Emperor Zhengde

Chapter 375: The People and Civil Officials of the Ming Dynasty in the New Era

Zhu Houzhao summoned Tang Kekuan and Lu Tong, naturally for the purpose of destroying the Japanese pirates. Although it was unknown whether Tang Kekuan and Lu Tong would have any objections to Qi Jiguang taking command, Zhu Houzhao believed that he needed to do some ideological work on the two of them.

Although Zhu Houzhao was the emperor emeritus of the Ming Dynasty and the first person at the top of power, he never ignored the people below him and always maintained respect for them. Naturally, he would not risk losing the war for the sake of so-called face and not give more explanations to the two veteran generals Tang Kekuan and Lu Tan.

Zhu Houzhao was undoubtedly right to do so.

As veteran generals of Yu Dayou's generation, Tang Kekuan and Lu Tong were actually dissatisfied with the younger Qi Jiguang becoming the commander-in-chief in this war to exterminate the Japanese pirates. However, they were summoned by the retired emperor and even had the emperor personally explain things to them, which made their grudges and dissatisfaction disappear in an instant, and they even took the initiative to promise to cooperate with Qi Jiguang.

After summoning Tang Kekuan and Lu Tong, Zhu Houzhao no longer worried about the specific matters of the war to exterminate the Japanese.

As an old man, he is now trying to relax as much as possible.

Of course, this doesn't mean that he will no longer pay attention to this war.

Zhu Houzhao cared a lot about the war to destroy Japan.

After all, compared with the Ming Dynasty's anti-Japanese war during the Wanli period in history.

In this time and space, the Ming Dynasty was the one that took the initiative to attack.

Before the war to destroy Japan officially started, the Ministry of War and the General Political Department of the Privy Council began to carry out propaganda among the military and civilians, publicizing why the Ming Dynasty should destroy Japan and the significance of destroying Japan.

With the influence of new ideas, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the central government in charge of military and political power began to actively report to the people of the world the significance and reasons of some major decisions.

This is a transformation of the Ming Dynasty in the new era.

In the past, the emperor and the court treated the people of the world in the same way as a father treats his son, and issued decisions in the form of imperial decrees.

Now, the relationship is reversed, with the emperor and the court reporting important decisions to the people of the world.

It seemed that it was no longer the Emperor and the court of the Ming Dynasty that ruled the people of the Ming Dynasty, but that the Emperor and the court of the Ming Dynasty served the people of the Ming Dynasty, or were hired by people all over the world to manage the country.

The emperor and many high-ranking officials in the court have changed their minds and have adopted this idea.

However, many people still live in a stage where they distrust officials but are afraid to rely on them.

Of course, there are also many officials, especially middle and lower-level officials, who still remain at the stage where the people can follow but cannot be made to understand.

But the people of the Ming Dynasty at this time were actually happy. They had not experienced a hundred years of humiliation, nor had they experienced three hundred years of slave rule. They did not know what it meant to worship foreign things and fawn on foreigners. Even the word "foreign" in their daily lives did not mean "more advanced, rarer, and more precious", but instead represented backwardness and crudeness.

The hatred towards Japan was not that great, so even though the imperial court publicized the reasons for destroying Japan, they did not have any great feelings. After all, in that era, many people had not even experienced a major Japanese invasion, did not know the cruelty of war, and did not understand why the war was launched.

"I wish to be a frivolous boy in Chang'an, born in the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras. I spend my life fighting cocks and riding horses, unaware of the rise and fall of the world." This is undoubtedly the best portrayal of the people of the Ming Dynasty in this era. As for the upcoming war to exterminate Japan, their greatest interest is how many Japanese women they can buy by then.

The people of the Ming Dynasty in this era were truly happy in their hearts. They did not have much hatred to remember, nor were they so extreme. They even seemed somewhat simple.

Qi Jiguang did not think that it would be a big problem to destroy the Japanese this time. After all, the current military strength of the Ming Empire was not on the same level as any other country in the world.

First of all, the transportation of troops is very different from that of other countries. No one except the military and civilians of the Ming Dynasty can imagine what it is like to transport troops by train, but this is already commonplace in the Ming Dynasty.

Because of this, the troops trained outside the Great Wall could be transported to the south of the Yangtze River within ten days, saving the time for transporting troops several times.

Moreover, transporting troops by train does not require worrying about the troops becoming tired due to the long journey. Tens of thousands of troops can rest while marching on the train.

There are two big rivers in the Ming Dynasty, one is the Yellow River and the other is the Yangtze River. Before the advent of trains and railway bridges built with reinforced concrete, the army had to use pontoon bridges, find boats to occupy ferry crossings, and recruit civilians to cross the rivers. Now it is no longer a problem, as there is a railway bridge that can accommodate tens of thousands of troops all day and night.

Not only the army, but also logistical supplies can be quickly assembled to the destination via rail transport.

The generals can also manage their officers and soldiers more conveniently, after all, they are all on the vehicles.

Of course, this is backed by the entire empire's powerful transportation capabilities, technological strength and management capabilities. The railway department has now become one of the most important departments of the cabinet.

Qi Jiguang also got on the train at Nanyuan Railway Station at this time. Accompanying him were Tang Kekuan, Hu Zongxian and Zhao Wenhua. Zhao Wenhua was the Minister of Works. This time, through Xu Jie's relationship, he was responsible for organizing the construction of the project in Japan. As for Lu Tong, he was a naval general, so he had already taken the train south in advance to prepare to transport the Ming army across the sea to destroy Japan.

Prior to this, Pan Sheng, the right vice minister of the Ministry of War, had been ordered to go to Ryukyu and request that Ryukyu provide a military base for the Ming Dynasty as a transit station for the Ming Dynasty's army to conquer Japan.

Naturally, Ryukyu did not dare to resist the power of the Ming Dynasty, so it agreed to cede Okinawa to the Ming Dynasty as a military base. At the same time, it took the initiative to borrow one million silver dollars from the Ming Dynasty's banking institutions to renovate the corresponding infrastructure of the military base.

After all, the purpose of Ming Dynasty to establish a military base in Ryukyu is to help protect the national security of Ryukyu, so it is natural that the Ryukyu Kingdom will pay for the construction of the Ming military base in Ryukyu.

In this era, the Ryukyu Kingdom was not poor. All trade between the Ming Dynasty and Japan and even Southeast Asia had to be transferred here. Therefore, as a transit station, Ryukyu made a lot of money, so a loan of one million silver dollars was not a problem.

In theory, the Ming Dynasty could have destroyed Ryukyu in one fell swoop, but the cost of destroying Ryukyu was not proportional to the benefits obtained, so the Ming Dynasty still did not choose to destroy Ryukyu before. However, now that the Ming Dynasty has established a military base in Ryukyu, it naturally lays the foundation for destroying Ryukyu at a lower cost in the future. Now the Ming Dynasty still has to focus on destroying Japan. After all, Japan has a larger territory and a larger population, so destroying Japan is more meaningful.

Of course, the Ming Dynasty had no intention of keeping Ryukyu out of the war and maintaining neutrality. Qi Jiguang followed the court's instructions and had already ordered people to rule Ryukyu before going south to send troops to assist the Ming army in participating in the war to destroy Japan. Although the apparent reason was to jointly punish the Japanese pirates, in fact it was forcing Ryukyu to become an enemy of Japan.

General Qi Jiguang, who was in charge of destroying the Japanese pirates, was sitting in a carriage of a military train at this time. Sitting in front of him were civil and military officials such as Tang Kekuan, Hu Zongxian, and Zhao Wenhua.

Although they had not yet boarded the ship to Ryukyu, Qi Jiguang had already convened several meetings with these officials in order to fully understand the preparations for the entire war to exterminate Japan.

As the supreme military commander of more than 100,000 naval and land soldiers, although Qi Jiguang knew that Japan was no enemy of the Ming Dynasty, he still did not dare to be careless in the specific command of the war. After all, war command is also an art. As an outstanding general and commander, he naturally wanted to command the war more perfectly and more excitingly, so that he would be more outstanding when he was recorded in history in the future.

However, what Qi Jiguang did not expect was that during a meeting on where to set up camp and build a military base after the 100,000-strong government troops landed in Japan, the Minister of Works Zhao Wenhua requested:

"General Qi, I think you should ask someone to explain why you chose Duoyi as the landing point and ignored the Five Islands. In addition, I don't know whether Vice Marshal Tang knows your military plan, and whether he has any opinions on it, whether you have discussed it with Vice Marshal Tang, and whether you plan to discuss it with Vice Marshal Lu after arriving in Okinawa."

Hu Zongxian frowned for a moment, thinking, "This is bad. It seems that the Prime Minister has told me to stir up trouble with the generals who are fighting against the Japanese. Now Zhao Wenhua has come here to take over the task and bring his own weapons and sticks. It is clear that he has come with a purpose! Qi Jiguang is young and a military general. I don't know if he can handle this matter if he leads the army alone this time."

Although Hu Zongxian was curious about how Qi Jiguang would deal with this matter, he was also following Zhu Houzhao's will to mediate the conflict, so he smiled and said:

"The Grand Marshal is worrying too much. General Qi has been fighting for many years with the Emperor, and he has received the Emperor's true teachings. How could there be any mistakes? Naturally, he must have discussed this with Deputy General Tang. We, as civil officials, only need to do the rear-line and support the army. There is no need for an amateur to command the experts in this kind of war."

There are two meanings behind what Hu Zongxian said: Zhao Wenhua, don't just think about pleasing Xu Yuanfu, you also have to see who is behind Qi Jiguang; the other thing is to tell you, Zhao Wenhua, don't overstep your authority. Since you are only responsible for base construction, you should just be responsible for base construction. How the generals fight is their own problem.

"What Hu Jinglie said is funny. Military generals have only led troops for fifty or sixty years, while civil officials have been in charge of the military for hundreds of years. How come they are not allowed to ask about military affairs now? When it comes to fighting, military generals are not as good as civil officials. Lords Wang Yue and Wang Shouren are both people with illustrious military exploits. Do you military generals dare to say that you are better than them?"

Zhao Wenhua's question stumped Qi Jiguang. After all, he in this time and space was not the same person in history who pacified the Japanese invasion in the south and swept away the Tartars in the north. For a while, it seemed that except Zhu Houzhao, no one was willing to recognize his military talent.

Qi Jiguang was naturally angry about Zhao Wenhua's provocation and slammed the table on the spot: "What do you mean by Grand Marshal? Do you think I am unworthy of being the commander? Then why don't you submit a petition and ask the emperor to replace Qi!"

"How dare I? You are a favorite of the emperor. I just think that the war to destroy the Japanese should not be underestimated. General Qi should consult Deputy General Tang for more advice," said Zhao Wenhua.

Tang Kekuan had received Zhu Houzhao's instructions, so he knew that if he followed Zhao Wenhua and made trouble, he would definitely suffer in the future. Therefore, he did not cooperate with Zhao Wenhua, but took the initiative to stand up and salute Qi Jiguang in front of Zhao Wenhua, saying: "During the period of destroying the Japanese, Tang will follow the orders of the Marshal. Even if the Marshal wants Tang's head, Tang will not say a word!"

Qi Jiguang was naturally delighted to see Tang Kekuan take the initiative to obey him, and hurriedly helped Tang Kekuan to sit down at the round table: "General, you are too kind. I am trusted by the emperor and I am very nervous to take the position of commander. Fortunately, I have the assistance of Generals Tang and Lu. I can ask for advice at any time, which is enough to show the wisdom of the emperor! This time, the destruction of the Japanese depends entirely on Generals Tang and Lu, everyone present, and the soldiers and civilians at the front!"

Zhao Wenhua saw that his provocation had no effect, and Tang Kekuan had made his position clear, which made him furious. Seeing Hu Zongxian smiling, he snorted coldly and whispered, "Hu Jinglie, didn't the Prime Minister ask you before leaving Beijing?"

"Of course I have seen it," Hu Zongxian replied.

"Then why is it that today only Zhao is busy with the affairs of the world, while Hu Jinglie has no interest in this at all? He even laughed about it!" Zhao Wenhua questioned.

"What the Grand Marshal said is really funny. How could I not be devoted to the king's affairs? Now that I see the two commanders working together, how can I not laugh? Doesn't the Grand Marshal think this is a good thing?"

Hu Zongxian asked back.

Zhao Wenhua was unable to answer Hu Zongxian's question, but he felt even more depressed. He really wanted to ask Hu Zongxian again whether he considered himself a member of the civil service group, but he did not dare to ask. After all, he knew that he could not openly demand that Hu Zongxian must sit on the side of the civil officials.

……

Zhu Houzhao was chatting with Zhu Zailei one day and happened to hear Zhu Zailei mention Zhao Wenhua. He couldn't help but become curious and asked, "Didn't Zhao Wenhua rise to prominence because of his close relationship with Yan Song? How come he can still be involved in important affairs now that Yan Song has passed away?"

"It was highly recommended by the Prime Minister. This is also because Xu Jie is a person who promotes talented people regardless of their relationship with him. Many people in the officialdom also praised his trip."

Zhu Zailei replied.

"As expected, no matter how the times change, those who are good at scheming will still be good at scheming. You should personally issue an imperial decree to transfer Zhao Wenhua back. Leading troops to fight is not like being an official. An old official like him is not suitable to stay in the barracks. It will only cause trouble. I am old now and I don't bother to ask about these trivial matters. But if there is any mistake in the destruction of the Japanese this time, I will never give up!"

Zhu Houzhao cut a branch of the potted plant short and said to Zhu Zailei in a solemn tone.

"I heard from Xu Yuanfu that Zhao Wenhua is quite capable. I don't understand why you, Your Majesty, would conclude that he is just a careerist," Zhu Zailei asked.

"How many grains of rice have you eaten? How many grains of rice have I eaten? I have crossed more bridges than you have walked on roads. Can you compare with me? Although I cannot know what everyone in the world thinks, I still know what many officials in the court are thinking!"

Zhu Houzhao said something a bit unreasonable, and Zhu Zailei couldn't refute it: "In this case, according to your father's opinion, who should take over Zhao Wenhua's position?"

"Choose people with weak personalities. Civil officials are often bad not because they are stupid, but because they are arrogant, look down on others, and think they are noble. As long as they are tolerant and can hide their stupidity, it will be fine. In this kind of military war, they are civil officials serving in the rear. We don't need great talents who can do it better than me. Just send experienced and honest officials."

Zhu Houzhao said.

(End of this chapter)