My father is Chongzhen? Then I have no choice but to rebel.

Chapter 72: Your Majesty, are you trying to seize military power?
Coming back to his senses, Zhu Cilang smiled and said:

"Master Li, you've had a hard journey. Eat something to warm yourself up first."

As he spoke, he signaled the young eunuch to bring the food to Li Banghua.

Zhu Cilang always had an inexplicable sense of guilt towards these loyal ministers and generals who ultimately died for the Ming Dynasty in history, so he treated them quite politely.

Li Banghua was really not polite. He bowed to express his thanks and started eating.

There's no way, he's really hungry!
On the day he received the imperial edict, he simply packed up and set off. He didn't eat or sleep well along the way, and his old bones were almost falling apart.

Seeing this, Zhu Cilang secretly laughed in his heart, but did not care.

After all, people as straightforward and honest as Li Banghua are rare in official circles.

It is worth mentioning that Li Banghua was not a member of the Donglin Party, but was often misunderstood because he was similar to the Donglin Party in some policies.

He always acted in an upright manner and never disdained any conspiracy or intrigue, so he was highly regarded by the Donglin Party.

After finishing his meal, Li Banghua drank two cups of tea in a row, and only then did he feel better.

Then, he looked at Zhu Cilang and said:

"May I ask, Your Highness, what is the matter with His Majesty summoning me back to the capital?"

Li Banghua had just arrived in the capital and knew nothing about the major events that had recently taken place in the capital, including the publication of the Daming Daily and a series of measures taken by Zhu Cilang.

Zhu Cilang tapped the table lightly and looked at Li Banghua with deep eyes:
"The Emperor intends to reorganize the Beijing Camp and needs a capable person to take charge of this matter. You are the most suitable candidate."

Li Banghua's expression did not change much when he heard this.

After all, when Emperor Chongzhen first ascended the throne, he served as the Minister of War and tried to reorganize the Beijing camp.

But he was eventually defeated due to the siege by hundreds of officials and was demoted to Nanjing.

Therefore, when he heard Zhu Cilang mention the reorganization of the Beijing camp again, he did not feel too surprised or expectant.

However, he still replied respectfully:
"Your Highness, please forgive me for being blunt, but I'm afraid I'm not up to the task!"

"Ten years ago, I tried to reorganize the Beijing camp, but I didn't receive support from anyone. In the end, even Your Majesty didn't support me. So, please forgive me for being unable to do anything."

There was a hint of resentment in Li Banghua's words.

But Zhu Cilang was not angry, he just asked calmly:

"So what do you think is the obstacle to accomplishing this?"

Li Banghua was silent for a moment, and finally spoke:

"The nobles and the civil service clique!"

"For hundreds of years, these forces have been deeply entrenched in the Jingying. No matter what reforms I want to make to the Jingying, they will harm their interests."

"Therefore, they will definitely try every possible means to obstruct me, or even frame me."

"So if we want to rectify the Beijing Camp, we must first deal with the nobles and the civil service group, so that they dare not interfere in the affairs of the Beijing Camp again. But this is almost impossible!"

Although Zhu Cilang had heard of Li Banghua's straightforward character, to be honest, he still did not expect Li Banghua to be so straightforward and directly make everything clear.

But this kind of character is exactly what is needed to reorganize the Beijing camp!

Having said this, Zhu Cilang looked at Li Banghua with a smile and said:

"Master Li, you've just arrived in the capital, so you might not be familiar with the recent situation. The problems you mentioned are actually not that big of a problem!"

"Ma Bao."

As Zhu Cilang's voice sounded, Ma Bao hurriedly handed the Daming Daily that he had prepared long ago to Li Banghua.

Li Banghua took the Daming Daily with confusion, not quite understanding what it was, but soon he was attracted by its content.

The East Warm Pavilion suddenly became extremely quiet, with only the sound of Li Banghua flipping through the Daming Daily.

After a while, Li Banghua roughly read through the contents of the Daming Daily, and finally looked at Zhu Cilang in astonishment:
"Your Highness, is this Daming Daily published by the imperial court? And are the things in it true?"

To be honest, the Daming Daily really shocked Li Banghua!

Zhu Cilang nodded.

"The Great Ming Daily is a special Beijing newspaper founded by the imperial court and my father. Its purpose is to allow ordinary people to understand the country's policies and measures and no longer be easily deceived by rumors."

"Everything recorded above is true."

"That is to say, before you came, the emperor had already killed a group of nobles!"

"Besides that, just this morning, the Emperor ordered the execution of a group of civil servants who were planning to rebel and forming cliques for personal gain."

"In short, the current Emperor is no longer the same as before. No one can confuse him with rumors anymore."

"No one can stop his decision! So, no matter what you want to do, my father, I, and the entire court will fully support you. Anyone who disobeys will be killed without mercy!"

When Li Banghua heard this, an expression of disbelief appeared on his face.

He really couldn't connect these things with the previous Chongzhen.

However, the contents of the Ming Daily were clear and concise. The emperor was seriously ill, the crown prince was acting as regent, and all the other things were not a joke at all. Such things would definitely be known with just a little inquiry!
Besides, there was no need for the prince in front of him to lie to him!
In other words, all of this is true!
Thinking of this, he finally made up his mind.

"If that's the case, then I'm willing to take on this important task. I just don't know in what capacity I'll be reorganizing the Beijing camp."

Li Banghua asked with a bow.

Zhu Cilang knew in his heart that Li Banghua was asking him for an official position!
Of course! This is also necessary. After all, doing this kind of thing requires considerable power. Without power, nothing can be done.

But Zhu Cilang was already prepared, and he spoke directly:

"Minister of War! I grant you the title of Grand Tutor to the Crown Prince and the Imperial Sword. If anyone dares to stand in your way, you will kill them."

Upon hearing this, Li Banghua knelt on the ground:
"In that case! I am willing!"

Zhu Cilang first breathed a sigh of relief, then hurried down to help Li Banghua up and continued:
"I know you have a unique perspective on military training, but I also have a method that I think might be helpful to you. You might as well try it out first."

As he spoke, Zhu Cilang took out a booklet from his arms and handed it to Li Banghua.

Li Banghua took the booklet curiously and saw the words "Training Manual" written in large letters on it.

After opening it, he was attracted by the content.

The booklet clearly recorded some training methods for soldiers, which were completely different from what he had heard before.

Things like running ten kilometers every day, push-ups, jumping ability, physical training, night training, etc.

In addition, there were some contents that he did not understand, such as "strengthening political ideology in the army."

Li Banghua was stunned because he had never seen such a training method.

However, as a smart man, he still saw some clues. The above method was actually to make the soldiers' bodies stronger and their minds more loyal to the emperor.

After a moment, he closed the booklet.

"Don't worry, Your Highness. When I return, I will study the above methods carefully and combine them with my own insights to reorganize the Beijing camp."

Zhu Cilang nodded with satisfaction. He just wrote down the general methods of military training in later generations and wanted Li Banghua to study it.

Of course, we cannot completely follow the methods of later generations. After all, the physical fitness of today's soldiers is not that strong.

Ultimately, it’s a problem of lack of meat quality.

In later generations, soldiers normally had meat to eat every day. With a large amount of protein supplementation, they could of course carry out high-intensity training.

But this was not the case in the late Ming Dynasty.

It’s not that I don’t have money, but there’s not enough meat to buy.

There is nothing we can do about it. After all, in this day and age, people are not able to get enough to eat, so where would we get extra food to feed pigs, cows, and sheep?

Although Zhu Cilang's system can be exchanged for a large amount of meat, one must know that there are tens of thousands of soldiers in the Beijing camp. If he really wants to do this, his system currency will not last long.

And it will reveal your secrets!
If soldiers want to eat meat every day in the future, they can only wait until high-yield crops such as sweet potatoes and potatoes become popular.

By then, the people will not be able to eat so many sweet potatoes and potatoes, so they will naturally start raising pigs, sheep, chickens and ducks.

Once there is enough meat, the soldiers can naturally eat it.

Of course, this is something.

Zhu Cilang continued:
"I will go see the Emperor later and ask him to issue an order appointing you as the new Minister of War. The task of reorganizing the Beijing Camp will be handed over to you from now on."

"In addition, there is one crucial thing that must not be known to others, that is..."

"Your Majesty, do you want to seize military power from the civil officials?"

Before Zhu Cilang could finish his words, Li Banghua suddenly interrupted him.

And very outspoken!

Zhu Cilang was speechless for a moment. He didn't expect that Li Banghua could see through his thoughts at a glance.

In fact, Li Banghua had realized this as early as ten years ago.

The reason why he was chosen by Chongzhen as the Minister of War to reorganize the Beijing camp was precisely because he did not belong to any party and was almost a member of the emperor's party!
If he is really allowed to control the military power, then the military power will eventually belong to the emperor!

This was a result that none of the civil and military officials in the court wanted to see, so he was ostracized in those days.

It was because he was well-known and highly regarded by the emperor that he avoided revenge. If it were someone else, he would have died countless times!
Since Chongzhen wanted to seize military power back then, it is natural that it is no exception now.

After Zhu Cilang came back to his senses, he nodded and said frankly:
"You are right. Father does want to seize military power from the civil officials!"

"Since Emperor Wuzong of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor of our Ming Dynasty has lost military power for over one hundred and twenty years. Now my father wants to take it back!"

"If anyone dares to stop my father, there will be rivers of blood."

If other civil servants heard these words, they would probably be scared to death, but Li Banghua was different.

As a non-partisan official who was determined to do great things, he didn't care what the emperor wanted to do. He just wanted to build a real army for the country.

An army that can face Li Zicheng and the Jiannu without fear and win every battle.

(End of this chapter)