For Zhu Yijun, it was a great thing for Xiao Ruxun to become the governor of the military affairs in the capital.
For one thing, Xiao Ruxun was Zhu Yijun's absolute confidant and absolutely trustworthy. If he controlled the military power in the capital, which was absolutely important to the Daming Dynasty, it would be enough to exert the power to influence the situation in the court, and thus become the source of his own power in the court.
Zhang Weixian and Xu Wenbi, the descendants of nobles who had long been raised as pigs, were not capable of planning great things. Of course, Zhu Yijun treated them well because he wanted to use their power to maintain his own power. But soon, Zhu Yijun sadly discovered that all the nobles in Beijing had been raised as qualified pigs, and they were really useless.
The few who could still stand up and speak were all vassals of the civil officials. All they thought about was making money and had no regard for the country or the world. Discussing great things with them was tantamount to suicide.
Only then did Zhu Yijun understand what kind of environment Emperor Zhengde and his grandfather Jiajing had been struggling to maintain their power. He realized the importance of military power to the Emperor of a centralized country. But no matter how he struggled, he could not directly control a troop of soldiers through the Ministry of War, not even the palace guards.
The Imperial Bodyguard and the East Faction Guards, which had once been able to intimidate the civil officials, fell into a trough during the Jiajing era. The East Faction Guards, which had once been able to contend against the civil officials during the Chenghua and Zhengde eras, only the East Faction Guards remained as the last psychological barrier of the Emperor.
But now, the Imperial Bodyguard and the East Faction Guards had colluded with the civil officials to varying degrees. The last barrier of safety in Zhu Yijun's heart had collapsed. A strong sense of crisis urged him to seek outside help. At this time, a general who dared to risk universal condemnation and tell him the truth appeared.
The appearance of this life-saving straw gave Zhu Yijun a glimmer of hope. After careful consideration and deployment, Zhu Yijun decided to slowly carry out his plan to seize power. But the most important thing to realize this plan was the army. Only the army could support his ambition.
Zhu Yijun deeply understood the importance of the army, but in this period where only eunuchs could be barely trusted, he did not have any military forces that he could directly mobilize.
The number of people that Xiao Ruxun had brought back who could participate in the captive offering ceremony was no more than ten thousand, and the number of Men of Sacrifice that he had asked Zhang Cheng to gather and train was no more than three thousand. The training time was not enough, so they could not be regarded as a strong fighting force at all. What he could really rely on was Xiao Ruxun's army.
This was far too few compared to the hundreds of thousands of soldiers around the capital. If he could not kill them with a single strike, his position would be in danger. Zhu Yijun did not have the courage to gamble with the throne.
At this time, Shen Yicheng's reciprocation made him see another possibility.
The capital of a centralized state was the absolute heart of the state. Whoever controlled the heart of the state would control the political power of the centralized state.
Especially in this era where the dissemination of information was extremely slow and the lack of means, by the time the foreign troops learned of the coup in the capital, the coup had already ended and the general situation had been settled, and they could do nothing about it.
Therefore, the decisive role in the coup was the nearby army, the capital camp with the right to garrison the capital, and the royal guards in the palace. In a sense, the role of the royal guards was greater than that of the capital camp. A few thousand people were enough to determine the supreme power of the state.
Now the capital camp was undoubtedly in the hands of the civil officials and their vassals, namely the hands of Zhang Weixian. Zhang Weixian and other top nobles of the Daming dynasty had operated in the capital camp for more than a hundred years. They were deeply rooted and had long turned the capital camp into their own backyard.
Since the collapse of the Tumu Fortress, the capital camp had only been slightly revitalized for a period of time during the Jiajing period of Zhengde and the early Wanli period. Later, like the Northern Song Imperial Army, it became a master soldier with no fighting power.
It was no exaggeration to say that the capital camp now had elites, but they were the private armed forces of Zhang Weixian, Xu Wenbi, and other top nobles to protect their own safety. There were not many of them, but they were well-equipped and treated well.
As the main force, the other soldiers of the capital camp were no different from handymen. They were only guarding the city gate and pretending to bully passing merchants and ordinary people. If they were really dragged out to fight, they would be like Li Chengliang before. His reputation was ruined overnight. Now he did not even live in the capital and went back to Liaodong to retire.
Not only were the soldiers of the capital camp seriously lacking in numbers, but they were also equipped with all kinds of strange equipment. They were far better at using farm tools than weapons. The army under the rule of the emperor was so vulnerable because of the excellent tradition of being in the dark under the lamp. This was really a wonder in the world.
Zhu Yijun was not very clear about all of this. He vaguely knew some of it, but it was not complete. There was no specific data that he could get his hands on. Even if he got his hands on it, he did not dare to believe it. Especially after he lost his trust in Luo Sigong, he did not trust the information that he got even more.
Now, his understanding of the Jing Ying could be described as being completely blind.
And if he could let Xiao Ruxun replace Zhang Weixian to take charge of the capital camp, then everything would be logical. He could quickly know what these bastards had done to the capital camp and what kind of strange things the once powerful three camps of the capital had become.
More importantly, he would directly control the military power of the capital, and from then on, he would have the confidence to speak.
Shen Yicheng said it very beautifully.
It seemed that he was thinking for the emperor and wanted to cooperate with the emperor.
But after all, Zhu Yijun was not easy to deal with. He knew how difficult it was to spit out what he had eaten.
Therefore, after reading Shen Yicheng's report, Zhu Yijun was no longer as excited as he was at the beginning.
"Minister Shen, what you said is indeed very good, but it is the norm and the rule for the capital camp to be handed over to a noble commander. Zhang Weixian has not committed any crime. It is also the rule for him to be the Governor of the Middle Army Commander-In-Chief and the Governor of the military affairs of the capital camp. He has not committed any crime, so what reason should we use to arrest him?"
Shen Yicheng had already thought of this.
"Your Majesty, it is not the most important thing whether the British Duke has made a mistake or not. It is enough to transfer him to a more honorable position, let him be promoted, and leave this position vacant for Duke Qin. In my opinion, Duke Qin is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate.
In the previous battle at Zijing Pass, the performance of the capital camp was not good. It is time to reorganize it. Duke Qin's ability to command and train troops is well-known in the Daming Empire. It is most suitable for Duke Qin to reorganize the capital camp. "
Zhu Yijun put the report on his table, walked back to his throne, and sat down.
"Of course we know that Xiao Qing is the best candidate, but it has been a tradition for more than a hundred years for the nobles to control the capital camp. Will they honestly hand over the benefits that they have obtained to Xiao Qing, who comes from a family of generals in the northwest?
Xiao Qing is not one of them and cannot be trusted. Moreover, Zhang Weixian has not committed any crime. What reason should we use to openly transfer him? If there is no reason, will the nobles be dissatisfied with us and make things difficult for Xiao Qing? "
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