Although when discussing Shaanxi affairs with Huang Liji and Xu Guangqi, Zhu Youzhen put on a confident look. It also made the two cabinet ministers accept his seemingly muddy proposition. But Zhu Youzhen was not as optimistic as he seemed on the surface, and after the meeting, he asked Huang Liji to be sent away first, and he stayed to talk with the academicians and researchers of the Academy of Sciences for a while, and then turned around and left the Academy of Sciences.

Zhu Youzhen, who returned to the imperial city by carriage, did not go back to the harem directly, but went to the Wuying Palace, where the General Staff Department was located. After receiving the news of the emperor's arrival, Sun Chengzong walked out of the palace gate with the members of the General Staff to greet Chongzhen.

After Zhu Youzhen walked up to the platform, he waved his hand to the officials who bowed to him and said, "No need to be polite, let's go in and talk." I came here today to know the results of the discussion of the documents sent by the people I ordered yesterday, and the General Staff discussed them? ”

Sun Chengzong straightened up, looked at Chongzhen and said, "The minister has discussed it, but there is no result yet, why don't Your Majesty enter the palace first?" ”

Looking at Sun Chengzong's sideways gesture of invitation, Zhu Youzhen rolled his eyes and thought about it, and then walked silently towards the conference room in the Wuying Palace. Not long after sitting down in the conference room, Zhu Youzhen said to Sun Chengzong and the others again: "In this way, starting with Mr. Sun's start, everyone will express their opinions..."

Sun Chengzong glanced at the subordinates around the conference table, then nodded in agreement: "That's fine, let's start with Boya." As he spoke, Sun Chengzong turned his head to look at Sun Chuanting on his right, and motioned for him to get up and express his opinion with his eyes. Since Sun Chuanting entered the General Staff, because of his status as a jinshi and his personal talent, he soon replaced Yuan Chonghuan and jumped above Mao Yuanyi.

And he was born in Daizhou, Shanxi, after the outbreak of the Jin merchant collaborator case, the fall of local officials in Shanxi also made him the object of support of many Shanxi gentry, which made Sun Chuanting, who was originally unknown, gradually become famous in Beijing.

Sun Chuanting, who had a white face and a short beard, looked like an ordinary scribe, and after receiving Sun Chengzong's instructions, he got up and said to Chongzhen unhurriedly: "Governor Hong led the two armies of He Renlong and Ai Wannian to less than 10,000 people, and single-handedly exterminated the tens of thousands of troops combined by Shaanxi Gao Yingxiang, Zijinliang and other bandits, and relieved the crisis of chaos for Shaanxi.

Although, in the process of quelling the turmoil, Governor Hong handled it inappropriately, and the soldiers in the army also violated military discipline, which caused great trouble to the imperial court. However, if we want to punish Governor Hong and the officers and men in the army, it will not only confirm the rumors that the officers and soldiers have indiscriminately killed innocents, but may also arouse the dissatisfaction of the meritorious soldiers, and the situation in Shaanxi, which has just stabilized, may recur.

The minister thinks that it is better to punish and reprimand He Renlong and Ai Wannian, let go of the soldiers below, and treat this matter coldly..."

The next few staff officers also agreed with Sun Chuanting's proposition, but after Lu Xiangsheng stood up, he objected angrily: "If you leave the soldiers who kill civilians alone, what is this to disregard the discipline of the imperial court?" Today, because we are worried that the two armies of He Renlong and Ai Wannian will oppose the imperial decree by force, we will not punish them.

So if there are any more mistakes made by officers and men in the army, should we care about it or not? If you don't care about it, wouldn't it become a common practice for martial artists to hold their own troops into self-respect? The disaster of Wutang Domain will begin today..."

Zhu You listened for a long time, and finally understood why the General Staff Headquarters could not make a unified decision. In the past, although he transferred many military academy graduates to join the General Staff, these graduates would not insist too much in front of teachers such as Sun Chengzong and Mao Yuanyi, even if they had opinions.

However, Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng are different, based on the habit of civilian officials, they naturally put themselves on an equal footing with Sun Chengzong, and they do not have too many thoughts about other personnel in the General Staff, so they can naturally insist on their own ideas.

Sun Chengzong, who was awarded the title of marshal by Chongzhen, although he has won Chongzhen's trust as always, as a scholar, he still knows where the boundaries of power are. His current status is too high, and if he wants to monopolize the power of the General Staff again, the uneasy civilian officials in the government and the opposition will probably take him as the biggest target.

Therefore, after being awarded the title of marshal, Sun Chengzong rarely interfered in the specific affairs of the General Staff, but almost became the emperor's microphone.

In such a situation, Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng, who had just joined the General Staff, quickly fought against Mao Yuanyi. Mao Yuanyi has no fear in front of the military attaché, but in front of the civil official who was born as a jinshi, he always subconsciously wants to back down by three points. He is like this in front of Yuan Chonghuan, and he is still like this in front of Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng.

An ad hoc meeting of the General Staff made Chongzhen clearly see the power dominance factions within the General Staff. Regarding Mao Yuanyi's unassertive views at the meeting, Zhu Youzhen also shook his head in his heart. He couldn't help but make a conclusion about Mao Yuanyi, this person does administrative affairs, and it is not bad to write normative provisions, let him be in charge, probably not as good as Yuan Chonghuan. Although Yuan Chonghuan acted too arbitrarily, the worst decision for military operations was better than no decision at all.

Mao Yuanyi led the troops, once they failed, they would inevitably be out of control, and Yuan Chonghuan would probably be able to bring back some of the defeated army, and the difference between the two was probably like this.

As for Sun Chuanting and Lu Xiangsheng, although the former can take into account the overall situation, he can paraphrase a more popular phrase in later generations to comment, that is, he has a kind of petty bourgeois weakness. Therefore, after reading the report on the counterinsurgency in Shaanxi, the first thing that came to mind was to maintain a stable situation in the local area, even if this stability had damaged the principle of the General Staff Headquarters in formulating military discipline.

As for Lu Xiangsheng, he was too upright, and he didn't consider any special circumstances at all for the officers and soldiers of He Renlong and Ai Wannian who violated military discipline, and wanted to strictly enforce the law and discipline of the imperial court.

After understanding the attitudes of the members of the General Staff, Zhu Youzhen thought for a moment, and then said to Sun Chengzong on the side: "Mr. Sun, I look at the propositions of the two staff officers Sun and Lu, and there is a certain amount of truth. It's better to say that I will also share my opinions, and then you will discuss it again, and strive to come up with a solution as soon as possible, we must not let the soldiers of Shaanxi put down the rebellion fall into unrest, and then the situation in Shaanxi will be even more difficult to control. ”

Sun Chengzong nodded at the emperor and said, "Please also ask Your Majesty to train me, and the ministers and others will listen to Your Majesty's thoughts, so that the discussion can have a direction." ”

Only then did Zhu Youzhen turn his head, glanced at the staff officers sitting at the conference table, and said slowly: "I think what Lu Qing said is still right. Everyone thinks about it, why the imperial court is the imperial court, it is because the imperial court has the power to govern, and without the power to govern, there will be no so-called imperial court.

The right to govern is the regime. What is a regime is the power of repression. If the imperial court does not have the right to suppress the places that do not obey the king's orders, how can it command the world and govern in all directions? What does the imperial court rely on to suppress the Quartet, doesn't it rely on the army? If the military discipline established by the imperial court cannot restrain the army, then how can we rely on this army to suppress the local forces that oppose the imperial court? Isn't that the reappearance of the feudal town?

Therefore, the army is the most important pillar of the country, and a court without an army cannot be called a court. Therefore, the violation of military discipline by the local armies in Shaanxi and Shanxi must be punished, otherwise it will not be enough to show that the imperial court still has the ability to control the army, which is more dangerous than the rebellion of one or two local armies. ”

Hearing Chongzhen say this, Lu Xiangsheng's tense face suddenly relaxed, although he tried his best to insist on his own opinion, but there were not many people who supported him in the staff department, and now that he had the support of the emperor, he naturally felt that there might be a turn for the better, and he could seek justice for the innocent civilians who were killed.

However, just when Sun Chuanting couldn't hold back and wanted to say something to Chongzhen, Zhu Youzhen changed his tone and said: "... However, we should also be aware. The lack of discipline in the local armies did not begin with my accession to the throne, but began a long time ago. Whether it is the border army or the guard army, the corruption of these armies starts with the officers withholding the rations and salaries of the sergeants, and then the upward and downward effects make it difficult to restrain the army when it goes out.

Therefore, we cannot ignore the cause and effect, and just use the slogan of restricting military discipline to punish a group of soldiers who have violated military discipline. This is not a solution to the problem, but an approach to suppressing contradictions. As long as the soldiers are unable to receive the supplies and salaries they deserve, the contradictions that have been suppressed will inevitably erupt, and they will even be more violent than today.

I believe that we should divide this war into two parts, the war and the post-war period. The mistakes made during the war may have been just the impulse of the soldiers after seeing blood, so education should be the main thing, and punishment should be the supplement.

However, it is necessary to severely punish the violations of military discipline that occur after the end of the battle, so as to set an example. And in military discipline, I think there are two laws that should be regarded as iron laws, and no one should violate them, and those who commit them will die. The first is to kill civilians and take the plunge; The second is adultery.

Hong Hyung-koo's responsibility in this war was handled by the cabinet. However, the military discipline violated by the two armies of He Renlong and Ai Wannian in this war must be rectified by the General Staff Headquarters. After He Renlong and Ai Wannian completed the rectification of military discipline, they let them go to the capital to study for a period of time.

Of course, there are penalties and rewards. How can it be said that these two armies have quelled the popular uprising in Shaanxi for the imperial court, so the General Staff sent personnel to go down and also be counted as meritorious services. I will have this money ready and release it through the Shanxi Bank at that time..."

Although Chongzhen's proposition was biased in favor of Lu Xiangsheng, it did not completely negate the other side, so most of the staff officers nodded in support of the emperor's opinion.

Sun Chengzong thought for a while, and then whispered to Chongzhen: "Since Your Majesty thinks that it is necessary to rectify the two armies and strictly enforce military discipline. Then the minister suggested that it is better to reorganize these two armies into a new army, and let Zuo Liangyu's troops go out to organize and train the two armies, so as to prevent some people from making trouble when rectifying the military discipline of the two armies. ”

Zhu Youzhen nodded and said, "What Mr. said is that it is always a good thing to be prepared, so just follow Mr.'s advice." But sir, who is better to purge these two armies? ”

Sun Chengzong looked at Mao Yuanyi, Sun Chuanting, and Lu Xiangsheng for a long time, then turned his head to Chongzhen and said: "It's more appropriate for Boya to go, he is originally from Shanxi, and it is easy to communicate with the officers and soldiers of the two armies." And Boya has a generous personality and acts more measuredly. ”

Zhu Youzhen also glanced at Sun Chuanting, and after a long time, he nodded and said, "It's okay..."