From the Ministry of Rites to the Cabinet, you have to go around the circle into the Donghua Gate, which is the office of the Cabinet, Wenyuan Pavilion.

Wang Yuan had just passed by the Zongren Mansion when he saw a little eunuch rushing over.

The little eunuch pretended to meet by chance, bowed to Wang Yuan, and suddenly whispered: "Wang Shangshu, Your Majesty fainted and almost fell into the pool of Tai liquid." ”

Wang Yuan immediately sped up and went straight to the leopard room, and actually met Yang Tinghe halfway.

Obviously, Zhang Yong not only sent someone to inform Wang Yuan, but also sent someone to inform Yang Tinghe. The dead eunuch bet on both ends again, and no one can be offended, anyway, he is old, and he just wants to be safe and stable until retirement.

Out of the Xihua Gate, through the imperial prison, to the edge of the liquid pool, and then across a bridge is the leopard room.

"Stop!"

The guards of the leopard room stopped Wang Yuan and Yang Tinghe.

Yang Tinghe said: "Please report to Your Majesty, Minister Yang Tinghe has something important to see." ”

The guard of the leopard room was expressionless: "Your Majesty said, no one will be seen today." ”

Wang Yuan took out the leopard card, handed it over and said, "There is labor to let you go." ”

The guard in the leopard room smiled: "Wang Shangshu, please go back, Your Majesty will not see the foreign minister today." ”

Wang Yuan asked again, "When did Your Majesty say that?" ”

The leopard room guard replied, "Just now." ”

Wang Yuan left with his hand, the emperor had already woken up, and it seemed that there was no big problem, so what did he leave behind?

Yang Tinghe also turned around and left, and went to Wenyuan Pavilion with Wang Yuan.

As soon as he arrived at Wenyuan Pavilion, a celebrant eunuch followed in: "Your Majesty has a decree, Wang Yuan, the scholar of the Ministry of Rites, is a scholar of the East Pavilion University, and is in charge of the Ministry of Rites." ”

As soon as these words came out, the five cabinet ministers were all stunned, and even Wang Yuan was confused.

"Palm Rites?" Wang Qiong confirmed.

The eunuch replied, "It's a palm, not a both." ”

Yang Tinghe confirmed again: "Zhige? ”

The eunuch replied, "Yes...... Not count. ”

The cabinet ministers were silent.

Mao Ji looked at Wang Yuan and asked Yang Tinghe: "Yu system is not compatible, do you want to reject it?" ”

The cabinet had the right to dismiss the emperor's decrees, as did the six divisions.

At the beginning, Emperor Jingtai wanted to change the crown prince, but he was afraid of being rejected by the cabinet, so he went to bribe the cabinet ministers, one hundred taels each for the first and second assistants, and fifty taels for the remaining four cabinet ministers, so much money frightened the cabinet ministers.

"Not necessarily." Yang Tinghe shook his head.

Yang Ting not only rejected it, but also personally drafted the holy decree, asked the celebrant to send it to the red for approval, and then took it to the imperial chamber to write the holy decree and seal it.

Wang Yuan, a scholar of the East Pavilion University, is in charge of the Ministry of Rites, whether he is considered to be a cabinet member or not, no one can say.

The power is probably like this: Wang Yuan continues to be in charge of the Ministry of Rites, his own post is the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, and he is a part-time cabinet scholar, but he cannot discuss matters in the cabinet, at most he can only observe in the cabinet.

The real cabinet minister is a certain cabinet scholar and a certain scholar, the scholar is a cabinet officer, and the scholar is an honorary and false post - the key word is "concurrently".

If there are two actual positions at the same time, the word "concurrently" will be used.

And Wang Yuan is now a "palm", behind the palm word is a real position, and in front of the palm word is a virtual position.

The title of the cabinet has actually become an honorary position, which is also the first time that the Ming Dynasty has founded, and Zhu Houzhao is violating the bad rules of the ancestral system again.

Taking the opportunity to go to the toilet, Mao Ji said: "Your Majesty is afraid that his condition will worsen again, and he can't wait to give Wang Ruoxu a university scholar." But he didn't let Wang Ruo go straight to the pavilion, what did His Majesty think? ”

Jiang Mian guessed: "Maybe you want to continue to press, Your Majesty is unpredictable, who can guess?" ”

"Elder Yang Ge agreed like this?" Mao Ji was a little unwilling, "There is no cabinet scholar in charge of the six ministries, and Yu Zhi can completely reject the emperor's order." ”

Jiang Mian said with a smile: "Rejecting it can only anger Your Majesty and make Wang Ruoxu really straight!" ”

Just as Jiang Mian said, Yang Tinghe did not dare to object. He was afraid that after he rejected the emperor's order, Zhu Houzhao was angry and directly carried Wang Yuan into the cabinet, and then he would not be a fictitious minister.

"Congratulations to Mr. Wang!" Wang Qiong hugged her fists and smiled.

Wang Yuan couldn't laugh and cry: "Your Majesty's actions are really incredible. ”

If it weren't for Zhu Houzhao's imperial order, I'm afraid that people all over the world would never have dreamed that the title of university scholar would be false.

To be honest, Wang Yuan sometimes wanted to split the emperor's head and study whether the groove circuit inside was different from ordinary people.

Waiting for Mao Ji and Jiang Mian to come back from peeing, Yang Tinghe gathered everyone and said: "Let's discuss the matter of Annan first, according to the news sent back by Jinyi Haiwei, Annan's side is not a Zen position at all." Its puppet king Mo Dengyong can be regarded as Liu Yu of the Southern Dynasty who usurped the Jin Dynasty and became independent. Mo Dengyong is carrying out reforms in Annam, and many former ministers have fled to Laos and are recruiting troops to fight back. ”

Jiang Mian said: "In this way, it is no longer a matter of Annam, and if you don't pay attention to it, it will attract the Lao Propaganda Division." ”

Yang Yiqing said: "Laos can't be chaotic, if there is chaos there, the Yunnan border will also be chaotic." There are now two Tusi rebellions in Yunnan, and if Laos is involved again, I am afraid that it will be eroded to the point of being out of control. ”

Although Wang Qiong was the licking dog of the emperor and Wang Yuan, his attitude towards the outside world was very tough, he said: "Yunnan Tusi rebellion, you must be peaceful." The civil strife in Annam is a great opportunity to recover and place Jiaozhi Province in one fell swoop! ”

Mao Ji sneered: "The rebellion in Guangxi has not been settled for many years, and there are two more Tusi rebellions in Yunnan. Wang Ge Lao wants to take back Annan and restore the Jiaozhi Political Division, where do you transfer troops to fight? ”

"Jinyi Haiwei!" Wang Qiong said.

"Never!" Yang Yiqing immediately objected, "Jinyi Haiwei was originally set up by His Majesty arbitrarily, and it doesn't matter how you come at sea." But if Jinyi Weihai is used to destroy Annan and reset the Jiaozhi Political Division, it is to let Jinyi Weihai use force in the country. As soon as this case is opened, what should I do if Jinyi Haiwei lands in Guangdong? What should I do if I land in Fujian? What should I do if I land in Tianjin? ”

Wang Qiong was speechless.

"Can I say a word?" Wang Yuan asked.

Wenyuan Pavilion didn't have Wang Yuan's place to speak, especially since he had just obtained the title of Scholar of Dongge University, so he had to avoid suspicion in Wenyuan Pavilion.

Yang Tinghe said with a smile: "Let's say, the Ministry of Rites also has the right to discuss this matter." ”

Wang Yuan said: "Guangxi and Yunnan rebelled one after another, and the imperial court will definitely not be able to recover Annam for the time being. But you can't crown the usurping Mo Dengyong as the king of Annam, why not let Jinyi Haiwei help Annam's old ministers restore the country? ”

"How can I help?" Yang Tinghe asked.

Wang Yuan said: "Let Jinyi Haiwei go to Laos to contact the old ministers of Annam, find an heir to the king of Annam, and Jinyi Haiwei can sell them some firearms." If Morden wins a great victory, it will not be too late to canonize him as king. If the former ministers of Annam win, it will be able to show the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, and the king of Annam will be grateful. It is best to fight on both sides all the time, no one can win, so Annan will be chaotic for a long time, and it is impossible to violate the border of the Ming Dynasty for decades. ”

Wang Qiong clapped his hands and praised: "This plan is very good, and it will be beneficial and harmless." ”

Mao Ji asked: "Wang Shangshu said this, where are the people of Annan?" With one word, countless people of Annam have suffered from war, which is an unkind and unjust policy. ”

Wang Yuan asked rhetorically: "Mao Ge is always a Ming courtier, or is it an Annan courtier?" Below is the Ming Dynasty's Shangshu, not Annan's Shangshu, I only care about the life and death of the people of the Ming Dynasty, and I can't care about how many people die in Annan. ”

Mao Ji said: "Annan is also a subject country of the Ming Dynasty, and it used to be the Jiaozhi Province of the Ming Dynasty, and the people of Annan have also been the people of the Ming Dynasty!" ”

Wang Yuan suddenly slammed back: "In this way, Annan is full of chaotic ministers and thieves, otherwise why would they betray the Ming Dynasty?" If they weren't chaotic ministers and thieves, now Daming still has a political secretary for Jiaozhi! For the rebellious ministers and thieves, everyone will be punished, and I have not personally led the troops to recruit them, which is already considered a face! ”

Mao Ji wanted to speak and stopped, not knowing what to say, because Wang Yuan's logic had no loopholes.

Yang Tinghe clapped his hands and said: "This matter will be done like this, let Jinyi Weihai fund the old ministers of Annan to set up a king." Whoever wins the battle will be the real king, and the Ming Dynasty will be canonized. If they can't win, let them keep fighting, and they won't intrude on the Ming border if they fight. ”

Wang Yuan said with a smile: "Yang Ge is old and high. ”

Yang Tinghe said again: "What about the affairs of Ye'er Qiang Kingdom? ”

Jiang Mian said: "It can make the king of Xiliang reconcile with the Ye'er Qiang Kingdom, and the two sides agree that they will never fight again." ”

"I agree with what Jiang Ge Lao said." Yang Yiqing and Mao Ji spoke at the same time.

These three people are not helping outsiders to speak, but they are worried that Zhu Dang, the king of Xiliang, will be difficult to control. Once the Ye'er Qiang Kingdom is destroyed, the King of Xiliang may have tens of thousands of troops in the future, even if Zhu Dangshu does not rebel, can he guarantee that his descendants will not rebel? A serious king of the Ming Dynasty, with soldiers, food and territory, if there is an accident in the court one day, what should Zhu Dangshu's descendants do if they learn from Zhu Di Qingjun?

Of course, Wang Yuan knew their concerns: "A holy decree can be issued and spread to the northwest border army and all tribes, if the troops of the king of Xiliang cross the Jiayu Pass, no matter what the reason is, it will be regarded as a rebellion!" ”

Jiang Mian said: "The holy decree can be issued, but it is difficult to say what the effect is. A hundred years later, if the mainland is erosive, the descendants of the King of Xiliang will lead tens of thousands of cavalry to detain the pass, and the guards of Jiayu Pass will not directly switch and surrender? At that time, tens of thousands of cavalry from the Western Regions will enter the customs, and they will even be able to kill directly to the capital! ”

Wang Yuan thought to himself, if that kind of situation really occurs, it is the Ming monarchs and ministers who die by themselves, why not let the descendants of King Xiliang be emperors?

Of course, you can't say that, Wang Yuan said with a smile: "King Xiliang was recommended by me, in order to avoid suspicion, I will not participate in the discussion." ”

Soon, the cabinet discussed the results and asked the king of Xiliang and Ye'er Qiang to rest their troops, on the premise that the Ye Er Qiang Kingdom bowed to the Ming Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty happened to be short of war horses, and if Ye Erqiang paid tribute of 2,000 war horses, the imperial court would order the king of Xiliang not to go to war.

As for whether the troops can be stopped, the imperial court can't control it at all, even if the King of Xiliang destroys Ye'er Qiang, can he still transfer troops out of the customs to fight against the King of Xiliang? When the time comes, you will have to acquiesce.

Now comes the real thing.

"Does Wang Shangshu know about "Suppressing Cotton and Sparse"?" Yang Tinghe asked.

"I know," Wang Yuan suddenly came to his senses, "Whether or not to add a cotton class, for the time being, it is time to change the salt class." ”

"Change the salt class?"

Everyone was shocked, this is going against the sky.

Wang Yuan sneered: "There are ten outlines in the country, each outline of salt leads 200,000 yuan, each introduction is 300 catties of salt, the nest is six dollars and four cents, and the tax is three taels of silver. Today, 600 million catties of salt are produced every year, and there should be more than 13 million taels of salt every year! But in fact, last year, the salt tax was less than 1 million taels when the natural color and folded color of the salt class were combined. Where did the 12 million taels of salt tax that disappeared out of thin air go? ”

No one answered.

Every year, the imperial court had 12 million taels of salt tax, which was swallowed up by eunuchs, nobles, relatives, civil officials, military generals, and merchants.

The water is too deep, who would dare to move?