Xiao Ruxun knew why Ricci asked to see Xiao Ruxun and why he was so persistent. It was precisely because of this that Xiao Ruxun did not want to see him.
He wanted Christianity to be widely spread in China, and this was something that Xiao Ruxun would never allow. Ricci essentially wanted to use Xiao Ruxun, but after so many years, Ricci had gradually blurred his original intentions. But when it came to Xiao Ruxun, Xiao Ruxun never forgot that he was using Ricci for a second.
Sooner or later, there would be an irreconcilable contradiction between him and Ricci, but this contradiction was not at this time.
He wanted to go to war with Spain not for Christianity, but for spices. It was completely different from the reason that Ricci thought that Xiao Ruxun completely did not accept Christianity. But at this time, Xiao Ruxun needed to knock on Ricci and let him not forget that permission was only a matter of one word.
Ricci still had value to be used, and so did Christianity. Now was not the time to shed all pretense of cordiality, so Xiao Ruxun asked the kitchen to send lunch to Ricci, making him think that he was just too angry, and that he was not really disappointed and distrustful of Christianity.
Only by giving him a little hope could he continue to persist.
It was unknown when it started, but Xiao Ruxun became more and more skilled at playing political means. Not only did he play checks and balances and mutual supervision in the administration, but he also shaped the Myanmar model, which was currently operating smoothly. In the army, Xiao Ruxun also had his own model.
After the army was established in Myanmar, Xiao Ruxun deliberately divided the officers who held military power in the army into three factions, which were easy to distinguish from each other.
One faction was his own old team, the old subordinates who had followed Xiao Ruxun since Pinglu, and even a few of them were old generals of the Xiao clan, such as Zhao Hu and Chen Xie. This faction was the old team that had followed Xiao Ruxun to fight in the north and south. They had great military achievements, were experienced, and were deeply trusted by Xiao Ruxun. Therefore, most of them were senior officers, and they were the Pinglu faction.
One faction was the group that had joined Xiao Ruxun's forces during his conquest of Bo Bai, and followed him to attack Ningxia City, North Korea, and Mangyingli. The group was led by the descendants of the Ma family, and they were the backbone of the army. Most of them were middle and senior officers, and they were called the Northwest faction.
The remaining faction was a small number of Southerners who volunteered to stay and join Xiao Ruxun's army after the Myanmar war, and a large number of newly recruited officers who were refugees. These people all stood out in the many battles to suppress bandits on the sea after Myanmar was established. Most of them were middle and low-ranking officers, and they were the young and strong faction in the army. They had the largest number.
These three major factions were very easy to distinguish in the army by their accents. They also had a lot of scruples with each other. In addition, there was the police faction, which was independent of the army of five thousand police troops. The forces of the Myanmar army maintained a delicate balance with each other.
The peacekeepers had the highest status, but they had the least number of people. Although they were all senior officers, they were not the ones who commanded and directly governed the army. The Northwest faction was the backbone of the army, with the descendants of the Ma family as the core. Most of them were middle and senior officers. Although they were the deputy generals of some peacekeepers, they could directly contact the army.
As for the formation of the last faction, their status was the lowest, but they had the largest number of people. Basically, the officers at the grass-roots level were formed by the sea faction. They stood out in the battle to suppress bandits on the sea, and they also performed well in the battle to suppress bandits on the land. They directly controlled the soldiers at the bottom. They were not outstanding individually, but they were strong overall. As time went by, they were enough to compete with the other two factions.
In this way, the core leadership of the army was in the hands of Xiao Ruxun. Only Xiao Ruxun had enough prestige and power to command everyone in this army. His soul was the military soul of this army. He was Marquis Zhennan, and this army was the Zhennan Army, the Zhennan Army that guarded the southern frontier sea for Daming.
To be honest, if the army did not have a stronghold, the ruler would not feel at ease. He was afraid that someone in any faction would have too high prestige and would overshadow the ruler.
This was very scary. The army was purely a violent machine. They worshiped the strong. They would worship and follow whoever was the strongest. Even after the suppression of the Song and Ming dynasties, the army was still the army. They still worshiped the strong.
This was very scary. If there was a super strong person that the army unanimously believed in, wouldn't this guy definitely become the emperor?
In fact, Daming was such a model. Zhu Yuanzhang set up the military model of the aristocracy to lead the army. One of the basic requirements was that the emperor needed to have prestige in the army, be able to command the army, and be able to lead the army personally.
Not to mention Zhu Yuanzhang himself, Zhu Di was also an emperor on horseback. He snatched the world from Zhu Yunwen. Ren Zong Zhu Gaochi followed Zhu Di to conquer the world, so naturally he was not unfamiliar with military affairs. Ming Xuanzong Zhu Zhanji was deeply loved by Zhu Di. He followed Zhu Di to attack the Mongols several times. He was a good grandson that Zhu Di taught and had personally led the army to settle the rebellion of the Han Emperor.
Up until this point, the wise Emperors were able to lead their troops into battle. The only bad thing was Ying Zong Zhu Qizhen. Speaking of courage, he also had it. His grandfather and father had personally led the troops into battle before, so there was no reason for him to not dare to do it. It was just that his standards were too low. It was obvious that Zhu Zhanji did not educate his son well on how to lead troops into battle.
But at least, Zhu Qizhen knew the importance of the Emperor leading the army personally in the Ming Dynasty's military system.
After the Tumu Fortress, everyone knew about it, so there was no need to talk about it. Other than Zhu Houzhao who forcefully broke through the obstruction of the civil officials and led the army to war, the other Ming Emperors did not lead the army personally. To be more accurate, the civil officials did not allow the Emperor to have direct contact with the army, not even the royal guards.
Xiao Ruxun knew the drawbacks of the Ming Dynasty's military system. But even the modern military system could not stop the phenomenon of the army at the top of the hill, or it could be said that there was no need to stop it at all.
A ruler did not need a highly united and strong army. Such an army was very scary. During times of war, they could fight outside, and during times of peace, they could also fight among themselves. This was the kind of army that a ruler looked forward to the most.
Therefore, not only did Xiao Ruxun not stop the development of the army at the top of the hill, he even added fuel to the fire. Even if it was the old people like Zhao Hu, Chen Xie, and Wang Hui, he would not allow them to completely control the army. This power must be in his own hands. Only when there was a fight between the people below him, would he be the one who held the highest authority.
The Zhennan Army would not only have this scale. Xiao Ruxun was training the 30,000 soldiers as 30,000 officers. He followed the path of the Wehrmacht after the First World War and trained the 30,000 soldiers to the extreme.
When it was time to expand the army, these soldiers could immediately become qualified sergeants and centurions. An army that was a few times bigger than his own would be formed.
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