Well, now the problems of palace maids and eunuchs don't make me worry about being killed for the time being.
There are other safety issues that need to be addressed slowly and cannot be rectified all at once.
Next it’s time to meet Jin Yiwei.
After the Jiajing Dynasty, the power of Jinyiwei returned to its peak state. Before that, it had been suppressed by Dongchang. The leader of Jinyiwei had to look at the face of Dongchang.
Because Emperor Jiajing was very suspicious, hardly trusted anyone, and was a very insecure person, his intelligence system should be very good.
This actually gave Zhu Zaijing some expectations.
"Feng Bao!"
"Your Majesty!" The latter came to obey his orders.
"Go and call the commander of the Jinyi Guards over to me!"
"yes!"
After a while, Zhu Xizhong, the commander of the Jinyi Guards, arrived at Qianqing Palace.
This person is a descendant of Zhu Neng, the hero of Jingnan. After Lu Bing died, he took over as the commander of Jinyiwei.
But before that, he was already Duke Cheng, the admiral in charge of the 12th Regiment Battalion and the 5th Military Battalion.
He is absolutely loyal to the imperial power.
"come in!"
The emperor's voice came from inside, and Zhu Xizhong outside quickly adjusted his clothes and walked in.
"My lord, Zhu Xizhong is here to see His Majesty!"
"There is no need to be polite, Duke Cheng, get up!"
Zhu Zaijing personally helped him up and sent someone to give him a seat.
The current Jin Yiwei could be at their peak. When Lu Bing was in power, Jin Yiwei was a very powerful existence, even overpowering Dongchang for a time.
Moreover, Jinyiwei continued to shine until the Wanli period. In the War to Resist Japan and Aid Korea, he made great contributions to spying on military intelligence on the front line.
But after that, Jin Yiwei began to deteriorate step by step.
"Mr. Cheng Guo, I called you here because I want to know about Jin Yiwei's situation."
"You are a distinguished member of the imperial court and a member of my family. I can trust you, so you can tell me your true story. How is the Jin Yiwei doing now?"
"Your Majesty, I think the current imperial guards can be of great use!"
"How many people are there in Jinyiwei in Beijing?"
Zhu Xizhong has been in charge of Jinyiwei since the death of Lu Bing. Lu Bing died in the 39th year of Jiajing. Zhu Xizhong has been in charge of Jinyiwei for five or six years.
"Your Majesty, there are nearly 8,000 people in Jinyi Guards in Beijing, excluding the palace guards!"
"So..." Zhu Zaijing slowed down his tone, "Where are the families of various nobles and ministers? How many are there?"
Zhu Xizhong's expression changed and he became panicked.
How could Emperor Jiajing, with his jealous temper, not have spies in the ministers' homes?
Maybe there are even many in the former Prince Yu's Mansion.
Zhu Xizhong did not expect that the emperor would ask such a secret question when he came up. He thought that the emperor only saw him and was familiar with Jin Yiwei.
After all, Zhu Xizhong had often targeted Long Qing because of his identity, although this was all Jiajing's intention...
"Back to your Majesty, every home of a fourth-rank official or above in Beijing has a royal guard!"
Good guy!
Among the ministers, there are Dongchang's spies and Jin Yiwei's spies.
No wonder Jiajing stayed in Xiyuan every day and knew everything about the court situation!
"Where's the Honorable House?"
"The same is true for all noble families in Beijing!"
"Um."
Although today's nobles have declined a lot from the early days of the Ming Dynasty, and almost none of them have real power, it seems that Emperor Jiajing has chosen to treat them equally.
Jinyiwei generally has three parts.
One is responsible for the palace guard.
One is Beizhen Fusi, who is responsible for investigating crimes and spying on intelligence.
The other is Nanzhen Fusi, which is equivalent to the Jinyiwei Discipline Inspection Commission and is responsible for the internal review and evaluation of Jinyiwei.
What Zhu Zaijing wants to know now is the aspect of being responsible for the palace guards.
After all, this is directly related to your own life safety.
You see, cautious and suspicious people such as Jiajing have been assassinated and almost burned to death in fire.
This made Zhu Zaijing very suspicious of the defense system of the Ming Dynasty palace.
"Then, what about the former Prince Yu's Mansion?"
Zhu Zaijing didn't like to chatter and went directly to the topic.
Zhu Xizhong was startled and immediately knelt down.
"Your Majesty, this, this, this..."
Long Qing, who became the only son at that time, was often guarded and monitored by Jiajing.
Zhu Xizhong was speechless for a moment and broke into a cold sweat.
At that time, Zhu Xizhong had to do this due to his responsibilities. After Jiajing's death, he had been worried about whether the new emperor would take revenge on him.
Will the New Emperor target him so soon?
"Your Majesty...this...that..."
"I understand this matter and will not pursue it further!"
Zhu Xizhong looked up at the emperor in disbelief, and then immediately lowered his head.
"I thank your Majesty!"
"Don't be in a hurry to thank me!" Zhu Zaijing's tone was cold, "I understand your difficulties, so shouldn't you also be considerate of my difficulties?"
"I ask you, can the current Jin Yiwei still protect this palace?"
Zhu Xizhong, who had just felt a stone fall from his heart, became nervous again.
"The Imperial Guards are the emperor's personal soldiers. They are all the best masters. Of course they can protect His Majesty's safety."
Damn it!
"Then why did the late emperor encounter life-threatening danger twice?"
The palace maid choked the neck incident and the palace fire incident.
In that fire, if Lu Bing hadn't sacrificed his life to save him, Jiajing might have perished in the flames.
"Does this mean there is something wrong with the palace guards?" Zhu Zaijing said again, "I am not blaming you, but do you think there are any shortcomings in the current royal guards guarding the palace?"
Only then did Zhu Xizhong understand what the emperor meant and breathed a sigh of relief.
It seems that the emperor is dissatisfied with the security work of Jin Yiwei, not himself.
"Your Majesty, the royal guards guarding the palace are all the best in a hundred. Most of the commanders are meritorious sons. They are loyal to Your Majesty and have very good skills."
Zhu Zaijing sneered at this in his heart.
The noble sons are loyal enough to the royal family, but when it comes to their skills...
hehe!
What kind of skills can a noble son who drinks, eats meat and plays with women every day have?
"From now on, the royal guards in the palace will be separated from your royal guards and form a separate army!"
Zhu Zaijing stopped talking nonsense and got straight to the point.
Of course, it is not just the Jin Yiwei who protect the palace, but also other pro-army forces.
Get the Jin Yiwei in order first, and then the other pro-army troops will take their time.
After all, he had just ascended the throne and had no military power yet, so he couldn't make too big a move.
The one who can directly command now is Jin Yiwei, so let’s start with him.
When Zhu Xizhong heard this, his heart skipped a beat, and he didn't understand the emperor's decision.
"Your Majesty, please give me detailed instructions!"
"I want to change the current palace guard structure!" Zhu Zaijing said, "The first one starts with the Jinyi Guards."
"The royal guards in the palace have their own army and are no longer under your control. The palace guards now are very complex, with this army and that army."
"Since they are all the emperor's personal soldiers, why are they divided so finely?"
The Twelve Guards of the Emperor's personal army in the Ming Dynasty were responsible for the security of the palace. They were the Imperial Guards, but they were divided into Jinyi Guards, Jinwu Guards, Huben Guards, etc.
Although this effectively prevented the generals from monopolizing power and threatening the imperial power, it also made the Forbidden Army system complex, inconvenient to command, and uneven in composition.
Zhu Zaijing: TMD, it’s so complicated that I can’t even remember the name. It will be merged directly in the future!
"These guards are called internal troops. They are responsible for the entire interior of the imperial city. Simple and clear!"
"You come and select these people. Let's set the number at three thousand for now!"
"Mr. Cheng Guo, you have to carefully screen these people for me. I have a few requirements for you."
"Your Majesty, please give me your instructions!"
"First, of course, the force must be high. One can fight ten. There is no shortage of such talents among the Imperial Guards. People with extraordinary skills can also be selected from among the top twelve guards. This is the first requirement."
"Second, the background must be clean! Nanzhen Fusi must review these people. None of the four generations of our ancestors can commit adultery or break the law! Not only that, your own conduct must also be upright. There must be no sneaking around in daily life. Do you understand?"
"I understand!"
"The third one must be young. The internal army selects people between the ages of eighteen and forty. People of other age groups are not allowed to be selected."
These were his demands for the internal army.
The royal guards who guard the palace must be highly skilled in martial arts to protect their own safety.
Only when you are young enough will you be loyal enough, and it is easy to instill the idea of loyalty to the monarch.
A clean foundation can effectively reject the infiltration and instigation of people with bad intentions.
"Your Majesty, do these leaders of the internal army need to be inspected from among the nobles?"
Judging from this order, Zhu Xizhong felt that this man was just like the previous one, jealous, suspicious, and insecure.
Having worked in Jiajing's hands for five or six years, he certainly knew how to serve him, that is, he would ask him for instructions on everything, no matter how big or small. He would rather bore him with questions than make his own decisions.
"Yes!" Zhu Zaijing nodded.
Generally, the children of distinguished nobles will serve in the palace or in the military, and they will hold some officer positions.
"You are Duke Cheng, and you are more familiar with these nobles than I am. The internal army has... three commanders. You can check among the nobles' sons and see who can be of great use."
"Then!" Zhu Zaijing changed the subject, "Make a list and send it to me. I will personally select it!"
"I obey the decree!"
"One week! Duke Cheng has worked so hard to complete this matter within a week!"
Zhu Xizhong felt bitter in his heart. There were more than 3,000 people, and it was quite difficult to sort them out within a week.
It seems that the people at Nanzhen Fusi are going to work overtime.
"I understand!"
"Come here, give Duke Cheng a python robe!"
