unclear

Chapter 665 Shocking
Hong Tao did not stay in Xuanfu Town for long. He just inspected the city, pointed out a few minor issues that needed to be improved, and had dinner with the generals. Then he set off in a hurry and continued westward, and rejected Ma Chengen's kindness of sending troops to protect him.

"Your Majesty has brought so many four-wheeled carriages, which makes it quite inconvenient to move. Commander, why don't you let me lead a guard to follow you from a distance? We can rest assured after we pass the Wanquan Left Guard Border Wall!"

Standing on the city wall and watching thousands of strangely dressed soldiers driving hundreds of horse-drawn carriages, Xiao Ruzhi felt uneasy again and couldn't help but ask Ma Chengen for orders.

"It's useless. His Majesty has left fifty Royal Horse Guard warriors in the city. If you and I make any unusual movements, we will be informed within an hour. If we are punished, it will be even more troublesome."

Ma Chengen also wanted to do so. After all, the emperor was traveling and passing through someone's defense zone, in addition to receiving him well, ensuring his safety was the top priority. But the emperor explicitly said that he would not send troops to follow him, saying that he was afraid that the Mongols would know and cause misunderstandings.

"Alas... I hope that the heavens will protect the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty..." Xiao Ruzhi could no longer hold back after hearing this. In his heart, he was still very optimistic about this emperor. In addition to his military exploits, the main thing was his new policies.

Although Xuanfu had not yet implemented the new policy, Yan'anfu had already built many factories under the leadership of the oil refinery, and also planted wheat and sweet potatoes, with significant results in the past few years. The Xiao family was a military member of the Yan'an Guard, and it was also their hometown. Who wouldn't want their hometown to become richer day by day?

But all this depends on one person, that is Emperor Jingyang. If something happens to him, the New Deal will be ruined. Those people in the court are taking the benefits of the New Deal while deliberately opposing it. They are all ungrateful people who can never be fed.

"Your Majesty must have made all the necessary preparations for this trip. I heard that he brought a lot of glassware and self-ringing clocks with him, which should make Prince Shunyi and Grand Taiji Baihong happy for a long time. As long as they keep their promise, Your Majesty really has nothing to fear.

Xinghe City is less than a hundred miles away, and even closer to Datong Town. The army will arrive the same day. I would like to ask Lieutenant General Xiao to go to Wanquan Zuowei and lead 2,000 soldiers to station near the border wall, and send more scouts to patrol in case of emergency."

Ma Chengen's idea was similar to Xiao Ruzhi's. He hoped that the new policy would continue to be implemented, but he did not want the emperor to reduce the power of the border troops. Although the emperor did not want people to follow him, it would be okay for us to mobilize troops from the border garrisons instead of sending troops from the city.

"Wang Chengen, this is my Ming border town, do you feel anything?"

Hong Tao didn't care whether the soldiers of Xuanfu would obey his orders. As long as they didn't mobilize the army to follow him, it wouldn't be a problem. As he got closer to the border wall, the military forts and camps along the way became more and more dense. He could encounter one or two every ten miles.

"Your Majesty, compared to the army, they are like beggars on the street. I only knew that life in the garrison was hard and many people fled, but I didn't know it was so hard. All the generals and officers here should be killed!"

Wang Chengen knew exactly what the emperor meant by asking this. Over the past two days, he had become accustomed to the dilapidated state of the garrisons he passed by. Few of the houses were intact, and most were built with adobes, with bricks and tiles rarely seen.

The guards inside were more like disaster victims than soldiers. They were dressed in rags, looked listless, and had indifferent expressions. It was hard to see young and strong people. They were all old and weak, and skinny as if they had been hungry for years.

The border troops were relatively better, but most of their armor was worn out and their appearance was not much better than that of the garrison troops. Apart from the fact that most of them were young men, there were not many who looked strong.

No wonder the imperial court often lost in previous battles with Mongolia and Jurchens despite having an absolute advantage in numbers. It was not because the generals were not good at commanding, nor was it because the enemy was too strong, but because the imperial court was too weak. But who should be blamed for all this? Wang Chengen felt that the generals of the border army were the first to bear the brunt of the blame. Not to mention the distant ones, the generals, lieutenant generals and their followers who were welcoming the emperor in Xuanfu were all very strong and rode tall horses.

Don't ask, the food and fodder that the court sent to the border troops must have been embezzled and sold by them. It is said that the emperor does not want hungry soldiers. If they can't even get enough food, how can they have the strength to fight in the battlefield, let alone fight to the death.

"Drinking the blood of soldiers and eating empty salaries is indeed a big problem, but the food and salaries of the border troops have never been paid in full, and the generals are not to blame. Now you know why I am willing to offend everyone in the court and vigorously implement the new policy, right?

If the imperial court has no money, the border troops will not have enough to eat; if the border troops have no enough to eat, they will lose more battles than they win; if they always lose more battles than they win, the imperial court will suffer more and more losses, and will become less courageous and dare not talk about war easily. This is a disease of poverty, and people with poor morale will be short-sighted!
If you want to cure this disease, you must first learn how to earn money, and at the same time, plug all the big and small holes. In the past ten years, I have only done two things, earning money and plugging holes, and I have achieved initial results.

The next step is to reorganize the army. As the saying goes, a three-foot-thick ice does not form overnight. Even if these soldiers are paid in full and trained strictly, it will be difficult to form an army within three to five years.

Their sharpness had been worn away by suffering, their courage had been lost by hunger, and all they thought about was how to have enough food to eat, a house that was airtight, and preferably how to marry a wife and have children, and that was all.

This is why I do not want to revive the border garrisons. It is better to tear them down and rebuild them than to repair them until they are no longer usable. It is a pity that many people cannot understand my intentions, or do not want to understand them.

No matter how rotten the frontier troops are, they are still cash cows and power in their eyes, and they must hold on to them tightly. Anyone who wants to cut off their wealth and power will be their sworn enemy. "

What Wang Chengen said was definitely right, but also definitely not comprehensive. In fact, it didn't matter how he answered. Hong Tao didn't say this to him. The real audience was on the other side, Du Wenhuan.

"Your Majesty, I agree with what you said, but I don't understand the point. It seems that you are hinting at something. Please explain it clearly!"

This indirect criticism did not sound too unpleasant to Du Wenhuan, but the emperor would certainly not just complain in front of his subjects, so who was he angry about?

"Catch it and look carefully. It's not that I'm suspicious, but that I'm not careful enough!" That's right, Hong Tao was not just complaining casually. He took out a small ball from his military uniform pocket and threw it over.

"...This, this...what does Zhang Bingzhong mean?"

Du Wenhuan was quick to reach out and grab the ball in mid-air. It turned out to be a small round box sealed with wax, which seemed to have been opened by someone, and a small paper ball was stuffed inside. As soon as he opened it and took a look, his expression suddenly changed, his hands trembled a little, and his face was full of disbelief.

(End of this chapter)