Rectify the capital camp?
As soon as these words came out, the officials were all a little stunned, and the eyes they looked at Li Banghua were even weirder.
As if he noticed the strange looks from everyone, Li Banghua said solemnly: "Why are you looking at me like this? Is there anything wrong with what I said?"
"Master Li, are you serious?"
Li Banghua frowned slightly and asked doubtfully, "What do you mean?"
I don't know whether Li Banghua really didn't understand or pretended not to understand. Feng Yuliang, the censor of Qiandu in the Inspectorate, could only explain it loudly.
"Master Li, almost all the commanders of the battalions and guards in the Beijing camp are nobles, but almost all the nobles have been dealt with. It is estimated that most of the remaining generals in the army will be dealt with, and the old ones will also have to be removed. Weak, sick and disabled.
Under such circumstances, the Beijing Camp is now almost in name only. Is it still necessary to rectify it? "
"Your Majesty, I agree with Feng Yushi's analysis. The troops in the Beijing camp are weak, the money and food are insufficient, the generals are corrupt, the armor is rotten, and the salary is serious. There is no need to rectify it!"
"I agree that Beijing has nine Imperial Guards, four Tengxiang Guards, Jinyi Guards, White Pole Soldiers, and Warrior Battalions. The five armies total more than 200,000 people, which is enough."
"Yes, more than three hundred miles east of Beijing is Ji Town, more than three hundred miles north is Xuanfu Town, three hundred miles southwest is Zhenbao Town, and more than a hundred miles southeast is Changping Town. The four towns are surrounded by at least 200,000 troops. It doesn’t make much sense to have another Beijing camp with tens of thousands of people!”
"Your Majesty, the number of generals in the capital camp is estimated to have dropped by 80%. Even if they are reorganized, where will there be so many generals?
I believe that soldiers are more valuable than their numbers. Even if the number is only 50,000, one million taels of military pay and food and drink for a year would be better than giving it to the border troops to increase their combat effectiveness! "
…
As long as the officials spoke out, they were all opposed to the rectification of the capital camp, and they were all civil servants.
The generals had sneers on their faces. They knew very well what the civil servants were planning.
The emperor is now intensifying his military strength and has made reforms in the selection and training of military generals. Military salaries are going out at a rapid pace, and military generals are about to become prominent again.
If the generals are strong, how can the civilian officials suppress them? Will they still have a chance to talk to each other in the future?
After Chongzhen glanced at the ministers, he then looked at the British Duke Zhang Weixian who had remained silent: "British Duke, your Zhang family has been in control of Beijing Camp since its establishment. What do you mean?"
"Your Majesty, the Beijing camp is not the Zhang family's Beijing camp. Whether it is the Beijing camp, the border army, or the guard post, they all belong to the imperial court.
Therefore, whether the Beijing camp should be reorganized or dismantled depends on the overall situation of the imperial court, and everyone can do it! "
Tsk tsk...
Listening to Zhang Weixian's answer, the ministers clicked their tongues in their hearts.
They really wanted to ask Zhang Weixian, didn't he feel guilty when he said this?
Can your Zhang family survive for more than two hundred years? Don't you have any idea?
In addition to the passable abilities of the previous dynasties, controlling the Beijing camp is definitely a trump card.
"Li Aiqing, since you want to rectify it, then tell me your reasons!"
"yes!"
After Li Banghua responded, he turned around and looked at the opposing ministers with a sneer on his lips: "My lords, I have a question for you. Why did Taizu establish the Fifth Army Governor's Office?"
Without waiting for the ministers to respond, Li Banghua immediately said: "I'm here to tell you, Taizu said that power should not be concentrated in one department, and affairs should not be left behind. Instead, one government should be divided into four!"
"Can you guarantee that the Nine Guards of the Forbidden Army will always be loyal to His Majesty? Will any of the commanders rebel with wolfish ambitions? Will they be won over by any prince?
Can the Tengxiang Four Guards and Warrior Camp compete?
Not to mention that there is no possibility of rebellion, there are no absolutes in the world! "
As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the officials suddenly changed.
Especially Sun Chuanting, the commander of the Forbidden Army, whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot, glared at Li Banghua fiercely.
Damn it, what's wrong with your metaphor? Do you have to use rebellion as an example?
Isn't this putting him on the fire?
But he knew that what Li Banghua said was absolutely possible.
In the future, the emperor will have many heirs, and no one can guarantee whether any prince will win over the imperial army and the Tengxiang Four Guards. Isn't Chengzu an example?
"Let me ask you another question, how many troops are needed to defend Beijing City?"
For this kind of question, how could the opposition civil servants answer it? Everyone was speechless for a moment, and they all looked at Hou Xi, the Minister of War.
Hou Yu immediately said: "The city of Beijing is sixteen miles long from east to west, six miles wide from north to south, and has a circumference of forty-four miles.
There are nine city gates, four turrets, three water gates, 172 enemy towers, more than 20,000 crenellations, and more than 13,000 cannon muzzles under the crenellations.
If there is an enemy attack, I don’t know from which direction the enemy will attack the city. If we want to fully defend the city, I estimate that at least 30,000 to 50,000 people will be needed.
This is just the outer city, there are also the imperial city and the palace city. The imperial city has a circumference of eighteen miles, and the palace city has a circumference of seven miles. It requires at least 20,000 people.
If you include losses, arrangements in other places, and emergency response, this number will increase by two to three times, and it is estimated that at least 150,000 to 200,000 people will be needed. "
The ministers were shocked. If the hypothesis came true and the enemy attacked Beijing City, it would mean that more than half of the Forbidden Army, the Tengxiang Four Guards, and the Warrior Battalion had been damaged in the battle, and the remaining people would not even be enough to defend.
Listening to Hou Xi's analysis, Chongzhen also lamented the bad luck of Chongzhen in history.
The average height of the city walls in Beijing is between 7.5 and 15 meters, and the wall thickness is 12 to 20 meters. There is a moat outside.
As long as the city of Beijing has enough food and grass and 60,000 to 70,000 elite troops, it will be impossible to break through the city.
But Chongzhen encountered a plague that was rare in a century, and the entire city of Beijing was littered with corpses.
The soldiers who survived the epidemic were dressed in shabby clothes and were like beggars. They lacked food and clothing and were too weak to stand up, let alone defend.
The right time, right place, and right people all belong to Li Zicheng.
"Everyone, put aside the assumptions of Inspector Li and Hou Shangshu!"
Yuan Keli left the mission: "Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, the capital has been heavily equipped with troops. Half of the world's troops inside and outside the country have been defeated, making them invincible to all the soldiers and horses in the world. This was Taizu's original intention in setting up the capital camp!
Although it declined later, it cannot be said that the Beijing camp is not important anymore. This is the last line of defense for the imperial court! "
"What Mr. Yuan Ge said is absolutely true!"
Sun Chengzong also left for duty: "The Beijing camp also has another task, which is to train the guardsmen from Shandong, Beizhili, Henan and other places. This is the basis for ensuring the combat effectiveness of the guardsmen. This kind of thing cannot be allowed to happen to the imperial army and Let the Four Guards of Tengxiang do it?"
Listening to the support of Yuan Keli and Sun Chengzong, Li Banghua spoke up again: "Your Majesty, I have three reasons for requesting an order to rectify the capital camp.
One is to centralize power in the capital and counterattack local governments;
Second, it has been more than 200 years since Taizu established the Beijing Camp. Although it was restructured in the meantime, it has always existed and made great contributions in several wars.
This is an army with a long traditional history and military exploits. As long as the propaganda is good, the combat power can definitely return to its heyday!
The third is as a reserve army for the Forbidden Army and the Four Guards of Tengxiang, as well as a place for students of the Jiangwu Hall and martial arts scholars to practice, and to train the soldiers of the provincial guards!
I request your Majesty’s Holy Judgment! "
"Your Majesty, please judge!"
Yuan Keli, Sun Chengzong and others stood up, and even the officials who had just objected also spoke out.
Chongzhen stood up from the dragon chair and walked to the edge of the platform: "Li Ruolian, take charge of the Beijing camp, and the imperial army will mobilize two guards to surround the Beijing camp!"
