eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 794 Yang Tinghe was dismissed from his post and taken into custody.

  In ancient times, when the army was dispatched, it was not a matter of ordering the order today, reorganizing the army tomorrow, and setting off the day after tomorrow. In fact, food, grass, baggage, etc. all required a period of preparation.

  For example, Emperor Yongle's Northern Expedition often required more than half a year in advance to complete these actions.

  Therefore, Zhu Houzhao's decree at this time certainly seemed hasty.

  This is one.

  But Zhu Houzhao himself had considered that the feudal king's rebellion would come suddenly and he would not have noticed it before, so being unprepared is a normal reaction.

  Secondly, to deal with King Ning, you do not need to lead an army of hundreds of thousands like Zhu Di did in the Northern Expedition.

  He will only bring another [-] people with him on this expedition, which is five to six guardsmen. There is still a way to deal with this scale.

  However, the emperor's personal conquest in the court was a major event, and the officials were not prepared for it before.

  From the cabinet to the six ministries, the objections of a group of officials were the same old tune. Zhu Houzhao was no stranger to it, and they were very skilled in speaking. In short, the atmosphere began to become quiet.

  Zhu Houzhao could only sigh, "I want to conquer the desert myself. You said that the desert is boundless and extremely dangerous, but there is no danger in Jiangxi inland, right?"

  Yang Tinghe said: "The hinterland is indeed not as dangerous as the desert, but there happens to be a Jinglu Marquis stationed in the south of the Yangtze River. The best strategy is to mobilize him to quell the rebellion. There is no need for your Majesty to go on an expedition, which is a waste of national power."

  "What Mr. Yang Ge means is that I am fooling around."

  "The old minister dare not."

  "Is there anything you dare to do? I'm afraid you all think so, right?" Zhu Houzhao muttered in a moderate tone, and the ministers also acquiesced to this matter to a certain extent.

  "But I have said that the reason for this personal expedition is more to clear the land. To let the world see the determination of the court, my determination. Moreover, all the fugitive gentry in the south of the Yangtze River are from scholarly families, and after the loyalty and martyrdom, As a result, the imperial court would collude against the king and instigate rebellion even if they levy taxes, which is annoying!
  In this way, these gentry families are actually the butts of tigers that I cannot touch. It is my turn to provide for them, and it is my turn to work with them to oppress the people of the world! Didn't you hear that Emperor Taizu once said that in the Ming Dynasty, only the emperor is in charge of the country? Apart from the people of the world who cannot be insulted, I don’t believe there is anyone who cannot be offended! Even if it is a tiger's butt, I still want to touch it! Otherwise, how is this different from the separatist rule of vassal towns at the end of the Tang Dynasty? Do you think I am some kind of weak king who can be bullied? "

  If it softens this time and doesn't dare to touch it, which emperor will still be able to touch it in the future? These interest groups have really become separatist forces. When the time comes, the relationship between the court and them will be an exchange of interests, not mutual affiliation.

  This already involves the foundation of imperial power.

  In the past, Zhu Yuanzhang had always been the emperor, and the prime minister ruled the country. This was extended to the fact that the emperor and the scholar-bureaucrats shared the world, and the imperial power and the power of the prime minister controlled each other. This was the consensus between the emperor and his ministers.

  But Zhu Yuanzhang didn't care about anything and crushed the prime minister system with one foot. His intention was clearly displayed in front of the world: before the imperial power, everything is dust.

  Zhu Houzhao upgraded the purpose of this trip, but this was not enough to convince the courtiers.

  In fact, he had no intention of convincing them. It was not easy to convince these old-fashioned people.

  The ministers naturally wanted to say something more, but the emperor's decree was still issued as usual. After all, no one dared to interfere with the military power.

  What they say is theirs, what they say is what they say, and what they do is theirs.

  The next day the cabinet began to receive edicts, most of which were not addressed to them.

  The first is to mobilize troops. The emperor ordered to mobilize Tengxiang's left and right guards, Wuxiang's left and right guards, Jinwu's left and right guards, a total of more than [-] soldiers and horses of the six guards to go out. These are the emperor's direct personal guards and can also be called the forbidden army. Usually they are They should take turns to be responsible for garrisoning the imperial city.

  Among them, Tengxiang's four guards are the absolute core guards, and Jinwu's left and right guards are second-level guards.

  Most of these generals of the guard station came from the command and envoys, including Qianhu, Baihu, etc., from military academies, while the rest came from noble hereditary families.

  For example, Zhou Shangwen had three sons. His younger son was a bit ungrateful and was dismissed with a false title, but his eldest son and second son were still useful, so they hid thousands of officials and served in the army.

  The loyalty and ability of soldiers guarding such an important place as the Forbidden City sometimes have to be balanced. You can't just look at the combat power. If you are not loyal, the stronger the combat power, the emperor may be the one to deal with it.

  So there must be a certain proportion of noble children among them.

  As a sensible emperor, Zhu Houzhao only needed to clarify the rules of rewards and punishments. To put it simply, blood status could ensure admission, but it might not necessarily lead to promotion.

  This is what is called being able to be flexible in doing things, not being stubborn, and recognizing the truth until death.

  In the days of peace, Zhu Houzhao would often perform martial arts training, and would never go to Nanshan.
  When the emperor orders troops to go on an expedition, he cannot only require Class A guards every time. In fact, he needs to make a slight balance between Class A and Class B and give fewer places to Class B guards. Opportunities for meritorious service are rare, but they exist.

  The C-grade guardhouse, which is the weakest, should blame itself.

  In addition to these six guards, there are also the divine guards that the emperor has been training.

  The commander of the Shenwu Guard is Xu Jin, who has been following the emperor for more than ten years.

  In terms of the number of people, this guard can be called half guard at most. At its peak, there were only more than [-] people. Later, Zhu Houzhao felt that there were too many, and he was eliminated and reduced to more than [-] people.

  Each of these people was personally selected by Xu Jin, and each one had a separate personal file and background check. Even Zhu Houzhao had to look at it personally. The Tigers are truly a powerful force.

  When the emperor occasionally needed to practice martial arts to relieve his boredom, they were usually his sparring partners. If he wanted to exercise for fun, they would accompany him. If he wanted to visit privately incognito, they would protect him secretly.

  Shenwuwei's men and horses are also the most strictly controlled. They are on duty all day long. If they want to leave Beijing, they need special approval, and they must indicate the time of departure and return, the place of departure, the reason, etc. If the verification is not accurate afterwards, you will be in big trouble.

  Of course, the treatment is also the best, and when choosing, it will also favor the poor and weak families. It is best to be the kind whose whole family relies on him to serve as a soldier to live a good life. Hardworking, yet loyal and reliable.

  In particular, personality is also included as a factor.

  Because of the harsh conditions, only a thousand people were added or subtracted.

  Since the emperor is leaving Beijing, the Shenwu Guards must follow him.

  After the order to adjust troops, there is an order to adjust grain.

  The army was dispatched in a hurry. Although the Jingtong warehouse could be dispatched urgently, it would still take a long time to load millions of kilograms of grain from the warehouse to the ship, right? There is no lifting equipment.

  The court's method was to provide food from the officials along the way.

  Of course, it is mainly along the Grand Canal, including Jinan, Huai'an, Yangzhou and other prefectures.

  By the eleventh year of Zhengde, Zhu Houzhao had gently revived the reserve warehouse system. In the previous years, he had been very patient and used the method of actually reporting the shortfall and replenishing it for many years to avoid the government's forced grain requisition in response to inspections.

  Now there should be food in the reserve warehouses of every prefecture and county. If not, you can't blame others and just wait for death.

  In addition to having food, people also need to transport it.

  It is also the so-called grain transport team. In the past, it was regarded as a kind of service among the people. The so-called national wars depleted the people's power because the country's limited power had to recruit civilians to transport huge amounts of food. Sometimes the wars lasted for several years. If the farming season is delayed, the people's livelihood will naturally be deprived.

  But that is when the national strength is insufficient.

  Now Zhu Houzhao has several million in silver in his internal funds. He can spend money to recruit ships and employ civilians. Of course, this will take some time.

  Moreover, there are grain merchants under the Shaofu, and the grain merchants themselves have teams to transport grain, so naturally they can be requisitioned urgently.

  As for weapons, armor, etc., they are always prepared, so just bring them with you.

  The advantage of not relaxing your weapons at ordinary times is that you don't have to start looking for everything again when you need to use them. At the end of some dynasties, there will be a shortage of swords, guns and sticks.

  Adjusting troops, adjusting food, transporting food... Under a few orders, more than [-] troops have been assembled in the barracks, waiting for an auspicious day to set off for the flag sacrifice.

  At this time, Zhu Houzhao summoned the cabinet ministers Wang Hao and Yang Ge Lao, plus Wang Qiong, Zhang Zilin and He Jian, and directly explained: "I am away, and I have to rely on a few assistants to take care of the eldest son of the emperor. After my triumphant return, At that time, our monarchs and ministers will drink and celebrate together again!"

  The emperor's desperate behavior really left them helpless.

  Yang Tinghe immediately knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, you can't do that! Soldiers are a major matter for the country. Your Majesty, making such a slight move is definitely not the behavior of a holy king!"

  Zhu Houzhao's face turned cold, "Mr. Yang Ge, you don't have to be like this. You know that I am not a foolish king, and I also know that you are by no means a disloyal minister. We, the king and the ministers, should not cause trouble! I have said that the lawless gentry in Jiangnan are It’s really annoying. If we don’t wipe them out, I, the emperor, will have to look at their faces for the rest of their lives! If this really happens, the emperor might as well ask them to choose someone to take the blame!”

  "Since Your Majesty is like this, I have a few blunt words to say!" Yang Tinghe knelt in front of him, looking like he was ready for death. "When the court wanted to clear the fields, the veterans and others tried hard to persuade Your Majesty to think long term and not to act too hastily. But Your Majesty, Ignore it and insist on appointing Liu Jin and other treacherous eunuchs. Doesn’t Your Majesty not know that once Liu Jin arrives in Jiangnan, the gentry in Jiangnan will definitely react? Your Majesty keeps saying that the actions of the gentry in Jiangnan are annoying, don’t you know that the root cause lies with Liu Jin?!”

  What he said means that the Jiangnan gentry also asked you to force them!

  When Zhu Houzhao heard this, no matter how good-tempered he was, he couldn't help but feel angry, "How outrageous!! Yang Tinghe, you have to know who you are talking to!"

  Yang Tinghe still refused to retreat, "I will never dare to offend the emperor. Your Majesty also knows in his heart that the minister is for the Ming Dynasty and for the emperor! This time the emperor went to war because of resentment in his heart. From this, we know that as soon as the emperor's army arrives, There will definitely be corpses everywhere and rivers of blood. For his own personal grudges, the emperor has greatly damaged the culture of Jiangnan. Even a tyrant would not do such a thing! It will be passed down to future generations, and he will bear eternal infamy! Every word from the bottom of my heart, please Your Majesty, think twice!"

  It has been many years since anyone dared to speak to him like this. Zhu Houzhao was so angry that his chest heaved one after another. Fortunately, he was not an incompetent and angry person. He pointed at him with a slightly trembling finger and said: "I want you to watch, how am I doing?" It is impossible to blackmail me with your posthumous reputation by stepping on their corpses! Don’t talk about wise kings, tyrants, good names, or infamy! These names are not in my eyes, the great emperor of tomorrow , The Zhu family man is a man of steel who dares to take risks! Whoever wants to criticize me should wait until he develops achievements comparable to mine!"

  "Your Majesty!" Yang Tinghe crawled forward a few steps, almost hugging the emperor's legs, "Your Majesty, once the literary spirit of Jiangnan is broken, the backbones of scholars all over the world will also be broken. This is not a good thing for our Ming Dynasty. I would like to ask your Majesty to take back his orders. !”

  Yang Tinghe was so fierce that Wang Hao even looked sad, so he also knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Yang Ge said these words of loyalty, please understand."

  "Your Majesty, please tell me clearly." He Jian, Wang Hua, Liang Chu and others also knelt down.

  Zhu Houzhao pushed Yang Tinghe away. He had made up his mind. Although there were tens of thousands of people, I will go ahead. When he walked straight out, a decree came, "Yang Tinghe is so bold and has offended the emperor. From now on, He will be removed from the positions of Grand Scholar of Wuyingdian Palace and Prince Shaobao, etc., and imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison to await the Holy Judgment!"

  He suddenly remembered the drowning incident in history, so he was so heartbroken that he simply grabbed him and pulled him down.

  Originally, Zhang Cong was also waiting to continue to ascend the throne. The Qingtian Order in the world would take three to five years to complete, and it required an impactful official in power.

  (End of this chapter)