Emperor Ming: Your Majesty, you have caused me so much suffering.

Yu Qian picked up his pen, wrote a few words, looked at them, sighed helplessly, and had to put the pen down again.

Looking at the stack of papers that had been wasted to the side, I felt a little lost.

He got up and walked to the door, looked at the empty courtyard, and sighed again.

He never imagined that recommending candidates to guard the nine gates and other border posts would be so difficult.

Chen Yi's actions and Zhu Qiyu's meaningful questioning had already disturbed Yu Qian's thoughts. Yu Qian did not reject the eunuch supervisors as he had imagined; he only rejected the eunuchs' abuse of power.

Since there have been precedents of eunuchs supervising the army in successive dynasties, and this precedent was set by Emperor Taizong, the inner court officials were the emperor's eyes and ears.

Yu Qian believed that the duty of an inner court official was never to interfere with the army, but to truthfully report the army's march and combat processes to the emperor, so that the emperor could know the specific situation of the army at any time.

If the emperor is completely clueless about the affairs of the world, then he is not worthy of being called the emperor. Therefore, it is only natural for Yu Qian to have an inner court official supervising the army.

Under the Ming Dynasty's system, it was virtually impossible to strip the emperor of his power, but military power had to be restricted. The Ming Dynasty could not withstand a second Tumu Crisis.

Yu Qian's solution was to transfer all military management and command authority of the Five Military Commissions to the Ministry of War. Since these nobles preferred to play with their birds and neglected military affairs, leading to the corruption and decay of the army, the Ministry of War should take over.

Regarding the defense of the three key fortresses, namely Baiyangkou, Zijingguan, and Juyongguan, he originally intended to promote his confidants, first transferring them to the positions of Vice Minister or Assistant Minister of the Ministry of War, and then sending these officials out to exercise control over the fortresses in the name of the Ministry of War.

Yu Qian himself was appointed acting commander of the Beijing garrison. If he could win this battle, he could subtly and gradually consolidate power in the hands of the Ministry of War.

In recent days, Yu Qian has been issuing orders quietly in the name of the Ministry of War, rather than in his capacity as the commander of the Beijing Garrison. So far, this has proven quite effective.

He even considered reforming the Three Battalions, tearing down and rebuilding the old system, since the Three Battalions were now practically defunct and had no one left.

There was virtually no resistance to reform. Even when the court officials nearly killed Gu Xingzu, those few cowards in the capital didn't stop him. What ability did they have to stop the military reform?

Once the Ministry of War takes the lead in this reform, the transfer of military power to the Ministry of War will be a natural process, and there will be no need for Chen Yi to act so openly.

More importantly, these censors' actions were tantamount to "stirring up trouble." At this moment, he could no longer fathom Zhu Qiyu's thoughts. Whether Zhu Qiyu's order for him and Shi Heng to recommend and appoint many generals was an act of absolute trust or a test was unknown.

Zhu Qiyu said that Yu Qian and Shi Heng should jointly decide on the list of generals, but Shi Heng had just been released from prison and dared not make any recommendations. Moreover, personnel transfers were originally the responsibility of the Ministry of War, so it ultimately fell on Yu Qian's shoulders.

If one acts with impartiality, one may lose a good opportunity to intervene in military affairs; if one harbors selfish motives, it may cause suspicion between the ruler and his ministers, and the battle may be lost before it even begins.

At this moment, Yu Qian did not want to disagree with Zhu Qiyu, at least he believed that Zhu Qiyu was the wise ruler he wanted.

Yu Qian stood at the door for a long time, recalling the day Zhu Qiyu helped him adjust his official robes and hat. He seemed to hear Zhu Qiyu reciting his poem "Ode to Limestone" in his ears, and a smile appeared on his lips.

A moment later, he turned and went back to his room, and this time he wrote with divine inspiration.

Zhu Qiyu was surprised by Yu Qian's efficiency; the list was presented in just half a day.

Zhu Qiyu flipped through the list and looked at it carefully, momentarily lost in thought.

The reinstated generals, including Earl of Wuyi Wang Tong, Earl of Guangning Liu An, Earl of Wujin Zhu Ying, Commander-in-Chief Liu Ju, Commander-in-Chief Tao Jin, Commander-in-Chief Liu Dexin, Commander-in-Chief Gao Li, Commander-in-Chief Mao Fushou, Commander-in-Chief Wu Xing, Commander-in-Chief Li Duan, Commander-in-Chief Tang Jie, Gu Xingzu, Sun Tang, Fan Guang, and Shi Heng, were all the top choices for guarding the nine gates.

These lists were presented to Zhu Qiyu for review, but the specific generals responsible for guarding the nine gates were not yet detailed.

At present, there is no alarm at the border, Esen is still "begging" near Datong with the retired emperor, and the Nanjing training army and the anti-Japanese army have not yet arrived in the capital. Yu Qian suggested that the focus should still be on military training.

Zhu Qiyu had no objection to this, after all, it was impossible for Esen to suddenly appear in the capital with his army.

Zhu Qiyu then picked up the garrison lists for Baiyangkou, Zijingguan, and Juyongguan and looked them over.

Baiyangkou recommended Left Councilor Yang Xinmin and Right Councilor Xie Ze; Zijingguan recommended Military Commissioner Sun Xiang and Sichuan Provincial Surveillance Commissioner Cao Tai; while Juyongguan only recommended Assistant Minister of War Luo Tong. The reason why Juyongguan did not need to make more recommendations was that Yang Hong's son, Yang Jun, was at Juyongguan at that time.

Zhu Qiyu found it difficult to judge these names at a moment's notice, as he was not familiar with them at all.

Overall, the list of those to defend the capital consists of the most capable military generals currently serving in the capital, and Yu Qian's arrangement was without personal bias.

However, the list of those guarding the three passes consisted mainly of civil officials. Was this because they didn't want the capable military generals to die, but instead chose to send civil officials to their deaths, or did they have other motives? Zhu Qiyu couldn't figure it out for a while.

Zhu Qiyu copied the list, sealed it securely, and then summoned Cheng Jing directly.

"Your subject pays respects to Your Majesty."

"Simu, secretly give this to Yiming and tell him to come and report back after you finish today, no matter how late it is."

Now that Yi Ming is the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War and has been in the court for many years, it is not difficult for him to find out the background of these people.

"Here you go!"

Cheng Jing accepted the order and left. As he walked towards him, it was Xing An.

Xing'an, after all, had spent decades in the palace, and when it came to actually getting things done, he was extremely efficient.

Upon seeing Xing'an enter, Zhu Qiyu immediately asked, "How was it?"

After bowing respectfully, Xing'an reported, "Your Majesty, the officials of the Six Ministries and the Censorate held a secret meeting, the contents of which I do not yet know. Minister Yu left first, his face showing anger, followed by Censor Chen, whose expression was particularly grave. Then the officials left together. I had someone keep an eye on Censor Chen, but after he returned to his residence, he stayed indoors."

Yu Qian left in anger, indicating that he was unaware of the memorial. Chen Yi left afterward, either because the two sides disagreed or because he had other important matters to attend to and left first.

After careful consideration, Zhu Qiyu leaned more towards the latter, as the bloodshed at the Meridian Gate was still vivid in his mind.

Chen Yi might be planning something big again. Let's hope there won't be another massacre like the Fengtian Hall incident. The current political situation can't withstand any more turmoil.

People who like to cause trouble can no longer be tolerated in the capital.

Zhu Qiyu pondered for a moment, then said meaningfully, "I heard that the arrival of the loyalist army in the capital caused unrest in Tongzhou, with people in a state of panic. No one has gone to appease them. Why hasn't anyone submitted a report? Someone should have!"

Xing'an instantly understood, finally managing to grasp Zhu Qiyu's thoughts somewhat, and hurriedly replied, "This servant will go and do it right away!"

In another instance, Chen Yi faced the same dilemma as Yu Qian, and was unable to put pen to paper for a long time.

Everyone is afraid of death, especially Chen Yi, who has already reached a high position and whose success is hard-won. However, there are some things that cannot be avoided because of fear. Clearly, Chen Yi's philosophy has transcended his own life and death.

Chen Yi insisted on writing a self-recommendation memorial that Zhu Qiyu could not refuse.

Tomorrow at the morning court session, present it to Zhu Qiyu in person. The censors in the court will then exert pressure, and the court officials will agree. Success is assured.

Once Chen Yi grasped the key point, he was struck by inspiration, and his writing flowed like a torrent.

Chen Yi never expected that Zhu Qiyu had already arranged a good place for him.