Volume One, The Infant Dragon Opens Its Eyes - Chapter 151: The Meaning of Martial Arts

Chapter 151: The Meaning of Martial Academies

However, what good would it do to simply preserve one’s own integrity?

How did the majority of the nobility accumulate their wealth? Did Zhang Fu really have no idea in his heart?

It was simply that the law could not punish the multitude, a phenomenon especially prevalent within the military.

Zhang Fu dropped to his knees with a thud and said, "This subject received the grace of the former emperors and was entrusted by Your Majesty to assist in governance, yet matters in the military have come to this. This subject is guilty."

Zhu Qizhen sighed, hurriedly stepped forward a few steps, and said, "What is the Duke saying? Rome was not built in a day. Such malpractices did not arise only today; even during the reign of the Founding Emperor, deserters were repeatedly prohibited, but now the situation has only grown more severe."

"The Duke has devoted himself to maintaining the Capital Garrison. Without the Duke, I fear the Capital Garrison would have rotted away entirely, just like the local garrison卫所."

"Yet things cannot continue this way."

"The military officers at all levels of the garrisons are the meritorious subjects of the imperial court, and this realm was won by them following the Founding Emperor and the Yongle Emperor. I am willing to share wealth and honor with them, but this wealth and honor should not be enjoyed in such a manner."

The reality was absurd to the extreme.

Garrison officers were quite openly encroaching upon the lands of military households and treating those households as mere slaves. Such behavior was pushing the garrisons of the Great Ming step by step toward total collapse.

The more than three hundred garrisons of the Great Ming occupied nearly one-eighth of the finest arable land across the empire. During the reigns of the Founding Emperor and the Yongle Emperor, the state did not need to increase grain taxation, yet the military remained self-sufficient.

However, during the Xuande era, subsidies were occasionally required, and by the Zhengtong era, two hundred thousand taels had to be subsidized annually for the Nine Garrisons. This year, the required amount was even greater, with the Ministry of War hoping the Ministry of Revenue would subsidize five hundred thousand taels—or even more.

In truth, the Ming Dynasty was ultimately crushed by soaring military expenditures.

For a moment, Zhang Fu did not know what to say.

Although Zhang Fu was a renowned general, a commander of great caliber, even he was at a loss when faced with this issue. If one were to calculate carefully, the Duke of Ying’s household might not be entirely innocent or free of blame either.

To mention nothing else, the hundreds of retainers maintained within the Duke of Ying’s household alone were difficult to justify.

First of all, maintaining private retainers was far more costly than supporting ordinary soldiers. Where did the Duke of Ying get the financial resources to sustain them? Secondly, these retainers of the Duke of Ying were battle-hardened elites; rather than serving in the military ranks, they resided within the Duke of Ying’s estate. This in itself was one of the problems.

History would later show during the Tumu Crisis that several nobles mobilized their retainers to assemble a force of several thousand troops, working from the inside and outside to capture the Forbidden City itself.

From this single instance, the rest can be easily imagined.

In truth, it was not that the various nobles lacked official allowances for personal guards; the imperial court had naturally provided them.

However, their authorized quotas for retainers were invariably exceeded.

Many individuals were listed on the rolls of local garrisons while actually serving within the noble estates. Such under-the-table dealings required no detailed explanation; everyone understood them tacitly.

Regarding these matters, Zhang Fu neither could speak nor was it proper for him to do so.

After all, by the time the garrison system had operated down to the present day, it had developed deeply entrenched flaws. No matter how severe the problems were, this was still the ancestral law of the imperial court. The Emperor could speak of it, but if Zhang Fu did, he would have to bear immense political risks.

As for the present moment within the Wuying Hall, where only Zhang Fu and the Emperor were present, it still could not be spoken of.

Because most of those who believed the Emperor could keep a secret had already died completely.

The most typical example was Yao Cuo, who, for reasons unknown, had been cut in half at the waist. Zhang Fu acknowledged his own guilt, knowing that as long as the Emperor retained his sanity, he would not punish him.

Yet any further words could no longer be uttered.

Zhang Fu said, "Your Majesty places such deep trust in me, and this subject is filled with extreme apprehension. However, this matter is of the utmost importance; inaction is better than action, and it is better to leave things undisturbed than to stir them up."

Zhu Qizhen said, "I understand the Duke's meaning. Among all the nobles of the court, only the Duke is a man of clear vision. I have already read the Duke's memorial proposing the establishment of a martial academy."

"It profoundly aligns with my own thoughts. How many renowned generals of the Jingnan Campaign remain today? The court is precisely in a period when the older generation is passing and the new has not yet matured. By establishing a martial academy to cultivate a batch of military commanders for the court, the Duke has truly resolved my most urgent need."

"However, I have an idea, and I wonder what the Duke thinks of it?"

Zhang Fu said, "Please speak, Your Majesty."

Zhu Qizhen said, "I intend to transfer the authority over the hereditary succession of military titles from the Ministry of War to the martial academy."

For a moment, Zhang Fu felt a sense of impending disaster. When the hereditary succession of official positions in the various garrisons first began, it was managed by the Five Chief Military Commissions. Later, it was jointly managed by the Commissions and the Ministry of War.

Eventually, the Five Chief Military Commissions became entirely a retirement sinecure, and this power fell completely into the hands of the Ministry of War—the very moment when civil officials completely overshadowed military generals.

Even now, this power was still jointly managed by the Five Chief Military Commissions and the Ministry of War.

Precisely because this authority was so immense, Zhang Fu could not understand how it could be shifted into a martial academy.

Zhu Qizhen said, "From now on, all hereditary military officers of the various garrisons, unless they have achieved distinguished military merit, must graduate from the martial academy before they can be granted their posts."

Even though Zhu Qizhen had many ideas regarding the reform of the military system, he had to proceed step by step. Wang Ji had served in the Ministry of War for a long time and believed that the court should strictly enforce the succession of official posts.

This was meant to enhance the combat effectiveness of the army.

While the martial academy proposed by Zhang Fu might differ in emphasis from Wang Ji's ideas, they shared one identical premise: that many military officers within the garrisons were unqualified.

Since this common foundation existed, Zhu Qizhen naturally went with the flow, while conveniently adding a few private designs of his own.

To mention nothing else, if only graduates of the martial academy could inherit titles, the importance of this academy would instantly rise to rival that of the Imperial Academy.

The declining path of the Ming Dynasty's Imperial Academy provided a clear illustration of this principle.

In the early Ming Dynasty, students of the Imperial Academy could directly take up official posts, which was why the academy flourished for a time. Later, as the imperial examinations thrived, academy students lost their career prospects, and consequently, the institution withered.

With three hundred garrisons across the Great Ming and thousands of hereditary military officer families, if all those wishing to inherit titles had to pass through the martial academy, the academy would instantly become one of the most vital nodes for controlling the Ming garrisons.

The martial academy in Zhang Fu's mind had never been envisioned on such a grand scale.

Zhang Fu said, "Your Majesty, if it is done this way, there will not be enough teachers."

Without calculating in detail, Zhang Fu knew that the students in this academy would number at least several thousand. At its peak, the Imperial Academy of the Great Ming had roughly six thousand students.

Establishing such a massive school in Beijing was a colossal undertaking that required a substantial workforce.

Zhu Qizhen said, "There will be no shortage of teachers. At present, within the city of Beijing, there are quite a few veteran generals living in idle retirement, which is truly a waste. I believe inviting them into the martial academy to impart their lifelong combat experience would be a fine destination for them."

"Of course, with so many students, they do not need to be taught individually by every single general. We can simply select a number of capable officers from the army to assist."

"If I wish to crush the Oirats, I absolutely cannot allow the garrisons to continue their descent into decay."

"Let us place this martial academy near the imperial palace; I shall go to inspect it when I have time."

Only then did Zhang Fu comprehend the Emperor's true intent.

In his heart, Zhang Fu mused, "This is no mere martial academy; it is clearly a personal corps of youths."

To cultivate Emperor Xuande, the Yongle Emperor had established a youth corps for him. Of course, this youth corps was not entirely composed of children, but rather an army commanded by Emperor Xuande, who was then the Imperial Grandson.

This batch of troops eventually became the bedrock of Emperor Xuande’s loyal faction.

Emperor Xuande passed away far too early; in fact, he had also harbored the intention of establishing a youth corps for Zhu Qizhen. However, Zhu Qizhen had ascended the throne at too young an age, and the matter never came to fruition.

The governance philosophy of the Grand Empress Dowager naturally prioritized utmost stability, and many matters were suppressed. The only reach Zhu Qizhen had extended into the military was the establishment of the Qianqing Palace Imperial Guards.

Though the three hundred guards of the Qianqing Palace had already seen many replacements, with numerous members rotating out to various regions, they acted like so many tentacles reaching outward from Zhu Qizhen.

Now, from Zhang Fu's perspective, it was clear the Emperor felt his control over the military was insufficient and sought to expand his influence over the armed forces through the establishment of a martial academy.

Once Zhang Fu figured this out, he felt a sense of relief.

From the standpoint of the nobility, they naturally preferred an emperor who was close to military officials. For the Emperor to cultivate his own faction among the generals was a good thing.

Naturally, Zhang Fu had no intention of objecting. He immediately stated, "This subject will certainly arrange this matter properly and flawlessly."

Zhu Qizhen said, "Aside from this matter, I have one more thing I must entrust to the Duke. Has the Duke ever heard of the Hall of Great Convergence?"

There had already been rumors regarding this matter previously, so how could Zhang Fu not know? He replied, "This subject has heard a little of it."