Jingtai: Making the Ming Dynasty Great Again

October 20th, the fourteenth year of the Zhengtong reign.

Inside the government office of the Imperial Guard, more than four hundred people stood in formation.

They were dressed in uniform light blue outfits and wore standard-issue long swords at their waists.

Most of them had scars on their bodies that had not yet healed.

A month ago, Zhu Qiyu personally selected 800 men from among several thousand to fill the vanguard of the government army.

Now, only 407 of the original 800 remain.

Han Cheng stood at the front of the line, the bandages on his chest had just been removed.

In that battle, he killed seven enemies with his twin swords, but he also took two blows himself.

Zhou Bin, standing beside him, still looked somewhat pale.

He was first in the sand table simulation, and he was also at the forefront when it came to the actual battle.

A stray arrow pierced his left shoulder, nearly killing him.

Li Yan, Zhao Ping, Wang Meng—all familiar faces were there.

Many familiar faces are no longer there.

Zhu Qiyu stood on the high platform, looking down at the more than four hundred people below:

"I am not here today to give you rewards."

The Ministry of Revenue has already distributed the reward money; anyone who hasn't received it can go and yell at Shen Yi.

A low chuckle rippled through the room.

Zhu Qiyu continued after the laughter subsided: "In the Battle of Tumu Fortress, almost all of the elite troops of the Twenty-Six Guards were wiped out."

Those who survive must either follow me to defend the city.

Either die in battle where I cannot see them.

Now, most of the commanders, captains, and centurions of the Twenty-Six Guards are gone.

Those vacancies always need to be filled.

As he spoke, Zhu Qiyu suddenly raised his voice: "Han Cheng!"

Han Cheng stepped forward and knelt down: "Your subordinate is here!"

"I saw you kill seven enemies with your double swords at Deshengmen."

From this day forward, you are the commander of the vanguard of the Imperial Guard, in charge of the affairs of this guard.

Han Cheng kowtowed: "This humble general thanks you for your kindness!"

"Zhou Bin!"

Zhou Bin stepped forward and knelt down.

"From now on, you will be the Deputy Commander of the Vanguard of the Imperial Guard, assisting in the affairs of this guard."

Zhou Bin kowtowed: "This humble general thanks you!"

Zhu Qiyu then looked at Li Yan, Zhao Ping, and Wang Meng: "Li Yan, you will go to the Left Guard of the Imperial Guard and serve as a commander of a thousand men."

Zhao Ping, you will be appointed as a commander of the Right Guard of the Imperial Guard.

Wang Meng, you will go to the rear guard of the Imperial Guard and be appointed as a commander of a thousand men.

The three of them knelt down at the same time.

Li Yan looked up, somewhat stunned: "Your Majesty, this humble general is not to remain at the forefront of the Imperial Guard?"

Zhu Qiyu looked at him: "What, don't you want to go?"

Li Yan: "That's not what I meant. I just... I thought His Majesty wanted to keep us by his side."

Zhu Qiyu laughed: "Why would I keep you all by my side?"

To keep them as personal guards?

I tell you, the Twenty-Six Guards are my personal troops.

Jinwu, Yulin, Fujun, Huben, Yanshan, Daxing, Jiyang, Jizhou, Tongzhou...

Every guard should be my eyes, my ears, my hands and feet.

But what have the Twenty-Six Guards become over the years?

It became a place where the sons of noble families could waste their time.

It has become a hole that feeds on empty quotas and exploits soldiers!

Now, I will take back the Twenty-Six Guards.

You are the swords I have taken back from the Twenty-Six Guards.

What kind of place is the Fujun Vanguard?

It is the place where the young soldiers were born.

I am releasing you today not to drive you away.

I'm sending you to keep an eye on those guards for me.

He will manage those guards for me.

"Make those guards truly my guards!"

More than four hundred people knelt down in unison: "Long live the Emperor!"

……

Four hundred and seven people, each of whom was assigned a place.

Some were commanders of a thousand households, some were commanders of a hundred households, and some were generals or junior officers.

Official positions varied in rank, but everyone had a substantive post.

After the last person accepted the order and returned to their ranks, Zhu Qiyu looked at them and slowly said:

"I know that some of you will feel wronged."

Why go somewhere else when you were doing well in the vanguard of the government army?

"Why go to those guards you don't know when you're closer to me?"

He paused for a moment: "Because I can't trust anyone else, I can only trust you."

The square fell silent instantly; the power of those words was immense.

Many people were excited after hearing this.

"I trust you."

I have placed you in the Twenty-Six Guards.

It means entrusting my life to you.

As long as you are here, the Twenty-Six Guards will remain.

As long as the Twenty-Six Guards are here, I am here.

Han Cheng led the way in kowtowing: "Your Majesty, we are willing to die for you!"

More than four hundred people shouted in unison, "We are willing to die for Your Majesty!"

The sound was deafening and lingered for a long time.

That afternoon, the Ministry of War sent the appointment document to the Vanguard of the Imperial Guard.

When Yu Qian first saw the list, he gently shook his head, but a smile appeared on his lips.

With such an emperor, the Ming Dynasty might truly be able to...

Of these 405 people, the highest-ranking official was a thousand-household commander, and the lowest-ranking was just a small flag officer.

It appeared to be nothing more than a routine officer transfer.

It was completely inconspicuous even in the vast Twenty-Six Guards.

But Yu Qian knew what this meant.

Each of the original eight hundred people was personally selected by him and Zhu Qiyu.

The remaining four hundred or so men had fought alongside Zhu Qiyu on the city walls.

Their loyalty needs no doubt.

Their military achievements are well-documented.

Most importantly, their backgrounds had almost no connection with the elite groups in Beijing.

Disperse them among the twenty-six guards.

It was like driving hundreds of nails into every bone of the Twenty-Six Guards.

Three to five years later, these people will be promoted, gain power, and lead their own teams.

By then, the Twenty-Six Guards would no longer be a place for nobles to loaf around.

They were actually the emperor's personal guard.

That night, at the Qianqing Palace.

Zhu Qiyu summoned Xing'an: "How is the Eastern Depot doing?"

When bestowing titles and rewards, Zhu Qiyu appointed Xing'an as the commander of the Eastern Depot.

Such a large department can't just sit idle forever.

Therefore, Xing'an has been busy investigating and eliminating the Eastern Depot during this period.

Xing'an cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, after investigating these past few days, the situation of the Eastern Depot is not optimistic."

Zhu Qiyu looked up at him: "What makes it so worrying?"

Xing'an: "When Wang Zhen was in charge of the Directorate of Ceremonial, the legitimate espionage and investigation work of the Eastern Depot almost fell into disuse."

At that time, the Eastern Depot only did two things: collect money and harm people.

He took out a booklet from his sleeve and presented it with both hands: "This is the preliminary result of my inventory."

The Eastern Depot had over 1,300 registered agents.

More than half of them are nominal employees who receive salaries without working.

There are fewer than 600 people actually on duty.

Of these 600 people, more than 300 got in by bribing Wang Zhen's cronies.

There are no more than three hundred people who are truly capable of getting things done.

Zhu Qiyu flipped through the booklet, reading line by line.

Some people take money to help others get away with their crimes.

Some fabricated charges to extort money.

Some people inquired about the private affairs of court officials on behalf of Wang Zhen.

Some forcibly seized farmland and forced good people into lowly positions.

……

Zhu Qiyu closed the booklet, his face grim: "Where are these people now?"

Xing'an said, "I have ordered men to detain the twenty-three ringleaders."

The rest of the people were temporarily confined to the factory office, awaiting His Majesty's decision.

Another matter is that more than half of the secret files accumulated by the Eastern Depot over the years have disappeared.

Zhu Qiyu's gaze sharpened: "Secret files?"

Xing'an nodded: "Yes, the Eastern Depot was established in the eighteenth year of Yongle."

All visit reports, confidential reports, and case files from previous years should be archived for future reference.

However, after searching through the entire archives, I discovered that almost all the secret files from the seventh year of the Zhengtong reign onwards were missing.

All that remained were some insignificant and ordinary case files.

I interrogated several old foreigners.

Some people say that those confidential files were taken away by Wang Zhen's men.

As for where he went, no one knows.