Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Chapter 166 Young Talent
Although there were some troubles with my second uncle, there was nothing to worry about.

In the final analysis, it was just a false alarm, so there was no need to pay much attention to it. It was more important to do other things steadily.

Zhu Yunhuan left the palace as if nothing had happened, and led a large group of troops straight to the Beijing army camp outside the city.

Rewarding the troops is not only something that should be done when there is a great victory, but also during some festivals. It's just that the rewards nowadays are not particularly heavy.

Lan Yu and others seemed extremely excited at this time, and many nobles also gathered around Zhu Yunhuan.

"Your Highness, the soldiers are grateful to Your Highness for rewarding the army today." Lan Yu leaned close to Zhu Yunhuan. Without the majesty of the Duke of Liang, he looked more like a flatterer. "We prepared it two days ago, and we are just waiting for Your Highness to review it."

Reviewing the army was a very common thing. When there were foreign envoys, they might review the army, or when a big war ended. In times of peace, there would also be times to review the army.

Military parades are nothing new and have existed since ancient times.

Officials from the Ministry of War naturally had to accompany him, and there were procedures for things like rewards. In fact, the rewards this time were just some food and daily necessities, and a small number of mid- and high-level generals could get some silver.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Lan Yu and asked with a smile, "Duke Liang, I asked you to draw troops to practice firearms. How is your practice going?"

Lan Yu immediately replied, "Your Highness, we have discussed this before. If firearms are to be used together, the quantity must be sufficient. Whether it is a hundred households, a thousand households or a guard post, it all needs to be decided by Your Highness."

Xu Huizu, who was standing next to him, coughed quickly, and when he saw that Lan Yu didn't react, he reached out and gently pulled.

Lan Yu looked back at Xu Huizu in confusion, feeling a little unhappy. But then he noticed that Zhu Yunhuan's face was not looking good either, and Li Jinglong, Fu Youde and others also had strange faces, and only then did he realize what was going on.

Chang Sheng felt a little strange when he saw the strange faces of the people around him. He felt that his uncle was right. Even if his subordinates discussed these matters, they would definitely need the final approval of His Highness.

Lan Yu realized it later and quickly admitted his mistake, "Your Highness, I made a mistake!"

In front of so many people, Zhu Yunhuan couldn't say much, "Duke Liang, you should be careful with your words and actions."

Although Zhu Yunhuan took the lead in forming a firearms unit, it was his idea. However, the organization and so on could not be decided by Zhu Yunhuan, the crown prince. Even if many people knew what was going on, the emperor was still here!

Lan Yu was even more embarrassed, but fortunately, there were not many civil officials around him, and they were all considered His Highness's "confidants", so Lan Yu did not have to worry about being impeached, and the Crown Prince did not need to be impeached either.

In Lan Yu's opinion, Xu Huizu, Li Jinglong and others were the Crown Prince's men, which meant that Fu Youde was not counted.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Xu Huizu and asked, "What do you think?"

Xu Huizu thought about it carefully and said, "Your Highness, I think the number of people in forming a firearms unit must be sufficient. If it is less than the number of people in a garrison, it will not be very effective on the battlefield."

Seeing Zhu Yunhuan's eyes looking at him, Li Jinglong also hurriedly said, "Your Highness, I think what Duke Wei said is reasonable. The army already has firearms. If we concentrate the firearms in one place, the number cannot be small."

According to the rules improved by Zhu the year before, for every hundred households, there are ten musketeers, twenty sword and shield fighters, thirty archers, and forty spearmen.

Just like a relatively large sea ship today, it has sixteen hand cannons, four bowl-mouth guns, twenty muskets, twenty fire attack arrows, twenty fire forks, ten fire caltrop cannons, and twenty magic arrows.

In terms of naval battles, the weapons have been upgraded to almost exclusively firearms, and cold weapons rarely appear on large ships.

However, Zhu Yunhuan also understood that it was unrealistic to change the army completely towards firearms now, as firearms did not develop that fast. Even during World War I and World War II, there were still a large number of cavalry, whether in the Asian battlefield or the European battlefield.

Now, let alone the Maxim and heavy machine guns, even bolt-action rifles and flintlock rifles were a luxury. Zhu Yunhuan would be thankful if the matchlock rifle could be developed.

Fu Youde also said, "Your Highness, I think if we form a force that mainly uses firearms, we should also have cavalry guards and logistics soldiers."

It can be seen that everyone attaches great importance to some things, such as the construction of firearms units, which is a major matter that the Crown Prince is concerned about.

Lan Yu was anxious. Originally, His Highness had asked him to do this matter, but the other people wanted to show up in front of the Crown Prince whenever they had the chance. This was robbing him, the Duke of Liang, Lan Yu, of the opportunity to show himself.

This is intolerable. Lan Yu does not want this task to be snatched away by others and absolutely cannot allow it!

Because everyone knows that once such a force is built and trained to be combat-ready, it will not only be a matter of showing off, but also more power can be gained, and there will be no need to worry about the military power being cut in the short term.

Everyone was trying to show off, so Lan Yu hurriedly said, "Your Highness, I have discussed carefully with the officers in the army before. How to match firearms and how to practice formations are all under discussion. I also wrote a letter to Xiping Hou, who is an expert in using firearms."

Xu Huizu coughed immediately, and Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "It's okay. Duke Liang and my cousin are also close friends, and he is also familiar with Brother Mu Chun."

That is to say, he met a "generous" crown prince like Zhu Yunhuan. Otherwise, it would be a taboo for his generals to interact with each other. Especially when one is in charge of the army in the capital, and the other is in charge of military and political affairs in the border areas, this is the biggest taboo among the taboos. But think about Lan Yu's character. He said the wrong thing more than once or twice. In fact, the past two years have been good. At most, he occasionally said the wrong thing. At least he was not arrogant and domineering, and he was usually more restrained and responsible.

In the camp, Zhang Fusheng read the imperial edict loudly, saying that Zhu Yunhuan was only there to reward the army on behalf of the emperor.

Zhu Yunhuan looked around and asked, "Where are Zhang Yu and Zhu Neng?"

A middle-aged man with a burly figure and a serious and steady face stepped forward and said, "I am Zhang Yu, the commander of the Divine Strategy Guards. I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Long live His Royal Highness."

Zhang Yu, who was in his early fifties, was promoted from the commander of the left guard of Yanshan to the commander of the Shen Ce Guard under the Central Army Command. He was now a third-rank official, and he was the commander of the Beijing Guard, which was a three-level promotion.

Another heroic young man also saluted hastily, "I am Zhu Neng, the commander of the Eagle Guard, and I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Long live His Royal Highness!"

Zhu Neng was also promoted several levels, from the fifth-rank deputy captain of the Yanshan Central Guard to the fourth-rank commander of the Beijing Guard, which means he has officially stepped into the threshold of a senior general.

Looking at Zhu Neng, Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "It's a delight to see a high-spirited hero. This is the kind of hero our Ming army should have!"

Even though Zhu Yunhuan was eight years younger than Zhu Neng, no one thought there was anything wrong with such old-fashioned words. Even Zhu Neng showed excitement and pride on his face when he heard this.

Zhu Yunhuan then looked at Zhang Yu and said, "I heard that you have an eldest son who is quite brave and heroic. Let him come over."

Zhang Fu came hurriedly to pay his respects, "I am Zhang Fu, the governor of Yingtian Guard, and I pay my respects to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Long live His Royal Highness!"

Zhang Fu is really a man of great talent. As for the fact that he is only an eighth-rank official now, there is nothing to say about it. He was able to get this position probably because Zhang Yu helped him plan and he has some ability.

Zhu Yunhuan was very satisfied and said, "Heroes have always emerged from youth. You and I are of similar age. My sister is unmarried, and you are also unmarried. How about we arrange a marriage?"

Zhang Yu and his son Zhang Fu knelt down immediately, their excitement unable to express in words, "I thank your majesty for your great grace, I thank your highness for your great grace!"

Not to mention Zhang Yu and Zhang Fu, even some nobles were envious.

The late crown prince had four daughters, but only Princess Jiangdu and Princess Yilun were the crown prince's biological sisters. As for Zhu Youwei, although she was also a princess, her status was obviously not as good as that of a legitimate daughter. There was also a younger sister who did not grow up.

The Zhang father and son rose to fame overnight and became the crown prince's confidants.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said to Zhang Fu, "You will first enter the palace as a guard of honor. When you are not on duty, you will move around in front of the Duke of Liang."

Lan Yu immediately clasped his fists and said, "I will do my best to teach you, and I dare not hide anything!"

He is our family, and he is my nephew’s son-in-law, so of course I have to teach him well.

Zhang Fu also quickly replied, "I thank Your Highness for your selection."

Zhu Yunhuan then looked at Geng Bingwen and said, "Let the prince go back to Fengyang to train the troops first and come back in two months."

Geng Bingwen naturally obeyed the order, and his eldest son was going to marry Zhu Yourong. The wedding date was set, which was after the crown prince's mourning period.

Looking around, they are indeed all related. But this is normal, not just in the Ming Dynasty, but in many dynasties, with the royal family and meritorious officials marrying in various ways.

Zhu Yunhuan was reviewing the military camp in the capital as a routine matter, while Prince of Zhou Zhu Su in Kaifeng was busy packing his luggage.

If you are not proactive when you go home, there is something wrong with your brain!

As a vassal king who wanted to return to Yingtian whenever he had nothing to do, Zhu Su originally liked the city of Yingtian. Now that something happened, even if he couldn't figure out what happened, he would go back as soon as he was summoned!

Seeing that Princess Feng was still packing her luggage, Zhu Su urged her, "Your Majesty must have something important to tell you. Why don't you leave quickly? What could Yingtian Prefecture lack?"

Feng said quickly, "Your Highness, there is no shortage of supplies in the palace, but it is not good to be short of things on the road. If something is really missing, can Your Highness eat well and sleep soundly?"

Zhu Su thought it made sense and urged, "Pack your things, I will go and mobilize the guards. Three hundred people will go first, one hundred will follow, and another hundred will follow."

Feng didn't say anything. She knew her husband's ability and knew that training a soldier would be no problem. As for the 500 people, it was within the limit.

(End of this chapter)