Chapter 348 An Old Friend Comes
The so-called "Beijing Camp Conscription" refers to the emperor, nobles, and powerful eunuchs drawing soldiers from the three major camps and twelve regiment camps in the capital to engage in engineering construction, such as building palaces, city walls, tombs, etc.

The more serious the occupation of the Beijing camp, the more the combat effectiveness of the government troops declined.

After all, you can't expect a group of soldiers who don't even have time to train to pick up weapons and go to the battlefield to fight the enemy.

Of course, the practice of Beijing military service was not initiated by Emperor Hongzhi. As early as the Chenghua period, Beijing military service had become a bad policy.

When Emperor Hongzhi first ascended the throne, he listed it as one of the bad policies of the previous dynasty in his accession edict, which should be abolished. He also ordered that after the construction of the mausoleum was completed, the officers and soldiers in the Beijing camp were not allowed to do any other labor.

But people are fickle. A few years after the ban was issued, Emperor Hongzhi became obsessed with Buddhist and Taoist rituals and began to mobilize the Beijing troops to build temples on a large scale.

In addition, Emperor Hongzhi loved Empress Zhang very much and was very caring towards the Zhang family. For example, in order to repair the tomb of his father-in-law Zhang Luan and build a mansion for his mother-in-law, Madam Jin, the official troops of the three camps became the labor force again.

In addition, the Xuanwu Gate, Jinshui River, and the Washing Machine Bureau were also under repair. The soldiers sent by the three camps were not enough, so some officers and soldiers were transferred from the regiment camp.

The division of labor was very clear. Three thousand people were building the temple, three thousand people were building the mansion, three thousand people were digging the tomb, and ten thousand people were collecting firewood. Everyone had something to do.

This led to the then Minister of War Ma Wensheng writing a letter requesting that the army stop its training and return to training to build up morale.

However, Emperor Xiaozong ordered the government troops to complete the above projects as soon as possible so that they could rest as soon as possible.

Compared to later generations, the office workers will certainly be able to appreciate the "imperial grace" therein.

It can be said that the Hongzhi Dynasty was the golden employment age for civil engineers.

The prosperity of the civil engineering works and the intensity of the projects made the soldiers unbearable and they deserted the service one after another.

In the 13th year of the Hongzhi reign, the Supervisory Censor Liu Fang reported to the emperor: "More than half of the soldiers in the capital have deserted. The number of soldiers in the Jinyi and Tengxiang guards is no less than 100,000, and they are not included in the number of drills. Although the regiments have been established in recent years, many of them have been sold and released."

It is rare to force half of the military households to flee.

But then again, Emperor Hongzhi was truly a man blessed by heaven. His father cleaned up the mess left by his grandfather, the god of war, and his son helped him clean up the mess.

If he had died a month or two later, the report on the disastrous defeat at Yutai Mountain and the rise of 730,000 refugees in Jingxiang would have been presented to the emperor.

At this moment, in this small courtyard in the capital, Qiu Yue was eating roast duck and drinking wine, calmly telling the story of the bad things the late emperor had done.

"I remember that after the death of the previous emperor, before Your Majesty ascended the throne, you issued the first order as the Crown Prince to dismiss the official troops in the Beijing camp from serving."

While tearing the duck meat, Ou Zanghua said, "Since your majesty ascended the throne, the main projects undertaken by the Beijing Army soldiers were the Tai Mausoleum in the 18th year of Hongzhi and the construction of the Leopard House in the 2nd year of Zhengde. If it is true as the Marquis said, the impact of the Beijing Army's occupation should be reduced."

"It has indeed been reduced, but except for the Three Thousand Battalion, the other battalions still have this situation. It's just that the people who force them to work have changed from His Majesty to the noble eunuchs." Qiu Yue stroked his beard and continued, "After I took over the Three Thousand Battalion, I cut off the hands of these blind commanders. After only less than three months of training, their combat power is not the best in the world, but it is also outstanding."

After hearing this, Ou Zanghua recalled the battle in which Qiu Yue led the 3,000-man battalion to sweep across Liu Liu and Liu Qi, but he did not brag.

Qiu Yue looked at Ou Zanghua and said seriously, "So, I think that if we want to rectify the Beijing Camp, we must take drastic measures! The Beijing Camp has inaccurate military numbers, redundant officials, false registrations to occupy salaries, and layoffs of the elderly and weak. These four tasks must be done."

"Warfare is a major issue for a country. It is a matter of life and death, a matter of survival and destruction. We must be careful. I know that I cannot accomplish these things alone, so I would like to ask Mr. Ou to help me. If Mr. Ou needs my help in the future, please let me know."

Ou Zanghua sighed secretly. He had originally wanted to turn down these things, but Qiu Yue was so frank with him, it was difficult for him to refuse, so he asked, "I wonder how the Marquis intends to help?" "Thank you, Mr. Ou, I will do the dirty work, and you just need to report truthfully." Qiu Yue looked at Ou Zanghua and said seriously.

Although Qiu Yue was not as well-read as Ou Zanghua, he also understood one thing: only when the boss's will remained unchanged could the younger brothers below him do their work freely.

"Please rest assured, sir." Ou Zanghua picked up the wine glass and responded with a smile.

Carrying two roast ducks, he walked out of the alley. The spring sunshine instantly covered his whole body, bringing a sense of warmth. Ou Zanghua returned to the carriage and put away the letter of refusal.

"Mr. Gao, after you send me to the Honglu Temple, send the roast duck back home. Give one to Madam and Second Madam respectively, and let them have a taste." Ou Zanghua paused before reminding, "Before sending it, ask Master Dingxian if Madam can eat it first."

"Yes!" Mu Gaoweng smiled kindly and responded softly.

At the same time, on the other side of the capital, Yang Qing, the chief secretary of the Ning Wang Mansion, appeared outside the residence of the actor Zang Xian with three carriages.

After being led into the mansion by the housekeeper, Yang Qing met Zang Xian again.

This person has a tall and straight figure yet graceful, with long black hair casually tied behind his head. A few strands of hair gently fall in front of his forehead, adding a bit of unruly and casualness to him. He has an exquisite face, a straight nose, and light red lips. He is not wearing any makeup, but he has a charming look.

Yang Qing couldn't help but sigh in his heart that such a beautiful person was actually a man.

"Yang Changshi, what exactly is our noble prince planning? Are the guards of the palace really so important that they have to go through such a fuss?" Zang Xian stroked his chin with one hand, a hint of confusion and helplessness revealed between his handsome brows.

If Zang Xian remembered correctly, Liu Jin helped them with this operation once a few years ago, but it was cancelled in less than a year.

"This is actually because of the rampant banditry around Jiangxi in recent years. The prince is deeply worried, so he came up with the idea of ​​forming a palace guard. This move is aimed at ensuring the safety of the palace. At the same time, it can also assist the court in quelling rebellions and stabilizing the situation." Yang Qing smiled and explained with reason.

Seeing that Zang Xian still had a speechless expression, Yang Qing took out the gift list and handed it over: "Mr. Zang, why don't you take a look at our intentions first?"

Zang Xian took it, opened it and immediately looked delighted.

In addition to the large eight-step bed with mother-of-pearl carved lacquer and colored lacquer, the mountain-shaped screen and the small bed with a combed back, a set of gold and silver go, and one hundred rolls of Chao silk, Lu silk, and Wen silk, there was also one thousand taels of silver.

Seeing Zang Xian's moved look, Yang Qing added, "My prince said that this is just a small token of our gratitude. Regardless of success or failure, we will be friends with Mr. Zang."

"Hahaha, if that's the case, then I won't be polite." Zang Xian laughed heartily when he heard this, and his previous reserve instantly disappeared.

For him, taking money to do things is the rule of the underworld, but if he is not absolutely sure, he may not make the money.

"When the time comes, please ask Mr. Zang to say a few good words to His Majesty."

"Okay, okay!" Zang Xian patted his chest and said, "Please rest assured, Your Majesty. When the time is right, I will do my best to negotiate with the emperor and fulfill your wishes."

"Then I'll have to trouble you all."

(End of this chapter)