In the leopard room, the dragon couch, Jiang Bin and the emperor sat opposite each other to play chess.

Jiang Bin did not choose to sit on his knees, nor did he choose to sit cross-legged, but crossed one leg, stepped on the couch vertically with one leg, and held his knees with his hands. There is no form, no rules, strictly speaking, a great disrespect to the emperor.

However, Zhu Houzhao turned a blind eye to the whole process, and instead thought that the generals should be so unruly.

Just a few days ago, Zhou Qi, a Jinyi guard who took turns guarding the leopard room, scolded Jiang Bin for being too contemptuous of the emperor. Within a few days, Jiang Bin caught Zhou Qi's negligence in his work, and even relied on a small report to let Zhu Houzhao execute Zhou Qi!

Jiang Bin said to Zhu Houzhao like this: "Your Majesty wants to train elite soldiers, and he should be strict with military orders. But the guards in the leopard room are all negligent in their duties, how can they train ordinary soldiers into elite soldiers? Please kill this person! ”

Zhu Houzhao thought so, and cut off his personal guards.

From then on, no one dared to compete with Jiang Bin for favor with the eunuchs and guards around the emperor, and no one dared to say anything bad about Jiang Bin anymore.

"Your Majesty asked the ministers where the elite soldiers of the world are," Jiang Bin said with a smile holding the chess pieces, "one is in Xuanfu, one is in Datong, one is in Yansui, and one is in Liaodong." ”

Zhu Houzhao shook his head and smiled: "There is another place outside the Xuanwu Gate, which was practiced by Wang Erlang himself." After more than two months of training, he won more with less, and broke 8,000 with 3,000. Moreover, the order was forbidden, and he was ordered to guard the Keju field, and the two soldiers dared to kill Jianchanghou's house slaves. ”

Jiang Bin was obviously a person who knew the soldiers, and retorted: "The soldiers trained by Master Wang do strictly abide by military orders, but they have not experienced bloody battles, so they are not real elite soldiers. These soldiers are good for using to suppress thieves, but if they encounter Mongolian iron horses, there will inevitably be many problems! ”

Zhu Houzhao asked: "Three thousand to eight thousand is not considered a bloody battle?" ”

"No, Jiang Bin said categorically, "The minister has inquired in detail about the process of the battle, and this battle can be won, all thanks to Wang Erlang's bravery." Why did Wang Erlang take the lead and not even ride his own horse? It was because he knew that his soldiers had no bloody battles and were only disciplined, and the real battle was likely to collapse the entire army. That's why he walked in the front, saying that if he didn't retreat, no one was allowed to retreat. The anti-thief discipline is even worse, and he is intimidated by the prestige of Master Wang, so he is crushed head-on! Judging from the number of casualties on both sides, it can be seen that the battle was not a bloody battle, and the casualties of the officers and soldiers were insignificant. ”

"I see." Zhu Houzhao suddenly realized.

Jiang Bin said with emotion: "Therefore, the minister admires Master Wang very much. In fact, he led a rabble of thousands of people, relying on his own martial bravery and prestige, put himself to death and survived, and gambled his life to destroy Qi Yanming. Such courage, so brave, not inferior to the ancient famous generals! ”

"Wang Erlang, he is really a peerless tiger minister in the world!" Zhu Houzhao clapped his hands and praised, admiring Wang Yuan more and paying more attention to Jiang Bin.

Jiang Bin was able to quickly gain the emperor's appreciation, it was really not a test to slap the horse, he did have goods in his stomach. Putting aside the battlefield results, at least this guy is very good on paper, and the post-war review work is even better. At the same time, although he resented Wang Yuan, he knew that the emperor trusted Wang Yuan a lot, not only did not slander, but instead said good things about Wang Yuan.

Anyway, everything goes according to the emperor's preferences, and the emperor is dizzy when talking on paper, Zhu Houzhao loves to listen to these things!

Jiang Bin continued: "Therefore, the 6,000 soldiers in the south of the city can only be said to be well-trained, but they cannot be said to be the elite soldiers in the world. ”

Zhu Houzhao asked: "How can we train real elite soldiers?" ”

Jiang Bin asked rhetorically: "Your Majesty, do you know how Emperor Taizong trained his troops?" ”

"I know a little bit about it." Zhu Houzhao has only read it in historical materials, and he really doesn't know the specific operation.

Jiang Bin said with a smile: "Emperor Taizong's trick in military training is to let the soldiers fight tough battles, and those who survive the battle are elite soldiers. There is also rotational training, in which every three or five years, the troops of the local health station are summoned to Beijing for drills. This year, we will train the Shandong soldiers, and next year we will train the Henan soldiers, and if we train well, we will take them out to fight! ”

Zhu Houzhao was still a little pressing, and sighed: "In the Taizong Dynasty, there is enough money and food, so it is natural to be able to train the sergeants of the local guard in rotation." But now that the grain government is corrupt, the imperial court does not have so much military salaries at all, which supports this kind of rotation training that consumes countless salaries. ”

Jiang Bin took the opportunity to admonish: "Why don't you gather the border soldiers, transfer them to the capital, and let Your Majesty send people to train them personally." These soldiers have all seen blood, but the discipline is poor, if they can be trained to the point of forbidden, why can't they defeat the remnants of the Northern Yuan? ”

"That's a brilliant plan!"

Zhu Houzhao thought about it carefully, nodded in approval, but said: "If you are transferred back to the elite soldiers in the border town, what will you do with the foreign thieves?" ”

Jiang Bin replied: "Just transfer some of them to Beijing, how much they transfer, and how much they let the border towns retrain." ”

"That being the case, it is possible." Zhu Houzhao was moved.

Jiang Bin said with a smile: "Recruiting soldiers from Bian Town to enter Beijing actually has a greater purpose. Your Majesty only needs to give sufficient food and salary, and send people from close friends to camp, and in two or three years, these elite soldiers will become the army of the Son of Heaven! If Your Majesty wants to go on a personal expedition one day and take these soldiers to pull, you will definitely be like a finger on the battlefield! ”

The royal driver's personal expedition, Zhu Houzhao dreamed of it.

Zhu Houzhao stopped playing chess immediately, pacing back and forth in the room, and the more he thought about it, the more excited he became.

Jiang Bin struck while the iron was hot: "After training a batch of soldiers, I will go to the border town to transfer another batch." A few years later, the Ming generals and pawns were all His Majesty's pro-army! ”

These words made Zhu Houzhao even happier, grabbed Jiang Bin's hand and said, "Qing is my son Fang Ye!" ”

The two immediately began to discuss the details of the operation, and at this moment, a eunuch reported: "Your Majesty, Master Wang asks to see you." ”

"Announce him in." Zhu Houzhao said with a smile.

Wang Yuan entered with the wax printing machine, and as soon as he walked into the room, Zhu Houzhao laughed and said, "Wang Erlang, come in quickly, I have good news for you." ”

Wang Yuan smiled and asked, "What's the good news?" ”

Zhu Houzhao repeated Jiang Bin's strategy, and said excitedly: "Such a good strategy, after a few years of implementation, I will be able to personally lead the army to kill the little Mongolian prince without leaving a single piece of armor!" ”

Wang Yuan glanced at Jiang Bin and reminded: "Although the strategy is good, I'm afraid that the household department will not be able to hold it." ”

Zhu Houzhao didn't care about this, and said lightly: "Bright Ming, can't you even get the food and salary of tens of thousands of soldiers?" If this is the case, all household officials should be beheaded. ”

Wang Yuan was too lazy to advise, even if he beat gongs and drums, he couldn't wake up the person who pretended to be asleep.

Zhu Houming knew that the treasury was empty, and he knew the consequences of reckless military force, but he had to pretend not to know, but he just suffered the people of the world.

Wang Yuan took the opportunity to suggest: "If Your Majesty lacks money for military training, the minister can help Your Majesty make money." ”

Zhu Houzhao was really interested: "How to make money?" The Keju League is indeed quite profitable, and it also makes a lot of money by selling clairvoyants, but it is a drop in the bucket for training. ”

Wang Yuan put down the wax printing machine and said, "Open the sea!" ”

Zhu Houzhao suddenly had a headache: "Opening a maritime university, a bunch of troubles, let's talk about it later." If I really can't scrape together the money to train the army one day, it's not too late to open the sea again. ”

Wang Yuan was a little disappointed, so he had to pick up the wax printing machine: "Your Majesty, the minister is here to present treasures today." ”

"Clairvoyant Mirror again, Clairvoyant Mirror?" Zhu Houzhao asked.

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "The wax printing machine can be easily printed by simply using an iron pen to engrave words on the wax plate. A wax plate can print 80 sheets of paper, and if the paper material can be improved, 100 sheets can be printed. ”

Zhu Houzhao is now full of royal driving and personal expeditions, and he has no expectations for this kind of cultural invention. He was slightly disappointed, and after letting Wang Yuan demonstrate on the spot, he took the printing paper and frowned: "This printing is too bad, and the ink will fall off when it touches, and it is difficult to get into the elegant hall." ”

Wang Yuan explained: "It is of great use to poor scholars! Your Majesty, the minister is in a remote place in Guizhou, and it is not possible to ask for a township to try the ink. If this method is common all over the world, then the scholars of the border provinces will be of infinite use. Even in Jiangxi, where articles are splendid, there are countless poor scholars, who have no money to buy books, and they also lack channels to copy books. Although this method of printing is inferior, it can also be purchased and read by poor scholars. ”

"That makes sense." Zhu Houzhao said perfunctorily.

Wang Yuan said again: "If Your Majesty implements this law, you can collect the hearts of the world's scholars, and you can also make the Manchu courtiers grateful." ”

Zhu Houzhao's eyes lit up, if he wanted to transfer the border army into Beijing, he would definitely be opposed by the civilian officials, so he just used this thing to appease the civilian officials. Regardless of whether or not you can block the mouths of civil officials, anyway, it can be regarded as giving them an explanation, and barely dissipate the grievances of the ministers.