Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

After the grand court assembly on New Year's Day concluded, that evening, Zhu Yuanzhang, as before, held a banquet in the Fengtian Hall to entertain some of his officials.

However, unlike before, there are far fewer civil and military officials who can attend the banquet here now.

Of course, there are also quite a few new faces here.

Such as several members of the cabinet.

No one caused trouble at this banquet.

Everything is going well.

After all, Liao Yongzhong was a troublemaker the year before last, and now the grass on his grave is incredibly tall.

After the grand banquet at Fengtian Hall, there was a smaller banquet.

This small banquet truly lived up to its reputation.

Because the scale was really small, there were only four people present.

They were Empress Ma, Zhu Yuanzhang, Crown Prince Zhu Biao, and Xu Da.

It was called a small banquet, but it would be more accurate to describe it as a small gathering.

Because there were only some fruits and a few side dishes on the table.

Only one pot of wine was set out.

As for the steamed goose that Empress Ma was good at making, it was also nowhere to be seen.

The reason for this was certainly not that Zhu Yuanzhang was too stingy to provide Xu Da with any good food.

Rather, it was because a grand banquet had just ended.

There were all sorts of delicacies at this grand feast, and everyone was already full.

If we serve these dishes again at this point, it will become repetitive.

I simply couldn't eat it.

Instead, it's better to eat some fruits and vegetables, something light and refreshing, to cleanse the palate and cut through the greasiness.

"Tiande, come on, let's have a drink."

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Xu Da and greeted him with a smile.

Zhu Yuanzhang was genuinely happy.

I am pleased that the Northern Yuan Dynasty was destroyed more than ten years earlier than in my previous life.

He was also overjoyed that Xu Da was able to personally lead troops to destroy the Northern Yuan royal court, making up for the regrets of his previous life.

In his previous life, Tiande was killed by a carbuncle on his back, and he was unable to destroy the Northern Plains Royal Court until his death, which was Tiande's regret.

It is also one of my biggest regrets.

This regret is gone for the rest of my life.

He was naturally delighted.

Upon hearing this, Xu Da respectfully accepted the wine cup. He lowered the cup very low, clinked it against Zhu Yuanzhang's, and then drank it all in one gulp.

"Sir, this wine tastes wonderful!"

"Haha, who says otherwise? We also think this wine tastes good!"

This is the best wine we've had in a long time!

As he spoke, he personally poured wine from the pot.

This time, three glasses of wine were poured.

He gave one cup to Xu Da, one cup to himself, and held the other cup in his other hand.

"Come on, let's have a drink with Lao Chang."

As he spoke, he held a glass of wine in each hand and clinked glasses with Xu Da again.

He drank the cup in his left hand, while spilling the one in his right hand onto the ground.

A tribute to Chang Yuchun.

Xu Da's eyes were slightly red...

After a long conversation with Xu Da, during which he inquired about many details of the battle, Zhu Yuanzhang turned to Xu Da and began discussing serious matters.

"Tiande, we have some good news to tell you."

Upon hearing this, Xu Da's heart skipped a beat.

Could it be that he's planning to take a concubine after assuming power?
More than half a year ago, the emperor personally found two women of respectable background and sent them to his side to take care of him and become his concubines.

When he took power back then, it was said to be a good thing; now that he's in power, it's said to be a good thing again. He can't help but overthink it.

"We plan to establish a military academy to train military personnel."

Tiande, what do you think?

Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Xu Da and revealed his purpose.

Hearing this, Xu Da secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

As the saying goes, wine is a poison that burns through the intestines, and lust is a knife that scrapes the bones.

Besides, he's getting on in years.

Two concubines are enough; I don't want any more.

Fortunately, becoming the head of the household doesn't mean he has to find himself another concubine.

Instead, they want to establish a military academy.

"To ascend to the throne is naturally excellent; I agree!"

Xu Da immediately agreed with what Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Xu Da was no fool. He was able to reach such a position and enjoy the deep trust of Zhu Yuanzhang. He made great contributions, yet he was not suspected by Zhu Yuanzhang.

It has its own unique features.

Xu Da was different from many people who only knew how to fight. He was not only good at fighting, but also had great political wisdom.

He has his own considerations on many things.

In fact, he had thought about establishing a military school before.

At first, I only had a few ideas, without going into much depth.

However, upon learning that the higher-ups had added so many subjects to the curriculum, including not only medicine but also arithmetic, they were surprised to discover that the higher-ups had not only added medicine but also arithmetic.

They also brought more subjects to the school.

This touched him even more deeply, and those thoughts began to emerge uncontrollably, growing stronger and stronger.

He had been thinking about bringing up this matter with his superiors sometime, and about establishing a military academy.

Who would have thought that before he could even speak, the person in charge would say such things first.

How could he not be overjoyed!
Xu Da was not a roughneck; he had remarkable insight.

They consider many things very deeply.

Don't just look at the people in front of you.

Military strength is very important. Without sufficient military power, one cannot defend one's homeland or make those around one submit.

When you become powerful, you'll find that the world has become much kinder when you look around.

He is currently the strongest and highest-ranking commander in the Ming army.

Moreover, he was someone who had fought his way up from the top.

He had a keen understanding of how important these troops were.

That's why he always had some hidden worries in his heart.

The concern is not about their generation, nor about the next.

With their generation in power and the old guard still around, their forces are at their peak, so there's nothing to worry about.

There's no need to worry about the next generation either.

Lan Yu, Mu Ying, and other young people have all experienced the founding war and are all promising talents.

The Ming Dynasty will not lack talented generals in the future.

What he was worried about was what came after that.

Throughout history, the military strength of most dynasties has generally declined in later periods.

This is because once the country was opened up, the surrounding powerful enemies were eliminated.

The situation facing this country has changed significantly.

The focus shifted from conquering the world to protecting and building it.

There aren't that many wars to fight.

As a result, there will be fewer truly capable generals.

It's only natural that the military would weaken. Even the status of warriors would decline accordingly, which is equally unsurprising.

Xu Da wanted to make some changes to the situation and see if he could turn things around.

It's not just about ensuring the status of martial artists; it's not that superficial.

More importantly, he knew that a country cannot be without a strong military and cannot neglect its military preparedness.

It is difficult to build a strong army, but it is easy to let it fall into disuse.

A generation is enough time to wipe out a powerful army.

But by then, building it again will be extremely difficult, far more so than a simple matter of words.

Once a nation achieves peace, its investment in military and other areas will gradually decrease.

Many soldiers had no opportunity to use their skills, and such situations were indeed real.

Xu Da actually thought a lot about how to deal with this situation.

One of these paths was explored by our predecessors.

For example, Wu Zetian first created it, and by the Song Dynasty, it had become a fixed practice and was officially established as a military examination.

This is indeed a way to improve the status of military personnel and, to some extent, provide the army with some new talent.

However, judging from the results of successive dynasties, the military examination system was not very successful.

While it has some effect, its effectiveness is indeed very limited.

It is especially memorable when compared with the imperial examination system for selecting officials by scholars.

This further demonstrates just how insignificant the role of the martial arts examination was.

After some thought, he finally discovered the problem.

The problem is that the decline and limited effectiveness of the military examination system was not due to its shortcomings.

It was fundamentally different from the imperial examinations taken by scholars.

In addition to selecting talents through the imperial examination system, the civil service examinations conducted by scholars also included numerous academies, books, and teachers to impart relevant knowledge and principles.

In addition to selecting talent, a large number of people are dedicated to cultivating talent.

Therefore, it also allows scholars to continue to develop.

The military examination was different.

The military examination was merely a means of selecting talent.

However, corresponding talent development was not carried out.

Under such circumstances, how could the military examination play a significant role?

Military officers, not having fought many battles, are unlikely to receive many promotions.

The military examination system, to a large extent, was essentially superficial.

With both factors combined, the status of martial artists was predictably low.

Therefore, in order to change this situation, in addition to having a martial arts examination, it is also necessary to establish a corresponding academy.

They were sent to teach relevant military knowledge to cultivate the necessary personnel.

After training these people well, they will be placed in the military for appropriate training and promotion.

In this way, the decline of warriors can be slowed down to a great extent.

To maintain the army's combat effectiveness as much as possible.

This will ensure that it does not decline too much a hundred or even two hundred years from now.

They still possess a certain level of combat capability.

If one can attend a military academy and then join the army as a general, it can provide a promising future.

This will also foster a martial spirit throughout the world.

Unlike the Song Dynasty, which implemented military examinations but relentlessly suppressed military personnel, the Song Dynasty did not.

Furthermore, they brought a large number of criminals and vagrants into the army.

So much so that when people think of soldiers, the term "bandit convict" inevitably comes to mind.

This leads many people to subconsciously feel that becoming a soldier is a very shameful thing.

This is not good.

Xu Da originally thought that he would have to use a lot of persuasion to get his superiors to agree to his considerations.

Who would have thought that before she could even speak, her superiors would bring up the matter on her own initiative.

How could Xu Da not be happy about this?
"To rise to power is a great thing, for only in this way can we cultivate the martial spirit of our Great Ming Dynasty."

Only then will our descendants not forget how to fight, and not dare to fight!

Xu Da stood up and bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang, his tone very sincere.

"We've already thought of a name for this school: the Great Ming Military Academy."

The Great Ming Military Academy was established in Beiping.

Zhu Yuanzhang said with a smile.

"Students are recruited from all walks of life. After someone applies, they must pass an examination before they can enter the military academy to study."

First, one must have a clean background; second, one must have a certain level of education.

Everything is still in its early stages and hasn't been standardized yet. We'll wait until we improve the basic education system and establish various colleges.

When military academies recruit new students, apart from a few exceptional individuals, most applicants are those who have completed their basic education before they can apply to the military academy…

Zhu Yuanzhang explained his considerations regarding this matter.

Military academies must be established.

Only with the right schools can the right talents be cultivated.

Their generation gained their combat experience through countless battles, fighting and learning from each other.

The process was arduous and cruel.

This kind of learning environment will obviously not exist in the future.

So, the goal is to provide the army with fresh blood and prevent it from declining as much as possible.

Therefore, we need to use other methods to cultivate a martial spirit throughout society.

It also enables people to learn relevant professional knowledge through corresponding schools and enter the military.

You can actually gain benefits.

It would be a great choice to change the fate of many people as a result.

Although generals who are trained through education are certainly not as good as those who have fought their way up on the battlefield, in terms of practical experience, they are not as good as those who have fought their way up on the battlefield.

However, it's already very good.

Especially later on, when a real war broke out.

Those who have studied professional military skills are also able to quickly combine the relevant knowledge they have learned with the war.

Apply what you learn to grow rapidly.

Of course, regular military training, exercises, and competitions are also essential.

These can also greatly enhance and maintain the combat effectiveness of the army.

In his past life, he certainly wouldn't have thought of so much.

After experiencing such a thing in later generations, many of my ideas have changed.

Furthermore, it can leverage the wisdom of future generations to solve the problems that the Ming Dynasty is currently facing, and may face in the future.

"Your Excellency, you have considered everything very thoroughly."

Xu Da gave Zhu Yuanzhang a thumbs up.

He meant it sincerely.

He genuinely thought that his considerations regarding his rise to power were quite good.

Not only did it take into account some of his own ideas, but it was also more perfect and better than he had imagined.

This meant he didn't even need to offer any suggestions on this matter.

They were genuinely convinced of their superiors' superior position.

This man, who once held a position of power in his youth because he belonged to a neighboring village and had clashed with him over picking wild fruit, is now becoming increasingly formidable.

"But... regarding my rise to power, there's one thing I don't understand."

Xu Da hesitated for a moment, then looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and spoke.

"What is it, Tiande? Just tell me."

Xu Da immediately spoke up, voicing his doubts… (End of Chapter)