"Come here, please take a seat."

After Han Yu sat down, Zhu Youxiao didn't beat around the bush and asked directly, "My dear, what brings you here today?"

In fact, Zhu Youxiao didn't want to beat around the bush. He didn't have the heart to deal with Han Yu and the others now.

After hearing this, Han Yu's heart tightened. He knew that the emperor didn't want to work, but he didn't expect it to go to this extent. The emperor actually felt a little disgusted with his arrival.

This made Han Yu a little nervous.

However, after spending so much time together, Han Yu also understood the emperor's temper. If his business was serious, there shouldn't be any problem.

Han Yu straightened his attitude and said respectfully, "I came here today because I have something to report."

"Go ahead." Zhu Youxiao nodded and leaned back on the couch, waiting for Han Yu to speak.

"Your Majesty, the cabinet has received quite a few memorials recently, all of which are about the military." As he spoke, Han Yu looked at Zhu Youxiao cautiously, with a look of worry on his face and some uneasiness in his heart.

After all, everyone in the Ming Dynasty knows that the emperor has always attached great importance to military power, and the current emperor is even more so. He values ​​his military power more than anything else.

When it comes to military power, the emperor doesn't allow anyone to interfere. No matter if they are nobles or civil officials, no one is allowed to interfere.

Han Yu mentioned the issue of the military, which is itself quite sensitive.

"Really? Tell me about it." Zhu Youxiao nodded and said.

"They're all impeachments for military corruption and unpaid salaries." Han Yu looked at Zhu Youxiao and said, "Your Majesty's recent anti-corruption campaign in Jiangnan has caused quite a stir. Many in the army saw an opportunity, so they submitted these petitions."

After hearing this, Zhu Youxiao was stunned. This was something he had not expected.

Speaking of which, corruption was very serious in the Ming Dynasty, and this had been the case for a long time. It was common for soldiers to eat empty salaries and embezzle soldiers' salaries. Even Qi Jiguang did this, and it was known to everyone in the court and the country.

If you were to have a full complement of 100,000, you'd be lucky to have 50,000 men. The rest would be the elderly, the sick, the disabled, and those who were not paid for their services. Some of them were not combat soldiers. The army that could actually fight was probably only 10,000 or 20,000.

This kind of thing was known to everyone, both in the government and the country. Besides the military, civil servants also embezzled money from it.

Zhu Youxiao didn't expect that Han Yu would actually bring up this matter, and he came in person. This is quite interesting.

Zhu Youxiao looked Han Yu up and down and began to wonder what he was thinking.

For the chief minister of the cabinet, such matters would not be easily involved; even if they did, they would let their subordinates test the wind direction first, rather than running to the emperor themselves.

There is something wrong here, and Zhu Youxiao feels that this is unusual.

Is he planning to oversee military reform? Does Han Yu have the guts to do so?

In fact, Zhu Youxiao was right. Han Yu also thought so. He wanted to preside over the military reform. This was not something Han Yu wanted to do, but he had to do it.

There are not many opportunities now. The emperor has dealt with so many people, and there are not many problems left for the Ming Dynasty.

Everyone can see it, let alone a smart person like Han Yu?

Your Majesty is such a man of great talent and vision that reforms are inevitable. It is impossible to allow such an abscess to continue bleeding the Ming Dynasty.

Xu Guangqi of the cabinet has always been a staunch supporter of military reform. He had already started training troops when he was not yet a Grand Secretary. He was very dissatisfied with the court's military system and hoped that the court could recruit soldiers.

During the two years of training new soldiers, Xu Guangqi felt much more stable. On the one hand, it was because Zhu Youxiao was in charge, and on the other hand, it was because the court was relatively chaotic.

But now, after eight years of peace, the emperor suddenly took action to clean up a large number of merchants. The country had money and politics was stable. Under such circumstances, military reform was about to begin.

Smart people have already seen this step, so they should prepare for it.

Once Xu Guangqi presided over the military reform, Han Yu, the cabinet minister, would probably be gone soon.

Under such circumstances, how could Han Yu sit still?

He was very panicked.

Military reform can only be presided over by civilians. After all, it is a matter of offending people. The General Staff can only cooperate from the side and absolutely cannot take the lead. Otherwise, it will undermine their authority, cause conflicts between superiors and subordinates, and be difficult to manage in the future.

The cabinet is the best candidate for military reform, and within the cabinet, Xu Guangqi is the best candidate.

If you want to fight for power, you have to take the initiative. Under such circumstances, Han Yu came directly to the palace. He didn't want to wait any longer, and he couldn't wait any longer.

Apart from the army, the Ming Dynasty didn't have much left. If he were to preside over the civil service reform, it would be a big trouble.

Judging from what the emperor has done in recent years, tax reform is definitely the next step, and the focus is on requiring officials and gentry to pay taxes together.

You know, the nobles, relatives of the nobles, and the royal family have all paid their taxes, leaving only the civil servants, who are an eyesore. If the emperor wants to take action, he will definitely find someone to do it.

Since Han Yu didn't want to take responsibility for this matter, he could only find something else to take responsibility for, so he chose military reform.

As a civilian, he wasn't afraid of offending the military bosses. He couldn't let his subordinates handle this matter; it wasn't important enough. He had to do it himself.

Zhu Youxiao could probably guess what Han Yu was thinking, but after thinking about it, he put the matter behind him.

It doesn’t matter. Han Yu can think whatever he wants, as long as this matter can be accomplished.

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