After returning to Nanjing, Xu Chengliang first went to the Privy Council to report on his work, while Ujijing did not go to the Privy Council for the first time, but went directly to the palace to meet the emperor.

When Uji Jingtong entered the palace, Ning Yu was in the imperial study, looking at the excerpt submitted by the first assistant Ning Zhongjing on the rebuilding of the "History of the Ming Dynasty", which was also the third time that Ning Zhongjing submitted a proposal to rebuild the history of the Ming Dynasty.

Strictly speaking, all dynasties have been revising history for previous dynasties to prove their own legitimacy, so the first thing the Qing court did after taking possession of the Central Plains was to revise the history of the Ming Dynasty in order to demonstrate its legitimacy.

From Shunzhi to Kangxi, and then to today's Yongzheng, these emperors are emphasizing the revision of the history of the Ming Dynasty, which has a very strong political meaning, but for some reason, the history of the Ming Dynasty revised by the Qing court purposefully destroys the historical facts that are unfavorable to the Qing court, and it is debatable in terms of objectivity and authenticity.

In particular, those who revised the "History of the Ming Dynasty" were all literati from southeast Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so most of them were the Donglin Party members who set up good biographies and painted them, which was also the reason why the southeast gentry were in the same lineage.

Of course, these are all methods that the Qing court is accustomed to, in addition to the "History of the Ming Dynasty", even the poems have also been modified, such as the "Zhuang Zhi hungry for Hulu meat, laughing and thirsty for Xiongnu blood" in Yue Fei's "Man Jianghong" to "Zhuang Zhi hungry for food and eating meat, laughing and talking about spilling blood".

Like Zhang Xiaoxiang's famous work "Six States Song Head", "Zhu Si, the string song is also fishy." The word "bloody" in the "bloody" also touched the sensitive point of the Qing court's monarchs and ministers, so it was also changed to "also withered." There is also Chen Liang's "Yaozhidu, Shunzhiyang, Yuzhifeng." In the middle of the should be, a half shameful minister. It was changed to "a half-carved bow".

In Ning Yu's memory, the essence of Qianlong's later compilation of the "Siku Quanshu" was to wash away the Qing court, which had obvious political biases, and for some reasons, a large number of different types of documents were excluded, so the missing content was like a sea of smoke.

For the monarchs and ministers who have created Ningchu, inheriting the Mandate of Heaven of the Ming Dynasty, it is natural to rebuild the "History of the Ming Dynasty" for the Ming Dynasty, which is a very important and serious political work, which has the role of clearing the source.

The reason why Ningyu has not been allowed in front of him, the reason is very simple, he has not completely laid the foundation of the south at that time, at this time to revise the "History of the Ming Dynasty", it is obvious that there is a suspicion of abandoning the original and chasing the end, and now the south is established, only the northern provinces are missing, and the matter of rebuilding the "History of the Ming Dynasty" is also on the agenda.

Ning Yu drew a circle on Ning Zhongjing's fold, and instructed: "The matter of rebuilding the "History of the Ming Dynasty" is an important matter to lay the foundation, and the cabinet needs to set up a special history revision committee, led by the cabinet, led by the Ministry of Education, and the first draft should be completed in a period of ten years, and the required expenses should be included in the cabinet budget for the next year. ”

After this matter was dealt with, Ning Yu also asked Yu Zhijing to enter the study, and what Ning Yu needed to deal with at present was that there were still a lot of things, so he didn't have much time to meet with his deputy chief of the General Staff.

"Ujijing, deputy minister of the general staff, has seen the emperor!"

Ning Yu looked at Yu Zhijing's slightly thin figure, and sighed a little in his heart, after all, he was rolled out of the blood rain on the battlefield, and the root of the disease that fell had not improved, so he said in a low voice: "Later, I will send the imperial doctor Zhengye Tianshi to treat you, no matter what, this body is still important, and you are only in your early twenties, so you can't waste your life." ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Ujijing's voice was more or less excited, he had been leading troops to fight for almost three years, and he hadn't really seen the emperor alone in the middle.

Ning Yu nodded, and then said softly: "I transferred you to the General Staff, do you have any complaints against me?" ”

The reason for asking this question is entirely because after the Northern Expedition starts next year, it will be easier for the soldiers on the front line to be awarded meritorious service, but after all, the major departments in the Privy Council are only in the rear, and the opportunities for meritorious service are much less.

"The minister doesn't dare, although the minister also has the idea of the Northern Expedition to the Central Plains, but he also understands one thing in his heart, without the planning of the General Staff, without the supply of the General Logistics Department, and without the various new weapons of the General Armament Department, the battle ahead will not be easy to fight."

Ujijing's face was still pale, but the truth he said made Ning Yu feel quite pleasant.

"That's right. Those who are good at fighting have no great feats! ”

Ning Yu said with a smile: "It's not only those who fight in front of them are heroes, in the small world of the Nanjing Privy Council, they are also heroes who can make some achievements." Dong Ce understands this truth, but he still lacks experience on the front line, so I asked him to lead the troops, but you are no longer lacking, and you need a larger pattern. ”

"Thank you Your Majesty for your advice, the minister will never live up to Your Majesty's expectations."

Ning Yu nodded, stood up and walked to the map hanging in front of the imperial study, half of the southern country on it has been dyed red by Ning Chu, and the black represented by the Qing court is entrenched in the north, including Shandong, northern Henan, Zhili, Shanxi, Gansu, Manchuria and so on......

"Next year's Northern Expedition, strictly speaking, is a bit rushed, but I can't wait in my heart, and I believe that the same is true in your hearts."

Ning Yu looked at Yutu and sighed softly, "It has been eighty years since the country was lost....... I really don't want to wait any longer. So, Ujikei, your burden will be heavy, understand? ”

Ujijing glanced at Yutu deeply, and then bowed his head and said softly: "Your Majesty's thoughts are also the thoughts of all the people, and it is our mission, and the ministers must do their best to ensure the Northern Expedition next year." ”

"To ensure the Northern Expedition, the current army establishment is not enough, and it is also necessary for the Privy Council to converge with the Governor's Office of the five armies to further recruit and select troops and expand the troops."

Ning Yu snapped his fingers and said: "Since the expansion of this year, the current Fu Han Army has twenty divisions, although the number is more than 200,000, but it is far from meeting our current strategic needs, by the time of the Northern Expedition next year, I estimate that the conservative needs twenty divisions, that is, 200,000 people, to completely complete the unification, and other southern provinces, also need to leave a few divisions as a countermeasure." ”

Ujijing nodded, he had just returned from the southwest front, and he also knew that in order to deal with the matter of changing the land and returning to the river, as well as the future battle of Burma, it is estimated that nearly ten divisions in the southwest provinces can only be transferred back at most, that is, five divisions need to stay in the southwest to cooperate with the completion of the land reform and return to the river.

According to this calculation, by the time of the Northern Expedition next year, it will be necessary to expand the army by 100,000 people on the existing basis alone, which will need to be increased by half, plus their supporting weapons and equipment, as well as all the barracks and facilities......... And the time of Ujijing is only seven months at most, because next year's Northern Expedition cannot be past July at the latest, otherwise the weather will be too cold, resulting in an unfavorable march.

Fortunately, the current Fu Han army has stored a large number of weapons and equipment, plus there are no large-scale battles, so the loss is also very low, and the Hanyang Arsenal is already in full production, so there is no need to worry too much about weapons at that time...... But no matter how you calculate it, it is not an easy thing to train 100,000 people out in seven months.

"Ujijing, the burden is very heavy, but I have already issued an order to the Governor's Mansion of the Five Armies before and started the recruitment of new soldiers, so you can rest easy about this part." Ning Yu gave him another reassuring pill.

Hearing this, Ujijing's whole person relaxed a little, the relevant recruit recruitment is still very time-consuming, if it has been launched in advance, it can save a lot of time.

"With Your Majesty's foresight, the minister will definitely be able to complete the important task."

Ning Yu smiled slightly, "Then I won't say more, I only hope that the replacement map at the end of next year will be all dyed red." ”

For this, not only Ning Yu is very confident, but even other generals are like this, the 200,000 army of the Northern Expedition, what can Yongzheng use to stop it?

..............

In winter, on the docks of Edo, Japan, there are not very tall ships moored, they are struggling to huddle together, it seems that it is easier to collide, and behind them, there is a slender three-masted sailing ship, on which the big Ningchu flag is hung, and it looks quite spirited.

The Japanese shogunate officials who were lining up on the pier saw the tall warship, and then looked at the rows of gun emplacements, but they felt a little chill in their necks, and some people even began to suspect that this was still not a ship of the envoy group...... How do you look like you're here to fight?

Of course, in addition to these officials, there were also many ordinary people gathered around, after all, people from the Celestial Empire rarely came to Japan, and Japan sent people to the Celestial Empire, so they all had a little curiosity.

In this strange atmosphere, Ning Zhonghai, as a representative of the mission, walked out of the cabin in a military uniform and took the lead in setting foot on Japanese soil, while behind him were dozens of other Ning Chu officials from various ministries.

Different from the official clothes worn by others, Ning Zhonghai deliberately chose to wear a military uniform, the reason is very simple, this time he came to Japan not simply for a friendly visit, but after wearing a military uniform, he can bring a bit of deterrence.

When Ning Zhonghai stepped down from the gangway, his eyes couldn't help but narrow, because he had been in a place like Nanjing for too long, and he had become accustomed to the ever-changing vitality and positive state of Nanjing, but the Edo City in front of him seemed to be an old man who was about to die, exuding a kind of twilight.

This kind of twilight is reflected in every Japanese, although they have a smile on their faces and their clothes are quite neat, but the loneliness and envy in their eyes cannot be concealed.

One hundred and twenty years of shogunate rule had turned Edo Castle into a city without hope.

Before coming to Japan, Ning Zhonghai already had a general understanding of the current Japan through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other channels, that is, the current Japan is a country completely dominated by generals and samurai, and the emperor on the surface is just a puppet of the general.

In this country, the fate of all people is completely sealed from the moment of birth, the farmer's son can only go to farming, the merchant's son can only do business, and the son of the prince can be born as an official - as for the real ruling class of the samurai in this country, it is even more hierarchical and insurmountable.

For example, the current Edo shogunate, as the de facto ruler of the country, occupies about a quarter of the country's land, in addition to occupying important cities such as Osaka, Kyoto, and Edo, as well as major mines, and has a monopoly on the right to mint gold, silver, and money. As for the rest of the lands, they were all owned by the daimyo and were called feudal kingdoms, with a total of 276 feudal domains.

Among them, the current central officials of the shogunate mainly include the elders, the old middle, the side employees, the sonata, the takake, the ometsu, the town commission, the kanjo commission, etc., as for the local government, it is also divided into three grades, such as the kin-feudal clan refers to the Tokugawa clan, the pedigree refers to the original Tokugawa clan, and the outer form is the vassals who returned to the shogunate after the Sekigahara War, through this hierarchical system, so as to ensure the absolute dominance of the shogunate.

Of course, in this ruling structure, there is no place for the emperor or the public family, and their role is to sit in the court and act as a puppet.

After this situation, Ning Zhonghai quickly realized a problem, that is, the trivial system of the shogunate was not conducive to the central shogunate to condense its authority, and it was not enough to make Japan a country with real potential, after all, when most of a country's energy is concentrated on internal rule, it is difficult to have a performance of external development.

In addition, the actual direct military force of the Tokugawa shogun was very weak, and the direct samurai Banner, the imperial family, and the retainers of the banner under the real control added up to only a few thousand, and it is difficult to say whether there were 10,000 or not, of course, the armed forces of the following feudal domains were even lower, and most of them were about hundreds.

Although the shogunate and the feudal clans did not have a lot of military force in their hands, the number of samurai in the opposition in Japan was still very large, about hundreds of thousands, all of whom had received a certain amount of samurai education, and to some extent, they all belonged to the children of the nobility similar to the Eight Banners, so the general quality was very good.

But the problem is that the hundreds of thousands of samurai that Japan has can only play a role in internal friction before they can be transformed into the help of foreign plunder, but the current shogunate does not have the financial resources to feed the samurai, so it has become a hidden danger in the rule now.

No wonder there is a need for the entitlement reform! Because if there is no reform, these hundreds of thousands of unemployed Japanese samurai who have no food will take the lead in killing the shogun!

This is also the reason why Japan has repeatedly sent envoys to Nanjing, they are really poor and about to sell pants, so they can only find a way to alleviate the financial crisis through the Great Chu trade!

Thinking of this, Ning Zhonghai had a little smile on his face, he was more and more confident that the task of this envoy could be completed, after all, the general trend is now here, and the Tokugawa Shogunate's demand for Ning Chu is essentially greater, so it can be a little more demanding in terms of conditions!

"Matsudaira-kun, Japan is really a good place!"

Ning Zhonghai grinned and said, this original smuggler has already smelled the smell of huge profits from this, and the next thing is to see how to operate.