Late Ming Dynasty: Oops, I am surrounded by the Donglin Party

In addition to the military commanders who came from afar such as Ningxia and Guyuan, the participants included Sun Chuanting, the governor-general of the three borders of Shaanxi, Lu Xiangsheng, the governor-general of Xuanda, and generals such as You Shiwei and Hou Shiwei who had been dismissed by Chongzhen's brother.

When they came into the conference room, Ma Chengzhao and others greeted them. These generals knew each other.

After everyone was seated, Zhang Shikang spoke first:

“I’m sure you’ve all thought about the purpose of calling you all here during your time here.

I don’t like beating around the bush, nor do I like to keep you hanging, so I’ll just say it directly.

The northern military garrison needs to be restructured, Guan Ningjin has already done it, and the next step is for you guys."

After Zhang Shikang finished speaking, the others did not get too excited. Most of them just frowned and listened carefully. Compared to the notice, they were more concerned about how Zhang Shikang planned to deal with them.

"Through the factory guards, I know most of what you have done in your respective military towns.

General Liang had the most serious problems with occupation and vacancies. Deputy General Fang had killed innocent people and claimed credit for several times. As for Deputy General Liu and Deputy General Zhou, they all had their own problems.

I have collected all the evidence, do you have anything to defend yourself?"

After Zhang Shikang finished speaking, he looked at everyone.

The ones named were Liang Cheng, the general of Gansu Town, and Fang Jiming, the deputy general of Guyuan Town. Cold sweat began to appear on their foreheads. They looked at each other, but ultimately did not dare to refute.

Since Zhang Shikang dared to hold a meeting here and mention these charges in front of everyone, he must have made full preparations.

From Gansu Town to Guanningjin, the 90,000 Qin soldiers and Tianxiong Army were ready for battle at any time.

They dared to come here to respond to the call and had prepared for the worst along the way. However, no matter what, they dared not not come.

If you come, you may die, but if you don’t come, you will definitely die.

"I plead guilty. Please punish me, Marshal!"

The general and deputy general who were named stood up and bowed to apologize.

Even though they knew that these problems were not entirely their fault and were also related to the Ming Dynasty's financial difficulties in the past few years, the same thing still applies: since they have come to confess their guilt, they should make their attitude clear.

The biggest reason why they came to respond to the call was actually Zhang Shikang's handling of Guan Ningjinzu's family.

In any case, the young marshal in front of him did not kill all the border town generals. The court was no longer the same as before, and they certainly needed to show their attitude.

"Please sit down, I am not holding this meeting to punish you.

You should understand what the imperial court wants. What the imperial court needs is a strong army with strict military discipline that can fight wherever it is ordered, not warlords who are disorganized and do not obey orders.

The army must be reformed, and it is imperative that it be reformed. All military settlements must be handed over and all garrison troops must be disbanded.

Of course, Your Majesty will not abandon the donkey after it has served its purpose, and neither will I.

No matter what crimes you have committed, you have not allowed the northern barbarians to break through your defenses over the years, and this is a merit.

The merits and demerits will then be offset."

Zhang Shikang's light words made most of the generals present breathe a sigh of relief.

No matter what, even if he really lost his military power, he could retire safely.

"If it is according to your majesty's wishes, you should all be removed as a warning to others.

But Your Majesty cannot suppress the Tartars outside the Great Wall with just his words.

His Majesty does not trust you for a reason, so don't complain in your heart, because His Majesty has even more complaints.

I, Your Majesty, have requested an opportunity for you to continue to be loyal to the court.

This opportunity is hard to come by and everyone only gets one chance, including you.”

Zhang Shikang glanced at You Shiwei, Yang Ming and others.

As veterans who had been dismissed, You Shiwei and others were naturally excited to be re-employed.

“However, from now on, border towns must no longer have family generals or any private soldiers.

Also, the sons and nephews you promote need to be transferred to the Yongning Army in the interior, and you are not allowed to promote people from your own clan privately in the future."

In fact, including the Zu family, all the members of the Zu family who hold military positions were officially appointed by the imperial court.

However, these were not the original wishes of the court. After several wars, Zu Dashou sent the list of meritorious officials to the court. For the sake of peace in the border towns, the blind Chongzhen had to agree to all of them.

The same is true for other military towns, which is why there are situations where innocent people are killed to claim credit.

The imperial court did not trust the border towns, and the military achievements they submitted, such as killing 4,000 enemies, would only receive a reward of 2,000 silver coins or even less. In short, there would be a discount.

In order to get more rewards and pensions, the generals in the border towns had to report more. The biggest reason for this chain of suspicion was the mutual distrust and the interference of the civil service group.

Of course, it is also related to the imperfection of the supervision system.

However, Zhang Shikang did not intend to take it too far. He transferred the people of his own clan who were promoted by the generals in the military town to the inland instead of directly dismissing them. This was also a sign of sincerity of the court he represented.

The Yongning Army is still in the preparation stage. When it comes to the recruitment stage, it will inevitably need a large number of generals for training, and these people can all make use of their remaining energy.

Of course, if it was a big loser, Zhang Shikang would dismiss him without hesitation.

In short, it is not easy to restore mutual trust. The first step is to abolish the servant system and transfer their clansmen to more remote places so that they can each become a general.

In Zhang Shikang's plan, the Yongning Army is a security force responsible for local security, and the Huben Army will be the absolute main force to pacify the entire north in the future.

Therefore, he had to be on guard.

After hearing about this arrangement, the generals did not express any objection. They were given the opportunity to stay in office, and although their clansmen would be transferred to the interior, there would still be a vacancy.

They are already guilty, like fish on a chopping board, yet they are treated so well. What else can they think of?

"You all know that the Ming Dynasty has been revived, so the Tiger Guards will definitely march north to recover lost territory in the future.

In the past two years of war, Your Majesty has given titles to twenty or thirty people. If you can take charge of the Tiger Guards, you can help Your Majesty recover the lost territories.

Not only can you restore the trust with the court, but you can also be conferred a title, bringing honor to your family.

Governor Lu and Governor Sun should know that I never lie."

Zhang Shikang looked at Lu Xiangsheng and Sun Chuanting and said.

It is true that the imperial court has conferred nearly thirty titles in the past two years, but this does not affect the scarcity of titles in the Ming Dynasty.

This was of course because just last year, Zhang Shikang wiped out the Jiangnan rebels in one fell swoop, and almost wiped out the noble group in Nanjing City and stripped them of their titles.

All those titles that were eliminated were hereditary titles, but except for his own title of Marquis of Guanjun, all the others that Chongzhen conferred were temporary titles.

But even so, being awarded a title is a very glorious thing.

"Don't underestimate the Marshal just because he is young. He is a man of great ability, keeps his word and always delivers on his promises." Sun Chuanting praised him quickly.

"You have all witnessed the Marshal's achievements over the past two years. With the revival of the imperial court, those of us who command the troops will no longer be constrained by civil officials. This is a great opportunity to make achievements.

Your Majesty trusts the Marshal, and the Marshal's words on military affairs are your Majesty's words, and this is not an exaggeration." Lu Xiangsheng also said.

Both of them were born as civil servants and were smart people. Lu Xiangsheng certainly understood that they were just there to add support.

As military generals, everyone wanted to make achievements. They had indeed been constrained by civil officials before, and their hard-earned military achievements were always wiped out by a few words from the civil officials.

The two governors said so, so there was no reason for them not to believe it. The Beijing camp had undergone tremendous changes in the previous two years, and now there were more than a dozen titles awarded for military merits alone.

The key point is that they did have real military achievements. Detailed battle reports of the Battle of Jiazhuang and the Battle of Jingshui were circulated to various border towns.

To say I'm not envious would be an absolute lie.

But Zhang Shikang's next words made everyone tremble again.

“But I still feel that our Majesty is petty.

When I return this time, I will advise Your Majesty that those who have made great military achievements should be given hereditary titles.

How can you catch the wolf if you don't want to sacrifice your child?

Don’t you think so? "

……