Section 3 Disarmament
It was already mid-April when Zhao Tianba and others returned to Chengdu. As soon as they arrived in Chengdu, they heard that Deng Ming had carried out administrative reforms again and established tax, planning and education bureaus. These were all subordinates of Liu Jinge's Chengdu prefecture yamen, but each had its own staff. The most urgent task at present is to build schools and let a large number of fellow scholars read and read, so as to provide the needed officials for each yamen.
What surprised everyone was that Xiong Lan, who had just joined Deng Ming, further expanded its power in this government expansion. Deng Ming divided the current bank staff into two parts, one of which formed the backbone of the Taxation Bureau. Xiong Lan's master Qin Xiucai was appointed as the director of the Taxation Bureau, and his chief thug Pu Fan arrived in Chengdu not long after he arrived in Chengdu and was also appointed as the deputy director of tax collection. Although Qin Xiucai and Park Fan had since been separated from Xiong Lan's direct leadership, Deng Ming also transferred almost all the cashiers to the Taxation Bureau as tax collectors.
But Xiong Lan was still very happy and thought it was an affirmation of his work performance. Now Xiong Lan told everyone that when Admiral Deng inspected the bank, he was surprised and happy when he saw the powerful cashier, and he couldn't speak for a stick of incense. Who was Deng Ming? He had been through a long battle and had a lot of knowledge. Everyone knew that even the cashiers were majestic and majestic, it was not enough to surprise him. It must be because Xiong Lan could improve the spirit of the people in Wanxian so much in just a few months, which was completely beyond Deng Ming's expectations.
"The farming season has basically been delayed," Deng Ming said to them directly after seeing Zhao Tianba and the others: "The more than 20,000 new volunteer soldiers are unlikely to open their own fields this year, so I plan to let them live in the city, so I can do odd jobs and subsidize some household income."
Deng Ming would give these volunteers a subsidy, but he still hoped that they could have another job. Now Chengdu has a serious lack of manpower, so he doesn't want these men to stay in the military camp.
The guards have different opinions. They think that it has delayed the farming season anyway, so it is better to hurry up and practice the army.
"No, Chengdu can't afford to support tens of thousands of troops. If we don't go out to fight, it's best to raise a thousand soldiers." Deng Ming said that the army needs to be temporarily disbanded. He only plans to maintain a standing army with a number of no more than two thousand in Chengdu: "However, although our army is very small, it is completely different from military garrisons. Our officers do not need to consider other things, they just need to study how to fight every day."
Deng Ming planned to disband the Volunteer Army, including the soldiers, and only retain all officers and non-commissioned officers as the standing army. He planned to educate these standing army on culture, so that everyone could know at least one hundred words within three months. This obviously required a lot of funds and educational resources. If the number of standing army was too large, Deng Ming would not be able to support it for the time being.
"Weapons and armor are not taken back, and they will be given to the soldiers first. But since they receive the allowance, the army may call them back at any time. At that time, these soldiers who take away the weapons will need to bring their own weapons and armor." Deng Ming felt that the weapons and armor would be given to private individuals, and soldiers would always pay more attention to their own property, which is better than rusting in the warehouse.
"The disbanded Volunteer soldiers can go to the business bank to work or go to the farmland to help. If someone owes their wages, they can complain to the pavilion chief..." Deng Ming ordered the publication of Chengdu's policies to the entire army, ensuring that the soldiers will not suffer losses: "There is another thing to pay special attention to in the capital. We allow scholars to hire short-term workers and long-term workers, but we do not recognize the relationship between landlords and tenant farmers."
"The admiral said it was slower, and the lowly position could not keep up." The guards and officers shouted one after another. Before they went to promote the army, they first needed to learn policies and regulations from Deng Ming. Deng Ming took out so many unheard policies in one breath, and they all felt their heads turbulent.
If it is the land that he cultivates himself, then it is the protection fee of 10 yuan per mu. There is currently no one who owns a large amount of land around Chengdu, and Deng Ming has not made any regulations on the number of short-term workers hired; but Deng Ming has announced to the fellow scholars around Chengdu that Chengdu is not allowed to rent out land and collect rent according to the proportion of the harvest. Because Deng Ming sets such a low agricultural tax to protect the production enthusiasm of self-cultivated farmers. If there is another model of landlords taking half or even 60% or 70% of the land rent, then Deng Ming's policy will not play a role in protecting self-cultivated farmers.
"Our policy is that as long as you can do it, a person can cultivate 100 acres, and it is fine to collect 200 acres. Only ten yuan per acre is charged; but it is absolutely not enough to collect rent on the land. Then our light taxes are not to help farmers, and the benefits are all taken away by the landlords who collect rent." Deng Ming said it very clearly and also received the support of administrative officials such as Liu Jinge. Taking advantage of the lack of landlords around Chengdu, he quickly set the rules so as not to appear in the future. At that time, the resistance to setting the rules will become great. As long as the rent is not collected in proportion, Deng Ming will not oppose land annexation. He knew that some people may have the talent to operate agricultural industries, just like some people are good at running enterprises. If someone hires a large number of workers to reclaim large areas of land for him, Deng Ming would not object, but it must be a model of paying wages like a commercial bank, and the personal freedom of workers cannot be restricted and workers cannot be stopped from resigning.
Most people had no objection, but Ren Tang thought for a while and said to Deng Ming: "I understand the admiral's difficulties very well. I know that the admiral hopes that everyone around Chengdu Prefecture can work hard, and disband the warriors and only retain the "standing army" is also for this purpose. But the admiral should not set this as the law, but a temporary expedient."
"Why?" Deng Ming guessed the reason why Ren Tang opposed it, but he deliberately pretended to be confused.
"Because it is natural to collect land rent, and it has been like this since ancient times. Now there are indeed no landlords around the capital. They have only obtained land and they have to cultivate for ten years to be their own land. But Huguang and Shaanxi are completely different around us. If the admiral set this as the law, it will cause dissatisfaction among the landlords." Ren Tang honestly expressed his opinion.
"We don't control Huguang or Shaanxi now. It's not too late to say it after we control it." Deng Ming thought to himself that it was indeed not as expected, but his face did not show it, and he pretended to be indifferent.
"If a person has no long-term plan, he will have immediate worries." Ren Tang did not see Deng Ming's meaning at all, and still said faithfully: "You don't even have to wait for the Ming Dynasty to revive Huguang. After the admiral recovered Huguang, this law cannot be implemented. Instead of abolishing the prestige of the court at that time, it is better not to define it as a law at the beginning."
"Brother Ren is thinking too long. I just designated it as the local law of the capital. When did he say it would be implemented in Huguang?" Deng Ming refused to compromise. He did not implement the household registration system in Chengdu and did not limit the scope of work with scholars. In order to break the personal dependence relationship, Deng Ming refused to turn the people into his own slaves. How could he agree to other people turning the people into private slaves? But now Deng Ming dared not say that his purpose was to cancel the personal dependence relationship across the country, so he could only fool Ren Tang first.
"Local law?" Ren Tang was completely confused. The so-called "below the world, is it the king's land, and the Ming law is of course on the whole country, and there is no difference at all.
"Yes, it is only valid within the jurisdiction of the capital." Now Deng Ming actually controls Chengdu, such as Liu Yao from Dujiangyan and Daning from Yuan Zongdi, currently all military slavery system. For example, Jiangling controlled by Li Laiheng is a feudal system that recognizes the ownership of landlords over tenants. Deng Ming has no intention of changing it immediately. Knowing that Ren Tang was just a bend, Deng Ming simply took out the clan power that the feudal dynasty had always recognized for thousands of years as a shield: "As the saying goes: the state has national laws, and the family has family rules. Logically speaking, the death penalty must be judged by the county magistrate, reported to the prefecture and the province, and finally the Ministry of Justice will review it again. Only the emperor can only kill people, right?"
"Of course." Ren Tang nodded repeatedly when he heard this.
"But widows steal the Han Han, the clan sank the pond. This happens every moment. Has anyone reported to the Ministry of Justice? The county magistrate has asked about these murders?" In Huguang, Nanjing and other places, Deng Ming had heard of many such things, many of which were naked murders. The clan greed for the property of the widows, so he charged these helpless women with such crimes and murdered them for money. In Hubei, some of the matchmakers who promoted widows to Li Laiheng were the same. The clan ignored the lives and deaths of these miserable women and sold them to strangers to ensure that they could never return to their hometowns and then took away their husbands' inheritance. The latter is also cold-blooded and shameless behavior, but compared with the sunken pond, there is at least a way out for widows.
Both the Ming and Qing dynasties took this kind of murder and wealth as a matter of course and never interfered with it. Within Chengdu, Deng Ming would never allow anyone to have judicial power, but this was a weapon used to deal with Ren Tang. Ren Tang was stunned when asked, and then replied blankly: "But this is the rule of the clan, not the law."
"Since a big surname can formulate clan rules on its own, why can't the government office formulate rules that are only valid in the government?" Deng Ming was in power and refused to forgive him: "This is just a matter of urgent need to follow the power."
This immediately reminded Ren Tang of a tragic experience. Deng Ming forced the policy of fellow scholars by relying on the words of "urgent things to follow power" and "the laws of ancestors are immutable". Although he had a premonition that the loyal words would not be adopted, Ren Tang still made his final efforts: "If the Admiral spread rumors and said that the Admiral would revise the law, it would not only confuse the emperor, the court, and the King of Jin, but also worry the gentry in the world. They did not know that this was the local law of the capital, and would mistakenly think that the Admiral wanted to take away their tenants."
"Rumors stop at the wise."
As Ren Tang expected, Deng Ming stubbornly rejected his advice and refused to admit his relationship with the landlord-tenant.
After repeated reviews by the Ming army, Chengdu only retained a standing army of 1,300 people. Deng Ming gave the five most important guards one by one the rank of major. The other fifteen were captains, plus more than twenty captains, forming the highest level of the Chengdu Standing Army. The rest of the ranks ranged from corporals to lieutenants. While Deng Ming was fully supplying the food quality of this standing army, he also taught them in person every day, teaching them with the guards and teaching them to read and recognize words.
Every morning is the cultural class time, and in addition to recognizing words, it is to summarize the experience and lessons. Although the battle with Li Guoying and Zhao Liangdong was only a short day, there were many gains and losses that needed to be summarized. In the afternoon, the regular military officers and soldiers conducted targeted training and experimented with various ideas discussed in the morning. These practices will be recorded and promoted to the entire army the next day, becoming part of the basis of the discussion class the next morning.
While Deng Ming was training troops, the reconnaissance of Jiange and other places continued.
In late April, Deng Ming held captain meetings many times, and all the standing army captains would attend and openly discuss the next Ming army strategic issues with Deng Ming. This kind of discussion is now often held. After these dozens of captains attended the meeting, they would bring the content of the meeting back to their respective units, discuss with other officers and soldiers, and then feedback their opinions.
"Our army set out from Jiange to attack Baoning. There are two ways to attack Guangyuan. One is Gao Mingzhan's strategy, summoning an army of 5,000 people and then mobilizing 20,000 people to carry food. Without considering the food route and supplement, the entire army attacked Guangyuan. After seizing the city, he relied on seizing the Qing army's inventory to maintain the army." Although Deng Ming knew that Guangyuan and other places were very empty by interrogating the prisoners, this plan still made him feel uncomfortable: "The advantage is that the number of soldiers we need to recruit was limited, the number of auxiliary soldiers was limited, the impact on the production of the capital was limited, and the preparation time was short. We can set off within ten days of the conscript order. The disadvantage is that our attack cannot encounter any accidents. If the Qing army suddenly showed reinforcements, or encountered heavy rain, or the defenders were extremely tenacious in resistance, or the defenders set fire to the warehouse regardless of life and death, and we failed to extinguish them in time, the army would be devastated and ended up with Gao Mingzhan."
After several days of discussion, officers and soldiers at all levels of the Standing Army felt that this plan was risky. The Qing army had just experienced a big defeat not long ago and could not send many reinforcements in the short term. It was difficult to enrich the empty Guangning and Baoning, but no one dared to say that there would be any accidents. It is unknown whether Li Guoying would suddenly give up the Chongqing army and return to Baoning. If possible, the Ming army was unwilling to take such a big risk.
"Another way is to ensure the smooth flow of grain. We need to first restore Jiangyou's warehouse, sort out the roads between Dufu and Jiangyou, and transport enough grain to Jiangyou; then build the road from Jiangyou to Jiangyou, and then transport the grain to Jiangyou for storage." The second way Deng Ming said was that what Wu Sangui did in Dongchuan was, in addition to large warehouses and roads, he also had to establish post stations and beacon towers along the way to ensure that the generals in the rear could grasp the situation on the front line in a timely manner: "After we were repairing the warehouse in Jiangyou, we could send war horses, conduct continuous reconnaissance of Guangyuan and Baoning, and understand the reality of the Qing army. In this way, when we attacked, we were not gambling, but careful actions. Even if we could not capture it for a short time, we could still get a steady supply of food and grass. Even if we encountered the worst situation, our army could return to Jiangyou before the food and grass was exhausted, and then return to Chengdu in an orderly manner."
The benefits of the latter strategy are obvious, but it is much more difficult to do it by yourself. In the past two days, the Ming army also conducted simple transportation and construction simulations and obtained some rough data: "The road between Chengdu and Jiange has been disrepair for many years and cannot transport grain quickly. It will take about three months for us to build a warehouse that can support horse exploration. At the same time, we have to continuously build roads to make the transportation of grain and fodder smoother and less loss. The Qing army's strength is recovering every day, half of the
It is hard to say whether Baoning will still be so empty after the New Year. If we want to attack Baoning within half a year, we will need Jiange to store supplies for 10,000 troops to eat for one month within five months..." Building roads, transporting grain, building stations and warehouses, Deng Ming said to the officers present: "We need about 100,000 laborers to work day and night. Large labor requires enough food, plus the loss. We will provide at least one million stones of food in these five months."
Deng Ming can get one million grains, but mobilizing so much labor means that all production work in Chengdu has to stop.
After saying that, Deng Ming saw some officers showing a deflated expression on their faces, but most of them still didn't realize anything. Deng Ming secretly wrote in his heart: "The training of the permanent army has achieved achievements, but it is not enough. In the future, every officer must fully realize the importance of logistics."
Ren Tang was the first to be discouraged among everyone. After the first few strategic research meetings, Ren Tang strongly advocated that attacking Baoning was not feasible, and firmly opposed the price of huge manpower and material resources. Baoning was still suitable for attack after half a year. In Ren Tang's view, either he would take the risk of raiding Baoning with a small number of troops or simply give up this plan. Gradually, Deng Ming began to accept this opinion.
"But even if Baoning is not suitable for attack in half a year, it is not useless for us to build roads and these warehouses." Zhou Kaihuang pointed out that if a combat unit could be stationed in Jiange, it would eliminate the possibility of the Qing army threatening Chengdu from the north.
"But can the Dufu maintain such an army in Jiange for a long time? There is no people around Jiange. Everything this army needs needs from the Dufu, and it costs so much." Ren Tang has recently advocated that he should first digest the fruits of victory, and he can spend one or two years to resume production, rectify the troops, reserve materials, and then wait for an opportunity to go out.
This suggestion was approved by many officers, but Deng Ming always found it difficult. Relying on the food seized from Jiangnan, he could provide a large amount of ration to civilians; relying on the weapons obtained from Huguang, Deng Ming could equip and train troops, and there was no pressure to produce weapons for the time being; the farm tools obtained from Li Guoying could also be used to support the blacksmiths' business in Chengdu... In short, Deng Ming was able to successfully implement the new policy and allow Chengdu to recover from the trauma of war at an astonishing speed, relying on huge war dividends. It can even be said that now it is a place where many materials are saved in a corner to help Chengdu's agriculture, industry and commerce recover. However, when the war dividends are exhausted, the recovery speed of Chengdu will inevitably slow down greatly. At that time, all sectors of agriculture, industry and commerce not only did not receive the full support of the government, but also had to bear the pressure to help the Ming army fight this war.
Chapter completed!