Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

"He Shanggong, He Shangguan, you are not allowed to enter here!"

At this time, the anxious voices of two eunuchs came from outside, as if they were stopping someone who wanted to break into the palace.

"Slave, go take a look!" Guo Yong and Liu Jin were both present, and Liu Jin was the first to react.

Zhu Youtang frowned slightly, then gently put down the memorial in his hand. He looked up and saw that the woman blocked at the door was none other than He Shanggong from Qingning Palace.

"Your Majesty, I have come here on the orders of the Empress Dowager and I hope to meet you!" He Shanggong seemed to be in a hurry, but he was pleading.

Zhu Youtang glanced at He Shanggong indifferently, and then said to Liu Jin and other eunuchs: "Let her come in!"

In the Forbidden City, in addition to eunuchs and palace ladies, there is also a special group of female officials. It's just that many affairs in the palace are now handled by eunuchs, and now female officials have almost no sense of presence.

"We are paying homage to Your Majesty. We are here to deliver a message on the orders of the Empress Dowager, so we just lost etiquette!" He Shangguan, a tall and thin middle-aged woman, knelt down and said politely.

Seeing that there was no way to avoid it, Zhu Youtang simply said straight to the point: "I have explained clearly what happened to Marquis Qingyun. If the Empress Dowager is really unable to calm down, I will personally go to Qingning Palace to apologize in the future!"

Regarding the matter of Qingyun Hou Wenzhan, he inevitably encountered resistance from the Empress Dowager, but in the end he decided to push Zhou Shou to the guillotine.

It's just that this decision undoubtedly completely angered the Empress Dowager Zhou. It can even be said that the relationship between ancestors and grandchildren has been completely broken. The Empress Dowager Zhou once made a scene of hanging herself.

Zhu Youtang naturally knew that Empress Dowager Zhou's method was actually forcing him to submit. After all, in this era, the label of being unfilial was very serious, but he also knew that it was wise to deal with it coldly in this era, so he still did not plan to go to Qingning. The palace watched the old woman's performance.

After all, I can still shirk some responsibility sitting here, but if she really threatens him with death, I will easily fall into a dilemma.

"The Empress Dowager has said, please come over now, she wants to reconcile with you!" He Shanggong looked up at Zhu Youtang and said seriously.

this……

Guo Yong and Liu Jin exchanged glances silently, vaguely feeling that this was clearly a Hongmen banquet.

Zhu Youtang naturally knew that the Empress Dowager Zhou was trying to make herself uncomfortable, so he picked up a secret report next to him and said: "This is the secret report just sent by the Jin Yiwei, take it back and show it to the Empress Dowager! "

Liu Jin hurriedly stepped forward to hand it over, while He Shanggong took the secret report and couldn't help but take a look at it, his expression suddenly changed.

Zhu Youtang saw her reaction in his eyes and said calmly: "That's the end of the matter! Go back and tell the Empress Dowager: She will be her Empress Dowager, I will be my emperor, and we will still be ancestors." Sun relationship!"

"Wei Chen must tell you, Wei Chen is resigning!" He Shanggong put the memorial away silently, and then resigned.

Zhu Youtang knew that many people would think that the wisest thing to do was to retain Marquis Qingyun, which could maintain the superficial harmony of the harem and ensure his own safety.

It's just that he is now in control of the government. In the past, he could pretend to be stupid and make people think that he was a harmless wardrobe prince, but now he would be asking for death if he pretended to be weak anymore.

Xiang Yu didn't kill Liu Bang. At that time, he really thought that Liu Bang was a little white rabbit. If he found out that Liu Bang was Cao Cao, he would have chopped him into pieces before he was served.

Zhu Youtang has now shown his talents in the court, so naturally he has to make a decisive decision in the palace. Even though this palace is in crisis, he is ultimately the master here and the emperor of this dynasty.

In fact, breaking up the relationship now would be a better way to protect oneself, and today everyone knew that he personally killed the Empress Dowager's brother, which would actually make some people turn against him.

Of course, now that the relationship between mother-in-law and grandson has broken down, we really can't catch a cold lightly these days.

The little goblin who waits on him every day is quite pretty, especially his eyes with a charm that is rare for girls. It seems that she can warm the bed.

The days passed and the weather became colder and colder.

In this November, a memorable event occurred in the Ming Dynasty.

Since the Tumubao Incident, the leadership of the Beijing camp has slowly fallen into the hands of the civil service group.

It's just that the budget-minded civil servants never thought that training hundreds of thousands of Beijing troops was a good deal. If it weren't for the military household system formulated by Taizu, they might have disbanded the Beijing army.

Even though the Beijing Army's strength of hundreds of thousands was retained, the Beijing Army could be seen in many projects. For example, the Maoling Mausoleum just built by Emperor Chenghua had tens of thousands of personnel transferred by the Ministry of War to serve as laborers.

It can also be seen from this incident that today's Ming Dynasty should not be said to be strong in culture and weak in military affairs, but that the military generals have long since lost their place.

Everything is a process of prosperity and decline. The Peking troops were used as laborers by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works, but their rations continued to decrease rather than increase, causing the Peking troops to flee.

Fortunately, the current Beijing camp has not been destroyed by the civil service group, and there are still many passionate warriors here. In particular, Tumu Fort has not been around for too long, and many soldiers want to avenge their past humiliation and restore the heroic appearance of the iron-blooded Ming army in the early Ming Dynasty.

"The monthly payment is two taels of silver. Isn't this a dream?"

"You didn't make it clear enough. If you can get perfect attendance and A grade, you can add one or two more!"

"This is just the salary of ordinary soldiers, it will be higher for small banners, general banners and hundreds of households!"

"I'm afraid that good things like this won't be our turn. They will definitely be taken up by those related households!"

"Don't worry, this time the commander-in-chief will personally select you. Only those who meet the requirements can go there. And I heard that they won't be assigned to another one by the military camp!"

…

When the SHIELD battalion first started recruiting, many soldiers were directly stunned by this treatment, but many soldiers responded that good things would not happen to them.

At present, the Ming Dynasty's Zhese has not yet become popular, so soldiers still receive rice grains as rations. Now the Beijing army only receives a measly two shi of grain per month, and this grain is subject to layers of deductions from above.

In fact, corruption is not only serious at the local level, but also in the military. In particular, those with military service are trying their best to make money in the military.

Exactly like this, when they learned about the generous treatment of Camp SHIELD, their saliva overflowed.

"I chose it!"

"Haha...I chose it too!"

"The Lord Commander is still fair. I will never have to suffer Zhao Bapi's anger in this camp again!"

…

As the list of those selected for the SHIELD Battalion came out, many able-bodied soldiers were successfully selected, and these people all looked proud and happy.

Each battalion selected about 250 soldiers, and these were all physically strong men. They were already the strongest group of soldiers selected among the 12th battalion.

It was on November 22nd that the SHIELD Battalion assembled 3,000 new soldiers, and this was undoubtedly a day worth remembering in history.

Since the military camp located in the north of the city has not yet been completed, the SHIELD Battalion chose a place outside the north city to serve as a temporary camp, and only started training on the first day of entering the camp.

"Where did this military style fist come from? It's so tiring!"

"If this happens every day, how can we still live?"

"That's right, now I've been beaten to the point where I have no strength at all!"

…

Just when many sergeants were complaining about the hard training, they suddenly froze, and then walked quickly towards the direction of the stove in search of the smell of meat.

In the iron pot on the stove, pots of mutton were burning, and these were fat sheep that had just been slaughtered.

As the meal time came, the porridge and pickles were no longer in front of them, but white rice and pots of fragrant meat.

"Can we really eat meat every day?"

"Nonsense, we are the most elite SHIELD battalion!"

"This food is like a dream!"

…

The soldiers of the SHIELD Battalion were eating meat with bright smiles on their faces, sighing as if they were dreaming about the sudden appearance of good days.

Although the training is a bit harder, having such good food and a considerable salary is a good thing that I never dared to imagine before.

They have always been used as engineers, and they are sent wherever there are big projects, which makes them forget whether they are soldiers or workers.

It's just that things are different now. After the new emperor came to the throne and cleaned up the government, he now obviously wants to treat their soldiers favorably and let the Ming Dynasty cavalry rise again.

"Now you are eating white rice, eating big chunks of meat in the bowl, and holding snowflakes of monthly money, but you must always remember in your heart! You are the best battalion in the world built by His Majesty. If you still remain a coward, , Commander, go back to where you came from and move your bricks!" Zhang Yong, the commander of the Aegis Battalion, shouted to the soldiers who were eating.

"Who is this eunuch? Why did you arrange for us to have an eunuch in charge of the army?"

"This is Zhang Yong, the eunuch in charge of the Fenwu Camp. I heard he is a ruthless character!"

"It's just an eggless thing. It can't survive three rounds in my hands!"

"Tie Xiangshan, I know you are brave, but you really can't beat the commander!"

"Bullshit! When I see His Majesty another day, I will definitely challenge Zhang Yong. How can we, the elite of the Beijing camp, listen to a useless commander!"

…

A burly man who was eating was unhappy with the superior Zhang Yong. Although he had no desire for power, he still hoped that someone with eggs would lead them.

In fact, there are many people who have similar ideas to Tie Xiangshan. After all, they are the most bloody men in the 12th Battalion, and they all hope to be replaced by a strong general who can defeat them and lead them.

At the end of November, Beijing received its first snowfall.

Even the splendid palaces were covered with a layer of white snow amidst the swirling snowflakes, giving the Forbidden City a different charm.

"Tie Xiangshan, Li Chenggui, Zhao Yong, Yang Lai..." Zhu Youtang looked at the list of potential generals in his hand and said with a worried look.

Qian Yi noticed Zhu Youtang's expression and immediately asked doubtfully: "Your Majesty, this is all the result of private observation by this servant. I wonder what went wrong?"

"Well, it's not about the list! I still feel that the people in the Beijing camp are too comfortable, and I have to create a sense of crisis for them!" Zhu Youtang had a high degree of trust in Qian Yi and others, so he directly said that he said with concern.

Although the SHIELD Battalion selects the best from the twelve battalions, many of these people are old acquaintances, so it is easy to stick together. If you want to build a truly iron-blooded army, you need to introduce fresh blood and even create an eel effect.

Qian Yi frowned slightly and said with some confusion: "Your Majesty, don't we eliminate some of the undisciplined ones and send them back to the base camp?"

"This is not enough, I need the generals above to have a certain amount of competitive pressure!" Zhu Youtang shook his head gently, and suddenly said with a slight movement in his heart: "Let's do this! We will hold the martial arts examination next year, and at the same time promote the Jingwei martial arts, start Cultivate some generals!”

Due to the continuous weakening of the Ming army's combat power, the Ming Dynasty became the target of plunder.

In addition to the Ming Dynasty's reduction in military investment, this is also closely related to the lack of military talent training.

When Zhu Youtang was a financial researcher in his previous life, he knew that if he wanted to revitalize that industry, he would need to invest a lot of money and talents, both of which were indispensable.

Take football as an example. Initially, a large amount of capital intervention led to the good development of various clubs. However, as a result, programmers insisted on limiting salaries and limiting team naming. As a result, after the withdrawal of capital, the land was reduced to nothing.

Now if you want the Ming Dynasty cavalry to ride on the grasslands again, in addition to investing in additional military spending, you must also push martial arts and martial arts to a more important position.

"This is a wonderful move! Your Majesty, should we add a martial arts department to our inner study hall?" Qian Yi's eyes lit up slightly and he immediately made a suggestion.

"There's no rush. We'd better wait for Wang Zhi to return first. Now it's enough to add geography, arithmetic and sociology to the inner library!" Zhu Youtang thought for a moment, but shook his head gently.

Since the early years of Xuande, the inner court has selected two to three hundred young eunuchs aged around ten years old to study in the inner library, which is equivalent to the Imperial Academy of the inner court.

In addition to studying the Four Books and Five Classics, the young eunuchs there also need to study ideological education courses such as "Internal Order" and "Loyalty Review", as well as cultivate the ability to criticize courtiers' memorials and criticize cabinet ministers' proposals. Imitation.

There are only two days off on the first and fifteenth day of each month, one small test on three days, one big test on five days, and there is a final exam at the end of each period. After several years or as long as ten years of repeated elimination.

The students with the best grades and the best luck will be selected to go to the clerk's room. If they get to the clerk's room, the next stop will be the ceremonial supervisor, thus forming a model of "internal study hall-clergyman's ceremonial supervisor".

For example, Guo Yong studied in the inner study hall and then worked in the clerk's office. After gaining sufficient qualifications and outstanding performance, he was naturally selected to serve as the director of etiquette.

After Zhu Youtang ascended the throne, he especially began to use eunuchs to take charge of the 12th Battalion for him, and he paid more attention to the educational work in the inner study hall.

The reason why practical subjects such as geography and arithmetic were added was because they hoped to find their own Wang Zhi and Zheng He, and even Wei Zhongzhen who knew how to manage money.