Chapter 34: A Man's Worth Lies in Knowing His Own Limits

(First watch of the night)

(First watch of the night)

After proclaiming the edict establishing the Valiant Guard Camp, Zhu Youjian simply dismissed all the original camp soldiers, keeping only the Valiant Guard Camp.

The six hundred File Leaders, each with three to five men, formed a ragged, scattered formation on the parade ground.

It looked even more like a ragtag band of stragglers than before.

But there was no helping it — the most crucial element of any army is its degree of organization.

The entire structure had been shattered on the spot, and promoting six hundred File Leaders, all equal in rank with no chain of command among them, was nothing short of a disaster.

Then came the rush to issue troop identification tallies and get everyone sorted into their units. The chaos lasted all afternoon, and the palace attendants sent out to help all shouted themselves hoarse.

By the time these tasks were finished and he returned to Qianqing Palace, the day was already growing late.

The autumn sun hung slanting at the edge of the sky; its golden afterglow streamed through the window lattice, scattering dappled light and shadow across the floor tiles.

Zhu Youjian strode hurriedly into the great hall, picked up the teapot, and gulped straight from the spout, only then letting out a long breath of relief.

His cheeks were flushed and still felt somewhat hot.

Those cries of "We would die for Your Majesty!" on the parade ground still echoed in his mind.

With a blade in hand, the urge to kill rises of its own accord.

Now he finally understood how Zhao Kuangyin, Li Shimin, and Judy must have felt.

Violence is the solution to most problems in this world — even if those solutions are often far from optimal.

He set down the teacup, the tide in his heart slowly ebbing, and forced himself back into that emperor mode: calm to the point of cold detachment.

"Xu Yingyuan."

He rose and walked to the screen. Beside the Great Ming Unified Map hung a map of the capital's garrison deployment.

Xu Yingyuan, who had been standing by with hands at his sides, immediately stepped forward and bowed. "This slave is here."

"Today I noticed that west of Di'an Gate, near Shicha Lake, there seems to be a large stretch of empty land?" Zhu Youjian said, tapping his finger on a vacant area next to the Armory Bureau on the map.

"Is Your Majesty referring to this place?" Xu Yingyuan followed the direction of his finger, then replied, "To answer Your Majesty: that land has no owner. By ancestral regulation, the vicinity of the imperial city is reserved either for the offices of the inner palace and outer court, or for the garrisons of the Upper Direct Guard. In all other areas, commoners are forbidden to erect any buildings."

Zhu Youjian nodded. This was roughly what he had expected.

He turned, sat back down behind the imperial desk, and spoke in a level tone that carried an unquestionable finality.

"Then make the arrangements. Tomorrow morning, relocate the Valiant Guard Camp's garrison to that spot. Barracks and stables are to be constructed with all haste."

"Also, armor, warhorses, military padded jackets, and the like — have them supplied from the Armor Factory, the Armory Bureau, the Court of the Imperial Stud, and the other relevant agencies."

"Furthermore, compile a tally of those six-hundred-odd provisional File Leaders selected today. Find out how many of them have a rough grasp of letters. Tomorrow afternoon, summon those who are literate to the palace. I shall personally examine them and select the Platoon Officers and Company Commanders."

Zhu Youjian finished speaking in one breath, took another sip from his teacup, and exhaled slightly.

He paused, then continued, "Henceforth, their provisions shall be the unified responsibility of the Court of Imperial Entertainments, at the same standard as the Han Generals — the finest capital rice throughout. Their monthly pay of two dan shall no longer pass through the accounts of the Five Chief Military Commissions, but be disbursed directly from the Inner Supply Depot."

This string of commands made the very atmosphere in Qianqing Palace congeal.

In ordinary times, any military transfer — whether establishing a unit, assigning a garrison, personnel decisions, or grain and pay — followed fixed procedures and absolutely had to pass through the Five Chief Military Commissions and the Ministry of War for issuance.

For the Emperor to personally seize control of three thousand troops by direct palace edict — only the Martial Ancestor Emperor had ever done such a thing!

Xu Yingyuan's heart tightened. He immediately bowed and accepted the order. "This slave obeys the decree!"

But at that very moment, Gao Shiming, who had been standing silently to the side all along, suddenly raised his head, as if he had something to say.

Zhu Youjian swept his gaze over. His mind, racing at high speed, was exceptionally sharp right now, and he instantly guessed part of the reason.

Without waiting for Gao Shiming to speak, he raised a hand to cut him off. "The Inner Household's grain supply won't be insufficient, will it?"

The bellyful of arguments Gao Shiming had prepared was instantly choked back.

He paused, slightly taken aback, then cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty sees all with mirror clarity. The Inner Supply Depot... I fear it truly cannot sustain provisions for these three thousand men."

Zhu Youjian's face immediately fell in chagrin.

He had been too elated earlier and had momentarily forgotten this point.

The fiscal system of our Great Ming dynasty has always operated on the principle of matching revenue to expenditure.

That is to say, the court determines how much tax grain and silver to levy from the provinces based on each year's fixed expenditures.

The Inner Household's budget works the same way. The "white grain" shipped up from the south each year is essentially a case of one radish, one hole — every last bit of it has long been meticulously allocated.

The entire inner court, including palace maids, eunuchs, menial servants, and the like, amounts to no more than around twenty thousand people in total.

To suddenly add provisions and pay for three thousand able-bodied soldiers — actually implementing that would require a great deal of time to reallocate and shift funds around.

"What is the annual fixed quota of white grain for the Inner Supply Depot?" Zhu Youjian asked.

Gao Shiming dared not be remiss and hurriedly replied, "To answer Your Majesty, the Inner Household's white grain quota currently stands at one hundred seventy-six thousand dan per annum."

One hundred seventy-six thousand dan...

Zhu Youjian silently did the math in his head.

For a Valiant Guard Camp of three thousand men, assuming the elite ration standard of two sheng of grain per day, the year's grain alone would require over twenty thousand dan.

If one then added a monthly pay of two dan per man, that would be over seventy thousand dan a year.

Combined, the two figures came to ninety thousand dan.

Calculated this way, the Inner Household's white grain could just barely support two camps' worth of troops.

However...

He glanced at Gao Shiming and Xu Yingyuan and could only abandon that pipe dream.

Zhu Youjian rubbed his still-flushed face to cool his head a little.

He was still being too hasty — like a child who has just received his beloved Ultraman Tiga, desperate to give him the very best of everything.

He thought for a moment, then turned to Xu Yingyuan and said, "Forget it. For the matter of provisions and fodder, we shall temporarily follow the old Capital Camps system."

It was a compromise, and also a resignation to reality.

He then asked further, "However — a monthly military stipend of two dan for every man: can that be done?"

This time, Xu Yingyuan answered quickly: "In reply to Your Majesty, that will be no problem. So long as they remain within the Capital Camps establishment and are issued according to the old regulations, the Five Chief Military Commissions will not dare withhold anything."

Zhu Youjian nodded, a little of the tension easing from his heart.

Matters of money and grain could not be rushed. The most important thing now was to steady the troops' morale and set the framework in place.

He pondered in silence for a moment, then remembered another matter.

"Is there not a military school in the capital?"

Xu Yingyuan replied, "Yes, Your Majesty. It is right beside the Zhihua Temple in Huanghua Ward."

"Mm," Zhu Youjian acknowledged. "Tomorrow, summon a few of the military school's best instructors to the palace as well. We wish to see what they ordinarily teach."

"Also, find for Us Qi Jiguang's *New Treatise on Military Efficiency* and *A Practical Record of Troop Training*, along with the best examination papers from past military *juren* examinations. We wish to review them."

Zhu Youjian finished speaking, leaned back against his chair, and closed his eyes.

He had never imagined before that he would transmigrate, still less that he would become an emperor.

But that was all right — he had a very clear sense of his own limitations.

A man who grew up in an age of peace might make a good emperor, might make a good reformer, but in all likelihood he was no Huo Qubing-style military genius.

Three-line volley fire, army-corps-brigade-battalion structures, special operations — all that could be set aside for now.

The ancient sages had a saying — no, the later sages had a saying: without practice, one has no right to speak.

He would do better to honestly and humbly first respect the lessons that the men of this world had distilled with real blades and real spears, with the blood and lives of countless people.

Qi Jiguang was the foremost military mind of this age.

He had fought the Japanese pirates in Jiangnan and devised the Mandarin Duck Formation; when he reached the Ji Garrison, he devised the wagon encampment. He would start by reading his military treatises to familiarize himself.

Later, he would summon the warriors who had waded through blades on the front lines of this era and consult them one-on-one. Only then would he be qualified to offer opinions on military reform and military operations.

Just as Zhu Youjian was sunk in these reflections, a junior eunuch hurried in from outside the hall and whispered a few words into Ma Wencai's ear.

Ma Wencai listened, his expression shifting slightly. He walked quickly to the imperial desk, bowed, and made his report.

"Your Majesty, the Elder Consort Dowager Liu… requests that you come to the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility for a talk."

Zhu Youjian, leaning against the imperial throne, slowly opened his eyes. For a moment, his face was entirely blank.