The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 127 Military Discipline Must Be Strict
Zhu Chong brought his younger brothers into the Prince's Uncle's Mansion, each of them in high spirits and with brisk steps.

As for whether these princes can intercede for Chang Mao, Deng Zhen and others, there is no need to think too much about it.

The princes were not seen coming and the central door of the Prince's Mansion was not opened in time. The princes did not care at all and ran in directly through the side door.

These are the people who come to visit, not the princes who come to make the prince's mansion glorious.

"uncle!"

"uncle!"

Ma Xun, who was still feeding the donkey, was startled and asked quickly, "You're here so early?"

Zhu Chong said with a smile, "Of course we are in a hurry to come. We are going to study in the Unwilling Academy."

Zhu Gang also said quickly, "I wanted to come after breakfast, but my brother insisted that my uncle must not have gotten up yet, so I delayed it until now."

Ma Xun was not embarrassed at all, as his family members were well aware of his laziness.

But he didn't think it was a problem, as he didn't sleep until noon. As long as he didn't have anything to do, he would basically get up around 8 a.m. all year round.

It’s not that he gets up late, but that many people get up too early.

Ma Xun suddenly felt something was wrong, "What are Lao Liu and Lao Qi doing here? Lao Wu, take them back."

Zhu Su said in a flattering manner, "Uncle, it's time for me to train my troops as well."

You are only eleven years old, why are you training as a soldier?

Although Zhu Zhen and Zhu Yu were granted the title of King of Chu and King of Qi, they were only seven years old. Even Zhu Di was only twelve years old.

Ma Xun could be a little rough with his nephews, but he had to be gentle with Zhu Zhen and others. "Sixth and seventh brothers, you are too young. Go back to the palace with your fifth brother and study hard first."

Zhu Zhen also had a flattering look on his face, "Uncle, although my nephew is young, he has also been in the army."

"This is different. Now you brothers need to train like ordinary soldiers. You are too young to handle it." Ma Xun said to comfort him, "I will lead you to train in a few years. You are too young to do it now."

Then Ma Xun shouted to the outside of the door, "He Da, send the King of Wu, the King of Chu, and the King of Qi back to the palace. Ezi, you also go with them and report to the Queen. The prince is too young to be trained."

Zhu Su was still a little unconvinced, "Uncle, then why can Chang Sen practice with us?"

Ma Xun asked directly, "Who said that? He was punished to stand before. Didn't you see that I asked him to go back? He is young, so that's not okay."

Zhu Su was even more unconvinced, "Why let Xu Yungong come to practice? He is younger than me!"

Ma Xun simply didn't understand. "Xu Yungong? Where is Xu Yungong? Who said he would follow me to train?"

"My father and mother gave a banquet a few days ago, and they promised General Xu." Zhu Su said directly, "General Xu also said that he would send Xu Yungong after my uncle trained the troops."

What are my brother-in-law and sister doing? They are accepting students for me, but they are just newbies that I didn’t plan to accept.

Having said that, Zhu Su is a guy who doesn't control his mouth and tells everything.

"I won't accept it. If Xu Yungong comes, I will send him back." Ma Xun said, "The minimum age for training is twelve. You still have one year left. Go back quickly!"

Although there seems to be a one-year age difference, this was not really an easy way for Zhu Di.

In this day and age, a 10-year-old can no longer be considered a child. In ordinary families, even a 3- or 4-year-old child would help with some chores, let alone a 10-year-old child.

But now he is in the army, and it is not appropriate to be too young. If it were not for the special status of Zhu Chong and others, Ma Xun would have wanted to set the standard for "recruiting soldiers" at least fifteen years old.

If that is the case, then Zhu Chong is qualified. We can't just teach the King of Qin, right?

Although Zhu Su and others had sad faces, they had no choice but to be escorted back to the palace with courtesy.

Deng Zhen, who was standing there as punishment, was in despair. He had heard that the king's uncle favored the crown prince the most and doted on the King of Wu the most. But now the King of Wu had been driven back to the palace, so there was no hope for the King of Qin to plead for mercy.

Seeing that it was almost time, Ma Xun said, "Let Chang Mao and the others come in. It's time to set some rules for you."

The advantage of having a certain military background is that even in the Prince's Mansion, these young men stood straight and did not laugh or joke.

"From tallest to shortest, don't count your status now." Ma Xun looked at the uneven queue and said directly, "Chang Mao, you stand at the end."

These young men immediately took action. In the army, of course, there are rules of hierarchy, but they obviously would not mention these things now.

Looking at these young men, Ma Xun said with a serious expression, "I have not fought much in a war, and my ability to lead troops is not as good as that of your elders."

Although the people in front of him were all teenagers in their teens, Ma Xun had no intention of pretending to be strong and still had to tell the truth.

The most important thing is that sometimes we cannot simply regard these teenagers as children, and we cannot just talk about the truth from a superior position, which may not have any effect. Ma Xun continued to say seriously, "But now that you are in front of me, I will teach you something else, but you must remember the rules and discipline!"

Looking at Zhu Chong, Ma Xun said seriously, "Especially you, you are the eldest of the royal family. If you can't set an example, I will punish you. If your brothers don't learn well, I will still punish you!"

Zhu Chong's expression became even more serious. At this time he could only nod and did not dare to express any dissatisfaction.

He also understood what his uncle said. It has always been like this. An older brother should serve as a role model and discipline his younger brothers.

As for saying that he is the King of Qin, it sounds like a very impressive title.

It is true that he is majestic. As the second son of the emperor, Zhu Chong is majestic wherever he goes. But such majesty is sometimes useless.

Whether he was his uncle or uncle, he was very respectful to him. But when it was time to punish or scold him, he would not care too much about their status.

These are the real elders in the family. Zhu Chong dared to glare at them. Regardless of whether his father and mother would let him go, his brother would definitely roll up his sleeves and beat him up severely, and then force him to apologize and plead for mercy to the elders.

Ma Xun felt that Zhu Chong was someone who needed special attention, as his character had not yet been formed in his youth, and he had to prevent this kid from going astray.

She cut off the testicles of captured foreign boys, tied palace servants to trees and froze them to death, and when she had nothing else to do, she built herself a five-clawed dragon bed, dressed her concubine Deng in the clothes of a queen, and imprisoned the Princess of Qin in the cold palace and served her stale fruits in broken bowls.

Eventually, she was poisoned to death by two old palace maids. Even Zhu Yuanzhang, who loved his descendants, believed that she "deserved to die and had bad morals", and her posthumous title was only "Min".

After the great truth, Ma Xun returned to the main topic, "Although I have read few military books, I know that a strong army must have discipline."

Then Ma Xun looked at Deng Yu and asked, "Tell me, what are the powerful armies in ancient times?"

Deng Yu immediately said, "Wei Wuzu."

Ma Xun nodded and said, "Good! Wu Qi led the Wei Wu soldiers in 72 battles, winning 64 of them and defeating the rest. His military exploits need no further explanation. Wu Zi's training of troops is more about discipline than quantity. Let's not talk about recruiting, just talking about discipline, that is, strict enforcement of orders and strict military discipline."

Ma Xun then looked at Chang Mao, "Let's talk about a strong army."

Chang Mao said without thinking, "Prince Yue."

Ma Xun smiled and nodded, "It's easy to shake a mountain, but it's hard to shake Yue's army. They won't tear down houses even if they freeze to death, and they won't plunder even if they starve to death. It's rare to be able to do this!"

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, the Qin Rui Shi, etc., these young people are also familiar with them. After all, they are born into generals' families and have received military training since childhood. They may talk about these armies that have left glorious military exploits in history.

Now we are talking about "the close relationship between the army and the people" and "not taking a single needle or thread from the people". This may be a step forward.

However, Ma Xun still gave a stern warning, "You will all lead troops in the future, no matter if you are a prince, a duke, or a marquis. If I hear that bandits come like combs, soldiers come like combs, and officials come like shavings, I will punish you first!"

Zhu Chong and the others were shrinking their necks. They were still teenagers and had little experience, so they were relatively easy to be frightened.

Moreover, in the minds of these people, what Ma Xun, the king's uncle, said can all be done.

Zhu Chong is now the King of Qin. When did he see that Ma Xun was less disciplined because of this? Chang Mao was Ma Xun's favorite "nephew", and he was also beaten and scolded.

Some things seem to be innate. If you get beaten today, you may still be scolded by your elders when you grow up.

After a little warning, Ma Xun still didn't understand that it was impossible to change some people's personalities all at once, and they had to be cultivated slowly and influenced continuously.

Looking at Zhu Chong and the others, Ma Xun said, "I won't ask much of you for this training. Remember: obey orders and enforce laws strictly!"

Then Ma Xun added, "Starting tomorrow, you guys will line up. Once the line is in place and everyone is in line, I will allow you to ride horses and carry weapons!"

Formation training is the most basic military training in any era, and it is even more so in today's era dominated by cold weapons.

A marshal once said: When large troops are fighting, military discipline must be strict; I don’t want his casualty report, I just want Tashan.

Zhu Chong and others were all very serious. Although they felt a little disappointed that they could not ride horses or hold weapons, they did not have any objections.

This was not because of Ma Xun's majesty, but because these young men knew what was happening in the army.

When two armies confront each other, they often meet the enemy in battle formations. Even when marching or retreating, they still use military formations.

Once the army formation is broken, there is a high probability that they will be defeated. If there is no law when retreating, they will inevitably be hunted down by the enemy.

They all understood these principles, so now they first practiced formations, etc. This was the basic course. Only after they had practiced formations and arrays well, would they have the opportunity to truly lead the troops.

Looking at these young men in front of him, Ma Xun felt quite pleased.

Although these young men were of noble status and some were dandy, each of them had excellent military qualities and a very solid foundation.

It would be easier to train them now. Moreover, with the help of Mu Ying and Liu Jing, as well as a large number of elite grassroots officers, it should not be difficult to train an army!
Thinking of this, Ma Xun became even happier. This wasn't necessarily a hard job!
(End of this chapter)