I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 223 General Staff Issues

"And the green armor, I remember the cost of a set is about seven or eight taels of silver. Its protective power is much worse than this plate armor. In the future, tell the Ministry of War not to purchase green armor, Allen, but to purchase plate armor!" Zhu Houzhao continued.

"That's great!" Zhu Houxuan nodded.

"Also, I have improved these weapons and equipment. If the new army is equipped with these new weapons and equipment, then the tactics and methods cannot be used as before. They must be changed accordingly," Zhu Houxuan continued to remind.

"Don't worry about this. I will organize people to study new tactics and strategies." Zhu Houzhao patted his chest. This was his favorite thing.

Zhu Houxuan smiled and said nothing.

After watching the demonstration, the group returned to the military tent.

Zhu Houxuan noticed that some unfamiliar attendants began to appear around Zhu Houzhao, and judging from their temperament and behavior, they did not seem to be from ordinary families.

Zhu Houzhao also noticed Zhu Houxun's gaze, and pulled Zhu Houxun into the tent for a secret talk.

"I also set up a attendant room like you. The first batch were all children from noble families. Most of them were illegitimate sons or second sons of the legitimate wife," Zhu Houzhao explained.

Zhu Houxuan nodded to show his understanding. The eldest sons of each noble family just needed to inherit the title peacefully and there was no need for them to serve as Zhu Houzhao's bodyguards.

The Ming Dynasty did not have a mature guard system like that of the Qing Dynasty. As a guard, one could rise from the lowest level to the first rank, the Grand Minister of the Imperial Guard.

The Ming Dynasty also had a system of honor guards, whereby the illegitimate sons or second legitimate sons of nobles served as guards for the emperor. However, the system of honor guards had basically no channels for advancement, and the relationship with the emperor was not that close.

The attendant room system is another matter. It is a system that combines assessment and training. With promotion channels, the relationship will be closer.
"The nobles are very dissatisfied with the new army, and some have expressed their dissatisfaction to me openly or secretly, so I set up the attendant room to appease the nobles. I first accepted a group of nobles' children and examined them. The good ones will be kept and the bad ones will be eliminated," Zhu Houzhao said quickly in a low voice.

Zhu Houxuan nodded slightly. Zhu Houzhao was very politically sensitive. It was not easy to do something well, but it was very easy to destroy it. The nobles were the ones who had the ability to do bad things. "How was the inspection?"

"There are still some good ones, but most of them are good-for-nothings and are worthless!" Zhu Houzhao said with a curled lip, "Let the good-for-nothings do the job, and send those who can't do the job well back. No one dares to say anything."

Zhu Houzhao was quite good at judging people, after all, he had been emperor for so many years.

"As for the rest of the people, I will train them well, show them kindness, and then assign them to the General Staff and the New Army, and then the next batch." Zhu Houzhao said with a raised eyebrow.

Zhu Houxuan nodded. The new army certainly could not completely avoid the interference of nobles, but he could still accept it in this way.

"But even so, there are not enough people available, especially the General Staff. They don't understand what's going on at all," Zhu Houzhao said with a sigh.

"I've come to realize that the most useful people are those you train." Zhu Houzhao suddenly said.

"What do you mean?" Zhu Houxuan said in confusion.

"It means exactly what it says! The people you train are young, energetic, and sensitive to numbers," Zhu Houzhao continued. "Don't beat around the bush, just speak directly!" Zhu Houxuan interrupted Zhu Houzhao.

"Then I'll be frank. Brother, please share some of the talents you have cultivated with me," Zhu Houzhao said easily.

"Give you some?" Zhu Houxuan raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Yes, give me some." Zhu Houzhao said affirmatively.

Zhu Houxuan looked at Zhu Houzhao for a long time to make sure he was not joking. "Tell me, how much do you want? Who do you like?"

"Jiang Jiangong is a good guy. He manages the logistics of the new army in an orderly manner. I have met him several times and feel that he is the talent I need. It will be enough if you can give me thirty to fifty people like him," said Zhu Houzhao.

Because the logistics of the new army was the responsibility of the Ming Royal Group, Jiang Jiangong was sent to take charge of all matters related to the logistics of the new army. Unexpectedly, after several contacts with Zhu Houzhao, he was favored by Zhu Houzhao.
"You are so arrogant. Jiang Jiangong also came out of my attendant room. Those who came out of my attendant room were all outstanding. I trained them to be independent generals. There are not many such people here. How can you ask for thirty or fifty of them?" Zhu Houxuan snorted coldly.

"But I really need someone." Zhu Houzhao refused to give up.

"You are the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty. You can get anyone you want. How come you have to ask me for someone? What problem is the General Staff encountering?" Zhu Houxuan asked curiously.

"I thought so at first." Zhu Houzhao sighed and said, "I thought the General Staff could be established by relying on the children of nobles, after all, they all have family backgrounds in learning, but later I found out that I was wrong."

"They understand the role of the General Staff as a military advisor or counselor. Their understanding is not wrong, but our requirements for our staff are far beyond what traditional military advisors or counselors can satisfy."

"So most of them act in a superficial way. In order to get my attention, they like to make some eye-catching suggestions without relevant data to support them. This leads to no one doing some basic work, and they can't do it well with their current mentality."

"So the General Staff needs a group of people who have done practical work, are good at mathematics, and are sensitive to numbers. After searching for a long time, I found that you are the one who best meets this requirement."

Zhu Houxuan had to admit that what Zhu Houzhao said made sense. The main responsibilities of a staff officer were to collect and master relevant circumstances and information, analyze and judge the situation and make suggestions. It was okay to have wild ideas, but more importantly, one needed to be down-to-earth in doing things. Being proficient in mathematics could indeed achieve twice the result with half the effort.

People who graduated from the Qizhou education system could not write poetry or compose essays, but they had all received a relatively complete modern mathematics education. Although they did not learn it in depth, they were considered to be proficient in mathematics in this era.

After confirming the ins and outs of the matter, Zhu Houxuan found that this matter was indeed necessary, and Zhu Houzhao had shown enough sincerity, so he made a decision in his heart.

"Jiang Jiangong can give it to you, and then I can give you twenty people from my attendant office. They have all received mathematics education and have been exposed to practical work at the grassroots level. They can definitely help you set up the General Staff first. The rest depends on you to figure out a solution." Zhu Houxuan said after a moment of hesitation.

He can have a hand in the General Staff's affairs, but there's no need to go that far.

Zhu Houzhao was not very satisfied with this, but since Zhu Houxuan was determined, he had to agree.

In the end, I only wrote one and a half chapters. I will post one chapter first.
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(End of this chapter)