Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 69: Establish your authority first, then show your kindness later

Old Zhu's eyes narrowed suddenly, and he looked at him in surprise and said, "Did I hear correctly? They are students?"

You should know that nowadays martial arts schools recruit students who are children of military officers under the age of 25.

The courses taught, in addition to military tactics, are more about military training.

After these people are trained, they will serve as low-level officers such as small flags in various armies.

Recruiting high-ranking generals, dukes and other high-ranking nobles as students was an idea that was too advanced in that era.

No one even thought about it in this direction.

Zhu Yunhuan saw that Old Zhu looked strange and asked, "Grandpa Emperor, is there anything wrong with this?"

Old Zhu smiled bitterly and said, "With their qualifications and prestige, who is qualified to be their teacher?"

"If we arrange for the current martial arts instructors to teach them, I'm afraid they will start to make trouble soon."

Zhu Yunhuan was stunned for a moment.

He had never really thought about this question.

People in later generations will have no objection to arranging teachers to teach them.

I don't care who the teacher is.

But the Ming Dynasty was still a feudal society, and the meaning of a teacher was completely different from that in later generations.

Heaven, Earth, the Emperor, Parents and Teachers, whoever you choose as your teacher, you will be his disciple, which means that from now on, unless there is an accident, the two of you will most likely be firmly bound together.

But who would those arrogant generals and nobles be willing to take as their teacher?

Let the military generals with great military achievements, the high-ranking governors and commanders from all over the country worship those martial arts teachers who are not even of rank as their teachers?

Then they will definitely think that this is too insulting!

I'm afraid he will go berserk immediately and draw his sword on the spot!
"When three people walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher!" Zhu Yunhuan said, "The saints have long said that we should not be ashamed to ask questions from those who are inferior to us."

"Han Tuizhi wrote in On Teachers that there is no high or low, no old or young, where the Way exists, there the teacher exists."

“A teacher need not be better than his disciples, and a disciple need not be worse than his teacher.”

"Based on this logic, the teacher's official rank does not necessarily have to be higher than those military generals and noble students."

"If it is based on nobility and inferiority, then the crown prince cannot become a disciple."

"Emperor can't hold lectures, so we have to invite great scholars to give lectures."

"Besides, the military academy can invite different teachers to teach, and it is not necessary to perform the ceremony of paying respect to each teacher."

Old Zhu still shook his head and said, "Although what you said makes sense, those military generals and nobles are just a bunch of rough people. They won't listen to you."

"Besides, we don't allow them to collude privately on weekdays. Although we may not be able to ban them completely, it will at least have some effect."

"Now that they are gathered together, how can the teachers and instructors in the martial arts school control them?"

"I'm afraid it could easily lead to trouble, which would be bad."

Old Zhu knew those people's temperaments too well.

Military generals and nobles who have experienced bloody battles are all somewhat hot-tempered and are definitely not honest people.

Otherwise, they would not have started the rebellion in the first place.

When they got angry, they would even fight in the court.

If we let them go to school, I'm afraid they would join hands and beat up the teacher on the first day of class.

Zhu Yunhuan pursed his lips and mustered up the courage to say, "Grandpa Emperor, my grandson's idea is that I will be the dean of this military academy and personally manage them."

The expression on Old Zhu's face paused for a moment, then he revealed a look of shock.

You should know that before this, the officials in charge of martial arts were of very low rank.

Old Zhu couldn't even remember his name.

The idea of having Zhu Yunhuan serve as the dean had never entered Zhu's mind.

This is the limitation of the times.

People living in this era will more or less be influenced by the times in their thoughts.

Having the crown prince serve as the dean of the military academy went beyond the scope of his thinking, so naturally he would not think in this direction.

But Old Zhu was a very smart man after all. When Zhu Yunhuan said that, he immediately thought of many things, as if he had suddenly realized something. He hurriedly said, "Tell me about it in detail."

Zhu Yunhuan took a deep breath and said, "Grandpa Emperor, the biggest problem my grandson is facing now is that he is too young and lacks prestige."

"They all treat me like a child. They are only respectful to me on the surface because I am the emperor's grandson and the King of Wu."

"But if they all accept me as their master, it will be different."

He did not hide anything, but spoke directly about his plan.

Anyway, with Lao Zhu's cleverness, he will definitely not be able to hide it.

It’s better to be honest.

Old Zhu stroked his beard and smiled without saying anything.

"My grandson can also use the military academy to divide and conquer the generals, and take the opportunity to recruit some confidants and use them for his own benefit."

"Secondly, if the imperial court wants to promote a certain military commander, they can first transfer him to the military academy for further study."

"Once you complete your training and pass the assessment, your promotion will be a natural progression, and there will be nothing wrong with it." "On the other hand, if you want to remove a certain general from his military power, you can also transfer him to the Military Academy for further training."

"Keep him away from the garrison he commands."

"It will be much easier to arrest and punish him, and it won't shake the morale of the army."

"We tricked him into coming to the capital under the pretext of sending him to study at the military academy to lower his guard and prevent any accidents."

"This is how grace and power come from above, unfathomable."

"Furthermore, military generals and nobles go to the military academy to study every few years. We can also take this opportunity to test their character and see if they have ambitions, and then use them as appropriate."

"Fourth, most of the military generals and nobles have low cultural literacy and have been relying on their military experience to fight. It is also necessary to have them come to the military academy to learn cultural knowledge and military tactics."

"Fifth, gather these people together to analyze the battles that have been fought in the past and discuss the successes and failures. This will help us summarize experience so that when there is a war in the future, everyone will be able to command properly."

"Sixth, depending on the situation, some military officers and nobles will be transferred to the military academy as teachers after graduation."

"This can be used to distance them from the military they originally controlled and undermine their power, but they can still maintain contact through the students of the military academy."

"When they are not used, they are kept in the military academy."

"If there is a rebellion or an emergency at the border, we can let them lead the troops again."

"Because they have experience in leading troops and have deep connections with military students, they can take over the army effortlessly at critical moments."

"In this way, our Ming Dynasty will have many more talented generals in reserve."

"If there is any change, the soldiers and generals can be calmed down."

"Seventh, the military academy will start recruiting military commanders and above, and then gradually expand its enrollment to allow its influence to penetrate the entire Ming army."

"They set up archives at the military academy and centralized learning, so the court can get a clearer picture of each general's specific situation, which will help it better control the army."

"Eighth, with meritorious officials and senior generals as a foundation, when the military academy recruits young students in the future and trains them from scratch, everyone will flock to them."

“Young talents can be chosen at will.”

"Based on this, we can slowly replace the generals in the army."

"As time goes by, all the generals in the world will come from the military academy and spread across the armies."

"With them here, it will be extremely difficult for any other general to fight against the imperial court alone."

"Ninth, we can establish a new system whereby the crown prince or emperor will personally serve as the president of the military academy in the future."

"In this way, even if the emperors of later generations have no experience in leading troops in battle, they will have disciples throughout the army and will have a very deep foundation in the army, and the imperial power will naturally be more stable."

After he finished speaking, Old Zhu clapped his hands and laughed: "Great! Great! Great! This is indeed a brilliant idea. Let's do it!"

"As you said, a military academy will be established and you will be the first dean."

Zhu Yunhuan was overjoyed and said hurriedly, "Thank you, Grandfather Emperor!"

He also had some other ideas in his mind, which was to use this military academy as a basis to gradually build a new modern army, so that the military power of the Ming Dynasty would be completely superior to that of this era.

Of course, there is no need to tell Lao Zhu about this now.

His foundation in the court is still too shallow, and it is far from enough to rely solely on blood ties to gain the support of military generals and nobles out of their own interests.

After taking charge of the military academy, he can truly form his own political team.

Old Zhu added: "It is better to use it than to waste it."

"I'll listen to you. We won't kill Wang Bi and his men!"

He paused and said, "If that's the case, you can't try Wang Bi and others' case!"

"The person who joined them today is Huang Zicheng, right?"

"Then hand over Wang Bi's generals and nobles to Huang Zicheng for trial."

Zhu Yunhuan was slightly startled, then he understood.

Establish your authority first, then show your kindness.

Old Zhu was indeed an expert at controlling his subjects.

"Grandpa Emperor, your opinion is profound. I understand!"

Lao Zhu nodded and said, "We won't be responsible for the rest of the matter. You can handle it yourself."

"Remember, you must take this opportunity to win their hearts."

"We can also take this opportunity to criticize Huang Zicheng and the civil servants in the court."

"They don't take you seriously. You should teach them a lesson and establish your prestige."

"You are the one who will rule the Ming Dynasty in the future, so you must be decisive in killing people."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded gently and said, "Grandson knows!"

Huang Zicheng and others are so considerate, always giving him great assists and gifts, so he really needs to repay them well.

Old Zhu immediately asked again: "You just said to start from two aspects to solve the problem of the military commanders being too powerful to be eliminated."

"Establishing a military academy is a good idea."

"Then what is the other way?"

……

PS: Here is the first chapter first, and there will be more chapters tonight!
(End of this chapter)