[Outside, in the prosperous capital, the stars of the Han Dynasty are falling, and music and singing are everywhere, but you are burning the midnight oil in the yamen of the Ministry of War, fighting overwhelming paperwork cases. 】
[After His Majesty succeeded to the throne, the importance of the Ministry of War has skyrocketed, and its status among the six ministries is second only to the Ministry of Personnel. The Minister of the Ministry of Personnel is also known as "Tianguan" or "Otsuka Zai", while the Minister of the Ministry of War is also known as "Xiaguan" or "Da Sima". 】
[Today, among the six ministries, the Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of War, and the Ministry of Household Affairs are called the upper three ministries, while the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Ministry of Work are called the lower three ministries. 】
[Needless to say, the Personnel Department, which is transferred by the officials in charge, has always been the first of the six departments. Except for the Personnel Department, most of the other five departments are arranged differently due to different dynasties. Although the Ministry of Revenue is said to be in charge of the world's money, due to the fact that taxation has been stripped away and placed under the management of the Supervisory Tax Academy, its actual power has greatly declined. The reason why it can be ranked in the top three is because the three prime ministers and assistants of the Hengjing Dynasty all held concurrent functions. Housekeeping Department. 】
[Xia Yuanji, the first minister of the Hengjing Dynasty, was from the Ministry of Household Affairs. The chief minister of the cabinet also served as the six ministers. This was the first of the Ming Dynasty and the first minister of the Ming Dynasty in the true sense. The two subsequent cabinet ministers, Yang Rong and Su Wu, became the cabinet chief ministers only after taking over the Ministry of Household Affairs. 】
[The reason why the Ministry of War ranks among the top three, and even surpasses the Ministry of Household Affairs, is because after His Majesty Emperor Hengjing ascended the throne, the Ming Dynasty expanded its external affairs too fast. In just nine years, the territory of the Ming Dynasty has been almost Twice that of the Hongwu Dynasty! 】
[As the country becomes more and more vast, the people who benefit the most are the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War. The vaster the territory, the more officials and armies under the world need to expand. In the 26th year of Hongwu, the total number of armies in the country was 2.8 million, which was an extremely astonishing number. 】
[At its peak, the Han Dynasty had a maximum total military strength of 700,000. However, throughout the Han Dynasty, the standing military strength was only maintained at around 300,000. The powerful Tang Dynasty had only 300,000 standing troops nationwide; the Northern Song Dynasty, which invested 70% of the country's fiscal revenue in the army, had less than 1.3 million troops at its peak; as for the Southern Song Dynasty, which lost a large amount of territory, the country's The troop strength is maintained at around 400,000. 】
[The combined total military strength of the Han Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, Northern Song Dynasty, and Southern Song Dynasty was 2.7 million. The total military strength of the four dynasties was less than the 2.8 million of the Hongwu Dynasty. However, in today's Hengjing Dynasty, the standing force is 6.5 million. 】
[Six million and a half million, this is the number after a major disarmament. Before the major disarmament, the Ming Dynasty's national army was probably nearly 8 million. 】
"What the hell?"
Even if it was Zhu Di, he couldn't help but be frightened at this time.
The total strength of the country is eight million!
What kind of number is this? !
The national military strength of the Hengjing Dynasty was one-fifth of the total population of the Yongle Dynasty?
When the Hongwu Dynasty was founded, the total population of the Ming Dynasty was about 60 million. By the second year of Yongle, the population had grown to 50 million. This was a bad result of the Jingnan Campaign. A battlefield that greatly damaged the vitality of the Ming Dynasty. .
Under Zhu Di's conscientious governance, by the tenth year of Yongle, the total population of the Ming Dynasty had returned to 65 million. However, after the statistics of the eleventh year of Yongle, it suddenly dropped to 51 million. Because some people are lying about the population, this kind of thing has become commonplace. Local governments reduce taxes by concealing the population. This is the general trend. Although Zhu Di tried his best to save it, it was still to no avail.
Fortunately, after Zhu Gaoji established the Tax Supervision Institute and reformed the tax system, this phenomenon was slightly alleviated. Because the local forces discovered that even if they concealed the population, they would still need to pay taxes to the court under the pressure of the Tax Supervisory Yuan, and the black tax rate was much higher than the white tax rate. What was the point of concealing the population? It would be better to directly pay taxes to the court. The tax was apparently paid.
Therefore, in just half a year after the establishment of the Tax Supervisory Academy, the total population of the Yongle Dynasty surged to more than 70 million!
Even though the total population has increased, Hengjing Dynasty's total force of eight million is still terrifying. This is a suffocating number. How can the court afford to maintain a total force of eight million? How was it managed?
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, conquests have been continuous, so the total military strength of the country has remained high. Zhu Di originally thought that the total military strength of two to three million would be the limit, because once this number was exceeded, the national strength of the Ming Dynasty would not be able to bear it. Even going out of control!
Once the total military strength of the country exceeds the limit, it will lead to irreversible destruction. Doesn't Zhu Gaojie know this truth?
Zhu Di was puzzled and could only watch patiently.
[The war brought huge disasters. Countless people were displaced during the war. The flames of war flew across the fields like a tide of locusts, leaving no grass growing in their path. Countless people died in the war. Not only the military suffered battle losses, but more people died. Or civilians. 】
[Although His Majesty has never massacred civilians, war is still a war. In the flames of war, civilians always die the most. When the Ming Dynasty's army faced a foreign race, it was impossible to delay its own fighting opportunities to avoid the death of civilians in the enemy country. 】
[In the first year of Hengjing, Emperor Hengjing, who had just succeeded to the throne, launched a war and declared war on the Great Luo Kingdom. At that time, you did not understand the new emperor’s thoughts and thought that His Majesty was a faint emperor who was overjoyed in his achievements. I am sparse in my status, and I would like to persuade Your Majesty to restrain his warlike heart, start a new era with the people, and be kind to the world! 】
[The new emperor at that time carefully read your memorials and summoned you to the palace to meet the emperor. You thought that the emperor suddenly realized that the prodigal son had turned around. You regarded yourself as Wei Zheng of the Tang Dynasty, and regarded his majesty as Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty. He happily entered the palace to meet him. However, what awaits you is not the emperor's favor, but ruthless dismissal. 】
[The new emperor deprived you of all your positions. After the Da Luo Kingdom was destroyed by the Ming army, Tianzhu Province was reorganized and you were appointed as a minor official in the Tianzhu Chengxuan Envoy Department. 】
[That period was the darkest time in your life. You felt that you were not born at the right time. Although you had great ambitions, you could not afford to be depressed. Hengjing, a foolish king, was blind and unable to recognize people. During that time, you drank excessively and indulged in drunkenness and dreams all day long. 】
[However, Yu Qian is Yu Qian after all. It didn't take long for you to become angry again. Emperor Hengjing demoted you to be a minor official, so you should be a minor official. You will be the best official in the world! You don't want to prove anything to the world or Emperor Hengjing, you just want to be yourself and be your ideal self. 】
Zhu Di sighed when he saw this.
Yu Qian is a talent, but it's a pity that he is still too immature.
Judging from Zhu Di's understanding of Zhu Gaojie, this boy is by no means a person who likes great achievements. He is a person who takes machinations and scheming to the extreme. The new emperor ascended the throne and went on an expedition. This was an announcement to the world that the Ming Dynasty had lost Emperor Yongle, but the Ming Dynasty did not suffer from it. The new emperor was still the wisest and most heroic emperor, to calm the hearts of the people in the world and to revive the Ming Dynasty. The prestige of the country.
Of course, the premise is that the emperor is really capable, otherwise he should just stay at home and stay at home. There is no shame in being a stay at home. What is shameful is that he lost the battle just after he ascended the throne.
Obviously, Zhu Gaojie belongs to the type of emperor who is really capable.
Yu Qian was too young to see this. He looked up to the "Emperor" from the perspective of a "people", and in the end he only saw the clouds and mist enveloping him but not the top of the mountain.
If nothing else happened, he would have stopped here in his life and paid a heavy price for his youthful vigor...
etc!
Zhu Di suddenly realized a problem: Yu Qian was demoted to a minor official in the first year of Hengjing, but Yu Qian in the ninth year of Hengjing was an important minister of the Ministry of War.
How did he do that?
In the previous two simulations of Zhu Gaojie's identity as Emperor Hengjing, the first time was when Zhu Gaojiu was the emperor when he first ascended the throne, and the second time was when Zhu Gaojia in his later years was paving the way for the successor of the empire. In both simulations, Zhu Di's eyes were only limited to Zhu Gaojia. How powerful the Ming Dynasty became after succeeding to the throne.
This simulation of Yu Qian took place in the early to mid-term of the Hengjing Dynasty, during the construction period. From Yu Qian's perspective, he could appreciate more of the development of the empire.
This is a completely different experience. The first two times he simulated the Hengjing Dynasty, he only felt very proud and at ease. But this simulation, he felt was completely outrageous.
Off the charts!
How did Zhu Gaojie do these things?
This is no longer as simple as pulling out a seedling to encourage it to grow. He is throwing out a seed and letting the seed take root and sprout the next day and quickly grow into a towering tree for him to pick the fruit.
If it were another emperor in another dynasty, such troubles would not only make the country develop rapidly, but also make the country decline rapidly!
However, in the hands of Zhu Gaojie, Ming Dynasty did not decline because it moved too fast. Instead, it successfully climbed to the top again and again in a puzzling way!
[You have been a minor official in Tianzhu Province for three years. Three years of hard work have transformed you from a high-spirited madman to a full-fledged official. In the past three years, you have inspected every piece of land in Tianzhu Province, and you were surprised to find that the Daluo Kingdom after the fall of the Ming Dynasty was very different from your imagination. 】
[The Ming Dynasty destroyed the Da Luo Kingdom, but also established a glorious Tianzhu Province on the ruins of the Da Luo Kingdom. In just three years, the Ming Dynasty established one system after another in Tianzhu. What the imperial court did was not only to continuously establish Chinese academies and implement assimilation. Simple brainwashing cannot solve the problem. They brought Tianzhu Province to a new level and allowed the people of Tianzhu to live a life that they could not even imagine before. Abundant life. 】
[Destruction is the rebirth of redemption. 】
[But you, who want to understand these things, have become more calm and determined to do your job well. You feel that there is nothing wrong with being a minor official. You have given up the Confucianism you have accepted since childhood because you feel that Confucianism is useless when used in practical matters. Everything your Majesty does today is contrary to Confucianism, but Confucianism is in your hands. How pale and powerless it seems in front of his thoughts. 】
[If there is a god in the world, then this god will only be Emperor Hengjing. 】
[In the fourth year of Hengjing, His Majesty suddenly issued an order to recall you from Tianzhu Province to Beijing and promote you to the rank of Zuo Shilang of the Ministry of War. 】
[This can be said to be a step to the sky. When you return to the capital to meet the Holy Spirit, you bow your head to His Majesty from the bottom of your heart. 】
[You understand now that His Majesty was not angry because of your superiority and wanted to hide you in the snow. He valued your talents and allowed you to hone them in Tianzhu Province. You have gained so much in these three years that you can even It is said that "Tianzhu enlightened and transformed into an immortal."]
[You no longer have any complaints against His Majesty in your heart, but revere him as if you were looking up to a god. 】
[The second year after you were promoted to the left minister of the Ministry of War, the Minister of the Ministry of War retired and returned to his hometown. You took over the position of the Minister and became the new leader of the Ministry of War. 】
Zhu Di praised: "Good boy, it turns out you are playing this trick with me."
After reading the ins and outs of Yu Qian's five years as an official in the Hengjing Dynasty, Zhu Di finally understood Zhu Gaojie's masterful way of serving as a royal servant.
At first, it seemed that Yu Qian was hiding in the snow, but in fact, he was tempered. In the end, a rebellious and frivolous Yu Qian was forged into a steady sharp blade, which made Yu Qian return to his heart.
Absolutely amazing!
[You were reviewing documents at the Ministry of War when you suddenly heard footsteps. Looking back, you saw that His Majesty had arrived unannounced. 】
[His Majesty is wearing a red dragon robe, with his hands clasped behind his back. He is even more majestic as an emperor in his prime. However, in your eyes, His Majesty is very kind-hearted. You quickly salute and say: "I don't know if your Majesty arrived at a distance to greet you." , I hope your majesty will forgive me."]
"It's okay." His Majesty said with a smile, "I was just passing by and saw your Ministry of War office was brightly lit, so I came in to take a look. I didn't expect Yu Qing to stay up late and fight at night during the Lantern Festival. I'm very relieved, but it's time to rest. You still need to rest, don’t overwork your body. Yu Qing is a wise minister and the cornerstone of the dynasty. Besides, you are still young, so you should put your health first."]
[You were a little flattered and a little confused when you heard this. 】
[You are flattered because of His Majesty's love and praise, and you are confused... because you think that today is the Lantern Festival. Every year during the Lantern Festival, His Majesty's schedule should be fully arranged, and he should lead the inner palace from the second update. The middle-aged man took a small car to the gate tower of Xuandemen to view Aoshan Mountain. After that, he had to make a series of arrangements, and it was impossible to have time to pass by the Ministry of War Yamen. What's more, even if you look at the main entrance of the Ministry of War Yamen, you can't see the lights on in the room where you work. 】
[This can only mean one thing, that is, His Majesty took the time to come to the Ministry of War, and he came just to see you. 】
[Thinking of these, you feel like your feet are floating all over the ground, and your thoughts are flying to the moon to be side by side with Chang'e. Your Majesty actually misses you and comes to visit you during this Lantern Festival. How grand is this? kindness! 】
[But your Yu Qian’s thinking is very different from that of ordinary people. If it were anyone else who was so valued by His Majesty, he would just kneel down on the spot to express his loyalty and act like a horse with a thousand li and a Bolechen who is willing to devote himself to His Majesty and then die. However, after you reacted, you picked up the paperwork and asked His Majesty for instructions on the work. 】
[Just kidding, Shane comes second, work comes first. 】
[There is no point in talking nonsense. Doing two more facts is the greatest reward for Your Majesty. 】
[You hold the document and say seriously: "I have a few things that I don't understand. Please give me your Majesty's instructions..."]
(End of chapter)
