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

Chapter 937 The Importance of Literature and Art
"Read...read?" Zhu Biao was a little surprised.

He keenly grasped that the "military men" Zhu Su referred to did not just refer to generals and assistants, but to all military men including soldiers.

"Why is it so?" Zhu Biao leaned forward and asked Zhu Su.

In this era when the overall literacy rate was less than 20%, being able to read and write was undoubtedly considered a privilege of the upper class. Only families with money could afford to hire a private tutor and buy writing brushes, inkstones, and paper. People who learned to read and write were generally respected by the lower classes, and could earn a good living by writing or doing accounting for others.

As for soldiers…it may sound bad, but they are mostly rough men who have no means of livelihood and live on the edge of a knife. They are also engaged in the business of killing people with knives. Want them to study? Can they read?
What if I read it? If I have a better way to make a living, will I become a deserter and return home to sell calligraphy and paintings?

"Brother, you have fallen into a misunderstanding... If you want to create a benevolent and righteous army, what you need to reform is not military law, but the military spirit." Zhu Su said. "Military law is rules. If there are loopholes, the soldiers will naturally take advantage of them."

"Too many rules will hurt the morale of the army and make the soldiers unwilling to do their job."

"And the word 'benevolence and righteousness' in a benevolent and righteous army refers to virtue. How can a benevolent and righteous army be truly considered one if it has rules but no virtue? As long as they are far away from the capital, the emperor is far away, or the rules are not strict, and the general does not care, the soldiers will naturally let things go and forget about the word 'benevolence and righteousness'."

"Today, people always distinguish between civil and military, and think that civil and military cannot be combined. It seems that there must be a clear distinction between civil and military. Civil officials cannot kill enemies, and military people cannot read books... But a hundred years ago, how did people distinguish between civil and military? The difference between civil and military should be in their duties, not in their knowledge."

"It's the job, not the knowledge..." Zhu Biao lowered his head and thought, the wine glass in his hand was already at his lips, but he didn't move for a long time. He suddenly raised his head and said, "Fifth brother wants the new students to learn the six arts of a gentleman again, so that all scholars can understand the three arts of riding, shooting and driving. Is this also what you want?"

"Of course." Zhu Su smiled. "During the Qin and Han dynasties, Confucian scholars were also able to draw swords and kill enemies. Many of them could pacify the world with their writings and decide the fate of the world with their martial arts. With such a legacy left by our ancestors, how dare we fall behind?"

"Similarly, if scholars can learn martial arts, why can't martial artists learn literature? Learning literature can help one understand reason. If everyone in the army understands the principles of benevolence and righteousness, then wouldn't this army be the benevolent and righteous army that brother mentioned?"

Zhu Biao was thoughtful again. Although what Zhu Su said made sense, as a man who had been in power for many years, he still felt that what Zhu Su said was superficial. He asked, "Although this is very good, it is difficult to achieve."

"There are more than tens of thousands of soldiers in our Ming Dynasty. How can we teach all of them? Where can we find so many teachers?"

"Besides, if this is true, how many more positions will be created in the court? How much more expenses will be added? If there are some results, that's fine. But if there are no achievements..."

"Why add one?" Zhu Su smiled. "Aren't there already positions in the army that are very suitable for teaching soldiers to read?"

"Huh?" Zhu Biao was stunned. "What position?"

"Military Supervisor." Zhu Su said.

The military inspector, a notorious position in the military, has left behind many infamies in history.

In history, there were eunuchs who supervised the army and there were civil servants who supervised the army. Generally speaking, if the emperor trusted the civil servants, the civil servants would be the military supervisors, and if the emperor trusted the eunuchs, the eunuchs would be the military supervisors.

Because his job is to firmly control the ownership of the army on behalf of the emperor. Therefore, the military supervisor who holds the power of supervision often makes the commander of the army fearful to some extent.

Because the military supervisor holds great power, at critical moments, he can often control the commander-in-chief and even change the decision of the entire army. Therefore, in history, there have been many examples of military supervisors guiding experts in battles, and there are many cases where the entire army was annihilated because of military supervisors.

Zhu Yuanzhang hated this so much that, although the Ming Dynasty established the post of military supervisor, there were also various unwritten rules and regulations to strictly restrict the military supervisor's behavior in the army. Therefore, the military supervisors in the early Ming Dynasty were often some silent Buddhas made of clay or wood. When in the army, they only served as the emperor's eyes and ears, and it was a sinecure that could not be more idle.

Zhu Su's idea was to give these military supervisors who only received salaries and had no other use a new function...

"You mean, let the military supervisor tell books and stories to the soldiers and organize everyone to perform plays?" Zhu Biao was dumbfounded.

In the army? Storytelling? Opera? Is this an opera troupe or the government army?
"Not only storytelling, but also helping soldiers to run night schools, write letters home, explain the court's policies to soldiers, explain the deep meaning of military law, etc." Zhu Biao said. "Most soldiers can't read, which limits their knowledge. They only know the petty gains in front of them, and don't understand the great justice of the court... Then someone must teach them!"

"The usual teaching methods will certainly lead to dissatisfaction among the soldiers. But aren't storytelling and opera also good ways to make people understand the truth?"

"We want soldiers to read, not to make them worship masters, take exams, and be well-mannered, but to make them understand the truth and justice. Storytelling and singing, through various plays and operas that they like to hear and see, are the best way to guide their minds and thoughts."

"As for the night school, it can further train generals and officers, and perhaps enable our Ming Dynasty to have more good generals who are both civil and military. The general is the courage of the army. If the general understands the truth, will he still worry that the soldiers do not know benevolence and righteousness?"

Zhu Su's method was to combine the functions of the military supervisor with the "political commissar" and "literary commissar" in the army of later generations. If the functions of the military supervisor were placed in the army, they would either hinder the main general or be idle and waste the court's salary... If a new position was rashly added, it would cause a great deal of commotion throughout the Ming Dynasty. Letting the military supervisor do this kind of thing could minimize the turmoil of the reform.

This method has been proven by later generations, and Zhu Su is very confident in it.

Zhu Biao was full of doubts, somewhat tempted, yet somewhat incredulous: "Can this... really work?"

"Will the establishment of musical performances in the army really make the soldiers lose their morale?"

"Nowadays, everyone in Yingtian Prefecture is yearning to expand the frontier, and there are many knights in the world who work for our Ming Dynasty. Isn't this enough to dispel my doubts, brother?" Zhu Su said.

"A book of Romance of the Three Kingdoms makes everyone want to be martial; a book of The Legend of the Condor Heroes makes heroes compete to serve the country, which fully illustrates the importance of literature and art and their ability to guide social trends."

"Brother, you used the cabinet to bring newspapers and theaters under the jurisdiction of the court in order to control the morale of the Ming Dynasty... Today, the morale in the army is not stable, why don't you think of using the same method to improve the morale in the army?"

"The military supervisor is in charge of military literature and art, and is in charge of military public opinion. There are only benefits and no harm. Brother, why don't you give it a try first?"

(End of this chapter)