Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 209 Proofreading and Beijing Camp

The nobles of the capital are also looking forward to the review on December 2nd.

Since the emperor succeeded to the throne, although he could not be called indifferent to nobles, he could not say that he valued them too much. The only new appointees in his hands were the British Duke Zhang Weixian and the Gongshun Hou Wu Ruyin.

On the contrary, many were punished, mostly for treason. Baoding Marquis Liang Shixun, Fengcheng Marquis Li Chengzuo and others have been convicted and await trial.

Some of you may have sympathy for these people, but you don't think there is anything wrong with the emperor's handling of them.

Liang Shixun, the Marquis of Baoding, was the governor of the capital and military affairs. After the new emperor ascended the throne, he did not actively seek refuge with Wei Zhongxian. Instead, he continued to rely on Wei Zhongxian. In the eyes of the emperor, this was disloyalty, and he deserved to be convicted.

Li Chengzuo, the Marquis of Fengcheng, quoted the story of Xu Da from the previous dynasty and asked Wei Zhongxian to be granted the title of Duke of Wei. As a result, Wei Liangqing became the Duke of Ning with the highest salary, which made the nobles despise him.

In other words, the emperor has already removed Wei Liangqing's title, otherwise the nobles will definitely fight back after Wei Zhongxian's fall. It is impossible for a eunuch nephew to become the head of the noble family.

Therefore, the nobles generally approve of the current emperor, and do not think there is a problem with the emperor's handling of these nobles.

Moreover, at the court meeting a few days ago, the emperor revealed his tendency to involve the Governor-General of the Fifth Army in the court promotion, which made the nobles very excited. I feel that the emperor wanted to make great use of them, but was stopped by the civil servants.

Some people already regretted it after the court meeting. I deeply regret that I did not stand up to support the emperor at that time, so that this opportunity was lost before my eyes.

Now the emperor once again gave the nobles a chance to participate in the review. Anyone who is thoughtful among the nobles will actively participate. He even brought his nephew with him, wanting to show it in front of the emperor——

Everyone knows that the emperor selects talents from among the nobles. Whether he can be reused in the Chongzhen Dynasty in the future depends on this performance.

Because it was in the name of reviewing martial arts, in addition to Li Wei, the inspector-in-chief of the Arsenal Department of the Ministry of War, senior officials of the Ministry of War were also involved in this matter.

Li Guo, the superintendent of schools, took the lead and said:
"According to His Majesty's decree, I will send a letter to Jiubian Military Town in September to recommend meritorious soldiers to study in martial arts."

"Now the recommenders from Liaodong, Ji Town, and Datong Town have arrived. I sincerely request your Majesty to review them."

Having already experienced it once a few days ago, Zhu Youjian was considered experienced and nodded:

"let's start!"

"Everyone watch together!"

A group of martial arts officers, under the command of Li Guo, began to practice in front of the emperor.

Although the number of people is small, there are only more than a hundred people now, but in Zhu Youjian's view, their aura is much stronger than the thousand people in the patrol camp a few days ago.

Let these more than 100 people face off against those 1,000 people, and they will definitely win.

This made Zhu Youjian very satisfied, and felt that Jiubian Army Town was not fooled by random recommendations. There may be some related households among them who have made meritorious deeds on their resumes and have been on the battlefield.

From them, we may be able to find a few talents who can be used to lead troops in battle.

While looking at the proofreading, he asked Yuan Keli:
"Yuan Qing has been on the battlefield. What do you think of these people? Are they capable of going into battle?"

Yuan Keli said:

"This is an elite soldier and a strong general, far beyond comparison with ordinary people."

"If Your Majesty reorganizes the capital camp, you can use these people."

But he realized that the emperor wanted to appoint nobles, and he tactfully gave advice.

It is better to use these generals from the border towns than the wine sacks and rice bags from the capital.

Zhu Youjian also didn't think that the nobles from the capital would dare to go into battle. He nodded in approval and said:
"The soldiers in the Beijing camp should indeed strengthen communication with the border towns."

"These martial arts officers can choose the best ones to stay in the future."

He also asked Zhang Weixian, acting governor of Beijing Camp:
"How do the British generals compare with the generals in Beijing?" "Can they be replaced?"

I was a little nervous about the emperor's training of the Beijing camp, but I didn't dare to object. Everyone knows that the border areas are troubled nowadays, and the emperor attaches great importance to military affairs, so the Beijing camp must be reorganized.

However, most of the soldiers in the Beijing camp were reduced to private service for nobles and generals, which related to the interests of all nobles in the capital. Zhang Weixian didn’t want to get involved in this troublesome matter and said:
"I am now too old-sighted to see clearly who is suitable to go to the capital camp."

"It is really difficult to fulfill the position of governor of the capital and military administration."

"Your Majesty, please allow the veteran minister to resign and elect another governor of the capital."

Zhang Weixian was unwilling to do things, which Zhu Youjian had long expected. He had the great merit of assisting three emperors in their ascension to the throne, and he was also considered as the hero of his ascension to the throne. The wealth of the British family has been guaranteed by the Chongzhen Dynasty, and he certainly does not want to get involved in this troublesome matter.

But now Zhu Youjian cannot choose a reliable governor, so he can only say:

"Zhang Qing will try his best to stay in office, and I will add another assistant to assist you in the military affairs of the capital."

"Yuan Shangshu, under the old system of the capital camp, there should be an assistant in charge of the military affairs of the capital camp, right?"

Yuan Keli replied:
"The old system used a military official as the governor and a civil servant as an assistant to give the military seal."

"The late emperor once added a person to assist in the military affairs of the capital, and your majesty changed it to the assistant minister in charge of the capital."

"I wonder if the newly added assistant manager of the capital's army and military affairs will be a military official or a civil servant?"

Zhu Youjian thought for a moment and said:

"The governor-general of the military affairs of the capital camp will still be appointed by a distinguished minister. The assistant governor of the military affairs of the capital camp will be appointed by me from among the civil and military officials."

"The minister who oversees the Beijing Camp will still be recommended by the Minister of War. From now on, we should try our best to select from civil servants with experience in protecting the army and regard them as the envoys of the Beijing Camp."

"Additional Guard Captains and Guard School Lieutenants will be added to assist generals at all levels. Senior officials such as General Soldiers and Captains will be recommended by Jiuqing Ting."

Yuan Keli thought carefully and felt that compared with before, there was an additional person appointed by the emperor to assist the military affairs of the capital. The number of officials in charge of the Beijing camp has changed from two to three.

There is a precedent for this, but it cannot change the situation. No matter how the officials in the Beijing camp are changed, they can't change the corrupt situation. It can be said that it will not help.

In contrast, the major event affecting the Beijing camp was the penetration of the military guard system into the military camp. At least when nobles or generals want to recruit soldiers privately, the guards have the right to stop them.

But in this case, the honorable nobles are likely to object, resulting in the army guard system being unable to gain a foothold in the Beijing camp.

Yuan Keli thought about it for a while and said:
"There are not that many officials suitable to serve as military guards now. I thought we could select a large battalion to try it out."

"After it is effective, it will be extended to the other two camps."

Zhu Youjian nodded in approval and felt that he could not change the capital camp all at once to avoid problems. said:
"Then choose a camp and try it out."

"How many camps are there in Beijing now, and how many officials are there in each?"

Yuan Keli replied:
"The Beijing camp has three major battalions: the Fifth Military Camp, the Shenshu Camp, and the Shenji Camp, each with one general soldier and two deputy generals. There are thirty small battalions below, led by officers such as generals, guerrillas, and attack assistants."

"The number of officers previously determined for the three major battalions is: one hundred and ninety-six for the fifth military battalion, two hundred and eight for the Shenshu battalion, and one hundred and eighty-two for the Shenji battalion, a total of five hundred and eighty-six."

"I think Shenji Camp has the fewest officials, so we can try it out in Shenji Camp."

The name Shenjiying is good, and he is good at using firearms. Zhu Youjian said:
"Then select the guards from among the civil and military officials and serve in the Shenji Camp."

"The current officials of Shenji Battalion will be transferred to the remaining two battalions as appropriate."

(End of this chapter)