I, the Ming Dynasty, can still save me

Chapter 18 Beijing Camp and Troop Training

When Chen Liangbi arrived at Huang Kezuan's house, Huang Kezuan had just finished get off work at midnight and had not long returned to his house.

After receiving the call from Chen Liangbi, I was also wondering what I wanted to see him for. I couldn't figure it out for a while, so I invited Chen Liangbi to the living room. I changed into regular clothes and went to the living room to meet him.

When he waited in the living room, he saw Chen Liangbi and apologized:

"I am so sorry to keep you waiting"

In the Ming Dynasty, civil and military officials were separated, and the status of civil servants was much higher than that of military officials. What's more, Huang Kezuan was still the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment, and Chen Liangbi was naturally respectful.

"You're welcome, sir. I'm the one who's causing trouble today."

Huang Kezuan and Chen Liangbi were not familiar with each other at first, but last year, he purchased artillery from the imperial court and cooperated with him when they jointly cast the cannon in the Beijing camp. After the casting was completed, the contact became less and less.

"The Marquis of Taining has defeated me. I relied on your help last year, otherwise the artillery casting matter would have been delayed for how long."

After hearing this, Chen Liangbi took a sip of tea:
"Sir, you're too polite. That's what I should do. I took the liberty to come here today to bother you because of the Hongyi Cannon.

Last year we cast the Hongyi cannon, firstly to aid Liaodong, and secondly to reform the Beijing camp and innovate the tactics.But today I got the approval from the cabinet, saying that all the Hongyi cannons should be sent to the Ordnance Bureau, so that the Ordnance Bureau can imitate them in large quantities. If we let them all be taken away, then all the efforts we made last year will be in vain."

This made Huang Kezuan a little confused. The matter of the Hongyi cannon had nothing to do with him. The other Hongyi cannons were taken away by the Ordnance Bureau to imitate them, which was also beneficial to the court, and it was natural for him.

Chen Liangbi saw that Huang Kezuan was slightly silent, so he said:

"I know this matter has nothing to do with you, but I still want to ask you, for the sake of working together last year, please tell the cabinet not to take away all the Hongyi cannons."

After Huang Kezuan heard this, he felt it was difficult to refuse.

"The Ordnance Bureau is now in charge of Xu Guangqi, a doctor from the Ministry of Industry. He is currently a popular person in front of His Majesty. He was received by Your Majesty some time ago because of the military training in Tongzhou. He also proposed to Your Majesty the purchase of Hongyi cannons and hired Western artillery casters to come to Beijing to cast them.

Everyone in the capital knew about this, and His Majesty approved the cannons to be taken away for casting. After His Majesty succeeded to the throne, he was determined to forge ahead and hurriedly submitted a letter for fear of His Majesty's displeasure. "

"Then what should I do? If it really doesn't work out, I have no choice but to go to the palace to meet the Holy Spirit and ask for His Majesty's help."

Seeing Huang Kezuan's concerns, Chen Liangbi could only say helplessly.

"Haha, Marquis Taining, don't be impatient. We can only ask your Majesty for this matter, but we can't just talk about the Hongyi Cannon.

After His Majesty succeeded to the throne, he was very concerned about military affairs. Xu Guangqi had high hopes for casting cannons.

In my opinion, after entering the palace, you must not only talk about forging cannons, but also mention the reform of the Beijing camp.

You are also aware of the current situation in Beijing. Why don't you mention the reform of Beijing to Your Majesty? Your Majesty is worried about national affairs. Mr. Chen, your move will relieve the country's worries. Your Majesty will definitely support it. "

After hearing this, Chen Liangbi thought it was feasible, so he stood up and thanked Huang Kezuan.There were differences between civil and military affairs in the Ming Dynasty, and Chen Liangbi was still a distinguished noble. It was not convenient for him to stay in the house for too long, so he left after a brief greeting.

·······
Zhu Youxiao got up early as usual. In fact, it was very easy in the Ming Dynasty. If he wanted to neglect government, he didn't have to go to court. There was a cabinet to help him handle government affairs. The emperor only had to draw a circle to criticize him, or even bother to draw a circle. Let the ceremonial eunuch and eunuch write it for you. If you don't agree, just ask the cabinet to vote again.

However, after Zhu Youxiao succeeded to the throne, he was very concerned about government affairs and did not want to completely delegate the power of approving red papers to the Supervisor of Ceremonies. Therefore, he had to read many question books every day, and he never tired of it.

After finishing his exercise, washing up, and eating, he went back to the Qianqing Palace to work on his question books as usual.

After a while, Wang An came to report that Chen Liangbi, the Marquis of Taining, the governor of Beijing, was outside the palace asking for an audience.

Zhu Youxiao didn't think much and let him in. "The Marquis of Taining, Chen Liangbi, comes to see His Majesty"

"Get up." Zhu Youxiao sat on the couch, leaning against the pillow.

"Marquis Taining, I remember seeing you at Grandpa Huang's birthday party when I was a child. It must have been several years ago." Zhu Youxiao said with a smile.

"Wei Chen remembers that your majesty was still a child at that time. I didn't expect that your majesty has such a good memory and still remembers Wei Chen. I am really grateful," Chen Liangbi stood up and said.

Chen Liangbi was also a veteran minister. He was deeply valued by Wanli during the Wanli period and was one of the few capable ministers among the nobles.

"Haha, you have always been dedicated to your work. The emperor also mentioned you to me, saying that there are not many useful people among the nobles, and you are the only one. I remember that the emperor asked you to supervise the capital camp last year. How are you doing now, right? Report the results to me."

Zhu Youxiao naturally knew that Beijing Camp was in terrible shape now, and he had long wanted to reform it, but it was really hard to move because there were too many nobles involved.

"I was about to say this. When Emperor Shenzong was here, he always said that the Beijing camp had many old, weak and redundant personnel, and most of them could not bear the war. Therefore, he commissioned me as governor to strengthen the construction of the Beijing camp and rectify military affairs. After I took office, I found that the Beijing camp was now " Not worth one-tenth of the battle," and "no orders at all, no sense of pace."

Our dynasty has always focused on firearms, especially the Shenji Camp in the Beijing Camp. However, Wei Chen inspected the Shenji Camp and found that the soldiers "were not firing uniformly and looking up to the sky." Ordnance and equipment were even sold privately by the soldiers to save military expenses. Also lost everything. "

Zhu Youxiao was not surprised at first, but when he heard what Chen Liangbi said, he couldn't help but get angry.

"I originally wanted to abolish the Beijing Camp. What use is there for such waste? It's just that there are too many involved, so I can only figure it out slowly."

Chen Liangbi, as the governor of the capital and a noble person, naturally understood this.

But he said this just to arouse Zhu Youxiao's indignation.

"Your Majesty, the Beijing camp is indeed in serious dilapidation and has reached the point where it cannot be repaired without rectification. I had this idea last year. At that time, I expected to take out a battalion to rectify it and learn the chariot technique that Qi Shaobao once practiced in Jizhen.

Request an order to make up for the more than [-] Wugang chariots that the Beijing Camp lacks, and to divide special areas for the Beijing Camp Chariot Battalion's daily training.

And last year, together with Huang Kezuan, the Minister of Punishment, we cast thirty new red Yi cannons for the Beijing camp to train. "

When Zhu Youxiao heard this, he threw away the question book, twisted the beads in his hand and said with a smile:

"I know about the Hongyi cannon. You have done a great job in this matter, and I should reward you. Now the troops in Liaodong are fierce, and the Ming Dynasty's firearms are far superior to those of Jiannu.

Some time ago, Xu Guangqi told me about the Hongyi cannon. I expressed my deep approval and told him to introduce the Hongyi cannon immediately.

I didn't expect that you and Huang Kezuan had known each other beforehand and had already cast it. This saved Xu Guangqi a lot of trouble.This is a good reward for you. "

When Chen Liangbi heard Zhu Youxiao mention this, he felt excited and thought it was funny.

"As long as I can relieve the country's worries, I don't dare to ask for rewards. I just want to ask your majesty's permission for something."

"Oh, what's going on? Let me tell you." Zhu Youxiao said curiously.

"It's about the Hongyi cannon. Your Majesty also knows that this cannon is far more powerful than before. In addition to dealing with the Liaodong war, I also have some selfish motives for casting this cannon.

I just want to stay in Beijing Camp for training purposes.Therefore, I would like to ask Your Majesty not to hand over all the Hongyi cannons of the Beijing camp to the Ordnance Bureau. It is best to keep a few for the training of the Beijing camp. "

(End of this chapter)