In Fengtian Hall, the emperor is at the top and all the ministers are at the bottom.
The one with white hair and red robe is the elder of the imperial court and the arm of the emperor.
Under the gaze of the ministers, the old man bowed to face him. He spoke with great force, resounding throughout the palace, but his words were not fast, and every word was pronounced, "Your Majesty! I heard that the emperor governs the world, and he begins to accumulate benevolence in one thought. The emperor's benevolence in the world begins with the people who have a single thought. The emperor's benevolence reaches up to the sky and reaches down to the earth. Inside are the Xia, and outside are the barbarians. The mountains, rivers, ghosts, gods, grass and trees are all inferior. The emperor accumulates benevolence but does not have it. Xi, so he is an emperor.
Your Majesty is ready to govern and has been here for two years. What you think of is to make the people live in the right time and live in the right place. Your Majesty's ministers only care about the people and consolidate the country. I also admire that Your Majesty has conveyed the heart of the late Emperor and hopes that the world will be benevolent and carry it out. I secretly believe that in the past three generations, there has never been a benevolent monarch like ours during the Hongzhi and Zhengde generations of the Ming Dynasty.
However, in recent years, if there is a shortage, there will be a shortage of grain and millet to feed the people. The purses will be empty and it will be impossible to take care of the people's livelihood. Those who cry about hunger and cold are deeply regrettable. It is a pity for people who are poor to abandon their homeland and become homeless. There is not enough food for the people today. With your majesty’s kindness, how can you expect to spend the country on military campaigns? ! When it prospers, the people suffer; when it dies, the people suffer. If I look down at your majesty and look down at me wisely, then the world will be blessed. Which one is greater than this? ! "
The words of Mr. Li Ge are sincere and touching.
That means that the common people in the world still have enough to eat. Since he is a benevolent king, can he really bear to waste the country's money on war and not benefit the people?
Mr. Ge is Mr. Ge. When he said this, Fengtian Palace was silent for a while, as if he was shocked by the whole situation.
Zhu Houzhao still had sharp eyes and his expression remained unchanged.
He just asked: "Mr. Li Ge, according to you, the most important thing in the world is to feed the people. For this, everything else needs to be compromised?"
At these words, Li Dongyang naturally nodded, "What your Majesty said is what I mean. Therefore, I hope that your Majesty will stop fighting for a while and rest with the people."
"Okay. I grew up reading the history of the country. Mr. Li Ge, I am a little confused. Did Taizu Taizong have more hungry people than he does now?"
"When Taizu Taizong was in his prime, the number of hungry people was naturally less than now."
"Then during the time of Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong, did the number of troops raised be less than now?"
Li Dongyang was stunned, "Of course there are more than now. But Your Majesty, in the past hundred years since the Ming Dynasty, the national laws have been deteriorating and bad governance has occurred. Today's situation is not comparable to that of Taizu Taizong."
Zhu Houzhao said in a deep voice: "In other words, the war is one of the reasons why the people cannot have enough food, but it is not the root cause, bad government is!"
Li Dongyang was about to speak, but Zhu Houzhao raised his hand to stop him, "I haven't said yet that we will conquer the Tatars this year. I just want to ask, since the war is going to stop, will other reasons that prevent the people from having enough food also go?"
Li Dongyang was confused, and many ministers were also confused.
"My lord, I don't know what your majesty means. Please tell me."
good.
Zhu Houzhao simply said it simply, "What I mean is that when the imperial court is not fighting, many people will not have enough to eat. Do we have to find out and investigate the reasons one by one?"
This is not excessive.
Since it is benevolent government, then we must be benevolent to the end.
During the reign of Emperor Hongwu, not only were more people well fed than now, but the imperial court fought more wars than now, indicating other reasons.
Now you are raising the issue of having enough food on a high level, okay, no problem. But you can't just use this reason to block me and prevent me from fighting, regardless of other issues, right?
"My teacher said that the palace and the palace are all integrated. Since Mr. Li Ge advised me to cherish the people and stop fighting for a while, then I must have other strategies that are beneficial to the people and the cabinet will definitely support me."
Otherwise, you are just deliberately trying to trap me with your words, and you are not really doing it for the common people.
If that's the case, I won't discuss many things with you. Because you're not trying to reason with me at all.
At this point, Li Dongyang understood what the emperor meant, but he didn't understand why the emperor said this.
"I have longed for a policy that benefits the people, so how can I speak out against it? I believe that since the government has more than enough this year, we should speed up the withdrawal of people and herding in Hebei. There are more than 70 counties under the jurisdiction of Governor Shuntian and Governor Baoding. Most of them are still practicing people and animal husbandry. The so-called worry is not about scarcity but inequality. Some counties retreat and some counties do not retreat. The people feel unsatisfied. Once the situation intensifies, the consequences will be disastrous. Moreover, Hebei is close to the capital. I hope Your Majesty, please make a decision early and return the people to agriculture!"
Zhu Houzhao said: "The lives of the people in Hebei are difficult. I have known about this for a long time. Otherwise, I would not have issued an order for the people and herdsmen to withdraw one by one. But what really worries me is that in the counties and counties that have withdrawn from the people and herdsmen, the people Will life be rich?"
"The imperial court provides me with food, and I withdraw from the herdsmanship. I think I will live a more comfortable life."
"Have you ever seen it with your own eyes?"
This question stopped Li Dongyang. He didn't dare to talk nonsense. The emperor might have sent someone to touch it if he asked this. Isn't he deceiving the emperor by talking nonsense here?
Zhu Houzhao didn't pursue him too deeply, "It's enough to fight here in the morning. My dear friends, it's better to take a short rest. This important matter itself is difficult to decide in a few words. Let's talk about it in the afternoon."
The emperor asked an unanswered question, but suddenly stopped the meeting.
After the ministers went down, they really began to gather and discuss.
Because the cabinet and the six ministries are at the gate of the palace, they can go back separately. Even if they are local officials, they will find a yamen to pay homage to, so there is no need to worry about them having nowhere to go.
"...Yu Qiao, Ying Ning, what do you think His Majesty's last words meant?"
The three people in the cabinet will naturally return to the cabinet.
Xie Qian was also recalling carefully, "It sounds like His Majesty is going to take action on some side issues. But there was no news at all before."
"What do you think of Ying Ning?"
Yang Yiqing said: "It is indeed difficult to guess His Majesty's intentions. But what I heard is that no matter what, it is a policy that benefits the people. Mr. Li Ge and Mr. Xie Ge, why are you so worried? Do you think His Majesty will do harm to the people? Things?"
This is neither light nor serious, but it is still a bit nail-biting - the emperor wants to benefit the people, so what are you worrying about here?
Xie Qian smiled and said, "Ying Ning is right, we are in love."
Later, a decree came from the palace that the matter of retrieval was difficult to decide at the moment and should be discussed later.
Wang Hao also showed the intentions of the palace to Fengxi, Wang Qiong and Wang Shouren.
"As you see it, what is your Majesty's intention?"
Fengxi was originally in the attendant's room and thought he had some confidence in the holy will. "Your Majesty, I must be asking the cabinet to do something..."
But what exactly it is, it's hard to say.
"By the way, Bo'an, what do you think about the debate about timing of re-suiting?"
Wang Shouren said: "It all makes sense. However, the situation mentioned by the cabinet as a lose-lose situation may not necessarily occur. What if one loses and the other does not suffer? By then, it will be more difficult for the court to fight. Now thirty thousand The cavalry is not enough, and 50,000 cavalry may not be enough by then. A war with everything ready can be met but not sought. Therefore, my subordinates still prefer this situation to be favorable to me. But if we wait, the power of the grassland will weaken on its own. It may actually be smaller.”
Wang Qiong also felt that it made sense, "Yes, the words that both sides will suffer are just words. After all, Dayan Khan is also the leader of one side. There were originally three thousand households on the right wing, but now one is missing. Take care of the remaining two. How could he be hurt?"
Even if some people die, the remaining two ten thousand households can still be integrated, all of which are Mongolians. After a little integration, the strength will be gathered.
"Then I need to report this to the emperor." Wang Hao thought for a while and said.
"Your Majesty is in a difficult situation, so he must have thought it would be better to resolve it earlier." Fengxi guessed, "It's just that what the cabinet said... Well, the people are indeed suffering."
…
"I will take the blame for the suffering of the common people!" Wang Bing shouted in the Yamen of the Ministry of War, "This matter should be done sooner rather than later. If it is delayed, it will be like cutting the flesh with a dull knife. Only by conquering so many fertile fields in the first battle can the common people have enough to eat. We have been able to get relief this year just by relying on the government’s relief, but what will happen next year? By then we will have exhausted all our military pay, and we won’t even be able to get back the millions of acres of fertile land!”
…
As for Zhu Houzhao himself.
He is meeting someone.
The eunuch in charge of the royal horse supervisor, Zhang Yong.
"This is a letter from the Internal Guard. You immediately deploy Tengxiang's left guard and Tengxiang's right guard to ambush near Weiningbo. This stupid guy is going to cause trouble."
Zhang Yong turned pale when he read the letter, "Your Majesty, this...!"
"No need to say more, just do as you are told." Zhu Houzhao sighed with a slight struggle, "There are opportunities only in the changing situation. However, the people will really suffer. But when things have reached this level, it is necessary to cut out the flesh to mend the sores. method."
"Your Majesty, don't worry. This slave will live up to your Majesty's expectations."
"Go." Zhu Houzhao waved his hand.
After that, he also kicked everyone else out of the house, leaving only himself in this world.
Again,
Knowing that I have sinned against myself, it is only the Spring and Autumn Period.
(End of chapter)
