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Chapter 1319 Eastern Expedition 5
"The governor is thoughtful. This battle is of great importance. I dare not be careless and have been trembling with fear. Now I feel a little relieved with your help." Looking at the old man with a pale face, Setel couldn't help but flatter the emperor again.

Counting from joining the army in the 1615th year of Jingyang (25), he had served for years, almost the same age as the army. At this time, as a second-rank army governor, facing his fourth-rank commander, there was no contempt in his expression, and his words were very clear, neither flattering nor suppressing, but very honest.

Many founding emperors were able to command their generals, but few could trust them as much as before after they had accomplished great things. Some were abandoned and some were simply discarded.

The Han people attributed this phenomenon to the fact that the subordinates were too meritorious to be the master. When the subordinates had too much merit and power and could not be given any more titles or rewards, they would threaten the imperial power and the emperor would have to find an excuse to get rid of them. If they met a benevolent emperor, he would give up his military power even if it meant his life, and he would not be allowed to use them again and live in disgrace.

This is not only true for the Han people, but also for the grasslands. There are many small ethnic groups within a large ethnic group. When a small ethnic group becomes stronger, it will face two choices. Either it will rise up in rebellion and kill the leader of the ethnic group to become the Khan, or it will wait for the Khan to find an excuse to kill it to eliminate future troubles. There is basically no third choice.

However, this curse that had been repeated for thousands of years seemed to have been broken by Emperor Jingyang. The establishment of the General Staff, the new school system that ran parallel to the imperial examination, and a retirement order not only clarified the scope and duration of power for officials and generals, but also put them in shackles.

From then on, military commanders could no longer think about how to become a general and control military power for generations. All troops were under the dispatch of the General Staff, with large-scale redeployments and adjustments of generals every few years. No one could hope to cultivate their own direct lineage in the army.

Those in power can no longer collude with their cronies to monopolize government affairs. They all step down voluntarily when they reach old age. As the saying goes, when a person leaves, the tea is forgotten. Who will follow him when he loses his power?

There was no need to worry about the shortage of officials and the delay of government affairs. Every year, graduates from the New School and the Royal Academy were recruited to serve in the court, starting from low-level officials, and could fill vacancies anytime and anywhere. With rich experience in grassroots and middle-level governance, it didn't matter who sat in the high-level position.

The situation in the court is now very delicate. Those who have achieved success and fame will more or less regard the General Staff, the New School, the Royal Academy and the Retirement Order as thorns in their eyes and thorns in their flesh, because their existence seriously hinders their own interests.

However, more middle and lower-level officials and generals regarded these departments and laws as gifts from God, and would immediately attack anyone who dared to touch them, regardless of their own safety. Because without the constraints of these departments and laws, their upward path would be blocked, and they must be closely related and share weal and woe.

This method is ingenious. In the past, the conflicts among the top officials were mainly concentrated between civil officials and military generals, and between officials and the emperor. After such an adjustment, the original structural foundation did not change much, but the conflicts moved to the officials and officials, and had no direct relationship with the emperor.

Then the emperor could hide aside and enjoy himself secretly. As long as he maintained this set of rules and controlled the intensity of the struggle within a reasonable range, he could sit back and relax and fully control the domestic situation.

Regardless of whether it was the emperor's political conspiracy or not, the court's operating efficiency was significantly improved and internal friction was significantly reduced within this set of rules.

Even veteran officials like Du Wenhuan, Huang Nanping, Li Ruzhang, Li Rumei, and Yuan Yingtai could not get out of the circle and play tricks, and could only do their job honestly. They were not allowed to make mistakes or make mistakes blindly, otherwise they would be replaced in a minute and would not even get the honors and treatment they had.

Even if someone wants to do something malicious now, it is too late. Because the number of graduates trained by the new school and the Royal Academy has occupied half of the court, and more are pouring in every year. These young people who have lived under the new rule system since childhood can no longer escape the big net of rules. They can only work hard to hone their abilities in the net, intending to fight their way out of the thousands of troops and achieve great achievements before retiring.

Overthrow the emperor? Dream on. Emperor Jingyang was their creator. Without the emperor, most people would have to fish, farm, and do small business in their hometowns. No matter how hard they tried, they would never be able to compete with the candidates who took the imperial examination. At least before they and their descendants took another step forward, they could not allow anyone to break this set of rules.

This principle was taught in the philosophy course of the Royal Academy, and it was called class mobility. Settle had also heard of it, and he could not say that he did not understand it, but he could not say that he did understand it either.

I just think that it is not a bad thing to allow the lower-class people to have the opportunity to become high-ranking officials, but I really don't understand what is said later about why the flow stops after a while, or why the flow becomes slow, and how to avoid it.

Sometimes Settle hated the Royal Academy for no reason. Every time he went there, he felt powerless and insignificant. Compared with those professors who stood in the classroom and talked big, he, an eagle flying out of the grassland, looked like a pheasant no matter how he looked at it. The harder he worked, the more he looked like a pheasant. It was so damaging to his self-esteem.

"Commander-in-Chief Sai is too modest. The whole army knows about your deeds of sailing alone into the bandit's lair. Even I have to go to the Army General Staff to listen to the lectures and take notes honestly. There are also exams to take. If you fail three times in a row, you will have to spend your days in the reserve!"

As the commander-in-chief of the army, Du Wenhuan really didn't dare to look down on the young naval commander in front of him. Not only because he crossed the arms and was still at the same level, but also because his name had been written into military textbooks, and the battles he had commanded had become one of the battle case analyses.

If you think about your own rise, you will know what this person will achieve in the future. The emperor never did anything in vain. Every suggestion and every measure he made had profound meaning, and he was always bold in employing young people.

At this time, Setel was facing him just like he was facing Li Ruzhang back then. He must not be underestimated, and there was no need to suppress him. Besides, suppressing someone favored by the emperor would not only not bring any benefits, but also cause a lot of trouble. It was not worth it.

"I am so ashamed, so ashamed! It was all thanks to your Majesty's careful guidance and planning. I was just following your orders carefully and dare not take any credit for it!" When he talked about the example of how he recruited American pirates to lure the Spanish fleet into an ambush, Settle's face was flushed.

He did it himself and basically completed the mission, but everything from designating the ambush area to the luring method, to the huge authorization, and to evading investigations by the Naval Staff and the Military Police afterwards, were all done by the emperor.

If this is considered a brilliant achievement, then any naval cadet who is brave and not too stupid can generally complete the task. The key is to have someone to back you up, so you will be confident on the battlefield. If you are still thinking about how to shirk responsibility before going into battle, you will lose a battle that you can win.

(End of this chapter)