Southern Ming Rebel Army

"The military law strictly prohibits gambling and drinking in the camp. This has been the case since ancient times. But what is the purpose of maintaining good personal hygiene?" Meng Jun and Lin Shiqi sat across the table from each other in the lobby, while Meng Bizhi sat next to Meng Jun. At this time, Lin Shiqi pointed to one of the military laws compiled by Meng Jun and asked.

Since the end of the Battle of Suzhou, Meng Jun has been working late into the night to compile the military laws of the rebel army. So far, he has only written the first version. After completing the compilation, Meng Jun discussed it with Lin Shiqi and Meng Bizhi to see if there are any omissions.

On the table were two books, "Jixiao Xinshu" and "Lianbing Shiyao", which Meng Jun used for reference, and he also added some of his own understanding.

"The men in this army are all rough and uncouth. If hygiene is not maintained, it will easily lead to epidemics. At the same time, the soldiers' military appearance will be better. I want to change the world's image of soldiers as stinky soldiers. This rule must be kept." Meng Jun explained to Lin Shiqi, who nodded and did not ask any more questions.

"If the enemy throws valuables, the soldiers will drop their weapons and fight for them and kill them." Seeing this, Meng Bizhi couldn't help but ask, "What do you say if the soldiers pick up valuables with their weapons?"

"Well, this rule can be slightly modified to say that any soldier who fights for it will be beheaded."

...Several people discussed here for a whole afternoon. Both of them were a little tired. Gao Yi came in and poured another pot of tea for the three of them. Meng Jun took a sip of tea and said, "The military law will be implemented like this for now. We must also reform the logistics of the army. Soldiers' salaries cannot be reduced. We can't rely on enthusiasm for long. We must also come up with a plan for the treatment of soldiers. As for the soldiers' salaries, Shiqi, how much do you think is appropriate?"

"The monthly salary of the Ming army in this garrison is only four or five cents, and there are many deductions. Soldiers like that have almost no combat effectiveness. Let alone the Qing army, even a group of rioters may not be defeated. If it were the Guanning Iron Cavalry, the monthly salary and some subsidies could reach four to five taels. However, the current price of grain and other daily necessities has exceeded that of several years ago. Therefore, I think a monthly salary of two taels of silver is more than enough for the soldiers, and a monthly salary of one tael of silver for the auxiliary soldiers will be enough," said Lin Shiqi after a little thought.

"Two taels of silver per person, that's 20,000 taels a month, 30,000 auxiliary soldiers, 30,000 taels a month, the total military pay is 50,000 taels a month, plus the uniforms, boots, beddings for the soldiers, all of which cost ten taels of silver per person. This doesn't include armor and weapons." Meng Jun shook his head. This army was really a money-eating beast. Uniforms, boots, beddings and the like could be purchased in Suzhou city, but armor was still scarce. There were 6,000 sets of armor, and the styles were not uniform. There were Qing army armor, Ming armor, leather armor, cotton armor, and even some armor whose styles Meng Jun couldn't name.

Less than a month after the occupation of Suzhou, the output of iron armor was less than 100 pieces, and half of these armors were captured from Li Chengdong. Although Meng Jun was worried, it was a pity that the output of iron armor could not be increased at present. The whole army had 10,000 regular soldiers and 35,000 auxiliary soldiers. At first glance, this was a huge military force, but Meng Jun himself knew that these soldiers had never fought in a large-scale formation since their formation. They were all divided into dozens of battalions to guard the city defenses of Suzhou.

"That's what we'll do. Inform the entire army of the military laws and pay benefits," Meng Jun made the decision.

"How should the light and heavy infantry in this army be deployed best? It can't be all armored troops. I can't afford it even if I turn Suzhou upside down." Meng Jun looked up and asked the two again.

Meng Bizhi scratched his head, bewildered, and said after a while, "I have never led so many soldiers before. In the past, there were usually two spearmen, two sword and shieldmen, and one archer among the five people, but none of them wore heavy armor, and only the sword and shield soldiers had light armor. Does this configuration need to be changed?"

Lin Shiqi thought for a moment and said, "This is too dispersed. We should divide the one thousand men in each battalion into three parts: sword and shield, spear, and archer. Each battalion should also be equipped with two hundred heavy armored soldiers. What do you think, sir?"

Meng Jun retorted, "Heavy armor soldiers should be gathered together. It's not appropriate to scatter them in different regiments." Meng Jun thought for a moment and said, "So we can select 2,000 people who can carry 50 kilograms of armor and form a heavy armor army with a monthly salary of 4 taels. This fist needs to be clenched together to hit hard. As for the organization within the regiment, we will follow Shiqi's suggestion."

The next morning, in the parade ground camp, Meng Jun stood on the reviewing stand. On the stand were dozens of boxes of silver, which were transported from the treasury early in the morning. Meng Jun poured all the silver in front of him, and the white silver piled up into a small mountain. A rustling sound was heard from below. Below the stand stood a large number of soldiers, who were whispering. Although their voices were low, the sound of thousands of people gathered together and reached the stage, making it very messy.

"Silence, silence!" Dozens of military officers patrolled in rows holding sticks. They would hit anyone who whispered to each other. Meng Jun stood silently on the stage, wearing a helmet and armor, watching the soldiers until there was no more sound from below. Then Gao Yi took out an iron loudspeaker and handed it to Meng Jun. Meng Jun raised the loudspeaker and shouted to the soldiers below.

"It is a righteous cause to fight against the Qing Dynasty and expel the Tartars. The Tartars burned, killed, looted and committed all kinds of atrocities. They also forced us to shave our heads and change our clothes. Therefore, it is only natural for us to rise up against them. However, it is only natural for soldiers to be paid. Therefore, soldiers have silver and meat to eat. Only I have them. All the things you want can be given to you. All soldiers have a monthly salary of three taels of silver, but this money is definitely not something that everyone can take casually. I only have three rules. The first is military law, the second is military law, and the third is still military law. Anyone in the army who disobeys military law will never be pardoned. The salary will be distributed today, but the weak will be eliminated and the strong will be retained. Those who cannot keep up with the training or violate military orders and disobey their superiors will be expelled from the army at the least, and beheaded in public at the worst." After Meng Jun finished speaking, he handed the loudspeaker to Gao Yi.

There were eight desks under the stage, and dozens of clerks began to distribute military pay according to the names on the desks.

"Everyone line up according to their flags. When the name of a general flag is called, all the flags line up to sign and pledge to receive their salaries."

Although they were arranged in several teams, the soldiers below looked impatient and the scene was still a bit chaotic. Meng Jun stood on the stage with a frown on his face, but he comforted himself in his heart that these were still just new recruits, which was already very good. The soldiers who followed Meng Jun in the night attack had already become grassroots officers, sergeants, and squad leaders.

"Zhang Youcai, the monthly salary of the general flag is five taels, all the team members come to collect the salary"

"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir," Zhang Youcai said to the clerk with a smile on his honest face.

"You should thank Commander Meng. The money was given by Commander Meng," the personal soldier next to him reminded.

"Yes, yes, thank you, Governor. Thank you, Governor." Zhang Youcai walked back while calculating how many pounds of meat he could buy with the money and how many feet of cloth he could buy for his wife.