Chapter 95 Section 6 Revocation of the Metropolitan Government: Major Reform of the Military System

The reason why Zhu Yuanzhang gave in and tolerated the heroes again and again is that Zhu Yuanzhang's attitudes and judgments towards civil servants and generals are very different.In his eyes, things like civil servants, such as leeks, are indestructible and worthless.No matter how you kill them, there will be a large number of new ones coming to your door.Not so with generals.A good general must be honed in a big battle, which can be met but not sought.They are all indispensable and precious treasures of the Ming Empire, killing one is less than one.In fact, after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there was almost no military use for every year. Without them, he could not continue his normal rule at all.

In the first month of the fourth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang appointed Tang He as the general who conquered the west, and Fu Youde as the former general, and divided his troops into two groups to attack Shu. In the fifth year of Hongwu, Zhu Yuanzhang took Xu Da as the general who conquered the captives, Li Wenzhong as the left deputy general, and Feng Sheng as the general who conquered the west, and divided his troops into three groups to conquer Mongolia in the north. In the eighth year of Hongwu, Yuan general Nahachu invaded Liaodong and was defeated by general Ye Wang. In April of the eleventh year of Hongwu, Shandan, a hundred households in Tuntian, Qingzhou, revolted, and Zhu Yuanzhang dispatched Yang Zhongming, Mu Ying, Wang Bi and others to suppress it.

In the eventful autumn of the thirteenth year of Hongwu, military activities were still extremely frequent.In this year, Mu Ying led the Ming army and carried out the third Northern Expedition to Mongolia.In November, the old Yuan Pingzhang (Pingzhang is the official name) Naierbuhua led thousands of riders into Taolinkou and plundered Yongping (now Lulong County, Hebei Province). It can be seen that until this year, Zhu Yuanzhang still could not do without these fellow villagers as his right-hand man. However, in the case of Hu Weiyong, Zhu Yuanzhang was frightened by the collusion between the Hu family and some generals.After the founding of the country, he felt the threat of a military coup directly for the first time.If there are three or five founding fathers and the dangerous and bold Hu Weiyong join forces to revolt, his great Ming Dynasty may really change color.

No matter how great the threat to the imperial power is by civil officials, it is not as serious as military generals.The founding hero and the emperor grew up naked, shared pornographic jokes together, and knew that the other party was not a dragon emperor, but a villager hooligan who liked to fart and grind his teeth while sleeping, and liked to pick his nose and toes.It is difficult for them to regard the emperor as a god like other ministers of origin, and it is inevitable that they will be domineering and rude to the emperor.These guys who have passed through the gates of hell all have extraordinary courage and cunning and contingency.Once the idea of ​​getting involved in the highest power is moved, it will be more direct, more powerful, and more reckless than civil officials.Once there is something in the world, they will not let go of the opportunity of "the emperor takes turns to do it", so the emperors of all dynasties have always been vigilant against the military officials and veterans.

Zhu Yuanzhang was suspicious and overly cautious in everything.Long-term anxiety and excessive mental work made Zhu Yuanzhang suffer from serious mental illness.He often fantasizes that maybe one day, the palace will be burned down, and the descendants, wives and concubines will be taken away as slaves.Thinking of this, he broke out in a cold sweat.He couldn't eat and couldn't sleep well all day long.Seeing court ladies and eunuchs sneaking a glance at him, he thought they were plotting to curse him; seeing civil and military officials stammering in the palace, he thought they were trying to deceive him.Especially when it gets dark and you sit alone in the Forbidden City, wondering what other people are thinking?

Did the officials communicate privately?Is someone plotting a rebellion under the lamp?Has anyone gathered in the village to worship Buddha and burn incense? Obviously, after the ordeal, his mental state is not normal.He stated that he often "couldn't lie down at night, and often suffered from insomnia because he thought of something that might endanger the safety of the empire."All day and night, his heart is always in suspense, and he goes through the set rules over and over again to see if there is any unsteadiness. Therefore, after the prime minister system was abolished due to the Hu Weiyong case, Zhu Yuanzhang carried out another major military system reform.In the thirteenth year of Hongwu, he abolished the Metropolitan Governor's Mansion and re-established the Governor's Mansion of the Left, Right, Central, Front, and Back Five Armies to disperse the power of the central military organization.He stipulated that the governor's office of the five armies is in charge of military registration, but has no right to mobilize the army. The Ministry of War is in charge of the promotion of officers, but has no right to directly command the army.

The so-called "the (emperor) ordered the general to serve as the general officer, and the army was transferred to the guard to lead him; when it was over, the seal was affixed, and the officers and soldiers returned to the guard" ("History of the Ming Dynasty" Volume 89, "Bing Zhi"), " The Ministry of War has the order to send troops, but not the power to command them, and the five armies have the power to command the army, but not the order to send troops. If they are united, they will communicate with each other, and if they are divided, they will be able to control each other" ("Chun Ming Meng Yu Lu").

In this way, it is possible to prevent generals from arbitrarily deploying troops to launch a rebellion, and to concentrate military power in the hands of the emperor. Killing Hu Weiyong, abolishing the prime minister, and changing the governor's mansion to the governor's mansion of the five armies are all major measures that shocked the whole country, and troubles are prone to occur during the implementation process.In order to prevent accidents from happening, Zhu Yuanzhang had to take the above-mentioned series of appeasement measures for the heroes.