Chapter 31: The Role of the Imperial Authority Department
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“What do you gentlemen think of the soldiers of our Great Ming today?”
Zhu Yuntong did not reveal what he truly thought. Instead, he posed another question.
Everyone furrowed their brows and pondered for a moment before Qi Tai once again spoke.
“Your Highness, this humble servant believes that the soldiers of our Great Ming are invincible in courage and more than capable of suppressing the Four Barbarians.”
Everyone nodded. Though they were extremely reluctant to acknowledge the achievements of those brutish men, there could be no denying that Great Ming had driven the savage Yuan out of the Central Plains and beaten them so thoroughly that they no longer knew which way was north.
“Exactly! Whether generals or common soldiers, the men of Great Ming are all worthy of being called invincible in courage. But…”
Zhu Yuntong first agreed with Qi Tai, yet halfway through his sentence he abruptly stopped. A trace of sorrow suddenly clouded his face.
“Alas! Our generals and soldiers are indeed fierce, but they are still lacking something. If things continue as they are, then in less than a century, the incomparably valiant armies of Great Ming may well fall into complete decline!”
What?
The others were perplexed. None of them could understand why Zhu Yuntong harbored such concerns. Looking across the dynasties of history, how many armies had ever achieved feats as glorious as those of Great Ming?
If an army such as this could collapse in less than a hundred years, would that not mean all other armies would rot even faster?
“Your Highness, are you perhaps worrying too much?” Ren Taiheng asked with a frown.
Zhu Yuntong shook his head and waved a hand.
“No! I am not worrying too much. If the army of Great Ming continues in this manner, then within a hundred years, Great Ming will surely suffer a defeat that brings shame upon the entire dynasty.”
“Your Highness, why is that?” Fu Youwen suddenly spoke.
He had not expressed an opinion since entering the hall.
As a member of the Huai-Xi meritorious nobility, he naturally cared deeply about the military development of Great Ming. It concerned not only the dynasty itself, but also the continued prosperity of the noble families.
“There is only one reason: faith!”
Zhu Yuntong suddenly rose from behind the imperial desk. His eyes shone with frightening intensity.
“For all these years, under Lu Shi’s oppression, I was forced to commit nearly the entire history of the world to memory. In the end, I reached one conclusion: the rise and fall, the succession and replacement, of every dynasty throughout history were ultimately caused by the faith of its armies.”
“To put it more simply, when a dynasty is rising, its army, under the leadership of a great ruler, knows for whom it is fighting. But after the dynasty has endured several generations of prosperity, the army loses that faith. The soldiers no longer know whom they are fighting for.”
“Consider the mighty Great Tang. In its early years, the Tang army held as its faith the overthrow of the Sui and the destruction of foreign tribes. But by the middle and later periods, the soldiers knew only their military governors. In the end, they lost their faith entirely and became killing machines wielded by warlords in their struggle for dominion over the realm.”
“Then consider the Yue Family Army of the Southern Song. They held the recovery of the lost territories as their faith, and that was why they were victorious in every battle and unstoppable in every assault.”
“What do you gentlemen think? How do the soldiers of our Great Ming compare with the great army of early Tang? I believe our present soldiers are no less formidable—in fact, they may even surpass them. But what of a century from now? Must Great Ming also sink into the divided rule of military governors that plagued the middle and later Tang?”
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“Must Great Ming endure another Catastrophe of the Five Barbarians, and ultimately stink for ten thousand years in the annals of history?”
…
Zhu Yuntong’s words rang out with the force of falling iron, striking every person present like a heavy hammer upon the heart.
Silence.
The vast Hall of Heavenly Purity sank into endless silence. Every man present continued turning Zhu Yuntong’s words over in his mind.
Faith.
This word, which had once seemed to them connected only with religion, gradually expanded within their thoughts.
An army without faith and an army possessing absolute faith seemed to clash in their minds through a hundred thousand imagined battles. No matter how they arranged their troops, it was always the army with faith that ultimately emerged victorious.
“Your Highness, what connection does the faith of the army, as you describe it, have with the Imperial Authority Bureau?” Qi Tai asked once he had recovered, bowing once more.
“Excellent! That is an excellent question.”
A smile returned to Zhu Yuntong’s face. His eyes rested upon Qi Tai with unmistakable appreciation as he spoke slowly.
“According to my plan, we will select a group of exceptionally learned scholars with unwavering faith from the Censorate and the Hanlin Academy and send them into the army and into the Imperial Authority Bureau.”
“Their primary purpose will be to build close ties with the soldiers at the very bottom of the ranks and tell them who pays their military stipends, and for whom they are fighting.”
“For the Zhu imperial dynasty of Great Ming, for the countless common people beneath Heaven, and even more so for the wives, children, parents, and relatives waiting for them at home.”
“This is the true purpose behind establishing the Imperial Authority Bureau…”
Hiss—
Upon hearing this, everyone drew another sharp breath. At last, they understood Zhu Yuntong’s true purpose in establishing the Imperial Authority Bureau.
To win over the common soldiers.
To tell them that the one paying their stipends was the emperor of Great Ming, and that the only person to whom they must remain loyal was the emperor—not their generals.
If this could truly be carried out, then even a hundred or a thousand years from now, the army of Great Ming would forever remain loyal to the court and to imperial authority.
Seizing power!
Those two words appeared instantly in everyone’s mind.
That was exactly what Zhu Yuntong intended: to take power from the hands of the meritorious nobility and the generals, and place the entire army of Great Ming firmly under his own control.
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“Your Highness, this old minister also believes that the Imperial Authority Bureau is indeed necessary. But if we proceed in this manner, will the meritorious nobility agree?” Liu Sanwu asked with some concern.
In truth, what he was thinking was that this would be a perfect opportunity to sow discord against the Huai-Xi nobility.
At present, the establishment of the Ministry of Defense was already irreversible, and the conversion of the Ministry of War into a Logistics Bureau under the Ministry of Defense was likewise a settled matter. Naturally, he had to fight for the greatest benefit possible.
If he could use this opportunity to secure the position of the Ministry of Defense’s first minister, that would be entirely acceptable.
At his words, the corner of Zhu Yuntong’s mouth lifted in amusement, and his gaze fixed directly upon Liu Sanwu.
After a long while, as though he had seen straight through Liu Sanwu’s thoughts, he slowly waved a hand.
“Lord Liu, you need not concern yourself with the meritorious nobility. I will deal with them.”
Zhu Yuntong had long considered whether indirectly taking away the little military power still held by the meritorious nobility would provoke a backlash. After much deliberation, he had ultimately found what he believed to be the perfect solution.
Or perhaps it was merely a way to stabilize the meritorious nobility for the time being.
As for the future…
Liu Sanwu closed his mouth and lowered his head, appearing to weigh some matter in his mind.
Seeing this, Zhu Yuntong turned once more to the others.
“Do any of you gentlemen have further questions regarding the establishment of the Ministry of Defense?”
After considering the matter, everyone shook their heads.
What a joke. No matter how one looked at it, the Ministry of Defense would at least indirectly diminish the military power held by the meritorious nobility. What reason did they have to be dissatisfied?
Did they truly prefer to let those murderous brutes hold military power and threaten them every day?
“Your Highness, there is still one matter I do not understand.”
Just as Zhu Yuntong was preparing to steer the discussion back toward the Grand Secretariat, Fu Youwen suddenly rose to his feet.
“Oh? What doubts do you still have, Lord Fu?” Zhu Yuntong asked, his brows drawing together slightly.
…
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