I was compiling the daily records during the Wanli reign

Chapter 260 The Gap Between Soldiers and Generals! The Elite Martial Guards and the Elite Martial Academy

On May 20th, the weather in the capital was getting hotter and hotter.

The fields on the outskirts of Beijing are golden, the wheat is ripe, and farmers are busy at work.

Various beverage stalls can be seen everywhere on the streets of the city, and the imperial palace and various government offices in the capital have also begun to use ice to cool off in the summer heat.

These past few days, the busiest people in the capital have not been the three Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet, nor the ministers of the Six Ministries, nor even the historians of the Hanlin Academy.

It was actually the younger Wanli Emperor.

The young Wanli Emperor was busy with Shen Nian's "The Emperor's Strategy for Training Generals".

They were busy naming the newly established imperial guard, and busy setting up training grounds, salaries, positions, training officers, weapons and equipment, and horses.

He wanted to have complete control of the team.

Then he cultivated a group of excellent generals and commanders who could serve as role models for soldiers all over the world, so he did everything himself.

……

Near noon.

Shen Nian was summoned to the Wenhua Hall.

"Minister Shen, I have proposed many names for this imperial guard. Take a look and see which one is better?" The young Wanli looked up at Shen Nian and said with a smile.

Immediately, a junior eunuch handed a document to Shen Nian.

Shen Nian was taken aback when she saw the young eunuch's appearance.

It turned out to be the fifteen-year-old eunuch Fang Ping who had previously reported Zheng Sansi, the Grand Eunuch of the Seal Office, for embezzlement and presented the account books to Shen Nian.

He was originally a minor eunuch in the Imperial Seal Office.

Now that he can serve by the side of the young Wanli Emperor, responsible for serving tea and water and delivering things, it means that he has become a eunuch in the Directorate of Palace Attendants.

The eunuchs from the Inner Palace who could serve by the side of the young Wanli Emperor were all carefully selected by Feng Bao, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, or Zhang Hong, the Grand Eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, and were those who could please the young Wanli Emperor.

The fact that he was able to reach this position in such a short time shows that he must have extraordinary abilities.

The competition among eunuchs in the inner court was even more intense than the struggles among officials in the outer court.

Eunuchs such as Zhang Cheng, Zhang Jing, and Xu Kang, who were once considered potential successors to Feng Bao and Zhang Hong, were either sent to remote posts or assigned to unimportant inner court offices, and have lost all power.

Shen Nian's surprise vanished in an instant, and she immediately took the document and began to read it carefully.

The Ming Dynasty's military was organized into guard posts and garrisons.

Military unit designations often use "Wei" in their names, such as: Jinyiwei, Jinwuwei, Yulinwei, etc.

The names drafted by the young Wanli Emperor included Chenshuwei, Tianyiwei, Longxingwei, Tianchuwei, Huiyuwei, Taochenwei, Shengwuwei, and Jingwuwei.

These names immediately suggest they belong to the emperor's close guard.

Shen Nian paused for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, I think the name 'Jingwu Guard' is better. Only those who are skilled in martial arts can defend the country!"

"Haha, Shen Qing, you think exactly the same as me! These are the three words I like the most!"

The young Wanli Emperor looked excited as he picked up a piece of Xuan paper from his desk. The paper had the three characters "Jingwuwei" written on it, and the ink was not yet completely dry.

He really enjoyed the feeling of sharing the same thoughts as Shen Nian.

Shen Nian cupped his hands and continued, "Your Majesty, I believe it is not appropriate to assign them unit numbers at this time, because whether these people are qualified to serve as the Emperor's personal guard and become the generals Your Majesty is focusing on cultivating has not yet been verified!"

The young Wanli Emperor sat up straight and nodded.

"That makes sense! But without a designated unit, the army has no legitimate reason to fight. How am I supposed to set military regulations and how should we train them?"

Shen Nian smiled slightly.

"Why not name this training ground for the Emperor's personal guard the Elite Martial Arts Academy, with His Majesty serving as the dean and a group of instructors?"

"Trainees spend two years in the academy for training and three years participating in military activities. Only those who graduate after five years are qualified to become Elite Guards, and His Majesty will issue them Elite Guard tokens. Each term lasts five years, and after graduation, about one hundred out of a thousand are selected for special promotion and conferment of important military positions..."

This was the training direction that Shen Nian had already planned.

Since this is a training exercise, we cannot follow the usual practice of selecting 100 out of 1,000 people to serve in important positions such as commanders of 100 or above in the army. This is already a very large proportion.

The term is set at five years, so that there will be a constant flow of fresh ideas to cultivate a new generation of generals and leaders.

"A good idea! I will personally take charge of this position and train them as students, with a five-year cycle, continuously producing new students, just like the imperial examination system. They can then be considered the emperor's disciples!" The young Wanli nodded approvingly.

Shen Nian always managed to speak to his heart.

His desired outcome was that all the great generals and capable commanders of the Ming Dynasty would be trained by him in the future.

Subsequently.

Emperor Wanli then showed Shen Nian the location he had chosen for the Jingwu Academy, namely, a military camp in the suburbs of Nanjing as the site for the academy.

In this way, it would save money and allow the young Wanli Emperor to frequently inspect and review the troops.

In addition, the young Wanli Emperor also showed Shen Nian information about annual stipends, weapons and armor, and training methods.

These were mostly suggestions from the Ministry of War and the Five Military Commissions, and Shen Nian had no objections.

at this time.

Liang Menglong, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and Zhou Linshan, the Deputy Commander of the Right Guard of the Left Army Commandery, requested an audience.

Currently, the two are mainly responsible for the selection of the "Emperor's Personal Guard".

Emperor Wanli immediately ordered the two men into the palace and also allowed Shen Nian to listen in, since Shen Nian was the one who came up with this plan.

After the two bowed,

Liang Menglong, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, after nearly two months of selection, a total of 3,542 soldiers who meet the requirements of the 'Emperor's Personal Army' have been selected from the nine border towns."

"What? I told you to select a thousand people. If it were two or three hundred more, I wouldn't say anything. But if it's more than double that, the court can't possibly train that many people!" Little Wanli said, his eyes wide.

According to the current training method, the annual cost of each soldier will be more than a hundred times that of each soldier in the border towns, and it will cost more money than building heavy cavalry, firearms soldiers, and the internal military force originally envisioned by Emperor Wanli.

One thousand people is already close to the limit of the imperial court.

If three thousand people were recruited, Zhang Juzheng would certainly have submitted a memorial criticizing the matter for excessively draining the national treasury.

Liang Menglong said with some helplessness, "Your Majesty, ten days ago, after the selection, the generals of the nine border towns reported a total of more than 6,000 people. We set the conditions to be more stringent and prohibited nepotism in the selection, which reduced the number to more than 3,000. Now, all the generals say that they cannot reduce the number, and that all of these people meet the standards set by Your Majesty."

Upon hearing the phrase "nepotism," Shen Nian understood that many officials, upon hearing that the young Wanli Emperor was selecting "the Emperor's personal guards," would definitely use all sorts of connections, including bribing those in charge, to place their own qualified sons into the ranks.

The Ming army at that time was full of interpersonal relationships and connections.

If they are allowed to reduce their numbers again, they will likely have to cut the good soldiers who are capable but have no connections.

Shen Nian stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, ordering further reductions in the number of generals in the Nine Garrisons would inevitably lead to bias due to personal relationships. It would be better to have all three thousand soldiers report to the outskirts of the capital. Your Majesty can personally select one thousand, and the rest can be sent back to their original posts. Through their performance, Your Majesty can also see whether the commanders of the Nine Garrisons have shown favoritism in selecting soldiers. In addition, the selected soldiers will cherish this opportunity even more!”

When Liang Menglong, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and Zhou Linshan, the Deputy Commander of the Right Guard of the Left Army Commandery, heard Shen Nian's suggestion, they couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time.

Those military officers who tried to curry favor with their relatives and friends would never have imagined that this matter would also lead to an investigation by the court. Those who showed excessive favoritism would certainly be punished by the court. "Granted!" the young Wanli Emperor said crisply.

Although the soldiers' meals would only last a few days and cost very little, and it would also allow the young Wanli Emperor to witness the selflessness of the commander-in-chief of the nine border regions, he felt it was well worth it.

……

Two days later.

Emperor Wanli ordered Shen Nian to complete the "Strategy for Training Generals at the Elite Martial Arts Academy," which was then sent to the cabinet.

This policy was actually the first reform policy proposed by the young Wanli Emperor.

He intended to take a hands-on approach, but the specific details still needed to be reviewed by the three Grand Secretaries of the Cabinet.

Emperor Wanli appointed himself as the dean of the Jingwu Academy, treated soldiers as students, and promised to inspect them at the academy no less than twice a month.

The head instructor was British Duke Zhang Rong.

Although Zhang Rong has been mainly in charge of the court's sacrificial rites in recent years, he comes from a noble family and has served in the Five Military Commissions for nearly twenty years. He knows the general principles of military training in the Ming Dynasty better than anyone else.

As the chief instructor, he could keep the military officers in check and also prevent some nitpicking civil officials from finding fault with him.

Besides Liang Menglong, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, and Zhou Linshan, the Deputy Commander of the Right Guard of the Left Army Commandery, there was another person among the three deputy chief instructors who was unexpected but quite surprising to Zhang Juzheng, Yin Zhengmao, and Shen Shixing.

Shen Nian, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue and concurrently Lecturer of the Hanlin Academy.

Emperor Wanli said: "Although Shen Nian is not a military officer and is not in the Ministry of War, he is good at lecturing and at expounding on the principles of loyalty to the emperor and love for the people."

With Shen Nian around, the soldiers of the Jingwu Academy were able to establish lofty ambitions of loyalty to the emperor and serving the country, and to possess the spirit and energy that generals of the Ming Dynasty should have.

In addition, the young Wanli Emperor also arranged for instructors of military formations, archery, firearms, and so on, all of whom were selected from the best military officers in the army.

……

In the cabinet duty room.

After reading the "Strategy for Training Generals at the Elite Martial Arts Academy," Zhang Juzheng, Yin Zhengmao, and Shen Shixing all showed smiles on their faces.

Initially, when the young Wanli Emperor first proposed establishing the Inner Military Army, the three were furious, thinking that the young Wanli Emperor was being ridiculous.

However, after Shen Nian's revision, the three of them felt more and more that this was no longer a willful act by the young Wanli Emperor, but a good strategy that could indeed change the military strength of the Ming Dynasty.

After Zhang Juzheng became Grand Secretary, he focused all his reform efforts on enriching the national treasury and purging official corruption. His reforms to the military consisted mainly of military land reform and performance evaluation of officials. However, he gave relatively little thought to how to improve the strength of the military.

Now, this strategy has perfectly filled this gap.

Yin Zhengmao said, "Grand Secretary Zhang, it is a bit of a pity that the cabinet did not participate in this plan, but its improvement on our dynasty's military capabilities will be obvious in the future."

Zhang Juzheng stroked his long beard, which ran up his abdomen, and shook his head slightly.

“I think it’s better without the cabinet’s involvement. His Majesty has grown up, and if good strategies like the ‘Training Strategies of the Elite Martial Arts Academy’ continue to emerge, I can return to Jiangling to retire. To borrow a phrase from Ziheng, the Wanli New Deal should be the Wanli New Deal, not my Zhang Juzheng New Deal. Only in this way can the new deal last, instead of ending with the death of the person!”

Although Zhang Juzheng was still a powerful minister who held sway over the country at the time.

However, he had to admit that the new policies proposed by the young Wanli Emperor were more viable than those he proposed himself.

Since its founding, the Ming Dynasty has always been a society where the emperor held absolute power, and no matter how capable a minister was, he could not match the emperor's authority.

Yin Zhengmao and Shen Shixing both nodded in agreement. Only when the emperor took the lead could things be legitimate and implemented more smoothly.

Shen Shixing sighed, "These past few days have really worn Ziheng out. If His Majesty doesn't have his guidance, this incident involving the inner army will probably cause another conflict between the emperor and his ministers!"

"The capable should do more work! With Ziheng at Jingwu Academy, it won't go astray. I love listening to Ziheng's words! Some of Ziheng's remarks and some of his lectures from the Inner Academy are currently bestsellers in the national book market, even better than the works of that literary master who ruined his reputation in his later years!" Yin Zhengmao said with a smile.

When Zhang Juzheng heard Yin Zhengmao mocking Wang Shizhen, a bright smile appeared on his usually expressionless face.

After retiring from office, Wang Shizhen became Zhang Juzheng's biggest critic.

While writing history at home, he must have criticized Zhang Juzheng quite a bit.

However, after his apprenticeship under Tan Yangzi, his reputation was severely damaged, and many young students no longer believed his words.

What reassured Zhang Juzheng was that he had always worried that the young Wanli Emperor would neglect state affairs like the Jiajing Emperor or become lecherous and neglect state affairs like the Longqing Emperor.

But the young Wanli Emperor had a strong interest in governance, which reassured Zhang Juzheng.

……

May 28th, afternoon.

Wang Xijue's second daughter, Wang Gui (courtesy name Taozhen), also known as Tanyangzi, was brought to the capital by the Wang family.

Because she was a nun, she did not choose to live in Wang Xijue's mansion, but instead lived in a Taoist temple in western Beijing.

When she saw Wang Xijue, it was as if she were seeing a complete stranger.

When Wang Xijue met her, he only saw a pitiful daughter who was thin and had a sallow complexion, and he did not sense any Taoist aura from her.

Just as Shen Nian had guessed.

Ever since the Wang family of Taicang spread the word about her "chastity and virtue leading to immortality," she became utterly despairing of the world.

She was hallucinating, which led to her nonsensical talk about Taoist practices.

At present, all Wang Xijue can do is try to ease the relationship between father and daughter. Even if his daughter is unwilling to return to secular life, he does not want her to lose her life due to fasting and abstaining from food while practicing Taoism.

Emperor Wanli also ordered the imperial physicians to examine her and prescribe some calming medicines, hoping that she could recover soon and become more cheerful and open-minded in the world.

……

June 12th.

Three thousand five hundred and forty-two soldiers from the nine important border towns gathered at the military camp on the outskirts of the capital.

These soldiers had at least three years of military experience, ranging in age from nineteen to twenty-nine. Almost all of them came from military households, including ordinary border soldiers, junior officers such as sergeants and captains, and hereditary officers such as centurions.

These people are all literate, but their levels of education still vary considerably.

Some people only attended a private school for two years and knew everyday characters, while others were well-versed in military strategy and were skilled in both speaking and writing.

The reason why the imperial court did not use literacy as a threshold for selection was that if it selected those under the age of thirty who were well-versed in the Four Books and Five Classics, and added other criteria, it would be difficult to gather even five hundred soldiers, let alone a thousand.

The military garrison system of the Ming Dynasty is now on the verge of collapse.

Most soldiers were laborers and long-term workers for officers, and with almost no fighting in the North, ordinary soldiers had no way to be promoted through military merit.

There is an insurmountable gap between generals and soldiers.

Even someone as powerful as Qi Jiguang was not from an ordinary military household.

He came from a family of generals and was well-versed in classics and history. He inherited his father's position and was directly appointed as the Vice Commander of Dengzhou Guard. If he were just a common soldier, he might only be an old soldier feeding fodder for warhorses and would never have the status he has now.

Today, the establishment of the Jingwu Academy has undoubtedly given many soldiers without a noble birth the opportunity to become generals and commanders.

(End of this chapter)