Since ancient times, being a hero has been a very dangerous profession, and the greater the merit, the more dangerous it is.
By the time the merit is so great that no reward can be given, death is basically just around the corner.
In particular, Zhu Yuanzhang liked to kill heroes more than two hundred years ago, which left a great deterrent to future generations.
The founding generals of the Great Chu Empire, ordinary generals naturally don't have to worry about this kind of thing, but many of those generals with outstanding military exploits are actually very worried about the future outcome.
For example, Li Chengtong.
In fact, Li Chengtong led troops to capture Youzhou City last year, and then led troops to seize Shanhaiguan, and defeated the coalition forces of Dongji and Wu Xiang in Shanhaiguan. After initially stabilizing the situation in the north, he had already resigned from Luo Zhixue. .
Of course, not through a too formal memorial, but through various hints.
At least Li Chengtong sincerely did not want to continue to be the commander of the Northeast Campaign, and he was even less willing to lead troops to conquer the East in the future, and then directly carry out the task of regaining Liaodong and destroying the country.
When the time comes, how will your Majesty reward yourself?
Is it possible that a marshal really comes out?
Or give yourself a king of the opposite sex in your title?
That is the way to death.
Although there is such a thing as marshal in the military rank system of the Da Chu Empire, this thing only exists in documents and belongs to the top military rank of generals. When the military ranks were originally formulated, Luo Zhixue made it very clear that the rank of marshal would not be awarded unless he had saved the country. .
No matter how great Li Chengtong's contribution was, it could not reach the level of saving the country.
Because the Dachu Empire was so powerful, there was no need for him to save him...
So in terms of military rank, general is almost at the top.
As for titles, among the titles of heroes in the Great Chu Empire, the duke was the top one. There was no such thing as a king of the opposite sex. The royal titles in the Great Chu Empire, that is, county princes or princes, were only awarded to clan members.
The emperor's son is granted the title of prince or county prince, and the prince's eldest son can inherit the title of county prince.
Others cannot be crowned kings.
So Li Chengtong's general rank came to an end, and his title also came to an end after he was canonized as a duke.
At this time, if Li Chengtong is still serving as the commander of the Northeast Campaign and then commits suicide to destroy the country, how will your Majesty reward him?
As a smart man and a senior general who could command hundreds of thousands of troops to launch large-scale battles, Li Chengtong was not a fool. On the contrary, he saw things very clearly.
Instead of considering how your Majesty will award rewards in the future, it would be better not to give your Majesty the chance to think about it.
A qualified minister will not embarrass his Majesty.
So, after he was awarded the title of Duke, he formally resigned, not by hint, but by formal letter.
Sometimes, taking a step back will lead to a brighter future, and you can even take a step further.
Li Chengtong has achieved the ultimate in leading troops, but he still has not done anything at a higher level, such as counselor confidentiality.
If he had the opportunity to enter the imperial study room in the future and live the life of a counselor, he would be very happy.
As for the generals who can be admitted to the imperial study room, even if they are just co-organizing ministers, without exception, they are all generals serving in the capital, and none of them are generals leading troops outside.
After retreating into advancement, His Majesty also approved his resignation and transferred him to Jinling to serve. He also successfully entered the imperial study room as the co-organizing minister.
Similarly, Huang Dingquan, who led troops outside like him, also made the same choice. Although Huang Dingquan showed his loyalty to others, it did not mean that he was a fool.
If he was a fool, he would not have been able to squeeze out a lot of people to gain Luo Zhixue's trust when he was in Funiu Mountain. If he was a fool, he would not have been able to sit in Nanyang for several years and firmly block the northern defense line, allowing the people to trust him at that time. For the Chu Empire, Shaanxi was relatively strong. The troops from the Central Plains and other places could not go south, ensuring the security of the northern part of the Chu Empire.
In this way, the Great Chu Empire was able to free up its hands to march south to Chunan and east to Jiangnan.
Therefore, Huang Dingquan also resigned and was transferred back to Gyeonggi with Luo Zhixue's approval.
The transfer of these two people also made many people in the court breathe a sigh of relief, especially the military generals.
I dare not say whether Luo Zhixue will kill the heroes in the future, but for now, at least His Majesty still treats them kindly.
At the same time, Li Chengtong also found a new way to retreat for the generals who were leading troops abroad.
That is, after leading troops outside and commanding the troops, when the military rank reaches the level of general and cannot be further promoted, there is still a new way of promotion, which is to return to Gyeonggi and enter the imperial study room.
Yawen Library
In this way, the military power can be handed over smoothly, His Majesty's suspicion can be avoided, and at the same time, one can participate in the empire's real strategic decision-making.
——
Luo Zhixue could guess some of the thoughts of his ministers. In fact, Luo Zhixue felt that they were worrying too much...
If you want to rebel, you must have this ability!
He, Luo Zhixue, has conquered the world through his battles, and his personal prestige is unimaginable. To put it bluntly, as long as he is still alive, the empire will not be in chaos, regardless of whether it is Li Chengtong or Huang Dingquan, or even if someone really appears. The marshal had to lie down obediently in front of him, Luo Zhixue.
As for the problem that after Luo Zhixue's death, the heirs will not be able to control the powerful officials, although this objectively exists, it can be avoided through many methods. For example, the generals leading the army are not static, but continue to change. A smooth transition of military power can be achieved through normal exchanges.
Finally, in fact, prestige, power and planning are still secondary. The most important thing is that the Chu Empire has a complete system of checks and balances to prevent the army from becoming the private army of a certain general.
Not to mention the separation of military and political power, even the military power is divided into several parts, and they are not subordinate to each other.
For example, the power to recruit soldiers is the purview of the Ministry of Military Affairs.
New recruits are recruited by the Recruitment Department under the leadership of the Ministry of Military Affairs and through the cooperation of the recruitment agencies of the provincial garrison headquarters, and then undergo recruit training.
Recruits who have completed training are handed over to various units.
In the entire process of recruiting new recruits, there was nothing to do with the frontline generals... and even after several reforms, there was nothing to do with the staff department.
Similarly, the training and assignment of military officers are also the responsibility of the Ministry of Military Affairs.
However, the Military and Political Department cannot directly command them to fight. The training and command of existing troops are the authority of the General Staff Department.
In this process, the garrison headquarters of each province assigned the command authority of some second-class divisions, but this part of the authority was also strictly restricted. One of them is that the garrison headquarters does not mean that it can command all second-class divisions in the province.
Some of the B divisions that were assembled to assist the A divisions in operations were not under the jurisdiction of the provincial garrison headquarters. Instead, they were assigned to various armies or border defenses, under the jurisdiction of the campaign headquarters, or in other words, under the direct jurisdiction of the staff headquarters.
Only the second-class divisions that are dispersed to various places and garrisoned in various cities in units of sentries, battalions, and regiments are under the jurisdiction of the provincial garrison headquarters.
In addition, the garrison headquarters' deployment of dispersed second-class divisions under its jurisdiction was also greatly restricted.
For example, an infantry post of a second-class division stationed in County A. This company is under the command of the local garrison headquarters. The county garrison office has no right to mobilize the second-class division under its jurisdiction to perform tasks.
The provincial garrison headquarters at the higher level has this authority. Likewise, the provincial garrison headquarters does not have the authority to direct the troops under its jurisdiction to go out of the government to perform tasks. The provincial garrison headquarters at the upper level has this authority.
The provincial garrison headquarters does not have the authority to mobilize the second-class divisions under its jurisdiction to fight outside the province. The staff has this authority.
To put it simply, the Great Chu Empire divided the second-class divisions into two types. One is the second-class divisions that are usually stationed in scattered places. There are some similar to local garrison troops, somewhat similar to the armed police. This kind of division belongs to the local garrison. Under the jurisdiction of the headquarters.
There is also a second-class division that is transferred to the front line to cooperate with the first-class divisions to fight, or to assemble large-scale troops and garrison them in important places, mainly some fortresses and border defenses. These are real second-line forces and are directly under the command of the staff. For example, for Wusong Fortress, the 138th Division was established not long ago. This division is the garrison of Wusong Fortress. It has jurisdiction over the heavy artillery troops and garrison infantry, and is directly under the jurisdiction of the General Staff.
There are also more than ten second-class divisions stationed in Jiliao, Xuanda, and Shaanxi-Gansu. These are serious frontier troops, but they lack mobility. These second-class divisions belong to the Northeast Campaign Command or Xuanda, Shaanxi and Gansu. It is under the jurisdiction of the Shaanxi-Gansu Border Defense Command.
Through a multi-level command system, Luo Zhixue fragmented the command authority so that a high-level general from outside would not be able to directly control all the local armies.
Finally, there is a rotation system!
Just like civilian officials rotate every few years, military generals also rotate, and this rotation is even more frequent than civilian officials.
A civilian official may rule a place for several years before being rotated, and may also serve in one place for a long time, but this is impossible to see in the military.
The generals in the military will not serve for a long time. Not to mention the era of large-scale military expansion, even if they are stabilized now, they will have to be transferred even if they are not promoted within two or three years.
If you are promoted, you will be directly transferred out of the original unit.
Moreover, starting last year, the Da Chu Empire Army implemented a policy of off-site promotion. This policy is very simple. When you are promoted, you must be transferred away from the original unit.
For example, if a colonel serving in the First Division is promoted to brigadier general, he must leave the division and serve in other division-level units.
This is especially true when a brigadier general is promoted to a major general, a major general is promoted to a lieutenant general, and a lieutenant general is promoted to a general.
Anyway, you are not allowed to be promoted in your original unit, and you are not allowed to wander around in one place and then climb all the way up, forming a situation where you can't lose it.
There are many more policies like these to restrict military power and prevent the army from becoming the generals' private soldiers. For example, equipment is directly developed and purchased by the Ordnance Department. It has nothing to do with the frontline generals. He can only use what is assigned to him by the superiors.
Another example is the soldiers' military pay. This is not distributed directly to the army chief, who then distributes it to the soldiers, but directly from the Logistics Department.
In order to pay salaries to all soldiers in the army, the Logistics Department directly set up special salary agencies in each army to pay salaries to soldiers.
Now the Logistics Department is still thinking of cooperating with the Finance Bank to pay the soldiers salaries through direct bank transfer. However, there are still many practical constraints, so this has not been possible for the time being.
Many of these restrictions can, to a large extent, avoid the problem of direct rebellion by generals commanding troops.
Of course, even if enough defensive measures are taken, if the emperor is a fool, or if the external environment changes drastically, rebellions will still appear and warlords will still emerge.
But this has nothing to do with killing the hero or not.
