Sun Chengzong suddenly interrupted Wednesday's explanation and asked him, "What is this three-level armed force system?" What are the differences from the current military system? ”

Wednesday subconsciously glanced at Chongzhen, who was sitting at the top, before turning his head to Sun Chengzong and explaining: "In fact, when the Jingyingrong government changed the Gyeonggi Governor's Office, a three-level armed force system had been initially built.

The third level of the armed police is the armed police and fire brigade that assist the local patrol police and policing work, which is also the lowest level of the armed forces.

The second level is the local garrison, which is tasked with guarding the city and clearing out armed rebels of more than 300 men.

The first level is the field army, which not only protects the safety of the local population, but also has the task of destroying the invading enemy army.

Units of the second and third ranks, without the approval of both the local governors and the general staff, are not allowed to move out of the area under the jurisdiction of the troops, otherwise they will be considered rebels.

The local field force has the right to disarm the unit and put it in temporary custody; If the unit resists, the local field forces can suppress it instantly.

Units of the first rank, as long as they are ordered to do so by the General Staff, can move out of the country. The logistical supply is either the responsibility of the logistics department at the destination or arranged directly by the general logistics department.

The internal personnel authority of all field units shall be vested in the General Staff, and the local governors shall only have the right of leadership and supervision, but shall not interfere with the normal personnel changes within the field troops..."

Wednesday said a big call, but everyone here only remembered two points, the first-class troops known as the field army will be the elite troops of the Ming Dynasty in the future, just like the border army and the Beijing camp in the past. The second and third class troops are the former guards army.

The second point is that after the troops are divided into three levels, they are treated differently according to the force and the tasks they undertake. It's like the difference between the official army, the box army and the township soldiers in the Song and Song dynasties.

Although Sun Chengzong felt that this army reform plan might cause the problem of excessive troops in the future, it was the army reform plan that was most in line with the current situation in the Ming Dynasty.

It is obviously the right step to first pull out a force that can fight, stabilize the border north of Daming first, and then slowly pick up those local troops that cannot fight.

While Sun Chengzong was still thinking, Mao Yuanyi became a little anxious, and he couldn't help but get up and ask the emperor to speak.

After getting permission, Mao Yuanyi asked Zhou Wei a little nervously: "So how should this field army be organized, how to recruit soldiers, and have you also made a plan?" ”

Wednesday Wei was in a more stable mood at this time, and after he looked at Mao Yuanyi, he said with a calm face: "Our General Staff Military System Preparatory Group believes that each Metropolitan Governor's Mansion must set up a field unit.

The four land border governors in the north, northwest, southwest, and Quang Nam should have to increase their field troops by one or three more because they have to withstand the pressure of foreign invasion.

The Gyeonggi region was not only the capital of the Ming Dynasty, but also directly faced foreign enemies in the north, so it was necessary to increase the number of field troops by more than three.

As for the coastal areas, because they involve coastal defense, three naval fleets should be set up from north to south to defend the maritime frontier of the Ming Dynasty. But now the Navy is still in preparation, so let's put this issue aside for the time being.

According to our calculations, if a basic field unit is set at six thousand men for an infantry brigade; or 6,000 people in mixed chariots; Or a cavalry wing of 1,500 people.

Then we need at least 10 infantry brigades, 10 mixed vehicle and cavalry brigades, and 20-30 cavalry wings to ensure the land security of Daming. ”

Mao Yuanyi just calculated in his mind, and came to the conclusion that the sum of this army was only between 150,000 and 170,000, which was only about one-tenth of the total number of Ming troops in the past, and it was not as good as the heyday of the Beijing camp.

After he finished his mental calculations, he couldn't help but ask Chongzhen: "Your Majesty, this is less than 200,000 troops, if you want to protect the huge territory of the Ming Dynasty, is it a little less?" ”

Before Chongzhen could speak, Sun Chengzong suddenly opened his mouth and asked Zhou Wei: "What is the approved military expenditure of this infantry brigade, mixed vehicle cavalry brigade, and cavalry wing every year?" ”

Chongzhen, who originally wanted to speak, stopped talking again, and motioned for Wednesday to continue to explain to everyone.

"Back to the commander-in-chief, the annual military expenditure of the infantry brigade is 378,000 yuan, the annual military expenditure of the mixed vehicle cavalry brigade is 504,000 yuan, and the annual military expenditure of the cavalry wing is 350,000 yuan.

If calculated based on the minimum goal of establishing 10 infantry brigades, 10 mixed vehicle cavalry brigades, and 20 cavalry wings, a total of 15.82 million yuan of military expenditure is required for a year. ”

The amount reported on Wednesday made everyone in the room gasp, the previous Ming army only needed to give food, and add a part of the silver taels, these officials had never heard of an amount of more than 10 million yuan.

15.82 million yuan, which will be converted into more than 10 million silver taels. When Mao Yuanyi was doing mental calculations, Sun Chengzong continued to ask: "Then how much is the military expenditure of the second and third levels in a year?" ”

Wednesday replied subconsciously: "It will be maintained at 12,656,000 yuan in two years, but it should be reduced to 70% of this figure after two years, and 55% after five years, and then it will stabilize at this level. ”

Sun Chengzong ignored Wednesday's defense, but continued to ask: "The military expenses you just mentioned do not include the cost of mobilizing troops to fight?" Does the package not include the cost of bereavement and resettlement of the wounded and wounded in battle? ”

Wednesday opened his mouth in fear, and finally replied weakly: "Chief Hui, these expenses are not included. ”

Only then did Sun Chengzong turn his head to Chongzhen and say: "Although this plan for comprehensively reforming the military system is good, it needs to spend nearly 28.5 million yuan in military spending every year, and the combat expenses are not included.

Your Majesty, the old minister thought that this plan was beyond the capacity of the imperial court, and if it was implemented according to this plan, the risk would be too great. It's better to slow down first, change the nine sides first, and then slowly advance to the whole country. ”

Zhu Youzhen lowered his head and looked at the desktop and thought for a long time, in fact, he was also taken aback when he saw this number. In the past, the financial income of the Ming Dynasty, excluding the income of the palace, was converted into the Ming Yuan in one year, which was 36.4 million yuan.

This year, due to the increase in commercial taxes and the sale of Changlu and Hedong salt farms, the imperial court's fiscal revenue this year can reach about 45 million yuan, which is a rare year of wealth.

If Chongzhen didn't promote the reform of the military system, he would have survived this year.

However, if we promote the reform of the military system, then if the fiscal revenue in the next two years is the same as this year, the proportion of military expenditure in fiscal revenue will be about 60 to 75 percent. This is still an estimate that he ignored that there would be no major war expenditures in the next two years.

To be honest, after seeing the report and careful calculation, Zhu Youzhen hesitated for a long time, and he really wanted to push the military reform back.

But he was a little scared, if he pushed it back now, would there be a better opportunity in the future than now, to reform the army in various parts of the Ming Dynasty.

In fact, the Later Jin successively defeated the Ming army in Liaodong, not only eliminating more than 100,000 elite troops loyal to the Ming Dynasty, but also severely dealing a blow to the prestige of the Ming court.

Many powerful troops have begun to faintly appear militarism, and the ethnic minorities in the periphery of the Ming Dynasty have also begun to lose their reverence for the Ming Dynasty.

For example, Liaoxi Town has basically become the world of Liaoxi Jiangmen, and it is difficult for officers who are not born in Liaoxi Jiangmen to grasp the leadership of this army.

Man Gui seems to be in command of the Liaoxi Army outside the Guan, but what he can really command is only the nearly 1,000 families under his command.

Otherwise, there would not be any aid to Jinzhou, and other generals led the army to wait and see, and only a few generals such as Man Gui came out to fight.

As for the rebellion of Lu'an, it was also the Tusi in Sichuan and Guizhou who felt that Daming seemed to be exhausted, and they all began to want to mobilize their men and horses out of Sichuan to aid Liaodong, so they couldn't wait for the two Tusi of Lu'an to jump out and make trouble.

And Wu Sizang, who has always been respectful to the Ming Dynasty, has rarely come to pay tribute since the apocalypse ascended the throne. These are the successive failures of the Ming Dynasty in the hands of a small frontier clan like Jiannu, so that the ambitious people in the Quartet have now begun to move.

And this year, under his strong advocacy, he finally reached an open agreement with Houjin, which can be regarded as easing the pressure of the Ming Dynasty in Liaodong.

The battle with the Chahar tribe in Fengzhen not only came into contact with the threat of the northern Mongol tribes going south, but also established some prestige for him, the newly enthroned Ming Emperor.

At this moment, when the inside and outside are a little relaxed, it is the time when he can vigorously promote the reform of the military system.

As a republican, the phrase "power comes from the barrel of a gun" has always been firmly imprinted in his mind.

If we want to grasp the gun of the Ming Dynasty, we must promote the reform of the military system and break the mountaineering and family world of the guards and border armies in various places. Otherwise, he would not only have to prepare money and food to train the new army to defend himself, but also feed the unscrupulous military leaders to prevent them from defecting to Jiannu.

After thinking about it for a long time, Zhu Youzhen finally raised his head and said seriously to Sun Chengzong: "The military system of the Ming Dynasty has reached the point where it must be reformed, and the time for reform cannot be delayed any longer. The more time is delayed, the greater the difficulties we will encounter.

Although the reform is now a bit of a financial constraint, I will discuss it with the cabinet and will always carry out the reform of the military system.

The problem now is that if the military system of the Ming Dynasty is not reformed, the political system of this place will not be able to be changed.

Mr. Sun, you have also seen that this year's drought in Shaanxi has almost caused Daming's finances to collapse. If there are a few more famines of this scale, the imperial court will not be able to provide disaster relief and stabilize the place, and the Ming Dynasty will really be in chaos in the world..."