Xia Yan is also seventy years old, but these two old men are still in good spirits and are still the pillars of the court.
Xu Zan failed to hold on and passed away in the 28th year of Jiajing. Xia Yan replaced him and became the second assistant in the cabinet.
In recent years, two more people have joined the cabinet, one is Lu Ben and the other is Xu Jie.
These two people more or less took on some of the affairs for them, which made it a lot easier.
However, some important things still need to be checked by the first and second assistants.
Yan Song wrote his own suggestions next to one memorial, and then opened the next one, just as he had done in the past.
The word "Japanese pirate" came into his eyes.
Yan Song's pupils shrank unnaturally.
The Japanese pirates and the southeast are always united. It is the richest place in the world in the eyes of the Japanese pirates. In the future, Toyotomi Hideyoshi even wanted to retire in Ningbo.
His heart lifted.
In fact, small groups of Japanese pirates have always appeared in coastal areas, but since the 32nd year of Jiajing, the number of Japanese pirates has increased. They are not as unorganized and undisciplined as before, but have certain teams and commands. They harassed and robbed the local people, and became even more unscrupulous after finding that the officers and soldiers could not stop them.
Fortunately, the area around Ningbo Mansion was not harmed. The guard there even reported a victory and handed over more than 500 heads, requesting a reward from the court.
But Yan Song saw through his trick at a glance - just how effective the guardsmen in the south were at fighting. He restored the situation in his mind:
Hundreds of Japanese pirates attacked Ningbo, but they were all repelled by the clan soldiers. Not only did they not grab anything, but they left more than 500 corpses behind. But the family had no use for the head, so they simply sold it to the general of the guard station as a favor.
After all, if you look at the surrounding reports, you will know that from Shandong to Fujian, disasters have occurred everywhere, and even Nanzhi has been harassed. Only the family's location is fine. It is obvious that the family's clan soldiers took action.
In any case, he was somewhat relieved, knowing that he also had some relatives who were still in his hometown.
In his heart, his trust in the family has grown to a higher level.
Soon he appeared in front of the palace. Such a big thing must be reported to the emperor. Not only that, the rest of the cabinet members also came to the palace.
As expected, the emperor was furious after reading the memorial.
"How dare you do this in a small country? How dare you do this!"
"The soldiers along the coast are useless. The Japanese pirates are only a few hundred people in a team. They can't be controlled. They are just a bunch of losers! What use do I need them for?"
He cursed angrily, stood up from his chair angrily, and paced back and forth.
"How about your Majesty personally draw up a letter of invitation and order people to go to Japan to publicly question the king of Japan. Where did he have the courage to send his men to invade the territory of our celestial dynasty and order him to restrain his men."
Xia Yan said immediately.
Zhu Houcong stopped when he heard this, obviously moved.
But this suggestion was immediately rejected by Yan Song:
"Your Majesty, there is no use sending envoys. Japan is already torn apart."
"After seeing the memorial, I have gone to find someone to find out. Now their king has been completely reduced to a puppet. Many princes have appeared in various places, attacking each other. Even if our envoys pass by, nothing can happen. effect."
"The Japanese pirates are the remnants of the battles between the princes. They drifted to the coast and mixed with the local unruly people and hooligans, and finally formed the Japanese pirates. They have unruly people who are familiar with the terrain to guide them, so they are very difficult to deal with."
Compared with other ministers who knew nothing about Japanese pirates, Yan Song picked it up easily and in an orderly manner. Jiajing's eyes lit up and he nodded repeatedly, and his eloquent conversation was also in contrast to the few silent ministers around him. A sharp contrast.
After all, it was about Japan. They really didn’t know and couldn’t tell.
Xia Yan's eyes were slightly dissatisfied.
The more powerful Yan Song is, doesn't it make him more incompetent? His own suggestion had just been directly refuted... He couldn't tell when the emperor would be disappointed in him, then his current status would be in jeopardy.
The usual method used by Emperor Jiajing was to divide and disintegrate. Now that Yan Song is powerful and Yan Yuanmo is on his side, although Jiajing trusts Yan Song very much, he still cultivates another force to compete with him. That force is Xia Word.
Although Xia Yan was a capable minister, he was also very scheming and his political skills were quite clever. He naturally knew why he was favored by Jiajing.
Now that Yan Song has provided valid information, he must win back the victory.
He immediately stood up and expressed his opinion:
"In that case, let's fight! I don't believe that my country, the Heavenly Kingdom, will be afraid of these little Japanese!"
"Your Majesty, I suggest that a capable minister be selected to sit along the coast, reorganize armaments, take overall command of the overall situation on land and water, and fight against Japanese pirates."
"Once our Ming Dynasty officially sends out troops, we will be able to wipe out these Japanese pirates just around the corner!"
Jiajing nodded. It was not an amazing suggestion, but it was quite satisfactory and not wrong.
And he didn't think the Japanese pirates were a threat.
So he nodded:
"Then let's do it!"
"Then, dear friends, who do you think can take on this important task?"
…
Xia Yan returned home exhausted.
The "capable minister" who could take charge of the southeast was not selected in the end.
Yan Song did not intend to speak. Hu Zongxian had done a good job in the north. Now he has become the governor of Xuanda, sitting in the north. He has beaten An Da to pieces. He has no plans to change his job.
After all, he didn't know whether Hu Zongxian was good at water fighting. What if he went to the southeast and his car overturned?
Xia Yan himself didn't have any worthy subordinates, so he couldn't recommend him.
When he thought of this, he gritted his teeth secretly.
Although there are many officials under him, none are as complete as Hu Zongxian, and he is somewhat capable of intrigues.
How did Yan Song dig out this gold from the crowd? Why am I not so lucky!
He sighed to himself.
As for Xu Jie and Lu Ben, they were newcomers. Since the two big bosses didn't talk, they naturally didn't talk either, so the issue had to be shelved.
"Sir, Mr. Zhao from the Ministry of Industry has sent a letter. Please read it."
Zhao Wenhua? Why is he delivering the letter?
Xia Yan didn't like Zhao Wenhua, who was cunning and charming. Although Xia Yan had methods, he was still upright in the end, and he couldn't stand it. It's just that he was good at flattering, and licked his wife very comfortably, and when the pillow blew, and he couldn't reach out to avoid hitting the smiling person, he reluctantly took her in, but he didn't reuse her.
I am writing this letter at this time. Is it because he is flattering me again or something...
Xia Yan picked up the letter and glanced at it casually.
However, the next second, he couldn't move his eyes away.
"Seven Things to Be Prepared for Japan", four bright characters, the other party obviously knew what happened in Xiyuan today, so he wrote this letter.
Xia Yan read it quickly.
Although the first thing about asking Poseidon was a bit nonsense, the remaining things were all reasonable and well-founded. Xia Yan was more or less familiar with military affairs. After reading it, he felt as if something had been prompted in his mind, and his mind suddenly became smoother.
These are indeed things that are beneficial to the overall situation. Just looking at this letter, Zhao Wenhua has far surpassed Xia Yan in military terms!
As for praying to the God of the Sea, he was not that resistant. After the incident of praying for rain a few years ago, he had already begun to have some faith in immortals, and this must be to the emperor's liking.
Xia Yan's eyes couldn't help but flicker.
Could it be that Zhao Wenhua, like Hu Zongxian, is a buried genius with both civil and military skills?
(End of chapter)
