Take control of Wei Zhongxian at the start and confiscate 100 million from him!

Chapter 22 A Warning to Others!

Gently closing the dossier, which was stained with blood and conspiracy, Zhu Youjian turned his gaze to the second one.

This file is completely different from the previous one.

It had no cover; it was simply bound together with rough, yellow hemp rope.

The paper was rough, yellowish, and produced by the Ordnance Bureau in the suburbs of Beijing.

This is the first monthly report of the New Army, handwritten by British Duke Zhang Weixian from the New Army camp on the outskirts of Beijing, published every ten days.

Zhu Youjian looked at it very carefully, his expression focused, almost silently reading each word in his mind.

His gaze was much gentler than when he was reviewing Wei Zhongxian's report, even carrying a hint of barely perceptible expectation.

"...This month, I have diligently followed the 'New Army Training Outline' bestowed by His Majesty, training day and night without slackening. Initially, I recruited 3,000 soldiers, all from good families near the capital. However, after the first round of exercises, including the five-mile cross-country run with weights and military drills, 473 men were eliminated due to physical exhaustion, lax discipline, or inability to be trained. The remaining 2,527 men are all strong and resilient warriors."

The elimination rate was close to one in six, a figure that made Zhu Youjian nod in satisfaction. His order to Zhang Weixian was to prioritize quality over quantity.

He didn't want a rabble; he wanted the seeds of a truly professional army.

An ordinary army of ten thousand men is nothing more than ten thousand lambs to the slaughter in the face of the Jurchen's heavily armored cavalry.

The report is followed by a detailed record of the daily training content in an almost log-like format.

Zhang Weixian, a veteran who had spent his entire life fighting on the battlefield, was clearly confused, even bewildered, by the "new terms" coined by the emperor.

Yet he faithfully and meticulously carried out every single one of the emperor's orders, revealing the rigor and honesty of an old soldier in every word.

"Reflections on the 'Extreme Physical Fitness Cycling' training: Every morning, soldiers were ordered not to use weapons or practice riding and archery, but instead to imitate street performers, performing strange actions such as lying down, sitting up, squatting, and leaping on the muddy ground. Initially, many soldiers did not understand this, and there were quite a few complaints in the camp, who thought it was a useless exercise that wasted their energy."

However, I insisted on enforcing the order, and after half a month, the miraculous effect was evident. The soldiers' endurance, strength, and resilience all improved significantly. Now, when they cross the five-mile cross-country race with heavy loads, the number of those who fall behind has decreased by seven or eight out of ten.

Your Majesty, I am foolish and initially could not understand Your Majesty's intentions. Now I realize that this method is truly the foundation of a strong army, far surpassing ordinary physical training. Your Majesty is wise and far surpasses ordinary people. I bow in submission.

Zhu Youjian finally couldn't help but reveal a genuine smile.

He certainly knew the power of these most basic physical training methods used in later generations.

Push-ups train upper limb and chest muscle strength, sit-ups train the core muscles of the waist and abdomen, squats train leg explosive power... These scientific and targeted muscle training methods are far more efficient than the crude "physical strength training" methods of this era.

He was like a time traveler carrying a "Modern Military Physical Training Manual," opening a door to a new world for a group of ancient soldiers who only knew how to practice horse stance and lift stone weights.

Zhang Weixian's "admiration" made him feel gratified.

What makes this veteran so valuable is not his illustrious military achievements, but his open-mindedness and willingness to embrace new things rather than sticking to old ways.

At the end of the report, Zhang Weixian mentioned one person in even greater detail than before.

"...Also, I need to report something to His Majesty. There is a squad leader in the new army named Sun Yingyuan, who was originally a junior officer in the Shixia Battalion of Jizhou Garrison. He was exiled to the Beijing Garrison due to a dispute with his superior. This man is not only proficient in Qi Jiguang's military strategy, but also has an extraordinary talent for firearms that far surpasses that of ordinary people."

What is even more commendable is that he was able to draw inferences from one instance to another, integrating the "triple formation" shooting method taught by the emperor with General Qi's Mandarin Duck Formation, and proposing a tactical concept of "using firearms as the core, spears as the skeleton, and formation changes as the flesh and blood," which coincidentally coincided with the emperor's military strategy.

I have boldly promoted him to the rank of Assistant General of the New Army, in charge of all tactical exercises of the entire army.

Sun Yingyuan.

A clear image of a young, resolute, dark-skinned officer with burning flames in his eyes appeared in Zhu Youjian's mind.

This was the first grain of gold he had personally panned from the sand, the first core gear of his future war machine.

The reason he initially introduced the concept of the "triple array" was to "fish" for information.

He wanted to see if any of these three thousand people could understand the essence of "continuous firepower suppression" behind the formation.

Sun Yingyuan not only understood it, but even elevated it to the level of tactical concept.

"With firearms as the core, spears as the skeleton, and formations as the flesh and blood."

Zhu Youjian silently recited these words in his heart, his eyes growing brighter and brighter. These sixteen characters precisely summarized the direction of infantry tactics evolution for the next few centuries!

This Sun Yingyuan is absolutely a buried genius!

This report is hope, a ray of light in the darkness.

If Wei Zhongxian's report was about "destruction," about ruthlessly destroying the old order, then Zhang Weixian's report was about "establishment," about building a vibrant new force.

Only through this process of destruction and reconstruction did his power truly gain a solid foundation.

Zhu Youjian set the report aside and his gaze fell on the last and most inconspicuous file.

This file is the most ordinary; the paper is the most common bamboo pulp Xuan paper on the market, and it is bound together with simple paste.

The cover had no extra decorations, only two small characters written in a worn-out pen: "Public Opinion".

This was personally presented by Zhou Quan, the Director of the Western Depot and now his trusted personal eunuch in the inner court.

The Western Depot, a secret service agency that was short-lived in Ming Dynasty history and had an even worse reputation than the Eastern Depot, was quietly reactivated by him.

He didn't trust Wei Zhongxian, just as he didn't trust the entire court of officials.

The Eastern Depot and the Embroidered Uniform Guard were his weapons, used to kill, confiscate property, and intimidate everyone.

The Western Depot was his eyes and ears, used internally to monitor every move in and out of the court, including the increasingly sharp blades and the hand holding the hilts... Wei Zhongxian.

The core of imperial strategy lies in checks and balances.

Zhu Youjian would never allow any party to become so powerful as to threaten the imperial power itself.

Zhou Quan's report lacked the bloodshed and conspiracy of Wei Zhongxian's report, and the passion and hope of Zhang Weixian's report.

It's like the idle chatter in the most popular teahouses in the capital, full of all sorts of trivial, unverified, and hard-to-distinguishable news, and gossip from the streets.

But it is precisely these things that most truly reflect the ripples his recent series of actions have stirred up in the deep waters of Beijing.

"...Since Zhu Chunchen was imprisoned, the Duke of Cheng's mansion has completely closed its doors to visitors. The cries of women and children can be heard from the mansion day and night. The women in the family have been selling their jewelry. All the hereditary nobles in the capital are now in a state of fear. They have stopped going out for banquets and gatherings. Many have ordered the estate managers in the suburbs of the capital to sell their property and estates at low prices."

Zhu Youjian looked at this without any change in expression. The fear of the nobles was the effect he wanted. These parasites of the country, who only knew how to collect salaries, occupy land, and support actors, should have been taught a lesson long ago.

Zhu Chunchen was the chicken he killed to show these monkeys!

"...The Eastern Depot's agents have been frequently making nighttime appearances lately. Yesterday at midnight, the entire Wang family, a wealthy household in the west of the city, was imprisoned overnight, and their property was confiscated. The third son of the Wang family is a recent imperial examination graduate. He once dined with Miao Changqi, a key member of the Donglin Party, at a restaurant, and they even exchanged poems."

Knock on the mountain and shake the tiger!

"...Inside the Imperial Academy, students often gathered under the Biyong Hall, engaging in lively discussions. They often said that since the Emperor ascended the throne, he had heavily relied on eunuchs, arbitrarily executed meritorious officials, and reorganized the new army. All these measures violated ancestral rules, and his stubbornness and self-will were probably not a blessing for the country. One student even wrote a poem: 'The wind and thunder in the Forbidden City shake, and the scholar's tears fill his lapel. I wonder where I can find my original aspirations in the days of Yao and Shun.' This poem has already circulated widely among the scholars in the capital."

A mocking sneer appeared on Zhu Youjian's face.

Ancestral custom?

A bunch of useless people who only talk about morality but can't lift a finger or carry a load!

When the Jurchens' iron hooves trampled through Shanhaiguan Pass, and when the anger of the displaced people spread throughout the Central Plains, could their "ancestral system" stop the butcher's knife or fill their stomachs?
For a group of "elites" who are accustomed to using the vague cloaks of "morality" and "ancestral rules" to hijack imperial power and seek personal gain, any attempt to break out of their comfort zone is "not a blessing for the country."

Zhu Youjian had anticipated their criticisms and didn't care at all!
History has never been written by these boastful scholars!

His finger slid down the report, finally stopping at the last, and shortest, message.

This short sentence caused Zhu Youjian's pupils to contract slightly.

"On the seventh day of this month, at the hour of You (5-7 PM), Qian Qianyi, the leader of the Donglin Party, Lai Zongdao, a cabinet minister, and Zhou Yingqiu, the Minister of Personnel, held a secret meeting for half a day at the Yiyu Pavilion on the back mountain of Tanzhe Temple in the suburbs of Beijing. They did not disperse until the hour of Hai (9-11 PM)."

(End of this chapter)