My father is Jiajing

Chapter 425: Beijing Martial Arts Hall

In the early spring of the following year, Li Chunfang was appointed as the wedding envoy by Emperor Jiajing. Li Chunfang led a large wedding procession to Datong to welcome Princess Qimuge who came from the grassland.

On the grassland, Qimuge was called a princess, but in the official language system of the Ming Dynasty, Qimuge's status was downgraded to a princess.

But this is actually not important, because although the two sides have ceased fighting and have more trade exchanges and peaceful communications, their political systems are still different.

The Ming Dynasty considered itself the ruler of the world. Whenever there were political or other exchanges between the Ming Dynasty and all foreign vassal states, the Ming Dynasty would label them as "princes", "county princes" or inferior foreign countries based on their power.

The main theme is that I am the best in the world!

But, it is not easy to be the first.

For example, the Tatars in the north are actually unwilling to submit.

Although they could not compete with the Ming Dynasty in terms of national strength, it would be extremely difficult for the Ming Dynasty to destroy them.

So the two sides have been in a stalemate, and neither side is willing to give in.

It was not until Zhu Zaigui unexpectedly defeated the main force of the Tatars near the capital that the Tatars surrendered and temporarily acted like grandsons.

But everyone is clear about this situation. If the Tatars are given another 30 to 50 years to accumulate and develop, they will still come riding on their tall horses and rob the people living in the border areas of the Ming Dynasty.

But this time of thirty or fifty years is too far away. Even if everyone can see it, they will choose the hard-earned peace at the moment, because they cannot afford a war of annihilation that would cost a lot of money.

So, now in order to maintain stability, the Tatars sent the princess away.

For the sake of stability, the Ming Dynasty also chose to accept it and let a prince named Zhu Zaigui take on the responsibility and marry the princess sent from the grassland.

After Li Chunfang arrived in Datong, he was filled with emotion when he saw the endless stream of merchants and travelers coming and going.

You have to know that before the 29th year of Jiajing, Datong had always been an important frontline town in the confrontation with the Tatars. The people who came here the most were soldiers transferred from all over the country by the imperial court. As for the merchants, unless they wanted to make a lot of money, they would never come to Datong to do business.

Li Chunfang was warmly received by Datong General Malu and arrived at the general's mansion in Datong.

Li Chunfang naturally sat at the first seat in the general's mansion, while General Malu and his men sat at the lower seats.

Ma Lu toasted Li Chunfang and said, "Zhongcheng has come from afar, and I have not entertained you well. Please forgive me."

Li Chunfang lifted the wine glass gently and said, "General Ma, you are too polite. I am here to welcome the princess in accordance with the emperor's order. I am sorry to bother you in Datong."

Malu kept saying he didn't dare. For a high-ranking Beijing official like Li Chunfang, especially one who was the Minister of Rites and also a Hanlin scholar working in the cabinet, Malu didn't even have time to curry favor with him.

Li Chunfang looked at Ma Lu who was so humble and smiled again: "In addition to welcoming the princess this time, I also have an important and happy event to tell General Ma."

When Malu heard this, his ears perked up immediately, "Zhongcheng, please speak."

Li Chunfang said: "Since the defense of the capital, the main force of the Tatars was completely destroyed by our army, and they are no longer able to pose a threat to our nine borders. Therefore, these important towns in the nine borders have been relieved and transformed their functions, shouldering the important task of transiting trade between the Ming Dynasty and the grasslands." "But there is no war to fight, and it will be difficult for you to gain military merits and be promoted. Therefore, before I came, the prince of the regent submitted a letter to His Majesty suggesting that a martial arts hall be built in the capital, and His Majesty also graciously approved it."

"Now the prince will set aside a special area near the capital to build the Capital Martial Arts Hall together with the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commandery. Then you, the border generals and your nephews, can apply to the Capital Martial Arts Hall to learn systematic military tactics. If you can pass the examination of the Martial Arts Hall, the court will grant you an official position based on your examination results."

"Then your descendants won't have to worry about losing the court's attention because there will be no war. This can be regarded as the grace that the prince has asked for you. You must guard the territory well and be loyal and filial in the future, so as not to disappoint His Majesty and the prince's good intentions."

A soldier standing behind Malu couldn't help but get excited when he heard what Li Chunfang said. He couldn't help but ask, "Are you serious, Zhongcheng?"

Li Chunfang looked at the soldier who suddenly asked the question in astonishment. Malu was startled and quickly apologized: "My son is so rude, please forgive me, Minister!"

When Li Chunfang heard that he was Malu's son, he laughed generously and said, "It's okay, it's normal for young people to be impatient. What's your name?"

Li Chunfang finally asked the soldier who was scolded by his father.

The soldier replied, "I am Ma Gui, currently serving as a flag officer in the General's Office."

Li Chunfang laughed and said, "Ma Gui? What a good name! He is indeed a handsome man. A good father will have a good son."

Li Chunfang also praised Ma Gui generously. After the banquet at the general's mansion, Li Chunfang returned to the post house in Datong and began to rest while waiting for the arrival of the Tatar wedding procession.

As for the matter of the Beijing Martial Arts Hall, Li Chunfang only knew one side of the story.

In the memorial Zhu Zaigui wrote to Emperor Jiajing, he also specifically mentioned the benefits of oil in the Western Regions and areas further west. Therefore, for long-term planning, Zhu Zaigui suggested setting up a military training hall directly controlled by the court near the capital to train new military talents so as to fill the vacancies of military officers needed in various parts of the court at any time.

At the same time, these people must also realize the importance of the Hetao area and the Western Regions during their studies in the Beijing Martial Arts Hall, so that they can have a subtle understanding that the Hetao area and the Western Regions are also an inseparable part of the Ming Dynasty. If they want to establish further merits, they must emulate the Western Regions stories of the famous generals of the Han and Tang Dynasties.

Therefore, the establishment of the Beijing Martial Arts Hall was actually a preliminary preparation for the future development of the Western Regions. It was also a foreshadowing for further reforms of the Ming military system.

Although Emperor Jiajing had only a vague understanding of oil, he had a deep understanding of the strategies of Hetao and the Western Regions.

After all, in the early years of Jiajing, Emperor Jiajing had thought about taking back the Hetao area, opening up the Hami Guard in the Western Regions again, and recreating the military achievements of Emperor Yongle.

But unfortunately, after some accounting, Emperor Jiajing had to admit that the cost of taking back Hetao was too high.

What made Emperor Jiajing even more powerless was that there was not a single military general he could directly trust. He had finally treated Qiu Luan as a treasure, but he turned out to be a piece of useless mud. Emperor Jiajing was so ashamed that he had no choice but to bow his head and ask civil officials to take up important military command to stabilize the situation.

Now that Zhu Zaigui had proposed the idea of ​​building the Beijing Martial Arts Hall, Emperor Jiajing's mind suddenly became flexible. Since he could not truly trust outsiders, he could use the Beijing Martial Arts Hall to train a group of military confidants who would be loyal to him. This was also a good thing that he would welcome.

What's more, although others don't know that Zhu Zaigui's real name is Guanjun Hou "Zhu Wuji", Emperor Jiajing is very clear about it.

Therefore, Emperor Jiajing still had great confidence in Zhu Zaigui's ability and knew Zhu Zaigui's skills when it came to such military arrangements and judgments.

Therefore, while agreeing to build the Beijing Martial Arts Hall, Emperor Jiajing also appointed Zhu Zaigui as the preparatory envoy for the Beijing Martial Arts Hall, responsible for all matters related to the Beijing Martial Arts Hall. The Minister of War and the Five Military Commanders' Office were appointed as deputy preparatory envoys to assist Zhu Zaigui in completing the preparatory work for the Beijing Martial Arts Hall.

(End of this chapter)