Chapter 355: To Become an Official, First Attend Training

Qi Yuanbi, Xu Ermo, and Yan Yingyuan, the three tribute scholars, entered the Hall of Literary Splendor together.

The Crown Prince Zhu saw the three of them at once, not because he was so swamped with state affairs that he had no time to see them one by one, but because he certainly could not eliminate these three — one from Qi Jiguang's family, one a specialist in Western learning, and one the historical hero of the defense of Jiangyin — these three were sure to place high! Not only place high, but also receive special cultivation.

Zhu Cilang met with the three of them together in order to give them a chance to "recharge."

Because in the Crown Prince's view, most civil and military officials of the Ming dynasty were unworthy of their positions! Most civil officials could only boast and write essays, and only a very few could handle practical matters — and those few were often denounced as treacherous ministers by officials who could not get anything done.

The situation with military officers was not much better. The hereditary guard-station officers had rotted away badly! No great talent like Qi Jiguang could be found among them anymore. And officers who had risen through the ranks were brave enough, but far too deficient in army administration and strategy.

But that was not even the worst of it. The worst was that the tactics and methods these officers had mastered were a full generation behind those of Western military men.

They could neither employ field tactics such as the Spanish tercio, the Maurice formation, and the Gustavus formation, nor construct bastion forts, nor even use artillery correctly.

To put it bluntly, the quality of Ming army officers today could not compare with Western military men like Gustavus Adolphus, Maurice of Nassau, Cromwell, and the Grand Condé — it could not even compare with the Manchu military men who had thoroughly read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms!

Those men at least had superb martial skills and mastery of horse and bow, and they had also distilled from their "novice wars" against the Ming army a set of tactics capable of defeating it.

Moreover, the Manchu military men were far stronger than Ming civil and military officials in military administration as well. At least the Eight Banners warriors did not go hungry, the Han army's matchlocks did not burst their barrels, and they could even produce Hongyi cannons!

Faced with this situation of officials generally being unworthy of their posts, Zhu Cilang's solution was to make do for the time being while establishing two new-style "official academies," called the Nanjing Practical Academy and the Nanjing Military Academy, to train civil and military officials.

Of these, the Nanjing Practical Academy trained civil officials, with four main courses: construction, finance and accounting, agronomy, and law. The academy's two directors were Han Lin, who had just finished repairing the Qufu city wall for Shi Kefa, and Song Yingxing, author of the Tiangong Kaiwu — the Song Yingxing so famous in later ages was a Jiangxi man with juren rank, who unfortunately spent too much energy on "miscellaneous studies," and so, like Han Lin, could not pass the jinshi examination. Later he became an official on the strength of his juren rank, but in early Chongzhen 17 he resigned and left Beijing, returning to his native Jiangxi.

After Zhu Cilang took control of the southeast, he had Wei Zaode invite him to Nanjing to take charge of establishing the Practical Academy. In Zhu Cilang's long-term plan, this "Practical Academy" would later be gradually expanded and elevated, eventually becoming Nanjing University.

For the moment, however, this Nanjing Practical Academy could only serve for "remedial classes for officials" — an official in charge of collecting taxes should at least learn to keep accounts and do bookkeeping. An official sent to collect rents ought to know something of agronomy, surely? He should not be unable to tell rice from wheat! An official responsible for building houses, repairing city walls, and waterworks should also learn something of construction. An official responsible for catching criminals and trying cases ought to be familiar with the laws of the Great Ming.

The Nanjing Military Academy offered seven subjects: fortification, Western languages, mathematics, Western military science, firearms, equipment, and logistics. Its directors were Johann Adam Schall von Bell and Li Tianjing; its instructors included Li Zubai and Jiao Xu, as well as four mercenary captains — Shi Rui'en, Foua, Rotoni, and Frisi — who taught Western military science part-time.

The two academies were still in preparation, with formal opening planned for April. The first batch of military science students would naturally be young officers of the K'e-nan New Army, who were relatively easy to select. Students for the Practical Academy, however, were harder to recruit — what official who had already been appointed to a post would be willing to come to school?

And those who had not yet been appointed but were still usable were precisely these tribute scholars.

So Zhu Cilang planned to select several dozen from the new jinshi to attend the first session of practical training.

"All three of you are talented, capable of handling affairs, and can be ranked in the second class." Zhu Cilang looked at the three before him with a smile. Yan Yingyuan was in his early thirties, square-faced and dignified in appearance. Qi Yuanbi and Xu Ermo were younger; Qi Yuanbi, though a scholar, had the look of a military man, very imposing. Xu Ermo was a small fat fellow with a large head, who looked quite clever.

He paused. "We know the aspirations of you three as well. But having aspirations is not the same as being able to do things well. Even if one can work with sincere dedication, there is still the problem of what one has learned not being what one needs to use. All three of you are Confucian scholars — ah, Duomo is also a believer, well versed in Western learning."

Duomo was the baptismal name of the little fat Xu Ermo. Zhu Cilang's use of his baptismal name made the little fat fellow feel a certain warmth, and also reminded him of the rumor that Zhu Cilang had met Gabriel — if that were true, then his own high placement in the jinshi examination (his essays were very poor) must also be God's will, meant to enable him to assist the divinely chosen king.

"Your Highness," Xu Ermo made the sign of the cross over his chest, "this subject is willing to follow your arrangements."

"Good, good." Zhu Cilang laughed. "Then We shall arrange for you to attend the Military Academy."

"The Military Academy..." Xu Ermo was taken aback. "But this subject is a man of letters."

Zhu Cilang frowned. "You just said you would follow arrangements!"

"But this subject does not know how to fight..."

Does not know how to fight? Why not just say you're afraid to die! Zhu Cilang thought: You're a Catholic, you ought to love God. Now that you have a chance to meet God a little early, why are you afraid? Most improper!

"No matter," Zhu Cilang smiled. "We will not send you to fight. You will first study at the Military Academy, mainly Western military science. Take many notes, draw many diagrams, and after you have learned it, write Us a book introducing Western methods of drilling troops. The language should be plain, the content detailed. Do you understand?"

So Zhu Cilang wanted Xu Ermo to write teaching materials. There were a few teachers of Western military science now, but no teaching materials to use. Besides, Western military science could not always be taught by foreigners; they had to train their own instructors. This Xu Ermo was well versed in Western learning and foreign languages, so he would certainly learn quickly. Once trained, he could become an instructor and teach others.

"This subject receives the order." Xu Ermo was relieved. As long as there was no immediate prospect of meeting God, everything else was negotiable.

"Yan Yingyuan, Qi Yuanbi," Zhu Cilang addressed the other two, "what of you two? Though you are civil officials, you both come from military households. Surely you do not wish to become mere Hanlin literary officials? In this age of chaos, what the state needs are civil officials like Sun Wenzheng and Lu Wenzhong. It is a pity that both of them have already died for the country. Are you willing to become the new Sun Wenzheng and Lu Wenzhong?"

Sun Wenzheng was Sun Chuanting, and Lu Wenzhong was Lu Xiangsheng. After arriving in Nanjing, Zhu Cilang had conferred posthumous titles on these two — one Wenzheng, one Wenzhong.

"This subject is willing to become a Sun Wenzheng or Lu Wenzhong!"

"This subject is willing as well!"

Yan Yingyuan and Qi Yuanbi both rose and answered.

Zhu Cilang nodded and said solemnly: "But We do not wish you two to give your lives for the country as Sun Wenzheng and Lu Wenzhong did. We want you to strike straight to the enemy's lair and return in triumph.

Therefore, you must go with Xu Duomo to the Military Academy to study Western military science. After you two have completed your studies, We shall give each of you command of a model army battalion. Serve as officers for a few years, then transfer back to civil office, to become Governors and Supreme Commanders. What do you think?"

Zhu Cilang was tricking them into joining the army! He now felt that among his forces there were plenty of men who could serve as regimental commanders, but there seemed to be no one who could serve as a great general. So he thought Yan Yingyuan should be usable — at least the man had performed impressively in the defense of Jiangyin. And Qi Yuanbi looked somewhat promising too, worth a try.

If Yan Yingyuan and Qi Yuanbi agreed, they could forget about returning to civil office for at least eight or ten years.

Yan Yingyuan and Qi Yuanbi thought it over, and both actually found Zhu Cilang's suggestion quite good, and both gave affirmative replies.

"This subject Yan Yingyuan is willing to cast aside the brush and take up arms."

"This subject Qi Yuanbi is willing to join the army!"

(End of Chapter)