Chapter 153: Change is the only constant
"My Lord, I have a reason for this..."

Zhao Xinghan, who finally understood the real reason behind Zhu Chengwu's attitude, was about to explain.

But he was interrupted again by Zhu Chengwu waving his hand.

“As the saying goes, there is no order without rules!

General Zhao, please put aside your military affairs and go home to report!

The soldiers under your command will be temporarily handed over to cousin Xingye!"

The different names expressed Zhu Chengwu's dissatisfaction with Zhao Xinghan and his closeness to Zhao Xingye.

In the past, Zhao Xingye was indeed far inferior to Zhao Xinghan.

But perhaps it was after being criticized by Zhao Yuguang that he felt ashamed and became braver.

Over the past three years, Zhao Xingye has made great progress.

A month ago, on the way to the capital, Zhao Xingye gained some insights after a tough battle and achieved a first-class level.

At this point, Zhao Xingye became the fourth old man in the original Fu'an Marquis Mansion guard team to achieve the first-class realm, and he is also the fourth general in the current Fu'an Marquis Mansion military system to achieve the first-class realm.

Although he was only the fourth person to achieve the first-class realm, he achieved the first-class realm after all.

Moreover, as both were descendants of the Zhao family, after Zhao Xinghan "made a mistake", it would be easier for Zhu Chengwu to replace Zhao Xinghan with Zhao Xingye, which would also be easier to explain to his ally the Zhao family and his mother, Queen Zhao Yushan.

"My Lord, you can't..."

Hearing that Zhu Chengwu seemed to be serious about it, Zhao Xinghan, who had held a stable position and high power in Fu'an Marquis' Mansion for more than three years, finally panicked.

Three years is not a short time.

Cui Rongwei has changed and become arrogant.

But Zhao Xinghan has changed and become more arrogant, right?
Zhao Xinghan now actually thinks that he is in a high position and has extensive knowledge, and that he can change Zhu Chengwu's orders on some matters as long as there are legitimate reasons.

Perhaps this is also because Zhu Chengwu, who has been devoted to martial arts, has been too easy to talk to in the past few years!
As long as there are legitimate reasons and reasonable explanations, Zhu Chengwu delegates power to his senior management and gives them a high degree of freedom.

So much so that when Zhu Chengwu was injured and in urgent need of protection, Zhao Xinghan still did this.

Is this what they mean by "when I retreat, the enemy advances; greed is insatiable"?

"Cousin Xingye, come in!"

Zhu Chengwu ignored Zhao Xinghan's pleading and called in Zhao Xingye, who had already been summoned by the attendants and was waiting outside the door.

"General Xingye, you must complete the handover with General Xinghan and arrange for the placement of these 60,000 combat troops and 65,000 auxiliary troops.

First, let me ask the garrisons in various places whether they have recruited soldiers to fill the vacancies left by our withdrawal?

If not, the old soldiers drawn from the garrisons in various places will be returned to them, and a letter will be sent to them in the name of the Fu'an Marquis' Mansion, asking them to promote and use these old soldiers.

If new soldiers have already been recruited to fill the vacancies, then forget it.

Leave those old soldiers in Xuzhou City and use them as the backbone of a new army.

The regular combat troops of the Marquis of Fu'an Mansion maintained the organization of eleven guards.

One guard is composed of elite troops, and the remaining ten guards are divided into two armies in the pattern of five guards in one army.

It is only necessary to retain the size of 30,000 auxiliary troops, and the remaining troops will be returned to the civilian population, and the Fu'an Marquisate will provide them with land for resettlement!

I will talk to Lord Cui about anything that requires coordination from the Fu'an Marquisate!
You will communicate with Mr. Cui then!"

Zhu Chengwu was making arrangements.

Military reform!

When Zhao Xinghan and Gao Yao were slow to return to Xuzhou City, Zhu Chengwu already had a plan.

Over the past few years, Zhao Xinghan has been controlling the military power of Fu'an Marquis' Mansion, and now it has become difficult to get rid of it and is showing a trend of not obeying orders.

Therefore, Zhu Chengwu decided to split Zhao Xinghan's power.

In addition to Zhao Xinghan, there are three other first-rate people in the military.

These three first-rate men were all from the guard team of Fu'an Marquis's Mansion. Although they were also Zhao Xinghan's old subordinates, their loyalty to Zhu Chengwu was still trustworthy for the time being.

As an old man, Zhu Chengwu is also willing to give them a chance.

Therefore, Zhu Chengwu directly let Zhao Xinghan stay at home unemployed, and let these three first-rate men lead two armies and one elite guard respectively.

There will no longer be a supreme military commander above these three first-class ones.

In other words, the highest military commander above these three first-class ones is Zhu Chengwu himself.

Zhao Xingye will only be the temporary military commander of this military reform.

After that, Zhao Xingye could only choose one of these three positions.

Zhu Chengwu arranged Zhao Xingye to be the temporary commander of this military reform. In addition to Zhao Xingye's family identity, there was another reason.

That is, Zhao Xingye achieved first-class status the latest and made the least contribution.

Only after going through the experience of being the temporary commander-in-chief of this military reform can Zhu Chengwu be on par with the other two top-notch men in the military.

As for the sudden promotion of Zhao Xingye, who has made the least contribution, to the position of interim commander-in-chief, will it cause dissatisfaction among the other two top military officers?

With Zhao Xinghan being dismissed from his post before, they will understand why Zhao Xingye came to power.

After all, the military of Fu'an Marquis's Mansion has a lot of Zhao elements in it.

Zhao Xinghan's resignation and Zhao Xingye's temporary transition is the best option for maintaining stability.

In addition to regular combat troops, Zhu Chengwu also did not spare the auxiliary troops in this military reform.

虽然朱承武前世古代，战兵和辅兵的比例一般不低于1：2，多的甚至会达到1：5，1：10。

This world has martial arts, and warriors eat more and have higher requirements... The ratio of combat soldiers to auxiliary soldiers in this world is higher, generally reaching a minimum of 1:5.

But Zhu Chengwu always felt that this ratio was too high!
The army is for fighting!

This is not the way to enjoy being a boss!

Therefore, Zhu Chengwu required that the ratio of combat troops to auxiliary troops in Fu'an Marquis' Mansion be stabilized at around 1:1.

The warrior is strong and powerful, so he should carry what he should carry.

Even if you encounter a surprise attack, it won't take much time to throw away your luggage and pick up your weapons.

Moreover, if you hold your own armor and weapons, you may be able to exert greater combat power because of the familiarity!
As for the physical factor?

Then it depends on the soldiers themselves to make reasonable arrangements!
Of course, the reason why Zhu Chengwu dared to carry out this military reform.

Or it is because Zhu Chengwu never relied on his soldiers to conquer the world.

Zhu Chengwu kept these soldiers just to boost his power, fight favorable battles, guard his territory, and maintain order...

For the real attack, Zhu Chengwu relied on himself and a small number of martial arts masters to directly decapitate the high-level leaders.

"Yes, Lord Marquis!"

Zhao Xingye bowed in response.

Zhao Xingye had no objection to Zhu Chengwu's arrangement.

After these years of experience, Zhao Xingye has gradually learned to talk less and do more.

Compared to Zhao Xingye's calmness, Zhao Xinghan couldn't bear it anymore.

He tried to speak several times, but was ignored by Zhu Chengwu.

It was not until then that Zhao Xinghan truly understood what his foundation was.

The army, the elite troops...those are just the icing on the cake.

There is only one source of his power and status, and that is Zhu Chengwu.

Zhu Chengwu trusted and delegated power to him, and he became General Zhao, second only to the general in Fu'an Marquisate.

Once Zhu Chengwu stops giving him power, the soldiers and elite talents he has worked so hard to accumulate will become someone else's wedding dress because of Zhu Chengwu's words.

Zhao Xinghan was unable to resist this.

Because Zhao Xinghan had only gathered these soldiers for too short a time, he had not yet left a deep enough mark on them.

Because even if his soldiers died, Zhu Chengwu's strength was enough to behead Zhao Xinghan.

How bitter it is to have to weave gold thread year after year to make wedding dresses for others!

Zhao Xinghan was extremely depressed and regretful!

Even deep down in his heart, Zhao Xinghan felt a little bit blaming Zhu Chengwu, thinking that Zhu Chengwu was being heartless and making a fuss out of nothing!
But Zhao Xinghan could only suppress all these emotions in his heart, unable and not able to express them.

Because Zhao Xinghan still wants to be re-employed!

But he couldn't offend Zhu Chengwu, who controlled his fate. After arranging everything, Zhu Chengwu drove Zhao Xinghan and Zhao Xingye out and went to do the handover.

As soon as Zhao Xinghan walked out of the door, he gave Zhao Xingye a cold look.

In fact, Zhao Xinghan really wanted to walk away and refuse to cooperate with Zhao Xingye in the handover.

But Zhao Xinghan, who had just felt Zhu Chengwu's power and knew that he had no ability to resist, dared not disobey.

If he disobeyed Zhu Chengwu's orders, Zhao Xinghan didn't know whether he would be employed again.

There is also the legitimate son Zhao Shilin, who Zhao Xinghan needs to consider!
Even if he was deposed, the bright future of his legitimate son Zhao Shilin could not be affected too much.

It’s better to experience some setbacks as early as possible!

The later you experience it, the greater the price you will pay for suffering setbacks.

Just like Zhao Xinghan and Zhao Xingye!
"My Lord! Several vases in the Zhao Mansion may be broken again tonight!"

After seeing Zhao Xinghan and Zhao Xingye walking away, Gao Yao began to communicate with Zhu Chengwu in a teasing manner.

Breaking the vase, this is a joke.

Once, Zhao Xinghan and Zhao Shilin had a conflict, and Zhao Xinghan smashed the vase in his home in anger.

Later, somehow it got out.

Some high-ranking officials in the Fu'an Marquisate joked about Zhao Xinghan smashing vases when he was angry.

"Brother Gao, to be honest, you disappoint me too!
Shuyun, Xiumin and others are not here!

You are the only high-ranking official in the Fu'an Marquisate who can check and balance Zhao Xinghan!
But you allowed Zhao Xinghan to disobey my orders and delay his return..."

Zhu Chengwu was also angry with Gao Yao.

Gao Yao's performance in this incident also did not satisfy Zhu Chengwu.

Although Gao Yao was not the main reason for the delay in the return of the Fu'an Marquis's large army, as a companion, Gao Yao's failure to stop Zhao Xinghan from disobeying orders was an inevitable deduction for Gao Yao.

Gao Yao also wanted to change the subject by teasing Zhao Xinghan and avoid Zhu Chengwu's accountability.

But who would have thought that Zhu Chengwu ignored what Gao Yao said and went straight to the point.

At this time, the intimate name "Gao Ge'er" became evidence of Zhu Chengwu's anger.

"My Lord, I am incompetent. But General Zhao has a very high prestige in the army! I really can't persuade General Zhao!"

Gao Yao lowered his head and explained in fear and trepidation.

It has to be said that Gao is smarter than Zhao Xinghan when it comes to dealing with Zhu Chengwu's accountability.

Know to admit your mistake first and then explain it slowly.

Zhu Chengwu neither agreed nor disagreed with Gao Yao's explanation. He just looked at Gao Yao deeply.

As the head of the Internal Affairs Department, Gao Yao had too much contact with Zhu Chengwu, and he was naturally good at observing people's words and expressions.

This led to Gao Yao knowing Zhu Chengwu very well and knowing exactly how to deal with him.

Gao Yao's way of dealing with Zhu Chengwu's accountability was so "correct" that Zhu Chengwu was confused for a moment about whether he should believe Gao Yao or not.

Gao Yao's explanation is certainly reasonable, but Gao Yao and Zhao Xinghan are competitors.

Zhu Chengwu couldn't see clearly what happened between Gao Yao and Zhao Xinghan along the way, and whether Gao Yao deliberately let Zhao Xinghan go and waited for him to let him go.

"Chief Executive Gao, the strength of your Internal Affairs Department is too weak!
How about this!
The Internal Affairs Department is expanding!
On the basis of the original eunuchs, one more imperial guard and one more factory guard were added.

The Imperial Guards, the Factory Guards and the Inner Guards of the Eunuchs are collectively known as the Three Guards of the Internal Affairs Office.

The Internal Guards were responsible for the main functions of the former Internal Affairs Office, handling the miscellaneous affairs in the Fu'an Marquis's Mansion. The Imperial Guards were responsible for protecting the Fu'an Marquis's Mansion. The Factory Guards were responsible for spying and assassination.

At the same time, the death squad will be disbanded."

Zhu Chengwu thought for a moment, his eyes fixed, and said so.

"Thank you, Lord Marquis!"

Gao Yao showed his joy on his face.

The death squad was said to be disbanded, but in fact it was expanded to include the imperial guards and factory guards.

Moreover, they are all named after Wei. If we don’t expand it to a scale of thousands of people, won’t it delay the title?

There are also "ban", "factory" and "internal", these three prefixes are so familiar to people.

Aren’t those the Imperial Guards, the East Factory, and the Palace of the Ming Dynasty?

Gao Yao, who was in charge of these three guards at the same time, was a combination of the commander of the Imperial Guard, the supervisor of the East Factory, and the chief eunuch of the Imperial Palace in the Ming Dynasty.

This lineup is fully booked!
This power is also visible to the naked eye!
It was not in vain that Gao Yao had been opposing on the surface all the way, but secretly encouraged Zhao Xinghan, "When a general is away from home, he may not obey the orders of the emperor," "The opportunity to realize your dream and lead the absolutely elite troops is right in front of you," "With the military power in your hands, even the marquis will look up to you a little bit"...

When he found that his subordinates were becoming more and more power-hungry and more and more difficult to control, Zhu Chengwu, as Gao Yao had expected, began to set up institutions similar to the East Factory and the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Ming Dynasty.

In the end, just as Gao Yao expected, Zhu Chengwu handed over the organization to him for management.

It has to be said that Gao Yao really knows Zhu Chengwu well enough.

As time goes by, everyone changes.

Cui Rongwei is changing, Zhao Xinghan is changing, Gao Yao is also changing...

Today, Gao Yao cares more about power, status and strength.

Zhu Chengwu also didn't understand why Gao Yao had changed, what had motivated him to change, and what was the point of Gao Yao having power and position?
Regarding the changes of Gao Yao, Zhao Xinghan and others, Zhu Chengwu could only convince himself to accept them by saying, "Change is the only constant in this world."

Of course, the reason why Zhu Chengwu could accept the changes of his subordinates so readily was because Zhu Chengwu had never relied on them.

As long as he has the power of martial arts in his hands, if Zhao Xinghan, Gao Yao and others are no longer loyal, Zhu Chengwu can easily replace them with a group of loyal ones.

"Don't be too quick to thank me! I have some plans!
It’s not too late to thank you after you’ve listened to it!”

Zhu Chengwu stopped Gao Yao from bowing and thanking him, and said so.

Zhu Chengwu's words gave Gao Yao a bad feeling.

“Dongxue will become the commander of the imperial guards, in charge of the defense of Fu’an Marquis’s mansion.

Xia Yu will become the Deputy Chief of the Internal Guards, your deputy, in charge of the female officials."

Zhu Chengwu told us his arrangements.

After saying this, Zhu Chengwu did not make any unnecessary movements, but carefully observed Gao Yao's expression.

Zhu Chengwu's words made Gao Yao stunned.

His ominous premonition actually came true.

But Gao Yao is not Zhao Xinghan after all.

Gao Yao was stunned for a moment, then quickly came to his senses, bowed to Zhu Chengwu and replied, "Everything will be subject to the arrangements of the Marquis!"

Perfect, Gao Yao’s answer is still as perfect as ever!

Zhu Chengwu frowned, but then he forced himself to relax and put aside his doubts.

It turns out that everyone has a preset position.

When Zhu Chengwu assumed Gao Yao's loyalty, even if Gao Yao did something inappropriate, Zhu Chengwu could always find an explanation for it.

Once Zhu Chengwu began to doubt Gao Yao, Gao Yao's appropriate words and actions gave Zhu Chengwu an excuse to doubt him.

Human hearts are indeed complicated!
Zhu Chengwu is still suitable for extensive management after grasping the "bull's nose".

As long as we grasp the "bull's nose", even if we don't check it for the time being, we will have enough confidence and strength to correct the mistake!
Just like now, Zhu Chengwu's words have made Zhao Xinghan's plan come to nothing.

"In that case, Brother Gao, you go down first!

After I issue the official order, Brother Gao, you, Xia Yu and Dong Xue should complete the work handover.

At the same time, Brother Gao, you must submit to me the list of candidates for other key positions as soon as possible, and I will announce them together after I agree."

Zhu Chengwu waved his hand and asked Gao Yao to retreat.

"Yes, Lord Marquis!"

Gao Yao bowed and took his leave.

All key positions must be appointed after Zhu Chengwu's final approval. This is the rule of Fu'an Marquis Mansion.

Even if Zhu Chengwu delegates more power, he still holds the power to appoint and dismiss personnel in some key positions firmly in his hands.

No matter in the past life or this life, the memories of both lives remind Zhu Chengwu that the power of personnel appointment and dismissal is extremely important and must never be delegated to others.

(End of this chapter)