Zhu Houzhao was overestimating his abilities and competing with Wang Lingzhi, and losing was inevitable. However, Zhu Houzhao was not very annoyed because there were endless compliments next to him.

Qian Ning said: "... General Xiao Wang competed with all the students in the school before, and they won in one move. You must know that these are all elites in the army... But Your Majesty can draw with General Xiao Wang. Your Majesty is really good at kung fu..."

Zhang Yuan followed up and talked nonsense: "...If Your Majesty hadn't intended to give in, I'm afraid General Xiao Wang would have fallen to the ground and couldn't get up!"

These flattering words were irrelevant. Zhu Houzhao twisted his wrists and relaxed his muscles and said, "You can't say that. I am indeed not as good as General Xiao Wang's ability. It seems that I have to exercise more in the future and strive to get a few more moves with General Xiao Wang next time... Mr. Chen, what do you think of my fist and foot skills?"

Zhu Houzhao really hopes to get praise from Chen Xi.

Chen Xi said seriously: "Your Majesty should be diligent in riding and shooting training. If you only have strong fist skills, you will not be able to fight with the Tatars... The main reason why the school teaches fighting skills is to strengthen the body, train courage and perseverance, and lay the foundation for a better leadership of troops in the future."

Chen Xi did not give a positive comment, but in disguise he said that Zhu Houzhao's fist skills were quite average. Although Zhu Houzhao was conceited, he knew that he could not win the battle with Wang Lingzhi. He praised him casually and was no longer interested in it.

"Mr. Chen, you asked me to come here to summon students and discuss the situation on the front line with me and Mr.? This is exactly the purpose of establishing a rear command post, but I wonder if these students are capable of assisting me?"

Zhu Houzhao looked at the military school students present, and his eyes were full of contempt. After all, thirty people took turns to compete with Wang Lingzhi, but they all ended up losing. Naturally, he felt that these students were all worth the money.

Chen Xidao: "Your Majesty has to test it personally. If your Majesty feels that these students are not qualified to become your Majesty's counselors, you might as well recruit more people to study in the school."

Zhu Houzhao asked curiously: "Mr. Chen, how can we recruit more people? Are there so many military talents around the capital?"

Chen Xi nodded: "Your Majesty, if you want to enrich the country and strengthen the army, you must break the prejudice and cannot just select talents from the military households. You should expand the scope and select some people who are good at military strategy from among the scholars, so that they can break free from the constraints of the imperial examinations, obtain official positions as civilians, and serve the country with the army."

Because what Chen Xi said had exceeded the existing employment system of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Houzhao was a little confused after hearing this, and didn't know if it was feasible.

Qian Ning smiled and said, "Mr. Shen, this military household has been hereditary since the founding of the Ming Dynasty. If this employment system changes, it is probably unstable for people to be instable."

Zhu Houzhao looked at Chen Xi and felt that what Qian Ning said made some sense.

Chen Xi shook his head: "You can't find a sword when carving a boat, and the system should not be unchanged. Otherwise, why would Your Majesty formulate the basic national policy to strengthen the army?"

Zhu Houzhao nodded firmly immediately: "Mr. Chen said it well. If he was just selected from the military households, many generals and schools were hereditary, and the officials did not affect their eating of public food at least. Many people may not even recognize them. How can they lead good soldiers to fight a good war? I am afraid that they would not even understand the battle formation during the war..."

"Mr. Chen, what method do you think should be used to select from the public? Should you publish notices so that those who are capable can recommend themselves?"

Chen Xi looked at Zhu Houzhao with a look of approval: "The general method is similar to what Your Majesty has proposed, but not only does it have self-recommendation, but there will be a detailed selection system. I believe it is necessary to hold several exams on military strategy to allow all scholars to participate. If anyone has performed outstandingly in this regard, I hope that Your Majesty will allow him to enter the military school without any restrictions, and after successfully passing the graduation exam, Your Majesty will personally entrust his military position."

Zhu Houzhao thought about it, but didn't know if he should agree.

Chen Xi continued: "As the principal of the Military Academy, these students can be said to be the disciples of the Emperor, and they will definitely be extremely loyal to His Majesty."

Zhu Houzhao kept trying to build a team of his own. When he heard Chen Xi's analysis, he suddenly widened his eyes and nodded repeatedly:

"Since that's the case, I'll have to worry about this matter. I believe that with Mr. Chen, the Ming army will definitely become stronger gradually. When fighting with the Tatars, there is no need to take a defensive moment. It's not far from the time to level the grassland!"

In the words, Zhu Houzhao had a little more time.

Once he has a team that belongs entirely to himself, he no longer has to look at the faces of the old ministers of the previous dynasty. Zhu Houzhao felt that he could realize his ambitions and lead the Ming Dynasty to prosperity at that time.

...

...

Zhu Houzhao's evaluation of Chen Xi is very high.

When he had a longing for the future, Zhu Houzhao, as the emperor, took a fully accepted attitude towards Chen Xi's suggestions.

Zhu Houzhao is open-minded and easy to accept new things. Some of the measures proposed by Chen Xi are easier to accept than when he proposed them in front of Zhu Youzhang.

As long as Chen Xi said it once, Zhu Houzhao could understand it and then happily adopted it.

After Zhu Houzhao competed with Wang Lingzhi, the next step was to discuss military information.

Zhu Houzhao is very confident in his military accomplishments and is very eager to communicate with others and prove his insights.

Chen Xi provided him with such an opportunity.

Unfortunately, these military schools have just been recruited from Beijing camp and have little knowledge. Even if they have been studying for a few days, they will not be able to get on the table.

These people have never been to Xuanfu, they do not understand the terrain and landform there, they do not know the deployment of troops from both sides of the enemy and us, nor have they had the experience of fighting against the Tatars. In addition, the status of the generals is low, so they can show their performance in front of the emperor, but no one can truly express an insightful view.

A group of people surrounded the sand table prepared in advance by Chenxi. Even though they roughly understood the geographical situation of mountains and rivers on the sand table, they were still staring at them.

Zhu Houzhao asked Chen Xi some things, and Chen Xi answered calmly, especially when it came to the military strength of the Tatars, Chen Xi was even more familiar with it.

But when Zhu Houzhao asked those students, none of them could be said.

Zhu Houzhao frowned: "Mr. Chen, it seems that it's not possible. These people... cannot understand the situation of the war like me. Is it appropriate to let them be my counselors? How long will it take for these people to learn real skills and graduate from the military school?"

Chenxidao: "Moderate and low-level officers mainly engage in the strategy of leading troops, and they can only be obeyed and prohibited. If Your Majesty wants to find a think tank, he must be a general who has been experienced in the battle formation or a scholar who is familiar with military books, so that he can have a more intuitive understanding of mountains, rivers, and the arrangement of troops..."

Zhu Houzhao said helplessly: "That means... no one here can do it?"

Chen Xi looked at the lieutenants present. These people were already better in the Beijing camp, at least they all recognized their words. He sent all those who were recommended by the Governor's Office of the Five Army and did not recognize their words. Chen Xi did not want to turn the military school into a "literacy class". If he started with the professor's literacy, he didn't know how long it would take to bring the first batch of officers out.

But even if these people recognize words, they cannot compare with scholars.

Although military households could take the imperial examinations during the Hongzhi period, these people themselves had hereditary official positions as the basis for their survival. Few people took the imperial examinations, and even if there were, most of them took the military examinations, because this was much easier than the literary examination.

Among the officers selected this time, Chen Xi paid special attention to those who had previously been a martial artist, especially the Wu Jinshi. Twenty of the eighty students are Wu Jinshi.

But even a Wu Jinshi, in Shen Xi's opinion, it is difficult to hold on to the scene.

Chen Xi said: "Your Majesty, everything is difficult at the beginning. If you want to become a fat man in one step, that is unrealistic."

Zhang Yuan raised a question: "Shangshu Chen, what you said is wrong. You proposed before that His Majesty should build a command post in the rear, but now this command post only has the command post and does not have qualified advisers. How can we provide the frontline soldiers with correct strategies and make plans and win thousands of miles away?"

When Zhu Houzhao heard this, she did not object. Obviously, he also felt that he might have been deceived by Chen Xi.

Chen Xi looked at Zhang Yuan and said seriously: "In addition to Your Majesty and his humble ministers, there are generals like General Wang who have experienced practical combat on the front line, old and strong commanders such as the Duke of England, and the nobles like Shouning Hou who have led the Beijing camp for many years, and there are also military school students who have been carefully selected from scholars in the future. How can they be considered incomplete?"

Zhu Houzhao asked, "Then can't the discussion continue today?"

Chen Xidao: "If Your Majesty does not want to listen to the students' opinions for the time being, then I will find some experienced people to give advice to Your Majesty."

"Oh!?" Zhu Houzhao was confused, "Who is Mr. Chen talking about, the Duke of England? Or the uncle? Or other nobles?"

Chen Xi shook his head: "Your Majesty does not need to disturb those senior generals for the time being, because the Ministry of War itself has suitable talents. Follow the minister, the minister, the minister, the chief officer and other officials. You can invite these people and take the test on the spot to know if there are any people who are just filling in the numbers, and your Majesty will reward and punish them."

Zhu Houzhao took a deep breath: "This is a good idea. As the Ming Dynasty's military yamen in charge of the Ming Dynasty, there should be many talented people and strangers... Why did I forget this? Since Mr. Chen proposed to be an assessment, please make arrangements!"

...

...

Chen Xi suddenly proposed to assess officials of the Ministry of War. Zhu Houzhao thought it was very good. On the one hand, he could show off his power in front of his ministers, and on the other hand, he could try whether the people in the Ministry of War had real skills.

Zhang Yuan and Qian Ning understood Chen Xi’s intention somewhat.

Obviously, Chen Xi wanted to take this assessment to rectify the personnel of the Ministry of War, or Chen Xi took advantage of the opportunity when Liu Jin was absent from the court to start eliminating dissidents.

In order to prevent Chen Xi from becoming a big shot, Liu Jin placed a lot of spies in the Ministry of War and bribed many officials. In this way, any movements in Chen Xi or what happened to the Ministry of War will be heard immediately. This is also a way for Liu Jin to monitor Chen Xi.

Now that Liu Jin has been sent to Xuanfu to lead troops, Chen Xi wants to control the situation, so he naturally has to start by eliminating dissidents.

Zhang Yuan and Qian Ning were both thinking: "It is Shen Zhihou's skillful method and brings His Majesty to the Military Academy. With a one-small move, he can form a one-man show in the Ministry of War."

Chen Xi remained silent and asked someone to call the people who could be ranked in the Ministry of War.

Xiong Xiu and He Jian, the Minister of War, did not understand why Chen Xi had to form such a big formation. When Chen Xi came to the school gate to wait, Xiong Xiu said: "Shangshu Chen, it would be fine if you bring Your Majesty to this place, but if you say that you would transfer all your colleagues from the Ministry of War here to discuss military aircraft, you are afraid it would not be so appropriate?"

Even Zhang Yuan and Qian Ning could think that Chen Xi might have to eliminate dissidents. Xiong Xiu and He Jian, as old ministers who have been living in the officialdom for many years, naturally understood this level.

Chen Xidao: "This is the imperial decree issued by Your Majesty. We can just follow the orders and act. As for the post-conference, I will deal with it as appropriate. The two ministers, please come to the post-conference and participate in the discussion on the front-line strategy."

Xiong Xiu and He Jian looked at each other.

Although the two were suspicious, they could only go to the large conference room in the military school for war chess deduction with Chen Xi to discuss the military use on the front line of Xuanfu around the huge sand table.

...

...

More than half an hour passed, and Zhu Houzhao was so tired that she fell asleep in her seat.

After finally hearing Chen Xi's introduction, the staff had arrived. Zhu Houzhao opened her sleepy eyes, looked around, and asked, "Mr. Chen, are you going to start the discussion now? Oh, there are quite a lot of people."

Since becoming emperor, Zhu Houzhao has only been to the Ministry of War once, but he left when he saw Chen Xi outside the Ministry of War. He never entered the yamen at all, and there has never been a precedent for summoning all officials of the Ministry of War to ask questions at once.

The situation of the other six ministries was no exception. After Zhu Houzhao ascended the throne, he was basically indifferent to the affairs of the court. This time, he summoned the ministers, which was also Chen Xi who found an opportunity to promote them, and it was not even due to Zhu Houzhao's original intention.

There were 60 or 70 officials at all levels of the Ministry of War, and more than 30 students from the Military Academy, the conference room was densely packed with people.

Chen Xi made an opening remark: "Your Majesty sent Wang Shouren, the doctor of the Ministry of War, and Eunuch Liu, the chief of the Ministry of Li, to Xuanfu, to resist the Tatars' invasion. Today, Your Majesty summons you here to ask you about your views on the current war... Please express your opinions. If anyone proposed the strategy is adopted, there will be rewards. You can speak freely."

After Chen Xi finished speaking, the conference room was silent.

Court discussions are the power of high-ranking officials. Not to mention participating in the government affairs, middle and lower-level officials must be rushing for three or two years even when they enter the palace to meet the saints. And they don’t have a chance every year. As for those small officials of the seventh and eighth rank or even lower, they will never have a chance to see the emperor in their entire lives.

The first time I met the Saint, I had to talk about the war in Xuanfu, and I had no preparation in advance. I didn’t know much about the situation in Xuanfu, so no one dared to come out and talk casually.

Zhu Houzhao asked, "What's wrong with your family? Are you afraid of me and think I'm not easy to speak, so you dare not express your opinions at will?"

At this moment, Zhu Houzhao was sitting on the hosting stage just north of the sand table. His place was high and he could see all the terrain on the sand table, and even the words on the small flags on it were clearly visible.

The officials present were trembling and no one dared to speak nonsense. The Confucian doctrine of meanness restricted their thoughts and behaviors, and they were worried that the gun would shoot the forest bird.

After waiting for a long time, no one came out to speak. Zhu Houzhao said to Chen Xi: "It seems that no one in the Ministry of War is willing to be my aide."

Chen Xi smiled and said, "Maybe my colleagues don't know what to say, so let me start with it."

Not everyone present didn't want to speak. Many "ups" including the Jinshi of the Political Consultative Affairs of Hongzhi for the 18th year. They just arrived at the Ministry of War and were waiting for the show. At this moment, they suddenly had the opportunity to meet the saint, so they naturally wanted to perform well, but they didn't know much about the matter in Xuanfu, so they could only remain silent.

Chen Xi pointed to the sign on the sand table: "The reason for the Tatars to invade the territory is very simple. It was that our dynasty had a great victory before, and we had a great victory..."
To be continued...