Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 065: The Drums of War in the Southwest (Part 2)
After the Battle of Tumu, the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty gradually gained the upper hand over the military generals and nobles. After Jiang Bin was slashed 3,600 times during the reign of Emperor Wuzong, the civil officials completely suppressed the military generals.
The civil officials took away the power of personnel appointments and logistics distribution. During the Wanli period, even the power of military command was taken away by the civil officials. Later, when the military generals went to the national arsenal to collect weapons and armor before going to war, the quality of the weapons they received was poor, but the key point was that the military generals had to pay one tenth of the book value of the weapons to the officials of the Ministry of War as a bribe to receive them... In short, the status of the military generals had been weakened to that of the early Song Dynasty: they could only march along the routes designated by the civil officials and fight after arriving at the designated location...
But this brings a big problem: the military generals are suppressed too badly, which will inevitably lead to the weakening of the country's military strength. And the weakening of military strength will lead to an infinite increase in the country's national defense problems - the country will become more and more in need of military generals. And the more the demand increases, the higher the status of military generals will be - this is not something that can be suppressed by the civil officials desperately.
In terms of history, the oppression of Ming Dynasty civil officials against military officials reached its peak during the reign of Emperor Chongzhen: Yuan Chonghuan was able to behead Mao Wenlong without an imperial decree and was not held accountable afterwards. As a result, the already dissatisfied military officials completely turned away from the royal family. Then, discipline collapsed, and the country was not only unable to control the military officials, but was also held hostage by them...
As a time traveler, Zhu Youdong knew very well that suppressing the generals was a road of no return. Not to mention that there were other time travelers competing with him in this plane, even if he was the only time traveler in this plane, the situation at the end of the Ming Dynasty was destined to make the generals rise again.
So, if you can't suppress it, then don't suppress it. Support, win over, and guide, this is what he should do.
When only Sun Chengzong and Liu Jing were left in the hall, Sun Chengzong approached Liu Jing and whispered softly, "Your Highness the Crown Prince has personally allocated 100,000 taels of silver for General Liu and Ma Xuanfu's army to purchase supplies along the way. In this way, there is no need for the local chiefs to provide food for the soldiers. In addition, His Highness said that this money is only the down payment. He will work hard to raise funds in the capital, and the subsequent silver will be sent continuously. Moreover, this money has been approved by the emperor, so General Liu can just use it with confidence."
"Ah? Your Majesty has treated me so well, I will never be able to repay you even if I die!"
"Haha, General Liu, the Crown Prince's money is not so easy to get. This time, in addition to bringing 100,000 taels of silver, I also brought two requests from the Crown Prince."
"Please give me your instructions, Lord Sun. I will obey you without hesitation."
"General Liu, please don't rush to express your opinion. The two requests of the Crown Prince are simple to say, but not easy. First, to ensure military discipline. This time, our Ming Dynasty sent troops to Mubang, not simply to help the chieftain of Mubang drive away the Burmese army, but to take this opportunity to change Mubang into a state directly under the jurisdiction of the Yunnan Provincial Government. Therefore, military discipline is particularly important. If the soldiers have poor military discipline and abuse the people in Mubang, how can our Ming Dynasty gain a foothold in Mubang?"
"Uh... please rest assured, Lord Sun. I know that my men are a bit wild. On the one hand, I don't discipline the army strictly. On the other hand, the local masters always make my men hungry every time they go out to fight. This time, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is so supportive. If I let my men go out to harm the people again, I will feel bad without you saying anything. Well, in short, I dare not guarantee that I will completely stop the acts of harming the people. But if I find any, I will punish them severely!"
"Okay, General Liu is a veteran hero. I believe what you say! Then let me tell you the second thing. The Crown Prince said that he has recently sent Eunuch Cao from the palace to the Yellow River disaster area in Shandong and Henan to buy orphans. These children will be placed in his manor after they are bought. If General Liu is willing, please send a capable general to Honghe Manor to serve as an instructor!"
"Hiss~~ Lord Sun, this kind of thing..."
It should be noted that in addition to suppressing the military generals, the civil officials of the Ming Dynasty also kept a close eye on one thing: preventing the emperor from getting close to the military generals. This was normal. The civil officials themselves knew that the emperor was becoming more and more arrogant. Not only did they suppress the military generals, but they also bullied the emperor. If the emperor and the military generals were allowed to get too close, and the emperor had a knife in his hand, what if one day he angered the emperor and the emperor launched a massacre?
Therefore, any military officer who attempts to get close to the emperor or any military officer whom the emperor likes will be closely watched, suppressed, or even framed by the civil officials.
Although Liu Jing had beaten the prefect before, that was when he was young and hot-tempered. Now that Liu is old, especially after being beaten by civil officials several times, his thoughts are different from before: national affairs still need to be handled, and it is not a big deal for a man to die on the battlefield. But he must not let his family suffer because of political struggles.
"What is Liu Shuai thinking? The oldest of these orphans is no more than ten years old. What can they do? The Crown Prince just wants Liu Shuai to send a reliable officer who can teach these children some simple martial arts. Why doesn't Liu Shuai agree to even this?"
Time was too tight. Zhu Youdong could no longer wait for more than a decade before ascending the throne to slowly lay out his plans. Especially since the man from Siam had already reached the top, his sense of urgency and crisis was greatly exacerbated.
Therefore, he told Sun Chengzong that he wanted Liu Jing to send an officer to be an instructor for his orphanage group. This was a test for Sun Chengzong: As a civil official, will you stand on the side of your class or on my side?
It was also a test for Liu Jing: I have given you so much money to help you achieve your goals, can you get closer to me?
If Sun Chengzong dared to betray him and expose this matter, he would still be unscathed: What's the situation? I don't know, show me the evidence! What's wrong with me buying an orphan? Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda, do you guys understand? !
As for Liu Jing? He could ignore Zhu Youdong's solicitation. But as long as he was sane, he would not expose this matter: Sun Chengzong didn't say anything, and who would believe the words of a military man?
Of course, Zhu Youdong's test was not random: Sun Chengzong had lived in Datong for a long time and had a lot of contact with local soldiers. His impression of military men was completely different from that of ordinary civil officials. Moreover, this person's performance in history was absolutely loyal to the country.
All in all, it was a bit risky, but it was basically within controllable range.
"Haha, Lord Sun is the teacher of the Crown Prince, so I certainly believe that this is the Crown Prince's intention. However, I am now fully focused on how to send troops to Mubang to fulfill the instructions of the Emperor and the Crown Prince, so I will think about this matter carefully when I am free. Lord Sun, what do you think?"
"Hahaha, I'll follow Liu Shuai's instructions."
The two smiled at each other and said goodbye.
After a while, just as Sun Chengzong and Liu Shimin were heading towards their , the entire camp quickly became noisy.
"Order from the commander-in-chief! All the troops in the town must withdraw! All soldiers must return to camp! Starting at 5 p.m., each camp must count the number of troops and report to the central army before 11 p.m. We will spend a day packing tomorrow, and we will march south to Mubang at 7 p.m. the day after tomorrow!"
…
The noisy day passed, and late at night, after finishing the camp affairs, Liu Jing called his adopted son Liu Zhaosun over.
"That's what Sun Chengzong told me today. But Sun is a civil official, and a scholar, so I don't believe him. But if this is really the intention of the crown prince, I don't want to miss it."
"What does father mean?"
"Don't go on this southern expedition. I will keep you here in the name of staying behind in the old camp, and then after my army sets out, you will go to the capital in person. Remember, don't go to find Li Shizhong. If my guess is correct, the crown prince should have felt that he is too dependent on the Li family and needs to bring in other generals to balance the Li family. So if you go to find Li Shizhong, there will definitely be problems."
"Then father, please tell me who I should ask for help in contacting the Crown Prince?"
"Of course it's the world-famous Doctor Wu Youke. You should go to see Doctor Wu in the name of learning how to treat smallpox, and ask Doctor Wu to introduce you to the Crown Prince. If the Crown Prince has no such intention, your father will help him get rid of a scourge around him, and this will repay his kindness. If the Crown Prince does have this intention, then you should stay in the capital and serve him well!"
"Yes, I understand. I wish my father great success in this southern expedition and hope that he will spread his military power throughout southern China!"
