Ming Dynasty: Domination of the World from the Imperial Examination

Chapter 240 The foundation of the Five Military Commandery in the court!

Xia Zhibai's voice echoed in the hall for a long time.

It just gives different feelings to different people.

Lan Yu, Wang Bi and others were more disdainful and looked at them with disapproval. How could the Northern Yuan Dynasty be destroyed overnight? Moreover, if the Northern Yuan Dynasty was really destroyed, wouldn't they have made great contributions? His Majesty would not have time to reward them, so why would he take action against them?

This is clearly alarmist!

It is also a way to sow discord.

Tang He and Feng Sheng raised their eyebrows, with a hint of caution in their eyes.

They are different from Lan Yu and others. They have long passed the age of passion and enthusiasm. Now they are more concerned about the future. Although what Xia Zhibai said was a bit exaggerated, it may become a reality. Throughout the dynasties, the saying "when the birds are all gone, the bows are put away; when the rabbits are dead, the dogs are cooked" has never been uncommon.

And one thing is true.

Even if the North is really pacified, where will these generals go?
Without war, they would have no place to use their military power. Given the current emperor's caution, he would most likely return to the old ways of the past, using civil officials to control the military. Wouldn't these military generals still have to depend on the civil officials? Although there is now a Five Military Commandery, its powers have been reduced by more than half.

At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the Grand Marshal's Office was in charge of the military and political power. After the establishment of the five ministries and six departments, the military and political power was divided between the Five Military Marshal's Offices and the Ministry of War.

The current situation in the military is that the Five Military Governor's Office has the power to command troops but not the power to mobilize them, and the Ministry of War has the power to mobilize troops but not the power to command them.

But this is the case when there is a war. If there is no war, I am afraid the Ministry of War will dominate.

But this has little to do with them.

At least it won't fall on them.

The only thing they cared about was what would happen to these generals after the north was pacified.

It would be best if we could retreat peacefully.

If I arouse His Majesty's suspicion, I'm afraid I'll be very sad in the future.

Tang He could see that the atmosphere was not right, so he took the initiative to speak: "You are exaggerating. Even if what you said is true, half of my body is already buried in the ground. What's the point of worrying about these things? And you underestimate the Northern Yuan. The Northern Yuan is indeed not as strong as the Ming Dynasty, but it is not without the ability to fight back."

"In the northeast, Nahachu currently has hundreds of thousands of troops stationed in Jinshan, becoming a border threat to Liaodong of the Ming Dynasty."

"Firearms are the most powerful, but how can we achieve success overnight?"

"And your majesty has always been clear about gratitude and resentment. As long as we don't make any mistakes, why would your majesty punish us?"

"But, can you let me see the musket in your hand?"

Tang He was unwilling to say more on these topics and took the initiative to change the subject. As a minister, it was a taboo to criticize the emperor. Xia Zhibai might have wanted to set a high profile so that it would be easier to speak later, but as a minister of the Ming Dynasty, he did not dare to be so presumptuous.

Xia Zhibai nodded, handed it over with a smile, and said, "This musket uses copper bullets and lead bullets. In fact, the most convenient ones are steel bullets. However, I came in a hurry and did not prepare other bullets, so I chose some copper bullets."

"This musket is very powerful, but there is a requirement."

"Don't point a gun at anyone easily."

"Guns are used to fight enemies, not to compete with each other."

Xia Zhibai gave a serious reminder.

Tang He smiled and nodded. He reached out to take the spear and touched it carefully. The spear body seemed to be made of wood, very smooth, and there seemed to be a layer of "tung oil" on it. The overall structure was quite different from that of a musket, but the overall principle of use was almost the same.

If you get close to the muzzle of the gun, you can smell the smell of gunpowder.

Other generals also gathered around.

Xia Zhibai said: "Overall, this gun still has a lot of room for improvement. For example, add a butt at the muzzle to mount a bayonet. This way, it can be used as a close-range weapon like a three-barreled fire gun, and it can be used directly as a blade instead of a blunt object."

"There are also some improvements to the gun body."

Xia Zhibai explained enthusiastically.

But he didn't hand over the bullet.

Guns are still too dangerous. Moreover, with the ferocity of people like Lan Yu, if they fail to restrain themselves and fire a shot in the hall, it would be fine if they don't hit anyone, but if they hit someone, it would be a big disaster. Those who came today are either veterans of the battlefield or some rising mid-level generals. If anything happens to any of them, Zhu Yuanzhang will be furious.

He was not willing to take the risk yet.

When the generals tried the gun, Xia Zhibai said slowly: "The court's requirements for the Five Military Governors' Office have never been just about fighting. In addition to military conquests, alerts and other military affairs, such as engineering construction, local farming, recruiting soldiers, and military food transportation are also within the jurisdiction of the Five Military Governors' Office."

"The court will not rush to raise troops at the moment."

"Instead, we will actively train our troops. Only by improving the quality of our soldiers can the Ming Dynasty achieve victory wherever they are directed. Moreover, victory on the battlefield is not just about winning or losing a battle, but also about achieving a long-term victory in politics."

"Even if you, the generals, destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty, I'm afraid you won't be able to truly control it."

"That also means that the border problems in the north can never be resolved."

"This is not what the court wants."

"What the court wants is to completely resolve the northern border crisis."

"Therefore, the powers of the Five Military Commands Office cannot be limited to leading troops to fight. You must also plan strategies and tactics against the Northern Yuan Dynasty. The next time you go north, you must swallow up the Northern Yuan Dynasty quickly and swiftly."

"You have to take on the responsibilities of the deputy governor." Lan Yu curled his lips and said disapprovingly: "You scholars are good at speaking, but if you are as good at fighting as you are at talking, I'm afraid it won't be us who will be the deputy governor, but you."

"It's not your turn to teach me about war."

"When I was on the battlefield killing the enemy, you didn't even know where to suckle."

"I don't care what you say. I just want to know one thing. Is the imperial court really not planning to march north again?"

Lan Yu looked at Xia Zhibai with a gloomy face.

Xia Zhibai nodded and said affirmatively: "There will be no northern expedition for several years. When the court is fully prepared, it will naturally launch an expedition to the north. However, at that time, the generals leading the troops may not be the generals in the palace."

"And if I were you, I wouldn't be in a hurry to go to war."

"War means death."

"If you allow a large number of soldiers to sacrifice for no reason just to gain military merit and dye your official robes red, it is completely not worth it. Now is not the same as before. Back then, the world was not settled, and some sacrifices were inevitable. But now the court has a better solution, and it will achieve the greatest victory at a smaller cost."

"To blindly fight for victory is not what a general does."

"As the saying goes, plan before you act."

"I know that many of you don't take me seriously and don't take what I said seriously, or even sneer at it. I really can't convince you, and I don't want to convince you, but you have to know that if you really lead the troops to fight, you are not just responsible for yourself."

“It’s tens of thousands of families!”

"They sent their brothers, sons, and fathers to the army for the sake of a longer-term peace in the world, not for their own selfish interests."

"Just like I asked the King of Yan a few words when I was in Peking. If the court launched a northern expedition, would he have his own ideas for the northern expedition, a specific combat deployment, a detailed troop dispatch plan, and a specific recruitment schedule? If he only relied on his passion and past experience in leading troops to fight,

"Isn't this treating the lives of soldiers as a joke?"

"But you are right about one thing."

"Men of letters do prefer to use stratagems and tactics."

"I am no exception."

"The strategy I proposed to the court is not to attack fiercely like you generals, but to use methods such as 'dissociation', 'bribery', and 'provokation' to continuously weaken the strength of the Northern Yuan Dynasty. You just said that the strength of the Northern Yuan Dynasty is not weak, so leading troops to attack directly will undoubtedly cost a lot."

"Then why not try to use some tricks to minimize the losses?"

"Sun Tzu once said: The art of war is all about deception!"

"This is a skill that all of you generals should have mastered, but you all despised it and didn't take it seriously, so you could only let the literati practice these 'tricks'. This is not to say that you generals have voluntarily given up your own advantages."

“Strategy is always more important than tactics.”

"Tactics only focus on the local, and they also hope that the whole will obey their local."

“Strategy looks at the big picture.”

"The future status of the Five Military Command is decided in your hands."

"If you are still good at tactics and don't know how to consider the overall situation and the whole, then the status of the Five Military Commandery in the court will only become lower and lower, because you generals have not been able to shoulder the responsibility of coordinating the entire army."

"at the same time."

"The status of military commanders will also become lower and lower."

"Because the generals don't know how to speak for themselves, nor do they know how to play to their strengths."

"I can tell you clearly."

"The purpose and significance of the Five Military Commands' Office lies in this sentence in the Zizhi Tongjian."

“A country may be great, but it will perish if it loves war.”

"Even if the world is at peace, war is the only way to survive."

"Only by firmly grasping this lifeline can the Five Military Commandery have a seat in the court at any time, and will not be completely squeezed out of the court by civil officials like in the Song Dynasty, and lose any voice."

"This is the foundation of the Five Military Commandery!"

"Moreover, the vision of all the generals is too short-sighted. Perhaps in your eyes, the enemy of the Ming Dynasty is only the Northern Yuan Dynasty."

"But in my opinion, Ming Dynasty is surrounded by enemies."

"The barbarians of Sizhou in the south, the Oirat and Tatars under the Northern Yuan Dynasty, the Jurchens in the northeast, the Japanese pirates on the southeast coast, etc., are they not the enemies of the Ming Dynasty? And these are the enemies that the Five Military Command is ready to deal with. You should always formulate corresponding strategies based on the actual situation."

"We don't have to fight, but as a general, it is our duty to defend the country, so we have to think about it."

"Even if it's just an imaginary enemy, we must consider it carefully."

"As long as the Ming Dynasty always has 'foreign threats', the Five Military Commands Office will always be useful, and you military generals will always have a place in the court. But how many of you have such insight?"

(End of this chapter)