The Ming Dynasty: Reshaping the Land

Chapter 44 Military Merits

After the three entered the private room, they made no attempt to be polite, especially Guo Zhen, who clamored for a few more maids.

"So, you're here to rip us off?" Li Jinglong scoffed. "I only listen to music here, unlike those brothels outside!"

"Come on! We guys came here when it first opened!" Guo Zhen scoffed.

Upon seeing this, Chang Sheng immediately ordered Li Er, who was standing at the door, "Li Er, hurry up and find a few waiters, and make sure they're from Korea!"

Li Jinglong snorted and waved his hand at Li Er, saying, "Just consider it bad luck to have met the wrong person!"

Upon receiving the signal, Li Er immediately turned around and went out to make arrangements.

Guo Zhen's face beamed with a triumphant smile: "That's more like it! What's the point of drinking with us brothers if we don't have many maids?"

"Brother Deng, you said you wanted to talk to me about something, but you're just looking for an excuse to get me to treat you to drinks, aren't you?" Li Jinglong looked at Deng Zhen.

Deng Zhen smiled and said, "We need to discuss business and drink, no time wasted!"

Li Jinglong rolled his eyes at Deng Zhen, thinking, "So he's just here to take advantage of us!"

"Jiujiang, didn't Lao Deng tell you back then that the grain supplies near the capital have already started to be transported north? I reckon it should be ready by the end of the first month!" Chang Sheng stopped his joking and said seriously.

Upon hearing this, Guo Zhen's smile faded: "Indeed! Jiujiang, it's no secret that His Majesty intends to reclaim Liaodong. Currently, the Duke of Song is far away in Beiping, and my father, along with the Marquis of Anyuan, the Marquis of Yongchang, and a large number of others, are all in Beiping making pre-war preparations!"

"Among the nobles, the three of us are in an awkward position right now. Yun Gong is still in mourning, but the two of us can't just watch the show this time!" Deng Zhen said with a wry smile.

Li Jinglong, however, didn't care at all and comforted him, "Brother Deng, there's no use in worrying! If His Majesty wants us to go and gain experience, he will naturally issue an order for us to accompany the army. If His Majesty doesn't intend to, even if we request an order, His Majesty might not necessarily let us go!"

"I'm not like you, I'm almost thirty!" Deng Zhen gave a wry smile. "Since inheriting the title in the thirteenth year of Hongwu's reign, I've only gone to Jiangxi to suppress the Yao bandits once, in the sixteenth year of Hongwu's reign. How can that kind of battle compare to the recapture of Liaodong!"

"Old Deng, don't be so dissatisfied. You've already been the commander-in-chief once, and the Marquis of Linjiang and the Marquis of Jining are both your deputies. What do you have to be dissatisfied with?" Chang Sheng snorted and retorted.

"That's right! Brother Deng, no matter what, you're better than me and Jiujiang! When we went to the battlefield, we were just following our families, transporting supplies, we never actually fought!" Guo Zhen chimed in.

"Don't mention that time!" Deng Zhen waved his hand, his brow furrowed. "His Majesty favored me that time, making me the commander-in-chief, but do you even look at who my deputies are? Marquis Chen of Linjiang and Marquis Gu of Jining, two marquises with illustrious military achievements, would they listen to the orders of a junior like me?"

Once the old story came up, Deng Zhen began to complain: "That time, I only got the advantage of being a Duke and became the temporary commander-in-chief. The battles were all fought by the Marquis of Linjiang and the Marquis of Jining, and I was left to clean up the battlefield!"

"No way! No matter what, you're a commander-in-chief!" Li Jinglong raised his eyelids and said in surprise.

"Think about it, we've never been on the battlefield. People say you're wrong in this way or that way, and that you should do this or that. We're the younger generation, so tell me, whose advice should we listen to? What if we don't listen and suffer a defeat?" Deng Zhen said with a helpless expression.

"Say nothing! In the eyes of those marquises who have made great military achievements, we, the hereditary dukes, have no prestige whatsoever!" Guo Zhen shrugged.

Chang Sheng chimed in, "The army values ​​seniority and military achievements above all else. Take my elder brother, for example. Even though he joined the military early on, he's never actually commanded a single battle. Isn't he just following behind the Duke of Song, doing his job?"

Li Jinglong's understanding of the internal affairs of the army was still based on the materials he had seen at the Left Army Headquarters that day. However, by listening to the stories told by the others, Li Jinglong gained a deeper understanding of the situation within the Ming army.

Is prioritizing military merit and seniority a bad habit? Li Jinglong doesn't think so!

At any time, in the military, if military merit is not valued, then that army will have no combat effectiveness; if seniority is not considered, then factors of disunity are likely to arise within the army.

Sometimes, seniority can prevail over dissenting voices, especially in ancient armies where discipline was relatively poor.

Therefore, anyone who can become a famous general must have outstanding military achievements and seniority!

Just like in later generations, 502's military achievements and command skills were impeccable, but he also needed 501 to keep things in check, otherwise he really couldn't control his arrogant and fierce troops.

However, the stories told by the others also served as a reminder to Li Jinglong. In this era where merit and seniority were highly valued among the nobility, he knew that since he was relatively inexperienced, he could only rely on his military achievements. But Li Jinglong was well aware of his own limitations.

Although he inherited all of the original owner's memories, including his understanding of military strategy, battle formations, and tactics, Li Jinglong didn't know how to use them!

As for his understanding of military tactics, Li Jinglong had certainly read a lot about them since the internet became so developed in later generations, but war is not child's play.

"Brother Deng, Second Brother Chang, Lao Guo, let's have a drink first!" Li Jinglong raised his glass, interrupting the group's long-winded complaints.

"We are young, and we will have plenty of opportunities to gain experience in the future. I'm thinking that in two months, I will first ask His Majesty for permission to go and train the troops!" Li Jinglong said, revealing his plan. However, the arrangements Li Jinglong made were all things that Zhu Biao and Old Zhu had already discussed.

After all, in Zhu's mind, Li Jinglong and Xu Yungong were the key people he wanted to cultivate.

Li Jinglong had made up his mind that he could choose not to use the skills, but he couldn't be ignorant of them. Gaining experience would be good for him in the future, since having more skills is never a bad thing.

As for the original owner's title of God of War, Li Jinglong could only laugh it off, leaving it to others to interpret.

The entire Jingnan Rebellion was just too bizarre; no one could say for sure what the original owner of this body had done!

In historical records, the name Li Jinglong has become synonymous with "incompetent fool." The original owner's own biography contains less information about Li Jinglong than the biographies of others. Isn't that strange?

"Jiujiang, you're right. We need to take it slow. I've decided that in a few days I'll ask His Majesty for permission to train the troops first, and then head directly north to participate in the campaign against Liaodong!" Deng Zhen put down his wine cup and said firmly.

"I'll go too!" Guo Zhen immediately chimed in.

However, when it came to Chang Sheng, he shook his head with a wry smile: "My elder brother is already in Beiping this time, so I can't go even if I wanted to! I can only cheer you on from the capital!"

Chang Sheng's words sounded somewhat dejected, so Li Jinglong couldn't help but reach out and pat Chang Sheng's shoulder to comfort him.

However, Li Jinglong suddenly remembered that it seemed that it was after this Liaodong War that Chang Mao got into trouble, and in the end, Zhu Yuanzhang changed Chang Sheng's title to Duke of the Founding State.

Upon thinking of this, Li Jinglong immediately lowered his arm. What was he doing being sentimental with someone who was about to be granted the title of Duke?

At that moment, a knock sounded at the door, and Li Er, accompanied by several Korean maids, leaped in, breaking the slightly somber atmosphere.

Even though they had seen the maids' cheongsams many times before, their eyes were still unconsciously drawn to them.

Chang Sheng suddenly remembered something and asked Deng Zhen, "Old Deng, didn't you take a cheongsam home last time? Haven't you had enough of it yet?"

"What the hell...!"