"Today I am talking about the story of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty who labored in the army, just to make your majesty understand that the ancients said that although the world is peaceful, if it forgets to fight, it will be in danger. Nowadays, peace has lasted for a long time, military preparations have been weakened, and the generals are controlled by the civil servants, which is no more than the same as slaves. "
"But since such a general cannot maintain his sharpness on a daily basis, why should he be blamed for having the courage to attack when facing the enemy?"
"I hope that your Majesty will pay attention to the armed generals from now on."
"For those who are loyal and brave, we should give them a little more authority so that they are not controlled by civil servants, but can display their command and strategy skills, and can better give orders to the enemy and strictly regulate the soldiers."
"General officers should be rewarded and promoted only for their military merits and not for alienation of relatives. The punishment for crimes should also be treated fairly."
"But for those who dare to do their job, they should not be severely punished for a single defeat, but should be encouraged more and used with caution and harsh punishments. They should not only tolerate civil servants but harshly criticize military generals, so as not to sink the morale of the generals."
At this time, Zhang Juzheng started to make such remarks to Zhu Yijun.
Zhu Yijun nodded frequently.
Being able to say that "generals are controlled by civil servants and are like slaves" made Zhu Yijun have to admit that Zhang Juzheng, a civil servant, was indeed different from many civil servants. He broke out of the framework of the interests of the civil servants and scholar-bureaucrats, and was really working for himself. Whether the emperor and the entire Ming Dynasty's military can be strong is a matter of consideration.
"That's what sir said."
"I have been reading the history of the Song Dynasty recently and saw the words 'The Emperor is the one who has strong soldiers and horses' and the words 'How can I allow others to sleep soundly on the side of the couch'? I feel that although these remarks are hegemonic, they also seem to be reasonable."
"I govern the country like a scale. If I want to keep the scale level, I need great strength. And the foundation of this strength, although the people in the world are against it, is reflected in whether I have the strongest soldiers and horses. In addition, governing the country also requires We should always be vigilant about the appearance of powerful neighbors in our surroundings, who intend to spy on the Central Plains, so that the common people of the country will not have peace."
"Therefore, since I am the Son of Heaven, I should control the strongest soldiers and horses in the world and make the world fear me!"
When Zhu Yijun said this, he looked at Zhang Juzheng: "I wonder what you think, sir?"
After Zhu Yijun finished speaking, Zhang Juzheng had not yet spoken. Instead, Zhang Hongxian looked at Zhang Juzheng with a worried look in his eyes.
Zhang Juzheng pondered for a moment and then said: "What your Majesty said is the realization that an emperor should have! Although the emperor should govern the country in a royal way, he should also have the power to control the nine states and all directions! When necessary, he can use domineering techniques, but This is what a hero should do."
"It's just that your Majesty is the emperor, and a single word can bring blessings to the whole world, and it can also bring disaster to the world. Therefore, although your majesty can destroy millions of lives in one anger, you should be careful about using hegemony. The greatest value of powerful force is to intimidate and make people suffer. Those who disobey should obey His Majesty and act according to His Majesty's laws, and should not do so just to eliminate them."
"The way to achieve long-term stability in the country is not to use force blindly, but to adapt the current policies to the current situation."
Zhang Hong breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time his eyes showed surprise.
Zhu Yijun also had to admit that Zhang Juzheng was indeed different from the corrupt scholars. He did not stop some of the domineering techniques he advocated. He just asked him as an emperor to be strong and soft, and he must know that this world is not the survival of the strong, but the survival of the fittest.
We must not only have strong strength, but also flexibly adapt to real conditions. We must be strong when we should be strong and be gentle when we should be gentle.
Because many empires did die due to strength in history.
In Zhu Yijun's view, when Zhang Juzheng gave him a small start, he was truly receiving an imperial education.
"Sir, that's what you said. But strong military equipment is necessary. I don't have to go all out with military force, but I must have the ability to declare my power all over the world."
Zhu Yijun replied.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Zhang Juzheng said.
Zhu Yijun said: "In this case, I am determined to recruit young generals or enter the capital to guard martial arts, and the imperial court will select veteran generals to train them in a unified way to strengthen their strategies. I will personally show my kindness and power, instead of letting them just accept His father and brother educate him and gain his heart, which also gives him the courage to question civil servants. At the same time, he also makes him understand the principles of literature and science, so that in the future, he will not be less articulate than the civil servants in terms of the principles of running the army and being loyal to the emperor. He is smart, but he is controlled by civil servants."
"In addition, select veteran generals and veterans to revitalize the martial arts in the capital, and recruit children from good families all over the world to enter the martial arts school, regardless of military or civilian registration, and select outstanding soldiers from the recruited soldiers to enter the school, with a view to cultivating future talents. Excellent general."
At this point, Zhu Yijun said again: "In addition, if we want to make soldiers brave and respect military merit, we should consider the future worries of the disabled or old retirees. Therefore, I plan to set up an inspection and selection department in each of the five military governors' offices to share the responsibilities. The disabled officers and soldiers in the world are inspected and selected, and together with the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of War, the disabled officers and soldiers are selected as civil and military officials in the rear."
"Also, it is planned that the Ministry of War will discuss new levels of military merit and be rewarded with titles, instead of simply rewarding people with silver based on their heads for convenience."
"The system of reward based on head rank should be abolished, not to mention the reward of silver only based on head rank. It will not only make it easy for generals to kill good men and take merit, but also will not make those who have done meritorious service have the heart to be valued for their meritorious deeds."
"A direct reward of silver is not as good as a reward of a noble but powerless title, which is more conducive to motivating officers and soldiers to make meritorious deeds. The former will only allow officers and soldiers to make meritorious deeds and gain only financial benefits. On the contrary, the latter will not only let the officers and soldiers know that dedicating meritorious deeds can bring financial benefits, but also Being able to become nobles, honor their ancestors, and thus be different from Bai Shen, and they are more willing to protect the country and bring peace to the country. After all, as long as the Ming Dynasty is around, their title will be there."
"In this case, the title of Duke, Marquis and Count is not enough, not to mention that ordinary officers and soldiers are not enough to obtain this title. We should create more various titles with different levels to show their merit."
"Even if there are not enough knights for the time being, gold and silver medals such as military medals can be set up to declare the level of meritorious services, to show the meritorious service to the country, and to make the world respect them, instead of just rewarding them with silver medals and spending them as they wish. His achievements were also forgotten and he could not inspire his children."
"Of course, such titles will inevitably overflow, so favors and promotions should be given to save the country's money."
After Zhu Yijun finished speaking, he said: "If you have nothing to add to your advice, sir, just issue an edict and enact it."
Zhu Yijun had long wanted to change the military system, but he had been waiting for someone to implement it for him.
Now that Zhang Juzheng was willing to worship martial arts, Zhu Yijun put forward his own idea.
Zhang Juzheng and Zhang Hong were both stunned on the spot.
"Your Majesty, I have no objections and will do as you please!"
Zhang Juzheng replied after a long while.
Zhu Yijun nodded: "Then Yu Dayou in Beijing will be given a first-level official rank, and veteran generals such as Lu Ti will be selected by the Ministry of War. Then the cabinet will also decide to add a first-level official rank and join the Beijing Weiwu School as the chief instructor. In addition, the Ministry of War will also be selected. The outstanding generals and soldiers in each town must be balanced and cannot favor one town."
"However, Li Rusong from Liaodong must be transferred to Beijing, as well as Ma Gui and Chen Lin. I think these three people may be important generals that the country can rely on in the future, and we should focus on cultivating their talents."
Zhang Juzheng raised his hand and said yes.
In the afternoon, Zhang Juzheng went to the cabinet and conveyed Zhu Yijun's edict to the cabinet. Lu Tiaoyang was quite shocked and said: "Uncle, you asked the emperor to do this. It is obviously a policy of advocating military preparation and strengthening the emperor's command of troops and generals. Is this also a strategy to make the world focus on martial arts? Is it really conducive to the long-term stability of the country?"
Lu Tiaoyang thought that these were what Zhang Juzheng meant. After all, the emperor Zhu Yijun was still young, so how could he think so comprehensively, so he asked.
Since Zhang Siwei was not in the cabinet at this time, Zhang Juzheng also said bluntly: "He Qing believes that the best soldiers and generals in the world can bring peace to the world better if they are controlled by the emperor, or if they are controlled by the powerful clans?"
"What's more, Tan Zili was right when he was in front of the emperor in the past. If we don't take advantage of the peace of the world to strengthen our military preparedness, but wait until the captives are strong and we are weak, we will think about strengthening our military preparedness. I'm afraid the captives will not give us this opportunity."
"Also, if we don't take advantage of the abundant national funds to strengthen our military equipment, the national funds accumulated now will only be used for greedy money or squandered by the palace in the future."
Lu Tiaoyang nodded: "What do you want me to say, uncle, take advantage of the fact that when the emperor is young and his energy is strong but his material desires are not strong, he can use the wealth gained from the restructuring to strengthen his army?"
Zhang Juzheng nodded.
After hearing this, Lu Tiaoyang said: "My uncle is really dedicated to the country!"
"I have a high reputation with you."
"Actually, Your Majesty has already had a strategy in mind. Most of the edicts I just delivered were the emperor's own thoughts. They must have been carefully read from various government documents of past dynasties. Otherwise, how could he have thought so thoroughly."
Zhang Juzheng replied.
"The key is to be willing to think so carefully. The emperor seems to be more prepared for danger in times of peace than us, the old ministers!"
Lu Tiaoyang said.
Zhang Juzheng smiled and said: "What He Qing said is absolutely true. This is indeed incredible. But this is a good thing. Maybe your Majesty knows that the past dynasties have been caused by not knowing how to prepare for a rainy day."
"Yes. However, there is nothing wrong with this strategy. It is just that it may lead to lack of financial resources in the future and make various systems exist in name only!"
Lu Tiaoyang said.
“One generation can only do what it does for one generation, so there is no way to achieve long-term peace and stability!”
"In any case, if we take advantage of the good fortune of the country to implement good governance for a few years, we can at least sustain the country's fortune for a longer period of time."
"At least, by doing this, when Li Rusong, Ma Gui, and Chen Lin mentioned by His Majesty become the coaches of one side in the future, Huang Ming may still be able to suppress Sihai."
Zhang Juzheng said.
…
But when these decrees reached Liaodong, Li Chengliang said to Li Rusong excitedly: "This is an opportunity!"
Li Rusong asked, "What does father mean?"
"Qi Yuanjing is known to His Majesty because of his resistance against the Japanese. Now that you are in Beijing and being consulted by His Majesty day and night, you will naturally be in the Emperor's heart. This will allow His Majesty to know not only the Qi family's southern troops, but also the Li family's northern troops."
"You know, sooner or later, Your Majesty will still rule this world!"
As he spoke, Li Chengliang took out the key, opened a cabinet, and took out a bow wrapped in brocade and inlaid with gold in a wooden box. He then opened another cabinet and took out a set of Song editions of the Four Books.
"You go to the capital with these two treasures treasured by your father, and when you meet the emperor, look for the right moment. If the emperor asks you about military matters, it means that the emperor respects martial arts, so you will present your father's treasured bow to the emperor!"
"If the emperor asks you whether you also study, it means that the emperor attaches great importance to literature. If you present these four books with annotations, it means that you have long studied the teachings of sages and famous teachers."
Li Chengliang instructed.
Li Rusong nodded.
