The First Uncle of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 138 Prepare for a rainy day
Ma Xun was carefully searching through ancient books, looking for some clues about paper armor.

There are records of paper armor in "History of the Southern Dynasties" and "New Book of Tang Dynasty". In the Northern Song Dynasty, there are more records about paper armor. It is normal to customize tens of thousands of sets of this type of armor at one time.

Even in the Song Dynasty, there were many records of counterfeit and shoddy paper armor, or records of people being fined for privately making paper armor.

"If you use folded paper as armor, even the strongest arrows cannot penetrate it."

"We have a hundred sets of iron armor. We should keep half of them and exchange fifty sets for paper armor for our army."

It's not just about strong defense. In some specific battlefields, paper armor is even more effective than iron armor.

"It's just that paper armor is hard to preserve in the south." Ma Xun scratched his head, a little worried. "Yunnan and Guizhou may have more miasma and rain, but there are also many jungles there. Light armor is still needed for jungle warfare. I just don't know if there will be elephant soldiers."

Yunnan, Guizhou and other places are now being eyed not only by Ming Xia, Yuan Liang Wang or the Duan family, but also by the Luchuan Dynasty.

Liu Shuning went out after breakfast and went next door to help make wedding clothes for Chang Wan. She is now experienced and knows the series of procedures for a big wedding.

Ma Xun was standing at the door. When he saw Chang Yuchun, he asked, "Brother-in-law, are you going to the yamen or visiting friends?"

"Sitting in the government office." Chang Yuchun responded with a smile, "Why, is there someone you are too embarrassed to visit, and you want me to accompany you as a guest?"

Ma Xun immediately blew a whistle towards the yard, and Wangcai would surely come over kicking and clattering in a moment.

"I don't want to go visit you, I just happen to be free and have nothing to do, so I'll go to the Grand Commandery and have a seat." Ma Xun said with a smile, "It's a good opportunity for us to go together, and I have nothing to do at home."

Chang Yuchun couldn't help but look at Ma Xun. Why did he want to go to the Grand Marshal's Mansion for no reason?
I haven't heard that the superiors have assigned me any tasks, nor have I heard that there is anything new happening now. So I have to go to court now?
Although he didn't quite understand Ma Xun's motives, Chang Yuchun was too lazy to think about it too much.

In other words, they just went to the Grand Marshal's Office together. It was just that Chang Yuchun had to do serious business, while Ma Xun, the right marshal, might have gone there to show his face and make his presence felt.

There is nothing much to say about this. Everyone is just doing what they are supposed to do, and they are all working for their superiors!
Chang Yuchun rode on a tall horse and said, "Among the several of us, only you, Baoer, and Duke Song are now in the Grand Military Governor's Office."

Xu Da, Chang Yuchun and Deng Yu are now mainly in the Secretariat, while Li Shanchang has always kept his distance from the Grand Marshal's Office.

Even among those who were granted the title of marquis, except for Zhao Yong, Marquis of Nanxiong, and Fu Youde, Marquis of Yingchuan, who were transferred to be the co-directors of the Military Governor's Office, the others no longer retained their original official positions in the Secretariat.

This meant that the distinction between civil and military officials began to become clear, and the Grand Marshal's Office gradually became the headquarters of high-ranking military officials.

Ma Xun smiled and said, "Your Majesty is now balancing the civil and military powers. I think the Grand Commandery has too much power now. It would be great if I, the Right Commander, could be deposed someday."

Chang Yuchun thought about it carefully and understood, "That's true. The Grand Commandery now has you and Bao'er, so you don't have to worry too much about taking over. But in the future, the Grand Commandery will not be suitable."

The Grand Commandery is also constantly changing. The first Grand Commandery was Zhu Wenzheng. Now the actual Grand Commandery is Li Wenzhong, but there is a "check and balance" from Ma Xun.

In the final analysis, the power of the Grand Marshal's Office is too great, so if the Grand Marshal's Office is divided into five military marshal's offices, that would be acceptable.

However, we may have to wait a little while until the large-scale war is over before we can weaken the Grand Marshal's Office.

After all, the current Grand Military Governor's Office has two Dukes as the left and right military governors, Feng Sheng and eight marquises as the deputy governors. The current Grand Military Governor's Office has an extremely high status, which also makes many civil servants worried.

The reason is that the Grand Marshal's Office can handle military affairs almost independently, while the civil service system in the Grand Marshal's Office basically consists of councilors, experiencers and other assistants, and there are very few such civil servants.

Chang Yuchun seemed to have remembered something, and said with some gloating, "Duke Song has a lot of opinions about you!"

Feng Sheng was the one who was betrayed by Ma Xun the most. Last year, he led his troops back to Qingyang without authorization, but was directly disobeyed by Mu Ying, Lan Yu and others, which caused Feng Sheng's prestige in the army to drop sharply.

In addition, Ma Xun also took the "first merit" of the Battle of Qingyang, so many people now think that Feng Sheng was able to be conferred the title of Duke thanks to his brother Feng Guoyong.

It is no exaggeration to say that among the eight of the seven founding dukes, Feng Sheng has the lowest status. And now he is serving in the Grand Commandery, which means that Feng Sheng is serving as the deputy governor together with the marquis.

Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the position of Right Commander-in-Chief had long been occupied by Ma Xun, so Feng Sheng could only become Associate Commander-in-Chief.

Ma Xun also laughed and said, "Maybe he can make great contributions in the future, and then he can participate in state affairs. I don't want to be the right governor yet, it's much better for you and Brother Xu."

Chang Yuchun also laughed. He was very satisfied. So what if he didn't have the position of Right General?
Now in the army, he and Xu Da are basically evenly matched, and Deng Yu can slightly restrict them.

Chang Yuchun whispered, "Hurry up, Lao Tang will go to fight Mingxia after the New Year. It will take him a year at most to finish the fight, and the year after next will be ours to fight Helin."

Whether it was Xu Da or Chang Yuchun, they didn't have to worry about being unable to be rewarded for their achievements. But they still hoped to bring Ma Xun with them, especially Chang Yuchun, who wanted Ma Xun to lead the army with him to fight Wang Baobao.

His daughter is going to become the Crown Princess next year, but Chang Yuchun still wants to fight. It is impossible for him, Chang Shiwan, to retire just because his daughter becomes the Crown Princess, right?

He is only forty-one, in the prime of life!
Ma Xun said, "If I really want to fight Wang Baobao, I will definitely follow Brother Xu."

Chang Yuchun glared and said, "You dare? If you follow me, I will let you kill the enemy. If you follow Old Xu, will he allow you to lead the army alone?"

"I'm afraid of death!" Ma Xun answered confidently, "You might really let me lead the army alone at that time. I will follow Brother Xu, and he will definitely put me in the center of the army. I will be very safe!"

Chang Yuchun said directly, "What's the point of being a good man if he can't fight on the battlefield? Since you want to fight Wang Baobao, you can't possibly not even see a Tartar, right?"

Seeing that Ma Xun seemed unconvinced, Chang Yuchun encouraged him, "Let me tell you, war is just like that! Neither I nor Old Xu have ever read any military books. We all learned from fighting. Without fighting, we won't make any progress!"
This seems to make sense. Few of these generals in the early Ming Dynasty came from proper "general's families". They all grew up in wars and gained experience in actual combat.

Ma Xun immediately shook his head. He was almost fooled. "Brother Chang, I don't have that talent! There are so many people in the army who have fought for more than ten or twenty years, some of them are still soldiers, and some are still serving as pacification officers!"

He Da next to him was worried. He now felt that his previous evaluation was too high.

Our uncle-in-law seems to be good at training troops, but he is not even good enough to lead them as a pacifier.

The "paper talker" might be referring to our own uncle. He can talk about some things very well, but he easily panics when he is in the army and can only practice with the soldiers at the back.

"What are you afraid of?" Chang Yuchun was unhappy. "Let me ask you, what do you have to be afraid of? If you follow me to fight, can I really let you die?"

Neither Xu Da nor Chang Yuchun would obviously let Ma Xun take on such a difficult task.

They would rather charge into battle themselves than let Ma Xun carry out more dangerous tasks.

Chang Yuchun said earnestly, "My dear brother, a good man should do something in this world. How can you be a hero when you are afraid of wolves in front and tigers behind?"

Ma Xun didn't quite understand. "Who says that a man has to fight on the battlefield to be considered a hero? If I help the world and bring peace to the people, then I am not doing a decent job?"

Chang Yuchun was choked for a moment, then said, "Just wait and see, if you really go to the war, I'll see whether you stay with Old Xu or kidnap him!"

He is worthy of being a bandit. He chose a deputy general and planned to kidnap him!
The two men entered the palace while bickering. Compared with Ma Xun going to the Secretariat, his coming to the Grand Marshal's Mansion was also surprising, but it was not a laughing stock.

Tang He took the initiative to run over and asked, "Why, you know I'm going to the war and you want to follow me to Sichuan?"

Ma Xun immediately said, "I don't want to go to Sichuan right now. Brother Tang, what do you think of the armor in the army?"

"Armor?" Tang He asked curiously, "There are enough armors in the army, but I don't need those bows you made. Others can use them if they like."

Chatting with Tang He sometimes makes me really tired.

Some people in the army thought that the Qing bows made by Ma Xun were very good, but some others thought that they were inconvenient to use and that it would be more convenient to use the current weapons.

Ma Xun thought about it carefully, and then said, "Forget it. It's too late to do it now. You have to leave after the New Year."

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have a habit of announcing the use of military force during the first month of the lunar year.

The expedition date of Tang He and others has been basically determined. If nothing unexpected happens, they will officially set out on the first few days of the Lunar New Year.

However, before that, a series of troop deployments and baggage transportation had begun.

Tang He was confused, and Chang Yuchun suddenly said, "Old Tang, come back tomorrow after the fight. I promised you that you would follow me to fight Wang Baobao."

Deng Yu was anxious, "Brother Chang, why did I follow you?"

"You are going to fight U-Tsang, and he will definitely want to become a lama when he gets there!" Tang He said directly, "But he can go, even if he wants to become a foreign monk. The queen will not forgive you then!"

The others burst into laughter. Ma Xun's hair was not short now, but it was obviously not as long as that of people of this generation.

The most important thing is that he used to be a monk. Many people know that. Even if he was just a fake monk and did not have a certificate of ordination, he was still a monk!
(End of this chapter)