Chapter 3: Military Officials

  The inner guards of the Imperial Palace were located between Wansui Mountain and Shouhuang Temple, with a large drill ground and empty courtyard. There were three to four thousand people in the inner guard throughout the palace, under the control of eunuchs such as Wang Dehua.

  Chongzhen himself was quite skilled in martial arts, able to ride horses and shoot arrows, so he often came to inspect the inner guards' drills. Sometimes he even performed sword dances and horseback archery. Zhu Cizhao, the crown prince, naturally also frequently accompanied him to watch the inner guards' drills, and was very familiar with them.

  After leaving the Kun Ning Palace to pay respects, he brought Li Jiye and others, and did not ride a sedan chair. He ordered people from the Imperial Stables to bring over a gentle white horse, and the Crown Prince rode this horse, passing through the palace's Yong Lane, slowly making his way to the Nei Cao location.

  His archery skills are quite good, but his riding skills are just so-so...

  There were three to four hundred small eunuchs in the courtyard, dozens of senior eunuchs wearing green and red robes, and over a hundred military officers from the Imperial Guard. As soon as they saw the Crown Prince approaching from afar, hundreds of people bowed down like wheat blown by the wind, their waists bent neatly!

  Although they were all kneeling down, there were still many officials and military officers whispering to each other: "It turns out it's not the Emperor who has come, but rather the young master."

  "This young master rarely comes to the inner court himself. Every time he is forced by the emperor, he always has an unhappy expression. Why is it that today the sun rises from the west?"

  "Who knows... who cares?"

  "When soldiers eat rations, we don't care about trivial matters."

  "You're all just worrying about trivial matters."

  Unlike the neatly dressed and spirited inner eunuchs, the martial officials summoned from various departments of the Imperial Guard were all listless and perfunctory in their duties. Just before Zhu Ciyan came over, they were chatting and laughing in groups of three or five, not taking the task at hand seriously at all.

  No wonder they are like that, the ones being trained are eunuchs. They are just some martial arts officials from the Imperial Guards, not loved by their aunts or uncles.

  When the emperor is not around, they teach some young and strong eunuchs who are willing to learn, just to teach them a bit, so that when the emperor personally examines them, they can somewhat look like something.

  Ordinarily, the eunuchs didn't treat them as human beings, and ordered them around at will. Now that the imperial court was in decline, their salaries had been suspended for two months, and yet they were still expected to be diligent in their duties?

  Grandma!

  "Announcing His Royal Highness, the Crown Prince!"

  As soon as Zhu Ciwen approached, the eunuchs inside pulled out a loudspeaker and started shouting. Everyone bumped their heads together, but then they heard a "rumbling" sound. It turned out that hundreds of people had bumped their heads together, and it was incredibly powerful!

  "Get up, get up."

  Zhu Ciyan smiled humbly, grasping the reins with ease, and when he dismounted his horse, all the eunuchs and military officers stood up.

  After he sat down on the chair brought by the eunuch, someone came forward and asked: "Does the young master want to review the internal affairs?"

  What's going on with Nei Zao, doesn't Zhu Ciwen know as clearly as a mirror?

  It wasn't until Chongzhen was in this desperate situation that he believed the eunuchs were useful, but it's also a sad thing to say. After Li Zicheng broke into the city, Chongzhen looked around anxiously, holding his three-eyed gun and trying to find a way out of the city. The only ones following him were several hundred eunuchs.

  "No need." Zhu Ciyan smiled and said: "I came over today to select a riding and shooting martial arts instructor."

  "Oh, so it's the young master who wants to invite a martial arts instructor. This is easy to arrange." The old eunuch in charge of internal affairs was advanced in years and smiled like an toothless old woman, bowing his head as he replied, while calling out behind him: "Old Duan, Old Ren, you several come over here."

  "It is... We request an audience with Your Highness, the Crown Prince."

  The crown prince wants to learn martial arts, isn't it a matter of one shout and it's done?

  At the sound of a loud shout, several military officers in brocade robes and jade belts rushed up, first bowing their heads to pay respects, then standing up straight, although not being valiant warriors, they were still quite confident.

  Young Master has been training his body and practicing martial arts every day recently, this matter has spread throughout the inner court, looking at the young man in the seat, all the military officers are burning with passion.

  The Great Ming can't do without my offerings, no matter how he's taught a few tricks, fooling around with official duties, and at least getting some rewards to support his wife and children is the right thing to do!

  It can be said that the Great Ming has indeed reached its end. The imperial guards have always been provided with salaries by the royal family, and no one's salary would be short of theirs. The millions of gold and silver flowers are used for this purpose. In more than 200 years, there has never been a situation like today where even the salaries of officials and military officers cannot be paid.

  These several people who have come up now are already officials of the military department, flattering and welcoming eunuchs. The hats on their heads and the brocade robes on their bodies are all worn out with frayed edges, and the buckles at their waists are also dull and lusterless. Among them, one person is even wearing a pair of cotton boots with an open mouth!

  The country is powerless, and its appearance is obvious!

  Zhu Ciwen stared at them but just shook his head.

  These people, not to mention their old age, but even their smiles are too fawning. Moreover, their posture is also weak and feeble... Their waists have all gone soft. To say that such military officers are brave and capable of fighting, isn't this a huge joke?

  He is now choosing not just a martial arts teacher, but a trusted companion who can be used in the future, and the foundation of his future military power!

  In a country as large as this one, with an army of 158,000, can't they find a few usable military officers?

  Looking at the crowd in front of him, Zhu Ciwen slowly shook his head. He asked the officer surnamed Duan: "How many stone bows can you open?"

  He was tall and thin, with a yellow complexion and thin skin. If it weren't for the bear fur-lined uniform, black hat with a red tassel, and precious sword at his waist, people really wouldn't dare believe he was a military officer.

  Duan's military officer smiled and said: "I can open a hard bow, riding and shooting on horseback is unimpeded."

  "Alright, open it and let me see!"

  Zhu Ci'e sneered and ordered someone to bring a three-stone iron bow, handing it over to Duan, saying: "Quickly draw ten times, then slowly shoot five arrows, quickly shoot five arrows, let's see how many arrows you can hit the target."

  This guy is clearly weak and timid, yet he still dares to boast in front of me!

  The inner court has always been like this, muddled and muddy, with hardly anyone using their true skills. It's likely that Chongzhen never personally tested them before, and Zhu Ciyan even less so, rarely showing up at the inner court. From top to bottom, no one expected that this young crown prince would actually test them in person, let alone be so knowledgeable!

  "This..."

  The officer with the surname Duan had already changed his expression, he wanted to say something, but the eunuch in charge of internal affairs had already turned away, not daring to look him in the eye. Looking at Zhu Ciyan again, this young master was coldly smiling, without any room for compromise or concession.

  Helpless, he could only exert himself to pull the bowstring. The three-stone bow was indeed a strong bow, but it wasn't so strong that it couldn't be pulled at all. It's just that this certain person would pant after pulling slowly for three times and by the fourth time, his whole body would tremble and he could no longer hold on.

  At this point, he had no choice but to put down his bow and kneel down to apologize, saying: "I've had diarrhea for the past two days, I'm not feeling well and don't have the strength, I couldn't pull the bow, please forgive me, Your Highness."

  Zhu Ciyan had not spoken, but the eunuch in charge of internal affairs secretly gave Li Jiye a signal... Li Jiye understood and nodded slightly, then he stepped forward, bowed his head and said: "This man has always been brave, today it seems that he is not feeling well, so let's forgive him?"

  "Oh, in that case," Zhu Ciyan said with a hint of a smile, turning to the several military officers behind Duan Mouren and saying with a laugh: "Tell them to come up and draw their bows, how about it?"

  "This..."

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay, and for a moment or two, no one knew how to respond.

  Zhu Ciyan stood up tall, facing the many military officers, his expression calm and collected, but his tone was extremely stern: "The great Ming has nurtured scholars for 300 years, now civil officials are mostly corrupt and few can get things done. But military officers have been fed for over 200 years, can't even kill enemies on the battlefield, not even one who can draw a strong bow?"

  As for shooting arrows with a bow, all the martial officials present can do it, and hitting the target while riding a horse is also not difficult.

  After all, they were selected from the Beijing garrison, and they still had some skills to show for it. If not, when the Emperor reviewed them, none of them would be presentable, wouldn't that be a death wish?

  But Zhu Ciyan's examination method is a serious military field shooting method, and all the people who were picked out are officials who can handle affairs. This kind of person can flatter and be petty, but if you talk about real skills, I'm afraid that 90% of them have been abandoned, how can they cope with it?

  "Haha, indeed, nowadays the Imperial Guards are of no use. The moment the high officials outside heard that the Imperial Guards were being deployed, they immediately advised against it. Now it seems that what the external officials said was all true!"

  Words of provocation are useless, Zhu Ci's heart is truly disappointed at this moment, and now he can only let out a cold laugh.

  The capital is in chaos, he had expected as much. But he really hadn't thought it would come to this. If even a single brave warrior didn't exist, how could his great cause proceed?

  He made such a gesture, and the face-to-face ridicule of the people in the capital camp changed color. But the capital camp had indeed collapsed, and many military officers were mixed up in the matter. It was not difficult to hit several targets with bows, but as Zhu Ciyan required, there were not many people who could guarantee it. However, among the crowd, Zhu Ciyan only looked at those few people, and indeed one tall and big Han slowly stood up.

  The military officers present were mostly sycophantic in appearance, or else they looked as if they were in a trance.

  Only a few people, with a calm expression, but the eyes are hidden from the sharp and fierce gaze. Looking at the figure, it is also broad-shouldered and sturdy, with a wasp waist and ape-like arms, one can tell that he has been practicing martial arts since childhood.

  He desperately urged, with the crown prince's prestige, to personally persuade him, those several military officers although their faces were calm, but in their eyes, anger had already ignited.

  That person stood up together, and Zhu Ci's eyes already had an uncontrollable smile. This old man sang, recited, acted, and fought in every way, finally provoking him to stand up!

  "What's your surname Wei? Who called you out?"

  Before Zhu Ciyan could say anything, the eunuch in charge of internal affairs stepped forward and rebuked him, "Who allowed you to come forward without permission? This is not a place for you to act rashly! The Crown Prince's presence is not somewhere you can just barge into! Step back!"

  Although this guy is a eunuch, his energy is still quite sufficient. The one surnamed Wei was scolded by him and had anger in his eyes, with both hands clenched into fists making cracking sounds.

  "Old Master Shi orders you to retreat, why don't you hurry up and retreat!"

  The Wei surname military officer was tall and large in stature, even Zhu Ci Yun looked at him with great surprise. With a burst of anger, he stood before the eunuch surnamed Shi, who was in charge of internal affairs. Although the other party held high power and authority, they could not withstand the pressure from this towering figure.

  At this moment, two military officers rushed forward, one on the left and one on the right, pulling down the Wei surname officer, also repeatedly advising him.

  "Halt."

  Zhu Ciyan's voice was not loud, and his expression was also light, but as the crown prince, once he spoke, the eunuch with the surname Shi changed his face, and several military officers could only stand still on the spot, not daring to move.

  "What majesty is this of the Crown Prince?" For a moment, Zhu Ciyan only slightly understood what it meant to have the awe-inspiring power that came with authority.