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

Zhu Qiyu did not offer any random advice regarding the defense of the capital. After all, Shi Heng and others were veteran generals who were more experienced and trustworthy in defending the city.

Zhu Qiyu's purpose in coming here is to help solve problems, not to create them.

Seeing that Zhu Qiyu truly had no intention of interfering with the army, the civil officials simply returned to their offices to work, leaving only Yu Qian, Shi Heng, and others to follow Zhu Qiyu.

Upon reaching another city tower, Zhu Qiyu rested briefly, then turned to Yu Qian and asked, "What pressing problems still need to be solved?"

Yu Qian and Shi Heng exchanged a glance, and Yu Qian slowly said, "Your Majesty, during the training of the troops, I had a slight disagreement with General Shi and the other generals. This matter is awaiting Your Majesty's decision."

Zhu Qiyu immediately perked up: "Tell me!"

"Your Majesty, since the loyalist army is mostly a reserve force, their military skills are generally average. They have been neglected in training and have not experienced combat. If we want to make significant progress in a short period of time, we need to use veteran soldiers from the former capital garrison to train the new soldiers and appoint veteran soldiers as junior officers in the new army. Only by training them in this way can the army's combat effectiveness be significantly improved in a short period of time."

When Zhu Qiyu heard Yu Qian’s suggestion, he thought it was feasible. Using the old to lead the new was the usual practice. Not to mention the army, even the handover of ordinary government affairs was done in the same way.

However, Yu Qian's words clearly had a hidden meaning, and Zhu Qiyu asked, "What's wrong with this method?"

Seeing this, Shi Heng explained, "Your Majesty, the biggest problem with this method is that it disperses the only truly elite troops in the capital garrison among various armies. Only when these elite troops are gathered together can they demonstrate their formidable fighting power, which is also the key to our Great Ming's victory over the Oirat Mongols."

"If the troops are dispersed among the various armies, although the overall combat strength of the loyalist army will be improved, they can only defend to the death. If there is no army that can be launched at any time, our Great Ming will undoubtedly cut off its own arm."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Qiyu frowned deeply. It must be said that Shi Heng's thoughts were indeed the crux of the problem. Scattering these experienced soldiers would improve the overall combat effectiveness, but the role of the vanguard would be completely lost.

If they were to be transferred there for training first and then brought together, the new army would be thrown into chaos if these junior officers were removed. Moreover, these Beijing garrison troops need to practice tactics regularly, and it would be impossible to just pull them out and turn them into a strong army. That would be nothing short of wishful thinking.

Zhu Qiyu looked at the two men and asked, "What are you two thinking?"

After careful consideration, Yu Qian said, "We believe that we should take a middle approach. General Shi's words are indeed reasonable. We need an army with combat experience to be stationed in the capital. Therefore, we will transfer 5,000 elite soldiers to various armies, and then select strong and skilled reserve soldiers from each army to supplement the capital garrison. They will train and fight together, which will at least ensure that the fighting strength of the loyalist army is increased, while the original capital garrison can still maintain its corresponding fighting strength."

"Excellent!"

This is a last resort, at least it can satisfy both sides.

But the next second, Yu Qian said something surprising: "Your Majesty, I have another bold idea. The existing military system may no longer be able to meet the needs of combat. I believe that reform is urgently needed."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Qiyu remained silent, but stared intently at Yu Qian for a while. Yu Qian, however, was unperturbed. He met Zhu Qiyu's gaze with clear and natural eyes, seemingly free of any ulterior motives.

Seeing the rather subtle atmosphere between the two, Shi Heng and the others dared not even breathe loudly. This involved military system reform, which was something that ordinary officials were unwilling to touch, as it was a major taboo.

"What are your thoughts?"

Yu Qian recited the plan in his mind, saying, "Your Majesty, the original Five Armies Camp, Three Thousand Camp, and Divine Machine Camp each had their own training. They trained separately in peacetime, and when war came, they would temporarily draw troops and assemble them, and temporarily appoint generals. The soldiers did not know each other. The disastrous defeat in the Northern Expedition proved that the orders in battle were chaotic, the coordination between infantry and cavalry and firearms was not in place, and the dispatch efficiency was extremely low. It has come to the point that we must change."

Zhu Qiyu fell silent. The changes behind this move were enormous. It must be said that Yu Qian's words hit the nail on the head. The training of the Ming infantry and cavalry and the Shenji Battalion were separate.

In war, an army needs to have all three types of soldiers, which tests the commander's ability to coordinate. The key is that the commander may not be able to immediately understand the fighting style of his subordinates, making it difficult to achieve maximum efficiency in a short time.

The Ming Dynasty's design of this system was similar to that of the Song Dynasty, where generals did not know their soldiers and soldiers did not know their generals. The advantage of this was to prevent generals from becoming too powerful and taking advantage of the situation to grow too strong. The disadvantage was that in the long run, military preparedness would become lax and combat effectiveness would be extremely low.

"But during the reign of Emperor Taizong, this system was continued, and the emperor was almost invincible."

Yu Qian said, “Your Majesty, times have changed. Emperor Taizong frequently led northern expeditions and had many famous generals. He was naturally very familiar with the soldiers under his command. But now, military preparedness is lax, and it is difficult to even enforce orders. For example, the more than 200,000 troops sent to defend the capital have generals appointed by the court who have no prior contact with them. Everything has to start from scratch.”

"In order to ensure combat efficiency, I have assigned many generals to lead more than 10,000 troops to support the emperor. They train separately, and the results are remarkable. The soldiers and officers eat, live, and train together, so there is no need for temporary coordination during wartime, and their ability to cooperate in combat has been greatly improved."

Zhu Qiyu immediately understood Yu Qian's meaning and said, "According to your idea, these troops should be divided into more than ten armies, each with a mixed formation of infantry, cavalry, and firearms, under the unified command of the commander of each army, and ultimately under the joint command of General Shi. Is this acceptable?"

Yu Qian, Shi Heng, and the others immediately looked up at Zhu Qiyu, their eyes showing a hint of surprise. They hadn't expected this new emperor to understand so quickly; his summary was quite accurate, and his comprehension was truly exceptional.

Yu Qian exclaimed sincerely, "Your Majesty is wise indeed."

Shi Heng, standing to the side, was also faintly excited. If the system were reformed in this way, they could get rid of the old military system.

Then these generals in charge of the army would no longer have to consider the opinions of the old nobles and could become the new representatives of the nobles, which was of great significance.

Zhu Qiyu fell into deep thought. From his own perspective, changing the military system was more advantageous. He needed to brand the army with his own mark, get rid of the old military system, create a group of nobles who supported him, and send the old nobles to sinecure positions, thus achieving a major reshuffle of the military.

Currently, the three battalions are practically non-existent, with their original troops almost entirely wiped out. Reforming them at this point would face virtually no resistance.

However, Zhu Qiyu also had his own concerns. This move meant that the generals would lead troops for a long time and become powerful. However, the Ming Dynasty had a very complete supervision mechanism, so there was a way to solve this problem.

Secondly, what role should the Ministry of War play in this military reform? After the reform, should civil officials be involved? If the Ministry of War is to abandon its supporters after they have served their purpose, it may not be willing to accept it. How to strike a balance in this matter is something that Zhu Qiyu urgently needs to resolve.

More importantly, even if the Oirat Mongols were defeated, it would not mean that the border troubles of the Ming Dynasty would be eliminated. A strong army capable of fighting could be trained quickly.

Otherwise, even if the Oirat retreated, if Esen had reorganized the grassland tribes, he would have been able to move south again soon. The Ming Dynasty would not be able to escape death every time. Leaving life and death to fate would be the most foolish choice.

"Minister Yu, draft a memorial. This matter needs to be discussed in court. However, the current training methods for the army should continue as they are. As long as we can win this battle, I will provide whatever methods are available."

Yu Qian and the others were overjoyed upon hearing this. The signal released by His Majesty was undoubtedly beneficial to them. At this moment, everyone truly felt that His Majesty's decision not to cause trouble was a rare sign of his wisdom.

"Your Majesty, we obey!"