Chapter 82 The big exam that comes in advance
This time He Xi came here with some trepidation.
After all, it is difficult to formulate a reform plan for the Ming Dynasty. Although He Xi has a cross-generational vision, he has no experience in this kind of work. There are many things that I don’t know where to start. Being summoned at this moment is like a student who has not completed his homework and is suddenly summoned by the teacher.
And this teacher is also very strict. One can imagine the anxiety inside.
But He Xi didn't expect it. The first thing Zhu Yuanzhang asked was not about He Xi's new strategy. It’s about the Linjiang Immortal song yesterday.
Zhu Yuanzhang asked: "You didn't write the song yesterday, right?"
"Your Majesty is wise." He Xi said: "I really do not have such talent. This is the work of Yang Shen in his later years during the Jiajing Dynasty."
Zhu Yuanzhang was silent for a moment and said: "It was Yang Shen who shouted: 'The country has been raising scholars for a hundred and fifty years, and today is the day of death for righteousness.'"
He Xi said: "Exactly."
Zhu Yuanzhang studied the booklet on the history of the Ming and Qing Dynasties that He Xi gave him very deeply. He has tried to figure out almost all the names mentioned above. When talking about the Jiajing Dynasty, we cannot fail to talk about great etiquette. When talking about great etiquette, we cannot fail to talk about Zuo Shunmen. When talking about Zuo Shunmen, we cannot fail to talk about Yang Shen.
Thinking of these, Zhu Yuanzhang became even more determined in his choice. Children and grandchildren will have their own blessings. Why make himself unhappy for the sake of a group of descendants that he wants to strangle to death and never see.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Are there any good poems in future generations?"
He Xi thought for a while and said, "There are a few. Poems from the Ming Dynasty, Yu Qian's Lime Chant, Yuanyuan Song from Wumei Village, etc. Among the Qing people, there was Nalan Rongruo who was particularly popular, and then there was Mr. Mao It’s poetry.”
In fact, Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care too much about poetry. He just saw that He Xi was a little nervous, so he chatted a few irrelevant words to ease He Xi's mood. Zhu Yuanzhang immediately paid attention when Mr. Mao was mentioned.
After all, in the next six hundred years, Mr. Mao was the only one who caught Zhu Yuanzhang’s eyes. The rest are mediocre and insufficient.
In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, even that perfect man was not worth mentioning, let alone fighting. Zhu Yuanzhang also had some problems understanding the military development of later generations in terms of fighting, but how to balance the relationship between direct lineage and collateral lineage? Someone who can't even defeat a tiger in Shanghai. How can one compare with him, Mr. Zhu?
Therefore, pay special attention to Mr. Mao’s stuff.
When He Xi mentioned this, he immediately became interested. Said; "Oh, tell me."
He Xi immediately wrote out Mr. Mao's masterpiece. Of course it is "Qinyuan Spring-Snow".
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at this poem, thought about it over and over, sighed, and said, "I'm not as good as me." He put it aside and said, "You have been adding beauty to your sleeves lately. Do you have any thoughts?"
He Xi looked a little embarrassed. Deliberately not thinking about it. The so-called Hong Xiu, who adds fragrance to her beauty, is the daughter of Zhu Yuanzhang. Don't think about how much father-in-law there is in this sentence. Said: "Reporting to Your Majesty, there is a point."
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Tell me and listen."
He Xi said: "I think that if we want to change the face of the Ming Dynasty, we must start from four aspects. I call it the four modernizations."
Zhu Yuanzhang didn't quite understand this word. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang still knew relatively little about future generations. I don't know where He Xi copied it from.
For He Xi, there was nothing he could do. Formulating policies for a country is such a big deal, and He Xi has no experience. Naturally, it was copied from later generations. However, He Xi just borrowed a name.
Once said, it started.
He Xi seemed to have more confidence and said: "The first one is military modernization."
"The Great Tomorrow's soldiers are invincible, and there was no need to make major changes. There are only hidden dangers in the guard system, and there are also problems between the founding heroes. These two problems must be solved, otherwise decades of operation will be ruined by a war. "
"Military modernization has three main points. The first field army and the field troops. Downgrade the guard army to the field soldiers, select the best from the world's armies, and form a large army directly controlled by your majesty. Strengthening your majesty's control over the Ming army will also Weaken the influence of noble families on the military."
"Second, establish a general staff system. Manage the military scientifically. Weaken the generals' ability to control deployment."
"Third, establish a system of military supervision and decentralize the military supervision to hundreds of households. From top to bottom, every army must obey the orders from the top, and each army must not be allowed to act without authorization, and completely solve the problem of the army possibly going off alone. Hidden danger."
These contents are also the result of He Xi's repeated thinking.
This may not be of any use to the development of Ming Dynasty. But in fact, it is the foundation of the development of Ming Dynasty. That is political stability.
Many things in the Hongwu Dynasty can be explained by political instability.
In the new dynasty, all forces want to take another bite. The founding fathers felt that they were shareholders of Ming Dynasty and wanted to get more shares. But on the one hand, Zhu Yuanzhang could not tolerate these nobles violating his own laws, but at the same time he could not admit that the power of these nobles was considerable. Give grace.
But if Zhu Yuanzhang focused on the power struggle in the Ming Dynasty, there would be no stable political environment. Nothing can be done.
However, completing these three reforms and selecting the field army from the garrison army was actually a move to weaken the local area, weaken the nobles, and strengthen the imperial court. Not to mention the remaining two items, which is to completely let military power be used by the court.
If this pattern is formed. Those veterans can also be saved. A relative balance between civil and military forces can then be achieved.
Zhu Yuanzhang could see He Xi's intention at a glance. But some of them still couldn't understand, and said: "This staff system is to strengthen the power of the army. The things that the general needs to be responsible for are assigned to the army. For example, when the general goes on an expedition, he has a marching staff, a logistics staff, an intelligence staff, and a combat staff. etc."
"That is, the general only needs to choose one of the plans from the staff."
"In this way, the general's control over the army can be limited."
Zhu Yuanzhang frowned and said: "How can such an army be able to fight a war? It is most taboo in the army for an order to go out too much."
He Xi said: "Your Majesty, you misunderstood. In the army, the commander-in-chief is still the most respected. Only the commander-in-chief can give orders. He just divides the work into fine details. In wartime, the commander-in-chief does not have to listen to the advice of his staff. But it must be recorded in the record. . Find out who is right and who is wrong afterwards."
"I know that if your majesty, a great general like Wei Guogong, does not need such a system. But for those mediocre generals, a staff system may be needed. This system may limit the performance of geniuses, but it also improves the performance of mediocrities. level. The most important thing is not to prepare troops for generals."
Zhu Yuanzhang immediately understood and thought to himself: "If there was this system, the Tumu Fort Incident probably would not have happened. At least some idiots would not have given idiotic orders."
And now the Ming Dynasty is already the most powerful country in the world. In many wars, it actually needs a lot of brilliant performances by geniuses. What is needed is to be undefeated. Being undefeated is not winning the battle. As long as the consumption is not too high, you can keep fighting.
No country in the world can compare with the current Ming Dynasty.
While this system eliminates internal troubles, it will not reduce combat effectiveness too much. It's indeed a good idea.
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said: "What's going on with the supervisory army? The greatest disaster of the military system is the supervisory army. Reset the supervisory army and set it to the level of one hundred households. This------"
Zhu Yuanzhang used troops and almost did not supervise them. It was not because Zhu Yuanzhang trusted generals at all levels. Nowadays, Zhu Yuanzhang usually appoints the deputy generals of the commander-in-chief to oversee the army. The control of his front line is carried out through personnel power.
Generally send troops. Zhu Yuanzhang would send his trusted generals to go on expeditions. Hold important positions.
The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang did this was that the supervisory army was too bad in history. The eunuchs and supervisors of the Tang Dynasty almost ruined the Tang Dynasty. The soldiers complained.
Zhu Yuanzhang used this method of control because he wanted to punish him.
He Xi said: "Actually, this kind of military supervision is a copycat of the government system of the new dynasties of later generations. It was pioneered by Mr. Mao. Only when the army is in the most critical moment can we achieve peace and prosperity."
Zhu Yuanzhang remembered it as soon as he heard it. He took a very detailed look at Mr. Mao's life as a comparison for himself. Zhu Yuanzhang said: "What is this supervisor going to do?"
He Xi said: "As the deputy general of the general, he is responsible for the morale of the army and recording merits. He is directly under the jurisdiction of the superior government. He is on the same level as the general. The specific regulations need to be formulated in detail. I am just an idea now and it has not been completed yet."
Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said, "Not bad."
Although Zhu Yuanzhang said it was good. But He Xi's so-called military modernization idea has been rejected.
Because He Xi simply didn't understand how difficult it was to use the knife in the military. Even someone as powerful as Zhu Yuanzhang would not dare to make big moves on it easily. In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, if he really wanted to achieve what He Xi wanted, he would have to kill at least three or five nobles.
Don't kill people. This thing cannot be done.
The most fundamental political struggle is military struggle.
The military is a major event for the country. If one of them can't be dealt with, everything will be ablaze. The world is in chaos.
Maybe this will be done in the future, but definitely not now. At least Zhu Yuanzhang has not laid the groundwork, let alone the imminent war.
Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Let's talk about other things."
He Xi was a little confused by Zhu Yuanzhang's feedback. Then he took a deep breath and said: "Your Majesty, the second step is financial modernization. I know that Your Majesty thinks about the people and delegates a large number of government functions to the people. But in my opinion, this is the most undesirable."
"I just want to ask: Is this grain chief an official or an official? Or a citizen?"
After hearing He Xi's question, Zhu Yuanzhang did not fall into deep thought for a moment.
Is the grain director an official? Of course not. The grain chief has no salary at all. Is the grain chief an official? No, because the grain chief does not have the restrictions imposed by the imperial court on officials. Is the grain chief a civilian? Of course not. Although the grain chief does not have an official position and is not a civil servant, he does have power?
