Chapter 959
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After Zhu Yi, the descendants of military generals and nobles who died in battle in Datong last year followed suit. No one knows how Zhu Yi persuaded them, but after they went to the palace and came out, they were all like they had been injected with chicken blood, and they all started to settle old scores with their fathers.
To Shi Heng and others' surprise, Zhu Mian took the initiative to submit a letter of surrender, confessing that he had condoned his subordinates and servants' encroachment on fertile land in Henan and Jiangxi.
Taking advantage of this incident, Yu Qian, together with many civil officials, dispatched imperial censors to investigate military affairs in various regions.
The emperor decreed that anyone who voluntarily surrendered himself to the authorities would be pardoned as long as he returned the fertile land and military pay he had seized.
If the Censorate and the Northern Garrison find out, things won't be so easy to resolve.
To assist the Censorate and to supervise its censors, the emperor, following Pan Yun's advice, dispatched Yun Yan and An Chen from the Northern Garrison to assist in the matter.
Each team took away a radio and a telegraph operator who had just learned basic telegraphy. This was a newly established official position in the imperial court, under the Ministry of Rites' Information Department. The highest-ranking official was called the Messenger, a sixth-rank official, who was transferred from the Court of State Ceremonial.
Most of the officials below were transferred from the Imperial Academy, and the clerks were all newly trained telegraph operators from the Imperial Academy.
Two imperial censors, a team of imperial guards, along with a radio and a telegraph operator.
They were dispatched to six locations: Northeast, Northwest, Central Plains, Jiangnan, Southeast, and Southwest. Meanwhile, the remaining military garrisons that had not been found were also required to conduct self-inspections.
Because the emperor reinstated the Northern Garrison, the Embroidered Uniform Guards became arrogant again, and their flying fish robes made them a prominent sight in the capital.
People are prone to getting carried away when they are successful. Yu Qian caught the Embroidered Uniform Guard running rampant in the capital twice and directly submitted a memorial to impeach them. The emperor was so angry that he summoned Bi Wang and scolded him: "I wanted to give you an important position, so I promoted you without going through Yun Yan. But as soon as Yun Yan left, you couldn't even control the people in the Southern Garrison. If this happens again, I think you don't need to stay in the capital. Take your family and get out of the capital."
Bi Wang's expression changed drastically, and he kowtowed repeatedly to beg for forgiveness. He only withdrew after the emperor had calmed down a bit.
The Empress couldn't help but ask, "The Imperial Advisor says that Bi Wang is mediocre and unfit for important tasks, so why does Your Majesty still employ him?"
The emperor said in a deep voice, "He is mediocre, but he is loyal. I ascended the throne suddenly, and besides the old guard, who else can I use?"
But he used to be a prince without real power, and how many talented people were among his old entourage?
The Empress had a feeling that his line of thinking was wrong, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. It took her a while to realize what was wrong: "Your Majesty, if the old people are no longer suitable, then you should appoint new ones. You are the Emperor, and you have shown them great favor. How could they not be loyal?"
The emperor was deep in thought.
The Empress said, “With the imperial examination approaching this year, why not hold a military competition to recruit talent? Didn’t you say that the military suffered heavy losses in the first battle and that the nobles and generals in the court control military affairs, making it difficult to implement military and political reforms? Why not hold a grand competition to promote new talents? We can also take this opportunity to select the sons of nobles to serve as members of the Embroidered Uniform Guard to fill vacancies.”
The Ming Dynasty suffered from severe overstaffing, and at the same time, many positions lacked qualified personnel.
For example, in last year's battle, the Imperial Guards of the Northern Garrison lost more than half of their strength, and they have not yet been replenished.
This time, people were sent out to investigate military affairs, leaving only the Southern Garrison Commanders in the capital.
Most of the people in the Southern Garrison Command are spoiled rich kids who live off others or have been squeezed out of the ranks. Apart from showing off, they don't have much ability.
The Empress was straightforward and had long disliked them.
However, because they were involved in many things, the emperor could not easily lay them off, and if he were to transfer them, there were no other people available at hand.
The emperor was very interested in the empress's suggestion.
"I will discuss this with Grand Secretary Yu before making a decision."
Yu Qian had no objection to the military's grand martial arts competition to select talent, but he objected to the emperor's recruitment of sons of nobles into the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Wasn't this just expanding the recruitment?
The Embroidered Uniform Guard was ruthless and frequently broke the law, making them very difficult to manage. Yu Qian then made an excuse to refuse.
Other cabinet ministers naturally did not want the Northern Garrison to continue to grow too powerful.
When the late emperor was alive, the Northern and Southern Garrison Commands, with the support of Wang Zhen, monitored all officials. In reality, they were just framing people for their own selfish interests. Last year, during the personal campaign, Wang Zhen died, and most of the people in the Northern Garrison Command also died. How could they possibly be allowed to grow stronger again?
The civil officials all refused.
The military generals had just been suppressed, and adhering to the principle that they should support what the civil officials rejected, most of them voiced their support for the emperor in the court.
Moreover, the emperor said that the recruitment of new members for the Embroidered Uniform Guard would give priority to military officers and sons of nobles.
They became even more supportive.
After several arguments, the emperor insisted on selecting officials, even using his private treasury funds instead of the national treasury, which the officials could not refuse.
Therefore, the court quickly set the dates for the grand military competition and the selection of the Imperial Guards.
The military skills competition first involves local competitions to select the best and strongest, who are then sent to the military for the final competition.
Finally, the test will not only test archery and horsemanship skills, but also military strategy and even actual combat skills. It will take a long time. The Ministry of War has calculated the time and it is estimated that the grand competition can be held in the capital around October.
They then asked the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to select an auspicious day, October 18th, for the final round of the military martial arts competition.
The selection process for the Embroidered Uniform Guard was quite simple.
With the Emperor's birthday approaching, followed by the Mid-Autumn Festival and the imperial examinations, the court decided to hold the preliminary selection for the Imperial Guards on the first day of the eighth lunar month, with the final selection taking place on the Emperor's birthday.
Perfect timing! Let the vassal states that come to offer their congratulations and observe the ceremony witness the might of the Ming Dynasty.
At the emperor's command, the court sprang into action, creating a bustling and lively scene that made many forget about the six teams that had been ordered to leave the capital.
Officials unrelated to the matter may forget, but cabinet ministers, the emperor, and the nobles and military generals whose lives are at stake cannot.
In particular, Shi Heng and others were all smiles as they prepared birthday gifts for the emperor, while anxiously sending their men to contact local generals.
But the people sent out disappeared without a trace, never to return. There wasn't even a letter, let alone a person.
This made Shi Heng and the others even more anxious.
Shi Heng murmured, "Your Majesty is so heartless. To cause such a disturbance on your own birthday, aren't you afraid of the evil energy being too strong and diminishing your own fortune?"
Zhu Qiyu was naturally not afraid. The Imperial Advisor said that this was doing justice and gaining righteousness, which would only bring benefits and no harm.
He's not going to kill innocent people indiscriminately, nor will he implicate anyone, so what is he afraid of?
Confident Zhu Qiyu received telegrams from the three teams that evening, which made him furious. He threw a huge tantrum.
After finishing, he sat on the steps, looking melancholy: "I finally understand why my brother was so easily angered and always worried when he was emperor."
The Empress looked at him with concern: "Your Majesty..."
"Yun Yan has been assassinated three times before even arriving in Taiyuan. I want to see just how serious the problem in Taiyuan really is."
He added, "And An Chen, who went to Nanchang, hadn't even met the commander-in-chief before he found the hidden private soldiers. Private soldiers, private soldiers! What are they doing? Are they rebelling?" (End of Chapter)