Reborn as a tyrant in the Ming Dynasty

Anything involving reform requires great courage, determination, and clear goals and directions. From the moment they are set, no matter what difficulties and obstacles we encounter, there must be no hesitation or wavering. Once such signs appear, the outcome is doomed to failure.

The path Zhu Youxiao chose to take was an unprecedented one. Before him lay all kinds of difficulties and obstacles. He had no other choice but to face them head-on.

Shanhaiguan.

The place where the residence is located.

"Thank you for your hard work during this period."

Zhu Youxiao leaned against the cushion, a faint smile on his face, and looked at Ma Shilong who was specially summoned, "If it weren't for your family, I want to clear out the treacherous villains hiding in Shanhaiguan. I'm afraid that Shanhaiguan, this important place, will probably change like Lulong, Qian'an and other places."

"Your Majesty, this is all due to your foresight. I am just doing my duty."

Ma Shilong clasped his fists and bowed, saying, "Shanhai Pass is your majesty's Shanhai Pass, and even more so the court's Shanhai Pass. No one can influence it."

"Haha~"

Zhu Youxiao laughed.

How could Zhu Youxiao not know what Ma Shilong was thinking when he said this? He was afraid. No one could guess what he had done from the beginning to the end, including killing Gao Qiquan and his gang of eunuchs who were guarding the city, and killing Wu Xiang and other two-faced people. No one had expected that he would be so simple and brutal.

Shanhaiguan currently seems to be in a stable situation, but in fact it is still in turmoil. It's just because Ma Shilong is afraid that he doesn't dare to say these words.

"Don't you have anything to say to me?"

After hesitating for a moment, Zhu Youxiao looked at Ma Shilong and said.

"minister……"

Ma Shilong hesitated.

How could Ma Shilong not know the emperor's question?

But he didn't know how to say it.

"I want to hear the truth, not just humility."

Zhu Youxiao lifted his robe sleeves and leaned forward.

"His Majesty!!"

Hearing this, Ma Shilong knelt on one knee, clasped his fists towards the emperor and said, "I think Your Majesty should issue an order as soon as possible to let those officers return to the camp as soon as possible!"

"At present, His Royal Highness Prince Xin and His Royal Highness Prince Tang have been ordered to reward the three armies, but the current situation in Shanhaiguan is turbulent. Once the rewards stop, there is no guarantee that someone will stir up trouble."

"Your Majesty is well aware that if so many people gather together and are deceived by some false words, there will inevitably be a mutiny if the situation is not handled properly!"

When he said this, Ma Shilong felt relieved.

He had wanted to say these words to the emperor for a long time.

But too many things have happened recently, and he has to ensure the stability of the main city of Shanhaiguan, so he can only keep these words in his heart.

"I was not wrong about your family after all."

Contrary to what Ma Shilong thought, Zhu Youxiao was not displeased or angry at all. Instead, he showed a relieved smile, "Get up, the fact that you can say these words to me proves that you have the country in your heart."

Ok?

Ma Shilong was stunned.

"Since you are so straightforward, I will not beat around the bush."

Zhu Youxiao continued, "I summoned you here this time to ask you how many troops are needed to ensure the safety of Shanhaiguan, an important border town, under the premise of sufficient funds."

This……

Ma Shilong was even more confused. What was the emperor trying to do? Was he going to withdraw his troops from Shanhaiguan?

This won’t do!

As a veteran and brave general, how could Ma Shilong not see the long-standing problems in Shanhaiguan? The most serious one was the problem of redundant soldiers.

It is obvious that there is no need to use so many troops to guard Shanhaiguan, but there are hundreds of thousands of troops in Shanhaiguan.

When there are too many people, things become complicated.

When things get complicated, someone will be able to take advantage of the situation.

In fact, the problem of Shanhaiguan is very simple to solve. As long as a group of troops can be transferred and the army under Shanhaiguan can be controlled to a certain size, it will be relatively easy to reorganize it.

But no one really dared to do so.

As long as it involves interests, nothing is a trivial matter.

"Is this difficult to answer?"

Seeing that Ma Shilong remained silent, Zhu Youxiao asked back.

"Seventy thousand is enough!!"

When asked by the emperor, Ma Shilong said with a firm look in his eyes: "As long as the court can allocate sufficient food and wages, and can allocate the missing weapons and firearms, and not replace inferior ones with good ones, as the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan, I dare to guarantee to Your Majesty that Shanhaiguan has 70,000 troops, absolutely nothing will happen."

"Great! This is the courage that the commander-in-chief of Shanhaiguan should have!!"

Zhu Youxiao clapped his hands and said in approval, "Then I will give you this opportunity. Except for the Shikou Pass, all the military commanders involved in the main defense area of ​​Shanhaiguan will be identified by you, Ma Shilong."

"Among the officers gathered together, you, Ma Shilong, can transfer anyone you like. If there are not enough officers, you, Ma Shilong, can write a memorial and I will approve it."

"In a word, I want Shanhaiguan, starting with you as the general commander, and all the guerrilla generals in other places, to be Ming generals who dare to shoulder the responsibility, not generals who do business."

"Your Majesty, are you talking about everything?"

Ma Shilong said in disbelief.

"Ah."

Zhu Youxiao nodded and said, "Except for the stone mouth, from the deputy general to the guerrilla general, as long as you, Ma Shilong, think that he can shoulder the responsibility and protect the defense zone well, and will not drink the blood of the soldiers and eat empty salaries, you, Ma Shilong, just need to draft a memorial and submit it, and I will approve it."

Ma Shilong was shocked.

This is such a great honor.

This means that all adjustments to Shanhaiguan will be handed over to him. If he really has some selfish motives and places some people loyal to him, then he will have the final say in Shanhaiguan in the future.

At this moment, Ma Shilong's breathing became a little rapid.

But soon, Ma Shilong calmed down.

I'm afraid that Cao Wenzhao, who is stationed at Yipanshikou, will have to be promoted.

Ma Shilong was not wrong about this.

Zhu Youxiao planned to promote Cao Wenzhao to the position of deputy commander-in-chief and expand his troops to 20,000. In addition to the 10,000 troops under his command, the extra troops would not occupy the Shanhaiguan military quota. In order to ensure that Cao Wenzhao could control these troops, Zhu Youxiao even allocated a group of military generals to Cao Wenzhao.

Before the war before Liao was over, Cao Wenzhao's troops had to be like nails, firmly nailed to the Shanhaiguan defense line. If any situation occurred during this period, Cao Wenzhao had to do whatever he was ordered to do.

When the war in front of Liao is over, the adjustments involving Shanhaiguan will continue to deepen, and even the various defense lines in front of Liao will undergo thorough adjustments.

This is Zhu Youxiao. If you do something, you must do it to the utmost and not give anyone the opportunity to find any loopholes. Zhu Youxiao will never allow any mistakes to happen.