The nineteenth day of the twelfth lunar month.
Court meeting.
Zhang Zhou was not here, but the things discussed that day were closely related to Zhang Zhou.
The first thing was that Huo Si was defeated in the grassland and evacuated to the East Hetao area in dejection. He was blocked by the Tumut troops. Huo Si had no choice but to head west when his army was nearly wiped out. Withdrawing, probably to the area where the Oara people once lived, and withdrew from the competition for Monan Mongolian territory.
However, the Ming Dynasty completely stood aside during this battle, which was equivalent to treating the fire sieve as the leading bird and being eaten by a group of hungry wolves on the grassland. For a while, a dispute arose between the DPRK and China as to why the Ming Dynasty did not send troops to help.
"...Your Majesty, you have used barbarians to control barbarians, but you have ignored the Di barbarians who have gathered together, causing the destruction of their ethnic groups. This will definitely affect the prestige of our Ming Dynasty in the small countries of the country. We always put benevolence and righteousness first, and send troops without warning first." The three guards of Duoyan later put Meng Guoljin's tribe to death, who will surrender to the Ming Dynasty in the future?"
"How can the power of the Celestial Empire be extended to the four seas of China? Even North Korea, which had previously been loyal to the Ming Dynasty, was going to overthrow the crown prince and cause civil strife. The foreign countries have long complained..."
What Confucian officials emphasize is to govern the country with etiquette and music, and they cannot talk about conspiracies and tricks with others.
Although everyone can see that the Ming Dynasty has been in an absolute hegemony position in foreign affairs in the past two years, this hegemony is regarded by those traditional Confucian officials as a turning point of "great prosperity and decline". Zhu Youtang was about to leave the table in a hurry.
Listen to this group of people...are they talking human language?
We are going to use barbarians to control barbarians, but we still talk about benevolence and righteousness? Daming was extremely merciful for not killing all the Huoshai tribe. Now that they have been defeated, why should they blame Daming for not sending troops to help them?
As for North Korea...that was the result of your internal strife. What happened to Guan Daming?
There are also the three guards of Duoyan. If they had been loyal to the Ming Dynasty from the beginning and did not do such treacherous things, why would the Ming Dynasty send troops to destroy you?
Just as he was talking, the newly appointed minister of Dali Temple, Yang Shou, followed him and said: "Your Majesty, the little Tatar prince Batu Mengke has sent a memorial, falsely claiming that the land of Hetao will be given to him to live and pastoral. This is disrespectful to the superior state. Please dispatch the troops from the three sides. , stationed in the Hetao area to prevent the Tatars from taking advantage of the situation."
This brings us to Batu Mengke. After uniting several tribes and crippling the fire sieve, he directly proposed to Ming Dynasty and asked Ming Dynasty to give him the land between the East and West Loops to use as pasture.
Zhu Youtang said: "As the co-leader of all grassland tribes, Batu Meng has never had any loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. However, he used the excuse of small rewards when paying tribute and repeatedly invaded our border areas of the Ming Dynasty. Such an ambitious man , doesn’t he know that such an arrangement will definitely not be approved by the court?”
Li Dongyang came out and said: "Your Majesty, maybe Batu Meng was in urgent need of establishing his reputation on the grassland because of his previous defeat in the Guanshan battle, so he was eager to fight with the Huoshan Division, and after his victory, he raised objections with the imperial court. I want to divide him in order to exchange for the respect of him from all the grassland ministries."
"snort!"
Zhu Youtang snorted coldly, "You want to make excessive requests to the court in exchange for prestige on the grassland? Such delusion is really obvious!"
No matter how angry the emperor was, Zhu Youtang did not directly decide to send troops to fight Batumengk.
They had won on the battlefield before, but now it was the twelfth lunar month of winter, and there was snow everywhere on the grassland. After entering the grassland, it was easy for the Ming Dynasty's army to lose its way. In this environment, even the Ming Dynasty's firearms were not lethal enough.
Besides, he had already discussed with Zhang Zhou that he would be mainly responsible for preparing for war in the past two years. Was he going to start war before he could prepare?
"Reject Batu Mengke's memorial!" Zhu Youtang said, "Reprimand him for disobedience. If he dares to raise troops to invade, I will make him never come back!"
Yang Shou then said: "Your Majesty, the grassland is now weak. If the Ming Dynasty does not take the opportunity to send troops to suppress its reputation and unite several major tribes in the grassland, there will be signs of invading the Central Plains. By then it will be too late. I ask your majesty to send troops to the grassland!"
"I invite your Majesty to send troops to the grassland!"
There were actually more than a dozen civil servants present, who united to attack Zhu Youtang.
…
…
This did not stop Zhu Youtang.
etc……
Am I dreaming?
In the past, every time I said that I wanted to send troops to the grassland, a bunch of people jumped out to stop it, okay. Now, because Batu Monk defeated the fire sieve, I proposed an unreasonable idea in the memorial, saying that the imperial court would give the land of the Loop to He, are you so indignant?
Or are you deliberately going against me because you see that I actually don’t want to use troops?
At this time, Zhu Youtang couldn't help but cast his eyes on Xiong Da and Xiong Er, the left minister of the Ministry of War. Neither of them had the intention to speak.
Then Zhu Youtang first glanced at the three cabinet members, and finally fixed his eyes on Ma Wensheng's head, saying: "Ma Qing's family, it is the cold season now, and the grassland is not peaceful yet. Do you think the Ming Dynasty should send troops at this time?" ?"
This hint is quite obvious.
I have told you that there are many difficulties now. You, Ma Wensheng, should know what I mean, right? Others can be unprincipled people who are in charge of Chao Qin and Mu Chu, but you, Ma Wensheng, shouldn't be irresponsible, right?
Ma Wensheng said: "Your Majesty, now the Tatars have not invaded our border areas. They are wintering everywhere. The soldiers are sending troops at this time. They are afraid that they will not have enough cold clothes, and the grassland is easily affected by the climate, terrain, etc., so it is not suitable. send troops."
When Zhu Youtang heard this, he felt relieved.
Fortunately, you civil servants are not completely opposite to me, otherwise I would really only need Bingkuan.
"But I think," Ma Wensheng said, "The little Tartar prince is now disobeying me, so he must fight back!"
Zhu Youtang frowned and said, "How to fight back?"
Ma Wensheng said: "When your majesty issues an edict to reprimand him, please ask him to withdraw from Guanshan, Weininghai and other places to use this as the base of the Ming Dynasty, and propose to build forts around here. He should also issue an edict to collect the people on the grassland. The oppressed and downtrodden tribes went to Guanshan, Weininghai and other places to graze their animals, thus forming a barrier to the Ming Dynasty’s frontier fortresses.”
"Wow!"
Many ministers present were filled with emotion after hearing Ma Wensheng's advice.
Many people said on the spot that this suggestion was very good, and they almost wanted to say that it was just a response to Batu Munch's shameless cheek.
Zhu Youtang said: "As far as I know, around Weining Haizi, no tribe has been grazing here in the past year or so. Maoerzhuang, which is only more than a hundred miles away from Weining Hai, is already building a city. As for Guanshan... …That’s the hinterland of the Tatars. Is such a decree useful?”
Ma Wensheng raised the wat tablet and said respectfully: "Your Majesty, this is to retaliate against the lies of the little Tartar prince, and to demonstrate the national prestige of the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Youtang asked: "Then if the Tatars are angry about this and take the opportunity to send troops to Weininghai, will I have to attack with the troops and horses from Datong?"
A question was like raising a palm directly to Ma Wensheng's face.
You old man is very bad.
While saying that he did not support the Ming Dynasty sending troops, he encouraged me to intensify the conflict with the Tatars, and made it clear to Batu Meng that I only wanted Guanshan and Weining Hai. Then wouldn't Batu Meng just "find the right one"? "Direction, the soldiers and horses went to these two places?"
When the Tatars send troops to Weininghai, will you let me send troops or not?
Liu Jian came out and said: "Your Majesty, it is necessary to show the power of the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Youtang said with a stern look on his face: "Okay, since we want to show our prestige, we should also be more direct. From now on, let Xin Xin Bo lead his troops to patrol the Weining Sea frequently and build a fort on the Weining Sea to echo Mao'erzhuang. I I also believe that with Uncle Xin Xin in Datong, the Tatars will not dare to invade easily. The next thing!"
…
…
Regarding the defeat of Huosi and Batu Meng's petition to seal the Loop, Zhu Youtang revealed it.
Although Zhu Youtang also felt that there was no need to argue with the Tatars in the winter, he also knew that even if these ministers of the Ming Dynasty would agree to let Ming Dynasty concentrate on preparing for war in the next few years, the Tatars would not sit still and wait for death.
In this case, there is no need to put Ming Dynasty in a very low posture. If it is necessary to be tyrannical, be tyrannical.
Anyway, with Zhang Zhou supporting him, if the Tatars come, they will send troops to attack directly. Let Wang Shouren go first... If Wang Shouren cannot defeat, Zhang Zhou will lead the troops himself...
I don’t believe that the Tatars can still make any progress on the frontier under the siege of the Ming Dynasty’s many artillery and muskets?
Next, the minister of household affairs, Ji Zhong, came to play.
"...Your Majesty, since the beginning of autumn at the Hainingwei Salt Farm, millions of kilograms of salt have been produced, and a total of nearly 10,000 jins of salt have been imported. The salt produced has been sold throughout the south of the Yangtze River. The local government requested an order to expand the scale of the salt farm, and to organize the surrounding salt departments. , the salt field is under its jurisdiction, and this should be used as a model to promote to surrounding salt fields..."
Zhang Zhou's plan to open a salt farm in Hainingwei has achieved results.
The beach drying method adds water trucks to deliver water. The efficiency is more than twice that of the surrounding salt fields that use firewood to fry salt.
Labor costs have been greatly reduced. What's even more amazing is that even the surrounding salt farms themselves have seen that this method is so effective and have taken the initiative to improve and promote it.
Zhu Youtang frowned and said: "The salt field in Hainingwei was set up by me for salt and shipbuilding purposes. If it is merged with the surrounding salt department, how will the remaining Taicang salt and silver produced be deployed? Could it be the Ministry of Household Affairs? Do you think more money should be spent on shipbuilding?"
Zhu Youtang was very vigilant.
He could see that the Ministry of Household Affairs took the initiative to promote it and also proposed merging it, which must be up to no good.
It seems to be promoting good experience and merging the salt fields of the two Zhejiang provinces into a whole, but in fact it is plundering Zhang Zhou's achievements... Once merged, the amount of salt produced by Hainingwei's salt field will be the final allocation of quotas In the past, most of them still had to be transported to the three sides and other places.
According to the rules of the salt fields in the Ming Dynasty, the salt tax from the salt fields in Liangzhe and Zhejiang was mainly used in Gansu, Ningxia, Yansui and Guyuan. In the past, when the grain was opened, the salt tax from the two Zhejiang provinces was also released from these places, and was Salt merchants extract salt at the Liangzhe Salt Farm.
However, after it was changed to Yinkaizhong, that is, the color-folding method, the marketing scope of the salt produced in each salt farm has been blurred, but the salt produced is still trafficked to three places... ...and this has formed a legal precedent. The two Zhejiang provinces are also the backyard of the salt tax on the three sides.
Now Zhang Zhou set up a new stove in the backyard. During the winter salt production season, the salt produced made everyone jealous.
Zhu Youtang saw that Zhong Zhong did not answer, so he added: "The salt tax in Zhejiang and Zhejiang is mostly used for border affairs, but in the past few years, grain has not been transported to the three sides and other places in large quantities. I have made some calculations. If From now on, the salt produced in new salt farms will all be replaced by Xin Yin, which is the New Deal Salt Yin, and can only be exchanged by salt merchants with grain banks. There will be no quota for holding nests, or how much salt is produced to how much salt Yin. To supplement military supplies in various parts of the Nine Borders."
Zhong Zhong said: "Your Majesty, now only one salt field in Hainingwei uses the new method."
Zhu Youtang nodded and said: "As for the salt produced at the Haining Wei Salt Farm, I do not intend to use it for border affairs. Whether it is the sale of the salt produced or the tax revenue from the salt, it will all be used for shipbuilding. . Earlier I proposed to build a ship, but the money and grain that the imperial court could allocate was less than 20,000 taels of silver. How could such a small amount be enough to build a few ships? If Tang Yin, the governor of the Bohai Sea, raised it all by himself, I don’t know how much it would take. What year and what month is it!”
Zhong Zhong looked very sad and angry and said: "I don't understand why we waste so much money and food on going to sea."
Zhu Youtang said: "Then I would like to ask, does it cost less to cast artillery in the north? Do you think I am just wasting money and not doing anything practical? The southeast coast has always been preparing for Japan. If you do, shouldn’t you be prepared in advance?”
Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there has been a saying of "preparing for Japanese".
In fact, Japanese pirates and pirates have always existed, and it is also related to the Ming Dynasty's maritime ban, but it was not until the Jiajing period that it became a major event that affected the Ming Dynasty.
Now the emperor is using "prepare for Japanese" as an excuse to build ships, and the ministers can't find too many faults.
After all, the emperor himself said that the total amount of money and food consumed by the household department was less than 20,000 taels. Zhang Zhou and Tang Yin had to rely on Zhang Zhou and Tang Yin to raise the rest. If they have to be picky, then these officials are too picky. It doesn't make sense anymore.
Now for the ministers, the most regrettable thing is not how much was spent, but the "value" created by Zhang Zhou, which can be returned to the treasury. Watching helplessly, Zhang Zhou can make a fortune from a humble matter of drying salt. While they were unwilling to create wealth, they were also thinking about how to convince the emperor to put "national affairs" first. To put it bluntly, they were putting everything under the control of the court ministers...
It’s strange that the emperor can listen.
…
…
Originally, there was a third major event involving Zhang Zhou in the court meeting.
It was about the elimination of the old, weak, sick and disabled in the Beijing camp, but because Zhang Zhou was not here, Zhu Youtang did not let Chen Kuan come out to speak... But in fact, at the implementation level, Chen Kuan also came forward a lot, and Zhang Zhou as The person in charge was very low-key on this matter, as if even Zhang Zhou knew that doing so would offend a large number of people.
The meeting ended.
A bunch of ministers came out with mixed emotions, each lamenting the "unfair fate" in their hearts.
Why are we so diligent and diligent, but we can only get a reputation as mediocre, while Zhang Zhou, who fished every day and dried nets two days without even coming to the court meeting, was able to accomplish so many things that we can't target even if we want to? ?
After the court meeting, Ma Wensheng, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, specially invited Li Dongyang, meaning that he would go to the Ministry of Personnel to discuss the big plans and assessments for the coming year, but in fact he wanted to talk to Li Dongyang about Zhang Zhou.
"You should find Yu Qiao..."
Li Dongyang was invited to the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but he seemed reluctant. Most of the previous communication with Ma Wensheng was done by Xie Qian.
Ma Wensheng said: "Bin Zhi, there is something I still want to tell you. Your Majesty recently requested a list of officials above the prefecture level from various places. He took it and said that he wanted to make some adjustments to the employment in the northwest. I don't know if this is Zhang Bingkuan. Or maybe it was His Majesty's impromptu decision, and I always thought that Your Majesty might want to support some rising stars to assist the North in deploying troops and preparing for war."
Li Dongyang looked cold.
The emperor is still not satisfied with the current employment in Northwest China.
The main reason is that there are too few people in Zhang Zhou's faction. What the emperor wants is for Zhang Zhou to be able to respond to all requests in the northwest, and any government orders can be effectively conveyed, instead of like now, only a very small number of officials belong to Zhang Zhou's faction. The people Zhou Tied up... still seem to be in harmony with each other.
Li Dongyang asked: "Could it be that His Majesty wants to use these people to enter the Yanwu Hall?"
Ma Wensheng shook his head and said: "Originally, I thought that if Zhang Bingkuan wanted to cultivate his power, he must use the Yanwu Hall as an opportunity, but I saw that His Majesty didn't seem to have many expectations for the Yanwu Hall, and I don't know how he negotiated with Zhang Bingkuan. If it were simply They are dispatched by local generals, some of whom seem to have no qualifications or experience in military affairs, and His Majesty also designated a few people...it seems to have some ulterior motives."
Zhu Youtang selected people.
Of course, the choice was based on Zhang Zhou’s opinion.
What is Zhang Zhou’s biggest bargaining chip? Naturally, he knows who the people who are just humble officials in the court now, but may be famous ministers in the future, and what their specialties are, and whether they can help him...
Although this kind of advance insight is likely to be just talk on paper, a person's ability will still be reflected in his future official career.
The emperor randomly drew a few people, and when Ma Wensheng observed them, he felt that the emperor's vision was very accurate. No matter what the abilities of these people are now, at least in terms of future potential, they are full.
Only when Ma Wensheng felt a "crisis" would he specifically talk to Li Dongyang.
If the emperor wanted to choose only mediocre and incompetent people, Ma Wensheng would naturally feel that the emperor was just giving random instructions.
Li Dongyang said: "After Zhang Bingkuan entered the court, the few people he supported, except Wang Qiong, Lu Wan, and Wang Xian, were Zhu Feng and Wang Shouren. Except for Zhu Feng and Wang Shouren, the rest of them were not just newcomers. With him, It’s unknown whether he saw it or was prompted secretly. But if he chooses from some local officials, he has never even seen most of them with his own eyes and has no real contact... Mabu Tang, are you worrying too much? "
What Li Dongyang means.
No matter how awesome Zhang Zhou is, he is just a human being, not a god.
He used Wang Qiong, Lu Wan, and Wang Xian very accurately. It does not mean that these people were selected by his discerning eye. After all, these people have been in the officialdom for a long time and their abilities have been demonstrated. Quite a few.
Even Wang Shouren can only say that Zhang Zhou and Wang Shouren were Jinshi in the same year and knew each other...
Now you think Zhang Zhou can pick out the people who will influence the situation in the future from a group of local officials he has never met before?
Isn’t this unfounded worry?
Ma Wensheng sighed: "I hope I'm overthinking it, but when His Majesty selects people, he often doesn't look at the evaluation, and just selects them based on their names and experiences. This may also break the rules of the official department's overall assessment. As an official, Minister, I have to take this as a warning, it’s good that you are aware of it.”
(End of chapter)
