eldest son of Ming dynasty

Chapter 869: Speech Rate Increase and Political Academy (6 words)

"Go left, go left. Hey, I've passed it, go right."

"Whether it is going to the left or to the right, can you give me an accurate answer?"

At the entrance of the Army Academy, several young men in green clothes rolled up their sleeves and were working together.

The job is not complicated, just hanging new slogans.

Starting from the entrance, they are distributed irregularly in every corner of the campus.

What they want to put up now are the exact words the emperor said here the day before yesterday.

There are sixteen words in total: Loyal to the emperor above, protect the people below, defend the territory, and have no regrets even if you die!

After passing the gate and looking inward, there will be some other slogans hanging, such as the eight characters that have been prominently erected on the grass on the campus: Either be strong or die!

This is the efficiency of soldiers. They gave a lecture two days ago and then made signs and slogans overnight, without losing a moment.

The emperor's speech is the direction of government affairs.

Two days later, Gui E, Minister of War, personally invited Bowang Hou Jingyang to give a speech at the Army Academy.

Since the emperor cares so much about the world outside the Ming Dynasty and wants to make changes to the army for this reason, Jing Yang is naturally the best person to teach him.

In fact, during these days, Jing Yang was constantly being asked about these things.

Of course, this is the first time I have been to the Capital High Court.

In fact, what he didn't know was that other academies might still question his various statements or character, but the Military Academy respected them.

Because he is a contemporary Zhang Qian who has discovered a more distant world. For soldiers, it is an unconquered territory.

Also because he has the title of Marquis Bowang.

The students at the door were the first to see a sedan go in. They asked around and said it was Bowang Hou, and everyone became jealous.

Today, the student body of the military academy includes hereditary military families, nobles and nobles, as well as young talents who simply want to be in the military.

Jiang Shen is a hereditary military household in Shaanxi. He was admitted to the Army Academy through his own efforts. The academic system lasts for four years. This year is his third year.

Bowang Hou and "Tales of Ten Thousand Kingdoms" were a shock to Ming Dynasty, and even more soul-shaking to him as a concrete person.

Especially since he is from Shaanxi, he has no idea what the world is like after starting from the ocean.

Now that Bowang Hou appears in the academy, how can he miss this opportunity?

So after hearing the news along the way, I immediately ran towards the big classroom in Zhongjun Building.

They all have to train for running on weekdays. When they really sprint, they can sprint for 800 meters without breathing.

……

"Everyone, line up in an orderly manner!"

On the first floor of the building, a solemn order sounded.

The students who were originally huddled together immediately formed a square formation.

Jing Yang happened to appear at this moment. He saw this scene and said to Gui E next to him: "The Army Academy is even worse than in previous years."

"Your Majesty has an order, how dare you disobey it? Marquis Bowang, please."

Jing Yang walked up the steps.

Entering the largest classroom in the school in full view of everyone.

After he entered, there was a sound outside, "The front team becomes the back team, and the back team becomes the front team, enter in order!"

Jiang Shen was one of them, and he was lucky enough to stand in the second row, which was a position very close to Jing Yang at the top.

……

The ordination speech began soon.

It is true that Jing Yang has such a show-off personality and he is full of passion. After all, this is the result of his nine years and the most iconic achievement in his life.

"...Let's start with a route."

Behind him, two people on each side held up the canvas for him, while he himself held a brush.

After all, he was also a Jinshi and eventually entered the attendant's room. In terms of talent, he was also top-notch. As for calligraphy and painting, they were special skills.

"Sailing south from Ningbo Zhoushan Port is the initial direction of our fleet. If we sail south along the coast, if the distance is right, we will find something east and west and in both directions at some point half a month later. Land. To the west is Fujian and to the east is Taiwan."

Jing Yang roughly drew the coastline of the mainland, and also briefly outlined the island of Taiwan in the southeast corner.

"This is still the boundary of the Ming Dynasty. If you continue along the coast at this time, you will encounter Qiongzhou. Qiongzhou is across the sea from the mainland, but it is much closer to the mainland than Taiwan...

According to the navigation skills of our predecessors, we finally crossed a narrow sea channel between the two countries. After passing here, the direction of the fleet would change from southwest to northwest. In other words, the land seemed to be lying on the ocean. Soon the Kingdom of Siam arrived...

A year's sailing brought our fleet to a country called Punt (Somalia). The people there were tall and completely black. We didn't know it at first, but later we heard people say that it was also a piece of land, and it was by no means smaller than the land we were on. We were guided by others and headed south along this larger continent. The coastline there is further than from Ningbo to Taiwan. This shows how huge a piece of land it is. "

Following his words, a coastline from East Asia to East Africa actually appeared.

Some of them he walked through personally, and some of them were supplemented by looking at maps of other ethnic groups. In short, in the end, it is what it looks like in "The Map of Ten Thousand Kingdoms".

"Later we arrived in Franconia, and they told us that the entire continent we bypassed was called Africa, and those of us in the east were called Asiatics by them, and we returned north from Franconia. There is a vast continent called Europa. Everyone, if we borrow this name, then there is a fact that the Ming Dynasty is not the whole of Asia, but only the owner of the easternmost territory.

In other words, Ming Dynasty did not even reach half of the three continents. From this, you can imagine how big this entire connected continent will be, and how many countries there will be on it. In fact, in the era that our ancestors did not know, there were some powerful empires in these places that even spanned three continents, such as the Roman Empire and the Arab Empire.

Although we don’t know, we don’t need to be ashamed. Easterners don’t understand the West, and Westerners don’t understand the East. But just thirty years ago, there was a man named Columbus in the Franconian country in Europe. He continued to sail westward from Europe. Do you know what he discovered? "

Everyone craned their necks, waiting for an answer.

Jing Yang took two steps to the left and drew two more lines of coastline. "They discovered that there is another continent in the world, a continent as big as Asia and Africa!"

"The west side of the Westerners!"

"The world outside is so big!"

If he was talking about novelty and adventure, what Jing Yang said next was more terrifying, "Everyone, according to what I have seen and heard during my nine years abroad, in this world, the Asians in the East are not as good as the Europeans in the West. I am keen on sailing, but do you know what Europeans do after discovering a new place?

These people came for profit. Among the countries I met along the way, more than half had records of being invaded by Europeans. These beasts in human skins came to a new place to find gold, silver, spices, and anything valuable. s things! Even in the sixth year of Zhengde, their footprints had reached the Manchurian Kingdom in the east, forcing the Manchurian Kingdom to ask for help from the Ming Dynasty!

These blond and blue-eyed Westerners don’t know Confucius and Mencius, and there is no such etiquette as gentleness, courtesy, frugality, and kindness and kindness. They find a new place and want nothing more than to loot the riches. When our fleet was in Franconia, what they heard the most were the stories they said about getting rich westward!

They have ambitious plans to occupy America and kill all the people who originally lived there! Everyone, in the face of such a barbaric nation, the emperor said that we should strengthen military preparedness. Is there anything wrong? ! "

Therefore, defending the territory and protecting the people is not a slogan.

But it is something that must be done under a real threat.

"We are willing to be loyal to Your Majesty and guard the Ming Dynasty! We will never let the tragedy of Shenzhou Luchen happen to the Ming Dynasty!"

"Yes! Your Majesty said that although the enemy is ferocious, our Ming Dynasty is still powerful. If they dare to come, they will never come back!"

"The Ming army is invincible!"

……

Jiang Shen couldn't calm down for a long time after hearing these contents, but he suddenly thought of another question, "If you are brave enough to learn from me, please ask Bowang Hou for advice!"

Jing Yang's eyes narrowed, "Tell me."

"Marquis Bowang drew such a long coastline. I wonder what the land is like, and what is the place to the west of the Western Regions?"

Jing Yang said: "You mean the belly of the mainland, right? I have never been to these places, but according to the information I know from people in Europe, if you go further west in the Western Regions, you can eventually reach Europe!"

"The land in the far west is Europe?!"

"That's right. The Mongols had an expedition to Europe back then, and there are records of the Mongolian conquests there. This is irrefutable evidence."

Jiang Shen asked again: "How about the north?"

Jing Yang shook his head, "I don't know if there are other continents to the north, but some people have organized fleets to sail north. However, the weather gets colder the further north you go, and the weather at sea is too bad, so no one has made it through yet."

In the 20th year of Zhengde, because the emperor was open and even tendentious.

So there was a craze for understanding the outside world from top to bottom.

After understanding it, many things actually fall into place.

Westerners continued to occupy and plunder, and in the process continued to grow their power.

Is this what Ming Dynasty looks like?

In addition, in this world, only when there is ugliness can there be the concept of beauty, and only when there is bigness can there be smallness. One yin and one yang, no one can live without the other.

Things like nation and country cannot be strengthened or even created when there is only one nation and one country in the cognition.

Only by knowing that there are many ethnic groups in the world can we have a strong sense of belonging to the Han people.

As a Han nationality, the emperor now proposes to fight for the Han nationality.

Is there any problem with this? Absolutely not.

The Army Academy has such activities,

The Naval Academy cannot afford to fall behind others.

Moreover, the Naval Academy's failure to wait for the emperor inspired them even more.

Not only that,

This kind of thing happened one after another in the capital, and even a fool could understand it. Bowang Hou's westward exploration, and then the Ming Dynasty had to actively respond to changes in the outside world.

The so-called positivity means preparing troops.

Of course, the Naval Academy also receives this kind of information, so it not only keeps up with some things done by the Army Academy. And it all involves the ocean, which is even more relevant to them.

As a result, the Naval Academy spontaneously began to propose the need to defend maritime borders and conquer the oceans.

……

……

At the end of October in the 20th year of Zhengde, the attendant's room suddenly threw three things into the court.

The first two items are two documents.

One is the "Regulations on Military Discipline of the Ming Dynasty in the New Era"

The other is the "Regulations on Infantry Training of the Ming Dynasty in the New Era".

In fact, these two are the same thing, that is, Zhu Houzhao began to improve the discipline requirements for the current army.

Discipline is not just about setting a few rules and then imposing harsh punishments to force people to do so. The successful establishment of military discipline requires soldiers to have a centripetal force and a sense of mission.

That is, he at least understands that although he is suffering and tired, he is correct and valuable.

If you do not carry out ideological reform, but simply impose harsh punishments, by the end of the Tang Dynasty, the gang of soldiers will kill you and replace you.

The last thing is a suggestion: it is recommended to increase the pay of soldiers.

Not to mention too much, 10% still needs to be added.

This is the traditional method, a slap in the face and a sweet date.

And this is also an adjustment to adapt to the new era. In the new era, all countries in the world will compete fiercely and even resort to force. In this way, the military has become an important guarantee for national peace and security.

Without a strong military, there would be no strong Ming Dynasty.

But to increase the intensity of military construction, it is not just about institutional adjustments, but more importantly, you have to invest real money.

At least the worries of those who serve as soldiers should be solved.

For the ministers of the DPRK, they all knew the emperor's lecture at the Army Academy.

Therefore, it is not surprising that the attendants made these decisions based on the emperor's wishes.

It’s just that some of the military disciplines were relatively harsh for people at this time. In fact, the army of the old era,

Even those we think of as the 'army of justice' still loot and kill indiscriminately after siege.

Therefore, when prosperity occurs, the people suffer, and when death occurs, the people suffer.

The people at the lowest level are not treated as human beings.

In the Qianqing Palace,

Zhu Houzhao, who was sitting on the dragon throne, said to all the ministers: "To tell you the truth, I have been thinking about these things for a while. "Wanguo Tuzhi" is now published all over the Ming Dynasty. Everyone knows that there are constant disputes in the world. In such an environment To survive, the only way to survive is to make yourself stronger. The method in the past won't work.

When running a country and an army, one cannot act like a monk beating the clock for a day. Before thinking about external victory, one must first get rid of his own shortcomings. To put it more extreme, after the founding of the country, the people also opened their eyes to see the world and realized that there are many countries in the world, some of which are not bad. If the Ming army always does many unjust things, then sooner or later the people of the Ming Dynasty will take the initiative to welcome the enemies outside, which will really make the compatriots hate each other. That would be the greatest tragedy. "

Guei E, Minister of War, should have expressed his stance first, but he remained silent.

In this way, everyone will understand that this guy was known before.

"Your Majesty," Wang Tingxiang came out first, "I think there is something missing in these regulations."

"Say." Zhu Houzhao's voice was calm.

"Yes. According to the current disciplinary requirements, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty must put the protection of the people first, and must not harm the people in the slightest... People who have studied in the academy and are literate can probably understand these principles. But ordinary soldiers do not understand. If something happens, Many soldiers have violated the regulations, what will happen then? Do we need to punish these people on a large scale?"

Zhu Houzhao was originally prepared for this, but when he brought it up, he thought it would be fine if he had a good idea, "What do you think we should do?"

"Wei Chen believes that we must first make it clear to each army and garrison, and set up a transition period. Otherwise, if the transition is too drastic, I am worried that many unexpected events will happen. After all... Wei Chen boldly said that Your Majesty wants to The army created was unprecedented."

Zhu Houzhao thought about it and realized that this did not change the fundamentals, so he nodded, "Okay, just set up different transition periods in different armies."

"Your Majesty." Zhou Shangwen suggested, "Your Majesty can take advantage of this transition period to have civilian officials join the army to give lectures, so that the whole army can better understand the background of this change."

He was reminding the emperor.

Because Zhu Houzhao had previously said that he would establish a civilian official in each army.

Zhu Houzhao quickly received this message, and he immediately said, "Yes, this is still necessary. Although the literacy rate in the army has continued to improve over the years, it is still not enough. Most people must not understand what the world situation is and what the nation is. If we are fighting, it would be better if someone preaches.”

Transforming the military is a very detailed job. To put it bluntly, it is brainwashing.

This cannot be done casually.

In comparison, it would be easier for Zhu Houzhao to gradually build a team from a hundred people, but now that the Ming Dynasty has guards all over the world, it is actually more difficult.

After thinking about it, Zhu Houzhao added, "In addition to the transition period, we will add a phased implementation. Start with the Beijing camp and make improvements based on feedback from practice. I think it will be better. At the same time, it will also set a benchmark. When other troops know how to imitate."

This is more secure.

All the ministers nodded.

This matter does not infringe on anyone's interests, it will just bring out some moths in the army, but these people usually keep their heads down. They have no 'spokesmen' in the court, so naturally no one will stand with them. Together.

In fact, in chaotic times, such a spokesman might exist, but during the Zhengde era, probably no one would challenge Zhu Houzhao in serious military affairs.

A person standing in the court can handle problems and cause scandals by himself, but he himself cannot be involved in the scandal.

"What about the increase in wages?" Zhu Houzhao rolled his eyes and scanned the people present.

Jiang Yong of the Ministry of Hubu was very straightforward this time, "Your Majesty, the Bank of Hunan has more than 40 million taels of silver, and according to recent circumstances, the annual income will still increase every year. Therefore, I can assure you that the imperial court has money!"

"Okay, okay." Zhu Houzhao smiled so hard that he bared his teeth, "Our God of Wealth has always been picky, but today he is really generous."

Jiang Yong reported again, "If your Majesty wants to find rare treasures, antique calligraphy and paintings, or make Buddhist elixirs, or build large-scale construction projects, no matter how many times you ask me, I will say that I have no money. But your Majesty has a strong army and a strong country, and has created great achievements. Then I Even if I dig three feet into the ground, I still have to find money for Your Majesty!"

These words are the secret of Jiang Yong's ability to stand tall in the court.

Even if he and the eldest son of the emperor got close, the emperor didn't say much.

The key point is that Jiang Yong fully supported Zhu Houzhao's various strategies to benefit the country.

"Well said, well said." Zhu Houzhao turned around and said: "In a few days, the generals and governors of each town will arrive in Beijing. At that time, we, the monarchs and ministers, will discuss the military system. My dear friends, Don’t blame me for being troublesome, I have a way to strengthen the army in my heart. If I don’t build the Ming National Defense Force into an army that is feared by all countries in the world while I’m alive, will I regret it after I die?”

Zhang Cong, Gu Renyi and others knelt down, "I don't dare."

"Before this matter, I would like to tell you a few words from my heart. I feel that a hundred years from now, future generations will use a very special perspective to define the actions of the emperors and ministers of the Zhengde Dynasty, but no matter what, we ourselves know that we are What to do.

I have been on the throne for twenty years. It can be said that I have never had a good life. Which year is not busy from the beginning to the end? I have worked hard for this country all my life and have no regrets, so you should not have any. Now a book called "Illustrated Records of Ten Thousand Kingdoms" has come out... If I don't train Ming Dynasty well, how can I safely let it face this world of great strife? Are you just relieved?

Therefore, I want you to support me with all your strength, and the cabinet and ministries must also unite as one. I don’t care about your petty thoughts among each other, and I still understand the truth that a person who is careful will have no disciples. But the people in the same court are all our own people, so no matter what small plot it is, it must not be at the expense of government or military affairs. If you don't remember this warning and something happens, don't blame me for being ruthless! "

"Wei ministers, please remember His Majesty's teachings!"

"Yes. Gui E, Duke of Yue."

The two people came forward and kowtowed, "I am here."

"These two regulations are very strict, but other troops are complaining and complaining. The Navy, Army Academy and Beijing Camp should not do it. After you go back, you must strictly follow the contents of the regulations to train the soldiers in the academy and the army. , half a year later, I want to see the results of both of you."

This actually implies the need for comparison.

"Yes, I will live up to the Holy Spirit's instructions!"

Specific goals for shaping the military are already included in the regulations.

In fact, it is something that will be familiar to future generations, such as making soldiers understand who they are and why they are fighting.

Country, nation, individual...what are these relationships?

Zhu Houzhao stood up and announced: "The imperial court will set up another high school under the Ministry of War, called the Institute of Political Science. It will make every effort to cultivate qualified political talents for the army. The early military lecturers will first come from the Hanlin Academy and the Metropolitan Inspectorate. These preachers will be selected from among them and will be trained mainly by the Political College. Since every soldier cannot be literate, the imperial court will send people down to tell them stories!"

To some extent, ideas are more powerful weapons than cannons!