Rule over Ming Dynasty

Chapter 108

"He Shanggong, He Shangguan, you are not allowed to enter here!"

At this moment, the anxious voices of two eunuchs came from outside, as if they were stopping someone who wanted to break into the palace.

"Slaves, go and have a look!" Guo Yong and Liu Jin were both present, and Liu Jin was the first to react.

Zhu Youtang frowned slightly, then gently put down the memorial in his hand, and when he looked up, he saw that the woman blocked at the door was He Shanggong of Qingning Palace.

"Your Majesty, I have come here on the orders of the Empress Dowager, and we will meet each other again!" He Shanggong seemed to be in a hurry, but he found out that he was pleading.

Zhu Youtang glanced at He Shanggong indifferently, then said to Liu Jin and other eunuchs: "Let her in!"

In the Forbidden City, besides the eunuchs and court ladies, there is also a special group of female officials.It's just that many affairs in the palace are now handled by eunuchs, and now female officials have almost no sense of existence.

"My minister pays homage to His Majesty, and my minister came here to deliver a message under the order of the Empress Dowager, so I just lost my manners!" He Shangguan, a tall and thin middle-aged woman, knelt down politely.

Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Zhu Youtang simply cut to the chase and said, "I have explained the matter of Marquis Qingyun clearly. If the Empress Dowager really can't calm down, I will personally go to Qingning Palace to make amends after a while!"

In the matter of Qing Yunhou asking to be executed, he inevitably encountered resistance from the Empress Dowager, but in the end he decided to push Zhou Shou to the guillotine.

It's just that this decision undoubtedly angered the Empress Dowager Zhou completely, and it can even be said that the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren has been completely broken, and the Empress Dowager Zhou once made a scene of hanging herself.

Zhu Youtang naturally knew that the method of the Empress Dowager Zhou was actually forcing him to submit. After all, in this era, the hat of unfilial piety is very serious, but he knows that it is wise to deal with it coldly in this era, so he still does not plan to go to Qingning The palace watched the performance of the old lady.

After all, I can still shirk a little responsibility by sitting here, but if I am forced to die by her, I will easily fall into a dilemma at that time.

"The empress dowager said, please go over now, your majesty, she wants to reconcile with you!" He Shanggong looked up at Zhu Youtang, looking serious and authentic.

This……

Guo Yong and Liu Jin exchanged glances silently, vaguely feeling that this was clearly a grand banquet.

Zhu Youtang naturally knew that the Empress Dowager Zhou was trying to make himself uncomfortable, so he picked up a secret copy next to him and said, "This is the secret report just sent by Jin Yiwei, take it back and show it to the Empress Dowager! "

Liu Jin hurried forward to hand it over, but He Shanggong couldn't help but take a look at the secret report, his expression suddenly changed.

Zhu Youtang saw her reaction in his eyes, and said lightly: "This is the end of the matter! You go back and tell the Empress Dowager: She will be her Empress Dowager, I will be my Emperor, and we are still our ancestors." Sun relationship!"

"I must tell you, my minister will leave!" He Shanggong silently put away the memorial, and then said his resignation.

Zhu Youtang knew that many people would think that the wisest thing to do was to keep Qing Yunhou, so as to keep the harem peaceful on the surface and also ensure their own safety.

It's just that he is now in control of the court. He used to be able to play dumb and make people think that he is a harmless closet prince, but now he will kill himself by pretending to be weak.

Xiang Yu didn't kill Liu Bang. At that time, he really thought that Liu Bang was a little white rabbit. If he found out that Liu Bang was Cao Cao, he would have chopped him up before he was served.

Now that Zhu Youtang has shown his sharpness in the court, it is natural for him to make a decision in the palace.Even though the palace is in crisis, he is the master of this place and the emperor of this dynasty after all.

In fact, if we quarrel with each other now, it would be better for us to protect ourselves, but today everyone knows that he killed the empress dowager's brother with his own hands, which will make some people be suspicious.

Of course, the relationship between mother-in-law and grandchildren has broken down now, and I really can't catch a cold lightly these days.

The little goblin who attends her daily life is quite pretty, especially her eyes have a rare charm of a girl, it seems that she can be used to warm the bed.

The days passed and the weather got colder and colder.

Just in this November, a memorable event occurred in the Ming Dynasty.

Since the change of Tumubao, the dominance of the Beijing camp has gradually fallen into the hands of the civil official group.

It’s just that the budget-conscious civilian group never thinks that training 10,000+ Beijing troops is a cost-effective business. If it weren’t for the military household system formulated by Taizu, they might have already abolished the Beijing army.

Even though the establishment of 10,000+ Beijing troops is retained, the Jing troops can be seen in many projects. For example, the Maoling Mausoleum just built by Emperor Chenghua was transferred by the Ministry of War to tens of thousands of people to serve as laborers.

It can also be seen from this incident that today's Ming Dynasty should not be said to be strong in culture and weak in martial arts, but that the generals have long since lost their place to stand.

Everything is a process of prosperity and decline.If the Beijing army is used as labor by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Industry, their rations will decrease instead of increase, which will cause the Jing army to flee.

Fortunately, the current Beijing camp has not been abolished by the civil service group, and there are still many passionate soldiers here.In particular, it wasn't too long ago that the Tumu Fortress had passed, and many soldiers wanted to avenge their shame, and wanted to restore the heroic appearance of the iron-blooded Ming army in the early Ming Dynasty.

"Twenty taels of silver every month, isn't this a dream?"

"You didn't say it clearly enough. If you can reach the full attendance and first class, add one or two more!"

"This is just the salary of ordinary soldiers, the small banner, general banner and hundred households will only be higher!"

"I'm afraid that such a good thing will not be our turn, and those related households must have taken it!"

"Don't worry, this time the Lord Commander will personally select you. You must meet the requirements to go there, and I heard that you will not be sent separately from the barracks!"

……

When the Aegis Battalion just started recruiting, many soldiers were directly stunned by this treatment, but many soldiers responded that it was not their turn for good things.

At present, the folding color of Ming Dynasty has not yet prevailed, so the soldiers still receive rice grains for rations, but now the Beijing Army's monthly grain rations are only a mere two shi, and this amount of grain has to be deducted layer by layer.

In fact, not only is corruption serious in the localities, but corruption also occurs in the army, especially those martial arts who try every means to make money in the army.

Just like that, their saliva overflowed when they learned about the generous treatment of the Aegis Battalion.

"I chose!"

"Haha... I chose it too!"

"It's still fair to the Lord Commander, I don't have to be angry with Zhao Papi in this camp anymore!"

……

As the list of being selected for the Aegis Battalion came out, many strong and strong soldiers were successfully selected, and these people all seemed proud and said happily.

About 250 soldiers are selected from each battalion, and these are all physically strong people. They are already the strongest group of soldiers selected in the twelve battalions.

It was on November 22nd that the SHIELD Battalion assembled [-] new battalion soldiers, and this is undoubtedly a day worthy of being remembered in history.

Since the barracks located in the north of the city hadn't been completed yet, the Aegis Battalion chose a place outside the north city as a temporary camp, and only started drills on the first day of entering the camp.

"Where did this military boxing come from? It's exhausting!"

"If it's like this every day, how can you live?"

"That's right, now I'm so exhausted!"

……

Just when many sergeants were complaining about the hard work of the drill, they suddenly froze, and then walked quickly towards the direction of the stove looking for the smell of meat.

In the iron pot on the stove, there are pots of mutton burning, and these are fat sheep that have just been slaughtered.

As the meal time came, they were no longer gruel and pickles, but white rice and pots of fragrant meat.

"Can we really eat meat every day?"

"Nonsense, we are the most elite Aegis Battalion!"

"This food is like a dream!"

……

The soldiers of the Aegis Battalion smiled brightly while eating meat, and sighed with emotion at the sudden appearance of a good day like a dream.

Although the training is a bit hard, but with such a good food and a considerable salary, this is a good thing that I never imagined before.

They have always been used as engineers, and they are sent wherever there are major projects, so that they even forget whether they are soldiers or workers.

It's just that things are different now. After the new monarch ascended the throne and cleaned up the government, it is now obvious that he wants to treat their soldiers favorably and let the Ming Dynasty's iron cavalry rise again.

"Now you are eating white rice, eating large pieces of meat in the bowl, and holding snowflakes' monthly money, but you must always remember in your heart! You are the number one camp in the world built by His Majesty, if you are still a coward , tell me where you came from, go back to where you came from, and go back and move your bricks!" Zhang Yong, the commander of the Aegis Battalion, shouted to the soldiers who were eating.

"Who is this eunuch? Why did you arrange for us to be in charge of the army?"

"This is Zhang Yong, the eunuch in charge of the Fenwu Camp. I heard that he is a ruthless character!"

"It's just an eggless thing, it won't last three rounds under my hands!"

"Tie Xiangshan, I know you are reckless, but you really can't beat Lord Commander!"

"Bullshit! I will definitely challenge Zhang Yong when I meet His Majesty some other day. How can the elite of our Beijing camp listen to a commander who has no eggs!"

……

A burly man who was eating was unhappy with Zhang Yong, who was aloof. Although he didn't have any desire for power, he still hoped that someone with eggs would lead them.

In fact, there are quite a few people who think like Tie Xiangshan. After all, they are the most bloody men in the [-]th Battalion, and they all hope that someone who can hold them down will lead them.

At the end of November, the city of Beijing ushered in the first snow.

Even the resplendent and resplendent palaces are covered with a layer of snow amidst the bubbling snowflakes, and the Forbidden City presents a different charm.

"Tie Xiangshan, Li Chenggui, Zhao Yong, Yang Lai..." Zhu Youtang looked at the list of potential generals in his hand, looking preoccupied.

Qian Yi noticed Zhu Youtang's expression, and immediately asked suspiciously: "Your Majesty, this is all obtained from private observation by the servant girl. I don't know what went wrong?"

"Uh, it's not about the list! I still feel that the people in the Beijing camp are too comfortable, and I have to create a sense of crisis for them!" Zhu Youtang has a high degree of trust in Qian Yi and others, so he directly said his concerns.

Although the Aegis Battalion selects the best from among the twelve battalions, many of these people are old acquaintances, so it is easy to form a group.If you want to build a real iron-blooded army, you need to introduce fresh blood, and even create an eel effect.

Qian Yi frowned slightly, looking a bit puzzled and said: "Your Majesty, aren't we going to weed out those who are undisciplined and go back to the camp?"

"This is not enough, I need the generals above and there is a certain degree of competitive pressure!" Zhu Youtang shook his head lightly, and suddenly said with a slight movement in his heart: "Let's do this! Next year, we will hold the Wuju Enke, and at the same time promote the Jingwei Martial Arts. Cultivate some generals!"

Due to the continuous weakening of the Ming army's combat power, the Mongolian cavalry in the north repeatedly came in over the wall to rob money and people, making the Ming Dynasty the target of looting.

In addition to the reduction of Ming's investment in military expenditure, it also has a lot to do with the lack of military personnel training.

When Zhu Youtang was a financial researcher in his previous life, he knew that if he wanted to revitalize that industry, he needed to invest a lot of money and talents, both of which were indispensable.

Take football as an example. Originally, a large amount of capital intervention promoted the good development of various clubs. As a result, programmers insisted on limiting salary and naming teams. As a result, after the withdrawal of capital, it was naturally a mess.

Now if you want to let the Daming iron cavalry gallop on the grassland again, in addition to additional military expenditures, you have to push both martial arts and martial arts to a more important position.

"This is a wonderful move! Your Majesty, do we want to add martial arts to our inner school?" Qian Yi's eyes lit up slightly, and he immediately made a suggestion.

"It's not urgent, let's wait for Wang Zhi to come back first, now the addition of geography, arithmetic and sociology in the Neishutang is enough!" Zhu Youtang thought for a moment, but shook his head gently.

Since the early years of Xuande, the inner court has selected two to three hundred young eunuchs around the age of ten to study in the inner school, which is equivalent to the Imperial Academy of the inner court.

In addition to studying the Four Books and Five Classics, the young eunuchs in it also need to study ideological education courses such as "Internal Orders" and "Zhongjianlu", as well as cultivate judges who criticize and answer courtiers' memorabilia and criticize courtiers' proposals. imitation.

There are only two days off on the first day and the 15th day of the month, one exam every three days, one exam every five days, and a final exam at the end of each stage.After a short period of several years and a long period of repeated elimination.

The students with the best grades and luck will be selected to go to the study room. If they go to the study room, the next stop will be the supervisor of rituals, thus forming the model of "neishutang-study room-supervisor of rituals".

For example, Guo Yong studied in the Neishutang, and then worked in the document room. After he got enough qualifications and performed well, he was naturally selected to serve as the Supervisor of Rituals.

After Zhu Youtang ascended the throne, especially after he began to use eunuchs to take charge of the [-]th Battalion for him, he paid more attention to the education work of Neishutang.

The reason for adding practical subjects such as geography and arithmetic is that Wang Zhi and Zheng He hope to find themselves in it, and even Wei Zhongzhen, who knows how to manage money.

(End of this chapter)