As the chief minister, Gu Bingqian was naturally qualified to read this expedited memorial. He took the brocade box and read it as fast as possible and handed it to several ministers around him. Several people quickly read the memorial. After reading it, everyone turned their eyes to Zhao Yan, the Minister of War. Such issues involving military affairs have always been under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War.

Zhao Yan handed the memorial to Zhu Youxiao and pondered for a while before saying: "Your Majesty, the traces of Japanese pirates in Zhenjiang Prefecture are reappearing. This is a big deal. It is logical that the court should send a large army to encircle and suppress it, but now the elite of the court gathers on the nine sides, and it is difficult to draw troops to Zhenjiang Prefecture for a while. It seems that we can only order Zhenjiang Prefecture and other places to temporarily close the city gates and wait for the subsequent army to arrive before starting the clearance."

Hearing this, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but stand up and shouted sternly: "It's outrageous. I remember that Nanjing has tens of thousands of troops. Can't even deal with only hundreds of Japanese pirates? What do governments in various places do for food? What about Xu Hongji, is his Nanjing garrison a decoration?"

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but smile bitterly. Gu Bingqian stood up helplessly and bowed: "Your Majesty doesn't know that according to the ancestral system, there should be three garrisons around Nanjing, with more than 18,000 troops and more than 46,000 soldiers in Nanjing City, but the garrisons today may not even have half of the troops. In addition, the garrisons are already in corruption. Not to mention fighting, if they are allowed to defend the enemy, they will probably run away without even seeing them."

"Is the garrison so decayed? Not so?" Zhu Youxiao looked at Gu Bingqian with some confusion, "Gu Aiqing, our garrison in the Ming Dynasty seems not as unbearable as you said, right?"

Seeing the skeptical expression on Zhu Youxiao's face, Gu Bingqian bowed helplessly: "Your Majesty, the degree of destruction of the garrison is even more serious than what the old minister said. Let me tell you, some of the garrisons in the Ming Dynasty have not even had one person. As early as the Jiajing period, the garrisons had no combat power at the beginning of the founding of the country. When the Japanese pirates invaded Jiangnan, it was because the garrisons were already completely decayed and unable to fight. Qi Shaobao (Qi Jiguang) had to recruit troops again in Jinhua, Yiwu and other places to resist the Japanese pirates, which made the reputation of the Qi family army later gained the reputation."

"No!" Zhu Youxiao shook his head in confusion: "I clearly remember that the garrison in Nanjing City is doing a good job. They also practice training every day, so they are also very good."

"The ward in Nanjing is performing every day?" Gu Bingqian looked at each other with several ministers beside him, and finally set his eyes on the face of Zhao Yan, the Minister of War. He should have the most say in this regard.

Zhao Yan's head shook like a rattle, and said with affirmation: "There is absolutely nothing. Even the military-based military commander of the garrison will only be performed twice a month. Judging from the current garrison's decay, it may not be performed once a few years. If it is performed every day, it will be even more impossible. Even the elites on the Nine-side cannot do this. I don't know where Your Majesty heard this news?"

"I'm a relative..." Zhu Youxiao was hoarse as soon as he said halfway through. He couldn't say that he saw them performing with his own eyes. If this matter was really exposed, it would have to cause an uproar.

Wei Zhongxian, who was standing behind Zhu Youxiao, was also anxious. If the civil and military officials in the court knew that Zhu Youxiao had sneaked out of the palace some time ago and went to Nanjing for a walk, he would have to explode. At that time, he, the leader of the Sili Prison, could not eat, and he would take a walk. In desperation, he coughed lightly and said quickly: "This... Your Majesty is smart and studious. Recently, he has read some historical materials from the founding of the Ming Dynasty, so he was immersed in the achievements made by the Wei Dynasty at that time, and was a little confused for a while."

"Ah... Yes, I have read a lot of historical records of the Taizu Emperor's reign in recent times, and then I was very puzzled. Why was the combat power of our Ming Dynasty's guard station so high during the Taizu period? Even the Mongolian and Tartars were defeated by us, but later they became decayed like this. I wonder why you can teach me?"

"this……"

Now it was Gu Bingqian and others who were on the verge of the verge. Of course, they knew the reason why the verge was so decayed. Isn’t the reason that the verge of the verge was because the land of the verge was annexed and divided by the officers, powerful people and gentry, so that the verge could not survive and almost escaped, so that the verge was declining?

But knowing, there are some things in this world that you can know but cannot say. If you say it out, it will be right with the vested interest groups of the entire Ming Dynasty's military. Although those military institutions seem to be no different from beggars in their opinion, no one will establish an enemy for no reason.

Seeing that Gu Bingqian and others were speechless, Zhu Youxiao couldn't help but sigh. Although he had not received much education since he was a child, Yang Feng had talked about the advantages and disadvantages of the ward system and the reasons for his current decline more than once when he was at the Thousand Household Institute of Jiangdongmen, Nanjing. The reason why he sighed was because he saw that several important officials of the court who were still pillars were so timid and had no responsibility at all. How could he not be sad?

Zhu Youxiao didn't say anything, but stood up silently and walked out. Looking at Zhu Youxiao's slightly thin figure who disappeared at the door, for some reason, Gu Bingqian and the other four felt a little guilty in their hearts. They had been ups and downs for decades, and as one of the highest-ranking people in the Ming Empire, they understood the disadvantages of the Ming Dynasty, but they had no choice but to do it. Perhaps they knew that what they did was harmful to this country, but as vested interest groups, they did it without hesitation. At most, they sighed afterwards. This was the mentality of most officials in the late Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Youxiao walked out of Wenyuan Pavilion, walked in the corridor for a while, and suddenly said, "Wei Zhongxian."

"I'm here." Wei Zhongxian, who was following him, quickly responded.

"I remember that the imperial court has issued an order to execute Xiong Tingzhu after the autumn. Is that true?" Zhu Youxiao's voice sounded faintly.

Wei Zhongxian quickly replied: "I remember this is the case. In another four months, he will be executed."

Zhu Youxiao was silent for a long time before saying, "Let him go. Guangning's defeat actually has nothing to do with Xiong Tingbi."

"ah……"

Wei Zhongxian immediately broke out when he heard the cold sweat and said stammeringly: "Emperor... Emperor... This... the imperial edict has been issued, so it is not a big change at all, right?"

"It's okay to go out. I'll just change him." Zhu Youxiao suddenly made a fortune and looked at Wei Zhongxian and said word by word: "You go and release him in person immediately. If he has any mistakes, I will only ask."
Chapter completed!