Prodigal Son of the Ming Dynasty

  Chapter 1666 Huge project

  Having been away for many days and just returned to Beijing, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince must do something to clean up Fang Jifan.

  Fang Jifan was eager to return, and wanted to go back to see the princess and the child.

   Ke was pulled by Zhu Houzhao, but he couldn't get away.

  So I had no choice but to sit down with Zhu Houzhao in Zhenguo Mansion.

  The banquet has been prepared long ago, and it is Fang Jifan's favorite dish on weekdays.

  Poured a glass of rice wine, Zhu Houzhao drank a glass of rice wine, looked at Fang Jifan, and said happily: "This time, I have just realized the benefits of supervising the country. Haha, the imperial court has lost a group of censors who can point out the country. I am very happy."

   It’s not that there are fewer censors, but that the censors have begun to pretend to be deaf and dumb because of the recent rumors.

  Zhu Houzhao talked about his support for the research institute, and also about the formation and training of the new army.

   This surprised Fang Jifan very much. He said: "Your Highness, is this too much? Governing a big country is like cooking a small dish. How can there be such a thing as Your Highness, like a gust of wind, come as you say."

  Zhu Houzhao's intention is obvious. What he wants to do is to let the new army replace all the previous army horses, and may even include the forbidden army.

  This is a huge project.

Zhu Houzhao said: "If you don't do it today, if you don't do it tomorrow, when will you do it? We all know where the disadvantages lie, and we all know that going on like this is not the way to go. My Daming now has no tigers in the mountains. Naturally, I rely on the previous one. We can fool around, but sooner or later, we will face a terrible enemy. At that time, if we want to change it, it will be too late. Besides, let’s talk about the Golden Continent and the North Province, why is it still indistinguishable from Franji, in the final analysis, there is still no decisive power, do you know the fist? Big fists are the last word.”

   Zhu Houzhao clenched his fists as he spoke, as if he was going to hit someone.

  Fang Jifan's heart skipped a beat. He didn't want to be the subject of Zhu Houzhao's on-site teaching, so he nodded quickly: "It makes sense, it makes sense."

"So you have to help me." Zhu Houzhao stared at Fang Jifan, and rarely said seriously: "In this world, 9,990 out of 10,000 people are stupid. They can't understand these things, and the rest There are ten people, and there are nine more, but they saw the problem, but they didn't make up their minds to fix it. I'm afraid I can't do such a big thing by myself, only you can help me."

  Fang Jifan made a bitter face, and couldn't help saying: "But I have too many things to do recently, I'm afraid I won't be able to get away."

  " All in all, don't try to hide." Zhu Houzhao said unquestionably: "This official, I have done everything for you. Look, how about more than 70 appointments?"

   As he spoke, Zhu Houzhao took out an imperial edict from his sleeve with a proud face.

  Fang Jifan looked at the edict in surprise, took it...after reading it...shocked, he didn't know what to say for a moment.

  The prince is the prince, it really is a big deal.

but…

Fang Jifan said with emotion: "Your Highness is really loyal. Although this matter, I still feel that Meng Lang is too much. In this world, there is no one who sells himself and boasts himself. But... His Royal Highness can still think of you at this time, so it can be seen His Royal Highness still speaks of loyalty."

  Zhu Houzhao was happy: "Of course loyalty is needed, but there are other considerations as well."

  Fang Jifan said: "What other considerations does Your Highness have..."

Zhu Houzhao didn't like to lie, he said coyly: "Well...Of course I want you to be Bengong's deputy. In this case, the father may feel that this matter is not Bengong's idea, but yours. I have conspired with each other, if the royal father becomes furious at that time, this palace can save me from being beaten."

  Fang Jifan: "..."

  Although he felt a bit chilly, Fang Jifan couldn't solve the problem when it came to an end.

  Zhu Houzhao's idea is very simple, to create a military horse that can spread to the sky, and completely replace the old army.

   In this way, the first army is extremely critical.

  Although in the past, the Zhen Guo Mansion did not practice military horses, but that was after all a small fight, and did not fundamentally subvert the problems in the Ming army.

  But this time the meaning is different... This is to use the First Army to dig out the root of the guard.

  Fang Jifan felt a little scary when he thought about it. After all, this was related to the abolition of many hereditary military positions. How many people would be affected by this.

   Stealing people's money is like killing their parents. This hatred is so great!

  Of course, if the military household system can be abolished, it would be considered a good thing.

  Fang Jifan likes to accumulate virtue, which is why he gave birth to a son.

  It’s just the next step...but here comes the question, how to build a killing machine that can be used at any time to the greatest extent, and how is it different from the previous guards?

  So Fang Jifan has been hiding in his study for the past few days, thinking constantly.

  For half a month, he almost never left the door, and he didn't go out twice.

  Zhu Houzhao is probably the same. He is a serious person. As long as it is something he is sure of, even nine cows will not be able to pull it back. The two write and draw independently, constantly improving their ideas.

  Occasionally, Fang Jifan would call his disciples, especially Wang Shouren, who was best at this.

   After half a month, finally, a copy of the charter was delivered to Zhu Houzhao.

  Zhu Houzhao smiled happily, looked at it, and said in surprise: "Many of the thoughts in it coincide with this palace, haha...Old Fang, I really belong to you."

Pointing to the regulations, he said cheerfully: "The first article is to improve the salary system. Marching and fighting is a job of licking blood with knives. Even daily exercises are ten times harder than ordinary people." , but unfortunately, this person who bleeds and sweats can't even support his wife and children.

"As for the second point, I have already figured it out, haha, logistics is the most important thing, there is not enough supplies, there is not enough ammunition, there is no custom to solve these problems, what do the soldiers rely on to fight. "

  "In addition, there needs to be a solid military medical system, military law regulations, and..."

"As for the quota... ah, old Fang, I'll do the math. According to your calculation, I'm afraid that there will be more than 1,500 people in charge of chores for the 5,000 people. There are only three thousand soldiers left."

   This is enough to criticize Zhu Houzhao. There are too few combat personnel. Most of them are responsible for logistics or medical treatment, or they are civilians, not to mention military officers. Will this weaken the combat effectiveness?

  In fact, the problem of the proportion of soldiers has existed since ancient times.

  During the period of the Three Kingdoms, 80% of Wei's army was combat soldiers. Since then, the ratio has been roughly the same. If there are 5,000 soldiers and horses, there can be 4,000 who can actually fight. But in Daming, the proportion of soldiers was even higher, reaching 85%, that is, more than 4,200.

  For this era, the higher the proportion of soldiers, the better. After all... soldiers are the key to maintaining combat effectiveness.

  But Fang Jifan's establishment runs counter to it, which makes Zhu Houzhao a bit reluctant.

  Zhu Houzhao frowned and said: "If you add more, each of the next thousand households, and other supplementary mergers among the hundred households, I am afraid that the number of soldiers will only be 50%..."

Fang Jifan was embarrassed and said: "I also want to cut some, but after careful calculation, it seems that all of them are needed, there can only be so many, but Your Highness, here... there is a small problem, just take a look. "

  Zhu Houzhao cheered up. He still trusted Fang Jifan after all. Although he had some objections, he was quickly attracted by other questions. When he saw the list sent by Fang Jifan, he immediately...

  He was melancholy, staring at Fang Jifan and said: "Will the Ministry of War go crazy?"

  …

  Ma Wensheng, Minister of the Ministry of War, has been worrying about His Royal Highness building a standing army these days.

  Because...in this matter, the Ministry of War has no hand at all, as if the Ministry of War has become an outsider.

   It seems that because of the rumor that the hereditary military attache might be abolished, many military attaches came to inquire one after another, fearing that their iron rice bowl would be ruined.

   There are also some Qiu Ba, who made a big fuss because of their anger, nothing more than saying that their ancestors did meritorious service, which is why they have hereditary military positions. How can they live without a ration now?

   Ma Wensheng was devastated by this, but at this time, a civil servant hurriedly sent a copy of the regulations.

  It was sent by the Zhen Guofu. Ma Wensheng didn't dare to neglect, so he quickly took it out and took a look. He probably took a look at the new system of the new army. Although he also found it fresh, he still felt that the young people were a bit too much.

   But when he saw a list attached at the back... Ma Wensheng's eyeballs were about to fall out suddenly...

  He subconsciously said: "This old man is a minister, it doesn't matter if you don't do it, or you don't do it, this minister of the Ministry of War can't do it, come here, prepare the car, prepare the car, and go to the cabinet."

   Ma Wensheng arrived at the cabinet angrily. Liu Jian and others did not dare to neglect. After reading the list, they were also a little confused.

  "Is it wrong?"

"It's very clear in it, how could it be wrong." Ma Wensheng said in a heartbroken voice: "There are only five thousand people, and the monthly salaries are divided equally. One person is five taels of silver. How much is this? This is twenty-five thousand taels, one The annual cost is three hundred thousand taels. In addition, there are armaments, regular medicines, military uniforms for the four seasons, and..."

"After this year, just 5,000 people actually cost nearly a million taels of silver. Gentlemen, tell me, the money and food allocated by the Ministry of War throughout the year is only this amount. In the past two years, the imperial court There is a lot more money than before, so it seems a little more, but I can't stand this kind of toss, I can't go to the lower official, and it's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice. This is only the first army. I heard In the future, it is necessary to set up an army that is not known to be too small, and everyone knows that His Royal Highness and Qi Guogong, even if they sell their generals, they will not be able to spend so much money."

   Ma Wensheng's face was red and his ears were red. He looked hopeless and full of complaints.

  (end of this chapter)