While Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Ying were discussing military affairs, Li Jinglong was gradually approaching the outside of the residence.

"I am here today to see what His Royal Highness Chang Sun looks like. He is very similar to His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

After coming out of the palace, Li Jinglong went straight to the Qinhuai River.

He got the address from Zhu Di, so he wanted to visit him.

Of course, he had other things on his mind at the same time.

In early history, Li Jinglong seemed like a fool. His army of 600,000 was defeated by Zhu Di, which was simply ridiculous.

That was the Battle of Baigou River.

In fact, at the beginning of the battle, Li Jinglong had always maintained a crushing advantage over Zhu Di. In several battles, Zhu Di was defeated and retreated.

Whether in terms of tactics or strategic layout, Li Jinglong is impeccable.

However, every time they wanted to encircle and suppress Zhu Di, there would always be an unexpected gap in the perfect defense line, allowing Zhu Di to seize the opportunity to break through.

Zhu Di and Li Jinglong were very familiar with each other. After observing the layout of Li Jinglong's 600,000 troops, Zhu Di was surprised to find that there was a loophole in the central army.

Zhu Di, who had seized the opportunity, rushed straight to the center of the army, where Li Jinglong was, in the final battle.

However, even if there were loopholes, the huge difference was not something Zhu Di could shake. When he was still quite a distance away from the central army, Zhu Di was already in a situation of being surrounded and killed.

How does it feel to be surrounded by an army of 600,000?

At that time, Zhu Di was already disheartened.

However, at this moment, the flag of Li Jinglong's central army was suddenly blown away by the strong wind.

The central army commander's flag was the command flag for all the armies. Once the flag fell, the army without a commander began to become somewhat chaotic.

However, the funniest thing is that when Li Jinglong saw the flag fall, his first reaction was not to prop it up, but to look at the chaos and run away with his personal guards.

Just when the army led by Li Jinglong was confused, the morale of Zhu Di's army was greatly boosted and they quickly launched a counterattack.

Tens of thousands of Li Jinglong's 600,000 troops were trampled, and the strategic defense line of dozens of miles along the Baigou River was quickly broken. Li Jinglong could only lead more than 100,000 troops to retreat to Jinan, and the fierce general Zhai Neng was also killed in the battle, and the remaining troops scattered everywhere.

The stunning reversal in the Battle of Baigou River not only caused the collapse of the 600,000-strong army, but also greatly boosted Zhu Di's prestige, and the situation in the Jingnan Campaign began to improve.

Throughout the battle, at the beginning, Li Jinglong performed remarkably well and had no problems at all, but he failed at the critical moment.

Then hundreds of thousands of troops were lost.

Among them, who would believe that Li Jinglong was not Zhu Di's secret agent?

The most important thing is that Zhu Yunwen believed it.

He also handed over the defense of Nanjing City to Li Jinglong.

When Zhu Di arrived at the city of Nanjing, Li Jinglong directly opened the city gate.

Nanjing, as the capital of the Ming Dynasty, had forty-eight guards in the Beijing Camp alone.

A guard of 5,600 people is nearly 300,000 people.

Even if some of the troops were transferred away by Li Jinglong before, plus the more than 100,000 soldiers who later fled, it is conservatively estimated that there were more than 300,000 troops stationed in the capital.

Together with Rome's large cannon on the city gate, there was countless gunpowder.

If Li Jinglong had not surrendered, it would have been unknown whether Zhu Di could have taken the city with his more than 200,000 troops and how long it would have taken.

From another perspective, Zhu Di was very familiar with the capital Nanjing. He knew how difficult it was to capture Nanjing and how many troops were needed to ensure victory.

However, after the great victory at Baigou River, Zhu Di did not hesitate and led his troops straight to Nanjing.

This strategy at the time dumbfounded the soldiers who followed him.

Who gave Zhu Di such confidence?

There is no one else except Li Jinglong.

Some people say that Li Jinglong opened the gate and surrendered because he was afraid.

However, it is difficult to see from Li Jinglong's resume that he has any intention of being afraid.

Li Jinglong, who grew up in a military camp, followed his father Li Wenzhong to fight on the battlefield. When he grew up, he led troops and trained them alone and was responsible for the Western trade. He was valued by Zhu Yuanzhang.

The most crucial thing is that Li Jinglong did not open the city gate alone, he had accomplices.

He surrendered together with Prince Gu Zhu Tan, and the city gate that was opened was the Nanjing Jinchuan Gate guarded by Prince Gu Zhu Tan.

If Li Jinglong wanted to open the city gate, it might not be possible.

Of course, although Li Jinglong now has a good relationship with Zhu Di, he has no intention of helping him rebel.

But he was a smart man, and between Zhu Yunwen and Zhu Ying, he quickly chose Zhu Ying, whom he had never even met.

How could Li Jinglong not understand what kind of person his cousin was? How could he possibly defeat such a ruthless man like Zhu Ying?

In particular, Zhu Ying is the eldest grandson, and is recognized by His Majesty.

No matter what mess his background is, as long as His Majesty is alive, the position of the Crown Prince can only be taken by Zhu Ying.

On this point, Li Jinglong, like Zhu Di, saw it very clearly.

"Your Majesty has not yet announced the identity of His Royal Highness Chang Sun. If I submit early, I will definitely be given important positions."

Li Jinglong felt a little nervous.

Because Zhu Ying was too unfamiliar to him, and coupled with the mystery brought by the Qunying Chamber of Commerce, Li Jinglong was already a little timid before they even met.

"Duke Cao, please stay. It is not appropriate to enter here."

Just when Li Jinglong saw the house in front and was about to go straight over, suddenly two sturdy men dressed as ordinary people blocked his way.

Li Jinglong stopped and with just one glance he realized that these people were the Jinyiwei.

"Why, you Jinyiwei have such wide range of authority, but you don't allow me to walk around?" Li Jinglong rolled his eyes and said immediately.

However, the two Jinyiwei didn't buy it at all. After looking at each other, they stepped forward and said in a deep voice: "Duke Cao, please don't make things difficult for us."

The two men put their hands on the hilts of their swords. It was obvious that if Li Jinglong said another word, he would subdue them without giving them any face.

As your Majesty's personal guards, no matter who it is, if anyone dares to offend your Majesty, we will arrest them and send them to the Imperial Guard Prison.

Li Jinglong looked at the position of the two people's hands, turned around and left without hesitation, without looking back.

Just after Li Jinglong left, two Jinyiwei whispered to each other and one of them immediately walked towards Zhu Ying's residence.

"You stay here with the other brothers, I will go and report to Lord Jiang."

"yes."

…

In the yard, Zhu Ying understood that the old man already agreed with his idea of ​​separating the military and politics.

Although the specific implementation must be more careful.

After all, the reform of the entire Ming Dynasty military system is far from being accomplished by just a few thousand words on a piece of paper. The interests involved are extremely huge.

However, Zhu Ying knew very well that if he wanted to reform the Ming Dynasty, he could only do so while the old man was still alive.

If I were to ascend the throne and carry out this reform, the obstacles I would encounter would certainly be beyond imagination.

The separation of military and political power, in a sense, is also a weakening of the power of military generals.

The most critical constraint lies in the difference between wartime and non-wartime.

It is equivalent to adding a role similar to the Military Commission of later generations to the normal military commanders to control non-professional soldiers in non-wartime.

This means that the number of troops controlled by generals in peacetime has dropped significantly.

In fact, most soldiers, when there is no war, exist as military farms. During this period, they will be ruled by the Military Commission, rather than by the original generals as before.

In Zhu Ying's strategy on paper, the soldiers' salaries will not be distributed through the original commander, but will be distributed by the Military Commission instead. Logistics soldiers and combat soldiers will also be completely separated.

"Grandpa, the separation of the military and the government needs to be done slowly. This is just a rough idea. If you really want to implement it, you still need to prepare properly."

Zhu Ying said.

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

The separation of military and political affairs actually requires the addition of a line similar to a logistics chief to the original command team.

This newly added position is actually difficult for ordinary military generals to hold, at least not for illiterate military generals. It requires a literary talent.

"The only way is to turn the civil officials into military officers. After we go back, we will summon all the ministers to discuss this matter. Then, when we come to any conclusion, we will show it to our eldest grandson." Zhu Yuanzhang said after thinking for a while.

Zhu Yuanzhang quickly found the key by following the idea of ​​separation of military and political affairs. In a sense, this can also be regarded as a combination of civil and military affairs.

"By the way, Grandpa, there is one more thing I want to tell you." Zhu Ying said suddenly.

Zhu Yuanzhang came back to his senses and asked, "What's the matter, grandson? Just tell me."

Zhu Ying told the Goryeo envoy somewhat embarrassedly that he had replaced Zhao Xiangxi with someone else.

"Good boy, we were worried that you wouldn't be interested in women, but we didn't expect you to do it yourself."

Zhu Yuanzhang laughed. He was of course very pleased that his eldest grandson wanted a woman.

Suddenly, Zhu Yuanzhang's laughter stopped abruptly.

He looked at his eldest grandson in a daze. He was confused by the fact that his eldest grandson wanted a woman. Then he realized that the Goryeo envoy was helping his eldest grandson to change someone?

"Grandson, what's going on with those Goryeo envoys?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked directly.

If you don’t show off now, when will you?

Zhu Ying was secretly delighted that he could shock the old man.

Zhu Ying sighed and said, "Alas, my subordinates are always giving me trouble. They are always trying to find women for me. It's really a headache."

Zhu Yuanzhang paused, then immediately asked, "Grandson, did you kill all the Korean envoys and replace them with your own people?"

In Zhu Yuanzhang's view, Goryeo was extremely important to the Ming Dynasty.

Especially the current Goryeo general Lee Seong-gye, who is recognized by Zhu Yuanzhang as the best ally.

After all, the previous kings of Goryeo had always been loyal to the Mongols and refused to pay tribute to the Ming Dynasty, and Lee Seong-gye's attitude was obviously very clear.

It would be difficult to deal with if Da Sun intercepted and killed all the envoys.

Zhu Ying was speechless, he knew that the old man had misunderstood.

I had to explain to the old man that these Goryeo envoys were originally under his command.

Sure enough, Zhu Yuanzhang’s eyes widened.

"How did you do this, Grandson?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked in disbelief.

The envoys of a country have always been the people that the king values ​​the most, and with such a direct replacement, it is obvious that the entire envoy team has more than just a few people under the command of the great grandson.

This means that the entire team of Goryeo envoys has been controlled by Da Sun.

Zhu Ying smiled faintly, and said casually: "Not only the Goryeo envoys, but also the Goryeo royal guards, court ministers, local officials, and commanders of land and sea troops are all under my grandson's command."

"As long as Grandpa says the word, I will change my surname to Gaoli tomorrow."

Zhu Yuanzhang was really shocked when he heard his eldest grandson's declaration, which was full of a hint of arrogance.

This seems like a fairy tale, but did the eldest grandson really do it?

According to what Da Sun said, the entire Goryeo is now under the control of Da Sun. Then Lee Seong-gye, who led the army to capture the capital of Goryeo, is now just a puppet?

This, this is too exaggerated.

Zhu Yuanzhang couldn't help but swallow his saliva. After a while, he came back to his senses from the shock and asked hurriedly, "How did Grandson do such a thing? It's really unbelievable."

Zhu Ying felt very happy when he saw that the old man was shocked.

He did not hide it and directly told everyone that he had arranged people to infiltrate Lee Seong-gye's army a long time ago, including some subsequent arrangements, which he also explained.

In fact, it is not difficult to understand. After all, Zhu Ying was rich. When Snowflake Salt was sold in Goryeo, he had already hooked up with a large number of Goryeo nobles.

Li Chenggui was also a member of the vested interests. With the addition of some soldiers, under the control of Zhu Ying, especially when the Mongols were defeated, the situation in Goryeo was not very good.

The status of these soldiers was quickly promoted and they quickly rose to power.

Lee Seong-gye was not the only general that was being won over, and he also needed manpower to jointly resist the old forces of the Goryeo royal family and powerful aristocratic families.

In the 22nd year of Hongwu, King Wang U of Goryeo sent people to assassinate Lee Seong-gye. However, Wang U was protected by the undercover generals under Zhu Ying's command and was safe and sound. As a result, he gained Lee Seong-gye's extreme trust and now serves as the commander of the royal palace guards.

Lee Seong-gye and Joo Young, who held real power, began to carry out private land reforms, mainly with the aim of restricting powerful families and Buddhist forces, which was a reshuffle of the economic base.

Zhu Ying arranged a large number of people to infiltrate Goryeo. Because there were too many people infiltrating, the Qun Ying Chamber of Commerce was left with no one available for a short period of time.

As Zhu Ying spoke, Zhu Yuanzhang's somewhat cloudy eyes emitted a terrifying light as he stared at Zhu Ying's face.

After Zhu Ying finished speaking, he noticed that the old man was acting strange, and couldn't help but look at himself and asked, "Grandpa, what's wrong with you?"

"Is there anything else?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked.

"No more." Zhu Ying shook his head and replied.

"Good grandson, he is really our good grandson, sister, you can see our grandson, our excellent grandson, even if he is living in the wild, he is still so extraordinary."

"Stronger than us, stronger than us, hahahaha!!!"