Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 137 King Wang's love for Dujuan! (Second update)

"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"

"The Ming Dynasty will be victorious!"

Below the martial arts arena, the bloodiness of the soldiers was completely ignited.

It was more passionate and enthusiastic than during the time of Zhu Di.

Zhu Di looked up and glanced at Xia Zhibai with a hint of caution in his eyes.

Earlier, Xia Zhibai said that after commanding the army for five years, he could defeat him as easily as slaughtering chickens and dogs. He did not take it seriously at all and did not think Xia Zhibai could do it.

But now he was wavering.

Looking at the soldiers below who were screaming in excitement and filled with indignation, their soaring morale and overwhelming will to fight were completely different from when he was training. It was like they had become a completely different person, which dealt a great blow to Zhu Di's self-esteem.

Yao Guangxiao noticed it.

He took a few steps lightly and came to Zhu Di's side, whispering: "Scholars are always good at talking. If they were really asked to lead troops in battle, I'm afraid they wouldn't even be able to deploy troops. If they encountered a charge by the Mongolian cavalry, I'm afraid they would be scared out of their wits on the spot. It's only now that they are stable that they can talk freely."

"Your Highness, please do not lose confidence because of this."

Zhu Di snorted coldly.

He glanced at Yao Guangxiao indifferently and said in a cold voice: "Don't worry, this won't shake my faith. But Xia Zhibai is right. When I trained the troops in the past, I was a little too rigid and methodical. I was less ambitious and more conservative. Now that I, Zhu Di, understand, how could I repeat the same mistake?"

"This Xia Zhibai is really amazing."

"A few words can stir up the morale of the army, and a few words can arouse the fighting spirit of the entire army."

"If I can use it, it will be like adding wings to a tiger."

Zhu Di felt a strong desire.

Yao Guangxiao smiled bitterly. Xia Zhibai's talent was unquestionable, but Zhu Di was just a prince, and Xia Zhibai was the current top scholar. Even the current emperor had to look at such a person differently, so how could he come and hang out with Zhu Di?

And
Xia Zhibai has great ambitions.

His eyes are not on a city or a pond.

But the world!

Yao Guangxiao looked at Yuan Gong standing aside, as if he had thought of something, and asked, "Brother Yuan, you are an unparalleled physiognomist. I wonder what you think of Xia Zhibai?"

Zhu Di also looked over.

Yuan Gong was very good at physiognomy. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, there were rumors that he had read the faces of hundreds of scholars and officials of the Yuan Dynasty, and had calculated their birth, aging, illness, death, good and bad fortune very accurately, even down to a certain day and time.

All of them are amazing.

Yuan Gong actually did not serve as an official.

He was recently recommended by Yao Guangxiao.

Zhu Di originally looked down on Yuan Gong and even tested him for this purpose.

He selected nine guards from the military camp, whose appearance and body shape were similar to his. They all held bows and arrows and drank in a tavern. He asked Yuan Gong to guess which one of the ten was himself.

Originally, Zhu Di wanted to make things difficult for Yuan Gong, but Yuan Gong not only found him, but also said something else to him.

"Your Highness walks like a dragon and a tiger, with the sun horns piercing the sky. You look like a peaceful emperor."

"It is also said that before he is forty, his beard will reach his navel, and he will even be able to ascend the throne."

Hearing these words, Zhu Di was secretly happy.

Only then did he truly recognize Yuan Gong.

to this end.

He also asked Yuan Gong to look at his captains and soldiers, and actually saw some "dukes, marquises, generals and commanders" among them, such as Qiu Fu, Zhang Yu and others. This was why Zhang Yu was entrusted with important tasks not long after he came to the Prince of Yan's Mansion.

Zhang Yu would be his own duke, marquis, general and commander in the future.

How could he not use more of it?

Win over in advance?

Yuan Gong pulled his beard, his face looking a little solemn.

He did not answer directly, his eyes were always fixed on Xia Zhibai. After Xia Zhibai came, his eyes were always on Xia Zhibai, and he had been watching Xia Zhibai's face.

But Xia Zhibai’s face was different from any he had seen before.

red!
Like a red sun.

He initially thought he had seen it wrong.

The glow of the sunset was too bright, which dazzled his eyes. How could a person become the sun?
But when the glow faded and he looked again, Xia Zhibai was still covered in red, as red as if he was crying blood.

However, this red light is not dazzling, but rather soft.

It feels weird.

It was also the first time he had seen it in his life.

Yuan Gong's pupils also glowed red under the setting sun.

a long time.

Yuan Gongcai unconsciously uttered two words.

"Emperor Wang!"

Upon hearing these two words, Zhu Di's face darkened.

He looked at Yuan Gong suddenly and said in a cold voice: "Yuan Gong, what are you talking about? Wang Di? Are you saying that Xia Zhibai will rebel and claim the throne in the future?!"

Yao Guangxiao was also shocked by Yuan Gong's words. "Emperor" can't be said casually.

Zhu Di was already very ambitious. If there was another "Wang Di", wouldn't it mean that after Zhu Yuanzhang's death, the Ming Dynasty would fall into civil strife and once again enter a stage of warring states fighting for supremacy? But how is this possible?

The Ming Dynasty was flourishing, how could it decline to this extent?
Zhu Di also looked disbelieving.

The current Ming Dynasty has a very strict control over military power. Military power is basically in the hands of the Five Military Commissions and is also controlled by the emperor. Outsiders cannot interfere at all.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty was flourishing, so how could there be any sign of decline? He was ambitious, but he only hoped that after his elder brother Zhu Biao passed away, he would be favored by his father and appointed as the crown prince. He never thought that in the future, there would be chaos in the world, and he would raise an army to quell the rebellion and conquer the world again.

Yuan Gong closed his eyes, and his expression gradually became clear.

He smiled bitterly and said, "Your Highness has misunderstood. The Wangdi I mentioned is not the 'emperor' that your Highness understands, but Xia Zhibai has the heart of the 'Wangdi'."

"It is said that the king of the ancient Shu Kingdom was Mingwangdi, who was diligent in governing the country. At that time, the king of the ancient Shu Kingdom was Congdi. Congdi did a lot of good things for the ancient Shu Kingdom in the beginning, but later he became arrogant and arbitrary, no longer listened to the opinions of his subjects, and no longer cared about the lives of the people."

"Emperor Wang felt that he had a responsibility to help Emperor Cong come to his senses and govern the country well."

"So I tried my best to find a way to persuade the Emperor."

"But it was unattainable, so I finally prayed to God and turned into a cuckoo."

"And then he kept shouting loudly"

"The people are precious! The people are precious!"

"Wang Di has no intention of 'becoming a king or emperor', but only cares about 'people's hearts'."

"I don't know if Xia Zhibai is 'Wang Di'. I just saw that Xia Zhibai's body was blood red, like a cuckoo crying blood. I couldn't help but think of the 'Wang Di' mentioned in ancient books, so I blurted it out unconsciously."

Zhu Di closed his eyes slightly, but did not take it lightly, and continued to ask: "Does he really not have the aura of an emperor?"

Yuan Gong said: "No."

"Emperor Wang, Emperor Wang, maybe he had the opportunity before, at least he was qualified to be emperor, but now the time has come for the cuckoo to cry blood, and he no longer has the spirit of an emperor, and all he has is the suffering of the people."

"This is a rare saint among the people."

Yuan Gong faced Xia Zhibai and bowed respectfully.

Zhu Di and Yao Guangxiao looked at each other.

Saint among the people?

Do such people really exist in the world?
Zhu Di was also a little uneasy about what Yuan Gong said.

He looked at Xia Zhibai suspiciously, but didn't see anything strange.

Just a weak scholar.

If they really fought hand-to-hand, Zhu Di was confident that he could kill two people with one sword. Could such a person be a saint?
immediately.

Zhu Di's expression relaxed.

Regardless of whether it is true or false, Xia Zhibai is now a minister of the Ming Dynasty, and this saint is also the saint of his Ming Dynasty. This should be a good thing, indicating that the Ming Dynasty follows the way of heaven and is pleasing to heaven. Otherwise, how could a saint be sent down to rule the world?
Moreover, Yuan Gong once said that if his beard could grow longer than his navel in the future, he would ascend the throne and be the emperor of peace for twenty years.

Doesn't that mean Xia Zhibai will also be his subject?
even
Was it he who helped him become the Emperor of Taiping?

Think of this.

Zhu Di was certain in his heart, and looked at Xia Zhibai with a bit of favor in his eyes.

Since he has no intention of rebellion, that means he is a minister of the Ming Dynasty. How could I be so petty?

Xia Zhibai was not aware of the changes in Zhu Di and others' moods.

His eyes were all on the soldiers below. When the voices of the soldiers below gradually died down, Xia Zhibai continued, "War is cruel, and war also means death. The population in the north is already declining, so how can it withstand large-scale casualties? How can it withstand casualties in a non-war state?"

"Firearms and other things are of epoch-making significance to warfare."

"Back then, the country was not unified, so it was normal to use these heavy and difficult-to-use firearms."

"Now that the Ming Dynasty has unified the country for many years, the army is still using what I consider to be 'semi-finished' firearms. This is a dereliction of duty by officials in the Firearms Bureau."

"It is even more disturbing that the entire military has turned a blind eye to this phenomenon."

"It's a matter of human life, how can you be so indifferent?"

"Moreover, there is a clear difference between the war of unification and the Northern Expedition."

"The war of unification was mainly about sieges, while the Northern Expedition was more about long-distance raids, frontal battles, or surprise attacks. Therefore, adjustments should be made in tactics, strategy, weapons, armor, and other aspects, rather than sticking to the previous set of tactics."

"From what I've seen so far."

"The Ming army actually has many problems."

"I will report these issues to your majesty in the future and let him make the decision."

"I believe that it won't be long before the firearms of the Ming Dynasty will be upgraded to a certain extent, and the weapons you use will also be greatly improved. Every soldier and every citizen of the Ming Dynasty is precious. Your lives are extremely precious and cannot be neglected or despised."

"The direction of future wars has changed."

"From the past practice of using any means to achieve the goal, regardless of casualties, we are slowly turning to achieve the greatest military exploits at the lowest cost and with the least casualties."

"This is what the generals of the Ming Dynasty need to constantly study and improve in the future, instead of being like some people nowadays who think that they can be high and mighty and show off their power just because they have become generals."

"Military household."

"What the world requires of you is that you are always prepared to sacrifice for your country."

"However, the military household system also has requirements for the court, which is that the court should take the attitude of caring for the people and do everything possible to increase your chances of survival."

“It goes both ways.”

"Only when both are achieved at the same time can the Ming Dynasty achieve full martial virtue!"

(End of this chapter)