Chapter 1041: Knowledge from books is always shallow; one must practice to truly understand

The turmoil surrounding Wang Yie was immediately quelled under the intervention of Shen Shixing. It was not that Shen Shixing was particularly formidable, but rather that some things simply needed to be said by someone.

It was a moment when, in times of need, someone had to step on the brakes.

To pause, to wait—this is quite rare in the vortex of power.

Usually, once a struggle begins and forms into factional strife, it is a fight to the death until one side achieves total victory and the other suffers complete, thorough destruction.

Even then, the struggle does not end; the victorious side will continue to splinter and fight until the very foundations of the nation collapse.

Factional strife is listed as one of the four omens of a fallen nation, and this is no idle talk. The remaining omens are: forced migration (having to flee the capital due to defeat), enemy invasion (the enemy breaching strong passes and reaching the city walls), and the monarch being captured (leaving the people without a leader).

If any one of these four omens appears, it is a sign of a nation's fall.

Any political system—whether it be traditional tribes with witchcraft, feudal systems with enfeoffment, imperial systems with counties, or representative parliamentary systems—requires the establishment of moderate checks and balances to prevent excessive decision-making, the generalization of power struggles affecting the masses, and violent conflicts that ultimately lead to the destruction of production.

Once this system of checks and balances fails, the struggle expands in a disorderly direction, eventually spiraling out of control and causing the entire society to fracture completely.

Usually, the imperial system of counties disperses the upward concentration of power through decentralized structures, lengthy decision-making processes, majority consent from ministers, and multi-layered channels for expressing interests, thereby preventing decision-makers from acting recklessly on a whim.

Whether in the imperial court or in the provinces, such checks exist.

However, this system of checks and balances causes procedural rigidity; because the processes are too complex, decision-making becomes difficult, and matters are often dragged out for a very long time. It also causes inefficiency in decision-making, as everyone has their own ideas and opinions, leading to endless, noisy disputes.

Rigidity and inefficiency, if dragged on for too long, naturally lead to matters being left unsettled; the problems remain, but no one attempts to solve them.

Since the Wanli Reform, under the authoritarianism and strongman politics of Zhang Juzheng, who upheld the sovereign's command, the decentralized structure of the Great Ming has somewhat failed; the Great Ming court has changed versions.

If Zhang Juzheng was merely a minister, his regency lacked legitimacy, but His Majesty, the monarch who holds military power, has full legitimacy.

This certainly solved the rigidity and inefficiency, but at the same time, a new problem emerged: the lack of a buffer and redundancy between the monarch and his ministers, making it very easy for them to clash directly.

With the version changed and the rules of the game altered, Shen Shixing's role became apparent. As an "old good man," his standing in the middle, speaking out, and stepping on the brakes to prevent contradictions and conflicts from intensifying, appeared exceptionally important.

Sometimes, for the sake of the big picture, the Emperor must compromise; at other times, ministers must retreat a step or two for the sake of their own heads, so as not to tear the mask of monarch-minister relations.

This is also the duty of the prime ministers throughout history: to act as the lubricant between monarchical power and ministerial power.

Gao Qi is not suited for this task. As a lone minister, he can only cater entirely to the imperial will, and his speech is too blunt, which would cause the scholar-officials to fly into a rage—ministers, after all, also care about their dignity.

Zhu Yijun is very satisfied with Shen Shixing. He even feels that not restoring the court discussion system and not facing the ministers directly, but making decisions this way, is quite good. When encountering difficult matters, he summons ministers for consultation, and in ordinary times, having Shen Shixing to balance things out makes decision-making very efficient.

His Majesty picked up a memorial from the Grand Minister of Rites, Shen Li.

Shen Li, as a stubborn and upright official, recounted an old story in his memorial.

In the second year of Yongle, Zhu Di made up his mind to name Zhu Gaochi as Crown Prince and enfeoffed Zhu Gaochi's brother, Zhu Gaoxu, as the Prince of Han, with his fiefdom in Yunnan.

At the enfeoffment ceremony, Zhu Gaoxu expressed his dissatisfaction on the spot, looking at his father and asking, "What crime have I committed to be banished ten thousand miles away?" Zhu Gaoxu refused to go to his fief in Yunnan. Zhu Di remained silent for a long time before answering, "You have committed no crime," and allowed Zhu Gaoxu to remain in Nanjing.

Zhu Gaoxu had performed as a pillar of strength during the Jingnan Campaign; otherwise, there would have been no subsequent struggle for the succession.

After recounting this old story, Shen Li immediately brought up the matter of Prince Lu, Zhu Chang. Shen Li believed, "What crime has Prince Lu committed to be banished twenty thousand miles away?"

From the very beginning, when Prince Lu was enfeoffed in the Jin Shan Kingdom, Shen Li did not approve. Now that the matter was settled, Shen Li still did not approve, believing it lacked the affection due to kin. Of course, the matter was settled; His Majesty had already pushed aside all objections to make this decision, and it was a place Prince Lu had chosen himself.

Shen Li's memorial was not asking to recall Prince Lu. Prince Lu was doing well in the Jin Shan Kingdom, standing firm, and had reported several times that he was doing fine and was now preparing to build the Jin Shan Palace.

Shen Li's point was that since he had been enfeoffed so far away, he should not be treated poorly.

Following the ancestral system of Hongwu, there should be the Prince presiding, garrisons stationed, immigrants reclaiming land, filling the Jin Shan Kingdom, grassroots community schools, enlightenment education, and the spread of Han learning—these should all be provided, rather than just the Prince presiding and garrisons stationed.

"Tsk tsk, the Grand Minister of Rites thinks I am not treating Prince Lu well enough, not giving him people, not giving him teachers, not giving him community schools, not giving him enlightenment education. The Grand Minister of Rites' criticism is correct." After reading the memorial, Zhu Yijun ordered the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Rites to draft a plan for moving people to fill the land and establishing community schools.

The current Jin Shan Kingdom is very similar to many parts of the north during the Hongwu years.

When Xu Da reached Datong Prefecture, he couldn't even find a person who could speak Han Chinese. If the Han people couldn't speak the language, were they still Han people? But could this be blamed on the local Han people for forgetting their roots? Datong Prefecture, as one of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun, had been lost for four or five hundred years.

When Feng Sheng reached Gansu, he couldn't even find a single Han person; all he saw were Hu people. Feng Sheng had no choice but to abandon the land, give up Gansu, and return to the capital.

During the Hongwu and Yongle years, the Great Ming proposed reopening the Western Regions many times, but in the end, it all came to nothing, and they could only rule through the Seven Garrisons of Guanxi.

It was the entire set of the early Ming Prince system that held the scattered Great Ming together.

The current Prince system is a system of prohibition, not the old Hongwu system. From this level, Zhu Yijun, as the older brother, has indeed treated Zhu Chang poorly.

Moreover, the reason is quite appropriate: digging for gold and silver. The Jin Shan Kingdom really has mountains of gold and silver, and moving people there is not treating them poorly.

Shen Li is mainly afraid that if Luo Shangzhi, that fierce tiger, returns from the Jin Shan Kingdom, Prince Lu will lose his greatest support, and Jin Shan City, Zhenyi Pass, and the Young Girl Silver Mine will fall into enemy hands again.

If Prince Lu is in danger and flees back to the Great Ming in a sorry state, that would be one thing, but if he doesn't escape, history is written in iron—how would history judge His Majesty's decision to send Prince Lu to Jin Shan?

The Ministry of Rites' proposal is to patch the holes for His Majesty and protect the Emperor's posthumous reputation.

"Shen Ge-lao's reform of the Great Academy has caused a very large reaction." Li Yougong, with a hesitant expression, placed the memorial before His Majesty and said, "Many people oppose it. Although there are many reasons, the most important one is that the Great Ming is currently in need of talent. If we imitate the imperial examination system and have strict graduation, I fear it will be unfavorable to the national situation."

Every industry in the Great Ming is lacking people, especially high-level talent who have received education. The purpose of the Dinghai Academic System is to cultivate enough talent to meet the needs of the Wanli Reform.

Now, as soon as Shen Shixing speaks of strict graduation—using methods like pasting over names, transcribing, cross-verifying papers, and sealing the examination hall to strictly assess graduating students—the intention of this method is good, but once done, it will hinder the Wanli Reform.

"What they say all makes sense." Zhu Yijun flipped through several memorials. The Minister of Works Zeng Tongheng, the Left Vice Minister of Works Xin Zixiu, the Left Vice Minister of War Shi Xing, the Right Vice Minister of Personnel Chen Younian, and the Left Vice Minister of Justice Sun Long all clearly opposed it.

The Ministry of Works opposes it because the construction of great works requires land masters;

The Ministry of Personnel opposes it because of the official selection law, hoping to cultivate these clerks into talent to supplement the increasingly understaffed government offices. As the population gathers, the scale of cities expands, and town management improves, more officials are needed;

The Ministry of Justice opposes it because every local criminal office is lacking clerks who have studied the law.

What they say is indeed reasonable; every industry in the Great Ming is extremely lacking in talent.

For example, the Great Ming's navy is always in short supply. Previously, the navy even opposed the expansion of the Songjiang Maritime Academy, but now the maritime academies built by the five shipping offices still do not produce enough navy personnel.

For example, Zeng Tongheng said that in the Great Academy, they basically cannot teach anything practical; the gap between theory and practice is huge. School education is just an introduction; moving from theory to practice requires a large amount of practical experience.

Strict graduation is completely unnecessary. Learning by going into practice is also a way to accumulate experience.

The talent cultivated by the Great Academy is not for selecting officials. Selecting officials must be strict; if selection is not strict, they will be like clay bodhisattvas when they reach the local level, unable to protect themselves, let alone manage the locality. Strict selection of officials is never too much, but strict graduation for the Great Academy is completely unnecessary.

Zeng Tongheng naturally did not avoid mentioning the matter of local gentry and powerful families sending their children to the Great Academy to be gilded. He feels this is a matter of weighing pros and cons; quickly supplementing talent for every industry is the Great Ming's urgent priority.

Only when talent is sufficient, or even surplus, is strict graduation a choice that conforms to historical laws.

After a comprehensive analysis of the pros and cons, Zeng Tongheng believes Shen Shixing is doing something unnecessary.

Because it involved Shen Shixing himself, Shen Shixing could only attach a blank slip to the memorial without expressing his attitude, but this is also an attitude. A blank slip means he has seen it but does not intend to change his political decree unless His Majesty has a clear imperial edict.

In a previous memorial, Shen Shixing had already explained the reasons very clearly: the Great Academy is still in the founding period, and rules and regulations are all on the path of exploration. If you do it now, you can do it; if you want to do it later, don't even think about it.

The local areas are deep-rooted; does the court still want to intervene at will?

This matter has great opposition. If Shen Shixing insists on going his own way and the opponents cannot correct it from the Emperor, they will spontaneously correct it. For example, if Shen Shixing wants strict graduation, they will execute it as "no graduation," expanding it and doubling it—this is the best means to resist a political decree.

Everyone is acting completely according to Shen Ge-lao's instructions; what fault is there?

This is also the problem Zeng Tongheng is worried about.

Only by obtaining the approval of the majority can a political decree be smoothly executed, rather than turning into a mess.

Zhu Yijun pondered for a while and prepared to convene a court discussion specifically for this matter to determine whether the political decree should be pushed forward. If the court discussion passes it and someone still deliberately doubles it, then Zhu Yijun, the Emperor, cannot be blamed for being ruthless.

This court discussion is called "passing the meeting." Holding meetings and leading the direction of the meeting is a concrete manifestation of power. Since the majority agrees, if they still secretly oppose it after walking out of the Wenhua Hall gate, then they are rebels.

When it is necessary to kill the families of rebels, Zhu Yijun has never been soft-hearted.

Zhu Yijun set the time for the court discussion for the 21st day of the first lunar month of the 22nd year of Wanli. Besides strict graduation, there is another matter to be taken to the meeting: the matter of Li Rusong being promoted to the Commander of the Great Ming Capital Battalion.

Qi Jiguang is getting older. Due to physical reasons, he can still lead troops to fight, but doing so is overdrawing his vitality. Zhu Yijun still remembers how painful it was when Tan Lun died. Qi Jiguang is still the Great General of the Great Ming, just no longer participating in expeditions.

This matter was proposed by Qi Jiguang himself.

Of course, Qi Jiguang no longer serving as the Commander of the Capital Battalion does not affect Qi Jiguang's own prestige in the army. If it were that simple, there would not have been the problem of violent loss of control since ancient times.

To put it bluntly, without an imperial edict, you cannot mobilize the army; what kind of Great General would you be?

It's just that Qi Jiguang, this Great General, has never had any acts of usurpation. This is Qi Jiguang's personal integrity. Qi Jiguang has always been the same: "Enfeoffment as a Marquis is not my intention, I only wish for the sea waves to be calm." He is willing to use his personal honor and disgrace to exchange for the Great Ming's military might shining with heavenly prestige.

The principle of a great man doing things has always been like this: what he seeks is the stability of the world, not personal honor or disgrace. Furthermore, if the Emperor were to execute him now, he would die without regret. He has seen the Great Ming's military might shine with heavenly prestige, rather than dying in depression.

If Yue Fei really wanted to rebel and play a no-holds-barred fighting competition with Zhao Gou in Lin'an City, Zhao Gou would not be able to beat Yue Fei. With just eight hundred Beiwei troops, Zhao Gou would not be able to deal with him.

Eight hundred trusted followers are completely enough. Zhu Di only had eight hundred people when he started his army.

Soon, the court discussion on the 21st day of the first lunar month began. Zhu Yijun appeared in the Wenhua Hall, which he hadn't visited for a long time. The twenty-eight court ministers looked at each other and finally breathed a sigh of relief. It had been more than a year since the court discussion was suspended due to the ministers making votes after Shen Shixing entered the cabinet.

His Majesty is, after all, a person who will not break his word. The reason why the court discussion was not held was indeed a special situation before the curtain fell on Zhang Juzheng's retirement and his posthumous reputation.

"We ministers pay our respects to Your Majesty. Long live, long live, long live Your Majesty." The group of ministers bowed and paid their respects.

"No need for formalities." Zhu Yijun waved his hand, sat on the dragon chair, looked at everyone, and said with a smile, "Sit, sit, sit, no need to be restrained."

Most ministers hadn't seen His Majesty for a year, which was completely different from the past when they saw him every day.

The closer they are to the center of power and the greater the power, the more the ministers feel that the power in their hands lacks the support of legal principles if they cannot see the Emperor.

"Our Ministry of Rites has written a book, everyone can take a look." After waiting for everyone to sit down, Shen Li gave an opening, not discussing business directly. Before talking about business, he would always give an opening to warm up the atmosphere.

The ritual official brought over many books and distributed them to the ministers. The Emperor also received the book compiled by the Ministry of Rites, "Records of Overseas Barbarian States: Mozambique."

Many years after Wan Shihe passed away, the Great Ming is still compiling the records of overseas barbarian states, and it is being compiled as quickly as it was in the beginning.

Zhu Yijun opened it and read for a long time. The flavor was exactly the same as when Wan Shihe was there. It was named "Records of Overseas Barbarian States," but in reality, it was still writing about the reference significance for the Great Ming.

Mozambique actually doesn't have much worth the Great Ming's attention, but the fact that the Kunlun slaves in Mozambique have no fathers still attracted the attention of the court.

"In Mozambique, more than 85% of children have no father, and more than half of the children have neither parents." Shen Li opened the memorial and said with great emotion.

As soon as this was said, the ministers discussed it heatedly. On the "Civil News," there were many discussions about taking the husband's surname and tracing the father's surname. The ministers also knew a little bit, after all, everyone read the "Civil News."

The Tang and Song dynasties are already things of the past, and the Great Ming scholar-officials can only glimpse them from the texts, but the Great Ming does not take the husband's surname. Most scholar-officials also recognize the discussion on the "Civil News" that the mother is a blood relationship and the father-son relationship is a social relationship.

But the ministers did not expect that the red-mud people in Mozambique actually had more than 85% of children without fathers, and more than half of the children had neither parents.

The answers are all in this book of records of barbarian states.

Zhu Yijun feels that the Great Ming scholar-officials are too concerned with face and too polite. The records they wrote give too much face to these red-mud people and didn't explain it clearly. Zhu Yijun calls it a vicious cycle of "fatherlessness," which is fully reflected in Mozambique.

Because they don't know if their offspring are their own, most men do not assume the obligation of raising their offspring.

However, reproduction and multiplication are human instincts. In Mozambique, women are always heavily pregnant because they are physically weak and cannot protect themselves, so they are forced to conceive like animals.

Such chaotic relationships make it even harder to determine who the father of the offspring is, so these fathers are even less likely to raise their offspring.

And it is unrealistic for mothers to raise multiple children alone, eventually leading to half of the children having no parents; they are abandoned.

Fortunately, Mozambique's natural endowment is still okay, with a large amount of food, so children without parents can barely survive.

A self-evident fact is that a civilization with fathers has more survival advantages than a civilization without fathers, because children with fathers are easier to survive than children without fathers.

And this vicious cycle of fatherlessness led to another problem, which is that order cannot be established.

According to the Great Ming's standards, the red-mud people in Mozambique are all criminals. These red-mud people only follow some rules when they reach the Portuguese castles; outside the castles, it is completely an animal world.

An infinitely downward vicious cycle keeps these Kunlun slaves in a state of witchcraft tribal system, unable to effectively establish order.

Establishing a father-son relationship is establishing a family relationship, and every household, every family, constitutes the smallest unit of society. Therefore, the entire social structure of the Great Ming is built on the foundation of the father-son relationship.

Once this relationship goes from stable to fragile and then to collapse, the collapse of the Great Ming's overall social structure is only a matter of time.

As the smallest unit of society, the integrity and health of the family are directly related to the overall stability and development of society.

In fact, there is a more direct description in Confucian culture. The "Book of Rites: The Great Learning" directly points out: "When the person is cultivated, the family is regulated; when the family is regulated, the state is governed; when the state is governed, the world is at peace."

Cultivating oneself, regulating the family, governing the state, and bringing peace to the world—only by cultivating one's own morality can one make the family stable. If even the family cannot be stable, it is impossible to govern the state well, let alone assist the Son of Heaven in governing the world.

"The Western Trade Alliance has already been established; do you all have any suggestions?" Wang Jiaping spoke of the major task the Ministry of Revenue had recently undertaken. The success of the Pan-Pacific Trade Alliance had allowed the Great Ming to briefly escape the industrial crisis caused by insufficient markets, and it had also bought enough time for the Great Ming to perfect its internal market.

The Western Commercial Alliance is an attempt based on the Pan-Pacific Commercial Alliance.

"Losing it is my fate, getting it is my luck." Gao Qi looked at Wang Jiaping and expressed his own views. Petroleum, black gold, can naturally become the core commodity of the Western Commercial Alliance, but this core commodity requires too long a time for development.

Gao Qi's words were to lower the expectations of His Majesty, the court, and the people for the Western Commercial Alliance. Even if there were slight results, expanding the market for cotton cloth, iron pots, porcelain, and tea would satisfy all parties.

Wang Jiaping wanted to say something, but in the end, he said nothing.

This Gao Qi is indeed not likable; he speaks too directly.

"The Ministry of Works recently conducted a comprehensive survey of the completed sections of the Beijing-Guangzhou Imperial Road, identified 364 problems, and is currently carrying out repairs. It is expected to be completed within a year and open to traffic within two years." The Minister of Works Zeng Tongheng reported the Ministry of Works' main work this year to the ministers.

After the corruption case of the Beijing-Guangzhou Imperial Road was cleared up, a comprehensive survey of all sections was conducted, and many problems caused by cutting corners were discovered. Active rectification is being carried out. This is a great construction project that cannot afford any mistakes. If problems arise again, heads will roll, and blood will flow like a river.

The silver for repairing the imperial road is limited, but the greed of the human heart is infinite. People misappropriated the silver for repairing the imperial road and put it into their own pockets, so there was no silver available for the imperial road, and problems in the project were a matter of course.

This delayed the construction period of the Beijing-Guangzhou Imperial Road. It was originally expected to be open to traffic by the end of this year, but because of the repairs, it will probably be dragged to next year.

Hearing Zeng Tongheng say this, Zhu Yijun immediately said, "Matters are rounded when they are slow. The Beijing-Guangzhou Imperial Road is a matter of great importance. I can wait a year, and the Great Ming can also wait."

"But if it is repaired and then needs small repairs every three days and big repairs every five days, it will leave endless trouble, delay the circulation of goods, and even more delay the response to natural disasters. It is better to be cautious."

Zhu Yijun once issued a specific imperial edict not to rush the construction period just for the sake of rushing. Completing it efficiently and with high quality is the court's ultimate goal. Looking only at the construction period is irresponsible to the project and even more irresponsible to the craftsmen.

"I obey the edict." Zeng Tongheng bowed and accepted the order. His Majesty not blaming him is the best thing.

In fact, before and after the New Year, Zeng Tongheng didn't know how to tell His Majesty about the delay of the Beijing-Guangzhou Imperial Road. Today, the court discussion was held, and Zeng Tongheng was somewhat desperate; otherwise, if it couldn't be delivered on time and was full of loopholes, he would have no way to explain it to His Majesty.

His Majesty's clear instructions gave Zeng Tongheng a reassurance.

The Minister of War Liang Menglong took out a memorial and said, "The Ministry of War recently conducted a comprehensive census of the population of the military colonies and garrisons on the Nine Borders, confirmed the registration of all soldiers, and determined that there are more than one million registered soldiers, while the remaining unregistered soldiers have been converted into civilian households."

"Shaanxi conducted an attempt and confirmed what Qi Shuai said: military colonies and garrisons cannot be converted into a battalion system."

The Ministry of War spent three years confirming Qi Jiguang's correctness.

Confirming the registration of military colonies and garrisons to ensure that soldiers' salaries are paid in place was part of the Wanli 15th Year Reform. At that time, the Ministry of War felt that the battalion system was so easy to use, so they directly turned the military colonies and garrisons into battalions, turning them into professional soldiers.

The Ministry of War failed. Qi Jiguang was right. At that time, Qi Jiguang had been blocking it, not letting them do it. Firstly, it couldn't be done, and secondly, the Great Ming needed to maintain a sufficient scale of garrison troops to supplement the battalions.

It is just like the An Lushan Rebellion that came after the abolition of the Fubing system in the Great Tang.

Qi Jiguang spent his life in the army, and he knew it too well. Professional battalions can only support the current scale, which is already very difficult. Wanting to turn the border troops into a battalion system is simply impossible.

The Ministry of War finally understood that the military colonies and garrisons themselves are more about production than military expeditions. Military expeditions are not the main goal. The main function of the battalion is expeditions, not production. This is a division of labor produced by the barbarian troubles and Japanese pirate troubles during the Jiajing years.

This essential difference makes the transformation of military colonies and garrisons into battalions as difficult as ascending to heaven.

"It's an attempt. If it succeeds, it's naturally good; if it doesn't, it doesn't matter." Zhu Yijun said with a full face of smiles. He knew about the Ministry of War's attempt and also knew it was very difficult to succeed. Trying it doesn't matter. The Great Ming has this redundancy for error correction, and it is not the early Wanli years when they were still owing 110,000 silver for building an imperial tomb.

Zhu Yijun looked at everyone and said, "Qi Shuai submitted a memorial to return the Commander's seal of the Capital Battalion and recommended Li Rusong as the new Commander. Qi Shuai, you speak."

Qi Jiguang sat up straight, was silent for a moment, and then opened his mouth to say, "The body is the most honest thing and cannot tolerate any lies, especially at my age. Everyone has seen it. I have become much thinner now. Military expeditions are a major matter for the country, and I am unable to bear the heavy responsibility. It is better to let the worthy take the place."

The body cannot tolerate any lies. Qi Jiguang can no longer maintain his robust physique.

In this day and age, the Great Medical Officials are also helpless against sugar poison and thirst, so they can only starve.

Hunger is a kind of torture. Because the body fat rate is constantly decreasing and the training volume is reduced, Qi Jiguang can no longer maintain his muscle scale. Now, his somewhat thin body, with a thin layer of fat, can no longer support a great battle.

Of course, a thin camel is bigger than a horse. Now Qi Jiguang can still beat ten scholar-officials in their prime without any problem.

Qi Jiguang opposed His Majesty's increasing weight to brush fat and expand muscle mass, because repeatedly increasing weight and brushing fat completely mimics the battlefield environment. Before the battle, eat a general's belly, and after one battle, become thin. Repeatedly tossing like this will definitely have symptoms of sugar poison and thirst.

"I think I can do it!" Li Rusong said in a muffled voice, "Because His Majesty said I can!"

Li Rusong, who has restrained his pride and impatience, is fully worthy of the title of a commander. He feels he can do it and take on this great responsibility.

The ministers looked at each other, and there was some helplessness in each other's eyes. There is one less person who can stop His Majesty.

As an Imperial Teacher and a meritorious minister of the Wanli Reform, Qi Jiguang actually has his own ideas and propositions, and occasionally he would persuade His Majesty on some whimsical ideas in military affairs.

For example, His Majesty wanted to destroy the Japanese nation in one battle, but was stopped by Qi Jiguang. A second war to destroy the Japanese can be launched, but to achieve success in one battle is a bit too much to look down on the Japanese nation.

But Li Rusong is different. Li Rusong doesn't have many of his own ideas. Whatever the Emperor tells him to do, he does.

Similar to Shen Shixing's situation, His Majesty and Zhang Juzheng could slap the table at each other, but Shen Shixing dare not, nor can he slap the table at His Majesty.

The court discussion passed Li Rusong's appointment as Commander of the Capital Battalion by a unanimous vote. There is nothing to argue about this matter, mainly because Qi Jiguang is watching, and there will be no chaos for the time being.

"Strict graduation for the Great Academy." Shen Shixing took out the memorial and said with a heavy expression, stating the main purpose of convening this court discussion.

"Completely unnecessary. Knowledge from books is always shallow; one must practice to truly understand. After completing their studies and taking up their posts, they will naturally know everything." Zeng Tongheng immediately stated his opposition. ===== CHAPTER 1042 =====