Ming Dynasty: pacifying the rebellion and defending the border, dominating the world

Chapter 470 The Biggest Problem
The Beijing military training ground suddenly became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

Only countless rough breaths could be heard.

Even a thousand new recruits from the Tian Ce Army could break through the 50,000-strong capital garrison.

Now, the capital city is home to the even stronger and more terrifying Tian Ce and Cang Yun armies, and throughout the Ming Dynasty, there are also a full 400,000 elite Cang Yun and Tian Ce troops.

Although combat strength cannot be compared horizontally, it can still serve as a reference.

Three hundred thousand Tian Ce soldiers plus two hundred thousand Cang Yun Xuan Jia.

To some extent, could it be equivalent to an army of fifty million, comparable to the fighting strength of the Beijing Garrison?

Could the surrounding states of the Ming Dynasty muster an army of fifty million?
Upon thinking of this, Zhang Mao, the Duke of Ying, trembled with fear: "No wonder His Majesty is not afraid at all, but rather full of confidence, waiting for them to unite before wiping them out in one fell swoop. It turns out that our Great Ming truly has the confidence to fear nothing!"

Not to mention that the surrounding countries could not possibly muster tens of millions of troops, even if they could, the Ming Dynasty would be the one to be happy, because such a ragtag army, apart from being intimidating on the battlefield, might not be as powerful as a few million elite troops.

If the Tian Ce or Cang Yun armies were to encounter them, they would be slaughtered in a one-sided manner, just like the Jingying army is today.

Even worse.

Once they understood this, the court officials of the Cabinet, the Six Ministries, and the Five Military Commissions became incredibly fanatical and fervent when they looked at the mere thousand men of the Tian Ce New Army.

A thousand new recruits from the Tian Ce army could easily break through and destroy the 50,000-strong capital garrison.

What if there were 10,000 Tian Ce or 10,000 Cang Yun soldiers?

Wouldn't that allow for a massacre?

They thought of the Youlong Cavalry galloping across the land, sending back constant reports of victories, and the 10,000 Daxuelong Cavalry who had retreated and were stationed at Jiayuguan to guard against a sudden attack from the Mongol Yuan, Southern Song, and Liao dynasties. A sense of inexplicable peace welled up in their hearts.

With the achievements of the Youlong Cavalry and the Daxue Dragon Cavalry preceding them, and the destruction of a kingdom by Xu Changhai and Zhu Jianqiu of the Tian Ce Prefecture in one battle, plus the reassurance given to them by Zhu Jinzhen today, and after witnessing firsthand the combat power of a thousand newly selected Tian Ce Army soldiers.

What threats from surrounding countries do they need to worry about?

nonexistent!

Zhu Jinzhen took in everyone's reactions and couldn't help but chuckle to himself: "You all still haven't figured out what I'm showing you."

Upon hearing this, the officials looked at each other in bewilderment.

I don't understand what Zhu Jinzhen meant by those words.

Was what we just saw not all of it?

Some intelligent people, such as Xu Yu, Wang Yangming, or the old fox in the court, Duke of Ying, Zhang Mao, were all greatly shocked after Zhu Jinzhen's words, and their expressions changed drastically.

Clearly, they had guessed something.

Zhu Jinzhen glanced at the court officials whose expressions had changed drastically, and smiled knowingly. There were indeed many clever people among them.
"Let's go back to the palace first."

"The answers you seek will be available soon."

The Beijing Garrison was ultimately not a place for deliberation.

Fengtian Temple.

No sooner had the emperor returned to the palace and the Hall of Mental Cultivation than the Ming generals, officers, and nobles who had been severely suppressed in recent years suddenly emerged to volunteer for battle.

Not only the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions, but even Duke Zhang Mao once again expressed that although Lian Po was old, he still had the courage to fight for the Ming Dynasty again.

The strength of Cangyun and Tiance is undeniable.

Even if they openly confront the allied armies of the surrounding states head-on, their chances of winning are over 80%.

With such a huge chance of victory, and a battle destined to be recorded in history, the opportunity to make a name for oneself in history was right in front of them. Unless a general was foolish, who would be willing to miss it? In the end, even Wang Yangming stepped forward to volunteer for the battle.

"Your Majesty, I believe that now is the best time to send troops. The alliance between the Sui Dynasty and the Northern and Southern Song Dynasties is not yet complete. If we use the Tian Ce Army as the vanguard, draw troops from the nine border regions, and the Ministry of War draws some troops from local garrisons, it will be enough to replicate the miracle of Marquis Chong'an (Zhu Jianqiu) destroying the country in one battle."

"Your Majesty has given me 100,000 elite Tian Ce troops. I am confident that I can open the gates of the Southern Song Dynasty within a day and break through the Southern Song Dynasty within two days, shattering their strategy of alliances and counter-alliances."

"Nonsense! You're just a civil official. What kind of soldiers have you led? What kind of battles have you fought? Your Majesty, please entrust this battle to me. I will sign a pledge before the Emperor that if I fail to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty and open the gates of the Northern Song Dynasty within three days, I will atone with my death."

"Your Majesty... I also request to fight."

“Your Majesty, you know me. Although I am not good at fighting, I am well-versed in military strategy and can recite it from memory. If I were to go into battle, I would surely be able to crush the alliance of the Northern Expeditions in one fell swoop and enhance the prestige of our Great Ming Dynasty.”

"Enough! This is so noisy and disorderly, what kind of behavior is this?"

Zhu Jinzhen was annoyed by the noise and shouted, interrupting the military generals and the civil officials who jumped out to request battle: "I have never taken the threat of the alliance of all the countries in the world to heart."

"It would indeed be an easy task to destroy all the countries."

"I understand that you are eager to make a name for yourselves."

"But I'm giving you some reassurance today, not so you can argue about who should lead the army and who should go to war."

"If it were simply a matter of destroying the world and breaking the alliance, I would send Cangyun directly to the border and sweep across, which would be enough to nip all potential threats in the bud."

"This……"

The officials looked at each other, seemingly agreeing with the assessment.

"It is easy to conquer the world, but difficult to maintain it."

"Although the Ming Dynasty has a wealth of talented people in its court and territory, if the Ming Dynasty were to conquer all the countries in the world in one battle and swallow the whole world, who would be sent to govern those places?"

Zhu Jinzhen snorted coldly, his gaze sweeping over the civil and military officials in the Fengtian Hall, his tone questioning: "Not counting the small countries like the Jin, Dali, and Tubo, just the five kingdoms of the Mongol Yuan, Liao, Sui, Southern and Northern Song. Currently, are all the civil officials from the Six Ministries, plus those from the Hanlin Academy and those selected through the imperial examinations, enough to fill all their positions?"

"Are we just going to ignore the smaller countries besides the main kingdoms after we've conquered them?"

"Would it be like the time when Emperor Xuanzong abandoned the Old Port Pacification Commission?"

"Then what's the point of taking it?"

Faced with Zhu Jinzhen's questioning, the civil and military officials who had just been excitedly clamoring for battle felt as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over them, chilling them to the bone and gradually calming them down.

Yes.

With the fighting strength of the new Tian Ce army that Zhu Jinzhen showed them today, it would be absolutely easy for the Ming Dynasty to destroy the world. They wouldn't even need to deploy their full strength; the Tian Ce or Cang Yun armies alone could tear apart the military forces of all other countries to shreds like paper.

No matter how many countries unite, it won't change anything.

However, the biggest problem facing Zhu Jinzhen and the Ming Dynasty was not how to resist the threats from various countries, or how to destroy them and unify the world.

The real question is how to deal with and govern the territories that have been conquered.
The Hanlin Academy, the imperial examination system, the civil and military officials of the court, and the generals of the garrison in various places all sent out officials of the seventh rank or above. The county magistrate who originally managed a county was quickly promoted to provincial governor. Is that enough?

The answer is... still not enough!
Far from enough.

Therefore, Zhu Jinzhen's biggest headache was not the threat of the alliance between various countries, but the question of how to manage and govern the territories of the Sui, Song, Liao, and Mongol Yuan dynasties after they were destroyed.

The First Emperor, Ying Zheng, has already given history a standard answer.

If the writings are inconsistent, then the hearts are not aligned.

Unification is never just about formal rule, but about standardizing writing, cart tracks, measurement, and management to prevent a vast empire from becoming a disorganized mess.

(End of this chapter)