The news that Su Jing came back and was greeted by Zhu Yuanzhang personally spread quickly in the Ming Dynasty.
Fengtian Palace, early morning.
Zhu Yuanzhang had rushed over from the "Niu Mansion" a long time ago. At the beginning of the new year, there were quite a lot of things going on in the Ming Dynasty. The daily morning court must not be cancelled.
The ministers lined up on both sides and glanced up. The civil and military officials of the court were basically occupied by people from the Huaixi Group.
Originally, the Zhejiang East Group was headed by Liu Bowen, but now Liu Bowen has resigned and is no longer here.
Another representative figure of the Zhedong Group is Song Lian, who is now the emperor of the Hanlin Academy.
However, Song Lian was more like a pure literati. Although he was the leader of the literati in eastern Zhejiang, he actually did not play a big role in the court.
Therefore, the Ming Dynasty situation at this time was completely occupied by the Huaixi Group.
However, the Huaixi Group is still the main force that Zhu Yuanzhang relies on. Whether it is civil servants or military generals, it is the force that the Ming Dynasty urgently needs.
Zhu Yuanzhang pushed Su Jing out more because he wanted to balance the situation in the court.
He has no idea of breaking this balance for the time being.
"Now that the new year has passed, the issue of the remnants of Beiyuan still needs to be discussed carefully."
As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang opened his mouth, he directly defined the theme of the morning meeting.
Beiyuan has always been a serious problem for the Ming Dynasty. Even though they only won a big victory last year, their remaining strength is still the same.
Zhu Yuanzhang continued: "Expanding Timur's troubles in the northwest, the longer it goes, the more difficult it is to deal with it, so I have decided to expedition to the north. What do you think?"
The ministers immediately came out one by one to express their opinions.
No one objected, everyone agreed.
On the one hand, this is the influence of Zhu Yuanzhang's personal prestige. On the other hand, it also illustrates the threat of expanding Timur's profile. Everyone knows it.
This expanded Timur is none other than Wang Baobao.
Yuan Pingzhang Chahan Timur's nephew. Chahan raised him as his son, and Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty named him Timur.
Wang Baobao is now the leading figure among the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty. He has also fought against many generals of the Ming Dynasty, winning and losing each other, and he is quite powerful militarily.
Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang mentioned Wang Baobao, all the ministers understood that this battle must be fought.
The matter was soon settled, and in the end Zhu Yuanzhang decided that Xu Da would be the general who conquered the captives, Chang Yuchun would be the deputy general on the left, and Li Wenzhong would be the deputy general on the right, and they would go out into the desert.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at the generals and asked: "Emperor Yuan Shun stayed outside the Great Wall, and Timur invaded our Lanzhou with a lone army. His ambition is to achieve great success by chance. Now that I have ordered you to go out, what should you do first?"
Xu Da replied: "We can seize Emperor Yuan Shun directly with our troops, expand our territory, and Timur loses power. We can surrender without a fight."
As a general, Xu Da still plays very steadily.
Taking advantage of Emperor Yuan Shun directly, the great general Timur, who was expanding his profile, was naturally no longer a threat, because he had nothing to protect.
This is Xu Da's consistent style.
Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head and said: "Expanding Timur's territory and approaching the border with troops, now leaving the other side and taking Emperor Yuan Shun, is forgetting the near and taking the far, neglecting the time and urgency, and is not a good strategy."
"What I mean is that we divided our troops into two groups. One ordered the general Xu Da to go from Xi'an, Tongguan Mountain, to attack Dingxi to capture Timur. The other ordered the left deputy general Xu Da to leave Juyong and enter the desert to pursue Emperor Shun of the Yuan Dynasty. . So that they can save each other and have no time to respond. What's more, Emperor Yuan Shun lives far away in the desert and did not expect our division to suddenly arrive. Like a lone dolphin encountering a tiger, it will be easy to get it. This has the effect of killing two birds with one stone."
As a top strategic master, Zhu Yuanzhang also has his own clear ideas.
He had already had his own tactical ideas on how to deal with the remnants of the Yuan Dynasty.
"Your Majesty, Holy Might!"
Xu Da said immediately.
The expedition was finalized, and Zhu Yuanzhang was in a good mood.
"I think you should know that the prince has returned."
Zhu Yuanzhang changed his subject and directly talked about Zhu Biao.
Prince Zhu Biao!
The future emperor of the Ming Dynasty has now returned to Yingtian safely. This is great news.
Even though there is competition between the two parties, Zhu Biao is highly respected by both parties.
On the Huaixi Group side, Chang Yuchun was his future father-in-law, and on the Zhedong Group side, Song Lian was Zhu Biao's teacher since he was a child.
It can be said that in order for Zhu Biao to better control the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang had already made all preparations.
Although many ministers used their own methods to find out the news about Zhu Biao's safe return, any information obtained through inquiring was not as reliable and reassuring as what came out of Zhu Yuanzhang's mouth.
Sure enough, as soon as Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, the expressions of the officials became much better.
However, the next second, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "Su Jing, who prevented and cured the plague in Qingzhou Prefecture, is also back. People, how should I reward him?"
The affairs of Qingzhou Mansion have been determined by Zhu Yuanzhang, and Su Jing is the major contributor.
Everything is result-oriented. If there are problems with the process, as long as the results are flawless, it will be more difficult to find fault.
"Cui Shangshu, you are the one who has drawn up all these etiquette matters. I think that Su Jing should be awarded a knighthood based on his merits. But I haven't thought about what title to give him. What do you think?"
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Cui Liang, the Minister of Rites, and asked with a smile.
Knighted!
As soon as this statement came out, the officials were shocked!
They all knew that Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to promote Su Jing, but they did not expect that he would directly ennoble him.
Cui Liang walked out slowly and said to Zhu Yuanzhang: "Your Majesty, today in the Ming Dynasty, there are five levels of lordships: Duke, Marquis, Uncle, Son, and Son. I believe that due to Su Jing's contribution, he has two levels of sons and sons. More appropriate."
The system of lordships in the Ming Dynasty was also formulated recently. The title: the first-rank Duke or Duke, from the first-rank Junhou; the Zheng, from the second-rank County Bo; the Zheng, from the third-rank County Bo; the right, from the Fourth-rank county son; Male from Wupin County.
Zhu Yuanzhang made great achievements, and the five princes, Li Shanchang, Xu Da, Chang Yuchun, Li Wenzhong and Deng Yu, were all from the Huaixi Group.
And Liu Bowen, the leader of the Zhedong Group, was only granted a title of Bo, not even a Hou.
This situation is certainly due to the outstanding achievements of the Huaixi Group itself, but also to Zhu Yuanzhang's own tendencies.
After all, the Huaixi Group has been with Zhu Yuanzhang since the beginning of the uprising, and many people have an irreversible relationship with Zhu Yuanzhang. It is normal to have this tendency.
But as an emperor, personal affairs are one thing, and the balance of the government is another.
The most ruthless emperor's family, this is no joke.
Cui Liang suggested that the sons and men should be ranked second. The shocked ministers were slightly relieved. Su Jing's contribution was not small, and with Zhu Yuanzhang's strong support, it was enough to seal the lower two ranks.
Cui Liang still knows how to measure. These two levels of nobility are within the acceptable range of the ministers.
"Boss and men are waiting, Cui Shangshu, what if I want to make Su Jing my uncle?"
Zhu Yuanzhang spoke again, with another earth-shattering sound.
Uncle!
Even though he was ranked third, Liu Bowen was awarded the title of Uncle Sincerity.
If someone who is not a member of the Huaixi Group can be awarded the title of Bo, it is definitely a very high title.
Although everyone knows that Su Jing was pushed out by Zhu Yuanzhang just to be the next "Liu Bowen".
But isn’t that a little too fast!
The ministers were stunned, with different expressions and changes.
But without exception, they were all shocked, except Chang Yuchun.
"Cui Shangshu, is there any problem with my thoughts?"
Zhu Yuanzhang asked Cui Liang again.
This was already a pretty obvious hint. If the emperor asked him personally, that would be putting pressure on him.
Normal smart people know how to answer.
However, at this moment, many ministers are hoping that Cui Liang will not choose a smart person's answer.
It's better to have someone in front than to charge by yourself.
Cui Liang's face remained as usual, he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang and said, "I think it's inappropriate."
Inappropriate!
Really impressive!
Following Cui Liang's answer, many people breathed a sigh of relief.
If Cui Liang said it, they wouldn't be in a hurry to say it.
However, they still think Cui Liang's behavior is stupid.
Zhu Yuanzhang was not an easy-to-talk emperor. To show no face to him in front of the ministers was simply audacious.
Behind Cui Liang stood Shijiabao, the Minister of Rites, with his head lowered and his heart full of worry.
But Shijiabao knew why Cui Liang disobeyed Zhu Yuanzhang. It was because of his persistence as the Minister of Rites.
Ritual has been the orthodoxy of Confucianism since ancient times.
You can't just change the etiquette system with just a word from the emperor.
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Cui Liang and said: "Cui Shangshu, you said it is inappropriate, then what exactly is inappropriate?"
It seemed that Zhu Yuanzhang was not angry and everything was calm.
But all the ministers in this hall knew that this kind of Zhu Yuanzhang was the most terrifying.
Cui Liang showed no fear and replied: "Reporting to your majesty, Su Jing's contribution to Qingzhou Mansion is indeed not small, but how does it compare with Uncle Chengyi? If he is granted the title of uncle, where will Uncle Chengyi be?"
Liu Bowen was directly pulled out and used as a benchmark.
People like Liu Bowen can only be granted the title of uncle. Now Su Jing can be granted the title of uncle. Isn’t that a joke?
Although it is unreasonable to use Liu Bowen, this is a title made by Zhu Yuanzhang himself, so it must be recognized.
"Hahaha."
Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly laughed out loud, which made the officials feel excited.
What does this smile mean?
Could it be that he is about to get angry?
Or is Cui Liang going to be in trouble?
Zhu Yuanzhang looked at Cui Liang and said: "Cui Shangshu, you mean that Su Jing's contribution is not enough, so he is not worthy of the title of uncle, right?"
"That's right! Your Majesty."
Cui Liang replied firmly.
"good!"
Zhu Yuanzhang shouted and said: "Today, I will discuss Su Jing's merits with you, and reward them based on their merits, so that I can convince everyone."
As soon as Zhu Yuanzhang finished speaking, Prince Zhu Biao slowly walked out from the side.
"Biao'er, tell me what Su Jing has done to benefit the Ming Dynasty."
Zhu Yuanzhang said calmly.
Obviously, these were situations that Zhu Yuanzhang had anticipated.
Cui Liang's rebuttal did not surprise him.
The ministers immediately felt that something was wrong. Zhu Yuanzhang had clearly come prepared. What had just happened might have been to pave the way for this.
Discuss Su Jing’s merits!
This is the highlight.
"Yes, Father."
Zhu Biao nodded slightly towards Zhu Yuanzhang, and then faced the ministers below without any timidity.
As early as in the main hall, Zhu Biao already had his own small court. Such scenes were not uncommon for him.
"Cui Shangshu, Master Su once cultivated potatoes and sweet potatoes, which can be used as staple food. They are just waiting to be distributed to farmers in various places this year. It is expected that the food harvest will be increased by about twice. How much credit does this have?"
Zhu Biao said to Cui Liang.
The beginning is potatoes and sweet potatoes.
Food is the first priority for the people, and the Ming Dynasty was a feudal dynasty that focused on agriculture, so increasing food production was a top priority.
A twofold increase in grain production is already an exaggeration.
This is because the number of seeds cultivated last year cannot be spread to the entire Ming Dynasty. Otherwise, there will be more.
Of course, as a staple food, potatoes and sweet potatoes are definitely not as delicious as rice and wheat.
But being able to eat is enough. The Ming Dynasty did not develop to the point of being picky about whether food tastes good or not.
In fact, many officials in the palace knew about potatoes and sweet potatoes.
At first, Queen Ma planted the seeds in the palace. Later, the Agricultural College was established, and the Agricultural College has been responsible for cultivating seeds.
Such a high-yield crop is naturally impossible to take lightly.
However, the source of this matter is Su Jing, but not many people know about it.
Now that Zhu Biao pointed it out, it naturally shocked many people.
Cui Liang was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Reporting to His Majesty the Crown Prince, Su Jing's move is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty and has made great contributions. It is still not enough to be granted the title of uncle. We will have to wait until at least this year's grain production before we can make a decision."
Cui Liang's words are not wrong at all.
Increasing grain production was very important to the Ming Dynasty, and Su Jing's contribution was undoubtedly great.
But we can’t just reward people based on their merits before it is popularized.
Things need to be prioritized, and then rewards will be discussed if the merits are truly achieved.
This made all the officials of the Huaixi Group secretly applaud Cui Liang.
This rebuttal is spot on!
"What Cui Shangshu said is true."
Zhu Biao nodded and did not get entangled in this matter, but continued: "Last year's disaster relief grain corruption case, on the surface it was me who took the lead in detecting the corruption, but in fact, everything relied on Master Su's wisdom. , it was discovered that official grain had flowed into the market, and this was the follow-up. The first contributor to this case must be Master Su!"
Disaster relief food corruption case!
This was a big case last year. Zhu Yuanzhang was furious and dealt with many people.
At that time, it was Zhu Biao who took the lead in the incident. Baiguan did not expect that Su Jing was also behind the incident.
"As a businessman, Su Jing eliminates harm for the people, which is beneficial to the Ming Dynasty. He has made great contributions, but it is still not enough. The matter of becoming an uncle does not depend on one city or one place, one case or one incident."
Cui Liang said slowly.
It is still a rebuttal, and the reason is very simple, that is, the credit is too small.
The disaster relief food corruption case was indeed too small for Uncle Feng.
Zhu Biao was not surprised and just continued: "Then I would like to ask Cui Shangshu, is the empty seal case enough?"
Blank case!
That was the biggest corruption case last year, involving so many people that it was simply unheard of!
Zhu Yuanzhang's butcher's knife was so merciless that all the officials were trembling with fear!
Although not many of the officials in the court were implicated in the Kongyin case, they were still frightened!
Everything stems from the anti-corruption system formulated by Zhu Biao at that time.
Now, Zhu Biao has personally confirmed that the anti-corruption system that led to the Kongyin case was actually caused by Su Jing!
(End of chapter)
