Daming Palace, Hanyuan Hall
"Have the Military Aircraft Department and the Jinyi Palace Guards received any military reports from Jia Ziyu recently?" Emperor Chongping turned around and asked.
It can be said that as Jia Heng first bombarded Huang Taiji in Xuanda during this year, repelling the Jurchen invasion, and then turned the tide in the Battle of the Northwest, Emperor Chongping or the civil and military officials of the Han court were all concerned about Jia Heng's military actions. There is an inexplicable trust in things.
Of course, this high-expectation mentality may not be a good thing.
Often means more stress.
Shi Jie cupped his hands and replied: "Back to Your Majesty, since Duke Wei arrived in Fuzhou on the third day of the winter lunar month, there has been no military report."
Dai Quan said quickly: "Your Majesty, there have been no military reports from Jinyi Mansion in the past few days."
Emperor Chongping thought for a while and said: "The naval battle is only a month or two away. If we wait for a while, we can still celebrate the New Year. I sent someone to ask about the progress. The naval battle is not as good as the land battle. If the sea area is at peace for the first time, we may be able to lead the troops back to Hong Kong." , we are temporarily resting and recuperating, and it will not be too late to use our troops again in the spring of next year."
During this period, some people in the capital also went to the capital to advise Emperor Chongping that the naval battle would be delayed for a long time and was a waste of national funds.
Throughout the sixteen years of Chongping, one war followed another. It can be said that not only Jia Heng was exhausted, but the national treasury was gradually unable to make ends meet.
Emperor Chongping said: "The Jiangnan New Deal will be vigorously implemented in the northern and southern provinces after next spring."
While Jia Heng led the navy southward to expel the bandits and regain Taiwan, Jiangnan was not idle either. The Governor's Yamen of Liangjiang and the Governor's Yamen of Anhui extended the New Deal to the entire old Jiangnan area.
Clear the land and register the number of acres, so as to pave the way for a whipping method and spread the land into the acres.
The power of the New Deal has also exploded. The number of registered acres has been updated and has increased by several million hectares. It is foreseeable that a lot more tax revenue will be collected next year.
If the new law is implemented to the letter in all the provinces in the north and south of the country, it can be foreseen that the resurgence of the Han Dynasty expected by Emperor Chongping will be just around the corner.
Because of the one-whip method and the allocation of grains into acres, they had a great effect after Zhang Juzheng's New Deal and Yongzheng's restructuring.
But at this time, under the majestic palace standing in the wind and snow, on the stone steps covered with light snow, several small eunuchs wearing dark red eunuch clothes were holding a secret box. , heading towards the main hall.
The eunuch came to the door of the palace, and his breathless voice passed through the vermilion lacquered wood door and rang in Hanyuan Hall: "Your Majesty, this is a military report from Duke Wei from the south."
Emperor Chongping was in the palace. When he heard this, his expression changed, and he felt happy and said, "Dai Quan, go and get the report from the general."
After a while, Dai Quan led the eunuch in, his fair face full of joy, and said: "Your Majesty, good news for Duke Wei."
Although I knew it was a good news, it was not a report in the military newspaper, but the content dictated by the red-feathered courier who rushed the report six hundred miles away.
At this moment, all the civil servants in the palace all looked at the secret box in the hand of the eunuch.
Dai Quan and two internal eunuchs opened the secret box, took out a military report and memorial, bowed and presented it to them.
Emperor Chongping received the military report delivered by Dai Quan and read it attentively. It recorded in detail that Jia Heng went south to lead the navy to fight against the red barbarians, killed the leader of the Dutch red barbarians, and recovered Da Yuan Island.
Then, Emperor Chongping took another memorial, with the words "Jia Heng Qi Memorial" on the cover, and quickly started to read it.
In it, Jia Heng stated the necessity of establishing Taiwan and the establishment of three divisions, as well as its impact on maritime trade and even the power of the Han Dynasty to all barbarians.
Emperor Chongping looked dazed for a moment, and a few words suddenly sounded in his heart.
His literary and martial arts skills shocked all the barbarians, and he was like a holy emperor!
Thinking deeply, he quickly shook his head, it was far from that time yet.
Work hard morning and night, guard against arrogance and impetuosity.
At this moment, the chief minister of the cabinet Han Huang, the second minister Li Zan, the cabinet minister Qi Kun, and the six ministers and nine ministers all looked at the middle-aged emperor who looked very happy.
Han Huang's face moved slightly, and there was a vague suspicion in his heart.
I'm afraid that the Duke of Wei, Jia Heng, won another battle.
This is not surprising, after all, Jia Heng has won two games in a row in just one year.
But the more invincible and invincible it becomes, the more worrying it becomes.
Emperor Chongping put down the memorial at this moment, looked at the surprised ministers in the palace, and ordered: "Dai Quan, General, please report to all the ministers."
Dai Quan responded quickly, then took the military newspaper and handed it to Han Huang, the chief minister of the cabinet, for reading.
At this time, Han Huang took the military report and read it without expression, his eyes flashing.
Although we had expected it, we saw that the three Yang brothers instigated the rebellion, annihilated tens of thousands of Liu Xiang's pirates, imprisoned thousands of Dutch Red Barbarians, killed the Dutch Red Barbarian leader Putmans and others, captured thousands of Red Barbarians, and defeated others. The North Korean navy wiped out more than 30,000 enemies, and the Jurchen prisoner Wang Hauge fled in panic... Such words still shocked Han Huang.
This Duke of Wei is really good at conquering and fighting, and has he really fulfilled his original proposal for a title, and is he the God of the Army of the Han Dynasty?
In turn, the military report was delivered to Li Zan, the Minister of War at the side.
Li Zan also concentrated on reading, with a complicated expression on his face.
It was not that he was surprised that Jia Heng won again cleanly and neatly. This was all based on basic skills, but the war situation of this naval battle made the Minister of War think deeply.
Naval battles are no longer the past situation of ramming ships and fighting, but have been replaced by long-range bombardment with cannons. Just like the great victory of Ping'an Province, fire cannons have changed the way of war.
Emperor Chongping said happily: "Ziyu regained Dayuang Island and proposed in his memorial to establish Taiwan as a province and set up three divisions. There were not many people at the beginning, but the poor people who moved to Fujian and Zhejiang were actually the governors who took charge of the affairs of the three divisions. The big island can serve as a garrison and guard port for our Han Dynasty navy to trade with the South Sea."
This time when he went out to fight, he opened up new territories and even added another province to the Han Dynasty. Ziyu made great achievements again.
At this moment, the faces of the officials in the palace also showed expressions of surprise.
Duke Wei won another naval battle?
At this time, Zhao Mo looked solemn and said: "Your Majesty, the military newspaper once mentioned that the Jurchens and the North Korean navy are still on the run, and the remnants of Liu Xiang have also fled to the Southeast Asian island country. It seems that the war is not over yet?"
Emperor Chongping said: "With Ziyu's ability, we should be able to wipe out the remnants of the bandits very soon. This battle not only completely wiped out the barbarian bandits, recovered Taiwan, and promoted maritime trade, but also thwarted the Jurchen and Korean navy's plot to harass the sea." "
At this time, Liu Zheng, the minister of the Ministry of Rites, held an ivory jade wat in his hand and said: "Your Majesty, Yizhou has always been a barren land. It is a vast land and sparsely populated. There are not many Han people living in it. The imperial court has invested countless manpower and material resources in this barren land. , the gain outweighs the loss.”
As he spoke, his face paused, and he cupped his hands and said: "Your Majesty, I have heard that since the spring of the 16th year of Chongping, the imperial court has been engaged in continuous wars and resorted to violence. It has successively conquered the Jurchens, conquered the northwest, and suppressed the pirates... The military and civilian casualties were as high as two More than one hundred thousand, tens of millions of money and food were wasted, the national treasury was empty, and the people were miserable. The humble ministers thought that when the time was right, they should stop the war and rest and recuperate."
Emperor Chongping looked displeased and said: "Qi Qing, Liu Qing said that I was too aggressive and the treasury was empty. You come to help settle the accounts. It happens to be the end of the year. Let me tell you about the situation of the treasury."
Qi Kun pondered for a moment and said: "Your Majesty, in the Jurchen battle at the beginning of the year, because the victory was crisp and the casualties were small, we did not owe money, food and silver. On the contrary, after the battle was won, we still had a balance of eight million taels."
Speaking of this, Han Huang and Zhao Mo both frowned and looked at Qi Kun. After a battle, how many million taels are left in balance?
After thinking about it for a while, I finally realized that confiscating the property of Shanxi merchants not only made up for the consumption of national funds, but also made a fortune.
Han Huang had an elegant face and an indifferent expression, and he sighed in his heart.
This was almost Duke Wei's specialty. Since the pacification of Henan and the raiding of the Wei and Zheng vassals, every war had to plunder the wealth of the powerful and vassal kings to fill military needs.
However, although military supplies are consumed, there is still money to be made because they have to be subsidized.
That's why the emperor trusted Duke Wei so much.
But how many times can this kind of robbery of people's wealth and fishing be carried out?
Qi Kun said: "That's why the northwest battle can be started calmly. However, in the northwest battle, one defeat and one victory did cost a lot of silver and grain."
The Jurchen War that started in the spring of the 16th year of Chongping came to an abrupt end because of Huang Taiji's "violent death". The war was basically concluded quickly and did not delay for too long. In addition, Jia Heng confiscated the Shanxi merchants' property, and even a After the war is over, there will still be a small profit.
Therefore, the national treasury was rich at the beginning, so that he had the confidence to let the Nan'an County King fight a war immediately.
The officials of the Han court at that time were basically complacent.
However, the first defeat of the Nan'an County Prince almost interrupted the Han Dynasty's resurgence and almost emptied the national treasury financially.
So when Jia Heng sent out troops, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, with the support of the Princess of Jinyang, almost paid 50% of the property raids, maritime trade, salt taxes, profits and silver in the past two years. In addition, Jia Heng quickly decided to fight, and then he was able to save the war. This big hole.
Therefore, the military expenditures for these wars did not come out of thin air. Each war military expenditure had a specific source.
These wars basically used up all the money that Jia Heng had returned to the treasury of the Ministry of Revenue, such as the Shanxi merchants' property confiscated in previous years and the salt merchants' back taxes and silver.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is a small treasury of the royal family. Although it has spent part of it, its financial situation is still good. Of course, it can no longer subsidize the Ministry of Household Affairs.
As for this naval battle, the proactive mobilization of the navy, coupled with the swift victory, and including the seizures, actually did not cost much. It was subsidized by the southern local government, which was coordinated by the Nanjing Ministry of Household Affairs and the Zhejiang Domain.
It can be said that the three major conquests in the 16th year of Chongping have indeed consumed a lot of national funds, but except for the tens of thousands of Beijing camp elites who were buried in Nan'an, they are far from exhausted.
The main reason is that Jia Heng still doesn't forget to make money after fighting.
Even if it involves conquering the northwest and Taiwan, there is still some money to be made from this war, but it will take a long time.
Qi Kun cupped his hands and said: "Although the national treasury does not have much surplus, sea trade tariffs and the reform of the Salt Law will provide a steady stream of tax revenue. It is foreseeable that the new law will be popular next year and the national treasury will be more abundant."
Although the state treasury does not have much money today, it is much better than a few years ago when Prime Minister Yang was in charge of the Ministry of Household Affairs, when even the official salary of the capital was in arrears for half a year.
Emperor Chongping said: "The affairs of the treasury will be like this for now. As Liu Qing said, the Jurchens led the navy to harass our southern coast, but my court ignored it? Now that Ziyu has expelled the barbarians, the war will subside within ten months." , wait until the spring of next year, the new policy of the imperial court will be implemented, and I will rest and recuperate. By then, the abscess will be gone, and I, a big man, can easily go into battle."
Not to mention anything else, with the new law alone, more than 10 million taels of taxes can be paid to the court every year. If the salt tax and customs duties are added, the treasury tax can be roughly doubled.
Liu Zheng pondered: "This is not the intention of Wei Chen. He just created a new province, established a governor, and established three departments. For the court, the establishment of many more offices and a lot of additional expenses are not worth the gain."
Emperor Chongping said: "At the beginning, there were not many people, so the governor could take charge of the affairs of the three departments. At the same time, he only set up counties, not prefectures. According to Ziyu's memorial, there are thousands of hectares of fertile land on the island of Taiwan, where rice can be grown, not to mention that the gain is not worth the loss. , if the gain outweighs the loss, why do the pirates still want to steal Yizhou and make themselves king?"
When Liu Zheng heard this, he was speechless and didn't know how to say it right.
Shi Jie, the Minister of War, said: "Your Majesty, your Majesty, now that the northwest has been pacified, the Junggar people did not dare to invade the border for one or two years. The Jurchen Tatars of Liaodong first killed the slave chieftain of Ping'an Prefecture, and now after this defeat, they also dare not go south to spy on our big man. , I, the great man, will have no war next year, it is the time to recuperate and implement the new policies."
Although several battles were fought in succession in the 16th year of Chongping, which resulted in an empty treasury, especially the defeat of tens of thousands of Beijing elites, resulting in numerous injuries, they did create an external environment for peaceful development for the Han court.
Emperor Chongping said: "The cabinet has decreed that Jia Heng, the Duke of Wei, will hunt down the Jurchens and the remnants of the Korean Navy. In addition, at his request, Prince Jing Shuirong of the North will patrol Taiwan, set up three divisions, and move the fishermen from Fujian to Taiwan Island. I thought it was the Han Dynasty Navy defending the port."
Han Huang looked respectful and raised his hands in agreement.
Emperor Chongping said: "Let everyone disperse."
I have opened up a large island, how should I reward Ziyu when I come back?
The middle-aged emperor couldn't help but remember that Jia Heng had previously invited Mrs. Feng Gaoming, and he couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
As time passed, Jia Heng's navy defeated the Jurchens and the Korean navy in the south of the Yangtze River and recovered the Taiwan Island occupied by the Dutch Red Barbarians. The news gradually spread to the Ning and Rong mansions.
Rongguo Mansion, Rongqing Hall
It was the twelfth lunar month, the weather was cold, but the hall was as warm as spring, and a group of nuns in bright clothes stood with their hands down.
Mother Jia sighed and said, "It's almost the Chinese New Year, and at first glance, the house looks strangely deserted."
As time went by, Jia Mu also regretted it. The house was now extremely deserted. Not to mention the many golden hairpins chatting under her knees to relieve their boredom, even Sister Feng, who could laugh and amuse her, also went to the south.
Aunt Xue smiled and said, "Old lady, I'll be back in spring next year."
Jia's mother said: "Brother Heng is fighting in the south. This year, he is actually fighting outside. Although the title is promoted quickly, Keqing and his wife also spend less time together and more apart. Not long ago, they had a full moon wine. , Brother Heng didn’t even drink."
Aunt Xue chuckled and said, "It is sometimes inevitable for men to make great achievements outside."
After this naval battle, Brother Heng has made great contributions again, so Bao Yatou should be given the title of Madam.
Jia Mu nodded.
At this moment, grandma said: "Old lady, the second master is back."
Jia Zheng was not one of the officials of the Jiuqing Hall, so he did not go to Hanyuan Hall to discuss matters. However, in the Yamen, he received a congratulatory message from Cheng Xin, the general envoy.
Jia Zheng couldn't hide the joy on his face and said: "Mother, Ziyu won the battle in Nanbian'er, defeated the pirates and recovered the big island."
Hearing this, Jia Mu said happily: "Brother Heng, has he won another battle?"
I don’t know how many times this has happened. Brother Heng is really a victorious general. This war has never made anyone worry too much.
With a smile on his face, Jia Zheng finished describing the court meeting and said, "Ziyu has made great achievements again this time."
Jia Mu smiled and said, "For this credit, I should be able to get a knighthood."
When Aunt Xue heard this, her ears immediately pricked up.
No matter whether Brother Heng is made a county king or asked for a royal decree, her family's precious girl can make it this time!
Jia Zhengdao: "The court hasn't said anything yet, but Brother Heng has been promoted several times a year. He may be promoted to an official position this time. In the past, the emperor has said that Ziyu will be promoted to Taibao."
Aunt Xue: "..."
Mother Jia glanced at Aunt Xue, who had become a little restless, and said with a smile: "Brother Heng went to the northwest to fight, and the palace granted a marriage to a Mongolian princess. I think it is time to settle Bao Yatou's marriage this time. "
Aunt Xue was listening below, barely able to shed tears.
Oh my god, this time it was finally the turn of her precious girl.
But Aunt Xue obviously learned the lesson this time, a smile appeared on her fair and plump face, and she said: "What are you talking about, old lady? Our precious girl has been given to Brother Heng for several years. If I say I'm not afraid of your jokes, She is also a bad wife, so she is actually not in a hurry."
Mrs. Wang, who was expressionless on the side, listened silently and glanced at Aunt Xue.
Passed through? Can you say something like "The Trash Wife"?
However, considering that Aunt Xue had made a joke more than once before, although everyone in the hall was weird, no one said anything else.
Not to mention anything else, it must be done for the sake of Jia Heng, the Duke of Wei.
Jia Zhengdao: "Let's wait and see how Ziyu will discuss this later."
Jia Mu smiled and said: "Yuanyang, go to Dongfu to talk to Brother Heng's daughter-in-law and make them happy."
Some time ago, Qin Keqing organized a full-moon banquet for her daughter, but unfortunately Jia Heng was not at home, so Jia's mother helped with the arrangements.
Yuanyang responded with a smile.
Separated by a wall, in the hall of Ningguo Mansion, Qin Ye was wearing a crimson official robe, with gray hair, and was talking to Qin Keqing with a smile on his face.
Qin Keqing wore a vermilion dress with exquisite embroidery patterns, her hair was tied up in a bun, and her beautiful face was a little more plump than when she was a girl in the boudoir. The beads were round and round, like a blooming peony, with green eyebrows Down, his eyes were soft and soft.
She has a soft and gentle temperament to begin with.
Not far away, a nanny was holding a swaddled baby girl. The baby's nose and mouth were small and pink. She stretched out her two fleshy little hands and her mouth was drooling.
Qin Ye twirled his gray beard under his chin and said with a smile: "Ziyu defeated the pirates in the Fujian-Guangdong sea area. He destroyed the bandit's nest not long ago and just captured the big island occupied by the pirates."
Qin Keqing's beautiful face, her brows and eyes that silently exuded the charm of motherhood, her smile was like a crescent moon, and she said: "Father, did the palace tell you when your husband will come back?"
Qin Ye said with a smile: "The court hasn't said anything yet. I think it will come soon."
Sister You Sanjie on the side was listening, with a look of thought on her charming and beautiful face.
I'm afraid that this time the uncle has made a great contribution, and who else will be appointed as his wife?
She doesn't know if she can...
Alas, it’s better not to have extravagant hopes.
Sometimes it's just like this, when you have to go to Long to look at Shu, your desires are hard to satisfy.
In the past few days, every time Sanjie You looked at the infant, she would think, if the child she gave birth to was a concubine, what would she do among the brothers and sisters in the house in the future?
Maybe Mrs. Gaoming will be better?
Together with this thought, it sprouts and takes root in the heart without restraint.
Youshi sat quietly beside her, her gentle and graceful face overflowing with joy, her beautiful eyes unable to conceal the joy.
He won another victory in the South.
The faces of the second sister You, Yanye and Jingmei, were also dazed, and the figure of the young man seemed to appear in front of their eyes.
