Zhu Yunhuan was in a good mood. Although there were quite a few things going on recently, some things were going smoothly.

Zhu Yunhuan would not easily say anything about the choice of auspicious days, etc. In the final analysis, there are some things that he cannot intervene in, so he should just sit back and enjoy the fruits of his labor.

Chen Di came to the Wenhua Palace and said, "Your Highness, should we announce the opening of the special examination next year?"

Zhu Yunhuan was not polite either, "It is still not a good idea to announce it to the world right now, but the Ministry of Rites and other government offices should make more preparations and then officially announce it to the world at that time."

Chen Di naturally understood that some things could only be done this way. It was not appropriate to do something in a high-profile manner right now. It would be better to make some preparations in private.

Zhu Yunxun continued, "It's good that you are aware of these things. There is still time. Next year, we will hold an additional special examination, and it doesn't have to be held in the spring, but in the autumn."

Chen Di immediately said, "Your Highness is wise. If the Spring Examination is still a little early, some scholars may have difficulty getting to the examination hall."

According to the old rules, the examination is basically held in the spring, that is, in the first month or the second month of the lunar calendar, but this is still a little rushed.

Therefore, the examination was changed to autumn to give the scholars enough time. From the time they received the news of the additional examination, they would have enough time to rush to the examination venue.

Zhu Yunxun smiled and said, "Let's prepare for this matter. Since it is an additional special examination, we should not let anything go wrong in this examination."

Chen Di naturally understood the Crown Prince's intentions better. This time, the special examination was a favor to scholars. If this matter was not done well, it would also bring shame to Zhu Yunhuan.

After all, the special examination was held this time nominally because the new emperor ascended the throne. Such an important matter certainly would not allow anyone to smear it, and there could not be any accidents in this matter.

Chen Di quickly assured, "Your Highness, please rest assured. We will do our best and will never allow any official to do evil."

Although the imperial examination has taken many measures to prevent cheating, it is unlikely that there are no small tricks. But everyone must work hard to reduce these behaviors as much as possible.

Zhu Yunhuan still believed in Chen Di's position. Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, even though there were some shortcomings in the imperial examinations, there had not been any large-scale fraud cases.

After Chen Di left, Zhu Yunhuan called Xu Huizu, Lan Yu and others, "Next year, the Grand Canal will be dredged, and the garrisons will be replaced. Have you arranged everything now?"

Xu Huizu stepped forward and reported, "Your Highness, we are transferring two guards from the Tuntian Guard Station to Qingzhou to exchange for the three guards of the King of Qi."

Zhu Yunhuan thought about it carefully and said, "But, the three guards of the King of Qi have been transferred to Liaodong, and Goryeo is restless. As for the three guards of the King of Liao, if they are not complete, then don't add any more."

Xu Huizu and others knew that the Prince of Qi had offended the Crown Prince before, and no one had any objection to the withdrawal of the Prince of Qi's three guards. This matter seemed to be a very natural thing.

There is no problem in transferring the three guards of King Qi in Qingzhou to Liaodong. Many people are also speculating that the Crown Prince may use troops against Lee Seong-gye of Goryeo, and there are still many troops in Liaodong.

This is not necessarily absolute. The troops in Liaodong are not only for defending against the harassment from Goryeo, but also because there are three Jurchen tribes or some remnants of the Mongols. The situation there is not particularly stable either.

As for the fact that the three guards of the Liao king and other vassal kings were not fully equipped, there was no need to fully equip them. The imperial court's troops could just go there and be led by a general.

Xu Huizu continued to report, "Prince Zhou's three guards have been transferred to Shandong. King Zhou reported that there is no land in Kaifeng that needs to be reclaimed. We have not yet transferred the military farm guards to Kaifeng. Your Highness, please make the decision."

The three guards of King Zhou were basically taken away by Zhu Yunhuan, and nominally replaced with the Tuntian Guards. But everyone was very smart, and Zhu Su directly said that there was no need to replace the three guards.

Zhu Yunhuan smiled and said, "This is not appropriate. Although there are guards for the palace, I am afraid that they are not enough. Dispatch a thousand households to protect the safety of King Zhou."

Zhu Yunhuan still knew how to return a favor. His fifth uncle decisively gave up those unreliable military powers and only kept the most basic guards of the palace, etc. Zhu Yunhuan could not do anything too embarrassing.

The three garrisons were transferred away, and there was no need to use military farming garrisons to replace them, so King Zhou was given a garrison of a thousand households, which of course was still nominally the court's troops.

Xu Huizu asked, "Your Highness, will the three guards of King Zhou be transferred to Liaodong or to Monan?"

Zhu Yunhuan took a look and said to Li Jinglong, "You lead the three guards of King Zhou and King Yan to Daning to unite the troops in preparation for the Tartar invasion."

Xu Huizu and Lan Yu both frowned. They did not have much confidence in Li Jinglong's ability. This Duke Cao did have some ability, but he should not be asked to do such a big thing.
The three guards of King Zhou, the three guards of King Yan, plus the guards in Daning and other places, and it is very likely that the three guards of King Ning will be captured, which means there are at least 30,000 troops.

But the next moment Xu Huizu also understood that this matter was really appropriate for Cao Guogong to go there. Because Cao Guogong was not only a noble, but also a relative of the Ming Dynasty.

With status and a certain prestige, after Li Jinglong went to Daning and other places, he actually took away the three guards from King Ning and deployed these guards in Daning and other places.

At that time, the so-called princes' guards would be completely separated from the princes in name only. From then on, they would be directly the troops of the imperial court and would no longer have any relationship with the princes.

Let Li Jinglong do these things that offend people, as his identity is indeed suitable for these things.

Li Jinglong also declined every day, and said decisively, "Your Highness, I think the remnants of the Mongols are still determined to defeat the enemy. They have only mobilized the three guards of King Zhou and King Yan, and the defense line is not strong enough."

Zhu Yunhuan looked at Li Jinglong calmly, and then asked, "What's wrong? Sending six more guards is not enough to stabilize the defense line in the south of the desert?"

Li Jinglong was not panicked at all, and explained in an orderly manner, "Your Highness, you can see clearly that the south of the desert has always been controlled by those nomadic tribes. Now it is quite difficult for the court to station troops in the south of the desert."

Zhu Yunhuan was naturally aware of this. Now that the army was stationed in the south of the desert, most of them actually needed to transport food and supplies from the north and other places.

Many soldiers and civilians also learned the lifestyle of nomadic peoples because there were no opportunities for farming there for the time being.

Li Jinglong continued to add, "Moreover, the court had previously recruited the Mongolian tribes to surrender and set up garrisons, but among these people, there were quite a few disloyal people who forgot the court's grace."

Everyone knew this, and some of the Mongols who surrendered would often rebel, which was nothing new. In addition, the imperial court had a general control over the guards, and many of the officials in the guards were tribal leaders. These people took official positions in the Ming Dynasty, but they often did not obey orders.

Li Jinglong said in a very serious tone, "Your Highness, I think if we have enough troops, we can still control those garrisons. Now that Mongolia is in civil strife, those people have nowhere to go."

The bloodline of the Golden Family has not been broken, but the various tribes are fighting for the position of Khan, and there is no real leader on the grassland now.

This is naturally an opportunity for the Ming Dynasty. They can take the opportunity to integrate their forces in the south of the desert and further control it.

Xu Huizu stepped forward decisively and said, "Your Highness, I think what Duke Cao said makes sense. The Tartars are weak now, and the court can take this opportunity to reduce some of the garrisons and relocate them with court troops."

Zhu Yunhuan became serious. The meaning of Li Jinglong and Xu Huizu was actually very simple, that is, now that they have a large number of troops and strong strength, they should make some rotations in the south of the desert.

Some garrisons had been set up in Kaiping, Daning and other places, and the Ming Dynasty was also trying to station troops in these places for a long time to completely control the grasslands south of the desert and compress the activity space of nomadic peoples.

There is nothing wrong with doing this, and everyone thinks it is natural and reasonable. This is also a rare opportunity, and it would be very unfortunate to miss it.

There seems to be no war in the Ming territory now, and there are not many places to use troops, so we should find a way to further control the south of the desert.

What's more, the military power in the hands of the princes has been reduced, so these garrisons cannot be really abolished. These troops must be used well and cannot be placed arbitrarily.

If there are surplus troops, they will be sent to the grasslands. They will also hunt for rabbits and eliminate those garrisons that are not firm in their positions, or even directly attack and destroy them. The only troops on the grasslands are the troops of the Ming Dynasty.

This was a good suggestion, but Zhu Yunxun was a little worried, "If this happens, those guards will probably become disloyal."

Lan Yu immediately stepped forward and said excitedly, "Your Highness, if they have any ulterior motives, just destroy them. The court has given them grace, but they are often ungrateful. I think they are unreliable!"

Xu Huizu and Li Jinglong did not refute it. In fact, they had similar ideas, which was why they supported replacing the garrison garrisons with the Ming Dynasty's troops.

In the final analysis, he felt that those garrisons were unreliable, and now the Ming Dynasty no longer needed these people to stabilize the situation on the grassland, so it would be better to be more powerful.

If the officials of the vassal garrisons were sensible, they would be completely loyal to the Ming Dynasty, and they would surely be guaranteed status and wealth.

However, if they become dissatisfied or even rebel, the Ming Dynasty would naturally not mind sending troops to eliminate these unstable factors. At that time, the Ming Dynasty would be able to obtain a more stable grassland south of the desert.

Zhu Yunhuan was indeed somewhat tempted, and said, "This is a big deal, so we should discuss it carefully, but we should not act rashly."

This matter is urgent, but it is not urgent either, so you can be more patient and there is no need to rush.

Zhu Yunxun continued, "You guys should discuss it carefully and decide on a set of rules and send it over. We will discuss it in detail later. This is an important matter and should not be delayed."

Of course he was moved. If he could get a stable Mo Nan, Zhu Yunhuan would naturally have no reason to refuse. This would be the best thing.

It is a fact that dynasties in the Central Plains have always been harassed by nomadic peoples, so it would be a good thing to be able to solve such hidden dangers.

Although the Mongolian tribes seem weak now, it won't be long before they will form the Tatars and the Oirat, which can bring great burdens and pressure to the Ming Dynasty, and even cause the Ming Dynasty to suffer repeated setbacks.

Zhu Yunhuan would certainly not give up Daning, Kaiping and other places. Even though the cost of stationing the army on the grassland was relatively high, he could not easily abandon that territory, let alone allow nomadic peoples to graze horses and grow there.

As long as there is a chance, we should continue to weaken some enemies. No matter if they are weak now or they may grow stronger in the future, we should not be polite.

Zhu Yunhuan would obviously not show any mercy to them. If given a chance, he would naturally attack without any hesitation. It was that simple.

Li Jinglong and others were also quite excited. The Crown Prince was still very enthusiastic about military matters and was very concerned about various things on the grassland. This meant that the nobles did not have to worry about too many things.

Some crown princes appear to be ambitious before they ascend the throne, but they are not so persistent after becoming emperors.

But now there is no need to worry too much. The Crown Prince's enthusiasm for the grassland is even more persistent than many people imagine. He wants to attack the enemies whenever he gets the chance.

This is definitely a good thing, at least it is the best thing for these nobles. Without sufficient military merits and certain wars, they will lack a place to use their talents and may be suppressed by civil officials.

If there is an opportunity to fight a war, the chance to make achievements will come, and you can ensure that you have enough status in the court without worrying about being idle.

After the three dukes left, Zhu Yunhuan asked with a smile, "Master, what do you think of my cousin?"

Daoyan said, "Duke Cao is magnanimous and has a very accurate view of the current situation."

Zhu Yunhuan smiled. He also felt that Li Jinglong was very smart. His ability to lead troops in battle was definitely not as good as Xu Huizu and others, but when it came to seizing opportunities, he was very good.

Li Jinglong was not just a general, he was more of a politician and a dignitary, and most of the time his mind was not just on leading troops to fight.

However, Zhu Yunhuan did not care much about this. If he did not want to go to war, then he did not want to go to war. Anyway, he had enough generals under his command, so he did not necessarily need Duke Cao to lead the army.

It is enough to be able to see through the political situation and help control the military power at some critical moments.

As for the threats and enemies on the grassland, Zhu Yunhuan naturally cared about them very much. Even if he couldn't completely eliminate them in one go, he had to find a way to continuously weaken them.

As long as the opportunity arises, then we can't be polite. If we take multiple approaches, we may be able to get some good results at this time. (End of this chapter)