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 private audience can sometimes be a double-edged sword.
Of course, it doesn't matter if he meets alone once or twice, but being summoned by the emperor repeatedly will inevitably attract the attention of his fellow scholars, which will put his 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 the Beidi scholars headed by Qi Yongtai and the Jiangnan scholars led by Ye Xianggao and Fang Congzhe often quarreled over their political opinions, and even Huguang scholars such as Chai Ke and Guan Yingzhen were among them, but 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 had no choice but to
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 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 been able to form an army, and the Guyuan Army, which had come from afar, it 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 and horse soldiers.
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
As long as 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.
With his heart full of worries, Zhang Jingqiu stepped into the east study room.
"Is Zhang Qing here?" Emperor Yonglong saw Zhang Jingqiu's solemn face and smiled: "Why, Zhang Qing's expression seems to have something on his mind?"
"Kowtow to Your Majesty." Zhang Jingqiu saluted.
"Without courtesy, I will grant you a seat." Emperor Yonglong waved his hand.
The monarch and his ministers faced each other, while the servant quietly retreated to one side and far away.
Emperor Yonglong briefly asked about the military situation in southwest China and the situation in Liaodong, and Zhang Jingqiu also reported on them one by one.
"Jingqiu, Chai Ke reported at the court meeting a few days ago that they went to Yongping to inspect the soldiers in the Beijing camp. What do you think?"
This is the major event that Emperor Yonglong cares most 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 Army 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 rubbish 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 for Emperor Yonglong to let go.
"Your Majesty, if the 60,000 soldiers in the Beijing camp are eliminated all 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 and relatives in the capital..." Zhang Jingqiu shook his head, "Even if it is an embarrassing and important task, it should be taken care of 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 elites 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 the transportation was convenient. 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 combine 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 concerns. 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 Right Guards, Yingzhou Middle Guards and Dongsheng Right Guards.
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 territory of Gyeonggi, that is, Shuntianfu, continued the general structure of the previous Ming Dynasty, with dozens of guard posts 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 been abolished long ago, some exist in name only, some do not live up to their name, and some still have a large establishment, but many have completely separated from their main business with combat as the goal.
But the Tianjin Three Guards, the Zhuolu Three Guards, the Shenwu Central Guards, the Dingbian Guards, the Zhenshuo Guards, the Dongsheng Right Guards, and the Zhongyi Central Guards are mainly combat soldiers, but they all bear the responsibility of being the border town of Jizhen.
Reservist recruitment and reserve unit 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 Jizhen, while Jizhen has only firmly grasped the three guards of Tianjin, the defenders of Miyun, the defenders of Dongsheng, the defenders of Zhongyi, the defenders of Zhenshuo, the defenders of Dingbian, the defenders of Shanhaiwei, and the defenders of Shenwu.
A few relatively 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 money to secure all the guards, so these places have become the best places for those who are excluded and exiled to be idle.