The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 225: Weapon Training
After Wanli's unique imperial examination, the people of the three guards of Doyan were indeed shocked.

From then on, the three guards of Doyan no longer dared to rebel.

After the joint examination, the palace examination will be next.

Wanli also ordered people to build a reviewing platform in the city of Daningwei, where he sat and watched all the candidates answering questions for the military examination.

When the emperor personally supervises the examination, it is considered a palace examination.

He gave these candidates a sense of ceremony.

However, it is really boring to sit there all the time.

When Wanli saw Qi Jiguang coming back from his inspection, he immediately waved and said, "Yuan Jing, why don't we take advantage of this free time to appoint the officers and men who will be given titles of nobility and dukedom? It's just right that when the palace examination results are posted, we can give them titles of nobility and dukedom, and I will give them a double blessing."

This military achievement has actually been calculated long ago, all you have to do is nod.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang immediately ordered someone to bring two final lists of titles and nobility, one for those who had killed more than 100 enemies, and the other for those who had led troops to annihilate more than 1,000 enemies.

Wanli flipped through the two lists and frowned, saying, "Yuan Jing, these are too few. There seem to be only about a hundred names added up, and not many of them have been promoted to earldom.

As for prisoners, why haven't I seen any military merits for them? The old, young, women, and children among the prisoners may not be counted, but the young and strong captured in the war must be counted."

Well, if the captured enemy soldiers are counted, then the number of soldiers who are granted titles and ranks should be more than twice as many, right?

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang said cautiously, "Your Majesty, if we only count the number of enemies killed, there are hundreds of soldiers who have been awarded titles and nobility this time. If we also count the number of enemy soldiers captured, the number would probably be two or three hundred."

Are you still afraid that there will be too many soldiers who will be granted titles and honors?
Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded without hesitation and said, "No problem, two or three hundred is two or three hundred. We have plenty of fiefs, captives, cattle, sheep and horses. Just count them up."

You missed one thing.

Qi Jiguang carefully reminded him, "Your Majesty, those who are granted titles of nobility can recruit personal guards. If two or three hundred people are granted titles of nobility, even the lowest baron, they will have to recruit 20,000 to 30,000 personal guards. Moreover, these two or three hundred are not all barons.

I estimate that if they were to receive such a promotion, they would need to recruit as many as 40,000 to 50,000 personal guards."

What's this?
Wanli asked curiously, "What's wrong with 40,000 or 50,000? Are you still worried that they will rebel?"

That's not what I meant.

Qi Jiguang quickly explained, "Your Majesty, what I mean is that if they recruit 40,000 to 50,000 personal guards, we will have to recruit another 40,000 to 50,000 garrison guards for training."

Are you still worried about not having enough manpower?

Wanli smiled slightly and said, "We are constantly offering rewards, are you still worried that no one will come to apply?

Don't worry, the Ming Dynasty has over two million garrison guards, and the remaining garrison guards are estimated to be more than five million. Even if we have ten garrison guards or just one of the remaining garrison guards, we will not be short of manpower."

I'm not talking about a manpower problem.

Qi Jiguang continued to explain: "Your Majesty, what I mean is that training new soldiers also takes time, and it takes a lot of time."

Oh, so this is what you were talking about.

This is not a waste of time.

Wanli thought for a moment, then asked, "Yuan Jing, who do you think would be suitable to serve as personal guards for these newly promoted nobles?"

This one.

Qi Jiguang pondered, "Most of the personal guards I recruited are old and can no longer fight, or are injured and their movements are not very agile. Others have earned enough military rewards and want to marry and have children to continue the family line."

Isn’t that right?

Wanli explained in detail: "Yuan Jing, I am actually training the soldiers, but this training is not the training of drills, but the training of hammers, just like the training of steel.

You also know that after years of war, some people will grow old, some will get injured, and some will want to get married, have children, and live a stable life.

These people themselves have no problems, but they do have an impact on the combat effectiveness of the army. They are like impurities in iron, and they have to be constantly hammered out so that our combat effectiveness will become stronger and stronger.

Of course, I am not abandoning them. I am looking for a good home for them. They can serve as personal guards for the newly promoted nobles, guard prisoners, and take care of cattle, sheep, horses, and fields. In fact, they are equivalent to rural landlords, and they can still live a comfortable life. "

Oh, so they are training soldiers.

The current soldiers of the Beijing camp are like wrought iron. They have only been trained and fought a few battles. Their combat effectiveness is still far behind the 3,000 soldiers of the Qi family army that he had carefully selected.

If the process continues like smelting iron, then all the soldiers of the Ming army will become elite soldiers who all want to make achievements on the battlefield and are able to do so. That would be like steel that has been tempered a hundred times, many times stronger than iron that has been wrought in one heat.

Upon hearing this, Qi Jiguang nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty is wise. We really need to train and hone our skills continuously."

After they finished discussing the issue of conferring titles and ranks on the soldiers, the palace examination was over.

The next step is to mark the papers and determine the rankings.

The essays written by the martial arts candidates are definitely not comparable to those written by the civil scholars, and they don't seem to have put in as much effort. Moreover, the ranking of the martial arts candidates is not determined solely by the essays, but other factors must also be considered comprehensively.

In the end, the martial arts champion chosen by Qi Jiguang was Yu Dayou's son Yu Zigao!
This is not Qi Jiguang abusing his power for personal gain. Yu Zigao is indeed very capable, and he is capable in all aspects.

This guy is good at all events in the martial arts examination.

Not to mention his military achievements, he was ranked in the top three, and the Liu Jing before him was not even a military candidate who participated in the provincial and palace examinations.

Not to mention martial arts, Yu Dayou is known as the best master in the world. He received personal instruction from the best master in the world, so his martial arts skills are naturally extraordinary.

Needless to say, he was familiar with the art of war and the theory of formations. One of the twelve chapters of the Ming Dynasty Military Classics was compiled by his father. Moreover, he started learning the art of war and the theory of formations from the god of war Yu Dayou since he was a child.

Yu Zigao deserved the title of martial arts champion, and no one had any objection.

The problem is that the deputy generals of the Beijing Camp are now full.

In the 11th year of Wanli's reign, Xiao Ruxun, the top scorer in the military examination in Guiwei year, was directly appointed as the deputy general of the Beijing camp, and has now been promoted to the general of Ningxia Town.

How to solve this problem?
He couldn't afford to treat this meritorious official unfairly.

Before the palace examination results were announced, Wanli recruited Yu Zigao to his tent, which was used as a study.

Yu Zigao was still a little dazed at the moment. He didn't know why the young emperor called him here.

After the emperor and his ministers exchanged greetings, Wanli asked directly, "Kemai, are you familiar with naval warfare?"

Oh, Your Majesty wants to ask about naval battles.

This is definitely the right person. I am very familiar with naval battles.

Yu Zigao nodded repeatedly and said, "I understand a little bit."

How can you, a fool, be humble?
Wanli asked, "Then tell me what the key to a naval battle is."

Yu Zigao said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, the key to naval warfare can be simply summed up in two words: big and numerous.

My father once taught his students that there is no other way to fight at sea: a large ship defeats a small one, a large gun defeats a small one, many ships defeat few ships, and many guns defeat few guns.

Well, this seems to be a very low-class statement, even a bit vulgar.

However, if you think about it carefully, this is the same principle of naval warfare.

Your ship is not as big as theirs, and you can't carry as many people, horses, weapons and equipment as theirs. They can even ram you and overturn you with a direct ramming attack.

Your artillery is not as big as theirs, so your range cannot compare with theirs. They can sink yours with one shot from a distance. How can you fight them?
As for quantity, as long as there are enough warships and artillery, they will indeed be invincible.

Wanli listened carefully to what he said, then nodded slightly and said, "Well, that makes sense. You are the top martial arts student in this subject."

what?
Can you become the top martial arts champion with just this one sentence?

Yu Zigao was stunned for a moment, then he excitedly bowed and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

This idiot is really interesting.

Wanli couldn't help but jokingly said, "Kemai, normally the top martial arts champion would be directly appointed as the deputy general of the Beijing Camp. The problem is, the deputy general position in the Beijing Camp is full now."

Uh, this.

Yu Zigao said naively, "Your Majesty, being a lieutenant general is fine, as long as I can lead the troops to fight."

He is indeed a fool.

Wanli pretended to ponder and said, "There's no deputy general position in the Beijing camp, but there's still one deputy commander-in-chief in the navy. How about you become the deputy commander-in-chief?"

That would be great.

I have loved naval battles since I was a child.

Yu Zigao nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, okay."

This kid is so naive that he even forgot to express his gratitude.

But fortunately, Deng Zilong is mature and steady enough.

Wanli nodded slightly and said, "You know Danyang's third brother Wuyang, right? I plan to have you two serve as deputy commanders of the navy under General Deng next year. You can get closer to him."

Yu Zigao nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, I understand."

(End of this chapter)