Volume 92 Treatises 68: Military 4

清理軍伍訓練賞功火器車船馬政

Clearing the rolls, drill, merit rewards, firearms, vehicles and ships, and horse policy.

成祖即位，遣給事等官分閱天下軍，重定垛集軍更代法。初，三丁已上，垛正軍一，別有貼戶，正軍死，貼戶丁補。至是，令正軍、貼戶更代，貼戶單丁者免；當軍家蠲其一丁徭。

When the Yongle Emperor came to the throne, he sent supervising secretaries and other officials to review troops across the empire in sections and redefined the system for rotating rostered garrison soldiers. At first, in households with three adult males or more, one was registered as the principal soldier and another household served as supplemental; when the principal soldier died, a son from the supplemental household took his place. Now the court ordered principal soldiers and supplemental households to take turns on duty, while supplemental households with only one adult male were excused; and each household liable for military service had one man freed from labor levy.

洪熙元年，興州左屯衛軍範濟極言勾軍之擾。富峪衛百戶錢興奏言：「祖本涿鹿衛軍，死，父繼，以功授百戶。臣已襲父職，而本衛猶以臣祖為逃軍，屢行勾取。」帝謂尚書張本曰：「軍伍不清，弊多類此。」已而宣宗立，軍弊益滋，黠者往往匿其籍，或誣攘良民充伍。帝諭兵部曰：「朝廷於軍民，如舟車任載，不可偏重。有司宜審實毋混。」乃分遣吏部侍郎黃宗載等清理天下軍衛。三年敕給事、御史清軍，定十一條例，榜示天下。明年復增為二十二條。五年，從尚書張本請，令天下官吏、軍旗公勘自洪、永來勾軍之無蹤者，豁免之。六年，令勾軍有親老疾獨子者，編之近地，餘丁赴工逋亡者例發口外，改為罰工一年，示優恤焉。八年，免蘇州衛抑配軍百五十九人，已食糧止令終其身者，千二百三十九人。先是，蘇、常軍戶絕者，株累族黨，動以千計，知府況鐘言於朝，又常州民訴受抑為軍者七百有奇，故特敕巡撫侍郎周忱清理。

In the first year of Hongxi, Fan Ji, a soldier of the Left Garrison Guard at Xingzhou, protested vigorously against the abuses of household conscript checks. Qian Xing, a centurion of Fuyu Guard, memorialized: "My grandfather had originally been a soldier of Zhuolu Guard; when he died my father succeeded him and was appointed centurion for his achievements. I have already inherited my father's post, yet our guard still lists my grandfather as a deserter and repeatedly sends conscript officers to seize him." The Emperor said to Minister Zhang Ben: "When military registers are unclear, abuses are mostly of this kind." Before long the Xuande Emperor came to the throne; military abuses grew worse, and the crafty often concealed their registers or falsely seized law-abiding civilians to fill the ranks. The Emperor instructed the Ministry of War: "The court's relation to soldiers and civilians is like a boat or cart bearing a load—neither may be overburdened. Responsible officials should verify the facts and not confuse categories." The court then dispatched Huang Zongzai, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and others to clear military guards throughout the realm. In the third year an edict ordered supervising secretaries and censors to clear military rolls, fixed eleven regulations, and posted them throughout the realm. The following year these were expanded to twenty-two articles. In the fifth year, at Minister Zhang Ben's request, civil officials and military banner officers throughout the realm were ordered jointly to verify deserters conscripted since the Hongwu and Yongle reigns who had left no trace, and to exempt them. In the sixth year, when conscripting soldiers, those with aged parents, illness, or only sons in the family were assigned to nearby districts; others who fled labor service or went missing had previously been sent beyond the passes—now this was changed to one year of penal labor, as a mark of leniency. In the eighth year, 159 soldiers forcibly assigned in Suzhou Guard were released, and 1,239 who had already been receiving rations were allowed to serve out their lives only. Previously, when military households in Suzhou and Changzhou died out, entire clans were implicated, often numbering in the thousands; Prefect Kuang Zhong spoke to the court, and Changzhou civilians also petitioned that more than seven hundred had been wrongly pressed into service—hence a special edict commissioning Vice Censor-in-Chief Zhou Chen to clear the records.

正統初，令勾軍家丁盡者，除籍；逃軍死亡及事故者，或家本軍籍，而偶同姓名，裏胥挾讎妄報冒解，或已解而赴部聲冤者，皆與豁免。定例，補伍皆發極邊，而南北人互易。大學士楊士奇謂風土異宜，瀕於夭折，請從所宜發戍。署兵部侍郎鄺埜以為紊祖制，寢之。成化二年，山西巡撫李侃復請補近衛，始議行。十一年，命御史十一人分道清軍，以十分為率，及三分者最，不及者殿。時以罪謫者逃故，亦勾其家丁。御史江昂謂非「罰弗及嗣。」之義，乃禁之。

At the beginning of the Zhengtong reign, when a conscript household had no male heirs left, its register was struck; deserters who had died or perished by mischance, or families originally on military registers but matched only by a chance similarity of name—village clerks bearing grudges who falsely reported them cleared—or those already cleared who appealed at the ministry—all were exempted. Regulations fixed that replacements were all posted to the farthest frontiers, with northerners and southerners exchanged. Grand Secretary Yang Shiqi said that climates differ and men were liable to die young, and asked that posting follow what suited each region. Acting Vice Minister of War Kuang Ye held that this would disrupt ancestral institutions, and the proposal was shelved. In the second year of Chenghua, Shanxi Grand Coordinator Li Kan again asked that replacements be posted to nearby guards, and only then was the policy agreed upon. In the eleventh year, eleven censors were ordered to clear military rolls along separate routes; on a scale of ten, those achieving three parts were rated highest and those falling short were ranked lowest. At the time the household members of those exiled for crime who had fled were also subject to conscript checks. Censor Jiang Ang said this was not in keeping with the principle that "punishment does not extend to heirs. This did not accord with the principle that punishment does not extend to heirs, and the practice was forbidden.

嘉靖初，捕亡令愈苛，有株累數十家，勾攝經數十年者，丁口已盡，猶移覆紛紜不已。兵部尚書胡世甯請「屢經清報者免勾。又避役之人必緩急難倚，急改編原籍。衛所有缺伍，則另選舍餘及犯罪者充補。犯重發邊衛者，責賣家產，闔房遷發，使絕顧念。庶衛卒皆土著，而逃亡益鮮」。帝是其言。其後，用主事王學益議，制勾單，立法詳善。久之，停差清軍御史，寬管解逃軍及軍赴衛違限之科。清軍官日玩愒，文卷磨滅，議者復請申飭。

Early in the Jiajing reign, orders to catch deserters grew harsher; some cases implicated dozens of households; conscript summons dragged on for decades though every mouth in the family was gone, yet appeals and transfers still flew without end. Minister of War Hu Shining requested: "Those repeatedly cleared in official reports should be exempt from further conscript checks. Also, those who evade service cannot be relied on in an emergency—quickly re-register them to their original districts. When a guard has vacancies, separately select reserve lodge soldiers and criminals to fill them. Those guilty of serious crimes sent to border guards should be made to sell their property and have their entire households relocated, to cut off any hope of return. Thus garrison soldiers would mostly be locals and desertion would grow rare." The Emperor approved his proposal. Later, following Registrar Wang Xueyi's proposal, standardized conscript forms were instituted and the regulations were drawn up in careful detail. After a long while, the dispatch of censors to clear military rolls ceased, and penalties for escorting deserters and for soldiers arriving late at their guards were relaxed. Officers charged with clearing military rolls grew negligent day by day, documents wore away, and advocates again asked that the regulations be enforced.

萬曆三年，給事中徐貞明言：「勾軍東南，資裝出於戶丁，解送出於裏遞，每軍不下百金。大困東南之民，究無補於軍政。宜視班匠例，免其解補，而重徵班銀，以資召募，使東南永無勾補之擾，而西北之行伍亦充。」鄖陽巡撫王世貞因言有四便：應勾之戶，樂於就近，不圖避匿，便一；各安水土，不至困絕，便二；近則不逃，逃亦易追，便三；解戶不至破家，便四。而兵部卒格貞明議，不行。後十三年，南京兵部尚書郭應聘復請各就近地，南北改編。又言：「應勾之軍，南直隸至六萬六千餘，株連至二三十萬人，請自天順以前竟與釋免」。報可，遠近皆悅。然改編令下，求改者相繼。明年，兵部言：「什伍漸耗，邊鎮軍人且希圖脫伍」。有旨復舊，而應聘之議復不行。

In the third year of Wanli, Supervising Secretary Xu Zhenming said: "In the southeast, conscript checks—outfit costs fall on household sons and escort costs on village relays, and each soldier costs no less than one hundred taels. This greatly burdens the people of the southeast and ultimately does nothing for military administration. We should follow the artisan-corvée precedent, exempt them from escort and replacement, levy heavier corvée silver to fund recruitment, so that the southeast is forever free of conscript harassment and the ranks in the northwest are also filled." Yunyang Grand Coordinator Wang Shizhen then said there were four advantages: households liable for conscription would gladly serve nearby and not seek to hide—first advantage; each would settle in his native region and not be driven to destitution—second advantage; posted nearby they would not flee, and if they fled they could easily be pursued—third advantage; escort households would not be ruined—fourth advantage. But the Ministry of War ultimately blocked Xu Zhenming's proposal and did not implement it. Thirteen years later, Nanjing Minister of War Guo Yingpin again asked that each soldier be reassigned nearby, with north-south re-registration. He also said: "Soldiers liable for conscription in south Zhili number more than sixty-six thousand, with as many as two or three hundred thousand implicated by kinship—please release them all for cases before the Tianshun reign." The request was approved, and people near and far were all pleased. Yet once the re-registration order was issued, petitioners seeking reassignment came one after another. The following year the Ministry of War reported: "Companies are thinning, and border-garrison soldiers are even hoping to shed their rolls." An edict restored the former rules, and Guo Yingpin's proposal again was not implemented.

凡軍衛掌於職方，而勾清則武庫主之。有所勾攝，自衛所開報，先核鄉貫居止，內府給批，下有司提本軍，謂之跟捕；提家丁，謂之勾捕。間有恩恤開伍者。洪武二十三年，令應補軍役生員，遣歸卒業。宣德四年，上虞人李志道充楚雄衛軍，死，有孫宗皋宜繼。時已中鄉試，尚書張本言於帝，得免。如此者絕少。戶有軍籍，必仕至兵部尚書始得除。軍士應起解者，皆僉妻；有津給軍裝、解軍行糧、軍丁口糧之費。其冊單編造皆有恆式。初定戶口、收軍、勾清三冊。嘉靖三十一年，又編四冊，曰軍貫，曰兜底，曰類衛、類姓。其勾軍另給軍單。蓋終明世，于軍籍最嚴。然弊政漸叢，而擾民日甚。

Generally, military guards fell under the Bureau of Appointments, while conscript clearing was handled by the Arsenal. When conscription was required, the guard reported it; native place and residence were first verified, the inner court issued a warrant, and the local office seized the soldier himself—called tracking capture; seizing household members was called conscript capture. Occasionally imperial grace opened vacancies in the rolls. In the twenty-third year of Hongwu, students liable for military replacement were ordered sent home to complete their studies. In the fourth year of Xuande, Li Zhidao of Shangyu had served as a soldier of Chuxiong Guard; when he died, his grandson Zonggao was due to succeed him. He had already passed the provincial examination; Minister Zhang Ben spoke to the Emperor, and he was exempted. Such cases were exceedingly rare. A household on the military register had to produce an official who rose to Minister of War before the register could be removed. Soldiers who were to be escorted to their posts all took wives; and there were allowances for kit, travel grain for the escort, and grain for dependents. The compilation of registers and slips all followed fixed forms. Initially three registers were established: household rolls, receiving soldiers, and conscript clearing. In the thirty-first year of Jiajing, four more were compiled, called military pedigree, bottom-cover, by guard, and by surname. For conscript checks a separate military slip was issued. Throughout the Ming dynasty, military registers were enforced more strictly than any other. Yet abuses gradually accumulated and harassment of the people grew worse day by day.

明太祖起布衣，策羣力，取天下。即位後，屢命元勳宿將分道練兵，而其制未定。洪武六年，命中書省、大都督府、御史臺、六部議教練軍士律：「騎卒必善馳射槍刀，步兵必善弓弩槍。射以十二矢之半，遠可到，近可中為程。遠可到，將弁百六十步、軍士百二十步；近可中，五十步。彀弩以十二矢之五，遠可到，蹶張八十步，劃車一百五十步；近可中，蹶張四十步，劃車六十步。槍必進退熟習。在京衛所，以五千人為率，取五之一，指揮以下官領赴御前驗試，餘以次番試。在外都司衛所，每衛五千人，取五之一，千戶以下官領赴京驗試。餘以次番試。軍士步騎皆善，將領各以其能受賞，否則罰。軍士給錢六百為道里費。將領自指揮使以下，所統軍士三分至六分不中者，次第奪俸；七分以上，次第降官至為軍止。都指揮軍士四分以上不中，奪俸一年；六分以上罷職。」後十六年，令天下衛所善射者十選一，於農隙分番赴京較閱，以優劣為千百戶賞罰，邊軍本衛較射。二十年，命衛士習射於午門丹墀。明年復令：「天下衛所馬步軍士，各分十班，將弁以廕敘久次升者統之，冬月至京閱試。指揮、千百戶，年深慣戰及屯田者免。仍先下操練法，俾遵行。不如法及不嫻習者，罰。」明年，詔五軍府：「比試軍士分三等賞鈔，又各給鈔三錠為路費，不中者亦給之。明年再試不如式，軍移戍雲南，官謫從徵，總小旗降為軍。武臣子弟襲職，試騎步射不中程，令還衛署事，與半俸，二年後仍試如故者，亦降為軍。」

The Ming founder rose from commoner origins, marshaled collective strength, and won the realm. After his enthronement he repeatedly ordered meritorious veterans to train troops along separate routes, yet the system was not fixed. In the sixth year of Hongwu, he ordered the Secretariat, the Grand Marshal's Office, the Censorate, and the Six Ministries to deliberate regulations for training soldiers: "Cavalry must excel at mounted archery, spear, and saber; infantry must excel at bow, crossbow, and spear. For archery, with half of twelve arrows, the standard was that the far shot must reach its mark and the near shot must hit. For the far shot, officers 160 paces and soldiers 120; for the near shot, fifty paces. For the crossbow, with five of twelve arrows for the far shot, the drawn bow 80 paces and the carriage crossbow 150; for the near shot, the drawn bow 40 paces and the carriage crossbow 60. Spear drill must be practiced thoroughly in advance and retreat. In the capital guards, for every five thousand men one fifth was selected; officers from commander down led them to trial before the throne, and the rest were tested in rotation. In regional commands and guards outside the capital, for each guard of five thousand one fifth was selected; officers below the rank of qianhu led them to the capital for review. The remainder were tested in rotation. If both infantry and cavalry were skilled, officers were rewarded according to their ability; otherwise they were punished. Soldiers were given six hundred cash as travel expenses. For officers from commander down, if thirty to sixty percent of the troops under their command failed, salaries were reduced by degrees; if seventy percent or more failed, they were demoted step by step down to common soldier. For regional commanders, if forty percent or more of their soldiers failed, their salary was withheld for one year; if sixty percent or more failed, they were dismissed from office." Sixteen years later, he ordered that throughout the guards one skilled archer in ten, during agricultural slack seasons, should rotate to the capital for comparison, with centurions rewarded or punished by their men's performance; border troops were tested in their home guards. In the twentieth year, he ordered guard soldiers to practice archery on the terrace before the Meridian Gate. The following year he again ordered: "All horse and foot soldiers of the guards, each divided into ten classes, led by officers promoted by hereditary seniority; in the winter month they come to the capital for review. Commanders and centurions who were long-service veterans skilled in battle or engaged in military colonies were exempt. Drill regulations were first issued for them to follow. Those who did not meet the regulations or were unskilled were punished." The following year an edict to the Five Armies: "Soldiers in the comparison shall be rewarded with paper notes in three grades, and each shall also be given three notes for travel expenses; even those who fail shall receive them. If they failed the standard again the next year, soldiers were transferred to garrison duty in Yunnan, officers were demoted to campaign service, and squad leaders were reduced to common soldiers. When military heirs inherited office, if they failed the mounted and foot archery standard they were ordered back to their guard to handle affairs on half salary; if after two years they still failed as before, they too were demoted to common soldiers."

景泰初，立十團營。給事中鄧林進《軒轅圖》，即古八陣法也，因用以教軍。成化間，增團營為十二，命月二次會操，起仲春十五日，止仲夏十五日，秋、冬亦如之。弘治九年，兵部尚書馬文升申明洪、永操法，五日內，二日走陣下營，三日演武。武宗好武勇，每令提督坐營官操練，又自執金鼓演四鎮卒。然大要以恣馳騁、供嬉戲，非有實也。

At the beginning of the Jingtai reign, the Ten Corps Camps were established. Supervising Secretary Deng Lin presented the 《Xuanyuan Diagram》, which embodied the ancient Eight Formations, and it was used to train the troops. During the Chenghua reign the corps camps were increased to twelve; joint drill was ordered twice a month, from the fifteenth day of mid-spring to the fifteenth day of mid-summer, and likewise in autumn and winter. In the ninth year of Hongzhi, Minister of War Ma Wensheng reissued the Hongwu and Yongle drill regulations: over every five-day cycle, two days were for marching in formation and pitching camp, and three for field exercises. Emperor Wuzong delighted in martial display. He regularly ordered the officers who supervised the capital garrisons to drill their men, and he himself beat the gongs and drums while reviewing troops from the four metropolitan camps. For the most part, however, these exercises served only to indulge his love of horsemanship and provide sport—they had little practical value.

嘉靖六年定，下營佈陣，止用三疊陣及四門方營。又令每營選槍刀箭牌銃手各一二人為教師，轉相教習。及更營制，分兵三十枝，設將三十員，各統三千人訓練，擇精銳者名選鋒，厚其校藝之賞。總督大臣一月會操者四，餘日營將分練。協理大臣及巡視給事、御史隨意入一營，校閱賞罰，因以擇選鋒。帝又置內營於內教場，練諸內使。

In the sixth year of Jiajing it was decreed that when troops broke camp and formed up for battle, they might use only the three-deep formation and the four-gate square encampment. Each camp was also to choose one or two skilled spearmen, swordsmen, archers, shield-bearers, and musketeers as drillmasters, who would train one another in rotation. When the garrison system was reorganized, the army was split into thirty divisions under thirty commanders, each training three thousand men. The finest troops were designated Selected Vanguard, and prizes for martial competition were set at a generous rate. The grand coordinator convened full musters four times each month; on other days the camp commanders drilled their units separately. Coordinating ministers, touring supervising secretaries, and censors might inspect any camp at will, confer rewards and punishments, and in the process choose men for the vanguard. The emperor also set up an inner camp on the palace drill field to train the eunuch guards.

隆慶初，命各營將領以教練軍士分數多寡為黜陟。全營教練者加都督僉事，以次減；全不教練者降祖職一級，革任回衛。三年內教練有成，操協大臣獎諭恩錄；無功績者議罰。規制雖立，然將卒率媮惰，操演徒為具文。

At the start of the Longqing reign, camp commanders were to be promoted or demoted according to how thoroughly they had trained their soldiers. Commanders whose whole camp was properly drilled could be raised to Vice Commissioner-in-Chief; lesser degrees of success brought proportionally smaller advancement. Those who failed to drill their men at all were reduced one step in hereditary rank, removed from command, and sent back to their home garrison. If the inner camp produced tangible results within three years, the ministers who coordinated the drills were commended and granted special imperial favor. Those who showed no results were liable to disciplinary action. Regulations were on the books, but officers and men were for the most part negligent and idle, and field exercises remained little more than paper compliance.

先是，浙江參將戚繼光以善教士聞，嘗調士兵，制鴛鴦陣破倭。至是已官總兵。穆宗從給事中吳時來請，命繼光練兵薊門。薊兵精整者數十年。繼光嘗著《練兵實紀》以訓士。一曰練伍，首騎，次步，次車，次輜重；先選伍，次較藝，總之以合營。二曰練膽氣，使明作止進退及上下統屬、相友相助之義。三曰練耳目，使明號令。四曰練手足，使熟技藝。五曰練營陣，詳佈陣起行、結營及交鋒之正變。終之以練將。後多遵用之。

Previously Qi Jiguang, deputy commander in Zhejiang, had won renown for training soldiers. He had drilled local militia and devised the Mandarin Duck Formation to defeat the wokou. By then he had already risen to regional commander. At the urging of Supervising Secretary Wu Shilai, Emperor Muzong ordered Qi Jiguang to train troops on the Ji frontier. The Ji garrison remained a model of discipline for decades. Qi Jiguang wrote the Records for Practicing Troops to instruct his men. The first subject was training the squad—cavalry first, then infantry, then chariots, then supply trains. Squads were to be chosen first, skills tested next, and the whole brought together in camp-level coordination. Second came training courage and morale—teaching men when to move and halt, advance and withdraw, how command ran from above to below, and how comrades were to support one another. Third was training ears and eyes, so that every signal and order would be understood. Fourth was training hands and feet, until every man mastered his craft. Fifth was training camp formations—the standard and variant methods of drawing up battle lines, marching out, making camp, and closing with the enemy. The work ended with the training of officers. Later commanders largely adopted and followed it.

賞功之制，太祖時，大賞平定中原、徵南諸將及雲南、越州之功。賞格雖具，然不豫為令。惟二十九年命沿海衛所指揮千百戶獲倭一船及賊者，升一級，賞銀五十兩，鈔五十錠，軍士水陸擒殺賊，賞銀有差。

Under the reward system, the founding emperor had lavished great honors on the generals who pacified the Central Plains, conquered the south, and won victories in Yunnan and Yue. Reward tables were drawn up, but no standing rules were fixed in advance. Not until the twenty-ninth year of his reign was an order issued: any guard or battalion commander, or company officer, who seized a pirate vessel and its crew would rise one rank and receive fifty taels of silver and fifty ingots of paper money; ordinary soldiers who captured or killed pirates on land or at sea were paid silver according to a graded scale.

永樂初，以將士久勞，命禮部依太祖升賞例，參酌行之。乃分奇功、首功、次功三等，其賞之輕重次第，率臨時取旨，亦不豫為令。十二年定：「凡交鋒之際，突出敵背殺敗賊眾者，勇敢入陣斬將搴旗者，本隊已勝、別隊勝負未決、而能救援克敵者，受命能任事、出奇破賊成功者，皆為奇功。齊力前進、首先敗賊者，前隊交鋒未決、後隊向前敗賊者，皆為首功。軍行及營中擒獲奸細者，亦準首功。餘皆次功。」又立功賞勘合，定四十字，曰：「神威精勇猛，強壯毅英雄。克勝兼超捷，奇功奮銳鋒。智謀宣妙略，剛烈效忠誠。果敢能安定，揚名顯大勳。」編號用寶，貯內府印綬監。當是時，稽功之法甚嚴。

Early in the Yongle reign, because troops had borne long hardship, the Ministry of Rites was told to follow the founding emperor's precedents for promotion and reward, adapting them as needed. Merit was then divided into three grades—extraordinary, first, and second—and the scale of reward was usually decided on the spot by imperial order, still without any permanent statute. In the twelfth year the standard was set: "In the heat of battle, extraordinary merit went to the man who broke out behind the enemy and routed them; who charged into the enemy line to behead a commander or seize a banner; who, though his own unit had already prevailed, rescued a neighboring unit still locked in combat and turned defeat into victory; or who, entrusted with a mission, carried it through with an unexpected stroke that broke the enemy. First merit went to those who pressed forward in concert and were the first to break the enemy, or who, when the front line was still locked in combat, drove forward from the rear and turned the tide. Capturing enemy spies on the march or in camp also counted as first merit. Everything else fell under second merit. Merit certificates were also issued, numbered by a fixed forty-character code that began: "Divine prowess, refined courage, fierce and strong; resolute, heroic. Conquering victory with surpassing speed; extraordinary merit driving the sharp vanguard. Wisdom and strategy deploying subtle plans; stern integrity proving loyal devotion. Bold and resolute, able to restore order; spreading one's name and displaying great merit." Each tally was stamped with the imperial seal and kept in the Directorate of Seals and Registers inside the palace. At that time the verification of merit was extremely rigorous.

正統十四年，造賞功牌，有奇功、頭功、齊力之分，以大臣主之。凡挺身突陣斬將奪旗者，與奇功牌。生擒瓦剌或斬首一級，與頭功牌。雖無功而被傷者，與齊力牌。蓋專為瓦剌入犯設也。是後，將士功賞視立功之地，準例奏行。北邊為上，東北邊次之，西番及苗蠻又次之，內地反賊又次之。世宗時，苦倭甚，故海上功比北邊尤為最。

In the fourteenth year of Zhengtong merit plaques were cast in three classes—extraordinary merit, head merit, and combined-effort merit—under the supervision of a senior minister. Anyone who charged the enemy line to behead a commander or seize a banner received the extraordinary-merit plaque. Capturing an Oirat alive or taking a single enemy head earned the head-merit plaque. Even a man who won no other distinction but was wounded in action received the combined-effort plaque. The system had been created specifically for the Oirat invasion. Thereafter, officers and soldiers were rewarded according to the theater in which they had earned merit, each case reported and carried out under the applicable precedent. The northern frontier ranked first, the northeast second, campaigns against western tribes and Miao bandits third, and suppression of internal rebels last. Under Emperor Shizong the wokou scourge was so severe that merit won at sea ranked even above that on the northern frontier.

北邊，自甘肅迤東，抵山海關。成化十四年例：「一人斬一級者，進一秩，至三秩止。二人共斬者，為首進秩同。壯男與實授，幼弱婦女與署職。為從及四級以上，俱給賞。領軍官部下五百人者，獲五級，進一秩。領千人者，倍之。」正德十年重定例：「獨斬一級者升一秩。三人共者，首升署一秩，從給賞。四五六人共者，首給賞，從量賞。二人共斬一幼敵者，首視三人例，從量賞。不願升者，每實授一秩，賞銀五十兩，署職二十兩。」嘉靖十五年定，領軍官千、把總，加至三秩止，都指揮以上，止升署職二級，餘加賞。

The northern frontier ran from Gansu eastward to Shanhai Pass. The Chenghua fourteen precedent held: "A soldier who alone beheaded one enemy rose one rank, to a maximum of three ranks. If two men shared a kill, the leader received the same promotion. Heads taken from adult males brought substantive rank; those from children, women, or the infirm brought acting rank only. Assistants in the kill, and all men from the fourth rank upward, received cash reward instead. An officer commanding five hundred men who accounted for five enemy heads in his unit rose one rank. One commanding a thousand needed twice that number. In the tenth year of Zhengde the rule was revised: "A man who alone beheaded one enemy was promoted one rank. When three shared a kill, the leader received one acting rank and the others cash. When four, five, or six shared, the leader received the cash award and the rest a reduced share. If two men together beheaded a youth, the leader was rewarded under the three-man rule and the assistant at a reduced rate. Men who declined promotion received fifty taels of silver for each substantive rank forfeited, or twenty for each acting rank." In the fifteenth year of Jiajing it was fixed that company and platoon commanders might rise no more than three ranks; regional commanders and above received at most two acting ranks, with any further merit paid out in silver.

東北邊，初定三級當北邊之一。萬曆中，改與北邊同。

On the northeast frontier, three enemy heads initially counted as one on the northern standard. Under Wanli this was changed to parity with the northern frontier.

番寇苗蠻，亦三級進一秩，實授署職，視北邊。十級以上並不及數者給賞。萬曆三年，令陝西番寇功，視成化中例，軍官千總領五百人者，部下斬三十級，領千人者六十級，把總領五百人者十級，領千人者三十級，俱進一秩，至三秩止。南方蠻賊，宣德九年例，三級以上及斬獲首賊，俱升一秩，餘加賞。正德十六年，定軍官部下斬百級者升署一秩，三百級者實授一秩，四百級者升一秩，餘功加賞。

Against frontier tribes and Miao bandits, three heads likewise earned one rank, with substantive and acting appointments calculated as on the northern frontier. Ten heads or more, or totals falling short of the quota, were rewarded in cash. In the third year of Wanli merit against Shaanxi tribal raiders was ordered to follow the Chenghua rule: a company commander with five hundred men needed thirty heads from his unit, or sixty with a thousand; a platoon leader needed ten or thirty respectively—all earning one rank, to a ceiling of three. Against southern tribal rebels, the Xuande nine precedent granted one rank for three heads or for capturing a bandit chief; further merit brought additional reward. In the sixteenth year of Zhengde it was fixed that an officer whose men accounted for a hundred heads received one acting rank; three hundred brought substantive rank; four hundred, a full promotion; any surplus was paid in silver.

倭賊，嘉靖三十五年定：「斬倭首賊一級，升實授三秩，不願者賞銀百五十兩。從賊一級，授一秩。漢人脅從一級，署一秩。陣亡者，本軍及子實授一秩。海洋遇賊有功，均以奇功論。」萬曆十二年更定，視舊例少變，以賊眾及船之多寡，為功賞之差。復定海洋徵戰，無論倭寇、海賊，勘是奇功，與世襲。雲南夷賊，擒斬功次視倭功。

For the wokou, the Jiajing thirty-five rule held: "Beheading a pirate chieftain earned three substantive ranks, or one hundred fifty taels for those who declined promotion. One ordinary pirate follower earned one substantive rank. One head from a Han Chinese pressed into service earned one acting rank. A man killed in action earned one substantive rank for his unit and one for his son. Any merit won in an encounter with pirates at sea was counted as extraordinary merit. In the twelfth year of Wanli the scale was revised, with slight changes from the old rule: rewards now varied according to the number of pirates and ships involved. It was further decreed that in naval campaigns, whether against wokou or ordinary sea robbers, merit verified as extraordinary would carry hereditary office. Merit against Yunnan tribal rebels ranked below that against the wokou.

內地反賊，成化十四年例，六級升一秩，至三秩止，幼男婦女及十九級以上與不及數者給賞。正德七年，定流賊例：「名賊一級，授一秩，世襲，為從者給賞。次賊一級，署一秩。從賊三級及陣亡者，俱授一秩，世襲。重傷回營死者，署一秩。」又以割耳多寡論功，最多者至升二秩，世襲。先是，五年寧夏功，後嘉靖元年江西功，俱視流賊例。崇禎中，購闖、獻以萬金，爵封侯，餘賊有差，以賊勢重，變常格也。

Against internal rebels, the Chenghua fourteen rule granted one rank for six heads, to a maximum of three; heads from boys and women, or totals of nineteen or more, or short of the quota, were paid in cash. The Zhengde seven bandit rule held: "The head of a notorious rebel earned one substantive hereditary rank; accomplices received cash. The head of a lesser rebel earned one acting rank. Three heads from ordinary bandits, or death in battle, each earned one substantive hereditary rank. A man who returned to camp mortally wounded and died there received one acting rank. Merit was also measured by severed ears; the highest award reached two hereditary ranks. Earlier, rewards for the Ningxia campaign of the fifth year, and later for Jiangxi in the first year of Jiajing, had both followed the bandit precedent. In the Chongzhen era a price of ten thousand gold was put on Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, with ennoblement as marquis; lesser rebels carried lower bounties—a departure from ordinary practice, forced by the rebels' overwhelming strength.

其俘獲人畜、器械，成化例，俱給所獲者。其論功升秩，成化十四年例，軍士升一秩為小旗，舍人升一秩給冠帶，以上類推。嘉靖四十三年定，都督等官無階可升者，所應襲男廕冠帶。萬曆十三年定，都指揮使升秩者，不授都督，賞銀五十兩，升俸者半之。其有司民兵，隆慶六年定，視軍人例。

Prisoners, livestock, and weapons taken in battle, under the Chenghua rule, went to those who captured them. For promotion by merit, the Chenghua fourteen rule held that a common soldier rising one rank became a corporal; a garrison runner received cap and belt; higher ranks advanced by the same logic. In the forty-third year of Jiajing it was fixed that when a regional commander had no further rank to which he could rise, the son due to inherit his post received an ennobled cap and belt instead. In the thirteenth year of Wanli it was decreed that a regional commander promoted beyond his grade did not receive the title of Commissioner-in-Chief but fifty taels of silver—or half that if he took only a salary increase. Militia levied by civil officials, fixed in the sixth year of Longqing, were rewarded under the same rules as regular soldiers.

自洪、宣以後，賞格皆以斬級多少豫定。條例漸多，幸弊日啟。正德間，副使胡世寧言：「兩軍格鬥，手眼瞬息，不得差池，何暇割級？其獲級者或殺已降，或殺良民，或偶得單行之賊、被掠逃出之人，非真功也。宜選強明剛正之員，為紀功官，痛懲此弊。」時弗能行。故事，鎮守官奏帶，例止五名。後領兵官所奏有至三四百名者，不在斬馘之列，別立名目，曰運送神槍，曰齎執旗牌，曰衝鋒破敵，曰三次當先，曰軍前效勞。冒濫之弊，至斯極已。

From the Hongwu and Xuande reigns onward, reward tables were set in advance according to the number of heads taken. The statutes multiplied year by year, and abuses arose daily with them. During the Zhengde reign Vice Commissioner Hu Shining argued: "When two armies clash, hand and eye must move in an instant—not a moment's slack is permitted. Who has time to hack off heads? Men who brought in heads might have slaughtered prisoners, murdered civilians, or stumbled on a lone straggler or a peasant seized and then released by the enemy—none of which was genuine merit. Capable, clear-sighted, and upright officers should be appointed as merit auditors to root out this fraud. Nothing came of the proposal. By long-standing custom, a garrison commander reporting men to be rewarded alongside him might name at most five. Later, commanders in the field submitted rolls of three or four hundred names—men who had taken no heads at all but were rewarded under new categories: transporting divine muskets, bearing flags and insignia, charging to break the enemy, leading the assault three times, and serving with distinction at the front. The abuse of over-provisioning had reached its zenith.

古所謂砲，皆以機發石。元初得西域砲，攻金蔡州城，始用火。然造法不傳，後亦罕用。

The cannon of antiquity were all stone-throwing engines worked by mechanical trigger. Early in the Yuan, after capturing cannon from the Western Regions, they besieged Caizhou of Jin and for the first time brought gunpowder to bear. The craft was never handed down, and in later times such weapons saw little service.

至明成祖平交阯，得神機槍砲法，特置神機營肄習。制用生、熟赤銅相間，其用鐵者，建鐵柔為最，西鐵次之。大小不等，大者發用車，次及小者用架、用樁、用託。大利於守，小利於戰。隨宜而用，為行軍要器。永樂十年，詔自開平至懷來、宣府、萬全、興和諸山頂，皆置五砲架。二十年，從張輔請，增置於山西大同、天城、陽和、朔州等衛以禦敵。然利器不可示人，朝廷亦慎惜之。

Not until the Yongle Emperor subdued Jiaozhi did the court acquire the art of muskets and cannon, whereupon it founded the Shenji Camp expressly to train men in their use. They were cast from layers of raw and refined copper; when iron was employed, pliant Jian iron ranked first and Western iron second. They varied in size—the great pieces were served from wagons, the lesser from frames, posts, or cradles. They served defense far better than open field combat. Employed as occasion demanded, they became indispensable to marching armies. In Yongle 10, the throne commanded that five-gun platforms be erected on the peaks from Kaiping through Huailai, Xuanfu, Wanquan, and Xinghe. Twenty years on, at Zhang Fu's urging, additional pieces were posted to the Shanxi garrisons of Datong, Tiancheng, Yanghe, and Shuozhou for frontier defense. Yet a keen blade is not lightly displayed, and the court treated these arms with equal caution.

至嘉靖八年，始從右都御史汪鋐言，造佛郎機砲，謂之大將軍，發諸邊鎮。佛郎機者，國名也。正德末，其國舶至廣東。白沙巡檢何儒得其制，以銅為之。長五六尺，大者重千餘斤，小者百五十斤，巨腹長頸，腹有修孔。以子銃五枚，貯藥置腹中，發及百餘丈，最利水戰。駕以蜈蚣船，所擊輒糜碎。二十五年，總督軍務翁萬達奏所造火器。兵部試之，言：「三出連珠、百出先鋒、鐵捧雷飛，俱便用。母子火獸、布地雷砲，止可夜劫營。」御史張鐸亦進十眼銅砲，大彈發及七百步，小彈百步；四眼鐵槍，彈四百步。詔工部造。

Only in Jiajing 8, on the advice of Wang Hong, Right Censor-in-chief, did the court begin casting Frankish cannon—styled Great Generals—and distributing them to the frontier commands. Folangji was the name of a foreign realm. Late in the Zhengde reign, its vessels appeared off Guangdong. He Ru, the Baisha patrol inspector, secured the design and reproduced it in bronze. Five or six feet in length, the largest weighed over a thousand jin and the smallest a hundred and fifty; its body swelled and its neck ran long, pierced with touch-holes along the chamber. Five nested barrels held the charge within the breech; it could reach beyond a hundred zhang and proved deadliest in naval warfare. Set aboard centipede warships, a single hit reduced its target to splinters. In the twenty-fifth year, Weng Wanda, overseer of military affairs, submitted a report on the fire-arms he had devised. The Ministry of War tested them and declared: 'The Three-Shot Linked Pearls, the Hundred-Shot Vanguard, and the Iron Club Thunderflight are all serviceable weapons. The Mother-and-Son Fire Beast and the Cloth-Spread Land-Mine Cannon may be used only in nocturnal assaults on enemy camps. Censor Zhang Duo likewise offered a ten-barreled bronze cannon whose great shot carried seven hundred paces and whose small shot a hundred. A four-barreled iron gun reached four hundred paces. The throne commanded the Ministry of Works to cast them.

萬曆中，通判華光大奏其父所制神異火器，命下兵部。其後，大西洋船至，復得巨砲，曰紅夷。長二丈餘，重者至三千斤，能洞裂石城，震數十里。天啟中，錫以大將軍號，遣官祀之。

Under Wanli, Assistant Prefect Hua Guangda presented his father's marvelous fire-arms, and the matter was referred to the Ministry of War. Later, vessels from the Great Western Ocean came, bringing once more enormous guns known as Red Barbarian cannon. Over two zhang in length and weighing up to three thousand jin, they could breach stone ramparts and make the earth tremble for tens of li. In the Tianqi reign, one such piece was granted the rank of Great General, and officers were dispatched to pay it ritual homage.

崇禎時，大學士徐光啟請令西洋人製造，發各鎮。然將帥多不得人，城守不固，有委而去之者。及流寇犯闕，三大營兵不戰而潰，槍砲皆為賊有，反用以攻城。城上亦發砲擊賊。時中官已多異志，皆空器貯藥，取聲震而已。

Under Chongzhen, Grand Secretary Xu Guangqi urged that Western artisans be commissioned to build them and that the pieces be distributed to the frontier commands. Yet too many posts went to unworthy officers; garrisons stood weak, and some defenders simply threw down their arms and fled. When the rebel hosts reached the capital, the three great encampments broke without a fight; muskets and cannon passed into bandit hands and were turned back upon the walled cities. From the ramparts, defenders answered with cannon fire of their own. By then many eunuchs had turned disloyal; they stripped the guns of shot and kept powder only, contenting themselves with the roar of empty thunder.

明置兵仗、軍器二局，分造火器。號將軍者自大至五。又有奪門將軍大小二樣、神機砲、襄陽砲、盞口砲、碗口砲、旋風砲、流星砲、虎尾砲、石榴砲、龍虎砲、毒火飛砲、連珠佛郎機砲、信砲、神砲、砲裏砲、十眼銅砲、三出連珠砲、百出先鋒砲、鐵捧雷飛砲、火獸布地雷砲、碗口銅鐵銃、手把銅鐵銃、神銃、斬馬銃、一窩鋒神機箭銃、大中小佛郎機銅銃、佛郎機鐵銃、木廂銅銃、筋繳樺皮鐵銃、無敵手銃、鳥嘴銃、七眼銅銃、千里銃、四眼鐵槍、各號雙頭鐵槍、夾把鐵手槍、快槍以及火車、火傘、九龍筒之屬，凡數十種。正德、嘉靖間造最多。又各邊自造，自正統十四年四川始。其他刀牌、弓箭、槍弩、狼筅、蒺藜、甲冑、戰襖，在內有兵仗、軍器、針工、鞍轡諸局，屬內庫，掌於中官，在外有盔甲廠，屬兵部，掌以郎官。京省諸司衛所，又俱有雜造局。軍資器械名目繁夥，不具載，惟火器前代所少，故特詳焉。

The Ming set up two workshops—the Military Equipment Bureau and the Military Implements Bureau—each charged with producing fire-arms. Pieces bearing the title General ran from the First Rank down to the Fifth. The inventory further included Gate-Storming Generals in two sizes; Shenji, Xiangyang, bowl-mouth, whirlwind, meteor, tiger-tail, pomegranate, dragon-and-tiger, poison-fire flying, linked-pearl Frankish, signal, divine, and nested cannon; ten-eyed bronze guns; three-shot pearls, hundred-shot vanguards, iron-club thunderflights, and fire-beast land-mines; bowl-mouth, hand-held, divine, horse-slaying, one-nest arrow, large and small Frankish, Frankish iron, wooden-cased, lacquered-bark, Invincible Hand, bird-beak, seven-eyed, Thousand-Li, and four-eyed iron pieces; double-headed and paired-grip hand guns; fast guns; and fire carts, fire umbrellas, and nine-dragon tubes—several score types in all. Production peaked in the Zhengde and Jiajing eras. The border commands likewise cast their own arms—a practice that began in Sichuan in Zhengtong 14. Swords, shields, bows, arrows, spears, crossbows, wolf-brushes, caltrops, armor, and padded battle coats were forged within by the Military Equipment, Military Implements, Needlework, and Harness offices of the Inner Treasury under eunuch control, and without by the Armor Factory of the Ministry of War under its departmental officers. Every yamen, guard, and post in the capital and provinces maintained its own general workshop as well. The catalogue of arms and materiel runs too long to set down in full; fire weapons alone, scarce in earlier ages, are here described at length.

中原用車戰，而東南利舟楫，二者於兵事為最要。自騎兵起，車制漸廢。

In the heartland, war rested on chariots; along the southeastern coast, on ships—each the keystone of its region's way of war. With the rise of mounted warfare, the chariot gradually fell from use.

洪武五年，造獨轅車，北平、山東千輛，山西、河南八百輛。永樂八年北征，用武剛車三萬輛，皆惟以供饋運。

In Hongwu 5, single-shaft wagons were built—a thousand for Beiping and Shandong, eight hundred for Shanxi and Henan. Yongle's northern campaign of the eighth year employed thirty thousand Wugang wagons, every one devoted to transport.

至正統十二年，始從總兵官硃冕議，用火車備戰。自是言車戰者相繼。十四年，給事中李侃請以ＣＡ車千輛，鐵索聯絡，騎卒處中，每車翼以刀牌手五人，賊犯陣，刀牌手擊之，賊退則開索縱騎。帝命造成祭而後用。下車式於邊境，用七馬駕。寧夏多溝壑，總兵官張泰請用獨馬小車，時以為便。箭工週四章言，神機槍一發難繼，請以車載槍二十，箭六百，車首置五槍架，一人推，二人扶，一人執爨。試可，乃造。

Only in Zhengtong 12, on Commander Zhu Mian's recommendation, were fire-wagons introduced for combat. Thereafter, memorials urging chariot warfare came in an unbroken stream. In the fourteenth year, Supervising Secretary Li Kan proposed a thousand ram chariots bound with iron chains, cavalry held in the center, and five sword-and-shield fighters on either flank of each wagon—blades to repel a charge, chains parted to let the horsemen pursue a retreat. The emperor commanded that the vehicles be finished and consecrated before they saw service. The design was dispatched to the border commands, each team to be pulled by seven horses. Ningxia's broken terrain prompted Commander Zhang Tai to ask for one-horse light carts, then judged the handiest option. Bowyer Zhou Sizhang argued that the Shenji musket could not be fired in quick succession and proposed a cart bearing twenty pieces and six hundred bolts, five gun-stands on the bow, one man pushing, two steadying, and one tending the match. Trials satisfied the court, and construction followed.

景泰元年，定襄伯郭登請仿古制為偏箱車。轅長丈三尺，闊九尺，高七尺五寸，箱用薄板，置銃。出則左右相連，前後相接，鉤環牽互。車載衣糧、器械並鹿角二。屯處，十五步外設為籓。每車槍砲、弓弩、刀牌甲士共十人，無事輪番推輓。外以長車二十，載大小將軍銃，每方五輛，轉輸樵採，皆在圍中。又以四輪車一，列五色旗，視敵指揮。廷議此可以守，難於攻戰，命登酌行。蘭州守備李進請造獨輪小車，上施皮屋，前用木板，畫獸面，鑿口，置碗口銃四，槍四，神機箭十四，樹旗一。行為陣，止為營。二年，吏部郎中李賢請造戰車，長丈五尺，高六尺四寸，四圍箱板，穴孔置銃，上闢小窗，每車前後佔地五步。以千輛計，四方可十六里，芻糧、器械輜重鹹取給焉。帝令亟行。

In Jingtai 1, Dingxiang Earl Guo Deng urged a return to the old flank-box chariot. The shaft measured one zhang three feet; the body, nine feet across and seven feet five inches high, was panelled in thin wood and fitted with muskets. In the field they chained flank to flank and end to end, hooks and rings binding the line. Each wagon bore rations, gear, and a pair of abatis. In camp, a palisade was thrown up fifteen paces beyond the wagons. Ten men crewed each vehicle—gunners, archers, crossbowmen, and sword-and-shield fighters—who rotated the work of hauling when idle. Twenty supply wagons ringed the formation, five to a face, bearing Great General pieces of every size for wood-gathering and forage, all kept inside the enclosure. A four-wheeled command car flying five-colored pennants directed the array against the foe. The court judged the scheme sound for defense but ill-suited to the attack and bade Guo Deng carry it out at his discretion. Lanzhou Garrison Commander Li Jin proposed a one-wheeled cart capped with a leather awning, its prow boarded and painted with snarling beasts, muzzles cut through to mount four bowl-mouth guns, four spears, fourteen Shenji bolts, and a banner. On the march it became a fighting line; halted, a fortified camp. In the second year, Ministry of Personnel Director Li Xian called for war wagons one zhang five feet long and six feet four inches high, boarded on every side with gun-ports and narrow windows aloft, each vehicle claiming ten paces fore and aft. A thousand such wagons, arrayed square, would enclose sixteen li; fodder, arms, and baggage would all be drawn from the interior. The emperor commanded that the plan be executed at once.

成化二年，從郭登言，制軍隊小車。每隊六輛，輛九人，二人挽，七人番代，車前置牌畫猊首，遠望若城壘然。八年，甯都諸生何京上御敵車式，上施鐵網，網穴發槍弩，行則斂之。五十車為一隊，用士三百七十五人。十二年，左都御史李賓請造偏箱車，與鹿角參用。兵部尚書項忠請驗閱，以登高涉險不便，已之。十三年，從甘肅總兵官王璽奏，造雷火車，中立樞軸，旋轉發砲。二十年，宣大總督餘子俊以車五百輛為一軍，每輛卒十人，車隙補以鹿角。既成，而遲重不可用，時人謂之鷓鴣軍。

Chenghua 2 saw the adoption of Guo Deng's design for company-scale light wagons. Each squad fielded six wagons crewed by nine men apiece—two pulling, seven relieving in turn—with a prow-shield painted in a lion's likeness so that, at a distance, the line resembled a wall. In the eighth year, Ningdu scholar He Jing submitted plans for a counter-assault wagon topped with an iron mesh; muskets and crossbows spoke through its apertures, the net furled for the march. Fifty wagons made a company, manned by three hundred seventy-five troops. In the twelfth year, Left Censor-in-chief Li Bin urged flank-box chariots to be deployed alongside abatis. War Minister Xiang Zhong ordered a trial, found the wagons useless on steep ground, and set the project aside. In the thirteenth year, on Gansu Commander Wang Xi's petition, thunder-fire wagons were built with a central axle to swivel and discharge their guns. In the twentieth year, Xuan-Datong Grand Coordinator Yu Zijun formed an army of five hundred wagons, ten men to each, the intervals studded with abatis. When finished, the train proved too lumbering for battle; contemporaries mocked it as the Partridge Host.

弘治十五年，陝西總制秦紘請用只輪車，名曰全勝，長丈四尺，上下共六人，可沖敵陣。十六年，閑住知府範吉獻先鋒霹靂車。

Hongzhi 15 brought Shaanxi Grand Coordinator Qin Geng's single-wheeled Total Victory cart—one zhang four feet long, six fighters aboard, built to smash through enemy ranks. The following year, Prefect Fan Ji, then at leisure, offered his Vanguard Thunderclap wagon.

嘉靖十一年，南京給事中王希文請仿郭固、韓琦之制，造車，前銳後方，上置七槍，為櫓三層，各置九牛神弩，傍翼以卒。行載甲兵，止為營陣。下邊鎮酌行。十五年，總制劉天和復言全勝車之便，而稍為損益，用四人推輓，所載火器、弓弩、刀牌以百五十斤為準。箱前畫狻猊，旁列虎盾以護騎士。命從其制。四十三年，有司奏準，京營教演兵車，共四千輛，每輛步卒五人，神槍、夾靶槍各二。自正統以來，言車戰者如此，然未嘗一當敵。

Jiajing 11 saw Nanjing Supervising Secretary Wang Xiwen propose wagons after the models of Guo Gu and Han Qi—wedge-nosed and square-sterned, seven guns on the deck, a triple-tiered battering tower each mounting a nine-ox siege bow, infantry on the flanks. They would haul armored infantry on campaign and serve as fortified camps at halt. The plans were forwarded to the frontier commands for such use as local conditions allowed. In the fifteenth year, Grand Coordinator Liu Tianhe renewed praise for the Total Victory cart with modest revisions—four men to haul it, its armament of guns, bows, blades, and shields reckoned at a hundred and fifty jin. A suanni was painted on the prow, tiger shields lined the flanks to shelter the cavalry. The throne approved his specifications. In the forty-third year, the court authorized four thousand drill wagons for the capital encampments—five foot soldiers apiece, each crew bearing two Shenji pieces and two paired-target spears. From the Zhengtong reign on, chariot schemes multiplied as here set forth—yet not one ever stood a real fight.

至隆慶中，戚繼光守薊門，奏練兵車七營：以東西路副總兵及撫督標共四營，分駐建昌、遵化、石匣、密雲；薊、遼總兵二營，駐三屯；昌平總兵一營，駐昌平。每營重車百五十有六，輕車加百，步兵四千，騎兵三千。十二路二千里間，車騎相兼，可禦敵數萬。穆宗韙之，命給造費。然特以遏衝突，施火器，亦未嘗以戰也。是後，遼東巡撫魏學曾請設戰車營，仿偏箱之制，上設佛郎機二，下置雷飛砲、快槍六，每車步卒二十五人。萬曆末，經略熊廷弼請造雙輪戰車，每車火砲二，翼以十卒，皆持火槍。天啟中，直隸巡按御史易應昌進戶部主事曹履吉所制鋼輪車、小沖車等式，以禦敵，皆罕得其用。大約邊地險阻，不利車戰。而舟楫之用，則東南所宜。

Under Longqing, Qi Jiguang, holding Jimen, proposed seven chariot brigades—four under the eastern and western route lieutenant-generals and the governor's standard, posted at Jianchang, Zunhua, Shixia, and Miyun. Two brigades under the Ji and Liaodong commanders garrisoned Santun. One brigade under the Changping commander held Changping itself. Each brigade fielded a hundred fifty-six heavy wagons and a hundred light ones besides, four thousand foot and three thousand horse. Spanning twelve lines and two thousand li, the combined chariot-and-horse force could stand against tens of thousands. Emperor Muzong assented and appropriated the cost of building them. Yet they were meant chiefly to break enemy rushes and bring fire-arms to bear—and they, too, never saw battle. Later, Liaodong Governor Wei Xuezeng asked for a chariot battalion on the flank-box pattern—two Frankish pieces on the roof, six thunderflight guns and fast muskets below, twenty-five foot soldiers per wagon. Late in Wanli, Frontier Commissioner Xiong Tingbi proposed two-wheeled fighting carts, each mounting two cannon and ten escorts armed with muskets. Under Tianqi, Zhili Touring Censor Yi Yingchang submitted Revenue Director Cao Luji's designs for steel-wheeled wagons and light ram carts—none of which ever came to much. On the whole, the frontier's broken ground ill suited the chariot. Ships and oars, by contrast, were the arm the southeast demanded.

舟之制，江海各異。太祖於新江口設船四百。永樂初，命福建都司造海船百三十七，又命江、楚、兩浙及鎮江諸府衛造海風船。成化初，濟川衛楊渠獻《槳舟圖》，皆江舟也。

River craft and seagoing vessels were built to different designs. The Hongwu Emperor posted four hundred vessels at Xinkou. Early in Yongle, the court ordered the Fujian regional command to build a hundred thirty-seven seagoing vessels, and likewise charged the Jiang, Chu, Two-Zhe, and Zhenjiang prefectures and guards with building offshore sailing ships. At the opening of Chenghua, Yang Qu of Jichuan Guard submitted the Illustrated Oar-Craft—all designs for river vessels.

海舟以舟山之烏槽為首。福船耐風濤，且禦火。浙之十裝標號軟風、蒼山，亦利追逐。廣東船，鐵慄木為之，視福船尤巨而堅。其利用者二，可發佛郎機，可擲火球。大福船亦然，能容百人。底尖上闊，首昂尾高，柁樓三重，帆桅二，傍護以板，上設木女牆及砲牀。中為四層：最下實土石；次寢息所；次左右六門，中置水櫃，揚帆炊爨皆在是，最上如露臺，穴梯而登，傍設翼板，可憑以戰。矢石火器皆俯發，可順風行。海蒼視福船稍小。開浪船能容三五十人，頭銳，四槳一櫓，其行如飛，不拘風潮順逆。艟暃喬船視海蒼又小。蒼山船首尾皆闊，帆櫓並用。櫓設船傍近後，每傍五枝，每枝五跳，跳二人，以板閘跳上，露首於外，其制上下三層，下實土石，上為戰場，中寢處。其張帆下椗，皆在上層。戚繼光云：「倭舟甚小，一入裏海，大福、海蒼不能入，必用蒼船逐之，沖敵便捷，溫人謂之蒼山鐵也。」沙、鷹二船，相胥成用。沙船可接戰，然無翼蔽。鷹船兩端銳，進退如飛。傍釘大茅竹，竹間窗可發銃箭，窗內舷外隱人以蕩槳。先駕此入賊隊，沙船隨進，短兵接戰，無不勝。漁船至小，每舟三人，一執布帆，一執槳，一執鳥嘴銃。隨波上下，可掩賊不備。網梭船，定海、臨海、象山俱有之，形如梭。竹桅布帆，僅容二三人，遇風濤輒舁入山麓，可哨探。蜈蚣船，象形也，能駕佛朗機銃，底尖面闊，兩傍楫數十，行如飛。兩頭船，旋轉在舵，因風四馳，諸船無逾其速。蓋自嘉靖以來，東南日備倭，故海舟之制，特詳備云。

Among seagoing craft, the wucao of Zhoushan stood foremost. Fukienese junks rode out wind and sea swells and could withstand fire as well. Chekiang's ten-rig vessels, marked Ruofeng and Cangshan, were likewise nimble in pursuit. Cantonese craft, built of iron chestnut timber, were larger and tougher still than Fukienese junks. They had two chief strengths: they could mount falconets and launch fire-balls. The great Fukienese junk was the same, carrying as many as a hundred men. The hull ran sharp below and broad above, with a high stem and stern; three deckhouses rose over the rudder, twin masts bore the sails, and plank shields ran along the sides, topped by wooden battlements and gun mounts. Within were four decks: the lowest filled with earth and stone ballast. Above that, the crew's quarters. Then came six doorways to port and starboard with water barrels amidships—sail-handling and the galley both lay here. The topmost deck opened like a terrace, reached by a ladder-well, with fighting platforms on either side. Arrows, stones, and gunfire could all be rained downward, and the ship could run before the wind. The haicang was slightly smaller than the Fukienese junk. The wave-cutting kailang carried thirty to fifty men, with a sharp prow, four oars and one stern sweep; it skimmed like flight, indifferent to wind and tide. The chongfei qiao was smaller still than the haicang. Cangshan craft were wide at both bow and stern, employing sail and oar together. Sweeps mounted aft along each rail—five poles per side, five treads per pole, two oarsmen per tread, stepping on boards with heads showing above the gunwale. The hull had three decks: ballast below, sleeping quarters amidships, and the fighting deck aloft. All sail-handling and anchoring took place on the upper deck. Qi Jiguang wrote: "The dwarf pirate craft slip into inshore waters where great Fukienese junks and haicang cannot follow—you need cang ships to run them down. They strike fast and handily; men of Wenzhou call them 'Cangshan iron.' The sha and hawk craft worked as a matched pair. The sand-skiff could close for boarding, though it had no flank shielding. The hawk-boat was sharp at bow and stern alike, darting forward or back like a bird in flight. Thick bamboo poles lined the rails, with gunports between them for muskets and arrows, while hidden oarsmen pulled from within, screened from view. The hawk-boats led into the pirate line, sand-skiffs followed, and at close quarters they seldom lost. Fishing skiffs were tiny—three men per boat: one on the cloth sail, one on the oars, one with a bird-beak musket. Riding the swells, they could take the enemy unawares. Net-shuttle craft were found at Dinghai, Linhai, and Xiangshan, shaped like weaving shuttles. With bamboo masts and cloth sails, they held only two or three men; in heavy seas they were hauled up into the foothills, and served for reconnaissance. The centipede boat, named for its shape, mounted falconets; sharp-keeled and broad-beamed, with dozens of oars along either side, it flew over the water. The double-prowed craft pivoted on its rudder and ran before the wind in every direction; nothing else matched its speed. From Jiajing onward, the southeast stood on constant guard against pirates, and so the specifications for seagoing vessels were recorded with unusual fullness.

明制，馬之屬內廄者曰御馬監，中官掌之，牧於大壩，蓋仿《周禮》十有二閑意。牧於官者，為太僕寺、行太僕寺、苑馬寺及各軍衛，即唐四十八監意。牧於民者，南則直隸應天等府，北則直隸及山東、河南等府，即宋保馬意。其曰備養馬者，始於正統末，選馬給邊，邊馬足，而寄牧於畿甸者也。官牧給邊鎮，民牧給京軍，皆有孳生駒。官牧之地曰草場，或為軍民佃種曰熟地，歲徵租佐牧人市馬。牧之人曰恩軍，曰隊軍，曰改編軍，曰充發軍，曰抽發軍。苑馬分三等，上苑萬，中七千，下四千。一夫牧馬十匹，五十夫設圉長一人。凡馬肥瘠登耗，籍其毛齒而時省之。三歲，寺卿偕御史印烙，鬻其羸劣以轉市。邊衛、營堡、府州縣軍民壯騎操馬，則掌於行寺卿。邊用不足，又以茶易於番，以貨市於邊。其民牧皆視丁田授馬，始曰戶馬，既曰種馬，按歲徵駒。種馬死，孳生不及數，輒賠補。此其大凡也。

Under Ming law, horses of the imperial stud fell to the Imperial Horse Directorate, overseen by eunuchs and grazed at Daba—after the spirit of the Zhou Rites' twelve paddocks. State herds belonged to the Court of the Imperial Stud, its traveling branches, the Pasturage Courts, and the military guards—descended from the Tang's forty-eight stud offices. Private herds lay in the south in Yingtian and other Zhili prefectures, and in the north across Zhili, Shandong, Henan, and the like—on the Song model of household horse-rearing. Reserve-rearing horses dated from late Zhengtong: selected mounts went to the frontier, and when border herds were full, surplus stock was entrusted to pasture in the capital region. Official herds fed the frontier garrisons; civilian herds fed the capital troops—both were expected to raise foals. Official grazing lands were called pasture grounds, though some were farmed by soldiers and civilians as cultivated fields; annual rent helped herders buy replacement horses. Herders were drawn from favor troops, company troops, reorganized troops, conscripted troops, and drafted troops. Pasturage was ranked in three grades—upper pastures ten thousand head, middle seven thousand, lower four thousand. Each herder tended ten horses; every fifty herders had one stud overseer. Every horse's condition—fat or lean, gain or loss—was logged by coat and teeth and inspected on schedule. At three years the court director and a censor branded the stock and sold off weak animals to replenish the market. Cavalry mounts for border guards, forts, prefectures, counties, and military and civilian drill fell under the traveling court director. When frontier needs ran short, tea was traded again with frontier peoples, and horses bought locally at the border. Civilian herds received horses according to household labor and land—first called household horses, then breeding horses—with foals levied each year. If a breeding mare died or foals fell short of quota, the household had to make good the loss. Such was the broad arrangement.

初，太祖都金陵，令應天、太平、鎮江、廬州、鳳陽、揚州六府，滁、和二州民牧馬。洪武六年，設太僕寺於滁州，統於兵部。後增滁陽五牧監，領四十八羣。已，為四十監，旋罷，惟存天長、大興、舒城三監。置草場於湯泉、滁州等地。復令飛熊、廣武、英武三衛，五軍養一馬，馬歲生駒，一歲解京。既而以監牧歸有司，專令民牧。江南十一戶，江北五戶養馬一，復其身。太僕官督理，歲正月至六月報定駒，七月至十月報顯駒，十一、二月報重駒。歲終考馬政，以法治府州縣官吏。凡牡曰兒，牝曰騍。兒一、騍四為羣，羣頭一人。五羣，羣長一人。三十年，設北平、遼東、山西、陝西、甘肅行太僕寺，定牧馬草場。

When the Hongwu Emperor first established his capital at Nanjing, he ordered the people of Yingtian, Taiping, Zhenjiang, Luzhou, Fengyang, Yangzhou, and the prefectures of Chu and He to raise horses. In Hongwu 6 the Court of the Imperial Stud was set up at Chuzhou under the Ministry of War. Five pasture directorates were later added at Chuyang, overseeing forty-eight herds. The number rose to forty directorates, then most were abolished, leaving only Tianchang, Daxing, and Shucheng. Pasture grounds were laid out at Tangquan, Chuzhou, and elsewhere. He further ordered the Feixiong, Guangwu, and Yingwu guards to raise one horse per five armies; foals born each year were sent to the capital at one year old. Pasture directorates were then returned to local officials, and civilian horse-rearing alone was mandated. South of the river eleven households, north of the river five, raised one horse apiece, and their labor service was remitted. Imperial Stud officials supervised the work: January through June brought reports of registered foals, July through October of weaned foals, November and December of yearling foals. At year's end horse policy was audited, and prefectural and county officials were held to account by law. Stallions were called er; mares, ke. One stallion and four mares formed a herd, with one herd head. Every five herds had one herd chief. In the thirtieth year traveling Imperial Stud courts were set up in Beiping, Liaodong, Shanxi, Shaanxi, and Gansu, with pasture grounds fixed for each.

永樂初，設太僕寺於北京，掌順天、山東、河南。舊設者為南太僕寺，掌應天等六府二州。四年，設苑馬寺於陝西、甘肅，統六監，監統四苑。又設北京、遼東二苑馬寺，所統視陝西、甘肅。十二年，令北畿民計丁養馬，選居閑官教之畜牧。民十五丁以下一匹，十六丁以上二匹，為事編發者七戶一匹，得除罪。尋以寺卿楊砥言，北方人戶五丁養一，免其田租之半，薊州以東至南海等衛，戍守軍外，每軍飼種馬一。又定南方養馬例：鳳、廬、揚、滁、和五丁一，應天、太、鎮十丁一。淮、徐初養馬，亦以丁為率。十八年，罷北京苑馬寺，悉牧之民。

Early in Yongle the Court of the Imperial Stud was established at Beijing, overseeing Shuntian, Shandong, and Henan. The older office became the Southern Court of the Imperial Stud, in charge of Yingtian and the other six prefectures and two sub-prefectures. In the fourth year Pasturage Courts were established in Shaanxi and Gansu, each overseeing six directorates and each directorate four pastures. Pasturage Courts were also set up in Beijing and Liaodong on the same model as Shaanxi and Gansu. In the twelfth year the northern capital districts were ordered to raise horses by household count, with selected idle officials to teach them husbandry. Households of fifteen laborers or fewer kept one horse; those of sixteen or more, two; men conscripted for penal service kept one horse per seven households and earned remission of sentence. Soon, on Court Director Yang Di's advice, northerners raised one horse per five laborers with half their land tax remitted; from east of Jizhou to Nanhai and other guards, every garrison soldier outside frontier duty fed one breeding mare. Southern quotas were also set: Fengyang, Luzhou, Yangzhou, Chuzhou, and He five laborers per horse; Yingtian, Taiping, and Zhenjiang ten per horse. Huai and Xu at first raised horses too, on the same labor quota. In the eighteenth year the Beijing Pasturage Court was abolished and all herds passed to civilian keepers.

成化二年，以南土不產馬，改徵銀。四年，始建太僕寺常盈庫，貯備用馬價。是時，民漸苦養馬。六年，吏部侍郎葉盛言：「向時歲課一駒，而民不擾者，以芻牧地廣，民得為生也。自豪右莊田漸多，養馬漸不足。洪熙初，改兩年一駒，成化初，改三年一駒。馬愈削，民愈貧。然馬卒不可少，乃復兩年一駒之制，民愈不堪。請敕邊鎮隨俗所宜，凡可以買馬足邊、軍民交益者，便宜處置。」時馬文升撫陝西，又極論邊軍償馬之累，請令屯田卒田多丁少而不領馬者，歲輸銀一錢，以助賠償。雖皆允行，而民困不能舒也。繼文升撫陝者蕭禎，請省行太僕寺。兵部覆云：「洪、永時，設行太僕及苑馬寺，凡茶馬、番人貢馬，悉收寺、苑放牧，常數萬匹，足充邊用。正統以後，北敵屢入抄掠，馬遂日耗。言者每請裁革，是惜小費而忘大計。」於是敕諭禎，但令加意督察。而北畿自永樂以來，馬日滋，輒責民牧，民年十五者即養馬。太僕少卿彭禮以戶丁有限，而課駒無窮，請定種馬額。會文升為兵部尚書，奏行其請，乃定兩京太僕種馬，兒馬二萬五千，騍馬四之，二年納駒，著為令。時弘治六年也。

In Chenghua 2, since the south could not breed horses, the levy was changed to silver. In the fourth year the Imperial Stud's Ever-Full Treasury was established to hold funds for reserve horse purchases. By then the burden of horse-rearing was growing on the people. In the sixth year Vice Minister of Personnel Ye Sheng memorialized: "When the yearly levy was one foal per household, the people bore it because pasture was ample and they could still live. But as estates of the great and powerful spread, grazing land shrank and herds fell short. Hongxi reduced the levy to one foal every two years; Chenghua again to one every three. Horses dwindled while the people grew poorer. Yet horses could not be done without, so the two-year levy was restored—and the people were squeezed harder still. He asked that border garrisons be authorized to do whatever local conditions allowed—buying horses to fill frontier needs and easing the burden on soldiers and civilians alike. Ma Wensheng, then grand coordinator of Shaanxi, likewise detailed the toll of frontier compensation and proposed that garrison farmers with ample land but few laborers who took no horses pay one mace of silver yearly toward indemnities. Though all this was approved, the people's distress did not lift. Xiao Zhen, who succeeded Ma Wensheng in Shaanxi, asked to abolish the traveling Imperial Stud court. The Ministry of War answered: "Under Hongwu and Yongle, traveling stud courts and pasturage offices took in all tea-horse and tribute stock—tens of thousands at a time, enough for the frontier. After Zhengtong, northern raids wore the herds down day by day. Critics repeatedly urged cuts—but that was penny-wise and pound-foolish. An edict went to Zhen bidding him supervise more closely, but not to abolish the office. Yet from Yongle onward in the northern capital districts herds grew and the people were repeatedly pressed to keep them—every youth of fifteen was put to horse-rearing at once. Vice Director Peng Li, noting that household labor was finite while foal levies were not, asked that breeding quotas be fixed. When Ma Wensheng became Minister of War he carried the proposal through: the two Imperial Stud courts were capped at twenty-five thousand stallions and four times as many mares, with foals due every two years—written into law. This was Hongzhi 6.

十五年冬，尚書劉大夏薦南京太常卿楊一清為副都御史，督理陝西馬政。一清奏言：「我朝以陝右宜牧，設監苑，跨二千餘里。後皆廢，惟存長樂、靈武二監。今牧地止數百里，然以供西邊尚無不足，但苦監牧非人，牧養無法耳。兩監六苑，開城、安定水泉便利，宜為上苑，牧萬馬；廣甯、萬安為中苑；黑水草場逼窄，清平地狹土瘠，為下苑。萬安可五千，廣寧四千，清平二千，黑水千五百。六苑歲給軍外，可常牧馬三萬二千五百，足供三邊用。然欲廣孳息，必多蓄種馬，宜增滿萬匹，兩年一駒，五年可足前數。請支太僕馬價銀四萬二千兩，於平、慶、臨、鞏買種馬七千。又養馬恩隊軍不足，請編流亡民及問遣回籍者，且視恩軍例，凡發邊衛充軍者，改令各苑牧馬，增為三千人。又請相地勢，築城通商，種植榆柳，春夏放牧，秋冬還廄，馬既得安，敵來亦可收保。」孝宗方重邊防，大夏掌兵部，一清所奏輒行。遷總制仍督馬政。

In the winter of the fifteenth year Minister Liu Daxia recommended Yang Yiqing, director of the Nanjing Court of Imperial Sacrifices, as vice censor-in-chief to oversee Shaanxi horse policy. Yiqing memorialized: "Our dynasty, finding western Shaanxi ideal for grazing, established directorate pastures spanning more than two thousand li. Most were later abolished; only the Changle and Lingwu directorates survived. Today grazing land covers only a few hundred li, yet still suffices for the western frontier—the trouble is unworthy officials and slipshod husbandry. Of the two directorates' six pastures, Kaicheng and Anding enjoy good water and should rank as upper pastures, grazing ten thousand head. Guangning and Wan'an should serve as middle pastures. Heishui pasture is cramped, and Qingping's soil is thin and poor—they should rank as lower pastures. Wan'an could carry five thousand head, Guangning four thousand, Qingping two thousand, and Heishui fifteen hundred. Apart from what the six pastures owed the army each year, they could maintain thirty-two thousand five hundred horses—enough for all three frontiers. To expand the herd, however, they would need more brood stock: raise breeding mares to ten thousand, expect a foal every two years, and in five years the target herd could be reached. He asked that forty-two thousand taels of stud-horse silver be released to buy seven thousand brood mares in Ping, Qing, Lin, and Gong. The Favor Corps assigned to horse-rearing was also understrength. He asked that displaced persons and those interrogated and sent home be enrolled under the Favor Corps precedent, and that convicts dispatched to frontier guards be reassigned instead to pasture duty at the various ranches—bringing the force up to three thousand. He also proposed choosing ground by terrain, building walls to open trade, and planting elms and willows: graze in spring and summer, return to the stables in autumn and winter. Horses would be kept safe—and when enemies came, they could be gathered in and defended. Emperor Xiaozong was then putting weight on frontier defense. Liu Daxia headed the Ministry of War, and every memorial Yiqing submitted was promptly enacted. He was promoted to grand coordinator while continuing to oversee horse policy.

諸監草場，原額十三萬三千七百餘頃，存者已不及半。一清核之，得荒地十二萬八千餘頃，又開武安苑地二千九百餘頃。正德二年聞於朝。及一清去官，未幾復廢。時御史王濟言：「民苦養馬。有一孳生馬，輒害之。間有定駒，賂醫諱之，有顯駒墜落之。馬虧欠不過納銀二兩，既孳生者已聞官，而復倒斃，不過納銀三兩，孳生不死則饑餓。馬日瘦削，無濟實用。今種馬、地畝、人丁，歲取有定額，請以其額數令民買馬，而種馬孳生，縣官無與。」兵部是其言。自後，每有奏報，輒引濟言縣官無與種馬事，但責駒於民，遺母求子矣。

The directorates' pasture lands had originally totaled more than 133,700 qing; less than half now survived. Yiqing audited the registers and recovered more than 128,000 qing of wasteland, and opened nearly 2,900 qing for the Wu'an pasture. In Zhengde 2 the results were reported at court. After Yiqing left office, the reforms were soon abandoned again. At that time Censor Wang Ji said: "The people are crushed by the burden of raising horses. Whenever a mare foaled, they would kill the foal. If a foal was already registered, they bribed the veterinarian to hide it; if a foal was plainly visible, they contrived a fall to kill it. A shortfall in horses cost only two taels of silver to settle. Once a foal had been reported to the authorities, a sudden death required only three taels—but if the breeding stock lived, they starved it instead. The horses wasted away day by day, useless for any real purpose. Breeding stock, acreage, and household quotas are already fixed each year. Let the people buy horses to those quotas instead, and leave breeding entirely out of the county magistrate's hands. The Ministry of War agreed. Thereafter, whenever horse policy was debated, officials cited Ji's argument that magistrates should have nothing to do with breeding stock and need only demand foals from the people—demanding the child while abandoning the mother.

初，邊臣請馬，太僕寺以見馬給之。自改徵銀，馬日少，而請者相繼，給價十萬，買馬萬匹。邊臣不能市良馬，馬多死，太僕卿儲巏以為言，請仍給馬。又指陳各邊種馬盜賣私借之弊。語雖切，不能從。而邊鎮給發日益繁。延綏三十六營堡，自弘治十一年始，十年間，發太僕銀二十八萬有奇，買補四萬九千餘匹，寧夏、大同、居庸關等處不與焉。至正德七年，遂開納馬例，凡十二條。九年，復發太僕銀市馬萬五千于山東、遼東、河南及鳳陽、保定諸府。

At first, when frontier officials requested horses, the Court of Imperial Stud issued horses from its herds. Once the system shifted to silver payments, the stud's herds shrank while requests kept coming—100,000 taels disbursed to buy ten thousand horses. Frontier officials could not buy sound horses on the market, and many died in transit. Director Chu Juan of the Imperial Stud protested and asked that horses be issued again in kind. He also detailed how breeding stock along the frontiers was stolen, sold off, and lent out in private arrangements. His warnings were sharp, but they went unheeded. Meanwhile frontier garrisons' demands for horses and funds grew ever heavier. For Yansui's thirty-six camps and forts alone, from Hongzhi 11 through the next decade, the Imperial Stud spent more than 280,000 taels to buy and replace nearly 49,000 horses—and that does not include Ningxia, Datong, Juyong Pass, or the other sectors. By Zhengde 7 the court opened a horse-contribution statute of twelve articles. In year 9 the Imperial Stud again released funds to buy fifteen thousand horses in Shandong, Liaodong, Henan, and the prefectures of Fengyang, Baoding, and elsewhere.

嘉靖元年，陝西苑馬少卿盧璧條上馬政，請督逋負、明印烙、訓醫藥、均地差，以救目前，而闢場廣蓄為經久計。帝嘉納之。自後言馬事者頗眾，大都因事立說，補救一時而已。二十九年，俺答入寇，太僕馬缺，復行正德納馬例。已，稍增損之。至四十一年，遂開例至捐馬授職。

In Jiajing 1 Lu Bi, vice director of Shaanxi pasture horses, submitted a detailed horse-policy plan: collect arrears, enforce branding, train veterinarians, and equalize land assignments to stave off immediate collapse, while opening new pastures and building reserves for the long term. The emperor praised the plan and adopted it. After that, memorials on horse policy multiplied, but most were ad hoc fixes—remedies for the crisis of the moment, not lasting reform. In year 29 Altan raided the frontier; the Imperial Stud's herds were depleted, and the Zhengde horse-contribution statute was revived. Its terms were later adjusted, expanded here and trimmed there. By year 41 the statute had widened until men could donate horses in exchange for official appointments.

隆慶二年，提督四夷館太常少卿武金言：「種馬之設，專為孳生備用。備用馬既別買，則種馬可遂省。今備用馬已足三萬，宜令每馬折銀三十兩，解太僕。種馬盡賣，輸兵部，一馬十兩，則直隸、山東、河南十二萬匹，可得銀百二十萬，且收草豆銀二十四萬。」御史謝廷傑謂：「祖制所定，關軍機，不可廢。」兵部是廷傑言。而是時，內帑乏，方分使括天下逋賦。穆宗可金奏，下部議。部請養、賣各半，從之。

In Longqing 2 Wu Jin, vice director of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices and supervisor of the Four Barbarian Hostels, said: "Breeding stock exists only to propagate the herd and fill the reserves. Reserve horses are now bought separately, so breeding stock can be abolished outright. Reserve horses already number thirty thousand. Let each be commuted at thirty taels of silver and paid into the Imperial Stud. Sell all breeding stock and remit the proceeds to the Ministry of War at ten taels per horse. From the 120,000 horses in Zhili, Shandong, and Henan alone the state would gain 1.2 million taels, plus another 240,000 taels in fodder and bean-money assessments. Censor Xie Tingjie objected: "What the founding institutions fixed touches military readiness and must not be cast aside. The Ministry of War sided with Tingjie. But the inner treasury was empty, and commissioners were already fanning out to squeeze tax arrears from every province. Emperor Muzong approved Jin's memorial and referred it to the ministries for deliberation. The ministries proposed keeping half the herds and selling half; the emperor agreed.

太僕之有銀也，自成化時始，然止三萬餘兩。及種馬賣，銀日增。是時，通貢互市所貯亦無幾。及張居正作輔，力主盡賣之議。自萬曆九年始，上馬八兩，下至五兩，又折徵草豆地租，銀益多，以供團營買馬及各邊之請。然一騸馬輒發三十金，而州縣以駑馬進，其直止數金。且仍寄養於馬戶，害民不減曩時。又國家有興作、賞賚，往往借支太僕銀，太僕帑益耗。十五年，寺卿羅應鶴請禁支借。二十四年詔太僕給陝西賞功銀。寺臣言：「先年庫積四百餘萬，自東西二役興，僅餘四之一。朝鮮用兵，百萬之積俱空。今所存者，止十餘萬。況本寺寄養馬歲額二萬匹，今歲取折色，則馬之派徵甚少，而東徵調兌尤多。卒然有警，馬與銀俱竭，何以應之。」章下部，未能有所釐革也。

The Imperial Stud first accumulated silver under Chenghua, but the total was only a little over thirty thousand taels. Once breeding stock went on the block, the silver poured in. At the same time, reserves from tribute trade and frontier markets were nearly gone. When Zhang Juzheng became chief minister, he pushed hard to sell off the herds entirely. From Wanli 9 onward, upper-grade horses were commuted at eight taels and lower grades at five; fodder and pasture rents were converted to silver as well. The treasury swelled—enough to buy horses for the Capital Garrison Corps and meet every frontier request. Yet the court paid thirty taels for a single gelding while prefectures and counties delivered nags worth only a few taels apiece. The horses were still lodged with horse-rearing households, and the burden on the people was no lighter than before. State construction and imperial rewards also drew repeated loans from the stud treasury, draining it further. In year 15 Director Luo Yinghe asked that such borrowing be forbidden. In year 24 an edict ordered the Imperial Stud to supply reward silver for Shaanxi. Officials of the court protested: "The treasury once held more than four million taels. After the eastern and western campaigns, only a quarter was left. The war in Korea emptied even that million-tael reserve. What remains today is barely a hundred thousand. Moreover this office still owes twenty thousand board-reared horses each year, yet commutation has reduced actual horse levies to a trickle while eastern campaign requisitions and transfers grow ever heavier. If alarm struck suddenly, both horses and silver would be gone—how could we answer it? The memorial went to the ministries, but nothing was changed.

崇禎初，核戶兵工三部，借支太僕馬價至一千三百餘萬。蓋自萬曆以來，冏政大壞，而邊牧廢弛，愈不可問。既而遼東督師袁崇煥以缺馬，請於兩京州縣寄養馬內，折三千匹價買之西邊。太僕卿塗國鼎言：「祖宗令民養馬，專供京營騎操，防護都城，非為邊也。後來改折，無事則易馬輸銀，有警則出銀市馬，仍是為京師備禦之意。今折銀已多給各鎮，如並此馬盡折，萬一變生，奈何？」帝是其言，卻崇煥請。

Early in Chongzhen, an audit of the ministries of Revenue, War, and Works found that borrowing from Imperial Stud horse funds had reached more than thirteen million taels. From the Wanli reign onward stud administration collapsed, and frontier grazing fell into ruin beyond recovery. Then Yuan Chonghuan, supreme commander in Liaodong, citing a horse shortage, asked to commute three thousand board-reared horses from the prefectures and counties of the two capitals and use the proceeds to buy horses for the western frontier. Director Tu Guoding argued: "Our ancestors made the people raise horses solely to mount and drill the capital garrisons and defend the throne—not to supply the frontiers. The later shift to commutation kept the same logic: in peace, horses were exchanged for silver; in crisis, silver bought horses—always to keep the capital armed. Commuted silver has already flowed largely to the frontier garrisons. If these last horses are commuted too, what happens when crisis comes? The emperor agreed and rejected Chonghuan's request.

按明世馬政，法久弊叢。其始盛終衰之故，大率由草場興廢。太祖既設草場於大江南北，復定北邊牧地：自東勝以西至寧夏、河西、察罕腦兒，以東至大同、宣府、開平，又東南至大寧、遼東，抵鴨綠江又北千里，而南至各衛分守地，又自雁門關西抵黃河外，東曆紫荊、居庸、古北抵山海衛。荒閑平埜，非軍民屯種者，聽諸王駙馬以至近邊軍民樵採牧放，在邊籓府不得自佔。永樂中，又置草場於畿甸。尋以順聖川至桑乾河百三十餘里，水草美，令乙太僕千騎，令懷來衛卒百人分牧，後增至萬二千匹。宣德初，復置九馬坊於保安州。於是兵部奏，馬大蕃息，以色別而名之，其毛色二十五等，其種三百六十。其後莊田日增，草場日削，軍民皆困於孳養。弘治初，兵部主事湯冕、太僕卿王霽、給事中韓祐、周旋、御史張淳，皆請清核。而旋言：「香河諸縣地佔於勢家，霸州等處俱有仁壽宮皇莊，乞罷之，以益牧地。」雖允行，而佔佃已久，卒不能清。南京諸衛牧場亦久廢，兵部尚書張鎣請復之。御史胡海言恐遺地利，遂止。京師團營官馬萬匹，與旗手等衛上直官馬，皆分置草場。歲春末，馬非聽用者，坐營官領下場放牧，草豆住支，秋末回。給事御史閱視馬斃軍逃者以聞。後上直馬不出牧，而騎操馬仍歲出如例。嘉靖六年，武定侯郭勳以邊警為辭，奏免之，徵各場租以充公費，餘貯太僕買馬。於是營馬專仰秣司農，歲費至十八萬，戶部為詘，而草場益廢。議者爭以租佃取贏，侵淫至神宗時，弊壞極矣。

Surveying Ming horse policy as a whole, the statutes had long since rotted into a thicket of abuses. Its rise and fall, broadly speaking, tracked the gain and loss of pasture land. Taizu established pastures across the lands south and north of the Yangtze, then set aside northern grazing grounds: from Dongsheng west to Ningxia, Hexi, and Chaghan Nur; east to Datong, Xuanfu, and Kaiping; southeast to Daning and Liaodong as far as the Yalu and a thousand li beyond; south to each guard's allotted defense zone; and from Yanmen Pass west beyond the Yellow River, east through Zijing, Juyong, and Gubei to Shanhaiguan. Idle plains that neither soldiers nor civilians farmed were open—from princes and imperial sons-in-law down to frontier soldiers and commoners—for firewood, grazing, and pasturing. Frontier princely estates could not seize them for private use. Under Yongle, pastures were also set aside in the capital region. Soon afterward, finding the stretch from Shunshheng River to Sanggan River—more than 130 li of fine grass and water—the court assigned a thousand Imperial Stud riders and a hundred soldiers of Huailai Guard to graze the land in shifts. The herd later grew to twelve thousand horses. In early Xuande the Nine Horse Paddocks were restored in Bao'an Prefecture. The Ministry of War reported that the herds had flourished. Horses were classified and named by coat color—twenty-five color grades and three hundred sixty distinct types. Thereafter manorial estates spread while pasture shrank, and soldiers and civilians alike were ground down by breeding duties. Early in Hongzhi, Tang Mian of the Ministry of War, Wang Ji as director of the Imperial Stud, the supervising secretaries Han You and Zhou Xuan, and Censor Zhang Chun all petitioned for a thorough audit. Zhou Xuan added: "Land in Xianghe and neighboring counties has been seized by powerful families, and Bazhou and other districts hold imperial estates of the Renshou Palace. Abolish them and restore the pasture. The court approved the proposal, but the land had been occupied and leased for too long—it could not be recovered in the end. The pasture lands of the Nanjing guards had also long lain fallow. Minister of War Zhang Jin asked that they be restored. Censor Hu Hai warned that this would waste strategic ground, and the plan was dropped. The Capital Garrison Corps kept ten thousand official horses, and the Qishou Guard and other palace-duty units kept their own mounts—all assigned to separate pastures. At the end of each spring, horses not on active duty were led to pasture by their camp officers; fodder rations were suspended until they returned in late autumn. Supervising secretaries and censors inspected the herds and reported any dead horses or deserters. Later the palace-duty horses ceased going out to graze, but cavalry drill horses still followed the old seasonal routine. In Jiajing 6 the Marquis of Wuding, Guo Xun, citing frontier alarms, secured an exemption from pasturing; pasture rents were collected for official expenses, with the surplus stored at the Imperial Stud to buy horses. Garrison horses then depended entirely on the Ministry of Revenue for fodder, at a cost of 180,000 taels a year. The ministry buckled under the strain, and the pastures fell further into disuse. Officials competed to lease pasture for profit. The encroachment spread until, by Shenzong's reign, the system was ruined beyond repair.

茶馬司，洪武中，立於川、陝，聽西番納馬易茶，賜金牌信符，以防詐偽。每三歲，遣廷臣召諸番合符交易，上馬茶百二十斤，中馬七十斤，下馬五十斤。以私茶出者罪死，雖勳戚無貸。末年，易馬至萬三千五百餘匹。永樂中，禁稍弛，易馬少。乃命嚴邊關茶禁，遣御史巡督。正統末，罷金牌，歲遣行人巡察，邊氓冒禁私販者多。成化間，定差御史一員，領敕專理。弘治間，大學士李東陽言：「金牌制廢，私茶盛，有司又屢以敝茶紿番族，番人抱憾，往往以羸馬應。宜嚴敕陝西官司揭榜招諭，復金牌之制，嚴收良茶，頗增馬直，則得馬必蕃。」及楊一清督理苑馬，遂命並理鹽、茶。一清申舊制，禁私販，種官茶。四年間易馬九千餘匹，而茶尚積四十餘萬斤。靈州鹽池增課五萬九千，貯慶陽、固原庫，以買馬給邊。又懼後無專官，制終廢也，於正德初，請令巡茶御史兼理馬政，行太僕、苑馬寺官聽其提調，報可。御史翟唐歲收茶七十八萬餘斤，易馬九千有奇。後法復弛。嘉靖初，戶部請揭榜禁私茶，凡引俱南戶部印發，府州縣不得擅印。三十年，詔給番族勘合，然初制訖不能復矣。

The Tea-Horse Office was founded under Hongwu in Sichuan and Shaanxi, allowing western tribes to trade horses for tea. Gold plaques and tally tokens were issued to prevent fraud. Every three years court envoys summoned the tribes to exchange horses under the tally system: one hundred twenty jin of tea for an upper-grade horse, seventy for a middle-grade horse, fifty for a lower-grade horse. Smuggling private tea was a capital crime—no mercy even for the emperor's kin by marriage. In his later years the exchange reached more than 13,500 horses. Under Yongle enforcement slackened, and fewer horses changed hands. The court then tightened the frontier tea ban and sent censors to patrol and enforce it. Late in Zhengtong the gold plaques were abolished. Envoys were sent yearly to inspect the trade, but many frontier people defied the ban and smuggled tea on their own. Under Chenghua one censor was permanently assigned, bearing an imperial mandate to manage the trade exclusively. Under Hongzhi Grand Secretary Li Dongyang said: "With the gold-plaque system gone, private tea has flourished. Local officials repeatedly pass off spoiled tea on the tribes, who answer in kind with scrawny, worthless horses. Issue strict orders to Shaanxi officials to post notices and summon the tribes back to the old rules, restore the gold-plaque system, collect only good tea, and raise horse prices generously—then the herds will grow again. When Yang Yiqing was put in charge of pasture horses, he was also ordered to oversee salt and tea. Yiqing restored the old regulations: private trade was banned, and official tea plantations were revived. In four years they traded for more than nine thousand horses, yet more than four hundred thousand jin of tea still sat in store. An added levy of fifty-nine thousand on the Lingzhou salt pans was banked in the Qingyang and Guyuan treasuries to purchase horses for the frontier. Fearing that without a dedicated officer the system would lapse, he asked at the start of Zhengde that the touring tea censor also oversee horse policy, with Imperial Stud and Pasturage Court officers under his direction; the request was approved. Censor Zhai Tang collected more than seven hundred eighty thousand jin of tea in a year and traded for more than nine thousand horses. Later the regulations lapsed once more. Early in Jiajing the Ministry of Revenue asked that proclamations forbid private tea trade; all transport permits were to be issued only by the Nanjing ministry, and local governments might not stamp their own. In the thirtieth year an edict issued tally-slips to frontier tribes, but the original system could never be fully restored.

馬市者，始永樂間。遼東設市三，二在開原，一在廣寧，各去城四十里。成化中，巡撫陳鉞復奏行之。後至萬曆初不廢。嘉靖中，開馬市於大同，陝邊宣鎮相繼行。隆慶五年，俺答上表稱貢。總督王崇古市馬七千餘匹，為價九萬六千有奇。其價，遼東以米布絹，宣、大、山西以銀。市易外有貢馬者，以鈔幣加賜之。

Horse markets date from the Yongle reign. Liaodong set up three markets—two at Kaiyuan and one at Guangning—each forty li from its garrison town. During Chenghua, Grand Coordinator Chen Yue memorialized to revive the practice. It remained in use down to the opening of the Wanli reign. Under Jiajing, horse markets opened at Datong, and the Xuan and other Shaanxi frontier commands soon followed. In the fifth year of Longqing, Altan submitted a memorial professing tributary status. Grand Coordinator Wang Chonggu purchased more than seven thousand horses for a price of more than ninety-six thousand taels. Payment in Liaodong was in grain, cloth, and silk; in Xuan, Datong, and Shanxi, in silver. Horses offered as tribute outside the market received additional rewards in paper currency.

初，太祖起江左，所急惟馬，屢遣使市於四方。正元壽節，內外籓封將帥皆以馬為幣。外國、土司、番部以時入貢，朝廷每厚加賜予，所以招攜懷柔者備至。文帝勤遠略，遣使絕域；外國來朝者甚眾，然所急者不在馬。自後狃於承平，駕馭之權失，馬無外增，惟恃孳生歲課。重以官吏侵漁，牧政荒廢，軍民交困矣。蓋明自宣德以後，祖制漸廢，軍旅特甚，而馬政其一云。

When the founding emperor rose in the lower Yangtze, horses were his first need, and he repeatedly sent agents to buy them throughout the realm. At the Zhengyuan Longevity Festival, imperial kinsmen and commanders inside and outside the capital all presented horses as tribute gifts. Foreign states, native chiefs, and frontier tribes sent tribute on schedule, and the court responded with lavish gifts—every device of conciliation was brought to bear. The Chengzu Emperor, pursuing far-reaching strategy, sent envoys to the ends of the earth; foreign embassies flocked to court, yet horses were no longer the pressing want. Thereafter, grown complacent in long peace, the court lost its grip on the herds; no fresh stock came from abroad, and it depended only on annual breeding quotas. Official predation piled on top, pasture administration collapsed, and soldiers and civilians alike were ground down. In short, from the Xuande reign onward the Ming gradually abandoned ancestral institutions; the military suffered above all, and horse policy was one clear example.

Cite this Chapter