What did it mean to have lax military equipment?
In terms of weapons and equipment, spears and sabers had not been used for a long time and were not maintained. The metal had rusted and the wooden handles had rotted, rendering them completely unusable. Bows and crossbows were also almost completely useless. The bowstrings had lost their elasticity and could not be used, but they were not replaced in time. The wooden longbows had rotted, but they were not replaced.
Firearms were either rusted or rotten. Some looked fine, but they would explode at the first shot. The cannons were even more so. They looked brand new and usable, but upon closer inspection … one could not bear to look straight at them!
The chariot troops that had once flourished in Qi Jiguang's era, because they had not been used for a long time, the wooden parts of the chariots had completely rotted. When people came to inspect them, the officers would smear a little paint on them, but in reality, they would rot at the first touch and become completely unusable.
The soldiers were not trained. The capital camp was filled with a large number of master soldiers, slick soldiers, and slippery street people. The only ones who had real combat power were probably the guards of the various generals. Adding them up, there might not even be ten thousand people.
What kind of people were the various generals?
They were the descendants of nobles and hereditary generals who had been stripped of their real military power after the Tumu Fortress coup. All of them were glib-tongued and knew how to eat, drink, and play better than anyone else. When they got on a horse, they would hug the horse's neck and cry bitterly.
Why not reorganize?
This was an unspoken rule. You civil officials had stripped the generals of their military power. Shouldn't you give some compensation?
The capital camp was compensation for the sons of nobles and hereditary officers eating without pay. This family would eat a little, that family would eat a little, and everyone would eat a little. Of course, this was not enough. It was necessary to open up shops everywhere.
Thus, it was not just the civil officials who resisted commercial taxation. There were also the various nobles. Although these people did not have any real power, they had deep foundations and intertwined influences. Touching one of them was equivalent to opposing all the noble clans of the capital, and it was certain to cause a powerful backlash.
The existence of the Nine Borders reduced the corruption of the capital camp, but once one of the Nine Borders was broken through, the Northern Barbarians would direct their army at the capital. When the capital camp was needed to protect the capital, the problem of the capital camp would become a problem that had to be solved. There was no other way. What could they do?
Hurry up and recruit a batch of new soldiers. Give them a random weapon, then pretend to practice and go to the battlefield to die!
The corruption of the Ming Capital Camp had already surpassed the corruption of the Imperial Army of Song. Although the Imperial Army of Song was corrupt, cowardly, afraid to fight, and easily defeated, there were at least hundreds of thousands of people. They could still pretend and give people a sense of security. The Ming Capital Camp did not even have people.
No one knew to what extent the Capital Camp was being paid without pay. Perhaps none of the families knew about the situation of the other families being paid without pay. If they were to sum it up, it would definitely be a shocking sight.
Li Chengliang belonged to the ranks of nobles. Although he was a new noble and couldn't participate in the division of the spoils, he knew the actual situation in the capital camp. Therefore, no one knew better than him what the outcome of bringing this group of old soldiers to the battlefield would be like. However, the worst part was that he couldn't say it out loud.
He could not say it!
Although he was close to the civil officials and couldn't be in the same pot as those nobles, he couldn't say it out loud either. Because while the nobles were receiving benefits, the civil officials, from the big shots to the small shrimps, were also receiving benefits without pay.
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that half of the people in the court had received dividends without pay. If he dared to say it, dared to cut off people's source of wealth, dared to let the Emperor know the truth, not to mention Li Chengliang, even if Xu Da came back to life, he would be torn apart alive by those people.
Cutting off people's source of wealth was like killing their parents. It was an irreconcilable hatred. It was not a joke. You could scold others, you could endure scolding their entire family, but if you took away someone's source of wealth, they would immediately fight you to the death. This kind of thing was not a rare thing.
Li Chengliang was fierce, but did he dare to go against half of the people in the court? Even someone as fierce as Zhang Juzheng didn't dare to make a move against the nobles. He could only watch the situation in the capital camp and could only watch helplessly. He could only do it bit by bit, let alone Li Chengliang.
However, this dilemma appeared. The Emperor wanted him to lead the capital camp to battle, but the result of the battle with the capital camp was definitely not a good one. Even if Li Chengliang had the ability to transcend the heavens, he would definitely not be able to train the sly soldiers into brave and skilled soldiers in a short period of time.
Not to mention Li Chengliang, even Qi Jiguang was someone who knew how to train his troops. Back then, when he was facing the Southeast Garrison Command, he was full of confidence after training them. Then, he valiantly brought them onto the battlefield and personally led the charge. He was the first to kill a Wokou chieftain. Logically speaking, the morale of the troops should have been greatly boosted, and they should have fought bravely to destroy the Wokou pirates.
In the end, he realized that something was wrong. When he turned around, the old soldiers were charging in the opposite direction from him, and he was almost killed.
In the end, he had no choice but to go to Yiwu to recruit new soldiers and train the Qi Family Army. Later, when he wrote his military books, he did not forget to warn the future generations that crafty and sly people should not be recruited into the army.
An iron pestle could be ground into a needle, but a wooden stick could only be ground into a toothpick. If the material was not right, no matter how skilled the craftsman was, it would be useless.
But now, Li Chengliang could not say it out loud. He quietly glanced at the other big shots, and they all looked at Li Chengliang strangely. Their meaning could not be clearer.
With one word from you, all of us will have the risk of losing our lives. If you make everyone's heads fall to the ground, before everyone's heads fall to the ground, they will kill your entire family. This is not a joke. Take note, this is not a joke.
The seventy-year-old old general's heart trembled. He weighed himself and tested his own weight. He felt that it was better for him to bite the bullet and die. At the very least, he could protect his son and the status of his family, and that would be enough. If the heavens blessed him and let him end the war without running into the Mongolians, that would be the best.
Even if he took ten thousand steps back, if he could make Li Rusong rush over with his army before they ran into the Mongolians, that would be good enough.
"Your Majesty, I think that this arrangement is appropriate. However, the soldiers in the towns and the capital are mostly infantry. When they face the Mongolian cavalry, they can still handle them while they defend the pass, but it will be difficult for them to go out of the city to chase after the enemy. That is why we should let the cavalry under Li Rusong rush over quickly and join the battle. Only then can we fight against the Mongolians."
Li Chengliang could only dance around with his shackles on. He did everything within his power to fight for a chance of survival.
He regretted it so much that his intestines turned green. He knew that if something happened, it would definitely be related to the capital camp. If he knew that the capital camp was such a huge trap, he would not even step out of his house even if he pretended to be sick. Now, he was in a difficult position. He could only brace himself and go forward. If he did not do well, his old life would be in the hands of these old soldiers.
I, Li Chengliang, am a hero for half my life, but I am going to die in the hands of these old soldiers in such a cowardly manner. Is this really retribution from the heavens? Is retribution for the fact that I have killed too many people?
Zhu Yijun could not hear Li Chengliang's thoughts, and he could not see the sorrow hidden in the depths of Li Chengliang's eyes.
He felt that with the capital army moving out, with the cooperation of an old general like Li Chengliang who was experienced and steady, and a young general like Chai Guozhu who was brave enough to fight, even if they could not defeat the Mongolians, they could at least defend Purple Thorn Pass and protect the capital before Pingxing Pass fell.
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