The elderly Confucian scholar also nodded in agreement. He is nearly seventy years old and can be considered a person who has seen strong winds and waves.
The internal and external troubles and turbulence of the Jiajing Dynasty, the opening up of the Longqing Dynasty to business and the prosperity in the early years of Wanli.
Having experienced five generations of emperors in his life, he has the most intuitive feelings and opinions.
But in his opinion, the emperor was still a bit young and immature and too impatient.
"You are right, but His Majesty is different from the previous generations of emperors. He has the style of an ancestor, is ruthless and decisive, and is people-oriented."
"It also minted and issued two new currencies, silver dollars and Tianqi Tongbao."
"It is directly tied to the grains, rice and salt that are indispensable to the people, stabilizing prices, and is intended to stabilize the people."
"But now it has only achieved initial results in Shuntian Prefecture. It has not yet been implemented in the other thirteen provinces and South Zhili."
"If we can vigorously promote it for three to five years and replace the old money with new money, the high-priced grain, rice, and salt will no longer exist. It is a pity that your Majesty is more interested in martial arts than in civil governance."
"Senior's words are reasonable, but in three to five years, the Tartars can recuperate and regain their strength."
"Especially the Jiannu slaves in Liaodong are very hateful. They repeatedly invade our territory and plunder the people. If it weren't for Xiong Jinglue to guard Liaochen, I am afraid that life outside the customs would have been devastated and the land was full of smoke."
"Korea was even more severely affected. Not only was Wang Jing threatened, but the population hundreds of miles north was said to have been reduced to ten."
"Since our emperor Ming is the suzerain, he naturally wants to repay his territory and secure his people. According to the younger generation, after wiping out the Tartars, he should take advantage of the victory to pursue and wipe out the feudal slaves in one fell swoop, and then recuperate and stabilize the people's livelihood."
These two gentlemen, the old and the young, can be said to have their own opinions and opinions.
It is not difficult to see from their remarks that although Zhu Youxiao was under pressure to kill the entire Kong family, he still won the hearts of the people.
Naturally, the comments and comments made by these outsiders on various matters are monitored in real time by Jin Yiwei and reported to Zhu Youxiao every day.
At the cusp of this crisis, since he had to stay away from the capital, Zhu Youxiao naturally could not just appoint a few ministers and leave some troops behind and rest assured.
What people think about themselves is also particularly important.
He has offended the officials and gentry to death. If the people at the bottom still oppose or criticize him, leaving the capital will be extremely risky.
And it was precisely because of the high evaluation and support of him from the bottom, supplemented by the military guard, that he could leave Beijing safely.
One night, three days before the expedition, Zhu Youxiao once again put on a brand new silver armor in the Qianqing Palace.
Then he went to the Imperial Ancestral Temple in the palace and personally offered incense to pay homage to Emperor Shenzong. Then, under the protection of hundreds of royal guards and guards, he climbed on his horse and left the palace at night, heading straight for the capital camp outside the city.
Zhu Youxiao has always attached great importance to his whereabouts.
Except for the guards around him and a group of major generals, no one knew that he would send out troops in advance.
As for the government affairs and city defense matters, he had made arrangements a few days ago. After two or three days, when he learned that he had set off early, he would naturally follow the instructions he had given him.
That night, the residents of the capital heard the sound of horse hooves and the crisp collision of armor outside their houses, but they didn't think anything of it.
After all, they were accustomed to this kind of thing, but they didn't expect that the emperor had left Beijing for Liaodong.
When Zhu Youxiao arrived at the military camp, the generals of the four major battalions of the Yulin Army, guerrillas, and mid-level and high-level generals, as well as the British public, had been waiting for a long time.
"Your Majesty's greetings."
When the generals saw that the emperor had arrived, they immediately knelt down to greet him.
Zhu Youxiao glanced around and signaled to get up.
Then he asked:
"Where have the food, grass and weapons gone?"
The eunuch who was responsible for supervising the transportation of the Yulin Army's baggage took out an envelope from his arms, raised it above his head and whispered back:
"Your Majesty, I arrived at Shanhaiguan Pass yesterday evening. This is the seal of Commander-in-Chief Zhou."
In order to march faster, Zhu Youxiao chose to go first with food and grass.
As early as a few days ago, he had ordered Liu Ting, the guerrilla general of the Huben camp, and Dong Fang, the assisting general of the Shenji camp, to lead five thousand and three thousand troops respectively to escort the heavy supplies such as rations, cannons, gunpowder and silver that were needed along the way.
step.
Zhang Wuqu immediately stepped forward and handed the envelope to Zhu Youxiao. After confirming that it was correct, he asked again:
"Are all the armies ready?"
"It's all ready. We're just waiting for His Majesty's military order to send troops north."
While they were talking, Yang Huan had already led a dozen or so uniformed guardsmen and rode their horses into the military camp to patrol around.
By the time he returned from his inspection tour, Zhu Youxiao had already understood the situation clearly. After seeing Yang Huan, he invited everyone to enter the camp.
In the face of war, he never takes it lightly, even if his own side has an advantage, he does the same. As the saying goes, seek stability first before you can win.
After entering the meeting hall, I saw a giant map of Beizhili and Liaodong hanging on the wall, and a sand table was also placed in the middle of the hall.
However, he did not make military tactical arrangements, but once again emphasized the matter of marching tomorrow.
"At the fifth watch, we prepare food and send out troops on the sun. Cao Wenzhao leads 2,000 Han cavalry and 3,000 Mongolian cavalry to form the front army."
"I will personally command the remaining five thousand cavalry and the Shenji Battalion as the central army."
"The Huben Camp and the Taishan Camp are under the control of Qin Bangping and Zhou Wengang as the rear army."
"The three armies are separated by twenty miles, no more and no less. The two armies in front and behind should send people back to the central army every half hour to report the situation."
"The imperial guards will accompany the troops and coordinate with the law enforcement team in the army to maintain order. No noise, fighting, disturbing the people, and leaving the army at will are allowed along the way. Anyone found will be punished with twenty sticks. Those who do it again will be beheaded and sacrificed with flags."
"You are all veterans who have been in the army for many years. It has been two years since I promulgated the new military law. Your soldiers have been practicing and popularizing the military law day and night."
"If this situation still occurs and the army you command cannot enforce orders and prohibitions and strictly abide by military laws, then don't blame me for being ruthless."
Looking at the serious-faced emperor, the generals also kept this in mind and responded in unison:
"I sincerely obey His Majesty's orders."
Ordinary people don't understand why the emperor has such high thresholds and requirements for the army.
But only he knows how crucial a professional army is to a country.
Otherwise, why would he spend so much money, time and energy on this?
The most terrible thing about the Ming Dynasty was that there was no professional army. Except for the generals' servants and private soldiers, the army was either peasants from the garrison or recruited temporarily.
Even the soldiers of the Jiubian Army who led Yue Xiang were mostly just ad hoc and usually lazy and neglected to train, which led to a lack of morale among the troops and the generals deducting money and food.
When there is a war, just give some money to fool them, and the servants will drive them to the battlefield like cattle and sheep to fight against the enemy. It is simply ridiculous.