novelAbuy Chapter 2: Everyone a Soldier
Chapter 2: Everyone a Soldier
After pondering for a moment, Liu Yulong instructed the eunuchs and captains around him:
"Send someone out of the palace to summon the governor of the capital, the military advisors of the military council, the commander of the imperial guards, and all the nobles in the capital to the palace for a meeting."
"Prepare the imperial carriage; we will proceed to the Wuying Hall in one hour."
Liu Yulong knew that as the new emperor, whatever his future political plans might be, he had to first stabilize the morale of his troops.
New dynasties typically try to continue the systems and institutions of the old dynasty as much as possible. This allows them to quickly take over the old dynasty's territory and reduce their own ruling costs.
However, Liu Desheng's Han Dynasty was revived after the expulsion of the Manchus, so it was impossible for it to directly continue the Manchu Eight Banners system.
Liu Desheng claimed that he would cleanse China of its inhabitants, eliminate the stench of the barbarians, and restore the Han dynasty's institutions. In reality, he restored many of the systems and titles used during the Ming dynasty.
The Han Dynasty is too far removed from the present day, and the system at that time was quite rudimentary. A large number of records have been lost, making it too difficult to verify.
The Ming Dynasty was the closest Han Chinese dynasty to this time, with the most mature system and the most complete records.
The Qing dynasty borrowed from the Ming dynasty in many ways, but made many special modifications to facilitate rule by a foreign ethnic group.
Liu Desheng removed the institutional designs that served foreign rule, largely restored the original Ming Dynasty designs, and then made targeted adjustments based on actual needs.
The military system of the new Han Dynasty drew heavily on the military governorships and garrison system of the Ming Dynasty.
Liu Desheng established five military governorates: the front, rear, left, right, and central, plus a special naval governorate, for a total of six governorates, each in charge of the military command of the entire country.
A separate Military Command was also established to specifically manage the power to mobilize troops and to directly draft troop deployment orders according to the emperor's commands.
Furthermore, drawing inspiration from modern military systems, we should establish a Military Advisory Office similar to the Central Military Commission and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and develop a modern staff system.
Liu Yulong pondered the current situation of the army for more than half an hour before riding in the imperial carriage to the Wuying Hall.
Upon receiving the summons, the high-ranking nobles and military officers in Beijing immediately changed their clothes and entered the palace to await the arrival of the emperor.
The new emperor's first formal audience with foreign officials after his ascension to the throne was filled with both anticipation and trepidation among all the nobles and military officers.
They believed that the new emperor would be able to restore the importance of the military.
After all, the new emperor was personally trained by the founding emperor, who had spent his life on the battlefield, and had often accompanied them in and out of military camps since childhood, unlike the late emperor who was surrounded by scholars from a young age.
The relationship between Liu Yulong and his grandfather Liu Desheng and father Liu Jinan is somewhat similar to that of the three emperors of the Ming Dynasty: Zhu Di, Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Zhanji.
After Liu Desheng ascended the throne, he still frequently led military campaigns in person, leaving his crown prince Liu Jin'an to oversee the country.
According to Liu Desheng's arrangement, Liu Jinan got married when he was twenty years old, and as a result, he and his wife had three daughters after marriage.
Liu Jinan's fourth child was his eldest son, Liu Yulong.
Liu Yulong was often taken by his grandfather's side from the age of seven, and began to go on expeditions with his grandfather from the age of twelve.
The officers and nobles of this newly established Han Dynasty are more familiar with the grandson of the emperor, Liu Yulong, than the then Crown Prince Liu Jin'an.
Moreover, the personalities and preferences of Liu Desheng and his three generations are indeed different.
Liu Desheng enjoyed being with military generals, and after ascending the throne, he would personally lead an expedition on average once every three years.
In addition, with the wars he arranged for Xun Gui to command, the newly established Han Dynasty never went a year without fighting.
Liu Desheng also spent nearly thirty years completing the equalization of land distribution in most parts of the country, and at the same time incorporated most of the people who received land into the militia system.
Each household sends one able-bodied young man to be incorporated into the militia system, where they receive basic military training during the off-season for farming.
Locally, a militia group is established for every ten households, a militia village is established for every hundred households, a militia town is established for every thousand households, and a militia commander is established for the militia in each county.
As a result, the current Han Dynasty theoretically has more than 20 million militia.
Then, elites were selected from the militia across the country to form "regular troops," which were organized into armies, divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, companies, platoons, and squads.
They took turns being stationed at various military strongholds, cities and passes, important border towns, and capital regions.
Each militia village had to send people to Beijing in rotation to garrison the capital. These imperial guards who went to Beijing to serve had to be literate and also responsible for reporting local conditions.
Liu Jin'an, on the other hand, was clearly closer to scholars. After ascending the throne, he not only did not prepare for war for a whole year, but even planned to reduce the army.
Last year, Liu Jin'an officially ordered the reduction of the number of Imperial Guards stationed in the capital from 200,000 to 100,000.
At the same time, the militia organizations in the interior should be gradually phased out, with only the militia commanders in the border areas retained.
However, due to the collective opposition of Xun Gui and officers at all levels, Liu Jin'an's demobilization order was not actually implemented before Liu Jin'an himself suddenly died of a brain disease at the young age of forty-six.
Liu Jin'an was not directly killed by the Xun Gui officers, but his constant rivalry with them aggravated his condition.
As for Liu Yulong, he has not yet shown any preference.
However, to outsiders, having grown up with Emperor Taizu, he should have been closer to military generals.
After everyone had arrived, Liu Yulong went to the front hall, sat on the throne, and received the worship of everyone.
After Liu Desheng ascended the throne, he abolished the Qing Dynasty's daily ritual of three kneelings and nine kowtows.
It was stipulated that the five-bow and three-kowtow ceremony used in the Ming Dynasty should be used during major ceremonies such as worshipping Heaven, ancestors, succession to the throne, funerals, and grand ceremonies on the first and fifteenth of each month.
At other times, commoners and civil officials would kowtow to each other, while soldiers, military officers, and members of the royal family would clasp their hands in a gesture of respect.
At the same time, Liu Desheng, like Zhu Yuanzhang, once again prohibited people from arbitrarily bowing to each other.
When people pay homage to the emperor, or when they receive money or rewards, they bow once. When they present their daily reports or receive daily assignments, they kowtow or clasp their hands. When they receive new official appointments or are granted titles, they perform a five-bow and three-kowtow ceremony.
When the high-ranking military officers came to pay homage to Liu Yulong, they first bowed deeply to the ground in unison.
Liu Yulong raised his hand and ordered them to "rise," his gaze sweeping over these familiar military officers.
Based on their place of origin, more than half of them can be considered fellow townsmen of Liu Desheng in a broad sense.
Liu Desheng was from Shangqiu County, Guide Prefecture, Henan Province. Most of these people came from Guide Prefecture and Kaifeng Prefecture in Henan Province, Caozhou Prefecture, Jining Prefecture and Yanzhou Prefecture in Shandong Province, Yingzhou Prefecture and Fengyang Prefecture in Anhui Province, as well as Xuzhou Prefecture in Jiangsu Province and Daming Prefecture in Zhili Province.
This region is where five provinces in the Central Plains meet, a typical flood-prone area of the Yellow River, and a gathering place for heroes from humble backgrounds throughout history.
If we categorize them by composition, the largest group is undoubtedly Liu Desheng's own close associates.
They are the descendants of the "old brothers" and "partners" who directly followed Liu Desheng in his uprising.
Then there were the leaders of other forces who led their followers to join them in the early stages of the uprising, mainly the leaders of the Bagua Sect who were active in the Central Plains.
This refers to the group of people who orchestrated the Xinyou Incident in history, who led a hundred men to storm the Forbidden City.
Then came the descendants of the leaders of the White Lotus Sect from Sichuan and Hubei, who came later. Their ancestral homes were mainly Xiangyang, Hubei and Dazhou, Sichuan.
Finally, there is the true new generation, which consists of the new generation of generals that Liu Desheng selected, recruited, and trained from all over the country during his more than 30 years of conquering the world.
After Liu Yulong regained his memories of his past life, he discovered that some of them were also famous people in history.
For example, Chen Huacheng, Guan Tianpei, and Ge Yunfei were probably collected by Liu Desheng.
Among Liu Yulong's personal guards was a company commander named Zhang Lexing.
Zhang Lexing is from Bozhou, Anhui Province. He is 23 years old this year and should be the historical leader of the Nian Rebellion, Zhang Luoxing.
Zhang Zongyu, Zhang Lexing's cousin and advisor, led the Nian Rebellion army to kill Senggelinqin in history.
Zhang Lexing is now standing beside Liu Yulong as a bodyguard, accompanied by several personal guards.
Their clothing was no longer in the style of the Qing Dynasty, but rather restored under the personal supervision of Liu Desheng.
It mainly references the clothing styles of the Ming Dynasty, which is the closest to this time, while also drawing on modern restoration and improvement designs, making it more exquisite and beautiful than the historical Ming Dynasty clothing.
Liu Yulong sized up the assembled officials for a long time, then slowly composed himself and began to address them:
"My father wanted to streamline the army and reduce the burden of the people, which was also for the sake of the soldiers and civilians of the Han Dynasty, and to reduce their suffering from the hardships of war."
"However, most of the civil officials in the various departments of the court and the cabinet were not knowledgeable in military affairs, and because they were eager to make meritorious contributions, they repeatedly offered slanderous advice."
"The matter of disarmament should not be rushed. Let's put it aside for now and discuss it at a later stage."
"Until a comprehensive decree on disarmament is finalized, the regular army, including the central imperial guards, and the local militia will remain unchanged."
"The Governor-General's Office and the Military Advisor's Office also maintained the system established by Emperor Taizu."
"The training mode of the Imperial Guards will also be restored to the mode during the reign of Emperor Taizu. I will personally inspect the Imperial Guards on the fifteenth of next month."
"If anyone throws a tantrum and causes trouble again, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Upon hearing Liu Yulong's words, most of the noble officers present breathed a sigh of relief.
Liu Yulong clearly did not support the late emperor's policy of reducing the army, but as a son, he could not openly oppose his father's edict.
So, it can be said that the late emperor's original intention was good, but he was misled by some treacherous officials, which led to the mess being ruined.
Based on this qualitative conclusion, it is naturally impossible to directly revoke the late emperor's edict.
They had no choice but to stop and declare that they would reconsider the disarmament plan.
However, there is no time limit on how long the suspension will last or how long the new disarmament plan will be discussed.
As long as the "discussion" continues indefinitely, the issue of disarmament will be considered a thing of the past.
All the noble officers and military officers immediately clasped their hands in unison to accept the order:
"Your Majesty is wise; we obey your command!"
"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor! Long live the Emperor!"