Li Jinglong was quite excited about the emperor's trust, and he knew that his status was special.
With virtually no members of the imperial clan holding military command these days, he, as a relative of the imperial family, represents the pillar of the clan in the military and is the most suitable military supervisor. This was also his father Li Wenzhong's role in the military, and he is now 'inheriting his father's legacy'.
Given the current situation, it's impossible for the emperor to allow his uncles to command troops. As for the emperor's brothers, let's not even talk about the fact that Empress Lü's three sons would never be able to command troops. Even if Emperor Yingshi favored Zhu Yunwen, he would never allow him to take command of the army.
By recognizing his place, Li Jinglong need not worry about his position in the military or about losing the emperor's trust.
"Your Majesty, after the founding of the dynasty, the Emperor Emeritus bestowed titles upon 150 meritorious officials," Li Jinglong summarized, "including 25 dukes, 79 marquises, 12 earls, 11 viscounts, and 23 barons."
Zhu Yunying nodded slightly. In fact, the titles of Earl, Viscount, and Baron were all bestowed by Old Zhu. However, barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences would eventually abolish these three ranks of nobility.
Li Jinglong continued, "Of the twenty-five founding dukes, thirteen were posthumously conferred titles, and none of them were hereditary."
This refers to posthumously conferring the title of Duke, a way for Emperor Zhu to commemorate his fallen comrades. However, in reality, these individuals left behind very little political legacy; their titles were unlikely to remain indefinitely. Their descendants either lost their titles or were demoted. In the Ming Dynasty, the title of Duke was still quite valuable.
“Li Shanchang was questioned about losing his title because of Hu Weiyong’s faction, and Deng Zhen, the son of Ninghe Prince Deng Yu, also lost his title.” Li Jinglong continued, “The eldest son and eldest grandson of the Dong’ou Prince’s line died young and were unable to inherit the title. There are still ten dukes in the court now.”
This also includes Zhu Yunying's younger brother-in-law, Feng Cheng, who was also a duke whose rank would be downgraded.
Li Jinglong continued, “Thirty-two people were posthumously granted the title of marquis. In the case of Hu Ni, twenty-one people had their titles stripped, and four people were stripped of their titles for committing crimes and perverting the law. There were also those who had no children and were demoted. Even though many generals and soldiers were granted titles for their merits in subsequent wars, there are still forty-three marquises in the court.”
This is a relatively euphemistic way of putting it. Zhu Yuanzhang did indeed bestow lavish titles upon meritorious officials after the founding of the dynasty. However, he also constantly sought reasons to strip them of their titles. During the Hu Weiyong case, some founding nobles did indeed have close ties with Hu Weiyong. But for many others, Zhu Yuanzhang simply found excuses to strip them of their titles, which is perfectly acceptable.
These forty-three marquises included Zhu Yunying's second and third maternal uncles, as well as his second brother-in-law. These were titles that could not be inherited indefinitely and would definitely be downgraded later. The Ming Dynasty did not need so many marquises.
At this point, Li Jinglong continued, "Among the founding dukes, there are still Duke Fu Youde of Ying and Duke Lan Yu of Liang, Marquis Geng Bingwen of Changxing, Marquis Cao Xing of Huaiyuan, Marquis Zhang Wen of Huining, Marquis Zhang Yi of Heqing, and Marquis Sun Ke of Quanning."
Cao Xing was still seriously ill, and he could easily pass away, let alone go back to battle.
Zhu Yunying nodded slightly and said with some emotion, "Beauties, like famous generals, are not allowed to grow old in this world."
Li Jinglong was taken aback. Was the emperor lamenting the loss of beauty or regretting the passing of a famous general?
Wang Chengen, a dutiful lackey, immediately knelt down and shouted, "Your Majesty speaks eloquently, composing poems in seven steps..."
"Get out! Get out! Get out!" Zhu Yunying was a little helpless. Had he become a plagiarist again? "You don't need to tell me about my poetic talent; I know it myself!"
Zhu Yunying's earlier remarks came from the Qing Dynasty's "Suiyuan Poetry Talks," written by Yuan Mei. But now, Zhu Yunying has directly stolen half of a fine line. Perhaps after receiving the news, Emperor Zhu will force Zhu Yunying to complete the poem, and then intentionally or unintentionally show off, making a name for this emperor who has been considered to have little literary talent since childhood.
Li Jinglong didn't care about those things and said to Zhu Yunying, "Nowadays, most of the Five Military Commands are hereditary officials, although there are some with family backgrounds in scholarship. However, there are also some who are like father and son and cannot command the three armies to submit."
Zhu Yunying was well aware of this. Among the more promising second-generation nobles, there were those like Xu Huizu who could shoulder great responsibilities, and there were also playboys like Chang Mao. These were all dukes of the Ming Dynasty and the banners of the two major military forces of the Ming Dynasty.
Moreover, these two people, one was Zhu Yunying's brother-in-law and the other was Zhu Yunying's uncle, both of whom had extremely close relationships with Zhu Yunying.
Zhu Yunying thought carefully for a moment and said, "The Duke of Ying and the Duke of Liang still have military affairs to attend to and cannot leave, so these two do not need to serve in the Martial Academy anymore. The Duke of Zhongshan is mature and prudent, and we still need him to oversee the court. As for the Martial Academy, we still need your help."
Li Jinglong grew even more proud and felt increasingly special about his position. It seemed as if he had been 'left idle,' but Li Jinglong was well aware of the importance of the Martial Academy and knew the emperor's true intention in placing him there.
Zhu Yunying continued, "The Marquis of Changxing and others are seasoned generals on the battlefield. I am naturally at ease letting them charge into battle. But I am not confident in letting them command a large army. They are all talented generals, but not suitable to be commanders."
Zhu Yunying could offer such an assessment, and even if Li Jinglong thought the same, he wouldn't say it aloud. Even though he was a Duke, speaking out would offend people.
"The dynasty needs generals, but it also needs commanders." Zhu Yunying began to discuss commanders, saying, "The Duke of Ying and the Duke of Liang can be both generals and commanders, the Duke of Zhongshan can also be a commander, and my cousin is also a good commander. However, the dynasty still needs more commanders."
The first three, especially Fu Youde and Lan Yu, have all proven their military talent by commanding large armies. Xu Huizu, this rising star, also possesses some of Xu Da's flair. As for Li Jinglong, his theoretical skills are excellent, but in person, he needs to be treated with some respect.
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