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

Chapter 327
In the military camp outside Dinghuai Gate, the new First Guard Army is undergoing training.

This was originally the military camp where Zhu Zhanquan trained the Qingyu Guards. After the Qingyu Guards followed Zhu Zhanqun to the fiefdom of Kyushu Island, this military camp became vacant.

Zhu Di did not waste this place, but used it as a training camp for the new army.

During the Northern Expedition, nine new armies joined the battle against the north. They made great achievements with their new firearms, and allowed the Mongols to see what "the times have changed."

The success of the new army made Zhu Di very satisfied. While increasing the expansion of the military camp outside Dinghuai Gate, he also expanded the workshop originally established by Zhu Zhanquan.

When Zhu Zhanjuan wanted to build a canal for the use of his workshop, Zhu Di did not want to spend the money without approval, so Zhu Zhanjuan was forced to find merchants in Nanjing to raise money to build a small-scale ditch to meet production needs.

But now, as the court's demand for new weapons increases, the canal must be repaired if not repaired.

Fortunately, with the proceeds from the successful conquest of Japan, coupled with the success of the Ming Dynasty treasury and the money order system, the imperial court is still able to spend money to build a canal outside Dinghuai Gate.

So the canal that had not been completed in Zhu Zhanqun's original plan was built, and the scale of the workshop was expanded according to his original plan.

But unlike the massive expansion of the workshop, the military camp used to train new troops did not expand significantly. It only stopped expanding when it was expanded to a size that could accommodate three guards training at the same time.

This is partly because the output of the jade medicine used by Zhu Zhanquan to train Qingyu Guards was limited, and the output of the military camp outside Dinghuaimen was only enough to train three guards every year.

On the other hand, after the imperial court resolved the war in northern Xinjiang, there was no need for large-scale troops.

Therefore, even if Zhu Di realized the benefits of the new army, he could not force the court to expand the army.

In fact, Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi mentioned it, but in the end, Zhu Gaochi strongly opposed it, and in turn said he wanted to disarm.

Zhu Gaochi said that he wanted to disarm, which is actually easy to understand.

In the early years, the court had to deal with the threat of the Mongols in the north and use troops to attack Cochin in the south. The result of the war between the two sides was that the court had to maintain a large army and high military expenditures.

Now that the war in Northern Xinjiang has been decided, although a large amount of money is needed to govern Northern Xinjiang, it does not require maintaining huge military expenditures like a large army going out for an expedition.

Although it costs money to govern the place, it is at least less expensive than fighting a war. Moreover, with the reopening of border trade and tea and horse trade, Ming Dynasty can still obtain considerable profits from the grassland.

Moreover, spending money on local governance means that Northern Xinjiang does not need to maintain huge military expenditures. This will undoubtedly save a lot of money, and this money can also be invested in local governance.

As a result, the court's expenditure not only did not increase, but actually decreased.

It is precisely because of this that Zhu Gaochi thought of abolishing some of the guard posts in northern Xinjiang to reduce the court's military expenditures.

After all, maintaining a large army in Northern Xinjiang after the Northern Xinjiang has been pacified will also be a heavy burden for the court.

Of course, Zhu Gaochi's disarmament is certainly not a wholesale withdrawal.

That would not be disarmament, but abandonment of land.

Although Zhu Gaochi felt that there was no need to maintain a large army in northern Xinjiang, he did not feel that the court did not need to maintain necessary force there.

After all, according to Zhu Zhancheng's strategy for the north, the imperial court still needed to station troops in northern Xinjiang to deter the Mongolian ministries.

To achieve this goal, although the court did not need to maintain a large army, it still needed an elite and capable force.

Especially for Mobei, which was a place that had not been developed before by the Ming Dynasty. If you want to maintain the Ming Dynasty's local rule, you must station troops for military garrison, and then gradually move the people there from the mainland of the Ming Dynasty. for development.

After Zhu Di carefully considered Zhu Gaochi's suggestion, he also agreed to abolish some of the guard posts, and it was not limited to northern Xinjiang. Some guard posts in Jiangnan that had been confirmed to be unbearable were also included in the list of abolition this time.

As for the quotas and military expenditures that were freed up, Zhu Di used them to organize and train the new army.

In Zhu Di's view, instead of spending a lot of military expenses to support a group of wastes, it is better to spend the money wisely and train a strong army.

Zhu Gaochi naturally supported Zhu Di's idea.

Although he was completely incomparable to Zhu Di in military terms, Zhu Gaochi also guarded Peiping with Empress Xu during the Jingnan period and personally participated in the war.

Although he didn't go into battle wearing armor and risking his own life, Zhu Gaochi knew how to fight.Therefore, he did not oppose Zhu Di's plan to organize a new army. He only requested that two old guard posts be abolished in order to form a new guard post.

After all, the expenses of the new army are much greater than the expenses of the old guard army. According to Zhu Gaochi's calculations, two old guard stations do need to be abolished in order to maintain a new one.

Moreover, the Ming Dynasty's garrison system was not only about maintaining the number of troops, but more importantly, the garrison was actually responsible for the military garrison.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the guard system was not as bad as it would be in later generations, so they were still able to provide the court with a large amount of food.

This was also the original intention of Emperor Hongwu when he established the guard system. Raising a million soldiers would not cost the court a grain of food, allowing the guard to be self-sufficient.

Therefore, after the abolition of the guard posts, the court had to consider how to resettle the large number of military households, and how to distribute the military land originally belonging to each guard post. These are all problems.

Fortunately, with the support of silver from the Japanese country, the imperial court was quite financially wealthy, and with money, it would naturally be able to properly solve these problems.

It's just that these things are complicated and complicated. Even though Zhu Gaochi has many years of administrative experience, handling them is complicated and laborious.

Zhu Zhanji may have learned a lot about these things during this period because both Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi intended to train him, and he also came into contact with a lot of relevant government affairs, and he was also familiar with military affairs.

Although Zhu Zhanji had fought with Zhu Di before, most of it was just to let him feel the atmosphere of the battlefield and understand military strategies such as how to command an army in combat situations.

As for how much expenditure is needed to maintain an army, as well as the logistics supplies, material consumption, etc. required by an army, it was unfamiliar to Zhu Zhanji in the past.

After all, he has never been exposed to what an army stationed in a local area looks like on a daily basis, and what needs to be done to dismantle and establish a garrison.

But after this recent exercise, Zhu Zhanji felt that he finally had a systematic understanding of the Ming Dynasty's current military system, and knew how to build a guard station from scratch.

Don't underestimate the fact that this is just the establishment of a health center. The contents involved include the Ming Dynasty's current household registration system, changes in local land property rights, the supply of military supplies, etc...

Understand all this, and also understand how the Ming army operates today.

This really expanded Zhu Zhanji's horizons, exercised his ability to do things, and understood how difficult it is to accomplish something.

Because of this, when Zhu Gaochi told Zhu Zhanji that the court planned to send him to lead the troops alone to support the British in settling Jiaozhi, and that he would be responsible for investigating whether the King of Han had forced rebellion in the Yunnan fiefdom, Zhu Zhanji felt that he was somewhat incompetent. catch.

If it were before this, Zhu Zhanji might still be confident, but after he personally understood and handled a series of matters such as the dismissal and establishment of a health center, Zhu Zhanji felt that he still needed to exercise his ability to do things. .

At the very least, leading the battle alone was beyond his capabilities.

Before this, he had experience in leading an army, but this was limited to following Zhu Di and leading a team out to fight.

This can't even be regarded as him leading the team alone, it can only be regarded as letting him be in charge of a team.

Zhu Zhanji can be said to have a rough idea of ​​what matters a single leader needs to be responsible for, and what preparations are needed to actually go out to counter-insurgency operations, but he still does not have a complete understanding and concept.

So he was a little afraid to accept this matter, even though he knew that Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Di were deliberately training him.

"Father, I have never led troops, so let me lead troops to fight the rebellion in Jiaozhi. This..." Zhu Zhanji expressed his lack of confidence to Zhu Gaochi: "If I lead troops to suppress bandits in the Ming Dynasty, I should It's okay if you accept it, and it's just embarrassing if something goes wrong.

But this is leading troops to sea to go to Jiaozhi!I'm really not sure I can do this well!If something goes wrong, this army will never come back!Is there no one to send to the court? "

"Of course the court can send someone, but if you don't go, how will you accumulate prestige in the army? Don't forget that your second brother, not to mention leading the army alone, has already led the army to conquer the Japanese country and conquer his own fiefdom." Zhu Gaochi looked at it. Looking at his son who lacked confidence, although he was also worried about whether Zhu Zhanji was qualified for this job, he still said to him: "You are the emperor's grandson now. If you don't have enough prestige in the future, how will you control the government and the public?
Although your second brother has long stated that he will not compete with you, his military achievements and prestige are all there. Now the first vassal king of the Ming Dynasty has already been praised by hundreds of officials in both the government and the public.

If you can do well in counterinsurgency this time, it will prove your ability to lead troops in combat, help you establish your prestige in the military, and establish your prestige.

Dad can understand that you don't have the confidence to do this well, but it can be easily solved. If you are assigned a mature and prudent lieutenant, you can just listen to their opinions.

There is always a first time for everything, and you have to experience it. With this experience, you will be able to stand alone in the future, right? "

After Zhu Gaochi said this, Zhu Zhanji hesitated for a while and finally agreed.

(End of this chapter)