Chapter 94: The Tianjin Reorganization, Part II (Seeking Favorites, Seeking Recommendations)

Zhu Cilang's words somewhat surprised Zhu Chunjie. The Embroidered Uniform Guard's Northern Pacification Office had always been the Ming emperor's tool for intimidating lawless officials, and apart from it there was also the Eastern Investigation Depot, run by eunuchs, which served the same purpose.

But now Zhu Cilang had greatly restricted the Embroidered Uniform Guard's authority to investigate internally, and had even declared that "the Censorate is responsible for holding corrupt officials to account"... yet Ming officials were hardly afraid of the Censorate!

Wasn't the Crown Prince being far too lenient?

Yet this very Crown Prince was clearly a man who killed without blinking and schemed without blushing — he hardly seemed like a benevolent ruler!

"Thousand Years," Zhu Chunjie said after a moment's thought, still dutifully offering a reminder, "though the Pacification Office is brutal, it is also a deterrent to lawless officials. The Donglin partisan Qu Shisi once said to someone: once one falls into the hands of the Embroidered Guard and is sent to the Pacification Office, the soul flies through fire and boiling water, and the cruelty is beyond words; if one can only be sent to the judiciary, it is no less than the bliss of heaven..."

"Hahaha," Zhu Cilang laughed. "The Pacification Office is brutal, and the judiciary is useless... both need a thorough overhaul. The terror of the Embroidered Guard should be something rebels, traitors, and barbarians fear. Corrupt officials who break the law should turn pale at the mention of the judiciary. Only then will each office perform its own duty and work with one heart for the nation. Letting the Pacification Office usurp the judiciary's authority while allowing the judiciary to do nothing is not what We want. We will be staying in Tianjin and Dagu for some time yet, and will thoroughly overhaul the Pacification Office, the judiciary, the various battalions, and financial matters. And the Pacification Office and the battalions are the most urgent of all!

Huaiyuan, there is no time to lose. Begin rebuilding the Northern Pacification Office tonight! We grant you one battalion's establishment and ten thousand taels of silver in funds. Within three days you must get the Pacification Office's facade standing. Find the personnel yourself, but you may not draw more than fifty men from the existing battalions. Understood?"

"This subject receives the decree!" Zhu Chunjie hastily rose and bowed to Zhu Cilang.

Zhu Cilang nodded. "The Army-Supervising decree will be issued tomorrow, but you may begin work tonight. If you can scrape together some men, have them wear flying-fish robes and mandarin-duck jackets and patrol the city, to overawe petty criminals.

Also, send men to keep watch on Hao Yaoqi's group — do not let them slip away from the barracks."

With that he raised his hand lightly, signaling Zhu Chunjie to go about his business at once.

This Army-Supervising Crown Prince Zhu Cilang truly worked with remarkable efficiency! The Chongzhen Emperor back in Beijing could not compare at all. A matter as large as overhauling the Embroidered Uniform Guard, if left in Chongzhen's hands, heaven only knew when the Grand Secretariat would produce a draft rescript. But in Zhu Cilang's hands, it took a single sentence... the four Grand Secretaries were now his rubber stamps; what need was there for the Embroidered Uniform Guard to frighten them?

Watching Zhu Chunjie leave, Zhu Cilang picked up his teacup and drank some water to moisten his throat, then continued speaking with Wu Xiang and Cao Youyi.

He had just said that the most urgent tasks were overhauling the Pacification Office and the various battalions. How to overhaul the Pacification Office had already been assigned; now it was time to discuss the battalions.

"How many troops do we have now?"

Wu Xiang replied: "Your Highness, here at the Tianjin Guard there are the three Kenan battalions, one Tiger Guard battalion, one Dragon Cavalry battalion, one bodyguard battalion, one Shuntian patrol battalion, plus the Tianjin garrison battalions of about 3,000 men, as well as 2,500 able-bodied volunteers Cao Huachun brought from Wangqingtuo, and about 2,000 able-bodied volunteers from the households of the nobles and officials accompanying us. The three Tianjin Guards can still recruit some more here — altogether we can probably muster about 14,000 men.

Moreover, the Tianjin Guard has been a military-industrial center ever since the Wanli-era campaign to aid Korea. There are many craftsmen in the city, all of whom can be recruited to forge equipment for the army."

Zhu Cilang nodded. "At last we have some strength. It is time to establish a Grand Marshal's Office."

Wu Xiang looked at Zhu Cilang and asked in a low voice, "Your Highness intends to open a headquarters in Tianjin?"

Zhu Cilang nodded and smiled. "Strike while the iron is hot! Right now the court is in flight, the officials are scattered and displaced, Imperial Father is disheartened, and the Roving Bandit's great army is following close behind. Is this not a heaven-sent opportunity for Us to open a Grand Marshal's Office? Moreover, the terrain here at Tianjin is advantageous, the city walls are strong, and the Wei River connects to the sea, allowing us to stay for a while and put the troops in order. Besides, Shen Tingyang's and Su Guansheng's ships have not yet arrived, and the wind is unfavorable. Our forces are so scattered and disordered that traveling overland to Dagukou is out of the question. Better to remain in Tianjin and carry out a proper reorganization. In any case, with Sangui pinning them down in the Yongping direction, Li Zicheng would not dare send his main force to Tianjin."

Staying in Tianjin to reorganize the troops was of course risky! Tianjin was only a little over two hundred li from Beijing — a large army could arrive in two or three days! But fleeing Tianjin now was even riskier! Because Zhu Cilang in fact had no army capable of escorting the emperor. Those 14,000 men were merely fighters who could fight, not a true army. Moreover, they belonged to various separate systems and had not been broken up and reorganized into a force Zhu Cilang could truly control!

Zhu Cilang was not yet emperor! His position as Army-Supervising Crown Prince was built on military strength. If he could not effectively control the army, trouble would inevitably arise!

Furthermore, these 14,000 men — brought out from Beijing and gathered up in Tianjin — were an extremely precious force. They might not be able to handle the Roving King's or the eastern barbarians' great armies, but as long as they were properly reorganized, the Four Garrisons of Jiangbei would not be able to take down the Crown Prince — on paper each of the Four Garrisons had twenty or thirty thousand men, but in reality those who could actually fight numbered only two to five thousand. Facing 14,000 reorganized Kenan New Army troops with full pay and excellent equipment, which of them would dare make a move? If they spent all their household retainers, who would bear the loss?

After weighing the matter repeatedly, Zhu Cilang decided to take the risk and remain in Tianjin for the time being.

Wu Xiang nodded. "Your Highness speaks truly. But may I ask how Your Highness plans to establish the headquarters?"

Zhu Cilang smiled. "These are only some ideas; let me share them with you both." He paused. "The Grand Marshal's Office is to command all the realm's troops, so naturally it must seize the Ministry of War's authority. It must be an office that grasps troop deployment, troop command, and troop administration all in one hand.

Therefore, under the Grand Marshal's Office there should be established such subordinate offices as wei for operations and military administration, and jun for direct troop command. The wei do not command troops, and the jun do not handle operations or military administration — they only command troops in battle.

By operations, I mean such matters as selecting generals, deploying troops, transmitting decrees, investigating internal and external military intelligence, and formulating strategic policy.

By military administration, I mean such matters as recruiting troops, military pay, military provisions, land grants, weaponry, and the promotion, reward, and punishment of officers and men.

As for troop command, that is of course directly leading troops — matters of combat, training, and the like all fall under the jurisdiction of the troop commanders..."

What Zhu Cilang was describing was nothing more than the later-era method of separating military command from military administration. It was not particularly brilliant, but for the Ming army's currently chaotic command and management system, it was rather well suited.

At the very least it could clarify authority and responsibility, strengthen oversight, and limit the power of the military bosses.

Wu Xiang and Cao Youyi listened to Zhu Cilang lay out his plans, both frowning slightly. Cao Youyi said nothing; he was not close to Zhu Cilang. Wu Xiang, however, considered himself the Crown Prince's confidant and quietly cautioned: "Your Highness, if we do this, the Regional Commanders leading troops in the outer garrisons will probably be unhappy, won't they?"

Zhu Cilang smiled and shook his head. "What outer garrisons? Right now there is only the Tianjin Guard... The Regional Commanders of the outer garrisons all have to be coaxed along. All the Grand Marshal's Office can manage is the troops of the Tianjin Guard. Commander Cao, this means seizing your authority!"

Cao Youyi was startled by these words and hastily rose to bow, but Zhu Cilang waved his hand to stop him.

"Commander Cao, We know you are a loyal subject! We trust you!"

Cao Youyi did not kneel, but said solemnly: "This subject is willing to die in service to the Crown Prince and the Great Ming!"

"Good, good, good!" Zhu Cilang nodded repeatedly, then looked at Wu Xiang and smiled. "Old Father-in-law, will you also hand over the three Kenan battalions you lead to Us?"

Wu Xiang smiled. "Those three battalions were Your Highness's men to begin with."

"Your household retainers..."

"All given to Your Highness!" Wu Xiang said generously.

Zhu Cilang's face brightened with a smile. "If all the Great Ming's troop commanders were as loyal as you two, why worry that the great cause would not succeed?

You two are rare loyal subjects, and We will certainly put you to great use. Therefore, the commanderships of the Military Operations Wei and the Military Administration Wei to be established under the Grand Marshal's Office shall be held by you two. The Military Operations Wei holds responsibility for operations, and its wei commander shall be Commander Cao. The Military Administration Wei manages military administration, and its wei commander shall be Old Father-in-law.

In addition, all the troops within the city of the Tianjin Guard, including Our own bodyguards, shall be combined into a single jun, with Kenan as its military designation, called the Kenan Army. The Regional Commander of the Kenan Army shall be Wu Sanfu!"

Wu Xiang could not conceal his delight at these words. The Wu family was being used to the utmost this time... Zhu Cilang was handing over all the military forces at his disposal to Wu Sanfu!

Though inwardly delighted, he still had to be modest in words. Wu Xiang hastily declined on his son's behalf: "Your Highness, my third son Sanfu is young and inexperienced; I fear he cannot bear such a great responsibility..."

"Old Father-in-law need not decline on Sanfu's behalf," Zhu Cilang said with a smile. "Sanmei is Our consort, so Sanfu is the state uncle. We are all one family, and he has ability besides. If We do not put him to great use, whom can We use?"

Wu Xiang thought it over, and it did seem to be so. There truly was no general of talent around Zhu Cilang capable of serving as Regional Commander of a whole army. Li Ruolian, Wang Qi, Wang Zhou, Sun Fugui, Wang Guoyong — these men had little experience leading troops in battle, and commanding even a single battalion was a strain for them. How could they manage as Regional Commander of an entire army?

As for those decorative nobles like Zhu Chunchen, Zhang Shize, and Li Guozhen, they were even less capable of leading troops. Giving soldiers to them would be courting death, would it not?

And here in Tianjin, Cao Youyi went without saying — he had already lost his own Tianjin troops! There were also two Vice Regional Commanders, Chen Jian and Mu Yong, who had been promoted on the spot for capturing Jin Bin and Lou Guangxian, but they were even more useless. The Battalion Commander Zhang Wenjue, who had sold out Yuan Yuzong and the others, was somewhat more capable, but even he could not command an entire army. So Wu Sanfu truly was the only candidate who could serve as this army's Regional Commander!

Of course, Zhu Cilang would not hand over all authority over the Kenan Army to Wu Sanfu — otherwise using the Kenan Army to check Wu Sangui would become a joke, would it not?

Zhu Cilang continued: "Below the jun, there should be six levels: shi, xie, ying, qi, dui, and wu. Together with the jun, that makes seven levels in total. As for the specific organization, Old Father-in-law and Commander Cao should discuss it thoroughly and draft regulations as soon as possible.

The commanders of the four levels of shi, xie, ying, and qi should each have one principal and one deputy. The specific rosters should be discussed by the three of you — Old Father-in-law, Sanfu, and Commander Cao... Draw up a somewhat larger roster, with two candidates for each position. We will personally speak with each of them one by one and examine their martial skills before making the final selections.

In addition, We have had a new type of weapon forged, called the socket bayonet. Huang Xiaobao, bring the bayonet out and show everyone."

Recommending a new military novel by Dao Xia set in the Republican era, "The Republican-Era Live-in Son-in-Law": after special forces captain Xu Lang transmigrates to the Republican era, he decides to become a Republican-era live-in son-in-law unlike any other...

(End of Chapter)