The soldiers present were somewhat confused upon hearing their female general's words.
"General, what makes you say that?"
Qin Liangyu excitedly spun around in circles, and after a moment, she recounted what had just happened.
"His Majesty is unconventional in his use of people. He not only promoted Li Ruolian, but also developed that kind of cannon."
"In this way, how can the Jurchens outside the Great Wall or the refugees inside the Great Wall be a match for my Ming army?"
"Wouldn't this mean the Ming Dynasty would be revived?"
Although Qin Liangyu was extremely loyal to the Ming Dynasty, her knowledge and experience were ultimately limited.
She was unaware that the root of the Ming Dynasty's problems never lay with the Jurchens or the displaced people.
However, Qin Liangyu's soldiers were even less aware of this principle.
They nodded happily in agreement.
"Since you say so, General, it seems that our Great Ming Dynasty truly has a wise ruler!"
Early the next morning, Qin Liangyu led her troops to the outskirts of the capital.
She first had her soldiers led by the Ministry of War to the drill ground outside the city.
Then he took a few personal guards and went to the palace to pay his respects to Zhu Youjian.
"This humble general, Qin Liangyu, pays her respects to Your Majesty."
Zhu Youjian quickly waved his hand.
"General Qin, please rise. There is no need for such formalities."
After Qin Liangyu got up, she secretly glanced at Zhu Youjian and thought to herself:
"His Majesty is about the same age as the late Emperor, but he looks much more energetic."
As she was pondering this in secret, she heard Zhu Youjian ask her:
"General Qin, do you know why I summoned you to the capital this time?"
Qin Liangyu did not hesitate.
"Is Your Majesty perhaps worried that the Jurchens will invade again, and therefore has ordered me to lead troops north?"
Zhu Youjian smiled slightly.
You're only half right.
"I put you in charge of the troops because I was indeed thinking of guarding against the Jurchens."
"But the main purpose is still to intimidate those with ulterior motives in the capital."
A look of doubt appeared in Qin Liangyu's eyes.
"Your Majesty, what do you mean?"
Zhu Youjian stood up, took out a memorial from the side, and asked Wang Chengen to pass it on to Qin Liangyu.
"General Qin, please see for yourself!"
"I have recently had several secret conversations with General Li Ruolian. The capital garrison of my Great Ming Dynasty is truly rotten to the core!"
"Not long ago, I sent Li Ruolian to lead troops out of the pass. Of the tens of thousands of troops on paper, in reality, there were only a few thousand!"
"This is absolutely outrageous!"
Qin Liangyu was not surprised to hear this.
After a moment of silence, she smiled wryly at Zhu Youjian:
"Your Majesty, you may not know this, but the situation of the Beijing Garrison is actually quite good in our Great Ming Dynasty."
"In Shu, where I am stationed, there were originally many garrisons, but in reality, the number of soldiers has been reduced to less than one-hundredth."
"According to the Ministry of War, there should still be more than 200,000 troops in Sichuan, but if we really want to mobilize troops, I'm afraid we can't even muster a few thousand."
She thought that if she pointed this out, Zhu Youjian would definitely be furious.
To everyone's surprise, Zhu Youjian was not angry.
"General Qin, I already knew all this."
"Otherwise, why would I have bothered to mobilize your troops to the capital?"
The White-Spear Soldiers were not soldiers of the garrison, but soldiers of the chieftain.
Zhu Youjian sighed.
"The garrison in the south has been in a state of decay for more than just a year or two."
"Back when Emperor Shizong was in power, the country was already in decline. A mere few dozen Japanese pirates were able to roam freely in the southeast and even directly attack Nanjing."
"That's why Qi Jiguang was able to train troops and protect the people..."
"If the garrisons are capable, why rely on Qi Jiguang's army?"
These were things he had actually learned by subtly probing Gao Qingyun.
Although Zhu Youjian was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, he did not usually have access to the real situation.
In fact, when it comes to many things about the Ming Dynasty, he doesn't know as much as Gao Qingyun, who came from a later era.
After hearing this, Qin Liangyu was filled with emotion once again.
"I thought that His Majesty, having grown up in the deep palace, would be easily deceived even if he were very wise, but seeing it today, I realize I was overthinking it!"
She quickly bowed and said:
"Since Your Majesty knows all this, then why did you summon me to the capital? Is it to reorganize the Capital Garrison?"
Zhu Youjian nodded in satisfaction.
"General Qin is indeed wise; that is exactly what I meant."
"After eliminating Wei Zhongxian's eunuch faction and confiscating the property of the Donglin Party, I now have a lot of silver in my hands."
"So there's no need to worry about the money."
"I am worried that the reorganization of the capital garrison will provoke widespread opposition in the court. If treacherous officials take the opportunity to contact the Jurchens and lead them to invade and harass the capital, then the capital will be in danger."
"That's why I specifically transferred your troops to the capital."
Qin Liangyu was moved to tears when she saw that the emperor had confided in her so openly and told her such confidential matters.
"Since Your Majesty trusts me so much, I will certainly serve Your Majesty to the death."
"Your Majesty, rest assured, as long as my White-Spear Soldiers are in the capital, there will be no trouble in the city."
Upon hearing this, Zhu Youjian was overjoyed.
The White-Spear Soldiers all came from Sichuan, making it highly unlikely that they could be won over and turned by court officials, let alone defect to the Jurchens.
As long as Qin Liangyu doesn't cause any problems, the White-Spear Soldiers are extremely reliable.
Zhu Youjian got up and went to Qin Liangyu's side.
"General Qin, rest assured, after I have reorganized the Beijing Garrison, I will have you and Li Ruolian lead troops on an eastern expedition to first recover Liaodong."
"Then proceed step by step to wipe out the Jurchens."
"I will certainly reserve the credit for this conquest of the kingdom for you."
Qin Liangyu quickly bowed.
"Thank you for your great kindness, Your Majesty."
Seeing this, Zhu Youjian put aside his last bit of worry.
"Alright, General Qin, you should return to your camp now. I will send someone to deliver the gold and silver rewards to you immediately."
After Qin Liangyu left, Zhu Youjian leaned back on the dragon throne and let out a long sigh.
"Phew, I've finally taken the first step!"
After expressing his feelings, Zhu Youjian suddenly turned around and said to Wang Chengen:
"By the way, I heard that Li Zicheng performed quite well at the training ground yesterday?"
"Go and plead with Master Gao for me, and let Li Zicheng train the artillery in the army whenever he has free time."
Wang Chengen hesitated.
"Your Majesty, did Master Gao say that Li Zicheng is..."
Zhu Youjian waved his hand dismissively.
"Li Zicheng has been in Beijing for several months now, and you've seen him before. Do you think he's a born bad guy?"
"In the end, it was simply that he couldn't survive in the original history, so he started a rebellion."
"As long as I treat him sincerely, he will not rebel for no reason."
"Don't worry."
Upon hearing this, Wang Chengen immediately bowed and said, "Your Majesty is indeed broad-minded, daring to give even Li Zicheng an important position."
Such magnanimity is truly unprecedented throughout history.
Zhu Youjian chuckled.
"Alright, stop flattering me."
However, he soon remembered Wang Chengen's flattering words earlier, and then something else.
"What did Johann Adam Schall von Bell do after he entered the palace?"
It turns out that the news that Tang Ruowang said Zhu Youjian had a "big belly" yesterday had already reached his ears.
Wang Chengen quickly said:
"After Johann Adam Schall von Bell entered the palace, he kept insisting on seeing Master Gao."
"This servant suspects that Johann Adam Schall von Bell harbors malicious intentions."
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