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

Chapter 936: Civil and Military Integration

Then, Zhu Biao began to tell his thoughts. Zhu Su listened quietly and gradually understood what Zhu Biao meant.

Zhu Biao believed that the problem of the Ming military was not the power of the generals. The Ming had many generals, so there was no need to worry about any one general becoming powerful and influencing the central government. The Ming also encouraged military heroes to gain military merit and win a territory for themselves.

However, the Ming Dynasty did not want its generals to have no bottom line and use improper methods that damaged the foundation of the Ming Dynasty to gain military merits for themselves, like Ma Ye did. It also did not want its generals to be like Tang Shengzong, Lu Zhongheng and their accomplices, who thought that they had military merits and that some evil deeds were harmless, and used the privileges given to them by the court to cause chaos and harm to the local area.

In short, Zhu Biao believed that the biggest problem of the Ming army was that their virtue was not worthy of their position.

The court gave the military a very high status, however, most of the military had a very low bottom line. The status given to them by the court made them fearless and hindered local administration. In the future, who knows if someone will take risks like Ma Ye, intending to kill innocent people for credit.

"My father is the founding emperor. I have the help of you brothers, who are so famous. I can be considered to have a say in military merits... But future emperors and princes will surely grow up in the deep palace. How can they suppress the military generals?" Zhu Biao glanced in the direction of the back hall and spoke.

Zhu Su knew that he was worried about Zhu Xiongying.

"However, if we promote civil officials, the Ming Dynasty may end up in the same cycle of civil official dictatorship and party strife as in history. That's why I want to reform the military system."

"Reforming the military system is no small matter." Zhu Su shook his head. "Brother wants to make the act of 'protecting the country and the people' the first priority for merit. But this is a big deal. The Ming Dynasty has a million troops, including the military households in various places. Changing the military law is tantamount to suddenly changing the style of all the troops, which is not so easy."

"I know. But now, with our father in charge, it is the best opportunity to change the military law and the military style of the Ming Dynasty." Zhu Biao said. "Also, I have reported the matter to the court based on Ma Ye's incident. The military regulations have already included this part."

The punishment of Ma Ye, who wanted to force innocent people to rebel and claim credit, proved that the original way of awarding credit in the Ming Dynasty had its drawbacks... Therefore, when Zhu Biao submitted a memorial to add new military laws, all the major military leaders in the Ming Dynasty were reluctant to oppose it at this critical moment.

"But the effect..." Zhu Biao drank a glass of wine with his head tilted back, and then smiled bitterly. "It's really very little..."

Immediately afterwards, Zhu Biao told Zhu Su about the disaster that had occurred in Baoding Prefecture a few days ago and almost caused a civil uprising.

It turned out that Baoding Prefecture had suffered a white disaster a few days ago, with hail and heavy snow that collapsed people's houses and blocked official roads. The prefect of Baoding Prefecture wrote to Yingtian, hoping that the court would provide support.

This was a great opportunity to practice the new military law. Zhu Biao immediately issued an order through the cabinet, ordering the general of the Baoding Zuojin Guard to lead troops to provide assistance, clear the snow for the people, and build houses to demonstrate the example of the Ming Dynasty's benevolent and righteous army.

It was thought that the officers and soldiers of the garrison would flock to the city to be rewarded for their efforts in rescuing the people. However, after entering the city, these ruffians took advantage of the people's disaster and, under the pretext of helping the people, they broke into people's homes and robbed their property, claiming to be collecting labor fees. Some even insulted women in the city, and their families reported them to the government. The officers sent by the prefectural government were beaten out by the protective garrison commander.

It was just a minor white disaster, but because the soldiers entered the city to "help with the disaster", it caused public outrage and almost led to a disaster. When Zhu Biao heard about it, he was furious. With the approval of his father, he immediately ordered the arrest of 18 officers and soldiers of the garrison and several soldiers who had committed the crime, thus calming the public outrage in Baoding Prefecture. But what made Zhu Biao even more sad was actually the failure of the new military law reform.

With another way to gain military merit, those black-hearted generals in the army will only think about having their cake and eating it too. On the one hand, they will use the reputation to plunder the people, and on the other hand, they will happily continue to deceive the court and earn military merit... How can they look like a benevolent and righteous army?

"Brother, what should I do? Please teach me!" Zhu Biao said solemnly.

Each generation has its own tasks. As the founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang had to do what Genghis Khan did in the past. While the Ming Dynasty was still sharp, he used his supreme majesty to expand the territory of the Ming Dynasty and create a great world for future generations. As the second-generation monarch of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao had to explore a new way to maintain the status quo that was applicable to the Ming Dynasty.

To prevent the Ming Dynasty from becoming like the Mongol Empire of the past, which quickly fell apart and disintegrated after the death of Genghis Khan because it had no idea how to govern the country.

At this level, Zhu Biao's task is even heavier than that of Zhu Yuanzhang.

Now that the old way of balancing the emperor is no longer applicable to the current Ming Dynasty, Zhu Biao is struggling to explore how future monarchs should maintain the foundation of their ancestors and a new way of governing the country. Reforming the old military law is the first step Zhu Biao wants to take. He urgently hopes that Zhu Su can give him feasible suggestions.

Zhu Su thought for a while, and understood Zhu Biao's request, so he slowly said: "Brother, you hope that the soldiers of our Ming Dynasty can have the bottom line of 'benevolence and righteousness' like the literati, and there can be more generals who can truly care about the world, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right." Zhu Biao's eyes lit up, "Fifth brother, do you have any strategy?"

"In this case, why not let scholars lead the troops?" Zhu Su said.

Zhu Biao was stunned, then said solemnly: "Fifth brother, what are you talking about? How can a scholar lead an army?"

"Although scholars may have some sense of benevolence and righteousness, they dare not risk the world's disapproval and do things that harm the people... However, the military is the most important weapon of the country. How can we easily entrust it to scholars?"

"One incompetent general can lead to the death of the entire army. If a scholar takes charge of the army, wouldn't that mean we are repeating the mistakes of the Song Dynasty? No."

"Moreover, confiscating the military power of the military officials and allowing the civil officials to dominate is a move that will bring disaster to the country! How could my fifth brother have such an idea!"

"Brother, please be patient. Men of letters and scholars cannot be treated the same." Zhu Su said with a smile.

"Why should scholars and warriors be defined by how much they read? Nowadays, many newly-educated scholars carry swords and practice archery. This is so that even if they become civil officials, they will not forget their blood and will have the courage to draw a sword. The same is true for warriors."

"Brother, since you want them to know the righteousness of life, why don't you think of letting them learn to read and write?"

(End of this chapter)