Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 726 Imperial Guards
Zhu Shenzui told Xu Xiancheng that the so-called Internal Grand Secretary was called the Internal Grand Secretary of the Imperial Guard, which was similar to the Palace Front Office in the Song Dynasty, but also different. Like the Imperial Household Department, it belonged to the inner court, not the outer court official.

The official position of the Grand Secretary was equivalent to the six ministers and the left and right censors-in-chief, and was the second rank.

The highest official positions in the Censorate were the Left and Right Censors-in-Chief, but generally speaking, the Left Censor-in-Chief was the one who actually acted in charge, and the Right Censor-in-Chief was mostly just an additional title. This time, Zhu Shenzhu asked Xu Xiancheng to go to the Censorate to serve as the Right Censor-in-Chief, which was equivalent to turning this additional title into a real position.

The Censorate was an office in the imperial court that was on par with the Cabinet and the six ministries. The position of the Censor also existed in ancient times. During the Han Dynasty, the Censor-in-Chief was one of the Three Dukes, equivalent to the Prime Minister and the Grand Commandant. After that, the position of the Censor was a permanent position in the imperial court. After the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang directly set up the Censorate and determined the powers of the Censor, which was used to monitor and impeach all officials. He had the right to report on rumors, and the power in his hands was not small.

The reason why the civil service group was so powerful was that they directly controlled the right to speak, and most of this right to speak was in the Censorate. Zhu Shenzhu's purpose in letting Xu Xiancheng be the Right Censor-in-Chief was very clear, which was to let Xu Xiancheng and the civil service group compete for the right to speak in the Censorate, so as to eventually reach a point of confrontation.

In addition, the Minister of the Imperial Guards, as the name implies, is an official in charge of the Imperial Guards, and the Imperial Guards of the Ming Dynasty are the Han Generals. Zhu Shenzhu has decided to separate the Han Generals from the Jinyiwei and reorganize the department, the core of which is naturally the Mongolian guards around him and the reliable people selected from the new army.

These people will form a new department. In order to distinguish them from the previous title of Han generals, Zhu Shenzui intends to follow the historical practice of the Qing court and change the name to "Imperial Guards". All Imperial Guards will be directly controlled by Zhu Shenzui himself, and nominally under the jurisdiction of the Minister of the Imperial Guards.

Moreover, the Minister of the Imperial Guard will not just be one person in the future. There will be two or three more. In any case, these people are Zhu Shenzui's trusted ministers.

In addition to setting up this department, Zhu Shencui also planned to recruit the children of nobles into the imperial guards. Now that the Beijing Camp has been dismantled and turned into an empty shell, Zhu Shencui still retained the Beijing Camp in order to provide a place for the nobles of the Ming Dynasty and to give many of their children a place to go.

Although many children of nobles are playboys and second-generation rich people with no future, it cannot be denied that there are some young people among them who are willing to make progress. Although their number is small, they still exist. Moreover, the nobles of the Ming Dynasty have been suppressed since the Battle of Tumu. With the rise of Zhu Shenzhui, these nobles seem to have seen some hope of regaining power. This is why the noble group did not refuse during Zhu Shenzhui's process of winning them over, but many of them took the initiative to join them.

Although Zhu Shenzui hated the Qing Dynasty, he had to admit that the Qing Dynasty's adjustments and establishment of some official positions were eye-catching.

The Imperial Household Department is one aspect, and the establishment of the Imperial Guards is another aspect. The establishment of the Imperial Guards could provide a direct channel for promotion for the children of Manchu nobles, which greatly eased the internal cohesion. At the same time, many outstanding talents were discovered and promoted through this department. In addition, as guards, they were often in the palace and could often see the emperor, so their closeness to the emperor was self-evident.

The Ming Dynasty is different from the Qing Dynasty. The foundation of the Qing Dynasty was the Eight Banners, but the Ming Dynasty did not have such a group as the Eight Banners. However, the group of nobles who shared the same fate with the country was similar to the Eight Banners and could also be used.

Following the example of the Qing Dynasty, the imperial guards were divided into different ranks, just like military ranks in the army. The highest rank among the imperial guards was naturally the first-rank imperial guards, which was equivalent to the third-rank imperial guards. Next were the second- and third-rank imperial guards, which were equivalent to the fourth-rank and fifth-rank imperial guards. In addition, there were ordinary imperial guards, who were the sixth-rank imperial guards. These imperial guards formed the basic organization of the imperial guards, and were managed according to military rules, thus replacing the previous Han generals, and taking on the tasks of the emperor's guards, guards of honor, palace protection, and even imperial guards.

In Zhu Shenzhu's conception, the future imperial guards would consist of three parts. The first part was Zhu Shenzhu's personal guards in Mongolia. These Mongolians had followed Zhu Shenzhu in battles for many years, and they were basically from the Tenger tribe. As the actual controller of the Tenger tribe and the biological father of the Han Tenger, their loyalty to Zhu Shenzhu was self-evident.

Although these Mongols had a relatively low level of education, and many of them could not even speak Chinese fluently, they were the most reliable precisely because of this. This was also the reason why Zhu Shenzhui replaced the palace guards with these people after he moved into the palace, firmly controlling the entire palace and making it airtight.

Apart from these Mongols, the next ones are the elite of the new army trained by Zhu Shenzui. The new army is Zhu Shenzui's old foundation and the result of his many years of hard work. Now the new army has become the official official army of the Ming Dynasty, directly commanded by Wang Jinwu, and its scale is much larger than before.

The backbones of these new armies were extremely loyal and trustworthy, so they could naturally serve as personal guards to take charge of the palace. But this was not enough. In the future, the imperial guards would not only include the backbones of the new army, but Zhu Shenzhu would also use all the military scholars as imperial guards. That is, anyone who passed the military examination, including those who passed the examination and obtained the qualification of military scholars, would first serve as ordinary imperial guards, holding a military position of the sixth rank. These people had to serve as ordinary guards for at least two to three years, taking turns in the palace, and then they would be assigned to other posts according to their performance, or serve as formal officers in the army, or be independent in local areas.

The Ming Dynasty had military examinations, but they were opened and closed many times. During the Wanli period, the military examinations were suspended for a long time, and then resumed. In the Tianqi period, the military examinations were also intermittent. After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, the military examinations were simply stopped. Emperor Chongzhen felt that he was fooled by the civil service group and the situation in the country was out of control. In order to seize military power, Emperor Chongzhen reopened the military examinations despite opposition. From this point of view, he did something right.

There were many talents who came out of the military examinations in the Ming Dynasty. For example, Mao Wenlong, who was feared in Liaodong, was a military candidate. Wu Sangui, who was now in Liaodong, also passed the military examination. In addition, many generals in the army were military candidates. However, compared with the civil service examinations, the military examinations in the Ming Dynasty were usually just a procedure and were not strict. Most children of military generals or children of hereditary garrison officials could easily obtain a military qualification.

Even so, the military science still has its significance. It can not only promote some outstanding officers, but also enhance the prestige of the imperial power in the army. This is actually no different from the military academy in later generations. It is like Principal Chang opened a military academy. As the principal, all the students who graduated from the military academy are his disciples. He relies on these people to control the military power and consolidate his position.

The military examination was held by the imperial court, and no matter whether one passed the examination or became a military scholar, they were all disciples of the emperor. But this was far from enough. How could Zhu Shencui be satisfied with being a disciple of the emperor in name? He planned to take advantage of the opportunity of being the imperial guard to bring all these people under the jurisdiction of the imperial guard, and train them personally under his own eyes.

With Zhu Shenzhu's ability, the training and strict military discipline of his new army, these people naturally became Zhu Shenzhu's men after two or three years, and they would be of great use whether they were kept by his side or sent out to lead the army. Moreover, the young people who could take the military examination were basically the sons of generals and the hereditary sons of the guards. There was a huge group behind them. To win them over was to win over the group behind them, so why not?

As for the last part, it is the noble group mentioned above. In fact, the noble group was originally a group of military generals. Their ancestors made meritorious contributions and were awarded titles, thus becoming a group of nobles who lived and died with the country. In addition, there are also the foreign relatives groups of successive generations. These people together form the current noble group.

Winning over these people is what Zhu Shenzhui is doing now. He is now establishing an imperial guard agency and intends to recruit some of the nobles' children as guards. Doing so will not only appease the nobles, but also completely dispel their concerns and make them stand on his side.

Even if there are many incompetent people among the nobles, as long as there are a dozen or even fewer capable children of nobles who stand out among them, then these old nobles will definitely understand that this path is the best upward channel for their family in the future.

The nobles have been suppressed by the civil service for nearly two hundred years, and they have always wanted to restore the glory of their ancestors. They are not stupid, but they have lost their confidence because of the lack of hope. If they are given a chance, Zhu Shenzhu believes that these nobles will make the right choice.

This is roughly the composition of the entire imperial guard organization. As for how to manage and how to promote guards of different ranks, there will be strict systems. Not only are there the rules of the new army, but don't forget that the Jinyiwei also plays a big role. You must know that the Dahan General is originally an organization under the Jinyiwei. Although the Dahan General has become an imperial guard and has left the Jinyiwei organization, a series of regulations are still there. Zhu Shenzhu only needs to add or subtract from them. With Xu Xiancheng as the Minister of the Imperial Guard, the operation of this organization will not be a problem.

After listening to Zhu Shencui's explanation of the Imperial Guard organization, Xu Xiancheng had to admit the cleverness of this organization, and he was even more impressed by Zhu Shencui's extremely meticulous mind.

Both the Imperial Household Department and the Imperial Guards bypassed the outer court and were directly under the control of the inner court, which was ultimately controlled by Zhu Shenzhu. In this way, even if the court wanted to oppose it, it could not come up with any reason. In addition, these two institutions had some influence on the outer court in actual operation. The Imperial Household Department assumed some of the functions of the six ministries, but was not under the jurisdiction of the outer court. This approach was much better than simply using eunuchs to collect taxes, open mines, and supervise the army.

While ensuring the functions of the palace, the imperial guards also used this opportunity to win over the military and noble groups. Once successful, the effect can be imagined. Xu Xiancheng believed that it was not about how much success was certain, but that it was inevitable. Now it depends on how the effect will be in the future. Xu Xiancheng, who knew Zhu Shenzhu well, knew too well the ability of his brother-in-law.

(End of this chapter)