The Holy Emperor of Ming

Chapter 141 Jinyiwei's strength and hidden rules
"The strength of our subjects is not enough to occupy such a high position in the Imperial Guard, so please grant me your permission, Your Majesty."

Zhang Fengfu said respectfully and sincerely.

Every word he said came from his heart.

Next to them were Weng Taibei and Murong Chong, and judging from their expressions, they were in the same situation.

The purpose of the three of them coming here was to discuss and decide on the future promotion of the Jinyiwei. In addition to merit, personal strength must be sufficient to be promoted.

the reason is simple.

Today's Jinyiwei is far different from before.

Their power has grown too great, and their ranks are the same as those of the Ten Departments.

In terms of importance, it is even more important.

The Jinyiwei seem to be mainly facing corrupt officials, but everyone knows that their real opponents are those martial arts masters.

Strictly speaking, the Imperial Guard is a military department. Unlike the other ten departments, personal martial arts prowess is extremely important, and even more important now.

Not only is there external pressure, the strength of internal personnel is also getting stronger and stronger. When internal and external pressures become greater, if one occupies a high position without sufficient strength, it will cause visible consequences.

At this time, the Jinyiwei had one commander and three deputy commanders. Among the four people holding the highest positions, except Guo Bujing, the strength of the three people in Zhang Fengfu was obviously not enough to bear such high positions.

Zhang Fengfu and Weng Taibei's strength has increased a lot in the past few years, but it is only equivalent to the middle and late stage of the innate realm.

Murong Chong has not even reached the middle level.

Among the innate masters who had just joined the Jinyiwei, there were several whose strength surpassed theirs.

Under internal and external pressure, under the leadership of Zhang Fengfu, Weng Taibei and Murong Chong accepted this reality and came to Zhu Houzhao to request demotion.

After listening to this, Zhu Houzhao felt a little uncomfortable. Zhang Fengfu and the other three had not done anything wrong, yet they asked for demotion on their own.

The point is, after careful consideration, he decided that demotion was the best decision for them.

The Jinyiwei is really different from other departments, and personal martial arts strength is becoming more and more important.

Just as Zhang Fengfu said, lack of strength would only bring shame to the imperial court and the Jinyiwei, and would also harm oneself.

He would certainly feel bad if he had to demote these three loyal people without any fault.

Perhaps lack of strength is the biggest mistake.

This thought suddenly arose in Zhu Houzhao's mind, and then he put it aside.

This statement cannot be so absolute.

At least the three people from Zhang Fengfu did nothing wrong. They had tried their best. How could you say they were wrong?

"Well, I agree. Old Zhang, you will be demoted to the position of Associate Commander, and Old Man Murong, you will be demoted to Assistant Commander.

"Old Zhang, I'm sorry for wronging you." Zhu Houzhao spoke, looking obviously unhappy.

"Your Majesty's words are serious, how can we, the officials, feel wronged?

Seeing the Ming Dynasty becoming increasingly powerful and the Jinyiwei gradually becoming stronger, we are only happy. "Zhang Fengfu said sincerely with emotion.

Weng Taibei and Murong Chong were also somewhat moved.

It was a word of grievance, obviously His Majesty had not forgotten their contributions and had them in his heart.

"Your Majesty, I am not wronged. It is my blessing to be able to serve Your Majesty loyally." Weng Taibei said sincerely.

"Your Majesty, I feel the same way." Murong Chong immediately followed.

"You have taken the initiative to give up your position and set a good example for the Jinyiwei and the Ming Dynasty. I will reward you well.

Lao Zhang, I reward you with 10,000 taels of silver, and you can go to the Sutra Library and choose any martial art.

Old man, Murong, you two can each take 8,000 taels of silver and choose any martial arts you want." Zhu Houzhao was equally moved.

"Your Majesty, thank you for your grace." The three people from Zhang Fengfu bowed and expressed their gratitude.

This amount of money is still a lot for them at this time.

They could choose any martial art at random, even though their achievements were enough to choose it once, it was more of a favor.

"Old Zhang, what do you think? Should I promote Old Guo to the position of Commander of the Imperial Guard?
What are your thoughts on the personnel appointments and division of responsibilities within the Jinyiwei?" Zhu Houzhao asked with confidence.

“Your Majesty, Mr. Guo’s strength, ability, and character are all sufficient to serve as the commander of the Imperial Guard, but after all, he has only been in the Imperial Guard for too short a time.

The credit of Jin alone is somewhat insufficient.

It might be better to wait for another two months and make an appointment next year. "Zhang Fengfu seemed to have thought about this problem a long time ago and said frankly.

Zhu Houzhao nodded when he heard this.

"As for the current personnel appointments, Your Majesty can make the final decision.

However, since the requirement of personal strength has been put forward, it should be strictly enforced. It would be best to determine the hidden rules in one fell swoop. "

Zhang Fengfu said, seeing that Zhu Houzhao was listening attentively, he continued: "I and other ministers have discussed it initially. If you want to take the position of a thousand households, it is best to have a congenital level, so that you can supervise the land of a province.

The pacification commissioner should have the middle level of innateness, and the commanding assistant and the northern and southern pacification commissioners should have the strength above the late level of innateness.

The commander should at least have the strength of the peak of the innate level, and the grandmaster is the best." Zhang Fengfu said, with a strange sense of excitement in his tone.

There were also some strange looks in Weng Taibei and Murong Chong's eyes.

Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up slightly when he heard this.

If this standard is followed, the strength of the Jinyiwei will be greatly increased.

“Your Majesty, there are not so many experts within the Jinyiwei at present, but I believe that it will not take long before we can achieve it.

It is better to have fewer people than too few now, because the vigilance against the Jinyiwei in various places must have reached the highest level. If the strength of a thousand households is not enough, they may be easily stopped or killed silently, which will damage the majesty of the court and hinder the reform.

The best situation would be like that in Jin.

Face all places with absolutely sufficient strength, otherwise it is better to leave it vacant first." Zhang Fengfu continued solemnly. "Old Zhang, what you said makes sense. Many things should lay a good foundation and determine the rules in order to grow better." Zhu Houzhao nodded and agreed.

Then he realized something and said to the three of them, "But the strength of the three of you, Lao Zhang, is not enough."

The three people from Zhang Fengfu were embarrassed for a moment, but they also knew that His Majesty was not humiliating them.

"Your Majesty, the three of us have already thought about it. Currently, there are too few experts in the Imperial Guards.

With the qualifications of the three of us, we can still barely hold our current positions for the time being.

Furthermore, the three of us request that we be mainly responsible for intelligence on other countries in the future.

In this way, we don’t have to face the masters in the Ming Dynasty. The strength of the three of us is enough.

If the Jinyiwei has enough experts in the future, the three of us are willing to step down and let others take over." Zhang Fengfu said honestly.

Afterwards, the three people from Zhang Fengfu told each other about their plans for the Jinyiwei.

They have been in the Jinyiwei for decades, and no one knows the Jinyiwei better than them.

I have also experienced this special period personally.

Although their strength was not enough, after some communication among the three of them, they all had the idea of ​​expanding the Jinyiwei to the extreme.

Then we made this plan.

Zhu Houzhao was very satisfied after hearing this.

Finally, he called Guo Bujing again, and the five of them discussed and finalized all aspects of the Jinyiwei.

When Zhang Fengfu and his men left the palace, he felt a long-lost sense of relief and said with a smile, "When the Jinyiwei grows to the expected level, the three of us will be satisfied."

"Yes, if there comes such a day, our names will be remembered forever." Weng Taibei smiled and stroked his beard.

"That day will definitely come." Murong Chong felt relieved a little bit.

"Brother Guo, I'll be in charge of the Jinyiwei in the future." Zhang Fengfu looked at Guo Bujing and said solemnly.

Guo Bujing bowed to the three men from Zhang Fengfu and said solemnly, "I deeply admire the noble character of the three brothers Zhang, and I will never let you down.

If you violate this statement, Guo will die a miserable death. "

The admiration in his heart is real.

If the three people from Zhang Fengfu had not taken the initiative to propose demotion and the unspoken rules of strength, it would have been difficult to change the Jinyiwei.

Because the three of them who have the longest seniority and are trusted by His Majesty are the biggest obstacles.

No one can change it unless your majesty orders it personally.

Even if His Majesty gave the order himself, there would certainly be chaos within the Jinyiwei.

After all, the three of them have too many old subordinates.

Only if the three of them take the initiative to propose it and cooperate in its implementation can the change be carried out smoothly.

The three of them voluntarily gave up their high positions, power, and huge interests. No matter what the reason was, he had to admire their magnanimity.

The three people from Zhang Fengfu returned the gift.

When they returned to the Jinyiwei headquarters, corresponding preparations began.

October th.

Zhang Fengfu and his two men formally submitted a petition requesting to be demoted, and also presented a memorial on personnel changes in the Jinyiwei.

Zhu Houzhao agreed.

Immediately, the Jinyiwei headquarters officially issued a series of orders, all of which were personnel changes.

The positions of Zhang Fengfu and other three people were downgraded, and two of them were demoted from deputy commanders to pacification envoys.

Among the existing 25 thousand households, 16 of them were demoted to deputy thousand households.

Those who were demoted received generous compensation.

At the same time, along with these personnel changes, a piece of news quickly spread within the Jinyiwei.

Zhang Fengfu, the commander who had been in charge of the Jinyiwei for more than ten years, and the two old men, Weng Taibei and Murong Chong, jointly petitioned His Majesty to demote themselves.

The purpose was to formally confirm an unspoken rule of the Jinyiwei.

Those who have merits but lack personal strength cannot be promoted.

This unspoken rule actually existed among the Jinyiwei in the past.

But it is not that obvious, and the strength requirement is not that great.

Now, I have not reached the innate realm and cannot become a thousand households.

The strength requirements suddenly increased by a huge margin.

This caused many Jinyiwei guards in various places to sigh.

But overall, it did not affect morale, because the morale of the Jinyi Guards was too high.

In particular, the first reward in Jin was paid out duly, and the second reward is in progress.

In addition, the prestige of the emperor and the court was increasing, so naturally they would not be dissatisfied.

Mainly the two assistant officials and sixteen captains who were demoted, they couldn't help but feel resentful.

These complaints are normal, no one wants to be demoted for no reason.

However, considering the majesty of the imperial court, their own interests, etc., and their own strength being indeed inferior to others, they did not dare to say much.

(Chapter two.)
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(End of this chapter)