Autumn of the 17th year of Chongzhen

Chapter 937 Nationalization of the Army

After the Battle of Yangzhou, the Qing army turned to strategic defense across the board, and the army retreated to the north of the Huaihe River. The Ming army acquired a large area of ​​Huainan land at once, and needed to digest the fruits, but was unable to continue to advance north.

The Ming army and the Qing army faced each other from north to south. Previous battles were fought in the south, but if they fought again in the future, the battlefield would be in the north. The terrain changed, and the structure of the Ming army also needed to be changed. Without cavalry, the Ming army would not have the courage to fight in the north. The Qing army went to war.

Under such circumstances, the Ming army itself needed to make an adjustment, and Jin Guo's breach of the contract undoubtedly prompted and accelerated a huge change in the strategic focus of the Ming Dynasty.

The most obvious of these is that Jianghuai and Huguang, which used to be the most important, have weakened their forces and assumed a defensive posture. The Ming Dynasty drew troops from various places and marched into Guizhou, and the strategic center of gravity clearly shifted to the southwest.

At the end of December, the city of Nanjing was snowing heavily. In the warm pavilion, Wang Yan sat together with several university scholars. Pastries, tea, and even Nanyang melons and fruits were placed on their small tables.

Wang Yan took a sip from his teacup, put down the cup and said to everyone: "Today is 28, and it was our last discussion years ago. I will focus on the key points, and then everyone will go home. Next year, we will come to continue the discussion."

Hearing the sound, the officials in the scarlet robe in the room straightened their bodies, ready to accept Wang Yan's questioning.

"Have all the bachelors on duty during the New Year's Day have been decided?" Wang Yan asked the simplest question.

Su Guansheng stood up, cupped his hands and said, "Don't worry, Your Highness, during the New Year period, the shifts of our senior scholars have been properly arranged. Besides, there are also officials in the Six Departments on duty, and not all of them will be on vacation. If there is no major event in the court, the on-duty People can keep the court running."

Wang Yan nodded slightly, and then said: "The memorial sent by the He Ge Department has been sent for some time, and everyone knows the situation in the southwest. This time we lost a lot. We lost Yuan Zongdi and others, and lost [-] soldiers. The posthumous posthumous titles of Yuan Zongdi and others, and the rewards for the heirs of the Ministry of Rites, should be completed before the beginning of the year, and when the new year's sacrifice is held, the sacrificed soldiers in Hezhou must be able to enter the martyrs' shrine!"

Gu Yuanjing hurriedly got up, "The Ministry of Rites has already drawn up a posthumous title, Yuan Zongdi's posthumous title is Zhonglie, and the posthumous posthumous posthumous title is Shaobao. Others are also listed. Your Highness, please take a look!"

As he said that, Gu Yuanjing took out a brochure, stepped forward and presented it to Wang Yan.

After taking it, Wang Yan took a quick tour, then returned the notebook to Gu Yuanjing, and then said softly: "I have no objection. If there is no problem with the cabinet, this matter will be handled according to the wishes of the Ministry of Rites."

Now when Wang Yan discusses matters, he basically calls all the cabinet scholars. Many things are not communicated with Tang Wang and Lu Wang, but directly with the two factions.

"This time, Zhongyi Town suffered heavy losses in Sichuan, and the imperial court must supplement it. However, the Five Armies of Shence and Houyong Town have already replenished Zhongzhi Town, and any further deployment of troops will affect the combat power of Shence and Houyong. The Ministry of War wants to recruit troops from the Wuwei Army and the Zhejiang Army to supplement them, what do you think of the Ministry of War?"

Wang Yan continued to talk along the topic of Southwest, but everyone did not expect that he would raise such an issue.

The Wuzhong Army is Wang Yan's people, and Zhongyi Town has suffered heavy losses. Isn't it a joke to use the troops of the Zhejiang Party and the Pro-Tang faction to supplement it?
"Your Highness, I'm afraid this matter needs to be discussed again. After the battle of Dashengguan, the strength of the Wuwei Army has not been restored. It may not be appropriate to deploy the Wuwei Army." Su Guansheng immediately objected.

"Your Highness, if the Zhejiang soldiers want to defend the front line of the Huaihe River and take on heavy responsibilities, I'm afraid it's not appropriate to mobilize elite troops!" Zhang Kentang immediately objected.

Wang Yan knew that they would say that. Seeing the excitement in the hall, he suddenly coughed lightly, and then said in a deep voice: "Everyone, be quiet first. I know what you think. It's nothing more than that the Five Loyalty Army is like a private army. So I don’t want to accept it, it’s understandable for Gu, but you have to listen to Gu’s words.”

Everyone didn't expect Wang Yan to be so frank, and he said what they wanted, and directly broke the matter. They couldn't help being embarrassed, but they all sat down.

Wang Yan and the others sat down, and then said: "For the court, the most important thing is to control the army. The army must obey the court, not a certain person or general. The barriers between the two must be broken. I believe everyone here, no one wants to see the generals and mercenaries below threaten the court!"

The army should obey the court, not a certain general or a certain person. This is the cornerstone of the stability of the dynasty. For the ruling class, especially the civilian class, the last thing they want to see is a military mutiny.

Because at that time, the gentry clan would not only suffer from military disasters, but the social order would be completely disrupted, assets would be precarious, and the status of the text itself would decline sharply. Therefore, controlling the army was almost one of the themes of all dynasties.

After hearing what Wang Yan said, everyone couldn't help but calm down. Many people were actually interested. Su Guansheng raised his brows, "I don't know how His Highness plans to break down the barrier. How can the army only obey the imperial court's orders?"

Wang Yan smiled slightly, "Mr. Su Ge's ability to ask such a question means that Mr. Su Ge has acquiesced in the current operating rules of the imperial court, and he does not think that the imperial court is a court of one person, but a court of everyone. Then let's talk about the military affairs. There will be a consensus and a foundation!"

Su Guansheng was taken aback by Wang Yan's words. After thinking about it carefully, although the Chu Party now controls the government, they have also participated in it. They disagree with many things, and they can indeed stop them. Many things they proposed are not It can't be passed. Although the court is dominated by the Chu Party, it is somewhat unreasonable to say that it is the court of the Chu Party, because the court also represents their interests.

Seeing that Su Guansheng nodded, Wang Yan continued: "Since everyone thinks that the court belongs to everyone, and the army obeys the orders of the court, you can't think that you are listening to the lonely king. It is very simple to break the barrier of the army. It is to rebuild the Dudu Mansion of the Five Armies. The generals of each army must be rotated according to the time. The officers of the Five Loyalty Army can command the Wuwei Army, and the officers of the Wuwei Army can serve in the Five Loyalty Army. This will prevent the general from controlling an army for a long time. It brings hidden dangers. Of course, considering that frequent general changes will inevitably lead to a decline in the army's combat power, the period for general transfer should not be too short, and should be controlled between three to five years."

Wang Yan’s proposal is actually similar to the practices of previous dynasties. It is a means of nationalizing the army. Although it is based on the condition of losing a certain amount of combat power of the army, you can’t have both. In the long run, it is indeed to prevent warlords and warlords. A good tool for rebellion.

In fact, with such a change, although Wang Yan seems to give up control of the Wuzhong Army and allow others to come in, it is not the case in fact, because the total number of troops of the Wuzhong Army and the Chu Party is much larger than the other two factions. Many, he mixed the army of the Ming Dynasty in this way, Wang Yan still had the advantage, and resolved the threats of Jin Shenghuan, Zheng Chenggong, Zhang Mingzhen and others, and integrated the Ming army system.

One of the biggest benefits of this is to eliminate the possibility of fighting between various factions, control political struggles in literary struggles, and whoever controls the court controls the army.

Today was the last discussion in the first year of co-government. Everyone thought it was just drinking tea, and it was over after a casual chat. No one expected that Wang Yan would throw such a bomb.

Wang Yan saw that everyone was talking about it, and he knew that this matter was extremely complicated and involved too much, so it was not something that could be decided at once, so he said: "This matter, let me give you some advice first, and the Ministry of War will have a proposal to send it to you in the next year." Come up, everyone is discussing in detail. Well, it’s getting late, let’s leave today! I wish the elders of the pavilion a safe and peaceful new year in advance!”

Several people in the hall heard this, but they were still a little bit unfinished, but Wang Yan stood up to say goodbye, so they had no choice but to stand up, and also wish Wang Yan an early year, and then dispersed after discussing.

The reason why Wang Yan proposed this proposal today is because of the current political rules of the Ming Dynasty, such a major event must be passed by the council hall, so he first told the matter to let the entire civil official group know and give them a chance to ventilate. This proposal is in the interests of the Ming Dynasty and the civil servants, so let him discuss it during the Chinese New Year, so that it can be passed in the New Year's Proposal after the next year.

Near the end of the year, Wang Yan released such a bomb, which indeed caused a lot of discussion. Many people agreed with this proposal, but it also brought together two hostile princes, Tang Wang and Lu Wang.

(End of this chapter)