Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"Father is guarding me."

Zhu Gaoxu's big head has been getting smarter and smarter recently, and by putting himself in his shoes, he immediately realized that his father had indeed transferred good generals from the Southern Army to take the opportunity to completely integrate the remaining troops of the Southern Army and ensure absolute control over all the armies of the Ming Dynasty. rights considerations.

I'm afraid there is no plan to kill two birds with one stone and distance myself from the trusted generals and troops.

After all, he was going to North Zhili to preside over the implementation of reforms, and the North Zhili area, the so-called "three prefectures of Jingnan", Beiping, Baoding, and Yongping, was precisely the birthplace and foundation of the Yan Army. location.

The father must have thought, what if he had his trusted Yan army troops by his side and he also had a Jingnan battle?

Therefore, since he is allowed to go to Beizhili, I am afraid that the price is that he cannot touch the military power.

Not even a tiny bit.

Of course, this does not mean that his father must be deliberately targeting him. After all, whether he is drawn to Beizhili or not, his father will probably do the same thing. If his eldest brother goes to Beizhili, the result will be the same.

My father's real purpose was probably to remove the good generals of the Southern Army, take the opportunity to completely integrate all the Ming armies, and firmly grasp the military power in his own hands.

"Replying to your majesty, I think this matter is very appropriate. Although Xu Huizu, Ping An, and Sheng Yong have acted rebelliously, they are now obedient, and they were all good generals for a time. It is a pity that these generals have no roots in the north. The vassal returned part of the three guards to the court and put them under their command, which can not only restrain each other from making one army grow bigger, but also bring full play to the abilities of these good generals."

Ru Yun on the other hand replied thoughtfully.

As for whether Xu Huizu, Ping An, Sheng Yong and others would become local military leaders, Ru Jin didn't even mention it.

If you want to capture an army that was formerly known as the three guards of the feudal lord in your own hands without being familiar with the place, and command it like an arm, and even evolve into a private armed force (servant transformation), it will not take more than a few decades. It's impossible to do it.

So, do you think Zhu Di is blind?

The first step is not established. Each of these generals will most likely be transferred by Zhu Di within a few years of their tenure. Zhu Di arranged this matter to give full play to the abilities of these good generals of the Southern Army and temporarily train and command these vassal troops.

The transformation of the Ming Dynasty's border troops into servants was two hundred years later.

The civil service group has no right to interfere in military affairs. In the early Ming Dynasty, the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties especially emphasized military affairs over civil affairs. The Wuchen Xungui Group was powerful. Wu Xun, who voted for the founding of the country and Jingnan, sat in the Governor's Mansion of the Fifth Army. The civilian officials intervened at all. There is no room for it.

In the history of Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, it was not until the Tumu Fort Incident that the Xungui Group was taken away, and the momentum of emphasizing military power over literature was reversed. The civil service group gradually gained the upper hand until it evolved into a pathological emphasis on literature over literature in the middle and late Ming Dynasty. Wu, civil servants treat military generals as lackeys, and military generals of the same rank must kneel down and kowtow when they see civil officials.

Therefore, Zhu Di's adjustment to the army was really just through Ru Yu, a loyal uncle, who notified the six ministers, without any intention of discussion.

However, Ru Yu still raised the last question dutifully.

"Your Majesty, should they go to the west to lead the troops, or the east?"

"Of course it's the east side." Zhu Di said with a cold face, "Use it for what it is. I'm just giving them a chance to make meritorious deeds. I'm not letting them go to a place far away from the emperor to enjoy their happiness."

Although Zhu Di plans to re-activate his former enemies, it does not mean that Zhu Di easily forgives them.

Zhu Di planned to kill someone with a borrowed knife!

This means that in the western section of the northern defense line, King Su and King Qing have already returned three guards. Zhu Di has already sent generals to reorganize and retrain the soldiers and horses of these six guards.

In the middle of the northern defense line, the King of Qin (from the lineage of Zhu Di's second brother) and the King of Jin (from the lineage of Zhu Di's third brother) have never returned the three guards. Zhu Di has many things to do and has no energy to take care of them for the time being, nor does he intend to use force directly. Before Qiu Fu and Gu Cheng were asked to assemble an army to intimidate them, and then incited their sons to fight among themselves. Now the kings of Qin and Jin are much more honest.

In the eastern section of the northern defense line, the fiefdom of King Dai has been cut off, and the fiefdom of King Liao has also been moved to Jingzhou Prefecture (all done by Zhu Yunwen). King Yan Zhu Di is holding Ning King Zhu Quan in trouble, and King Gu plotted a rebellion some time ago. The matter was banned by Zhu Di.

In other words, in the five Saiwang defense zones in the western section of the northern defense line, the original three guards were nominally returned to the court because the feudal kings were no longer in the fiefdom, but they are now basically in a semi-paralyzed state.

This is also the reason why Zhu Di sent people to reorganize the northern defense line.

The Battle of Jingnan not only entangled the soldiers and horses of several major Sai kings, but as Zhu Di's main force of more than 200,000 Yan troops moved south, the eastern section of the northern defense line of the Ming Empire was now extremely empty.

Xu Huizu, Ping'an, Sheng Yong and other famous generals of the Southern Army need to perform meritorious service and perform three tasks for Zhu Di in order to be considered successful.

The first thing is to nominally reorganize the guard posts and remaining guard troops in the original defense zones of King Dai, King Gu, and King Liao, and strengthen the northern defense line.

The second thing is to use these non-Yan army generals and troops in the near future as Zhu Di's "sword" to deal with the two great kings of Qin and Jin who have been holding the three guards and refusing to return them.

The third thing is to deal with the King of Qin and the King of Jin, and then serve as cannon fodder for Zhu Di's northern expedition to the desert.

Zhu Di's two life creeds are vividly reflected in this incident.

"Either don't do it, or do it absolutely", "If it works, use it to death."

The reason why the army adjustment was mentioned at the meeting for further reform was because Zhu Di, as the largest military leader in the Ming Dynasty, had just rebelled and usurped the throne to gain the throne. After he secured the throne, rectifying the army was the top priority.

Only by handling the military affairs well can Zhu Di proceed with the reform with peace of mind.

After dealing with the non-direct troops in the north, the natural next step is to deal with the non-direct troops in the south.

"Cao Guogong's mission has sent back a steady stream of information from Japan. I already know all the facts and figures about the population, economy, and military strength of the shogunate and the vassals in Japan."

Zhu Di first verbally praised the work of the mission led by Li Jinglong, spread out the map, and directly put on the dagger.

"Japan is by no means difficult to attack as imagined. Lee's Korea has returned Jeju Island to the Ming Dynasty. As long as it avoids the strong winds of summer and autumn, cross-sea operations are not a worry."

"Therefore, in order to consider the conquest of Japan, I want to establish the Shandong Beiwa Dudu Commanding Department in Shandong Province and establish the Beiwa Army!"

In fact, during the Hongwu era, in order to resist the intrusion of Japanese pirates, Zhu Yuanzhang set up some garrison posts in the Shandong Chief Executive's Department specifically responsible for coastal defense.

However, since all the garrison posts in Shandong were under the management of the Capital Command and Envoys Division, and Shandong was the area hardest hit by the Jingnan War, the military affairs of the rebuilt Shandong Capital Command and Envoys Division were now relatively heavy, and they were overwhelmed and unable to concentrate on the conquest. Japan has made corresponding preparations, or the Shandong Command and Envoy's own resources are not enough to support this huge project.

Therefore, in view of the actual situation in Shandong and the future of the conquest of Japan, Zhu Di decided to establish a separate Shandong Beiwadu Command and Envoy Department to prepare specifically for the advance base for the conquest of Japan.

In other words, there were two capital commander departments in Shandong Province, but each was responsible for different tasks.

Of course, in the history of Jiang Xinghuo's previous life, Zhu Di also did this, but it was just to defend against Japanese pirates, so the scale of the Shandong Bei Japanese Command and Envoy Department was not that large.

"I dare to ask Your Majesty, how do you want to divide the scale and responsibilities of the two command and envoy departments? Where do the soldiers and generals of Shandong Beiwadu Command and Envoy Department come from?" Ru Yu asked carefully.

A chill flashed between Zhu Di's brows and he spoke.

"In terms of scale, Shandong Beiwadu Command and Envoy Department is responsible for managing Dengzhou Camp, Jimo Camp, Wendeng Camp, and the Coastal Navy Fleet. Each battalion manages part of the guard post. In terms of division of responsibilities and powers, except for Beiwa and Coastal Defense This matter is under the control of the Shandong Capital Commander."

"Dengzhou Battalion is responsible for managing three guards, Dengzhou Guard, Qingzhou Guard, and Laizhou Guard."

"Wendeng Camp is responsible for managing four guards, Weihai Guard, Ninghai Guard, Chengshan Guard, and Jinghai Guard."

"Jimo Camp is responsible for managing four guards, Dasong Guard, Aoshan Guard, Lingshan Guard, and Andong Guard."

Hearing this, several ministers couldn't help but look at each other in surprise.

A full eleven guards!

You must know that the full strength of a guard in the Ming Dynasty is 5,600 people. If there are 11 guards, that is 61,600 people. Moreover, this does not include the navy.

If you include the navy who worked together, there would definitely be more than 80,000 people.

And attacking Japan naturally requires corresponding auxiliary troops. Rough calculations show that an army of 100,000 cannot be defeated.

When used to attack Japan, considering the Ming Dynasty's logistical and sea transportation capabilities, maintaining supplies of 100,000 people is indeed a relatively extreme state. After all, the Yuan Dynasty's attack on Japan actually had this force. It was not that there were no soldiers and horses, but that it was maintained by cross-sea supplies. Comparing the test of transportation capacity, Shandong Beisi's number of troops is no problem.

But the problem is, where did the Shandong Capital Command and Envoy Division get so many troops to allocate to Shandong Beiwa Division?

During the Jingyan period, the Dezhou camp in Shandong was an iron-clad camp with flowing soldiers. Soldiers recruited from Huanghuai and even Jiangnan were filled into the front line like cutting leeks. Now Shandong's commanders and envoys are almost empty.

Smart people quickly guessed Zhu Di's intentions.

Or kill someone with a borrowed knife!

Sure enough, Zhu Di said: "As for the source of troops, the soldiers and horses gathered after the Battle of Lingbi, as well as the subordinates of Huai'an Mei Prince Consort a while ago, were reorganized and eliminated to form the Shandong Preparatory Japanese Army. The navy was to let Pingjiang Bo Chenxuan (a naval general, water conservancy expert, and the founder of the water transportation system in the Ming and Qing Dynasties) integrated the inland rivers of Shandong, Huanghuai, and the Yangtze River as well as the offshore navy, and distinguished it from Zheng He's ocean-going navy."

This means that the surrendered Southern Army and Mei Yin's Huainan Army should be reorganized and used as troops to conquer Japan.

"As for the general, I will select some experienced uncles from the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies."

"In addition, officials at all levels of the provincial government have no authority to mobilize Japanese troops. In the event of an emergency, I need to personally issue an order to mobilize troops, and use the special golden talisman for troop deployment."

Zhu Di showed murderous intent.

"Otherwise, not even a single soldier of the Japanese army can be mobilized!"