The Holy Emperor of Ming

Chapter 197 The direct line of troops is busy in the capital
After leaving the Jingge, Zhao Ji was still in a good mood.

The imperial teacher finally gave in.

As for the issue of voluntariness, as an emperor, he never felt that it was difficult to get someone to do something voluntarily.

"Think of any way you can to make Princess Yaoqin marry into the Ming Kingdom voluntarily.

Princess Yaoqin is now in the Ancient Tomb Sect, so it might be too late as April is approaching. But it doesn't matter, Zhu Houzhao certainly won't mind if it's a little later.

Of course, it would be even better if we could succeed before April.

In short, try to let Princess Yaoqin participate in Zhu Houzhao's selection of concubines in April." Zhao Ji said solemnly.

"Yes, I will start with Princess Yaoqin's family and send a message between the two places as quickly as possible."

····
The atmosphere among various countries was becoming increasingly lively regarding Zhu Houzhao's selection of a concubine in April.

This is especially true of the Ming Dynasty itself.

When the news of Emperor Shengwu's breakthrough to the realm of heaven and man came to light, all topics turned to the matter of choosing a queen and concubines.

More and more people from the martial arts world came to the capital of the Ming Dynasty.

However, in early and mid-March, the court's biggest concern in the capital was the re-opening of the civil and military imperial examinations.

The civil service examination, which was originally held every three years, became held once a year for three consecutive years.

The number of people admitted each time is far greater than in the past.

But no one dared to object.

One reason was that the court had taken down too many officials too quickly, and the court needed more new officials.

Secondly, I don’t want to offend His Majesty and all the candidates in the Ming Dynasty.

During the annual imperial examination, the candidates of the Ming Dynasty were the happiest people. Anyone who opposed it was considered an enemy of them.

Needless to say, the military imperial examination has been confirmed to be held every year.

The Ming Dynasty needs more civilian positions in the military.

March 11th.

Accompanied by Gu Xichao, Zhu Houzhao once again came to the increasingly complete military academy.

Last year, Gu Xichao suggested that all former instructors of the new armies be summoned to the military academy for retraining.

Zhu Houzhao agreed and gave full authority to the matter to Gu Xichao.

Gu Xichao acted quickly, preparing for a month or two, and officially started classes on December 10th.

Now it is exactly three months.

Zhu Houzhao came here to give some encouragement and instructions to the more than 500 instructors who had undergone retraining, which was similar to what he did to the first batch of instructors.

Finally, Zhu Houzhao and Gu Xichao left in a warm atmosphere.

Gu Xichao told Zhu Houzhao that among this group of instructors, the most outstanding ones could be the ones to be trained as the main focus.

Zhu Houzhao was very confident in letting Gu Xichao do it.

"Old Gu, I plan to establish four new armies this year, with commanders and soldiers.

Three armies will be formed on the northern border, where there are two generals in the innate realm who can serve as army commanders.

There is another army that I will send to serve under the old king and make it his direct force, so that he will have three armies and more than 110,000 people.

With an army of more than 110,000, and Lao Wang's ability, it won't take long before most of the celestial beings will be no match for him.

You have to cooperate well with the civilian officers in these three armies to help deepen Lao Wang’s influence.

The last army will be commanded by Qi Jingtong from Lu, who will establish a new navy.

You must be prepared for all the civilian duties in the military," Zhu Houzhao said with some anticipation.

Naturally, a general can only unleash a powerful fighting force if he leads an army that he is completely familiar with and close to.

Therefore, the commander of the Ming Dynasty’s new army cannot be easily replaced.

That would result in the general not knowing his soldiers and the soldiers not knowing their generals. Even if there is an instructor, it would have a great impact on the combat effectiveness.

This is true of the armies of all countries in the world.

If you want a general to achieve his full potential, it would be best to build a real army for him.

This is definitely not good for the country.

But the fact is, there is no such thing as the best of both worlds.

In the current Ming Dynasty, the only person who has the ability to make Zhu Houzhao establish a direct army for him is Lao Wang.

At this time, Lao Wang already had a clear understanding of the situation on the northern border.

The two men decided to organize the border troops on the northern border into three new armies this year.

Zhu Houzhao decided to transfer one of the armies to Lao Wang's command, and together with the two armies he brought to the border, the three armies would become Lao Wang's direct lineage, grow together with Lao Wang, and push their strength to the peak step by step.

In the future, Lao Wang’s influence on these three armies will definitely be greater than that of the imperial court.

Zhu Houzhao didn't care about this.

He wished there would be more such situations in the Ming Dynasty.

Unfortunately, so far, only Lao Wang has the ability to form his own troops.

For the other military commanders, except for Li Jing whose potential has not yet reached its limit, one army is their limit.

Wu Yunzhao's future limit may be able to reach two armies, it all depends on him.

In short, there is no need to form direct subordinates for other military commanders. That would only be more trouble than gain.

Only a person like Lao Wang, who can command multiple armies, needs to fully exert his strength.

Gu Xichao hesitated for a moment. He instinctively opposed such things that were detrimental to His Majesty's authority.

But he also knew that this was necessary and he couldn't stop it.

He could only nod his head and say, "I understand. I will ask the instructors of the three armies and the civilian officers in the army to fully cooperate with Commander-in-Chief Wang.

Today, the Ming Dynasty has 1,743 qualified instructors, which can meet the needs of eleven new armies. In addition, after this year's military imperial examination, there will be enough instructors.

There are still some vacancies in the civilian positions in the military.

We will have to wait until next year to fully staff all the thirteen armies with civilian positions.”

"Well, there's no need to rush. It won't take that long for the new army to be fully formed." Zhu Houzhao nodded.

After talking about some military matters, Zhu Houzhao returned to the palace.

As April approached, Zhu Houzhao became truly interested in establishing his own queen and selecting concubines.

"Let's go out of the palace and take a look." Zhu Houzhao said without hesitation as he became interested.

He took Wei Jinzhong and several shadow eunuchs with him, changed his clothes and left the palace.

The destination is very clear, which is the major inns, restaurants, teahouses and other places in the capital.

These are the places where the most voices converge.

"Pah! This current disciple of Cihang Jingzhai is actually the most outstanding disciple of Cihang Jingzhai in hundreds of years.

Although he is only sixteen years old, he has already reached the innate realm, and is definitely not weak among those in the realm.

As soon as he walked into the martial arts world in January, he defeated the notorious innate master, the Yellow River Dragon King, with his sword alone.

This Yellow River Dragon King is no ordinary person. He is a well-known veteran master, but he was defeated by a 16-year-old contemporary walker from Cihang Jingzhai. After being subdued by him, he was escorted to the local Jinyiwei for punishment. "

"Not only is his strength the current Cihang Jingzhai master, his appearance is like a fairy from heaven.

It is said that anyone who sees her is willing to do anything.

Wherever he went, there was a group of people following him.

Many people have said that this contemporary walker of Cihang Jingzhai should be ranked first on the Fairy List."

“But what makes many heroes and young masters sad is that this fairy from Cihang Jingzhai is coming all the way to the capital, and she has never concealed her purpose, which is to participate in the selection of concubines for His Majesty the Emperor Shengwu.

I heard that countless martial arts masters and heroes were so grief-stricken that they wished they were dead."

···
"Great news, I heard that someone has found the whereabouts of the two palace masters of Yihua Palace, and judging from the direction they were heading, they were heading to the capital.

The two palace masters of Yihua Palace are really going to participate in the selection of concubines."

"I've heard about it, too. It is said that the two palace masters of Yihua Palace are both as beautiful as fairies, and their strength is unparalleled. They should be ranked first and second on the Fairy List."

"Bullshit, that's because you haven't seen Fairy Qin from Cihang Jingzhai. Fairy Qin should be the number one on the Fairy List."

···
"The Tianshan Sect will soon arrive in the capital. I heard that the most outstanding female disciple of the Tianshan Sect, Fairy Fu Tianjiao, is also coming. What do you think, will Fairy Fu also participate in the selection of concubines?"

"It's possible."

"The people from Huashan Sect are almost here. I heard that Fairy Hua Zhenzhen is among them."

"What? Fairy Lian Hua is also going to participate in the selection of concubines?"

“I heard that the major righteous sects must have reached a consensus. Just in case, several righteous fairies came to guard against the evil witch.

So, apart from Fairy Qin who said so herself, the other fairies of the righteous path may not participate in the selection of concubines."

“Haha, you don’t understand this, the righteous are not only on guard against the evil witches, but also the evil ones.

If the evil sects gain the power of His Majesty the Holy Martial Emperor, who would dare to call them evil sects? "

····
By mid-March, the capital city was already filled with countless martial artists from all over the world.

At this time, the results of the civil service examinations and imperial examinations had already come out.

Although the results of the military imperial examination have not yet come out, they cannot suppress the voices of these martial artists.

The entire capital seemed to be filled with their enthusiastic discussions.

Countless pieces of news also gathered in the capital, making it extremely lively.

Zhu Houzhao changed several places from morning to afternoon and listened with great interest.

It’s not that I’m particularly interested in the women in those topics, but I simply like the excitement.

After listening for a while, he said with great interest: "Tell Lao Guo to have the Jinyiwei keep a close eye on this. There are so many martial artists, so they can't fight to avoid hurting the people."

"Yes." Wei Jinzhong replied, and a shadow eunuch had already gone.

"Let's go. It's a good time to leave the palace and visit the Imperial College." Zhu Houzhao said again, as he was thinking of something new.

He took the lead and walked towards the Imperial College with arrogance.

The tall figure, with an air of pride and a bit of arrogance, made people who saw him along the way automatically avoid him.

At first glance, this kind of person is a prince or noble. Although the princes and nobles in the capital are all very honest and dare not oppress the common people, both the common people and the martial artists dare not and do not want to offend them for no reason.

As for recognizing Zhu Houzhao's identity, even though Zhu Houzhao had appeared in public, very few people could see his face clearly at that distance.

Even if you see it clearly, you won't dare to believe that this arrogant figure who looks like a dandy boy could be the Emperor Shengwu.

(Chapter 3, thank you for your support.)
······
(End of this chapter)