Ming Dynasty entry: I am Chongzhen, the greatest emperor of all time!

Chapter 48 I Still Didn’t Cut Enough

His original intention was to see who the Donglin Party would nominate so that he could banish them all to the cold palace.

Unexpectedly, Fan Jingwen directly nominated the candidate he had decided on at the beginning.

Isn't this old man stupid and is being used as a pawn by Li Mingrui and others?

Did I see it wrong? Fan Jingwen is a great talent.

Zhu Youjian didn't know that Fan Jingwen recommended Zhang Shize completely from the bottom of his heart.

Throughout history, how many people had the courage to lead 500 light cavalry to charge an army of 700,000?

How many people have been able to break through three layers of fortifications in a row?
After breaking through three layers of fortified camps and burning hundreds of thousands of tons of grain and grass, how many people can still come back alive?

This is simply the God of War of the Ming Dynasty!

If not him, who else should we nominate?!

Zhu Youjian's idea was similar to Fan Jingwen's, although the main credit went to Ye Bu Shou.

But a son of a noble family was able to raise more than 200 light cavalry with his personal prestige, and he was able to fight to the death to burn the camp when facing the rebel army, buying time for Ye Bushou.

That was enough for Zhu Youjian to use him.

On the other hand, it was also because there was really no one available in the capital.

Anyway, training the surrendered soldiers and militiamen also depends on a system.

It would be better to place a nobleman who is loyal to the Ming Dynasty, quick-witted and courageous.

Zhu Youjian was about to agree when he changed the subject.

The officials in the hall who were blinded by power began to refute one after another.

"The Duke of Ying has never commanded an army and has no vision. He is unfit to lead a new army!"

Fan Jingwen snorted coldly, "He dares to charge 5 million for 700,000!"

"The Duke of England has never experienced battle. How could he have caused the entire army to be overthrown by a moment of carelessness?"

"He dares to charge 5 million for 700,000!"

"The Duke of England has no experience in training troops, and this may lead to disaster."

"He's going for 700,000 with 5 million!!"

Fan Jingwen faced the hall, his nose in the air, looking down upon his ministers.

Just the example of 500,000 charging 700,000 is enough to break all the shortcomings.

In the end, it was Zhu Youjian who knocked on the dragon throne to end the dispute.

"Since that's the case, then the Duke of Ying will be promoted to Commander-in-Chief of the Fifth Army Camp, and the position of Minister of War will be temporarily held by Wang Jiayan, formerly the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War."

This Wang Jiayan was a talent that the Jinyiwei discovered during their investigation of all the officials these past two days.

Not only was he not greedy, he also relied on his talent to earn a position as the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War.

You have to know that this was the end of the Ming Dynasty!
Without money, you can’t even be an official in Beijing.

You can imagine how capable this person is.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian had some impression of this name, as if he was one of the loyal ministers who died for the country in the Jiashen National Disaster.

It must be reused vigorously.

Wang Jiayan, one of the ministers, didn't expect that there was something for him to do, and thanked the emperor in confusion.

Zhu Youjian asked Wang Chengen to bring up the key points of this court meeting.

"Today, our Ming Dynasty is plagued by internal and external troubles, and its military preparations have been neglected. We have allowed the rebels, the Jian Nu, to run rampant throughout the land. I have decided to reorganize the Ministry of War and the Five City Military Commission. The eunuchs who oversee the army will be abolished. Civil officials without military positions will not be allowed to command a single soldier. The various armies and camps will not be under the control of each other, but will be coordinated and deployed by the Ministry of War. Only generals can be appointed to the Ministry of War, and matters of war will not be discussed outside the Ministry of War."

"The Censorate was abolished and replaced with the Integrity Council, with left and right Integrity Censors. The Imperial Guard was merged into the Integrity Council. Li Ruolian, the former commander of the Imperial Guard, was appointed Right Integrity Censor, responsible for overseeing internal and external intelligence. Song Ye, the former Hanlin scholar, was appointed Left Censor-in-Chief. All other candidates were selected from the Hanlin Academy's Shujishi, responsible for overseeing the integrity of all officials throughout the country."

These two reforms were proposed by Zhu Youjian based on his previous life's analysis of the court in the late Ming Dynasty, adding his own ideas and taking advantage of the crisis in the capital.

The biggest drawback in the late Ming Dynasty was not military preparation or lack of money, but factional strife.

In order to fight for greater power and make more money, officials formed cliques and attacked each other.

Under the cabinet system headed by the pseudo-prime minister and the pseudo-secretary of state, the civil service group used the imperial examination system to form a community of interests, controlling administration, supervision and public opinion from top to bottom.

Completely monopolize the upper-level industries of this big empire.

Controlling the imperial examinations and supervision means controlling the promotion paths of all lower-level military and civilians.

If you don’t pay, don’t even think about passing the exam in this lifetime.

The champion scholar spent 200,000 taels to bribe the others, but you only get 100 taels and become a student. Controlling public opinion and supplies means controlling all the border generals.

If you don't offer your property and don't dismount to greet the civil officials, the emperor will know tomorrow that you have rebellious intentions. Anyway, the court is dominated by civil officials, and we all supported each other to get to where we are. Who do you think is willing to protect you?

Even a powerful person like Qi Jiguang had to seek protection from Zhang Juzheng.

The emperor needs civil servants to govern the country. If he overdoes it, it is possible that there will be collective resignations, boycotts of examinations in various places, collective tax resistance, and the incitement of the people, which may lead to rebellion.

However, if we do not take this opportunity to intervene in the court that has been made into an iron wall by the civil servants, it will only make it more troublesome to rectify the situation in the future.

That's why Zhu Youjian decided to reform the Ministry of War.

Only generals can be appointed to positions, which means giving border generals the right to speak in the court.

At the rate at which the army was gaining merit, it wouldn't be long before they could compete with the civil officials in the court.

Although abolishing eunuchs who supervise the army may lead to increased corruption in the army, it will also reduce the checks and balances on the army commanders.

He had an entry system, added entries to the army, and gradually brought all military power under the imperial power.

Nor are we afraid of warlords becoming too powerful.

The fact that civil officials were not allowed to mobilize troops further restricted their control over the army.

Now he wants to increase the military's voice indefinitely and force military leaders from all over the country to take sides.

As long as you don't rebel, you must obey the orders of the Ministry of War. The people who give the orders are also military personnel. There is no need to flatter the civil servants. You will be rewarded for your merits, and all your words can reach the ears of the emperor!

Quickly achieve the parallel development of civil and military affairs, rather than the abnormal state of civil administration and military rule.

Although it could only maintain balance for a short period of time, it was enough for him to quickly consolidate power over the entire country after defeating Li Zicheng.

Once the situation at home and abroad stabilizes, he will have enough time to adjust slowly.

For example, the military rank system, war zone division, three-year rotation, etc.

The military must be separated from the civilian population at all costs.

The establishment of the Integrity Council was entirely because the situations of all officials in the capital had been investigated almost completely. He planned to focus the Jinyiwei on military intelligence, and to train young officials such as Song Ye to become loyal members of the imperial party, in order to further disrupt and clean up the court.

Once all the factions have been cleansed, the pure royal party can come on stage.

When two consecutive imperial edicts were issued, the civil officials were in an uproar.

Everyone looked at Ni Yuanlu as if he were an enemy.

Normally, such a major change would have to be discussed with the cabinet.

Now, among all the people in the cabinet, only Ni Yuanlu has the honor to be summoned by His Majesty in person.

The fact that these two articles were passed must have been Ni Yuanlu’s doing!

Someone even shouted in the hall, "Your Majesty, please revoke your order! Since ancient times, strategies have originated in the court, and military affairs have been achieved through discussions. Only generals can discuss war. Where does this leave the ministers of the cabinet, the heads of the six ministries, and the imperial scholars in the court?!"

As soon as these words were spoken, some people came out to echo them.

"Although the world is in danger, it is not doomed. If you use generals to control generals, the world will be at peace, but it will actually be doomed. Your Majesty, don't forget the Eight Pillars of Wei and Zhao Kuangyin of Zhou!"

"What do those soldiers know? How can they march and deploy without our advice?!"

The nobles didn't like to hear this. Who among them didn't have humble ancestors? Who among them followed Taizu and Chengzu to conquer the world wasn't a commoner? Where were you civil officials at that time?
The quarrel became more and more intense, and few people noticed that Li Ruolian, who had never appeared, walked into the hall with a dozen strong men carrying four large boxes.

Zhu Youjian casually took out a book from the box and threw it into the hall.

"So many people are against it. Are they not satisfied drinking the blood of the soldiers, or are they not satisfied being an official?"

"I'm here to inform you, not to discuss with you!"

"It seems I didn't cut enough, and you guys think you're good officials. Li Ruolian, read these account books to the ministers and let them hear how much wealth you have!"

Li Ruolian immediately picked up an account book and read out the numbers on it.

"Seventy-three thousand two hundred and twenty-four ounces of silver, and land..."

The hall was filled with silence.

After reading it, Zhu Youjian spoke again, "Tell the ministers what they have done!"

"According to the Emperor's orders, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has verified that Tian Hua, the head of the Ministry of Personnel, has colluded with 114 officials from various ministries and privately contacted wealthy merchants from Jiangnan, bandits from the northwest, and 75 guards including the Fengyang Guard. They intend to use treason and other means to force the Emperor to release 22 arrested officials. 14 pieces of evidence are available for submission at any time."

After saying that, Li Ruolian bowed and waited for Zhu Youjian's order.

The latter pretended to be puzzled and asked, "Then what are you waiting for? Arrest them! If you don't arrest them, will they come and kill me?"

(End of this chapter)