The Prosperous Era of Longwan

In the Ming Dynasty, military rituals were rich in form and content. “Personal expeditions were the first, followed by dispatching generals. Before leaving the army, there was the ritual of offering sacrifices. When they returned, there were the rituals of accepting surrender, presenting tributes to prisoners, and giving rewards based on their merits. In ordinary times, there were military parades and large-scale shooting. The etiquette of saving the sun and cutting drums are also similar."

The "grand parade" that Wei Guangde called was actually a military parade in later generations.

In the Hongwu and Yongle periods of the early Ming Dynasty, military parade activities were still relatively active. This kind of military parade activities were often carried out simultaneously with the emperor's expeditions, focusing on military effectiveness, but the time, location, and form were mostly "parade anywhere." Not uniform.

According to the records in documents such as "Records of the Ming Dynasty" and "Yao of the Ming Dynasty" that Wei Guangde saw, various "Great Review" activities have been held more than 20 times since Hongwu.

However, most of these were concentrated in the Hongwu and Yongle dynasties, especially in the middle Yongle period. Zhu Di, the founder of the Ming Dynasty, reviewed the Sixth Division and invited envoys from many countries to observe the ceremony, which aroused great repercussions in the world.

What Wei Guangde naturally thought of was to use a military parade to demonstrate the military power of the Ming Dynasty, which would not only shock the northern grasslands, but also spread to the East and West, so that they would not dare to underestimate the national power of the Ming Dynasty.

"Now Qi Jiguang has been in the Beijing camp for a long time. I heard that under his training, the Shenji camp has undergone considerable changes."

When Wei Guangde said this, he observed Emperor Longqing's expression and found that there was no change, so he continued: "Tan Lun and Qi Jiguang are both veteran generals who have fought in the Jiangnan army for many years. It is just right for them to take charge of this matter. We must let the Ming Dynasty return to power." Now the military power was great when the country was founded."

Wei Guangde's idea is actually very simple. Both of them have been fighting for a long time, so they naturally know how to train soldiers to make them look brave.

He would think of some ways to improve the viewing and deterrence of the military parade. In short, everything should make people understand that the Ming Dynasty had a strong military strength.

After Wei Guangde finished speaking, he looked at Emperor Longqing, waiting for his answer.

At this time, Emperor Longqing was also thinking about Wei Guangde's proposal. The border troops went out to the fortress to show the Mongols the unyielding combat power of the Ming army, and the grand parade was to show the military might to the surrounding areas.

Great reading.

Although Emperor Longqing didn't have any big ambitions, the lack of big ambitions didn't mean that he didn't want to make some achievements and make some achievements. It would be best to leave his name in history.

The Hongwu, Yongle, Xuande, Zhengtong, Tianshun, and Chenghua dynasties all held great reviews, but the scale varied.

The last grand reading was in the 11th year of Chenghua, and there was no such reading in the next ninety-four years.

Emperor Longqing was not a person who would get excited and dance with excitement after hearing the great reading. Wei Guangde's proposal was novel and looked very tempting, but what he was thinking about now was not what would happen if he succeeded, but what he thought about Beijing. Camp, thinking that if something unexpected happens during the parade, the court will lose face.

Well, unlike the previous Chenghua and Hongzhi emperors, Emperor Longqing should be similar to Emperor Zhengde, not in terms of personality, but in his understanding of the capital.

He has seen the lazy and lax soldiers in the capital on the streets of the capital, and he also knows the actual situation in the capital. Due to the nobles and the court, the soldiers in the capital can only get 30% of their monthly military pay, and they are not well trained. , soldiers are full of young and old.

The reason why the emperor of the Ming Dynasty was still willing to let Xungui lead the capital camp was mainly because he felt reassured.

Although the Beijing camp is unusable, they still know how to train an elite army to fill the scene, which can be regarded as the strongest combat force in the capital.

To safeguard the imperial power, these soldiers and horses are enough, as long as there are no soldiers and horses from other towns to interfere.

If Beijing camp is handed over to civilian hands, I can't even imagine what the consequences will be.

After a long time, Emperor Longqing hesitated and said: "The first point you mentioned, I said it before, there is no problem. As for the Great Reading,

Jingying, okay? "

Wei Guangde opened his eyes slightly when he heard this, and just as he was about to speak, he heard Emperor Longqing continue.

"You know the situation in Beijing camp, and I don't expect them to be able to show any fighting strength.

If there is really going to be a grand parade, I think we should select elite soldiers and generals from Jizhen and Xuanda to participate.

Since it is a grand parade, there must be envoys from foreign vassals around, and I don't want them to see the miserable state of the capital camp. "

"Your Majesty is worrying too much."

Wei Guangde wanted to speak before, but Emperor Longqing continued to talk, so he naturally did not dare to interrupt.

Now that the emperor had finished speaking, it was his turn.

“Of course I know the situation in the capital camp.

Since it was the Grand Parade, they naturally had to practice the Beijing camp again, but they didn't dare to let them come out to see people like this.

The minister felt that since Tan Lun was already the minister of the Ministry of War, it would be natural for him to serve as the censor of the capital procuratorate and be responsible for the military affairs of the capital camp.

Zhan manages military affairs, which is to preside over the daily training of the Beijing camp.

Qi Jiguang, who was already good at recruiting troops, asked him to re-select the soldiers of the Beijing camp and combine the elite battalions as the troops for this grand parade. After the parade, they would be retained as the main force of the Beijing camp, and the remaining old, weak and disabled soldiers could be released or serve as troops. The daily errands undertaken by Jingying.

In this way, the remaining elite soldiers can only focus on combat training, and will no longer care about chores in the future. They usually participate in various ceremonial activities as elites, and can be drawn out if there is a war.

Moreover, this matter is not urgent for the time being, as Master Tan and General Qi must be given enough time to train their troops. "

Wei Guangde knew why the Beijing camp lacked training. Many nobles used the Beijing camp as free labor and turned a large number of Beijing soldiers into their own private slaves.

Forget about slavery, no money will be given, but military pay from the imperial court will be given, and a sum of money will be deducted.

If it weren't for the worry that people in the capital would cause a mutiny if they were kicked too hard, I'm afraid the capital camp would have been empty long ago.

Imagine if you can't even eat, who would be willing to work hard, let alone work hard.

According to Wei Guangde's wishes, the remaining elites of the Beijing camp were organized into separate armies, and the old and weak were left to the dignitaries of the capital. This would not only maintain the stability of the court, but also allow the Beijing camp to regain some combat strength.

But doing this seems a bit like returning to the Zhengde Dynasty.

The only difference is that the Beijing camp, which was retrained during the Zhengde period, was filled with a large number of capable border soldiers who were transferred.

It can be said that it is no exaggeration to say that the combat power of the Zhengde Chaojing Camp was close to that of the Jingying Camp in the early Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Longqing thought about why those civil servants didn't like what Emperor Zhengde did, and he felt relieved.

Although I was very unhappy, sometimes it was not the emperor who could decide everything.

Just like now, he knows that what Emperor Zhengde did can actually improve the Ming army's combat effectiveness, but it is difficult for him to pick it up again because the civil servants don't like it.

When the time comes, all they need to do is get stuck in the housing department and the troops will be distracted.

The Ming Dynasty's lack of money is a matter known to both the government and the public. As long as the money from the Ministry of Revenue is dispersed, and there is no money to pay the army, he, the emperor, will be put on fire.

Wei Guangde's proposal may be the limit for the civil service group.

Instead of increasing the number of squad troops, we will recruit soldiers from within the Beijing camp. This improvement will be limited.

Some people may wonder, who doesn't want their country's army to be strong, but in the Ming Dynasty, the civil servants really did not want the Ming army to regain its military power in the early Ming Dynasty.

Why?

In fact, the reason is very simple. Before Tumu Fort, the Ming Dynasty was in a state of civil and military system, which was relatively balanced.

But this balance was caused by the emperor favoring the civil servants.

In fact, in the early Ming Dynasty, because of the presence of those veterans on the battlefield, military generals were the most important force that controlled the court. This is why the emperor in the early Ming Dynasty liked to suppress military generals.

Their power was so powerful that it even worried the emperor.

After Tumu Fortress, the civil servant group finally took advantage of the crisis of the Ming army to seize part of the military power. After that, they continued to work hard to form a situation in which civil servants controlled the military. Of course, they would not give it up.

If the Ming army's combat strength recovers, it means that countless veteran generals like those in the early Ming Dynasty may emerge. They have made great achievements on the battlefield. Even if they give up military power and stay in the capital to retire after becoming famous, their achievements will still be enough to influence the civilian officials. The group is under tremendous pressure.

Therefore, it is in the best interest of the civilian group to keep the combat power of the Ming army at a level that is neither high nor low.

That is to say, it can not only withstand the threat from the north, but also prevent them from having the strength to succeed in a battle and maintain a balanced situation.

Didn’t the emperors of the middle and late Ming Dynasty understand?

In fact, they understand it, but their thoughts are similar to that of the civil servant group, and they do not want the military general group to rise again.

A general with great prestige and military support is a nightmare for the emperor.

Think about it, you can imagine that Zhu Yuanzhang went to great lengths to deal with the Huaixi Group.

Emperor Zhengde is an exception. Perhaps he still has the heart to expand his territory.

But for other emperors, they didn't want to be like this, so they had to do that.

Whether Wei Guangde's proposal is good or not, Emperor Longqing thinks it is feasible. As for the effect, it can only be known after it is implemented.

And Wei Guangde has always felt that his idea is immature and may still lack something, so he has always wanted to further improve it.

After putting it off until today, I finally spoke out under the pressure of Emperor Longqing, so as to solve the urgent problem first.

"I understand. When Tan Lun comes to Beijing after we get down, you have more contact with him and tell him everything about Jizhen and Jingying. I plan to leave it to him first."

Emperor Longqing finally spoke to break the silence in the palace. This thought took a lot of time.

"I understand."

Wei Guangde bowed.

Emperor Longqing stood up and looked around the empty hall. This was his habit when talking to Wei Guangde. He would not leave anyone around to serve him. Even when he was in Prince Yu's Mansion, Li Fang was sent to guard the door many times.

"You should contact Qi Jiguang in advance and ask him to come up with a military training schedule as soon as possible.

I will leave this matter to you. If you join the cabinet in the future, it will be in this direction.

By the way, there is also the matter of opening up the sea in Fujian. "

Emperor Longqing spoke again.

"I obey the order."

Wei Guangde stood up slightly and then bowed.

"You are still in the Ministry of Etiquette now, and it is just in time for someone to sort out the etiquette notes of the Dayue. Since you are going to do it, you must not lose my face.

Now on the cabinet side, ask Chen Yiqin to cooperate with you. "

After saying this, Emperor Longqing paused for a moment, as if thinking about something, and then continued: "You can test Zhang Juzheng, maybe he won't object.

I remember that he supported many of your ideas. "

When Emperor Longqing mentioned Zhang Juzheng, Wei Guangde was slightly surprised and looked at the emperor with a puzzled expression.

Emperor Longqing just had a smile on his lips, "Sometimes he has to act according to the teacher's wishes, and it doesn't affect the overall situation."

Emperor Longqing actually spoke to Zhang Juzheng, which surprised Wei Guangde even more.

"Yin Shizhen's place has been very active recently. How do you think Mr. Xu Ge will respond?"

Without giving Wei Guangde time to be surprised, Emperor Longqing suddenly asked again.

Recently, Yin Shizhen's move to cut out Xu Jie's party members has been really big. Many censors from the Metropolitan Procuratorate and officials from the Six Ministries have been released, which was strongly promoted by the Ministry of Personnel.

Xu Jie should have noticed it a long time ago. Even if Yang Bo stopped some people, it was impossible for him to openly break up with Yin Shizhen over this.

Well, Wei Guangde thought that he wouldn't be able to do such a thing.

Wei Guangde secretly glanced at Emperor Longqing and noticed the complicated expression on his face when he said Xu Jie. After thinking about it, he came back to his senses.

To say what Xu Jie's greatest contribution to the emperor was, of course it was to ensure the smooth transfer of imperial power and to correct the bad governance of the Jiajing Dynasty.

To Emperor Longqing, Xu Jie had merit.

But at the same time, Emperor Longqing was dissatisfied with him because of the grievances between him and Gao Gong.

At first, Emperor Longqing wanted to be a peacemaker, but he was given several opportunities, and the result seemed to be the opposite.

That "meeting" was actually deliberately arranged by Emperor Longqing, hoping that Gao Gong and Xu Jie would resolve their grievances, but he didn't expect Gao Gong to say those words.

Next, Wei Guangde had no choice but to analyze Xu Jie's possible countermeasures according to his own ideas.

When he came out of Qianqing Palace, Wei Guangde was still thinking about Zhang Juzheng, which was really strange.

However, when he met Meng Chong when he was leaving the gate of Qianqing Palace, hurriedly walking towards Qianqing Palace with a box in his hand, Wei Guangde suddenly understood.

Zhang Juzheng was probably making friends with the eunuchs who were favored by Emperor Longqing.

Using these eunuchs to say a few nice words to him inadvertently is more effective than Zhang Juzheng saying a hundred nice words in front of Emperor Longqing.

"Eunuch Meng, what kind of treasure have you found for Your Majesty?"

Regarding eunuchs, Wei Guangde was curious at first.

But by this time, that curiosity had long since dissipated.

But knowing the role of eunuchs, he would not offend anyone easily. Therefore, as long as the eunuchs around the emperor were the eunuchs, Wei Guangde always regarded them as a good friend.

"Master Wei, this is where the emperor comes from."

When Meng Chong saw it was Wei Guangde, his old face smiled like a chrysanthemum, and said with a smile: "I just got a good treasure, I will send it to the emperor now, hehe."

"Haha, Eunuch Meng is interested. Your Majesty still relies on your father-in-law's dedicated service."

Wei Guangde complimented him against his will.

"That's right. Mr. Wei helps the emperor with state affairs. Those of us who have no balls will only take care of the emperor's food and daily life. This can be regarded as a distinction between the inner and outer court. We all run errands for the emperor."

Teng Xiang and Meng Chong, the favored eunuchs of Emperor Longqing, all had a good impression of Wei Guangde. He was unlike some civil servants who, for the sake of their so-called "character", looked at eunuchs with their nostrils.

You need to smile and smile, and you need red envelopes and red envelopes.

In addition, Chen Ju also said good things to Wei Guangde in front of them and set an example. When he first interacted with Wei Guangde, he was just a little servant with nothing, but Wei Guangde also treated him with courtesy.

Wei Guangde was able to treat the eunuch sincerely, which created a wave of goodwill in front of these guys who secretly had low self-esteem.

After saying goodbye to Meng Chong and watching him rush into Qianqing Palace, Wei Guangde just shook his head slightly, then turned around and walked towards the palace gate.