Yang Ling did not have the reverence that scholars had for their monarch father and the Son of Heaven. Furthermore, when a person was hungry, their patience was very limited. He was not in the mood to say something like "the official is afraid" or "the official doesn't dare" and then wait for the Emperor to laugh out loud and wave his hand to say "We are not guilty of shooting you." Thus, after hearing the Hongzhi Emperor's words, he immediately raised his head and looked behind the dragon writing table.
This Emperor had a rich appearance and was very dignified. He wore a winged crown on his head and a dragon robe with a coiled collar and narrow sleeves. His features were vaguely familiar. When the Hongzhi Emperor saw his appearance, he couldn't help but suddenly stand up. Raising his eyebrows, he chuckled and said, "So it's you."
Yang Ling made an "ah" sound and immediately thought of the father and son pair he had met last night. So they were … Yang Ling said with surprise and joy, "So Your Majesty is …"
The Hongzhi Emperor hurriedly coughed and gave him a look. Yang Ling immediately came to his senses and quickly swallowed the rest of his words. At that time, the Emperor traveling incognito was enough to attract the censure of hundreds of officials. Although they were surrounded by the Emperor's personal attendants, eight or nine out of ten of them knew that the Emperor sneaked out of the palace, but to say it in public was a different matter.
Hongzhi saw that he was quite quick-witted and couldn't help but reveal a satisfied smile in his eyes. He slowly sat down and said with a smile, "So it's you. Only when I read your name did I remember that you are the straightforward writer who criticized the corrupt government. Hahaha, do you know that my court is currently in an uproar because of your letter?"
As he spoke, he gently pinched the tip of his eyebrows. Although his face was full of smiles, it revealed a trace of tiredness that was difficult to disguise. As Embroidered Uniform Admiral Zhang Xiu had expected, this morning at court, the Ministry of Revenue had submitted a memorial to explain himself and remove his responsibility. Originally, Hongzhi had only ordered the three law departments to discuss General He's crimes. But now that General He had been locked up in the Ministry of Punishments's prison for more than half a month, the court officials had already forgotten about him. They began to wrangle with each other, bringing up all sorts of irrelevant issues, giving Hongzhi a headache.
An old eunuch at the side saw that the Emperor looked tired and quickly walked in front of him to open a small box. Yang Ling's nose smelled a faint fragrance. He looked up and saw a red pill the size of a longan on a satin cushion in the box. Hongzhi picked up the red pill and put it into his mouth, swallowing it with tea.
Something stirred in Yang Ling's mind. In his memory, most of the Ming Emperors had short lifespans. It seemed that not many of them lived past the age of forty. This was because the Ming Emperors had always followed Taoism as the state religion. Every generation of Emperors liked to take pills refined by Taoists. Although those pills could refresh the mind, most of them contained slow-acting toxins. Could it be that Hongzhi had also taken these kinds of pills?
Hongzhi saw that he was in a daze and thought that he had been frightened by what he had just said. He couldn't help but laugh and say, "Haha, a lowly person does not dare to forget the worries of the country. Zhen's heart is comforted. Subject Yang need not be afraid."
"Yes!" Yang Ling took the opportunity to gather his courage and said, "Long live this subject. At Chicken Cry Inn, this subject had followed the army to battle the Tartars and had some understanding of the situation at that time. This subject believes that the Tartars gathered more than twenty thousand people and invaded our Ming Destiny. The armies from Zhuo County and Chi County have made great contributions. Although Huailai's army suffered some losses, their merits and demerits are enough to make up for it. This subject presumptuously … believes … that General He should not be punished. "
In fact, Yang Ling quite sympathized with General He. Although General He also had his own selfish motives and did not send his own troops to attack the enemy, when facing the Tartars, he was indeed very cautious and did not dare to relax. If it wasn't for the two generals repeatedly urging him that day, he might not have been so impatient to advance.
Now that he had become the scapegoat and was thrown into prison, Yang Ling felt that the punishment was unavoidably too harsh. Therefore, taking advantage of the Emperor's happiness, he gathered his courage and expressed his opinion. After he finished speaking, his heart was also beating fast and he was extremely nervous. He was afraid that this Emperor was also a temperamental person.
After taking the Red Pill, Hongzhi's spirit was much better. Listening to Yang Ling's words, he looked at Yang Ling with interest and said, "Tell me, is there any reason why he shouldn't be punished?"
At morning court that morning, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Revenue, and the Five Armies Commander-In-Chief's Office were fighting again. Hongzhi was having a headache over this matter, but now he was riding a tiger and it was difficult to get off. If Yang Ling could give a reason to exonerate General He, then all the people who should be punished would be released. Naturally, the officials of the various departments would not continue to pester this matter endlessly. This was the ending he wanted right now.
Hearing Hongzhi's gentle tone, Yang Ling's courage rose. He slightly organized his thoughts and said, "Long live the Emperor. The Tatars used five thousand elite horsemen to attack our Chicken Crow. At the time, there were less than four hundred soldiers defending the city. Fortunately, the city was strong and the cannons were sharp, so we were able to hold out for a while. Behind the city gates, the cannons that the Tatars had captured exploded. The lives of more than ten thousand people in the city were hanging by a thread. If not for General He's timely arrival with his army, the people in the city would not have been plunged into misery and suffering, and the Chicken Crow Ancient Inn would not have fallen into the enemy's hands. This is a meritorious service. "
"When the heavy snow sealed the mountains, General He was eager to kill the enemy and accidentally fell into the ambush. This is a mistake, but the meritorious service can make up for it. After our army fell into the enemy's ambush, General He was able to make a prompt decision and decisively retreat, so that the Tatars could not get into formation and kill wantonly. Our army's casualties were reduced to the minimum. The result afterwards was not much different from a direct confrontation. Therefore, although it was true that we fell into the trap, the losses may not have reached the result of the trap. "
Yang Ling did not mention at all the horses, chariots, supplies and other losses that the Ming army abandoned when they seized the valley and fled for their lives. He also did not mention the stupid interference of the two military blind Supervisor Army. If he brought it up, right now his words carried little weight. He was afraid that the effect would not be great, and instead he would be dragged into this big whirlpool.
He changed the topic of conversation and said, "Long live the Emperor. Therefore, this subject thinks that General He's troops were inferior to the enemy's, yet he was able to achieve this result. He can be considered a good general. If the punishment is too severe, I'm afraid the officers and men at the front will take it as a warning. In the future when they fight the enemy, they will not dare to use their lives. They will only seek to not make mistakes, not seek to have meritorious service. When that time comes, everyone will cower in front of the enemy. Won't that increase the Tatars' arrogance?"
"Oh …" Hongzhi nodded his head slightly, as if he was deep in thought. When he received a report from Liu Jin's fast horse that the front had suffered heavy casualties, he was furious and immediately issued an imperial edict ordering the Imperial Bodyguard to send General He back to the capital to discuss the punishment.
Since ancient times, in the officialdom, people would push a wall when it is down. Those who were officials in the Imperial Court regarded the Emperor's will as the most important thing. If the Emperor wanted to punish a person, they would rack their brains to think of how to frame a crime for this person so that the Emperor's punishment would be more justified. It was already not bad if those with noble character did not hit the person when he was down. How many people were willing to speak the truth on his behalf?
This was the first time that Yang Ling had described these things to Hongzhi, so his heart was immediately moved. He had always regretted that he did not have the ability to be like Taizu and Chengzu, to raise the whip beyond the Great Wall and make the Tatars flee at the sight of the wind. But as the Emperor of Ming Destiny, he still hoped that he could at least make the Tatars not dare to easily invade and not let the people of Ming Destiny be ravaged by the barbarians.
It was not a big problem whether General He was punished or not, but if the Emperor was too strict, the border army would be afraid of the slightest thing in future battles, which was really not what he wanted.
It seemed that the uproar of the "discussion of punishment" in the capital this time could be settled. Hongzhi secretly calculated in his heart and already had an idea. But on the surface, he laughed noncommittally and asked, "Wang Shouren of the Ministry of War submitted a memorial, which highly praised the way of training soldiers that you mentioned. Today, you can speak freely and let me see what is unique about it."
Yang Ling was a little depressed. What was the job of a study attendant? Wasn't it your son's study companion? Why did it sound like inviting a teacher, did it have to be tested first? But he did not know that the Emperor had a lot of things to worry about. If he had the heart to test a person's ability, it meant that he cherished talent and put him in an important position. If there was an official who was familiar with the rules of the officialdom, he would be excited at this time and want to show off all his martial arts skills to win the Emperor's favor.
Yang Ling thought for a while and compared some of the situations he had seen with the situation of the army in the future, and said, "Long live the Emperor. I have observed some of the generals in the army, and their abilities are uneven. Although there are brave generals, most of them only pay attention to individual martial arts and have no expertise in running the army.
Moreover, in today's world, people value martial arts more than martial arts, and the achievements of a hundred battles are not as good as a beautiful article. Most of those who are good at both martial arts and literature give up martial arts for literature, and it is even harder to find good generals.
Moreover, the orders in the army are different, the weapons and armors are different, and the provisions are different. Usually, there is very little training, and even if they have fighting power, it is difficult to display it. I am like the rooster crowing, and I often see military drills. For a moment, the flag is clear, the clothes are dazzling, the swords and spears are dazzling, the gongs and drums are loud, and it looks like the army is majestic. But most of the time is spent on these formation drills. Only the appearance is not important, and it is not of much use.
If the army only takes a little time out of the daily drills for field drills, then the new soldiers can become the old soldiers, and the old soldiers can become the elite soldiers. For example, the firearms in my Ming Destiny's army is really a rare weapon. If it is used well, the Tartars will not be able to withstand a single blow. But no matter how good the weapon is, it must be used by people. But nowadays, it is rare for soldiers to know how to use firearms, not to mention being good at it. So I think that actual combat training is the most effective way to strengthen the army. "
Hongzhi's face darkened slightly. It was not that he did not know the drawbacks of the soldiers not knowing the generals, and the generals not knowing the soldiers. But dividing the army to control the power was an important means for the Emperor to firmly hold the power of the monarch. If the generals were to firmly control the army and practice drills from time to time, wouldn't it be giving the authority to others?
Yang Ling caught a glimpse of Hongzhi's expression and knew that it was bad. Since ancient times, what the Emperor was most worried about was usurpation of power. Wasn't what he said exactly what he was afraid of? Yang Ling hurriedly said: "Therefore I think that we can choose good generals to train the soldiers, with a thousand people as a group, to train the soldiers to take the initiative to fight and adapt to the enemy's situation. And the commander will only be in the middle during the war. Even if the commander is not present, at most there will be a delay in the cooperation between the troops, and there will never be a situation where the commander is not present and the whole army will be routed.
In a word, I think that since ancient times, it is often said that it is easy to get a thousand troops, but it is difficult to find a good general. Using this method to train the soldiers, it will be a strong army but not a strong general. Just look at the Mongolian cavalry in the past, how many of the generals who led the army have read military books and strategies, and know how to use civil and military strategies? If the whole army is brave and good at fighting, even if there are no good generals, who can defeat them? "
He was thinking about how to change some of the modern words into words that Hongzhi could understand, so some of the words did not express his meaning. In reality, what he wanted to say was to strengthen the active fighting ability of the military units below the regimental level. The high-ranking generals will only be in charge of the middle, and will not personally attend to everything. Although the power has been delegated, it has surpassed the high-ranking generals, so the Emperor's actual control has increased.
After listening to the end, Hongzhi vaguely felt that the content of what he said could prevent the situation of powerful officials holding the army for themselves, and could also sufficiently improve the Ming army's fighting ability. But for a moment, he did not think so clearly.
He was about to ask for more details when the old eunuch next to him quietly came over and reminded him in a low voice: "Your Majesty, the afternoon court is about to begin, you see …"
Hongzhi softly made an 'oh' sound and said to Yang Ling: "Hmm, my beloved subject's words are reasonable, I will consider it. Come, bestow Yang Ling with the imperial token of traveling in the palace, and confer him the title of Jinshi. From now on, he will be a reading attendant in the Eastern Palace. Take subject Yang to the Spring Square. "
"Thank you, long live Your Majesty!" Yang Ling knelt to the ground to express his thanks. With both hands, he received a jade token that allowed him to enter and exit the palace from the eunuch. Then, he left with the young eunuch who had led him in.
Yang Ling followed the young eunuch through the Gate of Heavenly Purity and went straight to the Spring Square where the Crown Prince lived. Entering a palace, Yang Ling waited outside the door while the young eunuch went inside to report. After a while, the palace door opened. An official of about fifty years of age walked out. Without even glancing at Yang Ling, he waved his sleeve and left angrily.
Yang Ling stared at his back in a daze. The young eunuch who delivered the message also came out and said to Yang Ling: "Yang, you wait here. Gu Gonggong already knows. In a moment, the Crown Prince will summon you. We will go back first."
Yang Ling stood there, his heels were sore from standing. He saw that the palace was deserted, there were no palace maids, not even a eunuch. Taking the opportunity, he bent down to loosen his sore and weak body. Suddenly his lower back sank and his shoulder tightened, as if something had jumped onto his shoulder. Yang Ling jumped in fright.
He turned his head and found himself face to face with a furry face. On that protruding mouth and monkey cheeks, a pair of small, round eyes stared at him without blinking.
Yang Ling cried out in fright, but before he could grab it, the leigong face was also startled by his cry. Immediately, it shrank its head and leaped onto his head. At this time, from the side hall's door came a hoarse and unpleasant young man's voice: "Gu Daeyong, has Grand Secretary Li left? Aiyo, who are you? Don't move, if you anger my little monkey, be careful that it will scratch your face. "
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