Chapter 957: Clarifying Military Governance

The Great Ming implements the tuntian system, with military households hereditary, so they are exempt from land taxes like civilian households.

In terms of taxation, military households and artisan households enjoy exemptions, but this does not mean their lives are easier.

Because military households do not pay land taxes, and each prefecture and state must submit a fixed annual tax quota, the burden on ordinary civilian households becomes heavier.

But during the Hongwu era, civilian households did not feel this burden heavy, because Hongwu's troops were self-sufficient.

This was the original intent of the tuntian system.

Old Zhu boldly declared: "I maintain a million soldiers, and not a single grain of rice shall come from the people."

Leaving aside whether this was truly achieved, at least in the early days, the tuntian system greatly eased the people's burden; nearly a million military households could largely sustain themselves—fighting when war came, farming during planting season, and training during leisure time.

But from the end of Hongwu's reign to today is only forty-eight years, and these military households have already become tenants and laborers for certain individuals; what is called tuntian is in fact private land, land that should belong to state land, to military land.

Pan Yun's gaze settled on the murky, bottomless ditch, and she said softly: "Beneath this turbid water, leeches are still too numerous."

The old man had just finished pointing out to Pan Yun which plots belonged to which my lord, whether purchased or reclaimed, and had barely sat down when he heard these words.

He was unsure whether her remark carried deeper meaning; after a pause, he said: "Only someone capable can fish them all out, lay them in the sun to dry—no matter how fast leeches breed, if you fish fast enough, keep fishing, you'll eventually clear them all."

Pan Yun's lips curled slightly as she nodded: "Old man, you speak wisely."

Pan Yun left him a sheet of paper with the address of Wang Cong's grocery shop in Quanzhou: "You can sell the leeches to this shop; if it's too far, you may also sell them to nearby herbalists."

The old man took it.

Pan Yun smiled faintly: "If you're too lazy to move, just wait for good news—in a while, someone will come down to fish out the leeches."

The old man silently clenched the paper in his hand, watching Pan Yun depart.

They traveled northward, deliberately passing by various military garrisons along the way.

Tuntian fields were usually near the garrisons.

The location of garrisons was secret—at least to ordinary civilians—but Pan Yun's status meant that if they asked at the local government office, the county magistrate would always tell them.

Even without asking, Seeing Miao Zhen could divine their positions from the hexagrams.

They deliberately took routes through military tuntian fields, sometimes detouring out of their way.

This journey lasted over a month.

The Emperor had used up his yellow talisman scrolls again, but this time he did not press her, for they had not yet returned to Jingcheng, and the secret agents trailing them had already sent word via pigeon post of their entire journey and actions.

Unless Pan Yun took out the Three Treasures Cauldron and flew away, the Embroidered Uniform Guard could follow them indefinitely.

The Emperor's own court was as porous as a sieve; soon, several key ministers learned that the Emperor and the State Preceptor were about to investigate the garrisons across the realm.

The civil officials had long resented the military nobility; upon hearing this, they rejoiced maliciously and watched coldly.

Among the military nobility, opinions split into three factions: one faction believed the State Preceptor was being manipulated by civil ministers and deliberately targeting them.

"Who doesn't know the State Preceptor is close to Yu Qian? Otherwise, how could a Daoist Priest become State Preceptor while civil ministers remain silent, not a single impeachment raised? Clearly, they're in cahoots!"

One faction remained silent.

Another faction said: "We're simply following the law—if the local garrisons have committed no violations, why fear?"

Before the first faction could retort, they added coldly: "Why was last year's campaign against the Oirats so humiliating? How rotten has military governance become? If we don't act now, the entire state will rot away."

"In the northern garrisons, they report ten thousand men for a thousand—when the court calls for troops, will you dare submit a report saying you only have a thousand? If you don't, you send a thousand men to fight a ten-thousand-man battle—death is small, losing territory is grave!"

"And in the south and central regions, how many garrisons even train according to regulations? Today's soldiers have become the tenants and laborers of certain men—they've never held a spear or sword, let alone fought. Last year, Datong fell; if the Oirat army launches a major southern invasion, can the troops mobilized hold them back?"

"If we don't reform now, the Great Ming will be eaten away by you!"

Shi Heng watched their furious expressions, slipped quietly away from the group—and as soon as he left, his face darkened.

His subordinates gathered around him, alarmed: "General, what do we do? Marquis Wujin and Chen Huai both support clearing the tuntian lands!"

Marquis Wujin Zhu Mian was a noble, Chen Huai a general—both sides now had representatives.

Shi Heng fell silent for a moment, then sneered: "If it's about seizing state land, Zhu Mian hasn't done any less than we have—does he think clearing us out is enough? Has he cleared his own clan, his own officers?"

"Chen Huai…" Shi Heng paused, "Chen Huai himself hasn't done this, and his household is well-managed—but I don't believe all his officers can be kept in check. Find me evidence—even if there's no crack in the egg, I'll make flies swarm around him!"

When Pan Yun returned to Jingcheng, court intrigue churned: Zhu Mian's second son, Zhu Guo, was impeached by a censor for spending the night in a brothel; enraged, he ambushed the censor on his way to court, dragged him into an alley, and beat him.

Chen Huai's eldest son, Chen Fu, fell from his horse during archery practice and nearly was trampled.

Chen Huai flew into a rage, submitting three memorials accusing Shi Heng and his officers, and dragging in the late Datong commander Guo Deng.

Some matters were unknown to outsiders, but within their circle, who knew who was what?

Who didn't know Shi Heng and Guo Deng colluded to embezzle military pay and privately conscript soldiers?

Zhu Mian was not clean, so he dared not speak up—but Chen Huai was clean; who did he fear?

The corruption of military nobles was no less than that of civil officials; precisely because corruption ran so deep, border strategy failed, leading to last year's failed imperial campaign.

Chen Huai, having learned from bitter experience, and having promised the late Duke of Ying, knew military governance must be reformed.

Zhu Mian, after raising the issue initially, fell silent, infuriating Chen Huai; recalling the late Duke's final instructions, he wrote to Kuang Ye, far away in Datong, seeking his support.

Kuang Ye, though a civil official, was the former Minister of War and now guarded Datong; since taking command, he had begun reorganizing Datong's military affairs.

He restored order, reclaimed vast tracts of seized tuntian land, and recovered soldiers and exiles forced into private labor, assigning each to their proper duties—those who should train, trained; those who should live as civilians, lived as such.

He also purged massive numbers of phantom soldiers, greatly reducing the court's debts; the Ministry of Revenue reciprocated by paying two months of military pay each in spring and summer, leaving only one month in arrears.

Kuang Ye offered remote support to Chen Huai.

The current Minister of War, Yu Qian, held an even firmer stance, wishing to cleanse every garrison from north to south—but this was impossible; he selected several key regions.

He believed that once these regions were cleansed and the reform extended, military governance across the nation could be utterly renewed.