Nanjing Military Department Office.
Shi Kefa looked at the official document sent by Yuan Jixian with a gloomy face.
Lu Daqi, the right assistant minister of the Ministry of War, came up to him and asked in a low voice, "Sir Shangshu, what's wrong?"
Shi Kefa did not answer, but pushed the document forward and handed it to Lu Daqi.
Lu Daqi picked up the document and read it carefully.
Yuan Jixian's official document contained four contents.
First, requests for appointment and removal of officials from Zuo Liangyu’s former subordinates.
Zuo Liangyu had ten generals under his command. Yuan Jixian dismissed three of them. Five of the remaining seven were convicted, but they were not demoted. They were just asked to make meritorious contributions while serving their sentences.
The second item was to urge the Ministry of War to quickly issue the 10,000 sets of armor and weapons they had previously requested.
The third request was more interesting. Yuan Jixian requested a reduction in troop strength.
The fourth item is even more interesting. Yuan Jixian requested to recruit 20,000 new soldiers.
Lü Daqi read the document with a surprised look on his face and asked Shi Kefa: "Sir, Yuan Jixian first cut down the troops and then recruited new soldiers... Isn't this contradictory?"
Shi Kefa shook his head slightly. "It's not contradictory. Although Zuo Liangyu claims to have 150,000 men, most of them are a mob. His elite troops were annihilated by Li Chuang in the battle of Zhuxian Town. Now more than 90% of his soldiers are bandits, vagrants, and scattered generals."
"There were even ordinary people who were captured by Zuo Liangyu and forced to fight with the army."
"Great momentum, but weak combat power!"
"In Yuan Jixian's words, it's simply vulnerable!"
"Yuan Jixian did this to lay off the old, weak, sick and disabled and recruit young and strong new soldiers."
Lu Daqi suddenly realized what was going on and then began to worry about Yuan Jixian's situation.
After all, Yuan Jixian took over his position. If Yuan Jixian deliberately arrived late or did not come, he would be the one leading the troops in Wuchang.
"Then...what is the Shangshu-sama worried about?"
"I'm worried that his actions might affect the morale of the troops."
Shi Kefa's worries are not without reason.
What is the most important thing before a battle?
Military morale!
Zhang Xianzhong claimed to have hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses, and he marched towards Sichuan in a mighty force.
Although he did not have many elite troops under his command, he had a large number of troops. It was precisely because of the large number of troops that many cities surrendered.
According to Shi Kefa's plan, Yuan Jixian should not cut down the troops, but instead keep the old, weak, sick and disabled soldiers and rely on the advantage in numbers to embolden the soldiers and boost morale.
Yuan Jixian did exactly the opposite.
He did not use the tactic of massive numbers of men, but rather the strategy of using elite troops.
"This official document...?" Lu Daqi didn't know what to say, so he could only ask Shi Kefa for his opinion.
"Yuan Jixian certainly has his reasons for doing this. We cannot hinder him from behind." Shi Kefa said as he signed his name on the document and approved it.
"Submit these documents to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince later, and urge His Royal Highness to complete the review before sunset today, otherwise it will affect the battle on the front line."
"Yes." Lu Daqi put away the documents and stood aside.
Shi Kefa then took out a document from the pile of documents next to him and continued to review it.
As the number of documents awaiting approval dwindled, Shi Kefa stopped.
He sighed and looked at Lü Daqi: "Yanruo (Lü Daqi's name is Yanruo), if nothing unexpected happens, Qian Qianyi will become my staff member and accompany me in a few days."
Lu Daqi was shocked. "Qian Qianyi is a criminal of the dynasty. Your Majesty has not yet restored his official status. How could the Minister think of letting him serve as an aide?"
"Don't ask. Some things can only be done out of necessity."
Lu Daqi seemed to understand something and sighed, not knowing what to say.
Looking at the entire Nanjing court, the only person who could make Shi Kefa helpless was the crown prince.
Shi Kefa calmed himself down and continued, "I told you this in advance so that you can be prepared. If one day I am convicted of this and dismissed from office, I hope you can take over the position of Minister of War and manage the Ministry of War well."
"Me?" This time it was Lu Daqi's turn to smile bitterly.
His current official position is Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of War, which is one step away from the Minister of War to be Left Vice Minister.
"Don't worry, I have a way." Shi Kefa's face was full of confidence.
Since Shi Kefa said so, Lu Daqi could only nod in agreement.
"How is the preparation of the 10,000 sets of armor and weapons that Yuan Jixian applied for from the Ministry of War going?" Shi Kefa asked.
"As of yesterday, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works have only prepared 4,000 sets of armor and weapons. The rest are still in production and are expected to be completed in three months."
"Too slow!" Shi Kefa stood up and stared at Lu Daqi with a little anger: "Didn't I ask you to borrow from the Beijing Camp? I went to the Beijing Camp warehouse to check, and I can't say how many unused armor and weapons there are, but there are still 2,000 sets."
"Borrowing 2,000 sets, plus the previous 4,000 sets, as long as these 6,000 sets of armor and weapons are transported over, it will definitely be a great help to Yuan Jixian."
Lu Daqi once again showed a helpless expression, "Sir, calm down. The Beijing Camp is managed by you and Duke Wei. Duke Wei refused to lend it out on the grounds that Nanjing is more important than Wuchang."
"I have asked the subordinates in charge of the river navy and the grain transport. Liu Kongzhao and Zhu Guobi both replied that they had no answer."
Shi Kefa felt sad and angry, but also helpless.
The Beijing Army, the Navy, and the Grand Canal Transport can’t gather together two thousand sets of armor?
It’s not that I can’t, it’s that I just don’t want to!
Knowing that they were deliberately not giving it to him, Shi Kefa had no choice.
what to do?
Impeachment? Replacement?
Let’s not talk about whether Zhu Cilang agrees or not. Even if Zhu Cilang agrees, the morale of the army will be affected after the change of generals.
Now is the critical moment and we must not act recklessly.
"How about this, I will write a letter to He Tengjiao, the governor of Huguang, asking him to gather more than a thousand sets of armor for Yuan Jixian. As for weapons, whether it is homemade or stolen from the enemy, Yuan Jixian will figure it out himself."
"He Tengjiao...I don't think he will help Yuan Jixian."
"Why do you say that?"
"I just said it casually, based entirely on my feeling." Lu Daqi didn't want to say more and said perfunctorily.
"Alright, that's it for Yuan Jixian. Tell him to quickly organize his troops and prepare to go out."
"Yes." Lu Daqi sat at the table next to him and drafted the reply document.
Just as Shi Kefa was about to get up to go to the toilet, the yamen runner outside the door came in and reported: "Your Excellency, Minister Huang Daozhou is outside the door asking to see you."
"Let him in."
Huang Daozhou, who is in his sixties, walked in slowly.
Looking at Huang Daozhou who was staggering with every step, Shi Kefa stood up to greet him.
Huang Daozhou bowed and sighed, "I know the Ministry of War is busy, but you are also the Minister of Personnel. You have to take care of the affairs of the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Personnel as well."
"What's wrong?"
"Most of the officials recommended recently are close relatives of Ma Shiying. If this continues, the court will be unstable!"
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