Chapter 513: The Han Royal Military Academy!

Hearing Cui Lin’s words, Lu Bu’s temper flared up. He pointed at Cui Lin’s nose and cursed: “When I was fighting for the Han Dynasty on the battlefield under the hail of arrows, you didn’t even know where to play in the mud!”

“You are not worthy enough to let His Majesty punish General Ben’s crimes!”

He had no intention of arguing with Cui Lin, but who knew that this kid would go so far as to ask the emperor to punish him.

If he holds it in, wouldn’t he become a cuckold!

Seeing his brother being scolded by Lu Bu, Cui Yan said calmly: “If Lord Wen wants to use his merits to pressure others, then we have nothing to say.”

These words may seem light, but they actually contain a profound meaning.

If Lu Bu really dared to respond to this statement, he would become an example of a powerful official who is arrogant and lawless.

Once this reputation gets out, it will be ruined.

After hearing this, Chen Gong’s expression changed and Zhuge Liang also frowned. They both understood that they could not let Lu Bu continue speaking.

Just as they were about to speak to smooth things over, an angry voice suddenly rang out.

“quiet!”

Sitting on the dragon throne, Liu Xie looked dignified, and his sharp eyes swept over the ministers in the hall.

“You can quarrel like street thugs over a trivial matter. How can you behave like an important official of the imperial court?”

“Do you really think I don’t exist?”

Liu Xie rarely lost his temper in front of his ministers. When he did this, neither Lu Bu nor Cui Lin dared to speak and they all knelt down.

“I know my crime, please calm down, Your Majesty.”

Liu Xie looked indifferent and said to Lu Bu: “Lord Wen, you have behaved inappropriately in front of the emperor and openly insulted the censor. I will fine you half a year’s salary as a punishment!”

Lu Bu was not right in scolding Cui Lin just now.

Cui Lin was the censor. It was his duty to investigate the misconduct of officials, and it was understandable for him to give advice.

Lu Bu felt aggrieved, but he still said honestly: “I obey your order.”

Being fined half a year’s salary was actually not a big deal to him. After all, he didn’t rely on salary to live. It was just a bit of a loss of face.

But he would not say much about the emperor’s order.

Seeing that the emperor punished Lu Bu, Cui Lin decided to stop while he was ahead and did not continue to push his advantage. He retreated.

This farce was suppressed by Liu Xie.

However, Liu Xie was a little worried.

It has only been more than a year since the unification of the country, and conflicts have begun between the civil service group and the military generals group. What will happen if this continues?

And most importantly, it is not appropriate to continue like this.

The military generals were all meritorious officials of the Han Dynasty, but now they are so embarrassed in the court. If this continues, it will not only chill their hearts, but also be detrimental to the unity of the court.

But there is no war in the world now, and there is indeed no place for military generals to display their talents. We can’t just tell Lu Bu not to go to court as we did.

“We have to find a solution…”

Liu Xie thought secretly that generals without battles to fight were like a group of energetic huskies, if they kept holding back, they would eventually tear down their home.

Are we going to send them out to expedition to other countries?
No, that’s not appropriate. The Han Dynasty now needs to recuperate and restore its national strength. Foreign wars are too expensive and not in line with current national policy.

Liu Xie knew that he would not be able to figure out the matter for a while, so he simply stopped thinking about it. He looked at the ministers and said, “Let’s end the court meeting today. Let’s adjourn.”

“All the Grand Secretaries, please follow me to the cabinet to discuss matters.”

After saying this, he stood up and walked out of the hall.

Guo Jia, Zhuge Liang and others followed suit, while other court officials withdrew from the court and left.

……

Weiyang Palace, Xuanshi.

After Liu Xie and Guo Jia arrived, he said to them straight away: “You all saw what happened in the court today.”

“Now that the Han Dynasty is unified, it is difficult for military generals to use their talents. The generals are idle at home and cannot participate in governing the country. How can we solve this problem?”

He couldn’t think of any good solution for a moment.

We can only place our hopes on our ministers.

If we pool our wisdom, we can always come up with a solution.

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiu took the lead and clasped his hands together, saying loudly: “Your Majesty, in my opinion, now that our Han Dynasty has a strong military force and abundant martial virtues, it is a good opportunity to expand westward.”

“The Western Regions are weak. If our great Han army marches westward, it will be as easy as autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves and we will surely win.”

“In this way, Duke Wen and other generals will not be wasted. They can go to the battlefield, expand the territory, and make the prestige of our great Han Dynasty spread far and wide!”

There were other countries around the Han Dynasty. There were many small countries in the Western Regions, such as Kucha, Yanqi, Shanshan, Khotan and more than 50 other small countries.

Among them, Shanshan Kingdom, also known as the ancient Kingdom of Loulan, once annexed small countries such as Xiaowan and Jingjue. It was the first country Ban Chao arrived at during his first mission to the Western Regions.

Although the countries in the Western Regions had already surrendered to the Han Dynasty, there were still some countries that were not very honest.

It would be best if we could merge them all.

Liu Xie sighed in his heart. The idea proposed by Yang Xiu was the first one he thought of, but it would definitely not be possible to send troops now.

Before he could open his mouth to respond, Fa Zheng quickly stepped forward, bowed, and eagerly retorted: “I beg your pardon, I cannot agree with what Minister Yang said.”

“The Western Regions are long and blocked by mountains and rivers, making it extremely difficult to transport food and supplies. Even if our army can successfully win, a large number of troops will be needed to garrison there after the war. The cost of manpower, material resources, and financial resources is really too huge.”

“Besides, our Han Dynasty has just experienced war and is in urgent need of recuperation and recovery. Rashly sending troops to the Western Regions may not be worth the cost. I hope Your Majesty will think twice!”

As the direct head of the Taxation Bureau and in charge of the Han Dynasty’s purse, no one knows the Han Dynasty’s current financial situation better than Fa Zheng.

It costs money to popularize education and to encourage agriculture and sericulture, so how can we afford to fight a war? Where does the money come from?
It will take at least five or six years of recuperation before we have the confidence to wage a foreign war.

After Fa Zheng finished speaking, Lu Su nodded and echoed sincerely, “Your Majesty, what Xiaozhi said is absolutely right.”

“Going to war at this moment will not only increase the burden of taxes and corvee labor on the people, causing dissatisfaction among the people, but may also arouse the vigilance of surrounding forces, leading to the breeding of new hidden dangers. It is really not a wise move.”

The example of Emperor Wu’s warmongering is right before us.

How can we turn a blind eye to it?
After hearing this, Yang Xiu realized that he had not thought it through carefully and slowly returned to his original position.

At this time, Guo Jia stepped forward and said calmly: “Your Majesty, since the generals are not very useful in the court, I suggest that you send them to various places to take charge.”

“This will not only intimidate the local authorities, but also maintain the stability and peace of our Han Dynasty.” In fact, throughout the dynasties, the best solution was to take action against the meritorious officials after the world was at peace, but Guo Jia knew that the emperor would never do that.

Although the emperor was sometimes cold and ruthless, that was only when the foundation of the Han Dynasty was shaken. In fact, the emperor was a person who cared a lot about old friendships.

The Zhen family is an example. Although they committed such a serious crime, the emperor still gave them the opportunity to repent.

After listening to Yang Xiu’s suggestion, Liu Xie nodded slightly, a hint of thought flashed in his eyes. He was about to ask other people’s opinions, but saw Jia Xu gently shook his head.

Seeing this, Liu Xie turned his gaze to Jia Xu and asked, “Wenhe, what is your opinion on this? Please speak frankly.”

Jia Xu straightened his robe and said slowly, “Your Majesty, Fengxiao’s proposal is worth considering, but it is not entirely appropriate.”

“The generals are all bold and forthright, and their styles of doing things are mostly known for force and decisiveness, but local governance is complicated and trivial, and requires more delicacy and balance.”

“If we send the generals to various places to take charge, it is likely that friction will arise with local officials due to differences in concepts and methods.”

“If this continues, not only will it fail to maintain local stability, but it may also cause unnecessary chaos and undermine the hard-won peace.”

Of course, he didn’t mention the most important point.

That means having your own troops and being independent.

Although the loyalty of generals like Lu Bu to the emperor can be guaranteed, we still have to guard against such things.

Liu Xie and Jia Xu have been together for so many years, so of course he understood Jia Xu’s thoughts and worries, and couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

The discussion reached a stalemate for a while.

However, at this moment, Zhuge Liang gently waved his feather fan, stood up slowly, and said with a gentle smile: “Your Majesty, I have a plan that may solve this problem.”

“Oh? What countermeasures does Kong Ming have?”

Liu Xie’s eyes lit up and he asked quickly.

It has to be Liangliang!

Zhuge Liang said: “Your Majesty, I think we can follow the example of the Imperial Academy and open an academy dedicated to training military commanders.”

“The Imperial Academy is used to train civil officials, while the Military Academy can be used to train military generals. Experienced generals such as Duke Wen and Marquis Guanjun can serve as instructors to impart practical combat experience and military strategies.”

“This will not only solve the problem of the generals having no positions to perform, but also reserve a steady stream of military talents for the Han Dynasty, laying a solid foundation for the long-term stability of the country in the future.”

After hearing Zhuge Liang’s proposal, everyone’s eyes lit up.

Liu Xie was even more amazed by this and said happily: “What a good plan! This is a brilliant plan!”

Zhuge Liang’s words immediately woke him up.

How could he forget this!

He has always focused on cultivating scholars and talents in governing the country, but neglected the training of military generals.

Zhuge Liang’s words made him suddenly realize that the training of military generals is also essential!

Looking back at the dynasties, there would often be a dynasty with many brilliant generals, while the next dynasty would have no generals available.

A good example is the Shu Kingdom during the Three Kingdoms period. After the death of Guan Yu and other five tiger generals, there was no one in the young generation of Shu Kingdom who could take over the responsibility except Zhang Bao.

This was also an important factor in the demise of the Shu Kingdom.

The reason why Liu Xie ignored this point was because he was a time traveler and had the knowledge of later generations, so he knew who were the powerful generals that could be used.

In addition, there are so many famous generals in the Han Dynasty nowadays, so he subconsciously feels that there is no need to train military generals.

Although he had started a military examination last time, it was only a mechanism for selecting military commanders, and it did not specifically train them like the Imperial College.

If this goes on, when he dies, and Lu Bu and other generals also die, who will his descendants be able to use?

The course of history has been changed by him. Even if he is familiar with the famous generals in history, he may not necessarily expect those generals to appear again.

Moreover, heroes are often made by the times, so it would be useless even if he left a list of wise ministers and famous generals to future generations.

Therefore, in the final analysis, we still have to take the initiative to cultivate!
Just like training civil officials!
Every dynasty will perish, and the Han Dynasty will certainly do so in the future, but he hopes that even if the Han Dynasty collapses in the future, it will be because of its strength!

“Kong Ming’s plan is very much to my liking. It is an excellent solution and can complement primary schools, middle schools and universities.”

Liu Xie said with great satisfaction.

This confused Guo Jia, who asked in confusion, “What does your Majesty mean by this? Why can they complement each other?”

Primary schools, middle schools and universities are all for cultivating intellectuals.

What does it have to do with training military generals?
Liu Xie smiled and explained: “There are military generals like Wen Gong who can defeat ten thousand with one man, as well as Confucian generals like Kong Ming who can defeat the enemy with wisdom and strategy, and generals like Zhang Liao who are good at overall planning.”

“But no matter what, if you want to become a top general, you must know the art of war. The necessary knowledge is essential.”

“After completing elementary, middle and university education, students can choose to study a different subject, that is, apply for the Imperial Academy or the Han Imperial Military Academy… Oh, this is the name I gave to the academy.”

“Even those who are not good at studying but are extremely brave can directly stand out through the martial arts examination.”

The more Liu Xie thought about it, the more he felt that this idea was a good one.

It’s just too perfect.

After hearing Liu Xie’s words, the ministers thought about it carefully and felt that it made a lot of sense.

This can not only solve the problem of generals having no place to use their skills, but also provide the Han Dynasty with a place to train military talents, so that there will not be a situation where there are no generals available in the future.

You know, people like Lu Bu are all very powerful generals. As long as they can pass on their knowledge of leading troops to fight, and accumulate it from generation to generation, future generals will only become more and more powerful.

Because we are all standing on the shoulders of our predecessors!
After making up his mind, Liu Xie turned his gaze to Zhuge Liang and continued to ask: “Kong Ming, do you have any other suggestions?”

Zhuge Liang’s advice is to listen more.

It is really useful.

Zhuge Liang thought for a moment, then said, “Your Majesty, in addition to inviting the generals to teach, we can also recruit people who are proficient in military tactics and strategies from all over the world, whether they are retired veterans or military geniuses living in seclusion among the people. All can be included.”

“In terms of curriculum setting, we should teach traditional military tactics, such as The Art of War by Sun Tzu and The Art of War by Wu Qi, so that students can be familiar with strategies. We should also attach importance to actual combat training, setting up subjects such as horse riding and archery, fighting, and battle formation drills to improve students’ combat skills.”

Guo Jia also added: “In addition, in order to cultivate comprehensive military talents, we can add courses such as geography, astronomy, and equipment manufacturing. Only by understanding geography and mountains and rivers can we occupy the terrain during marches and battles; knowing astronomy and weather can help us seize opportunities; mastering equipment manufacturing can improve the level of military equipment.”

After hearing this, Liu Xie’s eyes were full of praise: “What Feng Xiao and Kong Ming said is very much in line with my wishes. You will work harder. This matter will still be left to you to take the lead and prepare together with the other generals.”

“The site selection, teacher recruitment and curriculum planning of the college must be completed within six months.”

Guo Jia and Zhuge Liang smiled bitterly and accepted the order in unison.

It’s going to be busy again.

(End of this chapter)