Jiuxi

Chapter 357 Chapter 355 [Exquisite Cooperation]

The Beijing army was restructured.

This topic came so suddenly that, except for Lu Chen, the other important ministers in the palace seemed unprepared.

Li Daoyan raised his head and looked at the emperor on the dragon throne with his old eyes. All he saw was Li Duan's resolute expression, and the old man couldn't help but sigh secretly.

In fact, the emperor's move broke the unspoken rules that had always been the center of the Qi court.

Before today, no matter what national policy the emperor wanted to implement, he would discuss it with several important ministers in advance, including the two prime ministers and the Privy Council. Only when they reached a preliminary consensus would it be announced to other ministers at the court meeting.

It's just that this time the emperor did not choose to negotiate in advance, but directly made this important matter public in a tough manner.

The problem is that the scope of this issue is too wide, and it is far from a simple matter of conferring Lu Chen the title of Shanyang Marquis. Even if Li Duan catches the officials by surprise, it will be difficult for him to gain everyone's support immediately.

The Da Qi Jing army was originally the Xiang army in the south of the Yangtze River and some of the defeated troops who had withdrawn from the north of the Yangtze River. At that time, Li Duan had no one and no money, so he could only rely on the support of the Jiangnan aristocratic families to organize a garrison to protect the capital.

In this process, the generals of the Beijing army at all levels were inevitably inextricably linked with the Jiangnan nobles. The only thing Li Duan could do was to try to promote generals from different forces, so as to achieve the effect of allowing them to check and balance each other.

Li Duan seemed to have expected this situation. He said calmly: "Shanyang Hou, you have been fighting in the frontier for a long time and have rich military training experience. I want to hear your opinion."

When Lu Chen left the station and stood still, many people realized that this should be the first time he expressed his views on military and national affairs. At this time, their curiosity far outweighed other emotions.

The army of the Qi Dynasty in Beijing was divided into two yamen, the north and south yamen. The six armies of the north yamen were stationed in Yongjia City, and the 12th army of the south yamen guarded the capital.

The reason is that no matter whether you are a civil servant or a military general, the higher you go, the more solid and comprehensive capital you need, and credit, connections, and qualifications are indispensable.

Now it seems that the emperor was bewitched by this young man, otherwise he would not be so eager to let him speak.

Wang Yan and Guo Congyi looked at each other, and they exchanged ideas instantly. Lu Chen could not be allowed to shake the status quo of the Beijing army under any circumstances.

This is not a problem that the emperor can solve with a few words.

It has to be said that there is nothing wrong with the emperor's words in theory, but it is difficult for people to accept. The silence in the palace at this moment is enough to explain everything.

As for Lu Chen, a young junior, Wang Yan and Guo Congyi did not overly underestimate each other when they chatted in private, but after all they were not as vigilant as they were towards Xiao and Li.

Li Duan said unhurriedly: "I believe that the structure of the Beijing army needs to be adjusted, and then implement the strategy of rotating with the border troops. For a long time, the Beijing army has been responsible for the important task of guarding the capital, and I will not ignore the contributions of the soldiers. , but this will also give rise to an unavoidable problem - if the soldiers of the Beijing Army have not been in battle for a long time, their strength will inevitably decline. No matter how sharp a knife is, if it is left in the dust for fifteen years, it will inevitably become dull."

Lu Chen has no shortage of merit, but his connections are basically in the border army. As for his qualifications, there is no need to go into details. You can tell just by looking at his age and resume.

Wang Yan frowned slightly. He was quite afraid of Xiao Wangzhi and Li Tianrun, so he firmly opposed the emperor's recall of these two people to the capital to avoid the situation of being overridden by the other party and controlling military power.

They are all people who have been struggling in the court for decades. Except for Li Jingda, the others are at least calm and will not become chaotic because of a sudden attack by the emperor.

But after all, I can't really hold it in my own hands.

General Wang Yan calmly looked at the Privy Councilor next to him with the corner of his eye.

From ancient times to the present, any reform will face great resistance, not to mention that the Beijing army is related to the future of hundreds of thousands of people, and even the interests of many powerful families are intertwined behind it.

Over the years, Li Duan has been trying his best to support Li Tianrun and Xiao Wangzhi, trying every means to strengthen the frontier army, but has never touched the Beijing army. This can be regarded as a tacit understanding between him and the military giants and Jiangnan aristocratic families.

From the early summer of the twelfth year of Jianwu, Lu Chen's name appeared in the court for the first time. From then on, the frequency increased sharply. Regardless of whether they had friendship with Lu Chen or not, all the ministers of the court were familiar with this name.

In an instant, Lu Chen became the focus of attention of all the important officials in the palace.

If Li Duan wants to break this stable balance, restructuring is indeed the best way, but he must win enough support first.

In the silence, Guo Congyi asked respectfully: "May I ask Your Majesty, how will the Beijing army be reorganized?"

A son of a merchant who had never participated in the imperial examination, with his outstanding performance in the border war, he went from being a small prosecutor's school captain, to being awarded the title of Kaiguo County Male, to being promoted to the captain of the Ruishi Camp, and now he is famous in both the north and the south. It only took Lu Chen two years to be granted the title of Marquis.

Regarding this young martial artist who has risen at an astonishing speed, the impressions of the important officials in the court are basically focused on his ability to conquer and fight and his outstanding military talent. After all, Lu Chen has only been to the capital once before.

Seeing Yuan Ting Yue Zhi standing calmly and calmly in the open space between civil servants and military officials, Left Prime Minister Li Daoyan couldn't help but take a few more glances.

"Your Majesty, I support the strategy of rotating defense between the Beijing Army and the Border Army."

Lu Chen got straight to the point, his tone was clear, and his attitude was extremely clear.

Li Duan felt extremely comfortable in his heart.

In this majestic palace, he was dealing with a group of scheming people all the time. It was normal for him to make many twists and turns in one sentence. There were very few people who were as straightforward as Lu Chen.

Perhaps even Li Duan himself didn't notice it. At this moment, his tone became very gentle: "You might as well be more specific."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Lu Chen bowed his hands and said: "Your Majesty's move is to enhance the experience of the soldiers of the Beijing army in battle. However, considering the distance between the capital and the border, it is not appropriate to implement a large-scale rotation policy in a short period of time. In my humble opinion, the first rotation is limited to Among the three armies, Bei Ya will select one army, and Nan Ya will select two armies. The commanders of each army will lead them to the Border Army Governor's Mansion. At the same time, two armies can be transferred from the Border Army Governor's Mansion to Beijing to guard the capital." He His proposal was mature and prudent. Not only did Li Duan smile, but several civil servants in the palace also nodded frequently.

However, the faces of several military bosses were surprisingly solemn.

At this moment, a powerful voice sounded from the side.

"The Marquis of Shanyang is thinking too simplistically."

Lu Chen looked around and saw the Marquis of Nan'an and General Hou Yu of Nanya.

He said calmly: "I would like to hear from you, General."

Hou Yu first bowed to greet the emperor, then turned to face Lu Chen and said leisurely: "May I ask Marquis Shanyang, if the Beijing army will definitely participate in the battlefield after being transferred to the border?"

Lu Chen narrowed his eyes slightly and replied calmly: "Border wars will not happen all the time. Let's not say when the enemy will invade the border. If our country wants to launch the Northern Expedition, it must be decided after your Majesty and the princes of the DPRK discuss it. . Furthermore, even if the Northern Expedition is launched, it will not last too long. Considering the bearing capacity of the imperial court, the Northern Expedition must be carried out in stages. In other words, the Beijing army's rotation to defend the frontier may not necessarily coincide with the outbreak of war. .”

At this time, Right Minister Xue Nanting looked at Lu Chen with a slightly solemn expression. Apparently he had already guessed how Hou Yu would retort next.

Li Daoyan, who was sitting next to him, had his eyes slightly closed, as if he was tired and asleep, but there was a faint smile on his lips.

As expected, Hou Yu immediately laughed and said: "In that case, what is the significance of the rotation strategy mentioned by Lu Hou? You asked several Beijing troops to travel across mountains and rivers to the frontier, and in the end you just asked them to change places to practice, and then change back after a while. This How effective is it in increasing the combat effectiveness of the Beijing army by raising troops, mobilizing the people, and wasting money? Could it be that the water and soil in the border areas are more nourishing for people, and the Beijing army can get twice the result with half the effort by training there? "

Lu was silent.

Hou Yu took advantage of the victory and pursued him: "I admire Lu Hou's military exploits very much, but you are still young after all and may not have considered the problem thoroughly enough. This is not a fault."

Xue Nanting wanted to stand up and smooth things over for Lu Chen, but he noticed that the emperor's expression was very indifferent and couldn't help but hold back his impulse.

Lu Chen didn't seem to hear the sharpness in Hou Yu's words, nor did he notice the half-smiling expressions of other important ministers. He asked simply: "So in the opinion of the general, this rotation strategy cannot improve the strength of the Beijing army." Combat strength?"

Hou Yu seemed frivolous, but in fact he was cautious by nature. Naturally, he would not give him anything to say, so he shook his head and said: "If the soldiers of the Beijing army can go into battle to kill the enemy, it will naturally increase their combat effectiveness. If they just change the place to practice, in my opinion, there is no benefit." big."

Lu Chen took advantage of the situation and asked: "General, what do you mean, under the premise of not knowing when the war will break out, rotating the army is just a waste of national funds?"

Hou Yu vaguely felt that something was wrong, but he raised the topic, and Lu Chen just followed his tone and asked questions. He couldn't avoid answering in front of the ministers of the Manchu Dynasty, so he simply said: "That's right."

"Thank you, General, for your advice."

Lu Chen bowed his hands and said to other important ministers, "I wonder, my lords, does anyone object to General Hou's views?"

No one said anything.

Upon seeing this, Lu Chen said to the emperor: "Your Majesty, after General Hou's advice, I truly realized that my idea was very immature and did not take into account the limitations and disadvantages of the rotation strategy. Therefore, I think that I can follow the advice of General Hou. The general’s suggestion is to make some adjustments to the rotation strategy.”

Li Duan smiled and said: "But it doesn't matter."

Lu Chen glanced at Hou Yu gratefully and said loudly: "I believe that the rotation is not aimed at reorganizing the army. Instead, a certain number of middle and lower-level generals can be selected from the Beijing army and let them lead their own soldiers to the border areas to serve as various levels of military officers." The general's deputy can observe and learn the drill methods of the frontier army, and at the same time, he can participate in small-scale battles on the frontier at any time."

Hou Yu's expression suddenly changed.

Lu Chen did not give him a chance to interrupt, and continued to say categorically: "At the same time, your Majesty can transfer some generals from the border army to serve as deputies to the generals at all levels of the Beijing Army, and they will be responsible for the specific drills of the Beijing Army. In this way, the court does not need to bear too much expenditure, and the army will not have to mobilize troops, waste money, and only need to let the Beijing army and the frontier army exchange some middle and lower-level military attachés to achieve the effect of complementing each other's strengths and complementing each other's weaknesses. !”

The whole hall was silent, only Lu Chen's clear voice echoed.

Li Duan pretended to be deep in thought and said slowly: "This policy is a great good, you said it very well."

Lu Chen looked at Hou Yu and said, "Your Majesty is so ridiculous that I cannot bear to praise you. This is all thanks to General Hou's advice."

Li Duan also praised: "Hou Aiqing is indeed a person who knows the military."

Hou Yu stood in a daze, thanking him a little stiffly, but his mind was a mess.

He looked forward subconsciously, and just in time General Wang Yan looked back at him.

That cold gaze made Hou Yu suddenly tremble.

There is no doubt that in the other party's mind, he just jumped out to be in harmony with Lu Chen, helping the young junior to finalize a strategy to shake the inherent power of the Beijing army.

The exchange of mid-level and lower-level generals is obviously an extremely vicious strategy to remove salary from the bottom of the cauldron.

Compared with the rotation of the entire army, this strategy can forcibly tear apart the iron curtain that the Beijing army has formed for more than ten years!

Hou Yu's lips moved, and his heart was instantly filled with feelings of injustice.

He really wanted to write a word of injustice on Lu Chen's leg.

(End of this chapter)