Domineering Daming

Ever since he soaked in the hot springs in Nanzhili, Zhu Xu has been thinking about building one in the palace, and now it is basically completed.It's just that it's not a hot spring, it's like a bathing pool, but with a small circulation.

The hot water didn't boil so fast, Zhu Xu just took this opportunity to think about something.

This is a large room with tiles at the foot and large glass windows. There is a semicircular pool inside, made of cement and covered with tiles. In the middle of the pool is a semicircular stone table, which looks clean and bright. , delicate.

Zhu Xu took off his shoes on the side, walked in barefoot and said, "Burning charcoal, go out and wait when you are ready."

"Yes." Two court ladies came in with bare feet and manipulated in a cement trough to the east.

Zhu Xu came behind the screen, took off his clothes, wrapped his lower body with a white towel, went to the pool and lay half-lying, squinting, thinking about what happened today.

Although today was an accident, it was something to be done sooner or later.There are some words that should be spoken on appropriate occasions to point out the direction for everyone in Daming.

In the past, he fought alone, but now he and the entire imperial court are relatively weak, and need more recognition and wider support.At this time in Ming Dynasty, if he wants to further innovate and complete various plans, he needs to work together from top to bottom, and the previous drastic treatment methods are no longer applicable.Merely relying on majesty and coercion is not enough, and needs to be changed.

Zhu Xu thought silently. In the future, the opponent is no longer a certain person or a certain group, but a rather broad group of people. They appear and disappear, sometimes very weak, sometimes very strong. They must have enough strategy and patience. , Perseverance is the only way to succeed.

After an unknown amount of time, a court lady opened the door and came in, softly said: "Your Majesty, the hot water is ready, do you want to put it in now?"

Zhu Xu opened his eyes, glanced at the water inlet not far away, and said, "Well, first use warm water, then heat it up slowly, and be careful not to extinguish the charcoal fire."

"Yes." The maid agreed, and quietly turned around and left.

Zhu Xu already felt a little stuffy, so he let out a breath, got up and opened the window a little wider.

Before Zhu Xu could sit down, Cao Wenzhao came. As soon as he saw Zhu Xu, he had to salute and said, "Cao Wenzhao, my minister, sees the emperor."

Zhu Xu took a look at him, looking a little dusty, waved his hands and said with a smile: "You sit on my side, downstream."

"Yes." Cao Wenzhao grinned, looked at Zhu Xu's attire, took off his shoes, changed clothes behind the screen, wrapped his lower body, and sat shirtless not far from Zhu Xu's left hand.

"Your Majesty, what you said today is really kind." Cao Wenzhao looked at Zhu Xu and smiled with admiration.

Zhu Xu lay halfway there, felt the warm water under his feet, squinted his eyes, and said: "It was a temporary idea, but it was the cabinet. The performance of the six departments is not bad."

Cao Wenzhao was noncommittal about this. In his opinion, those adults in the cabinet were too tense, and what they said was nonsense, it was like nonsense, it would be better for him to lecture in the army.

After a while, Cao Wenzhao moved closer and said, "Your Majesty, Mr. Sun Ge and the Ministry of War have already finalized the military reform strategy, and basically have a framework. We just have to wait for the emperor to report."

Zhu Xu knew this, and he was not very satisfied, but the military reform has not stopped in the past few years. Soldiers are the most important weapon of the country. It is normal for Sun Chengzong and others to have scruples about such changes.

Zhu Xu can't force each other blindly, he needs to strategically make Sun Chengzong and others change according to his ideas, not so rigid, conservative, and arouse some vigor.

Chapter 923

Both Zhu Xu and Cao Wenzhao were half lying in a small semicircular trough, steam was gurgling from the water outlet, scalding hot water kept gushing out, and white mist had already filled the whole room.

When the hot water reached their chests, both Zhu Xu and Cao Wenzhao's bodies were tense, and they gritted their teeth to hold on. It took a while for them to breathe a sigh of relief.

Zhu Xu took the towel, wiped the sweat off his face, and said, "In the Grand Marshal's Mansion, the combat department, the command department, the intelligence department, the logistics department, the equipment department, etc. are what I value most. They must be carefully built and cultivated." , not to be careless. An army is the fundamental guarantee of a country. My military equipment has been slack for too long, and I am facing a shrinking national treasury. I hope that this military reform will not only be thrifty, but also develop towards excellence. I want to avoid repeating the same mistakes. , My Ming’s army is stronger than other countries, how is it stronger? It’s just that we are ahead in everything, and we can’t lag behind..."

Cao Wenzhao listened, and echoed: "What the emperor said is true, and I think so too. Ma Fang Nanshan, not thinking about making progress, decadent and self-defeating, is a dangerous place in our Ming army that needs to be rectified."

Zhu Xu didn't seem to hear what he said, and said: "The combat department is in charge of commanding, making decisions before the battle, and making changes; the command department is responsible for formulating combat plans, planning the overall situation, and seeking the greatest victory; the intelligence department is in charge of intelligence collection, communication, Espionage, alienation, etc.; the logistics department is the supply of money and food, and the importance of money and food to a war is self-evident; the equipment department is responsible for the equipment of soldiers from feet to heads and even teeth, and other weapons , war horses, etc., the importance of weapons will be extremely conspicuously reflected in the future battlefield..."

Cao Wenzhao could probably figure out some meaning of Zhu Xu's words in his heart, learned to lie down, covered the lower half of his face with a towel, and said in a low voice: "Yes, I am very interested in that cannon and musket, but the number of people is small. To put it another way, if a comprehensive army of 3 elite infantry, cannons, muskets, arrows, and cavalry can be formed, I believe that there will be incredible combat power, even in the face of the slave cavalry in the past. I believe that I will be able to easily defeat..."

Feeling the scalding hot water, Zhu Xu gently slid his hand in the water, feeling a little surprised.I didn't expect Cao Wenzhao to be a "weapon only theory". Although it is a bit biased, under the current environment, "weapon only theory" is not harmful.

However, what he values ​​more is the command office and the intelligence office. These two departments will continue to play a more important role in the future battlefield.

Without correcting Cao Wenzhao, Zhu Xu laughed and said, "Are you here to ask for your life?"

Zhu Xu has already ordered the Ministry of War to prepare manpower, and intends to train a strong, fast, and super powerful response force. Now it is almost the same, only a chief officer is missing.

Cao Wenzhao hurriedly sat up, looked at Zhu Xu with a steamy smile, and said, "To tell you the truth, I have been staring at you for a long time. Not long ago, Lu Guogong joked with me, saying that I wanted to grab a look, which scared me a lot." Jump."

Zhu Xu's smile didn't change, and he didn't answer.For this candidate, he has been deliberating, and there are quite a few suitable candidates, among which he is actually most interested in Lu Xiangsheng.

But now the military reform needs to establish four battalions in the four major military regions, which requires four people who are half a rank higher than the commanders in various places to be in charge. In his pre-thought, Qin Liangyu is in charge of the western theater, Yang Sichang is in charge of the southern theater, Cao Wenzhao In charge of the northern theater, Lu Xiangsheng is in charge of the eastern theater, and Xiong Wencan is in charge of the maritime theater.He intends to place this quick-response special force in Henan in case of emergency.

But hearing what Cao Wenzhao said, Zhu Xu felt a slight change in his heart.

In Daming, if you want to find out who can understand him better, implement his ideas better, and have stronger execution ability, it must be Cao Wenzhao.

"Are you interested in training?" Zhu Xu asked.

Cao Wenzhao's eyes brightened slightly, and he said: "Yes, I have some experience, and I have been studying recently."

Zhu Xu smiled secretly, and said: "You haven't been rewarded for your military achievements this time. When Sun Chengzong and others complete the military reform, they will inevitably reorganize and change the military positions and ranks. Then I will reward you again. In addition, if you If you become the chief officer of this quick-rebel army, you will have nothing to do with the northern camp."

Cao Wenzhao's expression was slightly startled, but he didn't know that Zhu Xu had already arranged a way for him. According to the plan of the military reform, a large battalion would be [-] elite, half a rank higher than the provincial generals, and they could be counted as holding heavy soldiers , to intimidate the main general of one side——it would be a pity to give up such a position!

However, thinking of this new fast-rebel army, Cao Wenzhao's heart was still burning, he hesitated a little, and tentatively said: "Your Majesty, is that minister giving up, okay?"

"Qi Zou the emperor, Mr. Lu has arrived." A palace maid knocked on the door lightly and reported.

Lu Xiangsheng stood outside the door, listening to the silence inside, his expression was very strange, he didn't know where this place was.

"Bring him in, change clothes, soak in the pool." Zhu Xu's voice came from inside, but it was a little weird and dull.

"Yes." The maid answered and opened the door.

In an instant, a gust of hot air rushed to the face, and the inside was so hot that I couldn't see anything clearly.

Lu Xiangsheng was puzzled, but not flustered, followed the maid into the room, and when he walked behind the screen like a half-blind man and asked him to take off his clothes, his expression finally changed slightly.

"Girl, where is this place?" Lu Xiangsheng looked at the maid in front of him and lowered his voice.

"Haha, Master Lu, don't worry, it's the pool." Cao Wenzhao's voice came from not far away, and he smiled as usual.

Lu Xiangsheng has gradually adapted, turned his head to look, and sure enough, he saw two vague figures half lying in the pool not far away.

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, which minister has soaked in the pool with the emperor?What an honor is this?

Lu Xiangsheng hurriedly said: "I don't know, the emperor forgives the crime."

Zhu Xu said: "It's okay, the water is just right, come and take a dip, I sweated a lot today."

Lu Xiangsheng quickly took off his clothes, surrounded his lower body, walked to Cao Wenzhao's side, carefully entered the water, and sat in the pool.

The maid had already left, and there was almost no other sound in this room except for the sound of running water.

It doesn't matter to Cao Wenzhao, he has followed Zhu Xu for many years, and he is already used to such scenes.

But Lu Xiangsheng is different. This person has been away for a long time, and he doesn't know much about the situation in the capital, and he doesn't know much about Zhu Xu. The front of Tianmen has been evacuated, and only a few people are still staying."

Zhu Xu covered his face with a whole towel, said a faint "hmm", closed his eyes, and was enjoying himself.