Longzang

Chapter 1180 Whoever gets in the way dies
Li Weisheng was actually quite well-known among the literary elites, mainly because he was the first to propose the concept of "a court full of upright officials." It was Sun Chaoen who first offered this idea, and then Li Weisheng used it to spread it to the court, successfully reducing the efficiency of the Western Jin Dynasty, suppressing the military faction led by Yue Jinshan, and buying Wei Yuan some breathing room.

Many years later, Li Weisheng once again proposed the idea of ​​"Zhong Zheng Ying Chao" (meaning "righteous officials fill the court"), which is no longer as simple as it was back then. Instead, it is presented in more than ten books and is self-consistent.

The Eastern Jin court was divided into three factions: the imperial relatives and nobles, the military generals and local powerful families, and the civil officials. The Eastern Jin civil officials faced immense pressure, but were also largely disorganized. Chancellor Wang He was young and capable, and he seized the opportunity presented by Qingming's invasion, proposing to use the resources of the Eastern Jin to appease Qingming.

Upon hearing this, Wang He was naturally subjected to a torrent of abuse from the entire court of military officers and relatives. But after being scolded, Wang He still had to go to the front lines to defend against Wei Yuan, right? Otherwise, Wang He would keep sarcastically remarking: "The General scolds me so vehemently, yet I haven't seen him fight a single battle on the front lines? Is he perhaps afraid of death?"

Many military officers, unable to withstand the provocation, went west, and most never returned. After several such exchanges, Wang He's mortal enemies in the court were reduced by half. When he again proposed paying tribute and begging for peace, no one dared to utter a sound.

When Li Weisheng arrived in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Wang He had already purged many of his political enemies in the court, the civil officials were gaining momentum, and the military generals were unable to hold their heads high. Li Weisheng was fortunate to have caught a good time.

After explaining his proposal, Li Weisheng suggested that to ensure a just and upright court, it was necessary to eliminate long-standing abuses. Upon hearing this, an old general immediately objected, retorting, "Does Lord Li believe that all the past policies of our Great Jin Dynasty were based on accumulated abuses?"

Li Weisheng said loudly, "It's hard to say about other places, but the deep-seated problems in the army have reached a point where they must be reformed! How can an army in the world be defeated in every battle?"

The old general, his face flushed with anger, roared, "Our Great Jin army is so powerful, how could we suffer a hundred defeats in a hundred battles?"

Li Weisheng bluntly asked, "Can you win against Qingming?"

"Of course there was a victory, and a great one at that!"

Li Weisheng didn't let up: "Which match, where was it fought, when, and who was leading the team?"

The old general was stunned and couldn't answer for a long time. The battle reports to the court naturally mentioned many victories, such as the recapture of dozens of border cities. However, the reports didn't mention that these recaptured cities were all empty.

This kind of victory, presented as a facade of peace and prosperity, naturally cannot withstand scrutiny, much less be investigated thoroughly. Seeing that Li Weisheng had no intention of adhering to official etiquette, the old general sneered and said, "Fine, if Lord Li says there are deep-seated problems, then there are! Let's see how you plan to change them!"

After saying that, he returned to the train and stopped talking.

Li Weisheng surveyed the court and declared loudly: "The current military system of our Great Jin is the land-based system, which conscripts men into the army based on land ownership. This allows local powerful clans, due to their vast landholdings, to often directly raise an army of several thousand or even tens of thousands of men, then organize the entire force into a battalion, with members of their own clan serving as officers. In times of war, troops must be mobilized in battalions, and cannot be split up."

"I would like to ask, are these soldiers Your Majesty's army or the private army of powerful local clans?"

This question silenced the court and the public for a moment. Even many civil officials were taken aback, not expecting Li Weisheng to fire such a powerful first shot. They looked at each other, bewildered, and none dared to speak.

A glint of light flashed in King Jinxuan's dim old eyes. Ignoring the objections of his ministers, he nodded, signaling Li Weisheng to continue.

Amidst the murderous gazes of numerous imperial clansmen and military nobles, Li Weisheng remained unfazed. He was from the Western Jin Dynasty; even an idiot could know who stood behind him. How could these nobles dare to harm Li Weisheng? Wouldn't that give Wei Yuan a pretext for a full-scale invasion?
Since Wei Yuan unified the Western Jin Dynasty, his fame had spread far and wide. Everyone knew that wherever the Qingming army passed, all land deeds were invalidated and had to be searched and burned. That wasn't all; even the boundary stones had to be removed and replaced, causing significant changes to the earth's veins and rivers.

The centuries-old achievements of local powerful families would be destroyed in an instant by the passing of the Azure Nether Army. Therefore, anyone who owned land and houses on the frontier did not want Wei Yuan to actually invade.

Once the court had quieted down a bit, Li Weisheng said, "Therefore, the core essence of my reforms is: separation of military and local control, and separation of generals and soldiers!"

The entire court was immediately thrown into an uproar!
Li Weisheng's clear voice still rang out amidst the noise: "The imperial court conscripts soldiers directly from villages and towns, so that the conscripted men no longer pass through the hands of local powerful clans. This is the separation of the military and the local population."

After the soldiers were recruited, they were uniformly organized into specially established camps in each district for training. In the event of war, the general would go to the camp to draw troops upon imperial decree and military command, and return the troops to the camp after the battle; this was the separation of general and soldiers.

A member of the imperial clan, a military officer, stepped forward and coldly said, "How can we win battles when the soldiers don't know their generals and the generals don't know their soldiers?"

Li Weisheng said, "We've never won a battle before, so how bad could it be?"

The old general was so angry that his face turned red and he almost couldn't stand up. Before he could think of a rebuttal, Li Weisheng had already turned to Prince Jinxuan and said loudly, "The reform may have a thousand faults, but it has one advantage: from now on, the soldiers and generals of the whole country will only know the King and will not know the general!"

The cloudiness in King Jinxuan's eyes cleared, and he finally nodded, saying, "My dear minister, you are learned and talented beyond compare. You have come from afar to serve my Great Jin. We must not treat you poorly, lest we discourage the talented scholars of the world."

King Jinxuan's words had a hidden meaning, and only then did those members of the royal family and nobles realize that behind Li Weisheng stood Qingming Weiyuan! This was a person they absolutely could not afford to offend.

King Jinxuan paused for a moment and said, "Issue an order for Li Weisheng to fill the vacancy of Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, with the rank of first grade!"

The officials were surprised that Li Weisheng had been appointed to such a high position upon arrival. Just as they were at a loss, Prime Minister Wang He stepped forward and said, "Congratulations to Your Majesty on gaining another right-hand man!" With Wang He taking the lead, his entire faction echoed him, greatly increasing their momentum, and the matter was settled.

……

After the court assembly adjourned, Li Weisheng was summoned to the palace to present his strategies. The other officials left the palace and returned home on their own.

On the way out of the palace, a trusted aide said to Wang He, "Why does the Prime Minister value Li Weisheng so much today? This man could be a threat to you!"

Wang He said calmly, "The distinction between friend and foe is not based on public opinion or official rank, but on identity and political views. Regardless of Li Weisheng's motives, his proposal to separate the military from the local area and the generals from the soldiers hits the nail on the head regarding the powerful and noble families. If this policy is implemented, the power of the noble families will be greatly diminished, and they will no longer be a threat. Therefore, this man is truly talented. If he is really on our side, I would not mind giving him the position of prime minister."

"grown ups……"

"No need to say more, I have my own ideas."

Another confidant asked, "Won't the imperial relatives and nobles retaliate? Or force the King to retract his order?"

Wang He said, "Li Weisheng's words have struck a chord with Your Majesty, and he is backed by Qingming. If Qingming and Your Majesty join forces to carry out this ritual, no one can stop them. Whoever tries will die!"

……

Li Weisheng acted swiftly and decisively. By the next day, he had already produced a feasible plan. This plan involved establishing six large camps in various locations, recruiting 300,000 new soldiers from all over the country, and uniformly organizing them into the Imperial Guard, which would then be trained in the six large camps.

Everyone understood perfectly well that these 300,000 men, known as the Imperial Guard, were directly under the King's command. Furthermore, military expenses and provisions were to be prioritized for the Imperial Guard, while the Eastern Jin Dynasty was weak and still owed Wei Yuan a large sum of reparations. Where would they find the funds to support an additional 300,000 troops?
Therefore, this military expenditure will inevitably have to be transferred from other places. At that time, troops in various places will soon encounter delayed or unpaid wages, and the quality of food will also decline sharply.

This isn't speculation; Li Weisheng actually stated this in the plan. As for what to do if various units couldn't handle it, Li Weisheng offered two options: either go home or go to guard the northern frontier.

People really die in the northern border region, so they naturally avoid it like the plague. Therefore, there is only one way left: go home.

Now, the soldiers in the Eastern Jin Dynasty were all from the same hometown, all from the same powerful local families. If they couldn't endure the hardship, they would return to their hometowns in their entirety.

Wang He and other experienced individuals had already discerned that Li Weisheng's move was merely the first step; he would likely replicate this pattern, leading to a surge in the Imperial Guard. The more Imperial Guards there were, the more military funds would be diverted, consequently reducing the number of local private armies. After all, building an army was extremely costly, and even powerful clans could hardly sustain it in the long run.

Many civil officials began to genuinely admire Li Weisheng, who had not reduced a single soldier and had directly forced the private army to disband itself. With this influx and outflow, the future imperial army would number eight million, replacing the current five million-plus private troops.

Several senior officials sensed something unusual about the numbers in the plan.

With the Eastern Jin treasury, it was impossible to support eight million imperial guards, plus two million border troops in the north, which would amount to an army of ten million. Li Weisheng's decision to establish eight million imperial guards was already approved by Prince Xuan of Jin.

Therefore, in the end, some people will be well-fed while others will be left with nothing. And whoever has more military funding will be able to eat better, with the power to allocate military funds falling into the hands of those who hold the pen. Needless to say, these positions are occupied by civil officials and those with a strong sense of integrity.

Therefore, under these military personnel quotas, everyone saw the four characters "civilian control over military"!
This time, even before Wang He gave the signal, several ministers had already begun to speak out in support of Li Weisheng. They had completely regarded Li Weisheng as a member of the "pure stream" (a group of upright officials).

……

After the court session ended, Li Weisheng left the palace with Wang He. Wang He gestured for his attendants to leave, and Li Weisheng then said, "This humble official still has some strategies, but I would like to ask the Prime Minister for his guidance first."

"Please speak, Lord Li."

Li Weisheng said, “I have observed that the quality of candidates in the imperial examinations of this dynasty has been uneven, and there are many arrogant and self-willed individuals. I believe that the next step should be to establish several large academies in various places, where renowned scholars will be specially invited to give lectures. The Grand Secretaries of the court can also go to the academies to give lectures from time to time.”

The students in the academy are already the best of the best. In this way, they can become familiar with the policies and ideas of the various officials in advance, which will make their path to the imperial examinations smoother, and the court will also gain more useful talents.

Wang He was immediately intrigued. The establishment of the academy would solidify the teacher-student relationship, making them the natural successors. However, he remained outwardly calm, asking, "This is a good thing. I wonder how Lord Li plans to implement it?"

Li Weisheng said, "The first step is to prepare for the imperial court to fund the establishment of four major academies across the country, named Yuze, Bailu, Tongji, and Donglin. There are four Grand Secretaries in the court, each of whom can preside over one academy. In time, they will surely have students all over the world."

(End of this chapter)