Yongli Ming Dynasty

Chapter 167 Preaching
When the officials heard that Lu Daqi had actually recommended Ma Bao, they all looked suspicious and looked back and forth between the two men, with an inquiring look.
Zhu Lang also looked at Lu Daqi below with suspicion, but at this time Lu Daqi's face was expressionless, and there was no clue at all.

Zhu Lang glanced at Ma Bao who was looking excited below him, but his face remained calm and he continued speaking.
"I know what Mr. Lu means, Mr. Chen, what do you think?"

Chen Zizhuang heard His Royal Highness the Regent asking the question, glanced at Lu Daqi, was silent for a moment, and then spoke in a deep voice

"The Qing invaders are now powerful, and the court has previously discussed expanding the army. I heard from Lord Li that this group of surrendered soldiers were able to charge into the battle without being defeated. They are indeed elite veterans. Your Highness has no objection to using this group of defeated soldiers to form a new army."

"But this is the third army formed after the establishment of the court, and its status is extraordinary. Ma Bao is a newly surrendered general after all. It is not appropriate to suddenly let him serve as the commander-in-chief at this time. In my opinion, we can select a suitable general from the Longxiong and Wuxiong armies to serve as the commander-in-chief, and then let Ma Bao be the deputy. This may be safer."

Although Chen Zizhuang's words were cryptic, everyone present understood what he meant instantly. Chen Zizhuang still did not trust Ma Bao, a newly surrendered general, and did not agree with the court rashly handing over the third army to a surrendered general.

Jiao Lian and Li Mingzhong nodded their heads when they heard this. There were so many loyal generals in their army who were deputy generals. How could they let a newly surrendered general become the commander of the third army?
Zhu Lang's face was extremely calm when he heard this. In his expectation, Lu Daqi and Chen Zizhuang should oppose it together. However, for some reason, Lu Daqi was the first to agree to it. Among the three people present, only Chen Zizhuang came out to oppose it.

Zhu Lang nodded slightly to Chen Zizhuang, motioning him to sit down, but still did not express his opinion. His eyes flashed and he looked at Su Guansheng below.
"Lord Su, what do you think?"

When everyone heard this, they looked at Su Guansheng below. The two elders agreed and disagreed. It would depend on Su Guansheng's attitude.

However, everyone thought about the statement made by His Royal Highness the Regent just now, and they did not dare to hold too much hope for this Lord Su.
Sure enough, as soon as Su Guansheng opened his mouth, Jiao Lian and others felt their hearts sink.

"I think what Lord Lu said is very true. Ma Baoneng resolutely rebelled when the imperial court was weak, and later assisted the imperial court in defeating the Qing invaders. The imperial court should reward him handsomely and set an example for him."

"People all over the world have seen that the court rewards and punishes clearly, and more loyal and righteous generals will surely come to join us in the future. I think Ma Bao can be appointed as the commander of the Tengxiang Army."

After Su Guansheng finished speaking, he ignored the people in the room. After seeing the hint from His Royal Highness the Regent above, he turned his eyes and spoke again.

"General Ma was able to surrender to the court when the court was weak, which shows his loyalty."

"However, the 6,000 defeated soldiers outside the city have been Qing soldiers for a long time, and their temperaments are difficult to determine. What kind of temperament these 6,000 defeated soldiers have is really worrying. I am not worried about General Ma's loyalty, but whether these 6,000 surrendered soldiers can really be loyal to the court."

"When Your Highness was defending the city, he sent inspectors to the army to announce rewards and punishments based on military merits and to explain the righteousness of the cause. The young and strong men in the army were inspired by the righteousness, so their morale was greatly boosted and everyone fought to the death. Only then did they defend Guangzhou and wait for the imperial court's reinforcements."

"I think we can imitate this system and send missionaries to the Tengxiang army to let these surrendered soldiers know the righteousness of the court. In this way, these surrendered soldiers will surely be obedient and loyal to your highness and the court."

Everyone was stunned when they heard this. They first glanced at Su Guansheng, and then looked up at the Regent. The Regent had a blank expression on his face, and then they all looked away.
Everyone in the hall had a gleam in their eyes. At this moment, Su Guansheng directly put aside the issue of the commander of the Tengxiang Army and instead brought up the matter of the unheard-of missionary. This was definitely not a sudden idea.
Su Guansheng's identity was known to everyone in the court, and everyone present knew that this so-called missionary must have been the idea of ​​His Royal Highness the Regent!
Chen Zizhuang glanced at Lu Daqi above him, only to find that Lu Daqi was startled at first, and then fell silent. He looked thoughtfully at Jiao Lian and Li Mingzhong opposite him. It seemed that Lu Daqi would not speak for the time being.

Chen Zizhuang glanced at His Royal Highness the Regent above him, thought for a moment, then looked at Su Guansheng beside him, and said with a folded hand.
"May I ask Lord Su, what is the missionary system and what are the missionaries responsible for?"

"The missionaries are directly led by the imperial court. They are scholars or soldiers who are proficient in mathematics. After being selected by His Highness, they are sent to the army."

"On the one hand, the missionary is responsible for the military merits and food and wages of the army. The food and wages sent by the court to the army will be handled by the missionary, and the money will be directly distributed to the soldiers in the army. At the same time, during wartime, he is responsible for checking and distributing military merits. On the other hand, he is responsible for constantly spreading education, so that the soldiers in the army understand the great cause and serve the court wholeheartedly."

Chen Zizhuang immediately understood what Su Guansheng meant when he heard this. This was actually the military supervisor that the court had originally had. The only difference was that the military supervisor was previously a civil servant, but now His Highness wanted to establish a new system and personally select the candidate for the military supervisor.

Chen Zizhuang also understood the intention of His Highness the Regent today. His Highness was going to establish a new Tengxiang Army to implement a new military supervision system and continue to strengthen the control over the army in the court.
When Jiao Lian and Li Mingzhong heard this, their expressions changed slightly. They immediately understood what His Royal Highness the Regent meant and no longer cared about the commander of the Tengxiang Army.

Zhu Lang looked at the ministers below with different expressions and spoke softly.

"What do you think of Lord Su's proposal?"

"I think this proposal is feasible."

Lu Daqi and the other two looked at each other, then stood up together and spoke respectfully.

It was the instinct of all civil officials to supervise and check military officials. In fact, some people had long suggested that military supervisors be sent to the two armies. However, His Royal Highness the Regent attached great importance to these two armies and simply turned a blind eye to the memorials from the court.

Now that His Highness is finally ready to send a military supervisor to the army, what reason do they have to object?

Although it seems that His Highness is not going to select military supervisors directly from the civil officials, but is going to select people himself, His Highness has said that these people also include scholars. In this case, they can also mix in their own people. Zhu Lang heard the ministers below agreeing in unison, and looked at Jiao Lian and the other person on the right.
"You two armies are the imperial court's personal troops. The soldiers in the army are known for their loyalty and righteousness. I have always been at ease."

"But these 6,000 defeated soldiers were originally from the Qing army. Lord Su is worried and thinks that we should send missionaries to the Tengxiang army to spread the great cause. What do you two generals think of Lord Su's proposal?"

When Zhu Lang finished speaking, all the civil officials in the room looked at the two people opposite them. Jiao Lian and the other two felt the gazes of the three cabinet officials, and their hearts tightened. After some hesitation, they could only speak in unison.

"Lord Su's proposal is mature and prudent. We, the ministers, will follow your holy decision and have no objection."

Jiao Lian and Li Mingzhong looked at each other and smiled bitterly. Although His Highness said that it was Lord Su's idea, everyone knew that this proposal was definitely His Highness's idea.

Moreover, His Highness had said that it was because the Tengxiang Army was originally Qing soldiers that they had to send military supervisors, and he did not mention the two armies at all.

In this case, how could they object? Did they have to guarantee that the 6,000 defeated soldiers of the Tengxiang Army would never rebel, so that His Highness would not have to send another military supervisor? How could this be possible?
Moreover, after the three ministers knew that His Highness intended to send a military supervisor to the army, they all agreed. In this case, how could they object?

Zhu Lang heard Jiao Lian and the others agree, but he did not hesitate and spoke directly.

"Where is Ma Bao?"

"I am here"

Ma Bao's face lit up when he heard this, and he immediately stepped out of the line and bowed. Zhu Lang looked at the middle-aged general below and spoke loudly:

"The imperial court was previously trapped in an isolated city. Ma Baoneng resolutely turned against the imperial court in times of crisis and risked his life many times to pass on messages and help the imperial court defend the city. This shows his loyalty. Later, he even seized the gate of the Qing army camp and helped the imperial court defeat the Qing invaders in one fell swoop. He deserves a reward for such a great contribution."

"I hereby promote Ma Bao to the position of Left Commander of the Right Military Commandery, and he will be the commander-in-chief of the Tengxiang Army. From today on, he will reorganize the defeated soldiers outside the city and assist the court in reorganizing the Tengxiang Army."

"I will obey your order. I, Ma Bao, will do my best to repay your great kindness."

Ma Bao looked excited and kowtowed to His Royal Highness the Regent above him.

He had surrendered to the court this time, thinking that with his background as a barbarian, even though he had made great contributions, the best outcome would be to continue to lead troops in the court. However, he did not expect that His Highness would directly let this newcomer lead an army alone.

This was something he had never dared to think about before. At least if it were him, he would never let a newly surrendered person lead the army alone.
This is an army of 6,000. Li Chengdong killed so many people for the Qing court, but the Qing court only allowed him to expand the army to this extent.
No matter where they were, six thousand soldiers were a force that could attract all parties to join them. Yet, His Highness had handed over a surrendered person to him.

Ma Bao looked grateful, and felt more and more that this prince was indeed different from ordinary people. He also felt that he had made the right bet by resolutely joining this prince that day.
As for the discussion in the hall just now about sending a military supervisor to the army, Ma Bao didn't feel anything at all. How could a military general lead an army without a military supervisor? When he was in the Qing army before, didn't he have a Tartar military supervisor sent by Tong Yangjia?

Zhu Lang was relieved when he saw that no one in the crowd objected. Everyone in the crowd thought that his purpose today was to send military supervisors to the army under the pretext of the Tengxiang Army. However, they did not know that the missionaries and military supervisors he had set up were two completely different things.

Once these missionaries start to operate the way he wants, he will have firm control over all the imperial troops!

Instead of controlling the army through one or a few loyal generals, he kept all the troops firmly in his own hands.

At that time, the role of the generals would only be to lead the troops in battle. It would be impossible for the generals to turn the soldiers supported by the court into their own private soldiers as they did before.

Moreover, these missionaries were related to many of his future plans. Once these missionaries entered the army, they would inevitably bring about extremely drastic changes. This was why he temporarily only implemented this system in the Tengxiang Army.
The Tengxiang Army was completely blank, with newcomers from top to bottom. He could do whatever he wanted. When a group of qualified missionaries were trained in the Tengxiang Army, then it would be time to promote the missionaries to the entire army.

"Chengzhi, give General Ma a seat."

Although Zhu Lang's mind was full of thoughts, he did not show any emotion on his face. After Ma Bao got up, he asked Li Chengzhi to give Ma Bao a seat.

After Ma Bao thanked him, he sat behind Li Mingzhong, and suddenly became the third-ranking military official in the Ming Dynasty court.
Ma Bao sat behind Li Mingzhong, his face was excited, but Jiao Lian and Li Mingzhong were no longer paying attention to Ma Bao, they were all staring at His Royal Highness the Regent above with nervous expressions.

Since His Majesty the Regent has established the rule of sending military supervisors to the army through the Tengxiang Army, then it should be their turn next.

(End of this chapter)