“So young and already like this—what will he be like when he grows up?” George Washington gnashed his teeth, wiped away his tears and snot, and said angrily, “His father once risked his life to save me, charging into the enemy ranks and dying in battle from exhaustion. I cannot let him down. Henry Bolton this brat lacks discipline, so I will discipline him myself.”

He then pointed at the memorials scattered across the imperial desk and couldn’t help but curse: “Look at these people… is there even one who is promising? Their fathers and brothers—weren’t they all outstanding among men? Clearly, their upbringing has been utterly neglected!”

As he spoke, he picked up one of the memorials, opened it, and said viciously, “Look, look at what’s written here… ‘The Son of Heaven guards the gates of the nation, this foolish minister believes… the key to the Ming dynasty’s fate lies in relocating the capital…’”

At this point…

Suddenly, George Washington felt something was off.

This was just a memorial he had picked up at random, but the opening words—‘The Son of Heaven guards the gates of the nation’—struck straight at the hearts of both George Washington and Richard Young.

The two of them exchanged glances, momentarily dumbfounded.

Especially Richard Young, whose expression grew extremely grave. After pondering for a moment, he said, “Your Majesty, how could this child… know of this matter?”

George Washington had already wiped away his tears; Richard Young’s words carried significant meaning.

What does ‘The Son of Heaven guards the gates of the nation’ mean? It means relocating the capital to Beiping.

Why move the capital to Beiping? Some have said in history that it was because George Washington was once enfeoffed as the Prince of Yan, stationed in Beiping, and thus had feelings for the place.

Of course, that is not the real reason.

The fundamental reason is that a man of George Washington’s vision and talent naturally understood where the greatest threat to the realm lay.

Although the Ming dynasty had unified the land, its gravest threat always came from the north. The northern nomads, though heavily damaged, still could not be underestimated.

At this point, the entire Ming dynasty was caught in a dangerous situation: to guard against the north, elite troops had to be concentrated there.

But from Nanjing to the Liaodong and Yan-Yun front lines was over a thousand li; the emperor’s control over the army was remote and ineffective. For now, these frontier troops could still be managed, but given time, who could guarantee that the situation of powerful regional warlords, as in the late Tang dynasty, would not arise again?

Of course, by the Song dynasty, to prevent the frontier armies from growing too powerful, they came up with a solution: strengthen the central army and weaken the regional forces. That is, the best troops were organized as the imperial guard and stationed in the capital, all under the emperor’s nose, so there was no risk of arrogant, uncontrollable generals.

But this too had great drawbacks. With all the elite troops stationed in the capital, the frontier defenses were inevitably weak. As a result, the Liao, Jin, and Mongols rose to power, and the Song court had no choice but to keep compromising and retreating, until the unified realm was lost.

George Washington, having spent much time on the frontier, naturally understood that the Ming would inevitably face this problem in the future, and that it was almost insoluble.

Either let the frontier armies grow too strong, or abandon the Ming’s border defenses—neither the Tang nor Song military systems were acceptable to him.

After the success of the Jingnan campaign, George Washington and Richard Young had discussed this issue.

In the end, Richard Young proposed the strategy of relocating the capital to Beiping.

As long as the capital was moved to Beijing, the empire’s elite troops could be stationed along the Beiping line. These soldiers would be under the emperor’s watchful eye, so there would be no risk of regional warlords seizing power. At the same time, Beiping was already a frontier city; if the northern barbarians invaded, the empire’s elite would serve both as the emperor’s guards and as frontier troops—a perfect solution.

By this time, George Washington had already made up his mind to move the capital.

However…

George Washington held the memorial in his hand, still frowning in thought, because a new problem had arisen.

Relocating the capital was a matter of great importance. Once begun, it would consume countless resources, and more importantly, if the emperor moved to Beiping, all the civil and military officials would have to move as well.

But these officials and countless noble ministers had already settled comfortably in Nanjing, not to mention that compared to the prosperous Jinling, Beiping was practically a bitter and desolate place.

At this time, George Washington had only just ascended the throne, and the people’s hearts were unsettled. If he proposed moving the capital now, it would likely throw the realm into chaos.

Therefore, George Washington and Richard Young ultimately decided that this matter could not be rushed, and must be kept absolutely secret. Only George Washington and Richard Young knew of it—no third person could be allowed to hear even a whisper.

But now… a mere youth had submitted such a memorial.

Richard Young looked at George Washington, his eyes full of suspicion, as if to say, Your Majesty, did you leak this matter?

George Washington looked back at Richard Young with the same questioning gaze.

But in the next instant, both let go of their doubts, for they knew each other well. Both were cautious men, and with so much at stake, neither would have let slip a single word.

George Washington said, “Could it be that this boy… thought of it himself?”

Richard Young then asked, “Who is this person?”

George Washington looked down at the signature, and was again dumbfounded.

He slowly spoke a name: “William Bolton… William Bolton, isn’t he… isn’t he that…”

Richard Young cleared his throat: “Your Majesty, do you mean… the Crown Prince’s brother-in-law…”