Chapter 380: The Wartime Cabinet

"Your Highness, before I left Runing Prefecture I obtained definite news: Li Zicheng has not abandoned Xi'an Prefecture. He left Gao Yigong and Luo Hu with two to three ten-thousands of men to hold the city, and he has also taken the common people of Xi'an Prefecture who were not involved, along with the families of the Shun army, to Xiangyang Prefecture. It seems he is prepared to hold out for the long term!

The Tartar caitiffs have not yet launched a large-scale attack on Xi'an Prefecture. Dodo on the eastern route, after seizing Tong Pass, Huayin, Tongzhou, Chaoyi, and other places, has halted his troops and not continued westward. The caitiffs' northern route is still within the borders of Yulin Garrison and Yan'an Prefecture.

In addition, Wu Sangui has now occupied the two garrisons of Ningxia and Gansu, the two prefectures of Pingliang and Lintao, half of Gongchang Prefecture, half of Qingyang Prefecture, and the single guard of Jinglu.

Li Zicheng, for his part, occupies the greater part of Xi'an Prefecture, half of Qingyang Prefecture, half of Gongchang Prefecture, the two guards of Taozhou and Minzhou, and the two prefectures of Fengxiang and Hanzhong.

The situation in Shaanxi is very likely to develop into a three-way standoff among Li Zicheng, Wu Sangui, and the Tartar caitiffs."

The man now in the Hall of Literary Splendor, analyzing the Shaanxi battlefield situation before a map of Shaanxi Province for Zhu Cilang, Wei Zaode, Chen Rui, Lin Zengzhi, Qian Qianyi, Hou Xun, Ma Shiying, Wu Xiang, Wu Sanfu, Cao Youyi, Huang Binqing, and the others, was the military strategist Li Yan, just returned from Runing.

Li Yan's previous office was Chief Clerk of the Prince of Tang's household, concurrently administering Runing Prefecture, and in practice he held full authority over Runing Prefecture. Through his efforts, the Ming's foundation in Runing Prefecture had been firmly consolidated. The land and population of Runing's one prefecture, two subprefectures, five guards, and eleven counties had been completely surveyed. The military colonies and official fields had all been placed under the control of the princely household's four guards, the Dabie Guard (all five of these guards being newly established), and the Runing military colony administration. The civilian fields had also been checked again and again, so that field and household records were essentially clear and fully under control.

Even in Zhang Juzheng's day, when he held power, the survey was not as thorough as this — after all, Zhang Juzheng was himself one of the Ming's corrupt officials, whereas Li Yan, Feng San, Red Lady, and their group were roving bandits, and Runing Prefecture had already been swept through once by Li Zicheng, so the power of the gentry had suffered greatly!

After the complete survey and reorganization, the five guards of Runing alone could field eight thousand fully armed fighting men! The two subprefectures and eleven counties of Runing also had more than thirteen thousand local militia. Moreover, the walls of the two subprefectures and eleven counties had all been repaired, a considerable amount of grain and fodder had been stockpiled, and Tangwang Fort had been built in the Dabie Mountains as a wartime refuge for the Prince of Tang and his two brothers.

With the situation in Runing stabilized, Zhu Cilang naturally wanted to summon his chief strategist back to join the wartime cabinet — the situation in the north was now perilous, a great north-south war was on the verge of breaking out in full, and in the west there were still the three threats of Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong, and Zuo Liangyu. The situation was extremely grim!

So Zhu Cilang needed a capable "chief of staff" and a wartime cabinet able to cope with every kind of difficulty.

Recalling Li Yan was precisely to have him replace the insufficiently capable Cao Youyi as Guard Commander of the Military Orders Guard of the Grand Marshal's Office.

Cao Youyi, for his part, would be transferred to serve as Guard Commander of the newly established Armaments Guard of the Grand Marshal's Office. This Armaments Guard had been upgraded from the military industry and arsenal departments formerly under the Military Administration Guard, with five subordinate bureaus: the Cannon Foundry Bureau, the Firearms Bureau, the Shipbuilding Bureau, the Arsenal Bureau, and the Procurement Bureau.

The first three were in charge of the government-run arsenals and shipyards — in effect, managing a number of government-run state-operated handicraft workshops. These workshops, however, were not for large-scale production but for training artisans and trial-manufacturing weapons. Experienced master craftsmen had been hired at high cost from Hao'ao, Foshan, Shijing, and Anping to lead Zhu Cilang's "righteous follower artisans" and young apprentices in forging cannon, firearms, and ships. The products were chiefly imitations of foreign guns, foreign cannon, and foreign ships. Zhu Cilang would sometimes also produce some "wildly imaginative" designs for them to build.

In addition, Zhu Cilang had the Ten Imperial Merchants each select managers to take part in the operation and management of these government-run workshops — the purpose being to familiarize them with the workings of arsenals and shipyards, so that in the future the imperial merchants could be fostered to open privately operated arsenals and shipyards!

That was right: Zhu Cilang's military-industrial line was to maintain state operation, develop private operation, and encourage competition. To put it simply, to walk the utterly wicked capitalist road!

The road was of course bad, but there was no alternative. In this age even the steam engine had not been invented, so no large-scale industry could exist. Even the military industry of the Western nation of England consisted of one handicraft workshop after another. Because there was no machine industry, everything was handwork, requiring conscientious and responsible workshop owners to personally oversee quality control. Therefore, having numerous private workshops competing with one another was one way to preserve efficiency and quality.

Only one way. There was another method that could also preserve quality: harsh laws and severe punishments! Using Helian Bobo's method of building Tongwan City and forging the Daxia Dragon Sparrow saber to discipline artisans. The problem was, where was Zhu Cilang to find so many good craftsmen willing to be executed?

The Ming's government-run handicraft industry had long since collapsed, and the artisan household system existed in name only. Moreover, Zhu Cilang was preparing to abolish entirely this household registration system that assigned occupations to the common people. The artisans now in Zhu Cilang's hands were no more than the "righteous follower artisans" who had followed him from Tianjin, and their skills were all quite poor. Even if he killed them all, they could not produce guns and cannon of superior quality.

The highly skilled blacksmiths were now in Guangdong if not in Fujian, and all of them were private artisans, not government artisans. So Zhu Cilang could only establish a Procurement Bureau under the Armaments Guard to handle the purchase and inspection of weapons.

At the same time that military production, procurement, and arsenal management functions were transferred into the Armaments Guard, Zhu Cilang also merged all the remaining departments of the Military Administration Guard into the Ministry of War under the Grand Secretariat.

This was not to expand the authority of the civil officials, but rather another reform of the Grand Secretariat, the purpose being to open up connections between military and civil affairs, clarify military and civil authority, allow the Grand Secretariat to participate to a certain degree in military matters, and at the same time open a channel for military officers to enter the Grand Secretariat and take part in governance.

For at the same time that part of the Military Administration Guard's organs were merged into the Ministry of War, the former Guard Commander of the Military Administration Guard, Wu Xiang, also entered the Ministry of War, assuming the post of Minister of War! And the military colony, military registry, and military officer personnel departments formerly under the Military Administration Guard were all likewise transferred into the Ministry of War. At the same time, the four bureaus formerly under the Ministry of War — Military Selection, Operations, Equipage, and Arsenal — were dissolved, and four new bureaus managed by military officers were reorganized: the Military Colony Bureau (responsible for colony fields, colony grain, and conscription), the Military Funds Bureau, the Military Officers Bureau (military officer personnel), and the Horse Administration Bureau.

In other words, the Military Administration Guard of the Grand Marshal's Office had in effect become the Ministry of War. And the original civilian Ministry of War had been abolished.

In addition, the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue under the Grand Secretariat also underwent corresponding adjustments.

Among them, the bureaus under the Ministry of Works were reduced from the original four to two: the Waterways Bureau, managing water conservancy, and the Construction Bureau, managing government building projects. Because the Construction Bureau was responsible for building city fortifications, it also became a half-civil, half-military office. The bureaus and offices formerly under the Ministry of Works that managed the manufacture of implements, the harvesting of mountain and marsh resources, and the opening of colony fields were all abolished.

As for the Ministry of Revenue, the changes were even greater! The original thirteen bureaus of the Ministry of Revenue were all abolished, replaced by six bureaus: the Tax Bureau (responsible for customs duties and commercial taxes), the Household Registry Bureau, the Land Survey Bureau, the Trade Bureau (managing ports), the Expenditure Bureau (managing outlays), and the Coinage Bureau.

In short, the pace of this cabinet reform was by no means small (Zhu Cilang's reforms were all gradual, not accomplished in one step). Had it not been for the wartime atmosphere of a great enemy pressing on the borders, it would not have been so easy to push through.

"A hundred affairs await revival, yet time does not wait for us!" Zhu Cilang said, arms folded, looking at the map marked with the Qing, Shun, and Wu positions in Shaanxi. "Strategist, can Li Zicheng hold out? Should we make a move?"

"Your Highness," Li Yan let out a breath, "as long as Xi'an Prefecture is willing to hold firm, the Tartar caitiffs have no good options. Did they not besiege Datong for months without finding a way?"

"Datong is precarious too!" Wu Xiang interjected from the side. "The Tartar caitiffs do not necessarily have to besiege a city — sieges are exhausting. They can seize grain and carry off people outside the walls, preventing the common folk from farming in peace. Once Datong and Xi'an have been ravaged into wasteland, how long can two isolated cities hold out?"

Li Yan nodded. "The Minister is right. Was this not exactly how Li Zicheng ravaged the Central Plain back then? Now it is his turn! The Tartar caitiffs cannot take the two strong cities of Xi'an and Xiangyang, and Nanyang Prefecture's city can also hold. But the flatlands of Guanzhong and north of the Han River will likely be ravaged terribly.

This is driving the tiger to devour the wolf — the aim is to make it impossible for Li Zicheng to establish himself in Xi'an and Xiangyang, and then to come and seize our foundation!"

Zhu Cilang frowned. "Then we must act. A hundred thousand or more roving bandits with no road left to take would be a headache indeed!"

(End of Chapter)