Chapter 960
King Zhou Enters the Capital
Chapter 960 King Zhou Enters the Capital
The next day, An Chen reported by telegram that Nanchang had no intention of rebelling, because although they had a large number of unregistered private soldiers, they were not armed with swords and guns, but with hoes, sickles and shovels.
These private soldiers were all hidden military households, and they were all used as tenant farmers and long-term laborers by the local garrison commanders, who made them farm and do business.
Indeed, these people also had to help the generals transport goods, build houses, and repair roads.
They not only used these private soldiers themselves, but also rented them out to local gentry and wealthy families. Anyone who needed to build a house, repair roads, or transport goods could call them to do so. The private soldiers would take half of the wages they earned, while the generals would keep the other half.
There was a military officer named Zhu Liu who was even more ruthless. His soldiers were treated like cattle and horses, forced to break stones and build houses for the gentry. The soldiers were not paid a single penny of their wages; they were only guaranteed three meals a day.
The emperor was furious and couldn't help but roar in the Qianqing Palace, asking angrily, "Have my Ming soldiers lost all their fighting spirit? We've come to this point, why haven't they rebelled yet?"
Empress: "...Your Majesty, you are the emperor. How can you allow them to rebel against you?"
"It's not that they're rebelling against me, it's that they're rebelling against them," the emperor muttered under his breath as he glanced around the room and saw that no one else was there. "Whoever makes me unable to live, I will make them unable to live. If they rebel against those generals, I will know the suffering they have endured sooner."
Pan Yun slowly put down his teacup and said, “Your Majesty, they still have families. These garrison troops are different from the border troops. They have been soldiers for generations, and their families live together. The able-bodied men serve nearby, and some are transferred to border towns.”
"Leaving aside the soldiers who went to the border towns, those who stayed in the garrison, with three generations of grandfathers and brothers serving in the army, and mothers, wives and children farming the military fields in the villages outside the camp, who would dare to rebel, and who could rebel?"
The emperor opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a word for a long time.
Pan Jun lowered his eyes and twirled the teacup in his hand, saying, "Your Majesty, the system of military households and artisan households is going to be changed. The grandfather begets the father, the father begets the son, the son begets the grandson, and the grandson begets the son, and so on. They can always be military households. In the past, they could accumulate military merits through fighting and get promoted, but now, they can only become tenant farmers and long-term laborers for greedy people for generations."
“Soldiers are the shield that protects the country and the monarch. Now, the military-agricultural system has fallen into disuse. If this continues, how much fighting power will our million-strong army of the Great Ming have left? If we encounter a force like the Oirat that invades from the south, will the Great Ming still be able to defend its territory and the capital?”
The emperor remained silent for a long while before asking, "Did they also anticipate this, which is why they proceeded with this investigation of military affairs?"
Pan Jun said, "Your Majesty should thank the Duke of England. He foresaw the future when he was in Datong. He paved the way for you in advance. You must walk on it and walk it well, so that his arrangements will not have been in vain."
Abolishing military households and artisan households and reforming the military system is not something that can be done overnight, much less something that can be done now.
However, they can prepare in advance; at the very least, a consensus on military and political reform is necessary.
The emperor decided to have a chat with his civil and military officials during this period, first asking who had good ideas, and then screening out the ministers who supported the reforms, promoting those who should be promoted and transferring those who should be transferred.
Wait until the time is right before taking action.
The imperial advisor once said that in matters of state, it is better to remain stable than to rush things, especially in reform.
Otherwise, the harm caused by hasty reforms may be ten or even a hundred times greater than that caused by sticking to old ways.
In addition to civil and military officials, he also needed to understand the thoughts of the imperial family members.
It just so happens that it's his birthday, and many vassal kings will be coming to the capital this time.
The emperor's birthday is on the third day of the eighth lunar month.
King Zhou and his crown prince also brought their entourage to the capital to offer birthday greetings.
The Zhou royal family was the legitimate line, and the Zhou kings held a somewhat special position among the various vassal kings. The first Zhou king was Zhu Yuanzhang's most favored son, and his fiefdom was directly granted to him in the Central Plains.
Therefore, after Zhu Yunwen ascended the throne, the person he feared most was actually the Prince of Zhou.
Even after Zhu Di succeeded in the Jingnan Campaign, the person he was most wary of was his younger brother, Prince Zhou, who shared the same mother.
King Zhou must have known this, which is why he was cautious and careful throughout his life, rarely interfering in military or political affairs or local matters, and focusing solely on medicine.
Later, the throne passed to his son, the old King Zhou whom Pan Jun had met. Besides being fond of medicine like his father, the old King Zhou also had a hobby of creating plays.
He personally created thirty-one zaju plays, none of which were famous and their ideas were backward and feudal, but he truly did not cause any burden to the local people.
Unlike the King of Qin, who liked to abduct women, castrate boys, and impose exorbitant taxes, and the King of Lu, who liked to use boys as ingredients in alchemy to seek immortality, he genuinely enjoyed writing plays and hiring actors to perform them. Often, to promote his plays, he would even offer free screenings. It can be said that he caused no harm at all and instead enriched the lives of the local people.
Thanks to the caution and tolerance of two generations of Zhou kings, and the fact that the emperors sitting on the dragon throne had changed one after another, with the King of Xiang being the next in line to succeed the Zhou king, both emperors had become less wary of the Zhou king.
The new Zhou king was named Zhu Zijin. The old Zhou king had no sons, so he was adopted.
Pan Yun deserves some credit for his succession.
So, upon arriving in the capital, after paying his respects to the emperor, empress, and two empress dowagers, he took his son to the Imperial Observatory to request an audience with Pan Yun.
The official in charge of spring came out to see him and respectfully replied, "Reporting to King Zhou, the Imperial Preceptor is not at the Imperial Observatory. She went to the Ministry of Works outside the city early this morning. However, her two junior disciples are at the Imperial Hospital."
Upon hearing this, King Zhou thanked the official in charge of spring, left his visiting card, and took his son's hand to leave.
Zhu Tongqi was already a teenager, and when he saw his father about to leave the palace, he stopped in his tracks.
Zhu Zijin turned to look at him and asked gently, "What's wrong?"
Zhu Tongqie said, "Father, now that we've entered the palace, why don't we go to the Imperial Hospital for a checkup?"
Zhu Zijin: "We do not know her apprentice or nephew."
Zhu Tongqi: "But our Zhou royal lineage has practiced medicine for generations. Didn't Father also want to reprint and distribute the 'Emergency Relief Materia Medica' written by our great-grandfather? There are also 'Universal Relief Prescriptions' and 'Pocket Prescriptions'. Why not ask the imperial physicians of the Imperial Hospital to help us see if there are any additions or subtractions? If there are any additions, we can include them in the printing. That would be a great good deed."
Zhu Zijin hesitated for a moment and then shook his head: "I know what you're thinking. We can ask good doctors outside for help with these matters. We are princes, so we should avoid the Imperial Hospital if we can. How can we take the initiative to go there?"
Zhu Tongqi: "Father, our Zhou royal lineage has reached the third generation. The current king is kind and gentle, and he won't think too much about it."
“His Majesty is upright and will not overthink things, but we cannot afford to be careless.” Zhu Zijin himself had experienced the most brutal power struggles in the imperial court. Looking at the spirited young man in front of him, he couldn’t help but pat his head and whispered, “Your great-grandfather and grandfather were intelligent and cautious, but they still couldn’t avoid being demoted and reprimanded. We are far inferior to them. All we can do is be more careful.”
Unable to persuade his father, Zhu Tongqi could only hang his head and be led out of the palace.
(End of this chapter)