Of the five strategies listed by Luo Wanhua, the first three were to deal with and eliminate the impact of the Manila incident, and the ministers had no way of commenting. But the last two are derived from the first three, seemingly naturally leading the main direction of the Ming Dynasty's military power to the sea. Although it is not unreasonable, it is not impeccable.
So as soon as he finished speaking, Liang Menglong spoke: "Your Majesty, I think Mr. Kangzhou's last two strategies are a bit unreasonable. The sea is vast, and it will take nine months for the news of Manila to reach Europe. Even if Spain makes a quick decision, it can concentrate its forces. It would also take a year to a year and a half to fight me – more than two or even three years in total.”
"Nowadays, the countries in Europe are competing for hegemony. Even if Spain comes to compete with me, it is impossible to send a large army. We only need to strengthen the city defense in Luzon. Why send out a large army and spend tens of millions to take useless land?"
Liang Menglong's words were reasonable and well-founded, and all the ministers in Wuying Palace who belonged to the local faction nodded in support. Luo Wanhua sat there with a calm expression on his face and no intention of arguing - as the leader of his faction, he could just come up with his own ideas, and Liang Menglong's statement could be refuted by his own horse.
Sure enough, the Navy Commander Dongping Hou Lingyun Yi was sitting opposite him. Hearing Liang Menglong's objection to the expansion of the navy, he immediately said: "Prime Minister Liang's words are wrong! Today, there is overproduction in the country, and Southeast and Guangxi rely on trade. If we just close our doors in Luzon, we can If we keep it, domestic industry and commerce will inevitably suffer damage, and this is one of them."
"Now the trade in the Greater Triangle is bound to come to a halt due to the Manila incident. If our country cannot take Goa, the dumping channels to the Mughals will also be broken, and most of the dumped products are textiles - this industry is a large employer of labor!"
"Just now Prime Minister Liang said that 'it's a waste of tens of millions of dollars to acquire useless land', and I thought it was a big mistake. In recent years, we have made progress in all directions. The total number of refugees in Northeast China, Myanmar, the Western Regions, and Annan has exceeded 3 million. Luzon, Manchuria, etc. Although Jia is located in a hot place, it is more suitable for farming than the Luo wilderness.”
"The imperial court spent millions of military expenditures to capture Tangnu Wulianghai. The same amount of money was enough to capture the entire territory of Luzon!"
"The words of Marquis Dongping are wrong!" Ling Yunyi finished his words and was immediately retorted by Wang Xijue. "Since the Han and Tang Dynasties, the reason why China has invaded the Western Regions is for trade. Now that the Ottomans and the Western countries are accessible by land, the benefits are not trivial."
Gradually, the voices in Wuying Palace became louder and louder, and the land and sea factions began to argue and argue endlessly for their own interests. Because the emperor was present, everyone controlled their emotions, and the crooked building was not too powerful, otherwise there would have been personal attacks long ago.
Zhu Yijun blushed when he saw the ministers arguing, and lightly knocked on the imperial desk. Wei Chao hurriedly shouted: "Quiet!" The ministers stopped talking and waited for the emperor to speak.
Zhu Yijun changed his mind, looked at Zhang Siwei and said, "Mr. Fengpan, what do you think?"
Zhang Siwei encountered such a big event just after returning to Beijing, and it was impossible to give an opinion: he did not know the backgrounds of Xiao Chongye and Xie Jie, did not know the reasons why they made the decision to attack Manila, and did not know whether Luo Wanhua had dug a hole to wait for him Or someone else could jump, let alone whether Pan Sheng and others had already jumped over this hole and dug it deeper.
But when the emperor asked, Zhang Siwei, the prime minister, could not say "I respectfully request the Holy See" in public. Therefore, he trembled and said: "I think everyone has his own reasons, but there is no objection to the first three of the five points mentioned by Kangzhou. The imperial court can start to implement it."
Wang Guoguang, who was sitting next to Zhang Siwei, seemed to have his eyes open and closed, but he could clearly see that the emperor's brows were furrowed and there was a clear expression of disgust on his face. With a sneer on his lips, he looked at Pan Sheng beside him. Pan Sheng is neither a Jiubian sect nor a returnee sect. He is just watching the fun now.
Wang Guoguang sneered again in his heart and cursed secretly: "How did this fool become a cabinet minister? Prince Zhongxing was too kind to him."
Although he and Zhang Siwei are fellow Shanxi fellows, Wang Guoguang's relationship with the Jin Party is very distant. Because he could not stand the actions of the Jin Party when he was young, he refused to be recruited by Yang Bo and others many times - his reputation in his hometown was almost entirely ruined by the Jin Party. Wang Guoguang would be worthy of his hometown people if he did not hinder the Jin Party. .
Wang Guoguang was greedy for money, lustful, and had a lot of problems, and his mass base was extremely poor. However, due to his unparalleled achievements, he was deeply appreciated by Zhang Juzheng and Zhu Yijun, and his status was very stable. Now he is over seventy-five years old and about to retire. If Zhang Siwei had not been traveling back and forth to attend the funeral, he would have been approved to become an official.
He has no intention of changing from the second assistant to the first assistant before retiring, so his status among civil servants is very aloof. No one in the court, no matter the dignitaries or the "parties" dared to provoke him in the past two years, Wang Guoguang is also willing to be the emperor's lone minister. .
Although he found an opportunity to overthrow Zhang Siwei at this time, he would not take advantage of others' fire. He just touched the long beard under his chin, his eyes seemed to be open, and he pretended to be confused.
Although he was pretending to be confused, Zhu Yijun refused to let him go. Seeing that Zhang Siwei didn't express any opinions, he asked him, "What do you think, Mr. Shu'an?"
Wang Guoguang stood up and bowed and replied: "Your Majesty, I thought that the policy of advancing simultaneously by sea and land was a long-term decision made at the imperial meeting last autumn, but it has only been a year now. If the plan is changed due to the Battle of Manila, I really don't know what the old plan was. Why is it necessary? As for the quarrel among the princes, haha."
When the quarreling ministers heard this, their faces all felt hot. Zhu Yijun nodded and thought to himself: "It's a pity that Wang Guoguang cannot convince the public and is too old." Seeing Zhang Siwei's trembling appearance, he became more and more disgusted.
Looking at Pan Sheng again, Zhu Yijun felt bitter in his heart when he saw that he still looked like he was watching a show. Looking at Luo Wanhua, this guy looked at his nose with his eyes and his heart with his nose. He was sitting upright with no expression on his face.
Although Liang Menglong lowered his head, he raised his eyelids and looked up hard. Seeing Zhu Yijun's eyes rolling on the faces of the prime ministers, he couldn't help but have random thoughts. I remembered that the emperor had just called Luo Wanhua by his character instead of his nickname, and my heart was pounding again. I wondered if I would offend the Sacred Heart by rushing forward hastily.
Then he thought again: "Your Majesty will not allow all parties to compete with each other. Although a good opportunity has appeared now, I cannot go into battle naked." Seeing that Shen Shixing and Xu Guo were not ready to make a move, he could only suppress the wildfire in his heart.
But if you can’t do it yourself, your comrades can. So he raised his head and winked at Yan Qing, the Shangshu of the post administration department in charge of him.
Yan Qing, named Gongzhi, was originally from Yunnan. He was a Jinshi in the 23rd year of Jiajing. He once served as governor of Shaanxi and governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. He has just entered his sixtieth year. In the first year of Wanli, he went home to recuperate due to bad relations with Zhang Juzheng. After Zhang Juzheng passed away, Liang Menglong suggested that the emperor resurrect him because of his outstanding achievements and became Minister of Post Office.
After Yan Qing was reinstated and put in charge by Liang Menglong, because they were both people who valued "work", the two of them cooperated quite well. Liang Menglong felt that this person was "one of his own".
Seeing Liang Menglong wink at this moment, Yan Qing felt a little disgusted. Zhang Siwei's phase was shaky, and everyone present except Pan Sheng basically judged it. Combined with Luo Wanhua's "countercurrent" movement in the Huangji Palace, Yan Qing also guessed that Luo Wanhua might be eyeing the phase.
Once Zhang Siwei resigns as prime minister and cabinet minister, the momentum of the Jin Party will surely fall, and many positions will be able to be moved.
Luo Wanhua was originally in charge of vassal affairs, and he might have added the phrase "acting cheaply" to the political orders received by Xiao Chongye and Xie Jie. As the saying goes, "chess emerges from failure." If you want to expand the navy and cheat Pan Sheng and Zhang Siwei, then let the two imperial envoys cause trouble - judging from the results, he really succeeded.
So it's not surprising that Luo Wanhua was very calm when everyone in the Huangji Palace came up to praise the saint. Yan Qing was just about to figure out what Luo Wanhua wanted to do, when he received a signal from Liang Menglong.
Although Yan Qing was close to Liang Menglong, they only had similar ideas and their personal relationship was very nonsensical - Liang Menglong was basically a hothead, and Yan Qing was arrogant and submissive in the face of his immediate boss.
Regarding such an important decision to attack the chief assistant, Yan Qing did not want to take advantage of the fire for Liang Menglong. But Liang Menglong winked and didn't respond. Yan Gongzhi nodded to indicate receipt, then stood up and said:
"What Mr. Shu'an said is absolutely true! Nowadays, the reform is in the ascendant. As long as we persevere, we will naturally dominate the world in the future. I think that post administration, water conservancy, farmland, judicial and other matters are complicated and need to be clarified by the court. How can we let go and fight now? reason!"
Liang Menglong was stunned and said in his heart: "Lao Yan didn't understand my look, and we don't have a tacit understanding." But he reluctantly expressed agreement on his face.
For the local faction, holding on to the current position is considered a victory, so as soon as Yan Qing finished speaking, there was a burst of agreement from Wuyingdian.
Luo Wanhua's face remained unmoved. He had already calculated this matter deep in his bones and knew that as long as there were big changes in Luzon, the emperor would definitely turn his attention to Europa.
As the cabinet member who knows the most about the vassal affairs, his rise in status is inevitable. As for the position of chief minister, I am lucky to get it - it is normal if I can't get it. As long as the national policy changes, Luo Wanhua has his own set of combinations to solidify it. In the future, the prime minister will not be able to escape.
Ling Yunyi saw that Wang Guoguang's speech won the hearts of the saints, but he was not discouraged. He used his trump card and said: "The prince-in-law Xu Guangqi is now deeply trapped in Europe. The more fierce the fight between our country and Spain, the more Spain will have to live with its rare goods. If we don't make a big fanfare, who will be safe?" Can you be responsible?"
As soon as these words came out, all the "localists" gasped. The emperor loved Princess Leping, and the Queen Mother Rensheng was extremely concerned about Xu Guangqi's safety. If factors in the palace are taken into consideration, it is hard to say how the emperor made the decision.
Sure enough, Zhu Yijun on the throne frowned immediately after hearing Ling Yunyi's words. Liang Menglong was upset and stood up and said, "Kangzhou just said that he had sent a message to the European mission, and Earl Xu can take refuge in England."
Ling Yunyi said calmly: "Even if we send a clipper today, we will arrive in Europa a month later than the Spanish messenger. Besides, since the provocation has begun and there is no winner or loser, it will be difficult for Earl Xu to return from Europa. Otherwise, the sea will be vast - —”
The hearts of all the ministers trembled. Judging from the time, it was too late for the imperial court to send someone to notify Xu Guangqi. The best way is to launch a full-scale attack here and let the Spanish colonies continue to send messengers to Europe. The bigger the fight here, the safer Xu Guangqi will be. The worst outcome is that Spain takes Xu Guangqi hostage instead of killing him to vent its anger.
Liang Menglong was speechless. At this time, Shangshu Yan Qing suddenly came up with a sudden thought: "Now that the Western Region is connected, why not go straight to Europa? In this way, seven months will be enough, which is more than two months faster than the sea messenger!"
"In two months, the Prince Consort will be much safer whether he returns by land or by sea!"
(End of chapter)
