Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 239 I'm saving your lives!

Three days later.

Many generals gathered in the Five Military Commandery.

The predecessor of the Five Military Governor's Office was the Grand Governor's Office. In the 13th year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang abolished the Grand Governor's Office at the same time as the prime minister system because the Grand Governor's Office had too much power. He changed the original Grand Governor's Office into the Five Military Governor's Offices of the Center, Left, Right, Front and Rear, which were respectively in charge of officials in the capital and local garrisons.

Now, all the military governors in the Five Military Commanderies are promoted military generals who have made military achievements.

The position of deputy governor was held by some old or retired mid-level military generals. In addition, many sons of meritorious officials and noble relatives in the Five Military Governor's Office were also specially granted the position of governor of the Governor's Office.

In general.

Most of the officials of the Five Military Commanderies were military generals with military merits.

now.

The Five Military Commandery was bustling with noise.

They were suddenly notified to come here, and they were of course happy to hear this sudden notice. In the past, His Majesty had called them here basically to discuss war, and this time would probably be no exception.

Lan Yu walked with big strides, looking arrogant and giving orders, and behind him followed Chang Sheng and a few others.

In front of Lan Yu and others stood veteran generals such as Fu Youde and Feng Sheng. When seeing Fu Youde and Feng Sheng, Lan Tian restrained his arrogance a little, and a hint of fear appeared in his eyes. He was still very afraid of these veteran generals, as these people were the most likely to snatch military merits from him.

But he wasn't afraid either.

When it comes to fighting, he has never been afraid of anyone.

After most of the generals arrived, Lan Yu could no longer hold back his temper and muttered, "Your Majesty, why are you doing this? Isn't it just a war? As long as you make such a big fuss, people who don't know would think that the Ming Dynasty is going to fight to the death with the Northern Yuan Dynasty. However, considering the half-dead state of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, if Your Majesty is willing to give me 300,000 troops, I will flatten the Wolf Mountain for Your Majesty, or even directly drink water from the Fish Lake."

Lan Yu did not hide his arrogance at all.

As the brother-in-law of Chang Yuchun and the brother-in-law of Crown Prince Zhu Biao, he was highly respected by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Therefore, he became increasingly arrogant and domineering.

But when it came to fighting, he was never vague. In the 14th year of Hongwu, he followed General Fu Youde and Right Deputy General Mu Ying to attack Yunnan in the south. He first successfully captured Dali, and then captured Darima, the Minister of the Yuan court, in Qujing. After the war, his contribution was particularly great.

It was also from that time that he became qualified to compete with veterans such as Fu Youde and Feng Sheng.

At least he is qualified to lead troops alone.

However, in the following few years, every time the imperial court sent troops, it was Fu Youde, Feng Sheng, Mu Ying and others who led the troops. He felt somewhat unhappy and had been hoping that one day he would be able to lead the army alone. That would be the time when he, Lan Yu, could truly show his talents.

He has been looking forward to this day for a long time.

Fu Youde glanced at Lan Yu indifferently, but did not take Lan Yu to heart.

Lan Yu is indeed a good fighter, but he is not calm enough and sometimes acts capriciously. With his current temperament, he is not qualified to lead the army alone. If Your Majesty really wants to launch a Northern Expedition, he and veteran generals such as Feng Sheng may be the only candidates to be the generals.

He just secretly guessed in his heart where His Majesty wanted to attack this time.

Is it the army led by Nahachu, the Yuan Taiwei, who led an expedition to the north?

Or go directly north to break the Yuan Dynasty?

He was well aware of what His Majesty had done in recent years. After the Guo Huan case, the court had accumulated tens of millions of dan of grain, enough to guarantee the food and supplies for hundreds of thousands of troops. In fact, he had already planned this battle in his mind.

As a general.

Especially when the court is in turmoil, one must demonstrate one's unique abilities in order to avoid being involved in the storm.

Just as the generals were discussing, Tang He walked in with steady steps.

Seeing Tang He, Fu Youde and Feng Sheng all quieted down. They also walked a few steps quickly to Tang He's side and asked, "Duke Xin, you are close to His Majesty. Tell me, where does His Majesty want to attack this time? It has been a year or two, and my sword is almost rusty."

Tang He just smiled faintly and said, "You guys, there's no need to be so anxious."

"Since His Majesty has summoned you here, he must have something important to discuss. How could His Majesty easily tell me such an important matter? We just need to wait a little, and we will know then. If it is a war, they will discuss the Northern Expedition. If it is about other things, they will also focus on the discussion."

Tang He slowly scanned the field, looked at the room full of generals, and then shifted his gaze outside the hall.

Zhu Yuanzhang will not come.

The only one who will come is Xia Zhibai.

But he was also very curious about how Xia Zhibai would persuade these generals. Many of these people were impatient. If they knew that Xia Zhibai advised His Majesty not to march north, they would be so angry that they would beat Xia Zhibai violently in the palace. If they lost their temper, they would probably kill him directly.

Feng Sheng stood on the right. He looked at Tang He suspiciously, with a hint of concentration in his eyes.

He vaguely sensed something strange.

But he looked around, hesitated for a moment, and continued to remain silent.

He is naturally quiet and doesn't like to argue with others.

Some time ago, his son-in-law, Prince Zhou, sent him a letter privately, asking him to stay out of the spotlight as much as possible recently to avoid being targeted, which would be a threat. Originally, he did not take Zhu Su's reminder seriously.

His son-in-law is a nice person.

It's just a mess of governance.

He knew nothing about politics and did a lot of bizarre things. He often couldn't help laughing when he heard about them. He also secretly reminded Zhu Su not to contact him privately, so as not to cause dissatisfaction and suspicion from the current emperor. But Zhu Su didn't listen at all.

Still going my own way.

He was also helpless.

Just when the generals were getting impatient, footsteps were heard outside the hall.

Just hearing the gentle footsteps, all the generals in the hall frowned. They could tell that the footsteps were not from His Majesty, nor from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. But now, almost all the generals of the Five Military Commandery had arrived. Who else was qualified to join them?

Just when everyone was suspicious, a figure appeared.

His figure was a little thin, but his eyes were bright. He walked into the hall casually, but if you look closely, you can see that he is carrying a large box on his back. No one knows what is inside. After a short period of silence, the hall was suddenly in an uproar.

"Xia Zhibai?"

"How did you get in here?"

"Do you know where this is? This is the Five Military Commandery. This is not a place for a scholar like you. Get out of here right now. If you don't leave, I'll let you have a taste of the power of my fist. Get out!"

"."

There was a lot of scolding in the hall.

Xia Zhibai smiled faintly and allowed these generals to insult him.

At the same time, his steps did not move an inch.

He stood still, put down the big box behind him, opened it, took out the long "monster" from it, stuffed a copper bullet into it, and pulled the trigger towards the outside of the hall.

boom!
A gunshot rang out.

The originally noisy hall suddenly became quiet.

Xia Zhibai said slowly: "If you are waiting for His Majesty to come, I am afraid you will be disappointed. His Majesty will not come today. The court summoned you to discuss an important matter today, but it is not a northern expedition, but a short-term 'stop the war'!"

"And I will be in charge of stopping the war!"

Xia Zhibai held the spear in his hand and walked steadily into the hall.

When he came, he knew that he could not suppress these powerful generals, and these generals would not even listen to him, so he simply did not bother himself and directly fired a warning shot. The sound of a gun is the best silencer, especially the long gun in his hand, the sound of shooting is even more deafening.

The effect was indeed achieved.

After the gunshot, everything was quiet.

He can speak now.

As Xia Zhibai spoke, he loaded a copper bullet and pointed to the spear in his hand. He said, "Generals, you may be surprised what I am holding. This is a spear. It is a new weapon for the soldiers in the Ming army in the future. It is different from ordinary fire guns. This kind of spear is easier to load and more lethal."

"What's more important is that we can kill the enemy from 300 steps away."

"Except for this musket."

"There will be other firearms in the military."

"And those new firearms will be more powerful than you imagine."

"The old ways of fighting are becoming obsolete, and new military doctrines are being built on the basis of new firearms."

"That's why the truce is!"

"The Ming Dynasty needs time to manufacture a large number of new firearms, train new troops and generals, and create new fighting methods and combat ideas. Therefore, the Northern Expedition that you are looking forward to may not be effective in the short term. However, when the court is ready, the Ming Dynasty will not want a so-called great victory."

"But annex the Northern Yuan Dynasty!"

"Completely incorporate the territory of the Northern Yuan Dynasty into the Ming Dynasty and realize the expansion of the territory!"

"And we must solve the northern border problem in one fell swoop."

"Everyone knows the ability of the generals to lead troops in battle, and no one dares to question it. But the times are different now. The soldiers of the Ming Dynasty are very precious. The sacrifice of one person is a great loss to the Ming Dynasty. What the Ming Dynasty wants is to gain prestige throughout the world and secure the border with one battle."

"Let the Ming Dynasty not suffer from war for hundreds of years, or even longer."

"What I said will gradually become a reality with powerful firearms, and it won't take long. However, just like the salt policy, the new policy will have a great impact on the old situation. I came here today to solve your worries."

"I don't like it. After the Ming Dynasty pacified the border threat, it believed that the world was at peace, and from then on, the weapons were put into storage and the horses were released into the mountains."

"We also don't want the generals to be left idle and neglected as they have no place to use their talents, and eventually be suppressed by the civil officials, and then become like the Song Dynasty, where the military generals completely lose their voice. Therefore, I ask Your Majesty to gather you all together to set the direction for the future military and political affairs of the Ming Dynasty."

"Let the army always maintain a certain degree of independence!"

"Military generals will always face a problem: where will they go when there are no more wars to fight?"

"I am also saving your lives!"

After fiddling with the spear for a while, Xia Zhibai pulled out the copper bullet that had been loaded into it.

(End of this chapter)