Chapter 957: Clarifying Military Administration

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 that 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 Hongwu’s reign, 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 proudly declared: “I maintain a million soldiers without costing the people a single grain.”

Leaving aside whether this was truly achieved, at least in the early years, the tuntian system greatly eased the people’s burden; nearly a million military households could largely sustain themselves—fighting in war, farming in peacetime, and training during leisure.

But from the end of Hongwu’s reign to today is merely 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 fields belonged to which official, whether purchased or reclaimed, and had barely sat down when he heard this.

He was unsure whether her words carried deeper meaning, paused a moment, then said: “Only someone capable can fish them all out, lay them in the sun to dry. Even if leeches breed fast, as long as you fish them out faster and keep fishing, you’ll eventually clear them all.”

Pan Yun’s lips curled slightly as she nodded: “What the old man says makes sense.”

Pan Yun left him a slip of paper with the address of Wang Cong’s general store in Quanzhou Prefecture: “You can sell the leeches to this shop. If it’s too far, you can also sell them to nearby herbal pharmacies.”

The old man took it.

Pan Yun smiled faintly: “If you’re too lazy to move, just wait for good news. Soon enough, 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 as long as they asked at the government office, the county magistrate would always tell them.

Even without asking, Miaozhen 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 the capital; the Embroidered Uniform Guards secretly trailing them had already sent word of their movements and actions via pigeon post to Beijing.

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

The emperor’s court was as porous as a sieve; soon enough, several key ministers learned that the emperor and the State Preceptor were about to investigate the regional garrisons.

The civil officials had long resented the military nobles; upon hearing this, they rejoiced silently, watching with cold eyes.

Among the military nobles, opinions split into three factions. One faction believed the State Preceptor was being manipulated by civil officials 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 officials stay silent, not even one impeachment raised? Clearly, they’re in cahoots!”

One faction remained silent.

Another faction said: “It’s merely following the law. If regional garrisons have committed no violations, why fear?”

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

“Northern garrisons draw pay for ten thousand men while fielding only one thousand. When the court calls for troops, will you dare submit a report saying you only have one thousand? If you don’t, you send one thousand to fight ten thousand—death is minor, losing territory is grave!”

“And in the south and central plains, how many garrisons even train according to regulations? Today’s garrisons have become the tenants and laborers of certain men; they’ve probably never held a spear or sword, let alone fought. Last year Datong fell—had the Oirat army launched a major southern invasion, could the troops mobilized have stopped them?”

“If we don’t reform now, the Great Ming will be completely hollowed out by you!”

Shi Heng watched their furious expressions, slipped quietly away from the group; the moment he left, his face darkened.

His subordinates gathered around him, alarmed: “General, what do we do? Wu Jin Bo and Chen Huai both support clearing the tuntian lands!”

Wu Jin Bo Zhu Mian was a noble, Chen Huai a military officer—both sides now had representatives.

Shi Heng fell silent a moment, then sneered: “If it’s about seizing state land, Zhu Mian hasn’t done less than us. Does he think clearing his own lands is enough? Has he cleared his clan’s lands, his officers’ lands too?”

“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 controlled. Find me evidence—even if there’s no crack in the egg, I’ll have flies buzzing around him!”

When Pan Yun returned to the capital, court currents 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, dragging in the late Datong Regional Commander Guo Deng.

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

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

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

Military nobles’ corruption 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 his lesson, and remembering his promise to the late Duke of Ying, knew the Great Ming’s military administration must be reformed.

Zhu Mian had briefly raised the issue, then fallen silent, infuriating Chen Huai; recalling the Duke of Ying’s final instructions, he wrote to Kuang Ye, stationed far away in Datong, seeking his support.

Kuang Ye, though a civil official, was 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 many soldiers and exiled convicts 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 payrolls, 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 distant support to Chen Huai.

As current Minister of War, Yu Qian’s stance was even more forceful—he wished to cleanse every garrison from north to south—but that was impossible; he selected several key regions.

He believed that once these regions were cleansed and the reform extended, the entire nation’s military administration could be renewed.