Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1985 Upheaval ([-])

On May 1687, 5, a group of soldiers and horses just walked by a pipeline in the outskirts of Daozhou, Yongzhou Prefecture.

This is the united soldiers from nearby counties and townships. According to Shangfeng's order, they gathered in a big camp outside Daozhou City, ready to accept various tasks at any time.Unity soldiers, as the name suggests, are local regiment training armed forces, but they are different from regiment training in the traditional sense, because their commanders and middle- and upper-level officers are all appointed by the court, and only lower-level officers are recommended by the local government, or local officials The brave rangers are either from landlords and wealthy merchant families, in short, they are a strange mixture, which is still somewhat different from the regiment training in the late Qing Dynasty (such as the Hunan Army) in later generations.

In Dashun, a country that extremely admired the Tang system, the united soldiers had been designated as an important supplement to the main force, undertaking tasks such as suppressing localities, maintaining law and order, transporting food and grass, and guarding prisoners.For example, in the battle to clean up the chieftain forces in southern Sichuan and western Hunan, the Shun army used a large number of united troops from various prefectures to fight in rounds, which played a big role and saved a lot of military expenses.

To put it all together, the United Army is somewhat similar to the militia system on the east coast, that is, uniform training is carried out during the slack season, and then the imperial court distributes equipment (usually cold weapons, very few firearms, and basically no valuable equipment such as armor), and prepare them by yourself. It is best to get food, pickles and other supplies at the assembly point, and then wait for the departure.

The basis for the existence of the United Army system is that the people have sufficient resources to support such training, marching, and combat. This requires them to be self-cultivating farmers with at least some land. Most of the officers also look down on these chronically malnourished guys.

It also relied on the nature of the regime (peasant army) when Dashun started. When it captured Huguang, Jiangxi and other places, it was very active in attacking local tyrants and dividing land. There are great benefits.In addition, these provinces were caught in war for a long time at the end of Ming Dynasty, and the population suffered heavy casualties (Jiangxi was even captured by the people from the east coast), and there were many lands without owners. Later, the Dashun regime simply carried out a large-scale disarmament , At least one-third of the army of more than 30 people in its heyday was abolished, and then dispersed to many counties and counties in Hunan and Jiangxi for the people.These people are basically self-cultivating farmers. After starting a family and running a family in Jiangxi and Huguang, which are called the land of fish and rice, and have managed it for a generation, they are now well-off. Therefore, the United Army system can also begin to be promoted nationwide.

This kind of system cannot be implemented in Nanming territory.Due to the intertwined old forces in the local area, land, the most important means of production in the agricultural era, has long been divided up. There is a personal dependence relationship between a large number of people and the landlords, and the degree of exploitation of the entire society far exceeds that of Shunguo and Qing Dynasty.Under such circumstances, ordinary people still worry about eating, so how can they have the energy and physical strength to participate in military training?Not to mention that there are still powerful chieftain forces in Guangdong, Guangxi, and Yunnan and Guizhou, and it is even less likely that those villagers in the mountains and fields will be conscripted by the court to become united soldiers.

Therefore, even though the Dashun regime has only a few provinces and a population of just over 1000 million, its potential for war must not be underestimated.To put it bluntly, the reserve service system of the United Army is not new. It existed in ancient times, but it has been promoted throughout the country and has been maintained for more than ten years.

The united soldiers are only part of the country's war potential. In fact, what is more important than the reserve united soldiers is the road and water transportation system that this country has been vigorously improving for many years.In order to persevere under the coercion of the behemoth of the Qing court, the people on the east bank sent many batches of engineers for roads, bridges and canals to help them improve their domestic infrastructure, in order to improve their logistics materials and the mobilization of troops. Speed ​​and reduce loss on the road.

At that time, the relationship between East and Shun was extremely close. People from the East exported a large amount of cement, lime, and steel bars to Shun, and helped them build a series of permanent docks and storage and logistics centers based on them. It is of great benefit to improving the military logistics of Shun country.Later, they also exported a lot of woodworking machine tools, which helped them establish a complete system for utilizing wood as a natural resource.Of course, the Dong'an people did not forget to help Shunguo cultivate a group of construction talents, and instilled some advanced logistics and transportation concepts, so that Shunguo has a deep understanding of the important role of transportation infrastructure.

It can be said that it was the enlightenment of the people on the east coast that allowed the monarchs and ministers of Shun Kingdom to understand that infrastructure such as roads, canals, docks, and storage centers are also important components of national power, not just money, food, land, and people.For example, no matter how rich you are in the rear and no matter how much food you produce, if the transportation is not good, most of it will not be transported to the front line. Nine bags of ten bags of food will be consumed by humans and animals on the way, and only one bag of food will be delivered. ahead.And the small bag of grain that can be sent up has been paid a huge cost because of the difficult and protracted journey, because the masters who transported the grain traveled across mountains and rivers, and it was obvious that the farming season would be delayed. The harvest of crops at home is likely to be affected as well. Is the price enough?

In the past 20 years, as the situation has become increasingly stable, the Dashun court has also begun to squeeze out a certain amount of expenses (most of the country's income is spent on the army), and began to build in Hunan and Jiangxi, two provinces with criss-cross water systems.Instead of choosing relatively expensive road construction, they invested limited funds in dredging and widening the river. At the same time, they built a large number of docks and warehouses along the river, and sent troops to guard them. To cash in on construction funds.

In all fairness, Shunguo’s 20-year infrastructure investment has achieved certain results, which is mainly due to the water network composed of major water systems such as the Xiangjiang River and Ganjiang River and a large number of branches.These rivers, if they are rectified and maintained every year, they can still play a big role, because their coverage is too wide, and they can effectively connect most of the prefectures and counties in Hunan and Jiangxi. This land of fish and rice is really Not for nothing.

The improvement of infrastructure, in addition to playing a greater role in military strategy, also has a great effect on reducing logistics costs between regions and breaking down commercial barriers.According to the theory of the East Coast people, establishing a unified national market without tariff barriers is an important symbol of the great development of commercialization. Although Shunguo has not been able to achieve this yet, at least in Hunan and Jiangxi, there are indeed some It's close to this.And this seems to explain why the industry and commerce in these two provinces have continued to develop in the past 20 years, so that the innovation of the ideological circle is now being forced, and the whole society presents a scene of prosperity.

There is no doubt that Hunan and Jiangxi provinces are probably the provinces with the deepest industrial level and the best business conditions in all of China except the areas controlled by people from the east coast.These two points have already brought great benefits to the Li Shun regime, and they have indeed seen this point. This can be seen from the increase in the fiscal and tax contributions of the two provinces year after year. Hunan and Jiangxi provinces are Dashun is the source of finance and taxation and the foundation of hegemony that can conquer the north and south.

This time there was a drastic change in the Nanming court. Prince Sun Kewang was killed on the way to the court, and his party members were liquidated. Many generals who commanded the army directly joined Dashun, and there were even people who begged Dashun to send troops south to avenge Sun Kewang.After these news were rushed to Changsha, Li Laiheng immediately called a group of ministers to discuss in secret, and finally decided on a strategy of sending troops from Sichuan and Hunan respectively, and attacking Ming in two directions.In Sichuan, Liu Zhonggui, the Jiedu envoy of Sichuan, was naturally in charge of the overall situation, and selected elite soldiers to go south from Dongchuan Prefecture. He then sent Bai Hui as the vanguard and headed straight for Kunming, with the idea of ​​directly attacking Huanglong.

As for Hunan, Hao Ping, the commander of the Silver Spear Xiaojie Army, was in charge of the overall situation. He led more than [-] elite troops to attack from Yongzhou, Baoqing and other places, with the goal directed at the whole province of Guangxi.This is a province directly under the jurisdiction of the Nanming court. There are no powerful warlords in the area, so there should be little resistance to attack.Li Laiheng estimated that after the Zuoying soldiers and horses marched into Yunnan to fight, many troops in Guangxi would be called to King Qin, which would further reduce their resistance to occupying Guangxi Province.

And once Guangxi was captured by them, why would the Nanming court, which only had territory in Yunnan and Guizhou provinces, fight Dashun?You must know that the most capable troops in Nanming were built around the backbone of Xiying in the past. Now the old brothers in Xiying are fighting among themselves. Qin Wangsun is expected to be killed, and the generals under his command are in panic all day long. The body is more comforted, but the effect can be seen by anyone with a discerning eye, it is not very good!

In fact, if Li Dingguo was given a window period to calmly clean up Sun Kewang's old troops and calm the situation, the situation in Nanming could still be improved.But Dashun is not a fool, how could he give you this chance?No, as soon as the news reached Chengdu and Changsha, it was the envoys sent by the Dashun court who set off faster than the army.

These envoys carried a large number of blank confessions with them, solicited and lobbied Nanming officials or generals in the three provinces of Yunnan, Guizhou, and Guangxi. A good foundation was laid.It's not that Li Dingguo is unaware of Shunguo's small actions in the local area, but he can't devote his energy to dealing with these matters at all. It would be great if he can sort out the situation around Kunming.If you want to blame, you can only blame that dead ghost Sun Kewang. The desire to usurp the throne and stand on his own feet is already imminent. Everyone has no choice but to take this blow decisively, kill this beast first, and then try to clean up the mess in the local area.

Yongzhou Mansion is one of the base camps of Dashun's Southern Expedition. Hao Ping, the commander of the Yinqiang Xiaojie Army, has brought more than a hundred people with him to Lingling County, the capital. As soon as the army arrives, they will attack Quanzhou with the momentum of a thunderbolt, and must occupy it in the shortest possible time—the generals of some prefectures and counties around Quanzhou have secretly communicated with Dashun, but Quanzhou The governor of the state is so stubborn and stubborn that he even wants to resist the Dashun Heavenly Army, so he will definitely let him know how powerful it is.

Although the main force starts from Lingling, it does not mean that there are no combat missions elsewhere.In fact, Daozhou is a direction of support. The Dashun court sent two regular troops to command here, and at the same time assembled about 6000 united soldiers, leaving Dragon and Tiger Pass and entering Guangxi, and then incorporated Gongcheng and other places that had been negotiated. Nanming demoted officials and generals, outflanked the flanks of Guilin Fucheng, and shook the fighting will of the Ming army on the front line of Guilin. , To ensure that after entering Guangxi, the situation can be controlled.

The people of Yongzhou also felt the approach of the war.In the past, the busy trade between Hunan and Guangxi has been reduced to the point of being dispensable. All the villages in the border areas are behind closed doors, and only the scouts of the two armies are running in the wild except for the messengers.Many people in Guangxi have even migrated to the south to escape. They don't have much confidence in the military discipline of the Shun Army. They have never heard of an army that did not harm the people in ancient times.

In today's Yongzhou Prefecture, except for a small number of ships transporting manganese ore and tin ore to the north, most of the ships and draft animals have been requisitioned by the government to transport military supplies.Manganese ore and tin ore are to be transported to the wharf of Baling County and delivered to Dongguo people. This is also one of the bulk goods exported by Shunguo. Because of the large quantity and good price, people from the East Coast purchase a lot every year and then transport them to Kuye Island industrial base for smelting and processing.In other words, these minerals are materials that the Dashun court can earn hard currency from the people on the east coast. Therefore, even at this critical moment when the war is on the verge of breaking out, they still dare not interrupt the supply, so as to squeeze out some of the minerals. No expense was spared on the transportation space of military supplies.

Of course, their deference to the East Bank is only to this extent.I believe that if the people on the east bank ask them to rein in their troops and return to the camp to maintain peace with Nanming at this time, they probably won't get any response.Although Shunguo maintains a very low profile in front of the East Coast people, he is not a puppet of the East Coast people. He has his own strategic interests and is still very independent.Now that the Nanming court is in conflict, such a golden opportunity, once missed, may never be possessed again. Therefore, the monarch and ministers of the Shun Kingdom made up their minds to take advantage of the opportunity to swallow up the Nanming court's territory and increase the thickness of their own country.

At this juncture, no matter who said it, it would be hard to use it.Once the war machine starts, how can it stop if there are not enough sacrifices?Now the people on the east coast should abandon the unrealistic fantasy of persuading Shun country to cease the war, and instead think about how to deal with the aftermath.What will happen to the Nanming court?How should the situation in Guangdong and Fujian be stabilized?Do you want to impose sanctions on Shun Guo?There are all kinds of things like this, and this is what the gentlemen in Ningbo and Denglai should consider.

(End of this chapter)