Chapter 20 Reward
If you say ginseng, you should ginseng. Yang Mingzhen holds the candle and writes at night.
Different from the official style of North Zhili, where there are many factions and factions that try to undermine each other in everything, relatively speaking, the six teams in South Zhili are much more harmonious - they are all degraded in the officialdom, and they can laugh at each other and forget their grudges. Moreover, they are all depressed and frustrated people. Apart from reading newspapers and drinking tea, everyone has nothing serious to do all day long. It becomes a must to scold the gang of cheaters in North Zhili who are ruining the country. Small, important daily work content. Since "Stubborn Yang Gong" wants to submit a letter, how can he miss this great opportunity to cause trouble for his colleagues in the capital? Even Meng Liangchen, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry, Jiao Zecun, the Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and Yu Tairan, the Minister of Punishment, who were directly or indirectly "sent" by Yang Yushi/Yang Minister, have temporarily put aside their respective grievances and grudges, and "the righteousness is at present." Signed one after another. The next day, the post horse rushed to the capital carrying the memorial, which was signed by almost half of the Southern Zhili officials.
Emperor Zhengli, who was sitting on the dragon throne, frowned after reading the memorial, snorted, and handed it aside with disdain. Eunuch Li Shizhong hurriedly took a few steps forward, bowed and took it with both hands, and carefully asked in a low voice: "Long live this..."
Emperor Zhengli smiled faintly and said softly: "Stay in the middle. These people are always trying to make trouble to make a difference. They talk about a great victory and talk about 'loss of troops and ground' and 'misfortune is imminent'!" Go back and send the victory report. I want to see what else they can say!"
"Yes." Li Shizhong agreed, calm on the surface but very happy on the inside.
Eunuch Li was an old man from the Kangzhen Dynasty of Daozong. He was not only loyal, but also had sincere feelings and admiration for the late emperor. Li Shizhong had some opinions about the fact that Emperor Zhengli secretly deposed Yang Mingzhen and demoted him to Jiangning. But he also knew his identity, and Eunuch Li would never say anything about such matters. As the saying goes, there is an emperor and a courtier. He himself is also a former emperor. At least on the surface, the emperor seems to trust him. Eunuch Li is becoming more cautious in his words and deeds - he doesn't want to be sent to Fengyang to guard the emperor because of his talk. Mausoleum. But in my heart, I still hope that the Qiancheng of the country like Mr. Yang can be reopened and he can devote his whole life to the Ming Dynasty.
There is another reason why Eunuch Li has a good impression of Mr. Yang.
At that time, Cao Xiwang, the royal eunuch and eunuch, was very favored by the late emperor, and he repeatedly bullied me when I was still little Li Zi. It was this Master Yang who killed Cao Xiwang's godson alive, and then scolded Cao Xiwang bloody with another righteous and righteous memorial. At first, the late emperor wanted to minimize the big deal, so Mr. Yang wrote one book after another, and finally let Eunuch Cao go to Fengyang in despair... and then he had his day. Although Mr. Yang and himself have never had the opportunity to interact in private, Eunuch Li still has a special feeling for Mr. Yang.
Not long ago, Eunuch Li, who learned to read in the palace, saw the good news from Yulin Mansion and Master Yang's memorial at the same time, and couldn't help but sigh secretly. Of course, it was completely impossible for him to change the content of the memorial or hide it - such a heinous crime as "deceiving the emperor" would be punished by God, let alone committing it, even thinking about it would be punished by God. However, with many years of experience in the inner court, Eunuch Li still did one thing in order to help Mr. Yang, who was loyal to the country. He reversed the order of the two memorials.
Put the good news at the top so that Emperor Zhuangzong will see it first! The Holy Emperor, who was in a good mood, would probably laugh off the words that were offensive to the scenery. On the other hand, Long Yan might be furious - in that case, it would be too detrimental to Mr. Yang.
Eunuch Li guessed correctly.
Emperor Zhengli was very happy because he saw the good news about Yulin Mansion.
"More than 10,000 Tartar and native bandits invaded the border. Xiao Changhua, the prefect of Yulin, spent a lot of money to recruit homeless people and stubborn people in the market to help defend the city. The border troops were outnumbered and fought bloody battles. The bandits once climbed up the city wall. The prefect Xiao Changhua personally risked a stone and the back of his hand was stolen. The cannon was scratched, and the skin was red. He was not afraid of the command in the face of danger. The general judge Zhou Zhizheng was wearing a sword and was wounded in five places. The chief clerk Feng Jixiang leaned forward and threw stones. His forehead was wounded by the bandits. His face was covered with blood. He was slumped and still yelling despite all his strength. The killing of thieves continued. Yulin deputy general Wu Duogui, general Li Changfa and others led the personal guards to supervise the battle and killed more than 20 defeated soldiers... In order to encourage the soldiers, Xiao Changhua placed the silver box at the top of the city and ordered: Throw one stone and you will be rewarded with five coins of silver. A reward of one tael of silver for a wounded thief, five taels of silver for a killed thief, and a heavy reward of fifty taels for a killed thief! Under the heavy reward, the officers and soldiers worked bravely, everyone competed to be the first, and defeated the powerful enemy, killing and wounding without counting! The number of thieves was huge They were defeated and left with each other crying. We planned to pursue the victory, but considering that many of the horses fell down and were afraid of the thieves' plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain, we decided not to leave, which coincided with the meaning of "immovable as a mountain" in the art of war. For this service, rewards and stipends were shared in the treasury. Fifty-three thousand taels are extraordinary. It cost more than 8,200 stones of rice and beans to recruit people to defend the city, and a certain amount of military resources. Fortunately, thanks to the great blessings of the Holy One, God bless the Ming Dynasty, Yulin is as solid as gold. I would like to congratulate the Holy One!"
Finally, there is a long list of recommendations.
"It's done, I'm done with it! Let's hand it over to the Ministry of Civil Service's Merit Examination Department for discussion and evaluation."
Before Zhuangzong could calm down from his excitement, Liu Zhijin, the left minister of the Ministry of Personnel, played: "Long live the humble minister. But... there seems to be something wrong with the number of thieves. More than ten thousand people are not a small number. I have never heard this before. To say that there is such a large group of thieves, could it be that... they came out of the cracks in the rocks?"
Lin Xiangquan, Shangshu of the Ministry of Revenue, went out to respond: "Your Majesty. I believe that Yulin is located on the border, and the Beibei invaders have invaded the territory for a long time. There are many bandits in the land of poor mountains and rivers. The Beibei tribe hijacks refugees and scoundrels. They come roaring together and come and go like the wind. Even if there are less than ten thousand, it is normal for there to be seven or eight thousand or eight or nine thousand."
Liu Zhijin glared at Lin Xiangquan and continued: "Even if there are more than ten thousand bandits, it is a great victory, but where are the heads? It cannot be said that more than ten thousand thieves were defeated and fled, and all the local civil and military officials were defeated. Injured... not even a beheading?"
Yuan Shijie knew that Lin Shangshu was speaking for his protégé Xiao Changhua, so of course he couldn't stand by and watch the excitement, so he stepped forward with emotion: "I also congratulate you, Your Majesty! I remember that the last side newspaper in Yulin mentioned the death of many horses. At the time of this great victory, all places must be careful not to fall prey to the thieves' schemes. Although this move may seem a bit old-fashioned, it will inevitably be criticized by others..." He rolled his eyes at Liu Zhijin, "However, it can be said that he is experienced in planning. If you are greedy, The merits of a mere leader, an all-out pursuit, but if the thieves ambush a surprise army and take advantage of the situation, the consequences may be disastrous! I believe that Yulin is cautious and prudent, and sapwood is rare, which is a blessing for the Ming Dynasty! Please do it again. Congratulations, Your Majesty!"
Zhang Minghe, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, glanced sideways at the two Humphu people from the Ministry of Finance, and then stood up and said in a weird voice: "Although I haven't seen a single head, the arrows, armor, helmets and swords must have been damaged a lot, right? If this is the case. If you just casually ask for supervision from the Ministry of Works, your life as a low-ranking official will be impossible!"
It has been a long time since Naiqian Khan invaded the border area, and the military expense accounts have been kept in the household department and have not been written off for several years. As expected, after sending away Mr. Yuan who went home hungry after not eating more than a few chopsticks from the feast, the Household Department changed its usual behavior and vigorously and resolutely completed the write-off of many years of old cases in just a few days - and, according to the standard It’s still very broad: it’s actually much higher than I expected. The adults in the Ministry of War, who had long been accustomed to demanding high prices and paying back on the spot, were overjoyed. Wang Yucao, the Secretary of the Ministry of War, who had just warmed up a lot of white money, knew that it was time for him to go to work. He went out with a righteous voice and made a generous speech: "Your Majesty, I have something to say. Not long before the bandits rebelled, the Ministry of War had heard about it, so they sent The commissioner went to Yulin to prepare for the future! Jia Shouren, the head of the Fang Department, reported that the soldiers in the area had sufficient food and morale, and the civil and military forces were of the same mind. The officers and soldiers shared the same hatred of the enemy and were waiting for success. This victory was hard-won and should not be discouraged by the soldiers. Heart..."
Lin Xiangquan cast a grateful look at Wang Yucao: "Old minister, I agree with Sir Wang's advice. Your Majesty has learned from thousands of miles away. Don't let the hearts of the soldiers be chilled."
Zhuangzong waved his hand and stopped Zhao Dongzhu, the censor of Youdu, who was about to jump out and cause trouble together: "Okay, okay, I understand. In my opinion, it is really difficult to go out of the city to behead someone if you defend the city wall against the enemy. However, A few years ago, when the Northern invaders invaded the border, Xuanda said that the Tatars were all blood relatives and attached great importance to corpses, so they were all dragged back at the risk of death. Therefore, although they were victorious, they did not have their heads. These bandits in Yulin Prefecture were The mob, the corpses that were killed by arrows and stones, couldn't be taken away, right? If you can't leave the city, you can recruit dead soldiers to hang down the wall, and cut back how many levels? The lovers can save these words, and this Xiao Changhua is too Be more cautious.”
Zhuang Zong said and raised his hand again, stopping Yuan Shijie who was about to speak out: "My dear, there is no need to say any more. Of course I know that we cannot let the civil and military forces in the place where they fought bloody battles be wronged. Am I that kind of mean and ungrateful king?" It's an ancestral system that you can't record merit without a head, but you can record rewards! The officials will discuss it based on the list. The commander will command thousands of households and so on, and those who deserve the reward will be given. When the list is reported, I will be sure. I will do it again. The reward is a thousand taels of silver, and you can look at the distribution. Let’s do this.”
"My Holy Emperor!"
"Long live my emperor! Long live!"
Under the prayers of a mountain of civil and military officials who were as sincerely convinced (well, at least it sounded true), Zhuangzong retired from the court with satisfaction and drove back to the palace.
The emperor was very happy. Although a great victory is good news, what is even more satisfying is the proper handling of the situation: remembering rewards but not taking into account merits, which not only abides by the ancestral system, but also reflects the great blessings of the world. I think the civil and military officials and people in the local area will definitely be grateful and swear to do their best for me, the Ming Dynasty...
It is a pity that the Holy Emperor, who has grown up in a deep palace since his birth and has almost no idea of fireworks in the world, does not know that the one thousand taels of money that he thinks he can repay the local civil and military affairs with their brains is the poorest official in the Ming Dynasty. The red envelope Luo Yonghao gave to Yulin Judge Zhou Zhizheng was only as big as the red envelope.
…
When everyone in the court was having a heated argument, Guan Shengyun, who was now a stronger soldier than before, had left Yulin, crossed Mizhi, and plundered Suide. He had now arrived in Ansai County outside Yan'an Prefecture, and was firmly there. The ground gained a firm foothold.
