The Forbidden City, The Empire of the Great Ming
The Hall of Military Victory
The Hall of Military Victory, like most of the Forbidden City's many structures, had gone through many changes over the years. First it had been the Imperial residence of the Ming Emperors, then a library, being converted into an army gallery by the Communist regime of the 20th century, it resumed its function as Imperial residence thereafter until the fall of the Tao dynasty, becoming a barracks for the Forbidden Guard.
The new Hongxi Emperor had determined that the Forbidden Guard did not require palatial accouterments for each and every one of its members and had relocated them to the gate barracks, a move which was met with some grumbling but little other noise. Most of the new Forbidden Guard had not had time to get used to such pleasures and had been rather out of sorts in the grand hall. As they left, the construction taking place made it clear that something of a transformation was occurring.
China was a state poor in industry, but over the years its treasury had grown fat. Each year, it exported millions of pieces of ceramic, painted screens, silk clothes and other works of art to the rest of the world, its philosophers were widely approved and in heavy of by the more eccentric sort of nobility in many nations. And, of course, there was tea. Not even all the tea of India could satisfy the British lust for the leaf, and China was happy to supply their addiction. With little to spend the money on, it had simply accumulated, the only major depletion occurring during the War of Justice, when vast indemnities had been paid to the English, but the government had kept the majority of their vast hoard hidden from the eyes of the Barbarians, with many a minister seeking to dip into it for his own expenses, but even these could barely dent the great sea of silver.
Now, it was being put to use.
The Hongxi Emperor himself stood in the new Hall of Divine Order, presently rather ugly in terms of aesthetics, but wonderfully laid out if you happened to want to oversee a military, something the previous Emperors had often neglected in their works. Bare walls of wood, currently being lacquered red, surrounded a tiled floor on which stood the various pieces of machinery imported from the West, projection displays for showing military movements, a communications device for speaking to all of the army commanders at once, a database containing information on the last reported state of supply of each of the armies. It was wonderful.
"And this," the Emperor set his hand on another piece of equipment, "will allow us to coordinate information between the Army and the Navy in realtime, essential for the proper conducting of orbital landings. And it is fully automatic, I am told. Truly a wonder."
The unfortunate construction workers in the room were all clearly having some difficulty in moving around. Although this was progress from weeks previous when all movement halted as soon as the Emperor entered a room. He had spent a full hour haranguing the peasants until some of the kinder officials had stepped forward and explained that the Emperor wished for them to continue their work and that there would be no consequences for doing so. Several previous Emperors had put out the eyes of any peasant unfortunate enough to look upon the Son of Heaven.
The reaction of the officers and generals behind the Emperor was mixed. Many of the newer, younger, officers were openly fascinated, while several of the older ones, creatures of the previous Empress who had not yet been retired, were clearly skeptical, despite all of their approving noises. Yi Pan and his cadre were, sadly, busy with the similar preparations in the Hall of Tigers, the army's command center within the larger hall. It would have been nice to have him here in order to explain some of these items in military terms.
"Of course," One of the older generals stepped forward, "And while I would not question the divine will of Your Majesty, I would ask...Does it not impinge upon the honor of our officers to have to respond to the orders of men from other branches of your divine military? Would it not be best to allow them to act on their own?"
The Emperor frowned, then took a breath before speaking, "General Ma, honor and glory are achieved through victory, and while I am but a humble Emperor, not skilled in the military arts, I must admit that it seems to me that forces cooperating and acting in a coordinated fashion, are more likely to achieve victory than ones in competition. Any sane officer would no doubt much rather have a continuous supply of half-shares of honor than no honor at all, or one full share every decade or so." He frowned again and removed his cap to scratch behind an ear, observing with annoyance as the entire cadre followed suit.
"Of course, your majesty." Ma, hat in hand, was obviously still unhappy, "But...your majesty is making many changes..." The man was speaking slowly, apparently aware that he was on thin ice now, "And it has made many...Nervous. China is always victorious in the end, so why should we follow the ways of the barbarians? Their strange uniforms and 'mass production' and other foolishness only serve to show their true weakness in the long run, whereas China is always strong, and endures through the ages because we do not rush madly to change as the Westerners do."
"If you would recall, General Ma, the events of the War of Justice. A hundred million Chinese soldiers died in the Himalayas, and that was the successful part of the operation. Our military is terrible, General. You will accept that or you will not be a part of it. Further, you will assist in rectifying that problem, or you will find an alternative career." The Emperor's face had darkened, "Gentlemen, other duties call me. I will retire."
He frowned once more as the entire room went to their knees, kowtowing, while chorusing, "Good afternoon, your majesty!"
"Yes, yes." He put one hand to his forehead, as if that might stave off the headache he felt. He was sure that the officials were planning to assassinate him slowly, by means of blood pressure.
---
Later that evening, once General Yi's own tour was concluded, he found himself summoned to the Imperial Person, a process which involved passing through twelve doors all with their own different associated ceremonies. Although the final three doors, through which the Emperor frequently passed, were manned by officials who expedited the ceremonies to the degree that it essentially consisted of them mumbling the words as fast as they could before scrambling to allow passage.
Yi smiled. The Emperor was very slowly, but surely, affecting change to the Forbidden City.
Within the Outer Tea Chamber, where the Emperor was permitted to receive non-royal guests. Yi bowed to the Emperor, in the European fashion, knowing that he preferred it to the kowtow on informal occasions, "Your majesty."
"General, a pleasure as always." The Emperor gestured to the cushion across the low table from himself, "Sit down Yi, and skip the rest of it. I have had enough meaningless formality for the day."
Yi sat, "I take it, then, that your meeting with the rest of the military staff went as...expected."
"Oh, indeed. The ones we put in place are eager enough, but the old guard, the ones with experience, don't like it. You'll have a tough time getting them to listen." A servant appeared as the Emperor spoke and proceeded to fill their cups. Neither man paid her any particular attention.
"We are asking them to make a large leap, your majesty. Most of them still think it is the 2,500's when the Tao dominated world politics and achieved some measure of respect." The general took a deep draft from his cup after he spoke. His day had not gone any differently than the Emperor's.
The Emperor held his cup halfway to his lips. Apparently some thought had struck him, which often left him in this state. Slowly, he set the cup down. "Yi, I have had a thought."
"Your majesty?"
"The Spaniards fight enemies equipped much as our army is every day. As do the Russians. And the Germans are well famed for their discipline and drill, something that will no doubt impress our friends in the army. The French..." The Emperor frowned "Well, I doubt they would consent to allow us to see anything of importance...But perhaps the Scottish are an alternative there."
Yi nodded, "Indeed, your majesty, but I doubt they will send men to train our soldiers...At least not at a reasonable rate of pay."
"Certainly not, we are, after all, 'slanty eyed primitive barbarians.' No...I propose that we send men to them. General Ma and his sort can go see personally the effect of European methods against our own, or methods similar to ours, from the European side. Not from some bunker here in the Forbidden City. And I will expressly command them to learn from the experience. Hopefully that will have some effect. Perhaps we will be lucky and the Europeans will consent to an exchange. Getting a few of their officers over here anyway." The Emperor drew the cup to his lips at last and drank.
"It...Could work. Although many will still be...Reticent. Particularly about having to leave China, your majesty."
"Let them be reticent! It is about time the people of this country learned that while we are the Middle Kingdom, there need to be other kingdoms for us to be in the middle OF. Our borders are not the borders of the world, dammit!" The Emperor set his cup down rather hard, splashing a measure of tea onto the table. The servant rematerialized and set about mopping the mess up with a towel.
"Many could stand to learn that, your majesty." Yi smiled slightly, "I will make preparations for such visits at once."
---
To Kaiser Hohenzollern of the Germans
From General Yi Pan, General of the Eastern Garrisoning Army
Most Respectful Greetings,
I write to you representing His Imperial Majesty the Hongxi Emperor on the matter of a potential exchange of officers between our nations.
Many in the Chinese military are reluctant to take up modern arms, and, after some discussion, it has been determined that they require a personal education in such matters and, of course, We hope that the famed discipline of the German army will be instilled in them to some degree. If you would be willing to accept these officers we would be most pleased to accept some of your own in exchange, and provide them with all they require while they stay in China where, we can assure you, they will not be learning of how to employ ancient tanks in combat.
While our nations have had little contact in the previous years, we see this as a great opportunity for cultural exchange between our states, allowing our officers to learn of the world beyond China, while your own learn of our country.
Enclosed is a list of officers of varying ranks that we wish to dispatch, consisting of 100 officers in total, ranging from ranks equivalent to colonel to 2nd lieutenant. The Emperor wishes me to add that, if these dealings go well, that he would give strong consideration to Krupp and other German manufacturers when the Great Ming begins to purchase more modern arms for its new armies.
Signed,
General Yi Pan
(Signed)
To Tsar Tatiana of the Russians
From General Yi Pan, General of the Eastern Garrisoning Army
Most Respectful Greetings,
I write to you representing His Imperial Majesty the Hongxi Emperor on the matter of a potential exchange of officers between our nations.
As you may know, many in our army are reluctant to take up modern weapons and assume using modern tactics, much as the Russian army was at the start of your own war with the Germans. We hope that, in that spirit, you might assist a country with a similar issue.
While Russia and China are seldom friendly on the political stage, China has always been closer to Russia than any other European nation, and despite the occasional skirmishing, it was the Russian Tsarina Anastasia, who is still seen as a great hero in China, who liberated us from the grasp of Communism. And it is, of course, the hope of all of China that your own reign is as long and prosperous as hers.
Enclosed is a list of officers of varying ranks that we wish to dispatch, consisting of 100 officers in total, ranging from ranks equivalent to colonel to 2nd lieutenant. If you are willing to accept these officiers, we would be glad to accept a similar number into our own military. And, if these dealings are successful, the Emperor has stated that he would give strong consideration to Russian contracts when we begin to purchase modern weapons for our forces.
Signed,
General Yi Pan
(Signed)
---
To Kaiser Hohenzollern of the Germans
From General Yi Pan, General of the Eastern Garrisoning Army
Most Respectful Greetings,
I write to you representing His Imperial Majesty the Hongxi Emperor on the matter of a potential exchange of officers between our nations.
Many in the Chinese military are reluctant to take up modern arms, and, after some discussion, it has been determined that they require a personal education in such matters and, of course, We hope that the famed discipline of the German army will be instilled in them to some degree. If you would be willing to accept these officers we would be most pleased to accept some of your own in exchange, and provide them with all they require while they stay in China where, we can assure you, they will not be learning of how to employ ancient tanks in combat.
While our nations have had little contact in the previous years, we see this as a great opportunity for cultural exchange between our states, allowing our officers to learn of the world beyond China, while your own learn of our country.
Enclosed is a list of officers of varying ranks that we wish to dispatch, consisting of 100 officers in total, ranging from ranks equivalent to colonel to 2nd lieutenant.
Signed,
General Yi Pan
(Signed)
---
To Queen Isabella of Spain
From General Yi Pan, General of the Eastern Garrisoning Army
Most Respectful Greetings,
I write to you representing His Imperial Majesty the Hongxi Emperor on the matter of a potential exchange of officers between our nations.
The martial prowess of the Spaniards against our mutual foe, the hated Muslims, is well known in China. Of course, unfortunately, many of our own men are unwilling to take up the modern arms and employ the modern tactics which would permit us to defeat the hordes of uncivilized barbarians which seek to sweep across our Western border.
It is the hope of His Imperial Majesty that you would consent to an exchange of officers between our nations, that we might learn the tactics the Spaniards employ in their stand against the green tide, that we might employ them to weaken that foe to your east.
I have enclosed a list of 100 officers of varying rank which we wish to send to your military as observers. If you so wish, we would be pleased to accept 100 of your own officers. My Emperor has also stated that, if you accept this, he will take the opportunity to arrange a meeting with one of your missionaries, and that should this meeting go well he may permit the entry of further such missionaries into China to preach their religion.
Signed,
General Yi Pan
(Signed)
