The so-called court meeting means that when ministers propose something, the cabinet will discuss it first and then report it to the emperor, and then bring it up for public discussion in the morning. Vice versa, if the emperor has any ideas or difficult matters, he will discuss them with the cabinet first, and then discuss them publicly. Bring it out to the officials for discussion. The court meeting is divided into court meeting and collective meeting. The court meeting is to discuss with hundreds of officials in the court, while the meeting meeting is in a small scope, such as only with the nine ministers or cabinet ministers.
The final decision-making power of court discussions mostly lies with the emperor. However, in the Ming Dynasty, the cabinet limited the imperial power. Seventy-eight times out of ten, it was in the cabinet. Unless the emperor acted arbitrarily, I would be like this. If I was not like this, the cabinet ministers would not relent if they could not resist it, but the emperor would do it later. He will be scolded by the officials, especially the censors.
Chang Yu expected the imperial meeting to send troops to Jinzhou, but it was also a bit unexpected. Yesterday he went to the palace to meet the emperor and made several suggestions, such as building various post stations. Emperor Chongzhen expressed the need for the imperial meeting at that time, but Chang Yu did not Thinking that he had brought the matter of sending troops to Jinzhou to the court for discussion, and even the court discussion should be discussed after the festival, I didn't expect to be so impatient.
Immediately, Chang Yu guessed that Emperor Chongzhen had discussed with the cabinet about attacking Jinzhou, and was brought into court discussions by these guys. They must have wanted to test the tone of the ministers.
In fact, Chang Yu would know everything that was discussed in court every day if he wanted to, but he got up late today and went out for a walk with Princess Kunxing in the city. He didn't come back until dark and didn't have time to listen to the report.
What was the outcome of the court meeting?
"The crowd is excited." Zhou Yuji snorted coldly, while Li Yan and Tang Tong also smiled bitterly and shook their heads.
Four simple words describe the attitude of the civil servants, that is, they are extremely enthusiastic about regaining Jinzhou and want to start a war to regain the lost territory immediately. In addition to the feeling of regaining their homeland, they also can't stand it anymore. Zu Dashou can't take advantage of it. Shit, you need food and money every day but you don’t work! So as soon as some news came out from the court, they became excited. However, looking at the demeanor of Li Yan and the other three, it was obvious that they did not support the fight.
This is in line with the saying, civil servants are warlike, but military generals are afraid of war!
That's right, the most aggressive and hawkish people throughout the ages are almost all civil servants. As the old saying goes, if a good civil servant starts talking, the military attaché will lose his leg. Why fight? You don't have to go into battle yourself. If you win, you have merit, but if you lose, the general will support you. thunder.
Military generals are afraid of fighting because they have personally witnessed the blood and cruelty of the battlefield. How many people died in a big battle, how many people were maimed, how many wives were separated, and families were broken up... Behind the scenes of one general's success and ten thousand bones. It is a bloody hell on earth, but military orders are like heaven, and generals are afraid of battle but have to fight. This is their duty.
Therefore, civil servants like war but cannot fight, and military generals are afraid of war but cannot help but fight!
Li Yan and others were not afraid of fighting, but felt that it was not a good time to start a war.
However, Chang Yu also guessed from the demeanor of the three people that Emperor Chongzhen did not bring out the entire plan to the court for discussion. He just let out some rumors to test it out, causing the officials to misunderstand that he wanted to directly go to war to recover Jinzhou, while Chang Yu's actual plan was to harass , the purpose is to help distract Dorgon, thereby covering Tian Jianxiu's entry into North Korea.
So Chang Yu explained his overall plan, and Li Yan and the other three suddenly realized it, and their expressions became relaxed. Let's just say, with Chang Yu's strategy, how could he choose the time to start the war in winter? It would obviously do more harm than good. It turned out to be just a harassment plan.
Of course, this harassment is not entirely to protect Tian Jianxiu. In fact, it is to kill two birds with one stone. It can also be seen how much Zu Dashou has recovered his strength over the past year. At the same time, he can also touch the Jinzhou side. Deep and shallow, prepare for future wars.
"This winter, Jinzhou City will not be able to live in peace." Tang Tong chuckled: "That is Zu Dashou's geomantic treasure land. He regards it as life. If he had not restrained himself, he would have sent troops to fight. Now that he has received the order, it will be like a disaster. The tiger in the cage will definitely make the Tatars in Jinzhou city uneasy day and night."
"It's rare." Zhou Yuji sighed: "Zu Dashou also has a fiery temper. With his temper and the encouragement from people in the court to encourage him to send troops, I heard that the Tatars also kept sending troops to provoke, but he actually held back. And I endured it for more than half a year!”
"A small impatience will ruin a big plan." Li Yan smiled calmly: "General Zu is not a brave person, not to mention that he just came back and had to work hard. The most important thing is that he knows what he is doing." He looked at it intentionally or unintentionally. He glanced at Chang Yu.
Zhou Yuji and Tang Tong nodded slightly. The reason why Zu Dashou came back was all because of Chang Yu, and the cost of replacing him was also very high. He himself also knew how much pressure Chang Yu had to bear to replace him and restore him to his official position. With such a The big price and pressure to get him back is not to let him do whatever he wants, let alone do nothing.
So he knew what to do and learned to exercise restraint.
"Jinzhou is definitely not the only place that is uneasy this winter." Chang Yu sighed slightly, and Li Yan nodded: "North Korea is also uneasy."
"Li Chuang's side won't be safe either." Zhou Yuji chuckled, and Tang Tong also said, "There's also the Xian Thief side."
Chang Yu glanced at the three of them: "Don't you think the capital will not be safe this winter?"
The three of them were startled and confused, Beijing?
Chang Yu sighed slightly: "How can we support the people in just one year? We have a long way to go!" Li Yan raised his eyebrows and seemed to understand: "Did the Governor say that there will still be a famine this year?" Zhou Yuji and Tang Tong also frowned when they heard this. .
How many people died of starvation and freezing during last year's famine. It was truly horrific. If the very government had made early arrangements and made preparations to buy, borrow, and donate food from various places, the consequences would have been disastrous. It would not be an exaggeration to say that the entire Gyeonggi region would have been starved to death, with only ten houses and nine empty houses. .
In the past year, we have exhausted our food reserves and sown large areas of potatoes and sweet potatoes, which are fast-growing and high-yielding relief grain crops. They are also tax-free, so that the people of Gyeonggi can finally take a breather and have something to eat without starving the whole family. die.
However, he was still too optimistic. The famine caused by war, drought, and insect pests would not recover at all within three to five years. What he saw on the way to Beijing made him alert. He saw this when he and Princess Kunxing left the city this morning. There are more beggars in the city. When I walked alone in the streets at night, I saw more. After asking, I learned that now that the autumn harvest is almost over, it is the slack time for farmers to plant the land, and the surrounding people have begun to go to Beijing to beg with their families... …
In fact, this phenomenon was quite common in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
It's just the Mid-Autumn Festival, but there are so many refugees entering the city. When the weather gets colder and the autumn harvest is completely over... wouldn't it mean that the city is full of flowers again?
"It's just that there are more refugees begging. It can't be said to cause chaos." Tang Tong raised his eyebrows: "A lot of refugees gather in the capital every year. Last year was the worst due to the war, but there was no major chaos."
Chang Yu chuckled and sighed: "There will be chaos when there are many people. It's good if you can get food and drink. It would be weird if you don't have food and drink. People can do anything when they are hungry, and they are most afraid of being behind the scenes." Being exploited by people with malicious intentions, we have been scheming against others, and if we are not sure, others are also scheming against us, so we have to guard against it."
The three of them nodded in agreement. It has always been Chang Yu's style to take precautions before they happen.
"It is related to the safety of the capital. We must be careful." Zhou Yuji said and took a look: "It's time to call Wang Jiayan here too. He, the governor of the capital camp, has a heavy responsibility."
Chang Yu chuckled: "Our treat today is not about drinking wine and admiring the moon. There are some things that are not convenient for him to know. We will discuss this with him later."
It is true that Chang Yu's banquet today is not for romance, but to discuss major military matters. Each of them can affect the situation of the world today, and he needs to tell all his plans to these confidants and listen to their opinions. opinions and suggestions, and then formulate a detailed plan and combat plan to facilitate various future cooperations.
These things are all secrets among secrets, and they really cannot be known to outsiders. Even Emperor Chongzhen only knew the framework. The ministers only knew the rumor at most, or they just acted as a trumpet, such as Dorgon. If you have an informant in the capital, you may learn from some courtiers that the imperial court is going to attack Jinzhou...
The four of them ate, drank, and made plans at the top of the city until late at night.
When leaving, Zhou Yuji stuffed a secret letter into Chang Yu.
On the way back to the Yamen, Chang Yu took it apart in the car and looked at it with a sneer on his lips.
