The disarmament decree stirred up a thousand waves with one stone and caused an uproar among the various corps.
The imperial officers who hurried back to Nanjing were extremely shocked by this inexplicable disarmament order.
According to the edict issued by Emperor Guangde, seven of the original fifteen corps will be cut, leaving only eight corps. The reduction is expected to exceed 200,000 people.
Including the Gyeonggi garrison deployed around Nanjing, only 400,000 standing troops were finally retained.
The disarmament began with the Ninth Corps, and all the subsequent seven Corps were laid off.
The abolished officers will be integrated into the eight major corps or voluntarily retire.
Among the seven corps, except for artillery, aviation, cavalry, medical corps and other technical arms, all other combat troops were demobilized and returned to their hometowns.
All retired soldiers will receive a monthly allowance of one tael until their death.
Local chief officials and civil affairs officials will arrange a way out for them, and veterans can choose to engage in work such as anti-theft and militia training in prefectures and counties.
Those who do not want to stay in the prefecture or county can be allocated 300 acres of land and return to their hometown to work as farmers (currently only for soldiers from Jiangnan).
Those veterans who were scattered in the north and south of the empire and on various fronts, who had fought for many years and fought bloody battlefields, did not wait to receive the honor of being awarded a medal. Instead, they were informed by a piece of paper that their flag corps, battalions, and even the entire regiment were all changed overnight. was abolished in between.
It’s hard to imagine how these veterans will react when they finally get such news!
A mutiny or rebellion may be inevitable.
In the Fengtian Palace, all the generals were silent, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.
Deng Changxiong, who was over fifty years old, paid a military salute to the new emperor with a solemn expression:
"May I ask Your Majesty, is the disarmament order your Majesty's decision, or was it something the Supreme Emperor informed Your Majesty before?"
Qin Jianxun and Pu Gang raised their heads together and looked at Emperor Guangde.
Liu Kan resisted his displeasure. Jiang Liu'er, who was standing next to him, pressed his fingers on the scabbard and looked at the generals with a bright look. The tiger was prostrate next to the dragon chair with his eyes half open and half closed, as if he was taking a nap.
A eunuch jumped out from behind Emperor Guangde and shouted:
"Your Majesty's will is the will of the Supreme Emperor, and the will of the Supreme Emperor is also your Majesty's will. There is only one emperor in Da Qi. General Deng, why do you say this?"
Deng Changxiong didn't speak, he just raised his head and glared at the eunuch, his expression as calm as if he was looking at a dead man.
Li Juying shuddered, as if the god of death had absorbed all the power, and her body could not move. It was not until Deng Changxiong turned his eyes to look at the emperor that he hurriedly retreated.
Emperor Guangde said with a half-smile, "Eunuch Li is a newcomer. He has been serving me in Wenhua Palace before. He doesn't understand the rules of Fengtian Palace. Don't blame me, generals."
The so-called rules of Fengtian Palace are that when the emperor is talking to the ministers, the eunuchs and maids are not allowed to make any noise.
The emperor's words clearly showed that Eunuch Li was his confidant. He was reminding the generals to give Li Juying some face in the future.
"Although Eunuch Li's words are a bit rough, the truth is this. Disarmament is not a sudden whim of mine. It has nothing to do with anything else. I am just forced to do so."
When Liu Kan said the words "forced and helpless", his voice was choked with sobs. I don't know whether it was because of his inner excitement or because he was just acting.
"My father has been in power for twenty-six years. During these twenty-six years, the country has not been at war. Fighting against Jiannu, fighting against the Ming Dynasty, fighting against the White Lotus Sect, and fighting against the Japanese state of Korea... You are all leaders. Soldiers should know better than me, how much does it cost to raise a soldier? How much does it cost to fight a war? Daqi not only has an army, but also two capitals and twenty-eight provinces, with trillions of people!"
Emperor Guangde's face was flushed and he spoke quickly.
In the early days, Da Qi had only one hundred thousand soldiers, and they could barely provide for them after exhausting all the power of the world.
Now, the total military strength exceeds 500,000, plus the auxiliary troops, 500,000 to 600,000 people eat, drink, and defecate. They are all out of work. They do not farm or do business. Unlike those guard soldiers in the previous Ming Dynasty, they can support themselves.
In the pre-industrial era, if the country were to feed these five or six million people for a long time, sooner or later they would be dragged to death.
"Before the Eastern Expedition to the Japanese Kingdom, my father said that he would obtain what he needed from the Japanese, including food, land, and minerals. We would support the war with war. Now, the Japanese Kingdom has sunk, leaving only Kyushu Island, and there are very few fields. We must use war to support the war." There is no need to think about it. Except for Japan, Yinzhou and Australia are all the same. They are all bleeding Qi continuously. They cannot make ends meet and must stop immediately. "
Emperor Guangde paused for a moment and looked at the sky outside the palace.
"Regardless of whether you are on the disarmament list or not, I can guarantee that the salary of the selected generals will remain unchanged in the future..."
"If we hesitate any longer, Daqi will be finished when the people are completely crushed by the army. By then, it will not be as simple as disarmament."
Emperor Guangde never had a good impression of these veterans left behind by his father.
These obstructive old guys have always despised themselves from the bottom of their hearts, treating themselves as a weak king like Zhu Youjian, the subjugated emperor, who was born in a deep palace and grew up in the hands of women.
If you want to end the tyranny of the Supreme Emperor and put Qi on the right track, you must first firmly control the army. After all, this country still has military-first politics.
"Disarmament has been brewing for a long time, and shrinkage is imperative! As early as the early years of Taichu, the Supreme Emperor discussed this matter with me. The Supreme Emperor supported the improvement of the "Qi Dynasty Land Acquisition System."
Like his father, Liu Kan lied without any pressure and could not even see the change in expression on his face.
"Disarmament is a national policy, related to the destiny of the country, and cannot be changed. Even if I can't do it, my son and grandson can do it!"
~~~~~
Dakongfang.
The night was dark, and the noble mansion that used to be brightly lit seemed particularly deserted tonight.
Every household extinguished the lights early and closed the door. The night watchman seemed to have received some news and walked around this residential area of civilians and military generals.
Deng Changxiong's home is located in the core area of Dakongfang. This is a five-entry mansion. It is said to be the residence of the former Minister of Household Affairs in the Ming Dynasty.
After walking through the vestibule, passing through the patio, the courtyard is deep, passing through the corridor, and in the innermost room, a whale oil lamp flickers on and off.
Several tall and tall guards stood at the door.
In the wing room, a group of warriors gathered around the Eight Immortals table, drinking tea and discussing something in a low voice.
Deng Changxiong, with gray beard and hair, squinted his eyes, played with two walnuts in one hand, and held a teapot in the other. In addition, he was wearing casual clothes. It was completely impossible to tell that he was the most powerful general in Daqi.
"Brother Deng, you will continue to suffer the consequences. As long as you say a word, all the brothers will do it with you!"
It was Pu Gang who spoke. He punched the table, and the teacup and teapot clinked together.
"What are you doing? What do you want to do?" Wang Zengbin glanced at Pu Gang and said threateningly: "The Emperor's life and death are unknown. What are you going to do?"
Another Mongolian general next to Pu Gang said: "For the sake of the Supreme Emperor and Daqi, what must we do?"
Wu Aheng, who had a calm face, glanced at Pu Gang and said leisurely: "Half of the navy was abolished, and I didn't say anything. You are all five or six beasts."
Pu Gang said tit for tat:
"Your navy is fighting wars every day, the food is good, you get a lot of money, and you have the fewest layoffs. Of course you don't care!"
Seeing that the people at the table were about to start a fight, Deng Changxiong coughed twice.
"Ahem, listen to what I have to say,"
The surrounding area suddenly became quiet.
"Do you still remember why you followed the Emperor to fight in the first place? I, Deng Changxiong, was in Saarhu. I saw tens of thousands of people, like mowing grass, gone."
Deng Changxiong waved his hand and made a mowing motion.
"The Supreme Emperor came out of nowhere and saved many people. Later, when he arrived in Liaodong, he saved many people. The Supreme Emperor was different from other military leaders at that time, including Zu Dashou and Li Rubai, so I followed him until later."
Everyone was silent, each lost in their memories.
"Let's not talk about or pay attention to the Emperor's affairs in Japan. Maybe it's time for Daqi to change his ways... The new emperor is still young. He has his own thoughts and ideas. As old people, we , we should support him, whether it is disarmament or unemployment, as long as we can have a stable home, it will be good for the country and the people."
Pu Gang said angrily: "Nonsense! If the Supreme Emperor were still here, he would never let the little emperor do anything wrong. What is Liu Kan going to do! He wants to abolish the land and acres system, feed the landlords again, retake the eight-part essay, and build a military aircraft department. If we want to let the civil servants ride on our heads again, if we lose our military power, we will have nothing, and Da Qi will be destroyed in our hands."
Pu Gang pointed to the sky above his head and vowed: "When we die, how can we go down to see the Supreme Emperor?"
Unger, the commander of the Fourteenth Corps, who was about to be driven back to Horqin to herd sheep by Emperor Guangde, echoed:
"That's right. The reason why the Emperor was honored as Tian Khan and all the tribes voluntarily surrendered to Kaiyuan was because the Emperor was thinking about our foreign vassals. Now, the little emperor has given up on the Japanese country and ignores Horqin. The Great Khan Bu Mu Butai has no reason He hanged himself in Nanjing and is still not allowed to be buried! The Immortal God will bring wrath on Da Qi! We must have a good chat with Emperor Guangde."
"Mongolians like to speak openly, so I boldly suggest that it is better for the emperor to return power to the two queen mothers, preferably to the Empress Dowager Cisheng. She was born in North Korea and should not be too biased towards the Han people and will not give up on us easily. Extras..."
Pu Gang shook his head and said: "The yurt has no skylight. The eldest princess is very dissatisfied with this younger brother. The eldest princess is the child of the Supreme Emperor and the Cisheng Queen Mother. Instead of uniting with the Queen Mother, it is better to unite with the eldest princess directly..."
Pu Gang kept talking, and the other generals around him opened their mouths and stared blankly at this most radical commander.
"Are you done?"
Deng Changxiong suddenly clapped his arms and stood up.
"It's not chaotic enough. Do you want to be Dong Zhuo or Jin Yinghe?! Finally, you have a chance to recuperate and recuperate. For your own selfish purposes, you actually say such things!"
Deng Changxiong looked around: "Whoever wants to rebel should kill me first!"
More than ten years ago, in the game that determined the future of Daqi, Jin Yinghe became a pawn of a certain force and sacrificed his life.
Pu Gang sighed, shook his head and said:
"What's selfish? When the disarmament order is passed to the military camps, the soldiers will not be reasonable. By then, it will not be as simple as mutiny."
Deng Changxiong said coldly: "With hundreds of thousands of people, a few rebels among them are inevitable, and we can't control it! However, don't worry, Emperor Guangde has guards and three major corps. A few rebellions are out of control! Pu Gang, don’t make the same mistake as Jin’s character Yang Tong!”
"You, you have harmed Da Qi!"
Pu Gang stood up with a puff of his sleeves.
"Okay! You continue to be loyal ministers, and I will find helpers to get rid of that annoying uncle first!"
~~~~
"Li Dingguo, are you coming to force me to kill my uncle? Are you coming to force the palace too!"
Wenhua Hall.
Li Dingguo traveled thousands of miles from Yinzhou to Daqi and arrived in Nanjing yesterday.
This loyal governor had no time to report the good news to the emperor, and before he had time to offer the European scalps and various gaudy colonial specialties he had hunted in Yinzhou over the years, he first encountered the unexpected events of the uncle's murder in the street and the Nanjing rebellion.
On the way to the Forbidden City, he heard that Yinzhou had been abandoned by the imperial court, that the empire planned to reduce its army by 200,000, and that many privileges of military officers were suppressed... This was also the root cause of the Nanjing riots.
In the three streets and six lanes of Nanjing City, the angry Nanjing soldiers and civilians burned down the uncle's mansion and were heading towards the Forbidden City, preparing to "tell their grievances" to Emperor Guangde.
Someone in the crowd who knew Governor Li held up a torch and shouted:
"Li Dingguo, why did you come back? The Supreme Emperor was killed by them! They are going to kill everyone now! Let's go into the palace together and kill all those traitors!"
The Emperor of Da Qi became the son of the Supreme Emperor, and his previous foreign strategies, including his support for Yinzhou, were all gone overnight.
Li Dingguo, who firmly supported the great cause of the empire, could not bear this series of cruel blows, lost control of his emotions, and shouted angrily:
"I'm not here to force Your Majesty. I have something to ask!"
"Qi Emperor Liu Kan, have you forgotten the Supreme Emperor's wish to unify the world?"
"I didn't forget!"
"Did I forget?!" Liu Kan gritted his teeth and glared at Li Dingguo.
"I was not welcomed by my father when I was born! My mother died, who of you helped me? Zhu Youjian sent people to poison my mother's food, and the people around me refused to help! Even the maids and eunuchs bullied me when I was a child. , I almost starved to death in the Beijing Palace! I was frozen to death!"
"Where was Qi Ren at that time! Where was the Supreme Emperor!"
"I had no food, no clothes, what did the people of Qi give me? My mother was killed, and apart from the two queen mothers, I had only my uncle to help me and take care of me. I sat on his lap, and he gave me the money that my father had given me. He gave me all the desserts, and he taught me the first word, which is benevolence! He taught me how to be a good emperor!"
"But my father only knows how to fight, and he is always fighting. There is no sign of him all year round! One by one of his men died! Finally one day, he finished fighting and took us from the north to the south. I thought my uncle could stay too. But the father said that his uncle wanted to rebel, so he beat his uncle half to death with fifty sticks and sent him to Sakhalin Island! Liu Zhaosun treated our Zhang family even more harshly than his enemies! Now, Liu Zhaosun is dead! I finally got rid of him You still want to kill my uncle when he comes back? None of you can kill him!"
Li Dingguo looked solemn: "Your Majesty, please kill the general! Twenty years ago, the general almost starved to death in Shaanxi. It was the Supreme Emperor who took me in and sent me to Yinzhou. Everything I have today, including my family and life, is It was given by Da Qi. The soldiers and I fought bloody battles with the Indians in Yinzhou, and finally we had a land of some size. Why should we give it up so easily? There is also Australia!"
Liu Kan angrily shouted filial piety: "I will kill you..."
"Kill me, and there will still be people who want Your Majesty to kill my uncle! There will still be people who oppose disarmament!"
Liu Kan's eyes were filled with tears, his mood gradually recovered, and he walked to Li Dingguo with staggering steps.
"I can't kill him, I really can't kill him. I don't want to continue the war, I just want everyone to be safe..."
"Qi Emperor Liu Kan, have you really forgotten your great wish to conquer the world?"
Liu Kan subconsciously stepped back and clasped his hands together, as if begging not to shout anymore.
~~~~~
The side hall of Wenhua Hall.
"The army and the people are making noise and are coming to the Forbidden City soon. Please make a decision immediately, Your Majesty."
"Your Majesty, my condolences. This is the first time for Your Majesty to meet with the Gyeonggi garrison. These garrison troops are all elites of Qi Dynasty. Many of them are veterans from the time of the Supreme Emperor. This interview is of great significance to Your Majesty. It can not only stabilize the morale of the army, but also make people in the recent past This rumor is self-defeating!"
Kang Jingxiu looked back at the group of Da Qi civil and military officials following him, and raised his voice:
"Among the ministers present, which family does not have someone who died for the country? Why can't your family mourn for the country? It is better for one uncle to die than for everyone to die!"
"Mr. Kangge, tell me, what happened to my uncle?"
Emperor Guangde's voice trembled, like a wounded beast, his teeth chattering.
"Karma, I'm not happy at all. I know they will fight back, and I know they won't give in. If they have anything, they will come at me! Why are you looking for uncle Guo? He has suffered for half his life! He just came back from Sakhalin Island, and his illness has not recovered yet. It’s too late to see the beauty of the southeast, too late to enjoy the splendor and wealth, so…”
Kang Jingxiu was calm and collected.
"I can tell your majesty about the torture my uncle Guo suffered in the Zhenfu Division, but your majesty needs to obey my instructions. The matter is now over. Your majesty must change your robes and go to the North Gate to appease the sergeants. Your uncle must be executed and it must be announced. The world declares my uncle's crime."
Liu Kan nodded.
"First they found a drunkard to provoke Uncle Guo's slave in the street. The slave accidentally stabbed the drunkard to death. Then they put the drunkard in a military uniform and fanned the soldiers. They said it was Uncle Zhang's slave who bullied others and bullied the retired sergeants. Uncle Guo's theory in the past was repeated. When someone was injured, a fight broke out."
Kang Jingxiu looked at his colleagues around him awkwardly.
"Now, the rebel soldiers and civilians say they want to clean up the emperor and get rid of the traitors around His Majesty!"
Liu Kan said anxiously: "Qing Junzi? Who is in charge! I want to kill him!"
"The Shandong garrison is involved, as well as people from the Feiyi Guards..."
"Shandong Garrison? Pu Gang?"
Kang Jingxiu said: "Your Majesty, the matter has come to an end, let's not say who to kill! Three feet of ice does not last in a day! The army has been dismantled, the troops have been streamlined and the administration has been streamlined. There are complaints from all the corps, especially the middle and lower-level soldiers. Our military system is different from that of the previous Ming Dynasty. Differently, the compulsory military service system established by the Supreme Emperor allows soldiers to stay in the camp. Many soldiers have been soldiers for more than ten years and only know how to fight. If they are sent home, even if they have a job and receive money, problems will eventually arise. . Your Majesty should have made a decision earlier. There are more and more of them, and by the time they reach the palace, it will be too late!"
Liu Kan said angrily: "Let the imperial guards suppress it! Is the first regiment just for food? Send the soldiers out!"
Liu Xingzuo said: "Your Majesty, all the corps and the Imperial Guard know each other, and the relationship is complicated and intricate. Now the rumors of disarmament are so widespread and so outrageous that they may be difficult to suppress for a while..."
Mao Chengdou, the Minister of War, said: "The coir raincoat guards have information. Since they know this, why didn't they report it to the Holy Majesty earlier?"
Liu Xingzuo looked helpless: "The Corps has its own intelligence system, and the Capricorn Guards cannot interfere. The Emperor set it up like this in the first place to restrain the two sides. Moreover, many people among the Capricorn Guards complained about the disarmament..."
"That's it, that's all, let's not talk about this anymore." Liu Kan closed his eyes and bit his lips to reveal the bloody mark:
"Let it be known to the world that Zhang Duan, as the uncle of the state, is in charge of people's lives. He indulges slaves in the front, bullies men and women, and harms the people in the back. He is ordered to take away his title and be executed immediately! Jiang Liu'er, please escort me to the north. Door, appease the three armies!"
