If I fail to overcome the tribulation, I can only return to the Ming Dynasty and become a prince.

Chapter 326 Civil and Military System
In the Palace of Qianqing, Zhu Di was looking at the memorial handed over by Zhu Gaochi, and Zhu Gaochi stood waiting with a nervous and careful look on his face.

"It was your idea to let Zhan Ji lead troops to Jiaozhi to reinforce the British to suppress the rebellion..." Zhu Di put down Zhu Gaochi's memorial, looked at Zhu Gaochi aside, and asked him in a casual tone: "It was still Zhan Ji's intention. ?”

Unlike Zhu Di in the past, Queen Xu's rebirth made him much more refined and easy-going.

Just like Empress Xiaocigao is the rein that restrains Emperor Hongwu, Empress Renxiao is also the scabbard that restrains Zhu Di's sharp blade.

It turned out that the death of Queen Xu made it difficult to sheath the sword of Emperor Yongle, and his sharpness began to hurt others and himself.

But now Empress Xu has been reborn under Zhu Zhankun's operation, which is like the lost scabbard being found again, causing Zhu Di, who had gradually become moody and paranoid, to gradually return to his former state.

This also caused some changes in Zhu Di's attitude towards his prince. At least Zhu Di no longer played with him.

After all, the original situation of checking and balancing the two sons and allowing them to fight against each other has disappeared with the second son's rebellion. Zhu Di must reconsider the current situation in the court.

"When I returned to the emperor, I told Zhan Yun what happened in Yunnan. Zhan Yun felt that the news in the Guizhou Gazette was untrue and suggested that the imperial court send an imperial envoy to investigate." Zhu Gaochi answered Zhu Di's words, and his words naturally also included The Duke of Guizhou, Mu Sheng, took some eye drops: "In addition to the rebellion of the remnants of the Chen Dynasty in Jiaozhi, Zhanju proposed that Zhanji personally lead the troops south. While suppressing the rebellion in Jiaozhi, he also investigated what he had done in Yunnan. What."

Zhu Di listened to Zhu Gaochi's suggestion, touched his beard and muttered: "The Duke of Guizhou is devoted to the country. Since King Mu Zhaojing of Qianning, he has been guarding the Yunnan border for our Zhu family. He is now the third generation of Xiping Marquis. , Don’t say this kind of thing that doubts their family’s loyalty again.”

"I know." Zhu Gaochi bowed in response. Although Zhu Di said so, Zhu Gaochi knew that Zhu Di had listened.

"It's a good arrangement to send Zhanji to deal with these matters. He is now an adult, and it's time for him to practice." The expression on Zhu Di's face was not angry, but he continued to think in a pleasant manner and said: "Both Zhan Yun and Zhan Ji grew up fighting with me. I'm not worried about Zhan Yun. He already has his own supporters in the court, and there are many people who are optimistic about him, both civil and military.

Zhan Ji is indeed inferior to him in this regard. Whether it is running a country or leading an army, Zhan Ji has no foundation. Letting him command the new army this time is also an opportunity for him to get some training.But after all, you are still young, so you still need to send a mature and prudent general to assist you. Who do you think is the most suitable general in the court now? "

If it were in the past, Zhu Di would not have asked this question.

In the past, princelings mainly controlled the civil servants of the imperial court. Nearly [-]% of the civil servants in the imperial court came from the prince's east palace. This is not a lie.

The generals, with the support of Zhu Di intentionally or unintentionally, fell to the King of Han.

This is not surprising. The King of Han was indeed one of the most powerful generals in the Yongle Dynasty. He was also a prince and the emperor's second son. When the prince had turned to the civil servants, the military generals brought the King of Han out as a representative of their interests. A very normal thing.

Therefore, it is not so much that the King of Han and the crown prince are fighting for the throne, but it is better to say that it is a competition for interests between the civil servant group and the noble generals.

As long as the emperor is in the middle to regulate the situation and prevent the fight between the two sides from becoming unbalanced, the stability of the court can be well maintained.

But now that the King of Han has been demoted to a local vassal due to rebellion, the generals in the court naturally need new interest representatives, and the Wuxun Group, which has lost its leader, also needs new leaders.

The crown prince's position is now as stable as Mount Tai. Zhu Gaochi, who has never made any mistakes in supervising the country for many years, has actually taken control of the court. Now that he has eliminated his biggest rival, the King of Han, he is only one step away from ascending to that position. Far away.

If it were in the past, the emperor might still be suspicious of the prince and worry about whether he would usurp the throne in advance.

After all, all civil servants belong to the prince. If Wu Xun is added to this, Zhu Gaochi will have to write a succession edict for himself if he wants to ascend the throne in advance.

But now that Queen Xu is resurrected, with Queen Xu's advice and enlightenment, the emperor's suspicion and illness are not that serious.

Coupled with the intentional and unintentional delegation of power, Zhu Gaochi can now be regarded as a veritable executive deputy emperor of the Ming Dynasty. After all, the Wu Xun family who lost the King of Han can only obey the prince under the current situation.

Therefore, if the emperor does not speak in the court now, it can almost be said that the prince decides all matters big and small.

In particular, Zhu Di did not take back Zhu Gaochi's power to supervise the country. This is enough to show that the prince's current throne is stable and he only needs to wait for Zhu Di to succeed to the throne after his funeral, or simply for Zhu Di to ascend to the throne of the Supreme Emperor.

But both Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi knew clearly that if there was only one voice in the court, it would definitely be a sign of the country's demise.

In particular, Zhu Di also knew clearly that after pacifying the north, it was now difficult for the Ming Dynasty to have major wars, and military generals would no longer have the opportunity to be promoted. In order to avoid the depletion of the imperial armaments, they must pay more attention to the balance of civil and military forces and avoid the old events of the former Song Dynasty. Repeat.

Although Zhu Zhanquan launched the Conquest of Japan, which could be regarded as finding a promotion direction for the middle and lower-level generals in the imperial court. His Qingyu Guards also recruited concubines and second sons of various noble families, but this obviously cannot satisfy the generals. demand.

This is also one of the main reasons why Zhu Di allowed the king of Han and the prince to compete for the throne.

He does like the King of Han in one aspect, but most of all he is a ruthless emperor. As a qualified emperor with great talents and strategies, Zhu Di will not let his emotions affect his decision-making.The real reason for the King of Han to fight was that the King of Han could win over the generals and give them a direction to work hard and improve, so that they could still loyally work for the Ming Dynasty and strive for the merit of following the dragon.

Instead of thinking that after the war was over, they had no chance to make military achievements again, they degenerated and indulged, and let the Ming Dynasty's armaments become depleted.

Zhu Di felt deeply about this.

In the early years of Hongwu, most of the military households in the guards were elites who had followed Zhu Yuanzhang when he founded the country. They were not only strong in battle, but also in strict military discipline. They could indeed be regarded as the proud soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.

But in the last years of Hongwu, the frontier fortress army controlled by Zhu Di and other fortress kings was quite acceptable. At least because they had to face the threat of the Mongols all year round, everyone would not say that their armaments were depleted.

But the guards in the south died very quickly, which is one of the deep-seated reasons why Zhu Di was able to win during the Jingnan period.

The central army of the imperial court was not as good as the Yan army that guarded the border all year round. Coupled with the gap between generals and Zhu Yunwen's mistakes in military strategy, it was not surprising that he lost the war that year.

In the past, the Northern Expedition lured these nobles and generals to give them something to look forward to. Naturally, the military equipment of the imperial court would not be too weak.

But even so, the local military preparedness is still in a state of decline, not to mention the flight of military households. This problem has existed since the Hongwu Year, and it has become more and more serious now.

The more serious problem is that the armament of the guard station is depleted, and most of the soldiers are not equipped to fight.

Just like the Japanese soldiers established during the Hongwu period, like most of the guards in the south of the Yangtze River, most of them are now exhausted and unable to be used.

This is actually easy to understand. Jiangnan has been at peace for a long time. Except for the battle against Nanjing City during the Jingnan period, the southern garrison has not fought a war since the Hongwu Year.

It is normal for it to become useless, but it is abnormal for it not to become useless.

After all, there has been no war for decades, and your Jiangnan garrison can still maintain its elite and combat capabilities. The court should doubt whether you have other plans.

The guards under the sun are already in such a state. It is not difficult to imagine how the hereditary nobles in the imperial court will deteriorate without fighting.

Originally, according to Zhu Di's plan, since the second brother had been abolished, a new one would be supported to represent the interests of the warriors.

Zhu Di was originally interested in Zhu Zhanji for this choice, which is why he took him with him in the previous Northern Expedition.

However, even if Zhu Di gave Zhu Zhanji a chance, Zhu Zhanji's performance in the Northern Expedition was lackluster.

On the other hand, Zhu Zhanjuan looked very stunning and talented.

Whether it was raising military pay and food for the court before the expedition, or setting up warehouses and fortresses along the way during the expedition, or beheading generals and seizing flags on the battlefield during the war, and proposing ways to control the Mongolian grasslands, Zhu Zhanquan and Zhu Zhanji were all impressed. The contrast between them is too strong.

It's not that Zhu Zhanji is not good, but he is indeed a little worse than Zhu Zhanchen.

This is just like how Zhu Di and Zhu Biao were back then. Zhu Di thought he was not bad, but he still had a lot to compare with Zhu Biao.

Originally, the emperor was well prepared. As long as Zhu Zhanjuan showed his ambition to compete for the throne, he would give Zhu Zhanjuan enough support to let him and Zhu Zhanji fight for it.

Anyway, Zhu Di was very satisfied with both of them. No matter who became the emperor's grandson and inherited the throne, in Zhu Di's opinion, he would be able to fill the position of emperor and make the Ming Dynasty prosperous.

The only problem is to deal with the threat from the other party after the two fight for a result.

Zhu Di originally planned to help Zhu Zhanyu solve these problems, but who would have thought that Zhu Zhanyu did not want to be the emperor at all, which made Zhu Di's plan suddenly come to nothing.

Even though the Wuxun Group has begun to turn to Zhu Zhancheng, who has enough capital regardless of strength and prestige to compete for the throne or even the throne, Zhu Zhancheng still has no interest in the emperor's position.

"But Zhan Yun really doesn't plan to go on his own? His Qingyu Guards are the strongest navy in the Ming Dynasty that were trained with the blood of Japanese pirates. If they don't go, who should they use?" Zhu Di looked at Zhu Gaochi, asked him.

Zhu Gaochi replied with a wry smile at this time: "My son also asked the same question, but Zhan Yun said that his two concubines were about to give birth, and he needed green jade guards to protect them, and he didn't want him to be there when the child was born. Fighting abroad."

(End of this chapter)