Zhu Youjian's alliance proposal. But he did not agree to marry Wuliangha to Zhu Youjian, because he planned to marry this younger sister of his to the Khalkha Choghtu Khan in order to establish a Red Hat sect alliance.

"Did Ligdan Batur not mention giving the Grand Princess Wuliangha to Us?" Zhu Youjian, after listening for a long while, noticed that Wuliangha was missing and immediately asked.

"No, We did not hear him mention it."

Zhu Youjian gave a cold smile. "Still not submitting, it seems. Then We must send troops to Guihua City and seize Ligdan Batur's sister!"

What? Send troops to seize a girl? Zu Kefa and Li Chengyun were both stunned.

How long had it been since they last saw him? How had this young Son of Heaven learned such bad behavior? He even knew how to seize girls now... Who had he learned it from? Wu Sangui or Hei Wentao?

(End of Chapter)