The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Shen An finally agreed.

Shen Boxiu immediately went out to look for someone.

Shen Shukang followed behind.

Shen Boxiu stopped and turned to look at him.

Shen Shukang insisted, "Brother, only I have seen her and can recognize her. Otherwise, how would you find her in such a big city as Chaozhou?"

Shen Boxiu hesitated for a moment before saying, "You should think this through. Those entering the city may end up at the back, or even at the front. If anyone dies, those entering the city will be the first to die."

Shen Shukang: "I'm not afraid. If she's lying to me, then I deserve to die the most."

Shen Boxiu pursed his lips, and finally nodded: "Good, as expected of my brother, you have a sense of responsibility!"

Shen Boxiu put his arm around his shoulder and led him to find the person.

Under the cover of night, Shen Boxiu tucked his sickle into his waistband and led five young men and his younger brother toward Chaozhou City.

The group hadn't even had dinner yet; they had just returned from working in the fields and their stomachs were empty.

But they didn't say a word and walked silently toward Chaozhou City.

After walking for more than three hours, when they saw the city gate, they found a patch of grass nearby, sat down, drank some water, tightened their belts, huddled together, closed their eyes, and went to sleep, waiting for dawn.

At that moment, Pan Yun flew over their heads.

She flew straight into the city and landed on a quiet, empty street.

She climbed out of the pot, reached out and hung the Sanbao Ding, which had shrunk to the size of a fist, on her waist. After glancing at the quiet street and getting her bearings, she headed towards the courtyard where she rented a place.

The courtyard gate was already closed, but Pan Yun didn't even hesitate and climbed over the wall to get in.

She landed silently and walked silently to her room. Just as she was about to push the door open, the door next door opened.

Xue Shao stood in front of the door watching her.

Pan Yun raised an eyebrow.

Xue Shao stepped aside, and Pan Yun turned and went into his room.

On the bed, Xi Jin was fast asleep, hugging the blanket, completely unaware of the commotion in the room.

There were many papers on the dining table inside the room, and the ink was not yet dry, indicating that Xue Shao had not slept before Pan Yun returned.

Xue Shao picked up the kettle from the stove in the corner of the room, poured Pan Yun a cup of hot water, then turned up the lamp wick, sat down opposite her, and asked softly, "How is it?"

She must have discovered something to be taking so long to come back.

Pan Yun took out the two pieces of paper that Shen Shukang had given her, casually put the dozing Pan Xiaohei on the bed, and covered it with a blanket. She said, "I went to all the places marked on the map and even followed the clues to find Feng Hongde's three granaries."

Upon hearing this, Xue Shao sat up straight: "The granary?"

“Yes,” Pan Jun exhaled, “Can you imagine? Many military households in the garrison couldn’t even fill their stomachs with thin porridge, but Feng Hongde, as a commander of a thousand households in Chaozhou, had private grain piled up in three granaries. It’s a pity I couldn’t find the location of the public granary.”

Xue Shao picked up a book from a pile of notebooks on the table and said in a deep voice, "This is the public granary account book of the Chaozhou Thousand Household Office, and it is from this year."

Pan Yun reached out and took it, flipped through it, and looked at Xue Shao in surprise after finding it was real: "Where did you get this?" "I stole it."

Pan Yun: "No, you went into the Feng family's villa, didn't you? How could you steal such a confidential item in just one day?"

Xue Shao said, "Feng Hongde likes me very much. I had dinner at Feng's house tonight. I not only went into Feng Hongde's study, but also went to the office of the Thousand Households. I saw this account book on the table. It was stolen by the Jinyiwei who accompanied me."

Pan Yun: "The Embroidered Uniform Guards have caught up?"

Xue Shao grunted in agreement and said, "I've asked them to contact the Guangdong Regional Military Commission. I believe Cao Rong will send someone over soon."

Cao Rong was the Commander-in-Chief of Guangdong.

Pan Jun: "Feng Hongde has been tyrannical in Chaozhou for nearly twenty years now. Do you think the Guangdong Military Command knows about this?"

“Whether they know it or not, things have to go through them,” Xue Shao said. “I will find out the truth, and the Embroidered Uniform Guard will not let a single corrupt official go unpunished.”

Pan Yun raised the corner of her mouth slightly, glanced at the memorial he was writing halfway through, and said, "This can be considered the first military case you've personally handled, right?"

“Yes,” Xue Shao said, “The relationship between the civil and military officials in the court is somewhat delicate, especially after the personal expedition last year. Kuang Ye led the Datong Army to guard the border, while Wang Ji was a commoner who passed the imperial examination and was ennobled for his military achievements. The military officers and generals were quite dissatisfied with this. Although the situation was stabilized in the end, the army suffered a defeat, which led to the death of the late emperor and the loss of the generals’ reputation. Empress Dowager Sun has reprimanded the generals several times. You and the emperor started to reform the bureaucracy by working on the military first. If I were to intervene forcefully, I am afraid that they would unite to deceive the emperor and cover up the truth, which would backfire.”

Therefore, Xue Shao's stance on this matter has always been that the Five Military Commissions should first order the local military commanderies to conduct self-inspections, with the three commissions in the capital—the Censorate, the Northern Garrison Command, and the Court of Judicial Review—serving as the supplementary inspectors to identify and address any omissions.

This gave the local armies time to react without escalating the conflict.

Pan Yun: "It is obvious that Cao Rong failed to seize the opportunity and time gap you gave him."

Xue Shao said coldly, "So he deserves to die."

I deserve to die, but I can't die.

The Guangdong Military Commander was already a high-ranking official in charge of a region. If he were to be punished and executed, it might indeed serve as a warning to others, but it could also backfire, causing the other officials to unite and clash violently with the knife.

Now is a crucial time for the Ming Dynasty to develop its economy, and they need to eliminate its abuses, but the problems of the court are not limited to the army.

Pan Yun said, "I chose to start with the military for two reasons. First, the situation in the military is slightly better than in the provinces. Second, the court will make good use of the military in the future reforms, as it is the guarantee of the Ming Dynasty."

“Whoever controls the army wins,” Pan Jun sneered. “Once the army is reorganized, local reforms will begin. We’ll take care of all the monsters and demons. Those who obey will be punished leniently, and those who disobey will be crushed.”

Therefore, her goal was to reorganize the army, not to place civil officials above military generals and return the Ming Dynasty to the situation where civil officials commanded military generals, as was the case in the Song Dynasty.

She believed that the emperor meant the same thing.

She suggested using Kuang Ye to defend Datong because Kuang Ye himself had the ability, and at that time, none of the military generals around him could change the situation in Datong.

When selecting and employing people, we should not reject them simply because they come from a civil service background; we should focus more on their personal will and abilities.

The same principle applied to the appointment of Wang Ji by two successive emperors.

Before Wang Ji, Zhu Qizhen had also used military generals to fight the Battle of Luchuan, but they couldn't win.

Should we withhold the opportunity to fight Wang Ji just because he is a civil official, even though we know he is capable of winning?
Pan Jun closed his eyes, still deciding to assess the situation before taking action: "Let's decide whether to protect Cao Rong after we've met him. If he's truly wicked, we'll find other ways to appease the military officers and generals."

She simply couldn't bear to see such stupid and malicious people living in this world, polluting the air and people's hearts.

Xue Shao smiled and nodded, saying, "Alright, if he becomes truly wicked, we'll think of another way." (End of Chapter)