Ming Dynasty: Ask Zhu Yuanzhang to abdicate at the beginning

Chapter 191 The Ming Dynasty is boiling! Pride and complacency?

When the news of the one million-man military cut spread, the entire Ming Dynasty was in an uproar.

The number of military households in the Ming Dynasty was extremely large, accounting for about 5% of the total population of the Ming Dynasty. Involving so many people, coupled with the special nature of the military households themselves, they naturally attracted much attention.

"Disarmament on this scale is unprecedented in history!"

"Now that the world is at peace, weapons are put into storage, horses are released into the mountains, and it is normal to reduce the military."

"But the Northern Yuan is still here, and it still threatens our Ming Dynasty. If we reduce our military at this time, aren't we afraid that the Northern Yuan will take the opportunity to invade?"

"What are you afraid of? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has returned from his expedition to Japan. His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the military god of our Ming Dynasty. The troops under his command are all unstoppable. With His Royal Highness the Crown Prince here, will the Northern Yuan dare to come?"

"Yes, we heard that it was because the new army was so powerful that the court decided to cut down the army."

"Speaking of which, my son has never returned since he joined the army. After becoming a military household, it was even more impossible for him to return. Maybe he can come back now."

"I heard that the imperial court gave very generous treatment to the soldiers who were disarmed this time. If he returns home, he may have a chance to work as a government official."

"Yes, the newspaper said that all unpaid labor service in government offices will be abolished, and all labor service officials will receive labor service silver from now on."

"It would be great if I could become a government official and eat government food."

"In the past, everyone thought that being a military household was bad. Unless there was really no other way out, who would want to be a military household and be bullied? But now it seems that those military households are the best."

"They are all people who have made contributions to the country. It is only right that they should be treated better."

"I never thought that His Royal Highness would initiate such a big move as soon as he returned to the court!"

"The new Ming army trained by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the real elite. Compared with it, other armies are really inferior."

"That's not necessarily true. After all, Japan is a small country. It's not surprising that it was conquered in one war. The real enemy of the Ming Dynasty is the Yuan Dynasty in the north."

"The Japanese pirates had caused a lot of trouble before, and the imperial court was helpless against them. It was only when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince stepped in that they were put down in one fell swoop."

"I think the Northern Yuan will be pacified soon. Otherwise, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would not have ordered the disarmament."

"Stop talking, go get your money! The government has distributed money. Your Highness the Crown Prince has returned victoriously. He will use the money from Japan's compensation to reward all the people of Nanjing!"

"Go get your money!"

……

For a time, the common people on the streets of Jinling were all in high spirits.

Zhu Yunhuan took out one tenth of the 20 million taels of silver from Japan to celebrate the victory and give rewards.

Every household in Yingtian Prefecture will be rewarded with two taels of silver.

Before this, the imperial court had rewarded the common people with money.

In fact, feudal dynasties liked to use this method to win over the hearts of the people in order to show the "imperial grace" and benefit all the people.

When Zhu Biao was alive, he went to Qinzhong for inspection and ordered rewards for all the people in Qinzhong.

But that time, each household was only rewarded with a hundred coins.

After all, the number of ordinary people was huge, and the rewards were too generous for the court to afford.

Each household was rewarded with two taels of silver, which was the first time in the history of the Ming Dynasty.

Of course everyone is happy to get money.

For the first time, the people felt that the court's victory had brought them such benefits.

It also caused their attitude towards waging wars abroad to change significantly without them realizing it.

After all, who doesn’t want to share money?

In fact, the money shared by the people of Yingtian Prefecture was not that much. The real generous rewards went to the naval officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty and the families along the coast who had been invaded by Japanese pirates.

Needless to say, the naval officers and soldiers were rewarded with several hundred taels of silver each.

To them, everything seemed like a dream.

Although it will take several months to return from the sea, this deal is really a good deal.

Many of them had previously served in other armies of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, he also knew that it was not easy to achieve military merit and receive rewards.

When charging at the front, one has to endure countless hardships, countless sufferings, countless life-and-death experiences, and countless times of watching one's comrades die one by one. Only when one is lucky enough to survive can one be rewarded for one's merit.

By this time, one's body is often already covered with scars.

If you are lucky and are not assigned to charge on the front line, you may be able to survive safely.

But they will still suffer a lot, have no military achievements, and receive no rewards.

Military merit is tempting, but not easy to obtain.

But going out to sea with His Royal Highness the Crown Prince can only be described as a safe and secure journey. The high profits and generous rewards are something I never dared to dream of before.

The officers and soldiers were all very clear that this achievement was not their own doing, but a reward from His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

The real credit should go to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

But His Royal Highness the Crown Prince gave it to them just like that.

The soldiers were immediately grateful and became more loyal to Zhu Yunhuan.

Not to mention the coastal people who were robbed by the Japanese pirates.

The government has never compensated them for their losses, and they dare not even hope for that.

Whoever encounters the Japanese pirates who burn, kill and loot will be considered unlucky.

Everyone thinks this is a natural thing.

It has been like this since ancient times.

But now, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince actually wants to use the compensation brought back from Japan to compensate these people. All the stolen property and destroyed houses can be compensated.

There are even pensions for those who were killed...

The people were so moved that they wept. They believed that the Crown Prince’s kindness could never be repaid in three lifetimes!

From then on, in many coastal areas, anyone who said anything bad about His Royal Highness the Crown Prince’s policies would be immediately attacked by the people.

In the past, tax collectors from the tax bureau were jointly targeted by clerks and local gentry, and the common people often sat back and watched, thinking that the matter had nothing to do with them.

But after this, many people took the initiative to help the Commissioner of Taxation, simply because the Commissioner of Taxation was appointed by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

This also made it much easier for the Commissioner of Taxation to work in coastal areas.

This was something Zhu Yunhuan had never thought of.

……

"Your Highness, if the imperial court wants to reduce its military, it must first pacify the Northern Yuan Dynasty." The next day after returning to the court, Zhu Di came to ask for a meeting early in the morning.

"I, your student, am willing to ask for permission to send troops to conquer the Northern Yuan Dynasty and completely destroy the Yuan court."

"Only in this way can His Royal Highness the Crown Prince feel at ease and boldly reduce the military forces."

Now Zhu Di's mind is full of thoughts about making great achievements and quickly obtaining the title of Prince with an iron hat.

Yesterday at the court, he had the idea of leading the troops to war.

I just felt that the situation was not convenient at the time, so I didn't bring it up immediately.

I can't wait to challenge you today.

Zhu Di did have a fanatical hobby for leading troops in battles, and it could be said that he "never got tired of it."

"No need." Zhu Yunhuan refused: "Fourth uncle, what you have to do is to stay in Jinling City, be a good clan leader, and discipline the clan members."

"Now that Grandfather Emperor has just issued an edict to change the royal family system, I am afraid that many people will be dissatisfied and cause trouble."

Zhu Di said anxiously: "They were arrogant before because they felt that they had the amulet of being a royal family member to protect them, and the court could not do anything to them."

"But now, even the hereditary titles of the royal family can only be inherited at a lower level. If they make a mistake, they may be stripped of their titles. How dare they commit crimes?"

"The most important thing now is to quickly destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty."

“Only in this way can disarmament be stable and safe.”

"Besides, the vassal kings are all in the northern border. If we destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty, they won't be able to cause trouble."

Because Zhu Di had been stationed in Peking for a long time, he often led his troops to fight against the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

I have been playing since I was 20 years old until now I am over 30 years old.

Destroying the Northern Yuan Dynasty gradually became Zhu Di's obsession.

"It's not that easy to destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty!" Zhu Yunhuan shook his head and said, "I will order Zhang Fu and Zhu Neng to lead their troops to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty and beat them up so that they will behave themselves."

"However, to completely destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty and prevent it from ever becoming a threat to the Ming Dynasty again, military means alone are not enough."

"I have my own thoughts on this, so you don't have to worry about it."

Zhu Di was stunned for a moment: "Zhang Fu and Zhu Neng led the troops to fight against the Northern Yuan Dynasty?"

"How can that be done?"

"They have never had the experience of commanding an army of hundreds of thousands in battle."

"Even though they are young and promising, and are rare military talents, they are still too inexperienced, and the generals in the army may not obey them."

"If we cannot make the generals sincerely obey our orders and follow them, we will not only fail to win, but will also suffer defeat."

Zhu Yunhuan laughed loudly and said, "Who said I would send hundreds of thousands of troops to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty?"

"Don't we need it?" Zhu Di opened his eyes wide: "The Northern Yuan Dynasty is not Japan. To destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty, hundreds of thousands of troops may not be enough."

He had never seen the Ming navy in combat, nor did he know how powerful the new army, which was fully equipped with hot weapons, was.

However, he was well aware of the power of the Northern Yuan Dynasty, so he took it for granted that he would need an army of hundreds of thousands.

Although the flintlock rifle was powerful, the Northern Yuan Dynasty's cavalry archery was also very strong.

Zhu Yunhuan shook his head: "No, I only plan to send 6,000 soldiers and horses."

"Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu each led 3,000 soldiers, divided into two groups to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty and swept across the desert."

Zhu Di looked at him with disbelief on his face.

Wanting to defeat the Northern Yuan Dynasty with only 6,000 soldiers and horses, isn't that just wishful thinking?

The Northern Yuan Dynasty is different from Japan.

After all, Japan is just a small country, but it relies on the sea as a barrier to dare to show off its power in front of the Ming Dynasty.

If Japan was adjacent to the Northern Yuan Dynasty by land, Zhu Di would have the confidence to lead a small army to destroy Japan.

Although Zhu Yunhuan's ability to pacify Japan in one battle shocked him greatly, it also recognized Zhu Yunhuan's ability to lead troops in battle.

But Zhu Di still stubbornly believed that 6,000 soldiers and horses could not defeat the Northern Yuan Dynasty in any way.

"Your Highness, do not underestimate the enemy!"

Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "I have made up my mind, so you don't need to say anything more."

Zhu Di looked at him.

After a long time, he sighed.

Never mind, it’s just 6,000 soldiers.

Even if everything is lost, the Ming Dynasty can still afford it.

Today, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is too arrogant and doesn't take the Northern Yuan Dynasty seriously at all.

Perhaps it was the great victory in the expedition to Japan that made him proud and complacent.

They thought that the Northern Yuan Dynasty was as vulnerable as Japan.

He should suffer a little loss and gain some experience.

Thinking of this, Zhu Di said no more, turned around and said goodbye and left.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled slightly and immediately went to the Ming Military Academy.

During the time when he led his troops on an expedition to Japan, the Ming Military Academy continued to recruit and train soldiers.

Now, five thousand new soldiers have been trained.

Together with the previous ten thousand, the total number is fifteen thousand.

Zhu Yunhuan summoned Zhang Fu and Zhu Neng and said, "I have decided to send the two of you, each with 3,000 soldiers, to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty. What do you think?"

The two men were overjoyed when they heard this: "We are willing to serve till death."

While still on the ship returning to Japan from the Ming Dynasty, Zhang Fu and Zhu Neng were already planning to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty.

Having witnessed the Ming Navy's powerful ships, powerful guns, and firearms with their own eyes, the two men knew that if they led such an army to attack the Northern Yuan Dynasty, they would be invincible.

"You must show your prowess on the battlefield, so that my series of reform plans in the court can be smoothly implemented. I brought you up personally, so I hope you won't let me down."

Zhu Neng and Zhang Fu bowed and said, "Your Highness, please rest assured that we two will definitely destroy the Northern Yuan Dynasty this time and live up to your expectations."

Zhu Yunhuan nodded gently: "Then prepare well, select elite soldiers, and lead the troops to attack the Northern Yuan within a month."

……

(End of this chapter)