Daming: At the start of the showdown, Lao Zhu was stunned

Chapter 935 Zhu Biao's Request

"Reform the military system?" Zhu Su was quite surprised.

"In fact, I have already taken action." Zhu Biao said as he picked up a piece of fish sashimi for Zhu Su. "Earlier, Madam Liu Shuzhen of Shuidong came to the capital to report Ma Ye's crimes. The military heroes headed by Duke Song..."

While the two brothers were feasting opposite each other, Zhu Biao told Zhu Su everything that had happened in the court, including the debate between civil officials and military officials over whether Ma Ye should be punished, and how he had used Xie Jin, Luo Guanzhong and others to manipulate public opinion and target military officials.

Only then did Zhu Su realize that during the time he was away from the capital, such a dispute between civil and military officials had actually taken place in the capital.

To be honest, he actually knew that the military meritorious generals would definitely plead for Ma Ye. The military meritorious generals had suffered a lot in the past few years. First, Tang Shengzong and Lu Zhongheng colluded with border generals to buy and sell people, abused their power for personal gain, and were eliminated by Zhu Di under Zhu Di's order; then Liu Bowen left a memorial to Zhu Di asking him to recuperate, and many military meritorious generals temporarily lost the way to earn military merits. One of the reasons why Ma Ye dared to act so boldly was that he knew that if the southwest rebelled, it would actually be a good thing for the entire military meritorious group, because it meant that the court had to interrupt the policy of recuperation and must re-employ these military meritorious generals to suppress the rebellion and deter the southwest. Ma Ye forced Shuixi to rebel, which could provide the military meritorious group with a steady stream of military merits, and the military meritorious generals naturally had to help protect him, Ma Ye, in the court.

Zhu Su arranged for Xie Jin to accompany Liu Shuzhen back to Beijing in order to allow Xie Jin to mobilize writers such as Fang Xiaoru and Luo Guanzhong to create momentum in Beijing to denounce Ma Ye, making the military heroes afraid to act rashly.

However, he did not expect that Zhu Biao's flattery was even more beautiful. It was a perfect way to cut off the source of the trouble. Not only did it prevent the military heroes from saying anything to excuse Ma Ye, it also helped Zhu Su avoid offending these military heroes who the court would still rely heavily on in the future.

"Fifth brother has been away from the capital for a long time, so you may not know something." Zhu Biao poured a glass of wine for Zhu Su, his tone full of worry. "In the past few years, our Ming Dynasty seems to be flourishing and unstoppable, but as your brother, I have been in the cabinet for a long time, and I know that in the past few years, the struggle between civil officials and military officials in the Ming Dynasty, or the trend of military generals suppressing civil officials, is inevitable."

"Most military generals are domineering. Although they have the emperor's ban, they will not blatantly oppress the good people... But it is not uncommon for them to rely on their outstanding military achievements to oppress civil officials in the local area, belittle scholars, and even do nothing to cause trouble to the local area. Local officials are often difficult to curb."

"Many officials are dissatisfied with this. Every day, the cabinet is already filled with documents impeaching military officers and officers from the local areas. Although the offenses they have committed now are only minor, if this continues, there will be chaos in the future."

"So, I want to reform the military system. Unfortunately, I can't do anything." Zhu Biao picked up a glass of wine, drank it gently and elegantly, and then asked Zhu Su: "Would you like to help me with this matter, fifth brother?"

"Since my elder brother has said so, how can I not help him?" Zhu Su said, "But this matter... I really don't know where to start."

He looked somewhat helpless.

This matter was caused by Zhu Su. According to history, after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, the power of the military generals should have been continuously weakened.

You have to know that most of the armies in the feudal era were purely violent organizations. Don't think that the armies that emerged in the chaotic times must have the great ideal of the country and the world in their hearts. The only purpose of people joining the army at that time was to have a full meal. Often, a cart of food could raise an army... The many righteous armies and red scarf armies in the chaotic times at the end of the Yuan Dynasty basically started from this.

After continuous battles, some generals may have awakened to the thoughts of worrying about the country and the people after witnessing the chaotic world and expanding their horizons, and understood the importance of people's hearts, so they restrained their subordinates and became benevolent and righteous, such as Zhu Yuanzhang and Xu Da... But most of the generals were still like soldiers. The soldiers under their command were also like this. At the beginning, they joined the army to survive; later, they joined the army to rob money and food; later, this military uniform became a kind of livelihood, and they became a military household, with a stable job passed down from generation to generation... The rise and fall of the world? It has nothing to do with us!

After the founding of the People's Republic of China, some people still found it difficult to give up their military habits of robbing money and food during troubled times when the country needed stability. Even though there were national and military laws, they would often rely on their status as "military lords" to make profits for themselves in disguised forms.

This is a difficult problem that emperors of every dynasty have encountered after founding a country: the old brothers who followed them to conquer the world still acted recklessly after the world was pacified. They watched you and helped you climb up from the foot of the mountain step by step to the top of the mountain to become the emperor. Deep in their hearts, you are still just Liu Ji, the gangster pavilion chief of Pei County, or Zhu Yuanzhang who begged for alms with a broken bowl. They think they have seen through the emperor's nature and don't care about your face at all.

Instead, they became an obstacle to governing the world.

Moreover, the world is peaceful, and there is no need for so many soldiers. Those generals who hold military power have become swords that make the emperor sleepless. Who knows if they will get tired of being dukes and lords one day and want to take a step further, bring troops and horses, wear yellow robes, and fight for an emperor?

Therefore, "using civil officials to govern the country" became a basic rule in the early days of the dynasty. Emperors of all dynasties tried every means to suppress military generals in order to maintain the majesty of the imperial power and the stability of the country.

Among the four major cases initiated by Zhu, two were aimed at weakening the power of the Huaixi faction, which was led by a group of military heroes. However, in this timeline, due to Zhu Su's intervention, the power of the military commanders was not weakened, but greatly enhanced.

The Ming Dynasty today is different from all the dynasties in history, and has the ambition to swallow up all the nations. Zhu Yuanzhang was full of ambition, and he wanted to make up for the decline of China three hundred years later. Military generals were at the right time, and there was a promise of territory. As long as they had military merits, every military general could have a chance... So the Ming Dynasty became a dynasty that did not weaken the military generals with literati after the founding of the country, but instead strengthened their status again and again.

All this was naturally due to the fact that the time traveler Zhu Su revealed the situation in advance and pushed the Ming Dynasty onto the path of becoming a world conqueror.

This was also his own fault, so of course he had to do his best to help his elder brother Zhu Biao. But facing that large group of soldiers with heavy troops, Zhu Biao was able to control them, and Zhu Su did not think so, and he never thought that he could do it...

"As a brother, I don't necessarily want them to obey my orders, or to reduce their power... My Great Ming is so powerful that it can accommodate those soldiers who have fought and died for my Great Ming." Zhu Biao said.

"However, I still need your help, my fifth brother, to put a bridle on this unparalleled horse of the Ming army so that they will not hurt themselves."

(End of this chapter)