Daming Yuanfu

After the inspection of the Beijing camp on this day, the chief minister of the cabinet, Gao Pangshi, left the camp with Ning Haibo Qi Jiguang and Ning Yuanbo Li Chengliang. All the generals of the Imperial Guard lined up in the camp to see them off, and watched the three top troops flow back to the city. .

The three bosses entered the capital from Deshengmen. Because they lived on different routes, they parted ways at Shichahai Temple. Before leaving, Qi Jiguang saluted on his horse and said: "Yuanfu, the strategy I proposed today is really only feasible when it is absolutely necessary. However, the battlefield this time is thousands of miles away, and a response to the situation may not be beneficial to those of us waiting in Beijing. We all know what we can do, so the frontline commander still has the power to make decisions on the fly. I believe that the imperial court must not control it remotely, so I hope Yuan will assist in investigating it."

Gao Pragmatic smiled slightly, nodded in return and said: "Ning Haibo, don't worry too much. Today's advice is just one of the temple's calculations, not a remote control. Speaking of which, when the war in the Western Region is in full swing, even if there is an order from the cabinet, the commander at the front should adopt it as appropriate. Rather than rigid implementation, this cabinet department still knows this."

Qi Jiguang felt relieved, apologized, and rode away. Li Chengliang twisted his beard and smiled, but he was not in a hurry to leave. Instead, he waited for Qi Jiguang to leave before approaching Gao Pingshi's horse and asked in a voice that only the two of them could hear: "Yuanfu, please forgive me for having the courage to ask. ：Is His Majesty still unaware of today’s discussions on military reform, especially the establishment of the top ten A-type armies?”

Gao Pragmatic chuckled and said: "What if you know, what if you don't know? After all, don't we have to discuss this with the people below before we can present it to the Holy One?"

Li Chengliang shook his head first, then sighed, and then said: "Yuanfu, regardless of old matters, you and I are now in-laws, so please allow me to speak frankly about some matters..."

"Uncle Ning Yuan has something to say, but there's no harm in saying it." Gao pragmatically nodded.

"The top ten A-type armies are not only very large in establishment, but also extremely well-equipped. Judging from what Yuan Fu said today, their equipment and training are probably on par with those of the Imperial Guard. In comparison, their establishment scale is slightly smaller than Praetorian Guard.

At the same time, the military town under the former Changping General Army was not only not among the top ten A-type armies, but was even missing from the B-type army. That means... it was removed from the list. I don’t know why Yuan Fu made such a choice, but has Yuan Fu considered what the emperor would think when he saw this? "

Gao Pragmatic was silent. Seeing this, Li Chengliang continued: "The town of Changping was originally an elite force closest to the capital. After the desertion of the capital camp, it was always considered to be the most important force on the periphery of the capital's city defense. Now, although the capital camp has been revived, there are imperial guards nearby. 70,000, but... can 70,000 Imperial Guards really deter the two capitals and thirteen provinces?

In my humble opinion, before the ten major A-type armies are formed, it may be possible, but after the ten major A-type armies are organized, it may not be enough. Yuan Fu, according to your plan, in addition to the imperial guards of the capital, the main force of the outer defense line of Shenjing is the four major A-type armies, namely the Liaodong First Army, the Jizhou First Army, the Xuanfu First Army, and the Datong First Army. , but there is only one imperial guard inside Shenjing.

The A-type army has about 50,000 troops each. The four major A-type armies have 200,000 elites, while the Royal Guards only have less than 70,000. In this way, let's make a hypothesis: What if someone can have a huge influence among the border troops and can persuade two or more of the four major A-type armies to march towards the capital together... At this time, in the capital But there is only one army of Imperial Guards. What can Shenjing Ru do?

Thinking more deeply, if this person not only has great prestige among the border troops, but can even influence the Imperial Guards... let alone ordering the Imperial Guards to stop, as long as he can influence the decisiveness of the Imperial Guards' actions, there is nothing Shenjing Ruzhi can do ? "

Even with Gao Pragmatic's current calmness, after hearing these words, he couldn't help but his eyes flashed, and then he returned to his usual appearance, he laughed and said: "Who can have such ability to make the four major A-type troops obey? To obey orders without fearing the regulations of the imperial court, and to have the imperial guards disobey the emperor's tiger symbol order, but to be hesitant because of the influence of one person?"

Li Chengliang sighed: "Yuanfu, don't tell secrets in front of people. I have also personally trained soldiers, and I have relied on various means to keep this private army from falling apart. No matter how hard I say it, I know how to make it happen." A troop of soldiers obeyed his orders.

Yuan Fu, if this military reform can be carried out, the personnel appointment and dismissal power of the ten A-type armies and the eighteen B-type armies will inevitably be in your hands. This move is a major matter for the rearrangement of military towns across the country. The generals from all over the country will be in danger of honor and disgrace for hundreds or even hundreds of years...Under this situation, which general would dare to go against Yuan Fu's wishes?

In this way, when the military reform is completed, whether these generals are growing again or newly promoted, which general can not be grateful to Yuan Fu, wishing to dig out their hearts and souls on the spot and die loyally?

At the same time, after the military reform, the Type A Army relied more on the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War for payment, and Yuan Fu not only personally took charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs, but also had a strong say in the Ministry of War. It can be seen that at that time, Yuan Fu not only had an unparalleled reputation in the army, but also completely controlled the entire army.

As for the Imperial Guards, naturally they can only be mobilized with the Tiger Talisman in the Emperor's hands, but at my age, I am not afraid to make it clear: after all, the army is made up of living people, and people can do it. independent thinking.

If...I mean what if, if the tiger talisman is now issued to Commander Ma, the holy intention is for Commander Ma to immediately dispatch troops into the city to surround the Nanning Marquis Mansion, would Commander Ma immediately dispatch troops into the city to execute the order without saying anything?

In my opinion, even if Commander Ma patted his chest and promised to lead troops into the city immediately, he would actually try his best to delay the deployment of troops, and at the same time send his cronies into the city in disguise to report to the Marquis Mansion. It's the very least... Yuanfu, what do you think? "

Gao Pingshi was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled and asked: "If such a day comes, is Uncle Ning Yuan willing to believe that our ministry will be captured without hesitation?"

He originally asked a rhetorical question, but Li Chengliang did not answer, and actually asked: "It doesn't matter whether I believe it or not. What is important is whether you think the emperor will believe it or not?"

After a pause, Li Chengliang sighed again and said: "There are rumors that the late emperor Long Yu summoned the emperor before the collapse of Yu Qian's legacy. The late emperor told the emperor that as long as he controls the factory guard and the capital camp, the power will not be left to others... Yuan Fu must have heard of this rumor, right?"

Gao pragmatically said: "The factory guards have always been in control, and nothing has changed today. As for the Beijing Camp, the Production and Construction Corps is still in the hands of nobles, that is, in the hands of the emperor, and the financial power of the Imperial Guards It is also handled by the Production and Construction Corps, not the Ministry of Household Affairs and the Ministry of War.

In addition, the Tiger Talisman is also in the palace, so the power of allocation is also controlled by His Majesty. It can be seen from this that if the late emperor really had a legacy, the Holy One would have listened to it carefully.

As for what you said about Commander Ma's possible actions when...in an accident, that is just a hypothesis after all. How long has Commander Ma shown his disobedience to the Holy Will? "

Li Chengliang sighed: "So, Yuan Fu plans to vigorously implement this military reform regardless of anyone's opposition?"

Gao Pingshi frowned slightly and asked, "What do you think Uncle Ning Yuan has to say?"

Li Chengliang said: "I will go to the Shu to oppose it. If all the people in the family still recognize me as their father, they will also go to the Shu to oppose it."

"Oh?" Gao Jingshi was very surprised. Judging from Li Chengliang's previous performances, what he ultimately wanted was not to fall out with him. Why was he so adamant now that the entire Tieling Li family would object to it?

Li Chengliang subconsciously glanced left and right. Fortunately, when the surrounding guards saw the two of them talking at close range, they had consciously moved some distance away, so there were no six ears nearby.

So Li Chengliang lowered his voice and said: "This move is of great importance. I think that once Yuan Fu proposes this policy, if no one in the army objects at that time, then the Holy One will definitely not allow it... Yuan Fu, Tieling Li family is willing to be the first A dissenting general."

Gao pragmatic suddenly understood.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and took a closer look at Li Chengliang. As expected, this old commander was not only a general who was accustomed to fighting, he was also the leader of the generals who had the best ability to raise the enemy's self-respect back then. Although his beard and hair are now white, it is only his body that is aging, not his wisdom.

What Li Chengliang meant just now is very simple: Your power in the army, Gao Yuanfu, is too strong now. No matter how much the emperor trusts you, he is an emperor first, and he will never forget the last words the emperor gave him before his death. Instruction - instruction on how to take power.

Therefore, your current situation seems to be majestic and unparalleled in the world, but you are also facing a major reversal of the Holy Will.

The Holy Family was once your greatest support, but now that you are powerful enough to threaten the imperial power, the Holy Will may reverse in an instant, from absolute support for you to the need to completely destroy you. There is only one day in the sky, and the supreme imperial power will never allow others to get involved! Therefore, if you want to continue to implement this military reform, you must make the emperor think that there is a force in the army that can compete with you. Otherwise, the emperor will not mind personally killing your idea in the bud.

Even if you are still "unrepentant", I am afraid there will be further beatings in the future, or even...

Of course, Gao Pingshi also knew very well that the reason why Li Chengliang did this was not because the Tieling Li family was willing to cooperate with him in this "Infernal Affairs" due to such a marriage between the two families. The reason why he did this was because it could bring huge benefits to the Tieling Li family - with the support of the emperor, he would blatantly profit as much as possible in the big cake of military reform!

The reason is very simple. The Tieling Li family has become the first general to oppose the "high pragmatic military reform", and they are the "head of the generals" on the surface. So when the emperor sees this situation, he will definitely support the Tieling Li family to fight against or At least check and balance Gao Pragmatic's influence in the military.

Since the emperor wanted to vigorously support them, how could the Tieling Li family only get the "Liaodong First Army" that they were almost certain to get?

Li Chengliang just mentioned the establishment of the A-type army near the capital, and said that the Imperial Guard may not be 100% useful to the emperor, not to mention that the Imperial Guard is facing the dilemma of insufficient strength in the face of the "four major A-type armies" . Then think about it conversely, if the emperor thought so, what would he do?

Even if the Li family has already taken away one of the four major Type-A armies near Gyeonggi, it may not be enough. Maybe they will have to give the Li family another one! Of course, it is also possible to give back half... Don't think that "half" is difficult to give, it is actually easy to handle.

For example, let's assign a member of the Li family to the First Army of Ji Town as the deputy commander. This person will also serve as the commander of one town, and then let the Li family serve as the commander of another town. This will directly control two towns and about 25,000 people. It's half the strength of a Type A army.

Of course, there is another possibility. The emperor believed that the Li family could not directly control such a huge elite force around the capital, so he arranged for the Li family to serve in other distant Type A troops, and arranged other generals he recognized around the capital. For example, the second family of generals who oppose military reform is also feasible.

The emperor even has a more direct choice, such as simply rejecting the highly pragmatic military reform proposal, and the military issues will continue as usual. However, this possibility is really low. After all, although this military reform has not yet been implemented, a discerning person will know at a glance that this move will definitely be of great help in improving the military's combat effectiveness. Since the emperor still has the ambition to become the Zen Emperor, he will definitely not refuse this proposal to improve the combat effectiveness of the army.

Gao Pinggong's heart was spinning, and he already understood Li Chengliang's intentions. He even guessed that Li Chengliang wanted to take the opportunity to remind himself that his one Tieling Li family did not have enough size to form a balance in the emperor's mind, and he needed a second and third Tieling. Li stood up to oppose and then profited from this military reform.

Li Chengliang must also know the difficulties of Gao pragmatism - those who stand up to oppose must have a reasonable opposition position, and secondly, they cannot truly oppose Gao pragmatism.

What does it mean? The so-called reasonable opposition position, for example, Li Chengliang was suppressed by Gao Pragmatic in the past. Although Li Chengliang was shrewd, he must have known clearly in his heart that this suppression was essentially the emperor's intention.

But no matter what, the Li family had a "feast" with Gao Pangshi. As for the subsequent marriage between the two families, it can be seen as some kind of compromise after both parties found that neither party could kill the other, but it did not mean that the old feud was settled - at least that was how the outside world could interpret it, including the emperor.

It is simpler, then, to not really object to what high pragmatism means. Li Chengliang took a huge political risk and said such straightforward words to Gao Jingshi today, which means that he knows very well that if he really opposes Gao Jingshi, Gao Jingshi actually has a way to bring great misfortune to him and even the entire Tieling Li family. of.

Therefore, he must confess everything, and then not only let Gao pragmatic know what he wants, but also convince Gao pragmatic that his idea makes sense. Under this premise, it is certainly impossible for him to truly oppose Gao Pragmatism.

The Tieling Li clan is like this, how can other generals be the same? In essence, no general has the ability to oppose Gao Pragmatism now, because Gao Pragmatism will not reform the military at worst. As long as he does not reform the military and does not touch the imperial power, then if he goes back and kills any general, it will be no different than stepping on an ant!

If he wants military reform and someone needs to stand up to oppose it and act as a reassurance to the emperor, the person who stands up to oppose needs to have reasons for opposition but not really be an opponent.

Now it's Gao Pragmatic's turn to be entangled. Besides the Li family, which other family can do it?

First of all, the generals of Xuanda must be expelled collectively, because everyone in the world, including the emperor, knows that it has been almost thirty years since the generals of Xuanda signed in front of Gao Pragmatic, "The lackeys under the sect will bow their heads before so-and-so", which is true. He is a direct line keeper of high pragmatism. If you want to say that General Xuanda suddenly jumped out to oppose the military reform, then even a three-year-old child would know that there must be something evil here - you are Gao Yuanfu's direct descendant, how can Gao Yuanfu's military reform not benefit you? Are you mentally ill for jumping out to oppose it?

Once the generals of Xuanda are excluded, the one who can compare with them is Ji Liao. But Ji Liao already has the opposition of the Li family of Liaodong, which is enough. You can't say that Cao Yun also opposes it - what's the difference between him and General Xuan?

So, Ji Town? Of course there are generals in Ji Town, but there is no deep-rooted general family. In the past 20 to 30 years, the largest general in Ji Town was actually an outsider - the Qi family, that is, uncle and nephew Qi Jiguang and Qi Jin.

But choosing the Qi family was not as natural as choosing the Li family, because it is well known that Gao Pragmatic has always been very good to Qi Jiguang's uncle and nephew. Although Qi Jiguang does not seem to have an obvious political stance, the objective reality is that the Qi family has always listened to Gao Pragmatic's orders, and they have obeyed Gao Pragmatic's command in many battles. Even Qi Jin's current "North Korean military officer" was highly pragmatically recommended.

However, if the Qi family wants to "object", it is not impossible. For example, Qi Jin is now the commander-in-chief of North Korea, but the military reform plan submitted by Gao Pragmatic does not designate Qi Jin as the "Commander of the First Army of the Han Dynasty", so Qi Jin has reasons to object.

But, how to find a reasonable reason to "suppress" Qi Jin? It's not like Qi Jin didn't listen to Gao Yuanfu's orders. Gao Yuanfu had always had a good relationship with the Qi family, so why should he suppress Qi Jin? This definitely requires a reason.

Gao Pragmatic couldn't think of a good reason at the moment, so he had to say to Li Chengliang first: "Uncle Ning Yuan is interested, and he has good intentions. The Tieling Li family will do what Uncle Ning Yuan wants."

Li Chengliang breathed a sigh of relief and said goodbye.

The two separated, and Gao Pingshi returned to his mansion. He was sitting in a pavilion near Shichahai, thinking about how to find out the reason why Qi Jin opposed him. Suddenly, the maid next to him reported that Mrs. Ye He was here.

Gao Pragmatic's eyes suddenly lit up. He turned around and saw Meng Guzhe approaching. He immediately smiled and said: "Meng Gu came at the right time and solved a problem I was facing in one go."

Meng Guzhe was ignorant and said in astonishment: "Master, I saw you sitting here for a long time and wanted to bring you tea... How can I solve the problem of the master?"

"Come on, come on, come and sit." Gao Pingshi smiled and pointed to his side. When Meng Guzhezhe sat down, he waved his hand to dismiss the maid and said to Meng Guzhezhe: "There is something for you to do."

Meng Guzhezhe felt happy and said hurriedly: "That's great. The sisters can all help the master, but the slave family can't do anything..." At this point, she suddenly shut up tightly. She said this as if she was trying to win favor, and she was worried about Gao Pragmatic's reaction.

However, Gao Pragmatic didn't react at all. Instead, he smiled and said, "If you 'helped' like them, wouldn't I have become a widower for no reason? Well, let's not talk about these useless things and get down to business."

Meng Guzhe nodded happily and said: "Master, please give me your instructions."

Gao Pangshi didn't bother to care about her choice of words, and said directly: "Go and write a letter to your two brothers and ask them to cause some minor trouble. That kind of thing... will make Mr. Qi very upset." Not happy, but not something that would cause the imperial court to be angry."
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PS: This 5K chapter is purely "plot".