Daming: I am the Crown Prince

Although Lan Yu was impulsive, he was sometimes willing to listen to advice, but he just refused to change.

When he was impulsive, he wanted to speak first, but after being stopped by Xu Huizu, Lan Yu realized that if he spoke too much, he would definitely be scolded, so he immediately calmed down.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Xu Huizu and Lan Yu meaningfully. Lan Yu smiled awkwardly, while Xu Huizu remained expressionless, as if nothing had changed.

"The court is not planning a northern expedition, but military matters still need to be prepared." Huo Xian said, "Duke Liang, you go north to Daning and discuss the deployment of troops with the Prince of Yan and the Prince of Ning."

Lan Yu stepped forward with a smile on his face, "I accept your order."

Zhu Yunhuan laughed and said, "Prince Ning is good at making plans, Prince Yan also has military strategies, and you are a great general. If the three of you get together, I am afraid that each of you will have your own ideas and no one will obey the other."

Lan Yu immediately said, "Your Majesty, when I was young, I followed the former King of Kaiping to fight everywhere, chasing the enemy in the north and pacifying Yunnan and Guizhou in the south. I dare not compare myself with the King of Zhongshan and the King of Kaiping, but I also think that I am a great general."

Not to mention Xu Huizu and Fu Youde, even Geng Bingwen, Guo Ying and others couldn't help but cover their faces, but this is the character of Duke of Liang Lan Yu.

There is no such thing as hiding one's shortcomings. He always speaks out everything. When Zhu Biao was the crown prince, Lan Yu dared to say in front of Zhu Biao that Zhu Di had the aura of an emperor.

Zhu Yunhuan said angrily, "You are still thinking about being crowned a king? Compared with the King of Zhongshan and the King of Kaiping, you should think again! Among the generals in the court, only the Duke of Song and the Duke of Ying can do so in the future."

Fu Youde immediately knelt down and said excitedly, "Your Majesty, although I have made some small contributions, I dare not accept this grace!"

Lan Yu was getting anxious again. Those who had been posthumously conferred prestige by the Ming Dynasty included Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong, Deng Yu and Mu Ying. Among the six founding dukes, only Feng Sheng was still alive, and it seemed that he would also be conferred a king after his death.

As for Chang Mao being one of the six founding dukes, everyone knows what happened there. As for Li Shanchang, forget it, his title had been abolished long ago.

And what merit and ability did Fu Youde have? Was it just because he pacified Yunnan?
Seeing that Lan Yu was getting anxious again, Zhu Yunhuan smiled and looked at Lan Yu, and Lan Yu, who was about to speak, shut up instantly. If she really didn't shut up, she would definitely be scolded.

Although he had always been "jealous" of Fu Youde and boasted that his contributions were no less than Fu Youde's, Lan Yu also understood that Fu Youde's contributions were indeed not small.

If Fu Youde can be crowned king, then I can be crowned king in the future too!
It's simply that Fu Youde is old now, and His Majesty has been intending to elevate Fu Youde's status in recent years, so he has been given more prominent positions on some occasions time and time again.

But looking at the actual situation, although Fu Youde's prestige seems to be constantly increasing, he has not led his troops to war for a long time.

Not to mention leading the army to fight, he didn't even have any military power. Not to mention comparing with Lan Yu, even Li Jinglong, Xu Huizu and others had a lot of military power in their hands.

If you think carefully about the person sitting on the dragon throne now, some of his working styles are quite different from those of Emperor Hongwu.

The Hongwu Emperor was very domineering and did not beat around the bush at all. Sometimes he would just convict or depose someone directly, or even find a crime to accuse them of if there was no crime at all.

But the one now is different. What he likes most is to do things that benefit without spending any money. This is not only true for nobles, but also for members of the royal family.

Being hung high up in a position where it is difficult to step down, even if one is unwilling, one can only cooperate with the emperor and continue to perform some plays, otherwise one will lose both the wife and the army.

Zhu Yunhuan didn't care what Lan Yu, Fu Youde and others thought. He still had some arrangements and plans of his own, which were also important matters.

"Duke Wei, please go to Shaanxi again and patrol the border with the King of Jin. Many of my uncles are kings of the frontier. After they were enfeoffed, their fiefs were short of soldiers and generals. I have always been quite worried."

Xu Huizu naturally understood these things. Although there were many frontier kings in the Ming Dynasty, not all of them had obtained their real fiefdoms so far.

In the final analysis, some fiefdoms were relatively remote, desolate, and very close to the border, so the local finances could not support the needs of a vassal king, and there was also concern that insufficient troops would lead to the vassal king being defeated by the Tartars.

After all, the supplies provided to the vassal kings were basically transferred directly from local prefectures rather than from the national treasury.

Zhu Yunhuan continued seriously, "Check the border guard posts and fortresses carefully. I know that many soldiers followed my grandfather across the river and traveled to various places. Let's go and see how they are doing now."

Xu Huizu said cautiously, "Your Majesty, if those old soldiers were basically quite old, they should have been discharged from service and should have been enjoying their retirement."

This is the truth. Even if the old soldiers who followed Zhu across the river were only fourteen or fifteen years old at the time, they are now over sixty years old and must have been discharged from the military.

"Many of the military households will be farming on the spot," Zhu Yunhuan said. "These veterans have all made contributions. No one wants to go to a cold and bitter place. We can transfer some of the veterans and the rest back to Jingxiang as appropriate."

Zhu Yunhuan's words made Xu Huizu and others look at each other in confusion, and they didn't know how to respond for a moment.

According to the Ming Dynasty's Wei Suo system, registered military households must have served in the Wei Suo, and their families also lived in the Wei Suo.

As for now directly drawing out the descendants of some veterans except those who are serving in regular military service, it is actually to fill up the population in the Jingxiang area.

When His Majesty was still the Crown Prince, he drew three guards from the King of Zhou and others, and after being transferred back and forth, they became garrisons and went to Jingxiang. Or along the Grand Canal, so that some veterans could settle down.

This is definitely some preferential treatment, but for some veterans, it also forces them to separate.

As for nobles like Xu Huizu, what they saw was that the court was now consciously reducing the number of military households and allowing more people to become civilians.

This is simply weakening the Ming Dynasty's combat effectiveness.

Even if some old soldiers were dismissed from the army, or the remaining men were withdrawn, it would still weaken the Ming Dynasty's military reserves.

After all, according to the garrison system, the main obligation of a military household was to send one male to serve as a soldier in the garrison, and the rest of the sons and daughters were considered surplus males.

According to some rules of the Ming Dynasty, if a regular soldier served in the army, he had to be accompanied by at least one extra soldier to help him with his life.

Because the burden on military households was heavy, they were given more land, and the regular soldiers were exempted from all corvée duties. The remaining men in the camp and the one man from their hometown were also exempted from corvée duties to ensure their livelihood and provide for the regular soldiers. Now the emperor's actions seem to have reduced the pressure on the remaining men, but the pressure on the regular soldiers is increasing. In addition, the military households with many offspring may have also received enough benefits.

Xu Huizu said cautiously, "Your Majesty, if this happens, some military households may favor their children, and there may be many old and weak people in the army."

Xu Huizu's worries are understandable. Military households are hereditary and suffer a relatively hard life, so once there is an opportunity to become civilians, some heads of military households might be biased towards them.

It is not impossible to allow some of the old, weak, sick, and unpopular descendants to remain in the army to serve, while the rest of the descendants become civilians.

Fu Youde also said quickly, "Your Majesty, I think what Duke Wei said is true. If this is true, the military strength of our Ming Dynasty will surely weaken."

Everyone can understand that there will be no war for the time being. The Ming Dynasty has been fighting wars over the years, the only difference is that the scale of the wars has varied.

Everyone has no objection to a temporary pause, but if the Ming Dynasty's military strength is actively weakened, these nobles will definitely be anxious, because this will weaken their interests.

Moreover, judging from the current situation, the Ming Dynasty has not yet reached the point where it needs to actively cut its military forces, and the Ming Dynasty has not yet encountered financial difficulties due to military factors.

"I also know that doing this will inevitably cause some troubles. But if there is no war, why do we have so many people?" Zhu Yunhuan asked in return, "Fight the Tartars. After defeating the Tartars, where should we attack next? Goryeo or Annan?"

The Mongols in the north were already at the end of their strength, and all separatist forces in the territory had long been completely eliminated. Looking around, the Ming Dynasty now had no enemies at all.

Read the error-free version at 69shuba! 6=9+shu_ba is the first to publish this novel.

North Korea may be an enemy, and Annan may be able to send troops to conquer it, but if we conquer those places, will it be difficult to govern them?

Moreover, if those places were conquered, would they be of sufficient benefit to the Ming Dynasty? Goryeo was cold and remote, Annan was full of miasma, and the people were rather fierce, so these were places that were not easy to control.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Xu Huizu and others and continued to ask, "Even if Annan is conquered, does the court still need so many garrisons? Especially the inland garrisons. Do you really think I don't know that many garrisons are in disrepair?"

At this point, Xu Huizu and others were speechless. Some garrisons at the border still had elite soldiers and strong generals, but many garrisons in the inland were indeed in a rather dilapidated state.

Now, let alone fighting some tough battles, these inland garrisons might even find it difficult to suppress bandits.

Military reform is a matter of time, and Zhu Yunhuan did not intend to do it all at once, nor did he think that the current Ming Dynasty was suitable for conscription, professionalization of soldiers, etc.

However, he also did not think that the current Ming Dynasty needed so many garrisons, especially some inland garrisons. Naturally, some of their functions also needed to be adjusted and changed.

"I'll let you know about these things first, and we'll discuss the changes after the war." Zhu Yunhuan continued, "When the time comes, we'll select a few garrisons to try it out and see the results."

It is necessary to reveal the secret first, and it is also necessary to select a few pilot projects after a series of real wars are over.

Zhu Yunhuan still hoped to proceed with things in a relatively stable and orderly manner rather than trying to get things done all at once. He also knew that doing so was not easy and the risks were very high.

Since the emperor has already said this, Xu Huizu and others naturally cannot refute it. Because this is not something that needs to be done immediately, everyone can feel more at ease.

Although the framework, political system, etc. set by Zhu Yuanzhang will continue to be used, there are many areas that Zhu Yunhuan wants to reform, and these need to be implemented slowly, which is not something that can be rushed.

But no matter what, it is better to communicate in advance to avoid being caught off guard and causing everyone to be in a panic, which may then lead to some unnecessary internal friction.

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Geng Bingwen and said, "You go to Taicang and take care of all the affairs. Come back after the fleet goes out to sea."

Geng Bingwen immediately accepted the order, "I obey your order."

The importance of Taicang is self-evident. Everyone knows that more and more goods and soldiers are gathering for the Ming Dynasty's second large-scale voyage and the first attempt at formal national overseas diplomacy.

Naturally, this also includes the need to formalize maritime trade. It is impossible for a large group of soldiers to go out with swords and guns to trade with others.

When going out to sea, there will naturally be some senior generals in charge, as well as some middle and low-level civil servants accompanying them.

But now a nobleman of status is needed to take charge in Taicang. Previously, Chang Sen was in charge, but his status was still not enough, so now Geng Bingwen, the Marquis of Changxing, is needed.

He was a founding nobleman, and also the father-in-law of Zhu Yunhuan's elder sister. Even some arrogant and brave generals would not say much when facing Geng Bingwen.

After these nobles left, Zhu Yunhuan asked, "Master, do you think these nobles are reluctant to give up the military power in their hands?"

Daoyan answered directly, "Your Majesty, the nobles started their careers with military affairs. If there were no more wars and military power, they would soon lose their status in the court and be bullied by the civil officials."

Xia Yuanji glanced at Daoyan unhappily. He still didn't understand the position of this fellow monk. Was he a civil servant or one of the nobles?

Daoyan didn't care about that and continued, "Your Majesty, I think the nobles have no military power now, and they can only lead troops to fight when there is a war."

"The Five Military Commandery is still strong. The Ministry of War doesn't dare to speak loudly in front of it." Zhu Yunhuan said with a smile, "It's good this way. The Ming Dynasty shouldn't slack off in military preparations now. There will definitely be another war next."

Zhu Yunhuan's words stunned Daoyan and Xia Yuanji. Judging from some of His Majesty's previous remarks, they all thought that His Majesty wanted to reduce military operations and start focusing on domestic affairs.

But now it seems that His Majesty still wants to go on expeditions, and it is even very likely that there will be some large-scale wars.

But all this did not seem particularly strange. They had always been by Zhu Yunhuan's side, and naturally understood that this emperor had great ambitions.

If it is just some internal affairs, it will obviously not satisfy the emperor. Which of the emperors who have left countless achievements in history is not good at both civil and military affairs?
Rather than expecting His Majesty to abandon military preparations, it is better to think about how to get His Majesty to return the power of the Maritime Customs Office to the civil service system. This seems to be a more likely option. (End of this chapter)