Chapter 1213 A clever strategy for Gengzijuan (supplementary update)
Zhang Jingqiu couldn't help but hold his forehead when he stepped into the east study room.
The fluttering snow flakes fell, making the entire square outside the palace covered with snow. Except for a few guards standing on both sides of the square with their swords drawn like snowmen, there was only one chamberlain who stood on the palace gate with his neck curled up and stamped his feet. , and still somewhat popular.
Zhang Jingqiu dislikes this kind of going to the palace alone for an audience. He is also a scholar. He knows that this kind of going to the palace alone is considered a supreme honor by some people. However, it is for officials below the fourth rank. A true third-rank official For officials and above, this kind of individual audience can sometimes be a double-edged sword.
Of course, one or two separate interviews is not important, but repeated summons by the emperor alone will inevitably attract the attention of fellow scholars, which will put the family into a delicate situation.
In fact, Zhang Jingqiu has already felt this way. He thinks that he has done a good job in getting along with his colleagues and handling government and military affairs in the past few years from Nanjing to the capital city, but it has always been difficult to fully integrate into his colleagues.
Even though the northern scholars headed by Qi Yongtai and the Jiangnan scholars led by Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe often had political disputes, and even Huguang scholars such as Chai Ke and Guan Yingzhen were among them, the differences between them The tacit understanding made Zhang Jingqiu a little envious.
He was promoted by the emperor to the Ministry of War as Zuo Shilang and was promoted to the Minister of War. Although this had the potential to rise to the top, Zhang Jingqiu knew that it also left great hidden dangers, whether it was Jiangnan scholars, Northern scholars or even Huguang scholars. None of them like a scholar who is too close to the emperor, or who completely obeys the emperor's orders. In their view, this seems to mean betraying the group of scholar-officials.
This made Zhang Jingqiu very depressed.
The battle to join the cabinet is the most obvious example. Although the emperor tried his best to promote himself, in view of the fact that no one in the cabinet nominated and supported him, and even the minister of ministers among the six ministers had very few supporters, in the end the emperor could only The next best thing was to choose Li Sancai to join the cabinet. In fact, Li Sancai, a scholar from the North, was basically excluded by Qi Yongtai, the leader of the Northern scholars. If it were not for the support of Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe, Li Sancai would And because he was from the North, he couldn't join the current cabinet, which already had three Jiangnan scholars.
Zhang Jingqiu can now accept this point calmly, but the sudden southward invasion of the Mongols still put him under a lot of pressure.
In particular, the Outer Khalkhas' raid from Xuanfu Town led to the collapse of the entire front and plunged the entire Shuntian Prefecture into chaos. Especially the northern states and counties were almost ransacked by the Mongols and almost turned into a white land. The direct consequence was that hundreds of thousands of refugees stayed in the Gyeonggi area, which also brought huge pressure and chaos to Shuntianfu and Gyeongshi City.
The problem is that the chief culprit that led to this result-Xuanda Governor Niu Jizong was originally supposed to be directly held accountable by the Metropolitan Procuratorate. However, the current bad situation and various internal instability have caused the court to take no action on this issue. This is also difficult for Zhang Jingqiu to accept.
The war in the southwest was raging, which also restrained the energy of the imperial court. Whether it was the Denglai Army, which was making slow progress in the war, the Jingxiang Army, which had not yet been able to form an army, and the Guyuan Army, which had come from afar and was still in a difficult adaptation stage. , all looked cumbersome and tired, and their performance was not even as good as the guard army formed by Sun Chengzong relying on the Syrian horse army.
The delay in the situation in the southwest has made it impossible for the court to think that the war could be resolved within half a year to a year. Moreover, the situation in front of him may even drag on for more than two years. This also makes Zhang Jingqiu anxious, and this must be based on There won't be any big trouble elsewhere.
Fortunately, Feng Tang's situation in Liaodong was relatively stable. Although there was an accident involving Li Yongfang's rebellion at Fushun Pass, he was able to get a win over the Haixi Jurchen issue, which prevented the Jianzhou Jurchens from annexing the Ula tribe in one fell swoop. It can be achieved, but Zhang Jingqiu is very clear that the Jianzhou Jurchens will continue to launch attacks in Liaodong in the next few years. If they cannot provide strong support in manpower and material resources to Liaodong in the next few years, Feng Tang may find it difficult to maintain the current situation in the future. However, as far as Zhang Jingqiu knew, it was difficult for the court to support Liaodong as it did last year and this year.
Zhang Jingqiu stepped into the east study room with his heart full of worries.
"Is Zhang Qing here?" Emperor Yonglong saw Zhang Jingqiu's solemn face and smiled: "Why, Zhang Qing's expression seems to be a little worried?"
“Kowtow to Your Majesty.” Zhang Jingqiu saluted.
“No courtesy, I’ll give you a seat.” Emperor Yonglong waved his hand.
The monarch and his ministers faced each other, and the servants quietly retreated to one side and far away.
Emperor Yonglong briefly asked about the military situation in the southwest and the situation in Liaodong, and Zhang Jingqiu also reported on each of them.
This is the major event that Emperor Yonglong is most concerned about. There are 60,000 soldiers. After thinking about it, he still feels that the vast majority must be retained. The military strength in Beijing seems to be balanced now, but the combat effectiveness of Shenshu Camp is worrying, and the Fifth Military Camp has always been the capital of Beijing. The main force of the battalion, this time the 80,000 Beijing battalion was sent out of the capital. In addition to a bunch of **** from the Shenji Battalion, Chen Jixian also sent all the non-direct descendants of the five military camps to the capital, leaving the main force of his confidants. This would be difficult for Emperor Yonglong rest assured.
Emperor Yonglong also tried his best to win Chen Jixian's heart, but he still found it difficult to confide in Chen Jixian. The news from Long Jinwei also proved that Chen Jixian was still disconnected from his father and had no contact with the boss, but this was the same It was difficult to let Emperor Yonglong feel relieved.
"Your Majesty, if the 60,000 soldiers in the Beijing camp are eliminated at once, it will definitely cause a shock in the capital. I am afraid that there will be no less than 200,000 of their family members in the capital..." Zhang Jingqiu shook his head, "Even if it is an embarrassing and important task, it should be done slowly. "
Emperor Yonglong pondered for a moment, "Jingqiu, do you have a detailed plan for what you are talking about?"
Zhang Jingqiu thought for a while and said, "We can temporarily retain some of the elite troops and select loyal and brave men to take charge. The rest will be moved to Tianjin for reorganization. After the reorganization is completed, they will return to Beijing."
"How to reorganize it?" Emperor Yonglong felt relieved.
Zhang Jingqiu's suggestion was in line with his intentions. He was not worried about the fragile balance of the fifth military camp and the second division of the Shenshu Camp in the capital city, which was difficult to control. However, if he continued to allow these 60,000 people to return to the capital, he might let the capital return to the capital again. The battalion was restored to its original state, and it was difficult to select military officers and generals who were more in line with his wishes in such a short period of time. It was bound to be infiltrated and controlled by Wu Xun, who had a huge network of connections and influence in Beijing, so this was unacceptable to him.
Zhang Jingqiu placed these soldiers from the Beijing camp in Tianjin Guards. It was not far or near, connected by a canal, and had convenient transportation. He also gave them hope that they could return to Beijing after the reorganization was completed, so as not to arouse the soldiers who accepted the reorganization. The violent reaction can be described as appropriate.
As for how to reorganize, how long to reorganize, and how much to retain and eliminate, these can all change with time and circumstances.
"Comprehensively mix the Tianjin Sanwei, Shenwu Zhongwei, Yingzhou Qiantunwei, Zhuolu Sanwei, Xingzhou Zuotunwei, and Xingzhou Qiantunwei, and select those with outstanding performance to rejoin the capital in stages. Camp, those who perform poorly will continue to undergo training until they are satisfied with the training." Zhang Jingqiu said calmly.
Emperor Yonglong hesitated: "For such a large-scale reorganization, the total number of soldiers may exceed 100,000. How to consider the follow-up?"
Zhang Jingqiu understood Emperor Yonglong's worries. Such a big move would cost a lot, and the key was how to arrange the soldiers who had been trained. The so-called outstanding ones who met the standards could re-enter the capital camp, but the rest, such a large number, would not be given. A way out is difficult to convince the public, and may even turn into trouble later.
"Your Majesty, it is my intention that after this batch of training is completed, all the units in the current five military camps can be gradually brought to Tianjin for mixed training. We can even move Yingzhou Youtunwei, Yingzhou Zhongtunwei, Dongsheng Youwei, The Zhongyi Zhongwei and other guards have also joined in for mixed reorganization, thus forming a training model that can be extended, from three to five years..."
Zhang Jingqiu’s suggestion made Emperor Yonglong’s eyes light up.
The land of Gyeonggi, that is, Shuntian Prefecture, continued the general structure of the previous Ming Dynasty. Dozens of guard posts were set up around the capital, but these guard posts were diverse.
For example, those whose names are prefixed with "tun" are all "tunwei", that is, their main business is farming, which later gradually evolved into farming and handicrafts. The proportion of real professional soldiers among them is less than 30%. After decades, some They have long since been dismantled, some are in name only, some are not in name, and some are still in size, but many are completely separated from their main business of combat.
However, the Tianjin Sanwei, Zhuolu Sanwei, Shenwu Zhongwei, Dingbianwei, Zhenshuowei, Dongsheng Youwei, and Zhongyi Zhongwei are mainly combat soldiers, but they all bear the responsibility of being the border town of Jizhen. Reserve Recruitment and Reserve Responsibilities.
According to the customization, the strength of a guard or garrison is 5,600, and the ratio of combat soldiers to garrison soldiers is variable. If the capital is to be cleaned up, even if the abolished ones are ignored, the strength of the remaining guards will not be low. Of course, even the Ministry of War cannot figure out how many troops are actually available for a hundred thousand people. This is simply a confusing account.
Over the years, the Ministry of War has almost let go of Ji Zhen, while Ji Zhen has only firmly grasped the three guards of Tianjin, Miyun Guards, Dongsheng Right Guards, Zhongyi Zhongwei, Zhenshuo Guards, Dingbian Guards, Shanhaiwei, and Shenwu Zhongwei. A few core and elite guards are trained as direct lineages, while others such as the Zhuolu Three Guards, the Dongsheng Left Guard, and the Funing Guard are not of much concern. As for the Tun Guards, they are basically left alone.
Of course, the most important thing is that Jizhen simply does not have that much energy and food to secure all the guards. These places have become the best places for those who are excluded and exiled to idle.
Start to make up for the changes and pay off the debt.
(End of this chapter)