932 Disarmamen (1/2)

Chapter 932 – Disarmament

8th month, 20th day, Shanhai City, Xia Palace.

Military Affairs Minister Du Ruhui represented the Privy Court to report to Ouyang Shuo regarding the disarmament of Prefecture Grade Garrison Divisions (draft).

This round of military disarmament was in relation to the 16 prefectures of the four provinces. The Zhili Prefecture had long before been disarmed, and the other prefectures were all islands and were not included in the plan.

The 16 prefectures had a total of 16 full Garrison Divisions, which amounted to a total of 216 thousand people, which was equal to three legions. At the same time, there were three full legion corps housed in the four prefectures for a total number of 1.05 million people.

Such a huge military scale was not only unneeded, but it was also a huge pressure on the territory finances.

After Ouyang Shuo personally suggested it, the Privy Court came up with a disarmament plan.

Yunnan, Chuannan, Lingnan, and Minnan would each keep one Garrison Division. When they expanded in the future, each province would have one Garrison Division.

The remaining Garrison Divisions would be under the Provincial Governor Office and would be commanded by the Provincial Governor. With that, it took away the power of Prefecture Governors and made the Provincial Governor the only person in the province that could control troops.

Such a system was the most beneficial to protecting the prestige and power of the Provincial Governor.

Out of the four Provincial Governors, Bai Hua, Fan Zhongyan, Huo Guang, and Xun Yu, each one of them was good with military matters, and they all had more than enough skill to command one Garrison Division.

Of course, the Provincial Governor would only take over the command of the troops. The appointment of colonels and above, equipment, training, and the like would be under the war zone commander.

During war, the war zone commander had power over the Provincial Governor to directly move the Garrison Division. All that the commander needed to do was to report to the Privy Court before action was taken.

It was the same as saying that the Privy Court had let go of control of the Garrison Divisions and were focusing on the warfighting troops.

As they were keeping one fourth of the number, a total of 162 thousand people would be removed. The Garrison Division belonged to proper troops, and they were treated as well as the war fighting troops. After removing them, they needed to be cared for unlike war prisoners, who they could directly make change occupations.

Hence, the Financial Court took out one million gold for all these people.

A portion of them would become bailiffs and go to the Provincial Governor Office, Prefecture Governor Office, Prefect Office, County Office, and the like; this would perfect the local bailiff system.

Especially the Provincial Governor Office that was just built; it needed at least three to four thousand bailiffs.

Based on the estimations of the Internal Affairs Court, the bailiff system could digest 30 thousand men, which was less than 1/5th.

A portion, especially the officer grade ones, would become civil servants and enter the agriculture, construction, internal affairs, and customs system.

Especially the internal affairs and customs systems, which needed experienced officers to help out.

The customs division that was established by the Taxation Department badly needed a batch of generals to become the supervisors and inspectors of the system.

Next, a portion would enter the Shu Mountain Steel Corporation, China Shipping Group, China Construction Group, China Textile Group, and the like.

Especially the quickly expanding Shu Mountain Steel Corporation; they desperately needed a batch of resilient steel workers. That alone could take in 50 thousand basic soldiers.

As for the construction workers who worked in the Garrison Division, it was best for them to join the China Construction group.

The China Shipping Group needed a batch of soldiers to change class to become ocean protectors.

Through the above few methods, they managed to solve the problems of a large portion of soldiers. As for the remaining 30 thousand, they would be given a sizeable occupation change fee to let them find their own routes.

Luckily, the dynasty was really prosperous, and they did not need to worry about not being able to find a job.

The moment they got the news, the three imperial chambers of commerce smelled an opportunity and came over to recruit a bunch of soldiers into their ranks to act as guards. These soldiers were several times stronger than those they could hire from the public.

There were some soldiers who decided to change occupations to start their own businesses and forge their own paths.

All in all, this round of disarmament thinned out the army to a certain extent, reducing the defense burden. Moreover, it acted as massive nourishment to all areas of the dynasty, improving many systems.

If not, the Financial Court would not have taken out one million gold so happily.

These were the ones on the surface, and there were also a bunch that was absorbed by the Shanhai Guards to become spies.

To the Shanhai Guards, these soldiers who had been through the battlefield were the best spies; especially the scouts, which were basically mostly taken by the Shanhai Guards.

Some of the war elite soldiers were taken in by the Shadow Guards under the Shanhai Guards.

This round of disarmament was like a splitting of a cake for the dynasty, and everyone was happy with it.

As it involved numerous departments, the Cabinet formed a small disarmament group with Jiang Shang in charge and Du Ruhui as the deputy.