Lai Zongdao saw that the new emperor in front of him did not want to grant any title, but thinking of the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, he patiently explained: "The reason why Emperor Daxing agreed to grant a title to Liu Thief was because he wanted to use Liu Thief's help. Go deal with the slave thieves in Liaodong, and when Liu thieves are weakened, the court can punish him at any time and take back his title."
"Then you think too highly of Liu Thief. In my opinion, it is enough to reward him with the rank of general. As a minister of the Ming Dynasty, how dare he disobey the imperial court?" Zhu Youjian said.
In his opinion, he was the emperor, and even if his subordinates were dissatisfied, they would not dare to disobey his will.
Upon hearing this, Lai Zongdao smiled bitterly and said, "Last time, Liu Thief was granted the title of earl, but he didn't accept it. If it were just to reward a general, I'm afraid it would be even harder to agree."
"He dares!" Zhu Youjian slapped the table angrily, "Isn't it the king's land in the world? The court is willing to recruit him as a rebel, which is already a reward. If he doesn't accept it, I will send an army to destroy him."
Lai Zongdao glanced at Zhu Youjian helplessly.
Thinking that this new emperor had just ascended the throne, he still didn't quite understand it in many cases. Even after saying this, he could understand that when Emperor Tianqi first ascended the throne, he was not much better than this new emperor.
"The cabinet has made two preparations. If the recruitment fails, it will send out a large army to encircle and suppress. I don't believe it. A mere rebel can't shake my Ming Dynasty." Zhu Youjian said with great momentum.
When he came to Zongdao to see Zhu Youjian, he was wandering around. As a minister, he had to remind him: "To send out an army, you need to prepare food and grass in advance. Now the court can no longer afford so much money. Otherwise, Your Majesty, you can use internal funds to advance this expense." ?”
"Is the household department out of money?" Zhu Youjian frowned.
At this time, he thought of the memorials sent by Liaodong, all of which were paid.
Lai Zongdao nodded with a grimace and said, "The Ministry of Revenue has been unable to get out the money for a long time, and the officials in the court have been owed almost half a year's salary."
"It's so serious." Zhu Youjian had forehead wrinkles on his young forehead.
He still understands why a penny stumps a heroic man.
When he was in the Xinwang Palace, he and the princess often had to save money many times because of too much expenses, and the money saved was used for the expenses of the palace.
Lai Zongdao said: "In recent years, the weather has been bad, and Shaanxi and Shanxi have fallen into the hands of thieves. Liaodong also spends a lot of money every year. The little tax collected by the court is not enough to cover the expenses of the court. Destroy the east wall to make up for the west wall, and barely survive.”
"So the court can no longer spend money and food to deal with Liu Thief?" Zhu Youjian asked with a headache.
Lai Zongdao said: "It's not that we can't get it at all, but it's best to recruit Liu bandits. This will not only save the cost of suppressing the bandits, but also allow the court to have an extra army to deal with Liaodong's thieves." Slave thief."
"You go back first and let me think about it." Zhu Youjian issued the expulsion order.
Although Lai Zongdao said it was serious, he didn't completely believe it. After Lai Zongdao left, he wanted to send someone to the Ministry of Household Affairs to check whether the situation was really as serious as Lai Zongdao said.
"I excuse myself." Lai Zongdao bowed and saluted.
As soon as he came out of the main hall, he returned to the signing room where the cabinet worked.
The hostess of Zhongshu made him a cup of hot tea and put it on the table.
"How is it? What did Your Majesty say?"
The tea had just been brewed when Li Guopu came in from outside and asked Lai Zongdao, who had just returned.
Lai Zongdao asked someone from Zhongshushe to make tea for Li Guopu. He shook his head at Li Guopu and sighed: "Your Majesty does not agree to kill Wei Zhongxian."
"Have you ever told His Majesty that as long as Wei Zhongxian is not removed, the government will be unstable." Li Guopu said with a frown.
Lai Zongdao waved his hand and said, "It's useless. I have said everything that needs to be said. Your Majesty used Emperor Daxing's last words to prevaricate me. I can't let Your Majesty disregard his reputation and disobey Emperor Daxing's instructions before his death."
"We just watched Wei Zhongxian go to Fengyang?" Li Guopu said unwillingly.
Although he is a fellow countryman of Wei Zhongxian, and it is precisely because of this relationship that he can become a cabinet minister, he does not like Wei Zhongxian, but it is difficult to say anything because Wei Zhongxian is gaining power.
Now that Wei Zhongxian has lost power, he naturally wants to take this opportunity to eradicate Wei Zhongxian and his party, and at the same time correct his identity.
Lai Zongdao said: "It's not easy for Wei Zhongxian to arrive in Fengyang safely. Let's wait and see. Things may change in other ways."
Wei Zhongxian has made people angry in the capital in recent years, and the Donglin Party members hate him to the core.
At the moment when the Donglin Party is resurrecting, even if the new emperor is unwilling to kill Wei Zhongxian for the time being, he believes that the Donglin Party will not be willing to just let Wei Zhongxian go.
Moreover, everyone can see that the new emperor does not like Wei Zhongxian, so even if he does not kill Wei Zhongxian now, he may find some excuse to kill Wei Zhongxian in a few years.
"What does Ziyou know?" Li Guopu asked curiously, seeing that there was something in his words.
"Bring the people here." Zhang Hong said, and at the same time asked the guard to take out the map and spread it on the ground in front of him.
Batu Erdeni and a cavalryman were brought over, with several obvious blood stains on their bodies.
"Have you encountered an enemy?" Zhang Hong asked.
Batu Erdeni replied: "On the way back, we encountered a sentinel from the Chahar Department. The division is relieved that we have solved them all."
The Chahar tribe's sentinels all use the same old methods. The Tiger Flag sentry cavalry competes with the Mongolian sentinels. Unless there are too many enemies, the Tiger Banner sentinel cavalry is often the final winner.
"Come here and take a look at the map and find out where the Chahar troops are hiding." Zhang Hong tapped the map in front of him with his hand and motioned for the two of them to mark the enemy's location on the map.
Batu Erdeni leaned down and looked at the map in front of him, with a confused look on his face.
He was not familiar with the military map of Tiger Character Flag.
The cavalryman who came with him reached out and pointed at a certain location on the map and said, "My subordinates discovered the enemy here."
Zhang Hong looked in the direction of the other person's finger.
The place pointed by the other party was still more than sixty miles away in a straight line. Unless they abandoned their heavy baggage and marched in a hurry, it would be impossible for the army to arrive before dark.
Of course, it would be another matter if the enemy approached actively.
"You guys have something to eat and have a rest. After the army sets off, you can follow the army on the road." Zhang Hong said to the two people in front of him.
"Yes." The cavalryman agreed.
Batu Erdeni said hesitantly: "Can I go find our Taiji?"
"Only you know the enemy's location best and need to follow the army." Zhang Hong said.
Batu Erdeni had no choice but to agree to stay.
