The scorching sun shone in the city of Beijing, and the weather seemed unusually hot, and the ice examples of local officials were sent to the capital one after another, but the capital presented an atmosphere of solemnity.

Over the next few days, high-ranking officials in the capital moved around frequently, and the two sides made the best preparations for the upcoming court meeting, showing a rare hostile posture.

Senior officials who are eligible to vote are generally invited or visited by both parties, either to express support or rejection, and to try to offend both sides.

Although Xu Jie has been in power for four years, and he controls the officials through Hu Song, it can be said that he is a one-party dominant, but there is no absolute chance of victory.

In the tradition of previous court meetings, the elders could only observe the Ziguang Pavilion and could not directly participate in the voting, so Xu Jie, Yan Ne and Li Chunfang did not have the right to vote.

Because Xu Jie did not follow Yan Song's "solitary" line, but attracted all forces through the way of "common power".

Although he firmly controlled the cabinet and the ministry, he did not dare to install his own people in other important positions, and he always left some places for various forces.

It is precisely because of this that although many officials have received Xu Jie's "favor", they are not members of Xu's party after all, so they may not obey Xu Jie's arrangement 100 percent.

Yang Bo, the secretary of the military department, naturally chose to support Xu Jie, but with the return of Guo Pu and the rise of Gao Gong, and his military ability has been questioned, his influence in the northern system has been greatly reduced.

Huang Guangsheng, the secretary of the Criminal Department, is the party leader of the Fujian faction, but the Fujian faction has been unfavorable all these years, and Chen Jin, the champion protégé who Xu Jie once wanted to cultivate, was injured to death by chaos, so that the Fujian faction did not have a strong topic power in the court.

Zhang Yongming's Zhejiang lineage once lived behind the Xu Party, but with the resignation of Yuan Wei and Dong Fen, his strength has been reduced, and his control has been divided by Gao Yi, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites.

Most importantly, the rumors of Jiajing's dissatisfaction with Xu Jie, which made those officials who rose to power through political speculation ready to move again, and even chose to bet on Wu Shan and Lin Haoran.

It is exactly like this, although Xu Dang still has a great advantage on the card, but the situation in the dark has undergone subtle changes, and Lin Haoran's side may not have a chance to turn the tables against the wind.

Wu Shan has been warning himself for many years with "the sedan chair man has wet shoes, and he doesn't care about it", he has always been honest and upright as an official, and he is the leader of the current Ming and Qing schools.

Wu Shan not only has a good reputation in the Ming officialdom, but also has a strong influence in the system of ministers, especially supported by many ministers.

Like Chen Yiqin, the left attendant of the Ministry of Rites, and Gao Yi, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, without the lobbying of Lin Haoran's side, the two of them have already taken the initiative to express their support for Yu Wushan.

On the contrary, Lin Haoran's attack on Xu Jie's "inaction in governance" has been effectively amplified.

After all, many officials still hope to do more practical things for the people, instead of following Xu Jie's "messing around", so their hearts are biased towards supporting Wu Shan.

In addition, Xu Jie's intention to conceal Yan Song's death has spread in the capital, which has made many officials who were favored by Yan Song in the past dissatisfied, and I am afraid that they will also choose to stand on the opposite side of Xu Jie.

The officialdom of the capital seemed treacherous, and it was on the eve of a big war, and even the ordinary people of the capital smelled an unusual smell.

The afternoon sun shone on the backyard of the main hall of the Yamen of the Tobe Department, and a colorful butterfly quietly flapped its wings and flowed through the flowers, and then flew into an open door.

The room was filled with the smell of tea, but it was noticeably cooler than the outside, and the ice in the corner was melting, and a chill was silently driving away the sweltering heat brought by this summer.

Lin Haoran, who was wearing a first-class official uniform, sat upright at the table, with a mature temperament on his face that did not match his age, and was methodically processing the paperwork.

Although he was in the whirlpool and was one of the protagonists of this great war, he was still fully engaged in the affairs of the household yamen.

If there is any position in the world that is the busiest, except for Xu Jie, who is fully responsible for the two capitals and thirteen provinces, I am afraid that he will be reduced to him, the head of the household.

As the new grain is about to mature in May, and the relevant grain tax collection work in the two capitals and thirteen provinces is also to be promoted, the household department has come to the busiest time of the year.

"Senior brother, my Yunnan Division has already made statistics, and the data this time is really amazing!" Yang Futian, who was wearing a five-grade official uniform, walked in and said to Lin Haoran with a straight face.

Lin Haoran immediately put down the work in his hand, and seemed to be resolute and directly reached out to ask for the notebook.

"Senior brother, after many checks and statistics by the Yunnan Division, the border salary in the first year of Jiajing is 590,000!" After Yang Futian handed the notebook over, he said with a solemn face.

Different from the perfect overall planning work in later generations, many data in this era seem very messy.

Even if it is only to verify the amount of the border salary in the first year of Jiajing, it is a considerable amount of work to search for information from 45 years ago and to make new statistics.

Lin Haoran took the notebook and quickly saw the change in the amount, and couldn't help frowning and said: "The border salary in the first year of Jiajing was 590,000, and in the twenty-eighth year of Jiajing, it increased to 2.21 million taels, why is this?" ”

"Whenever border affairs are tight, the border army always likes to increase its strength, and there was a big increase in the 28th year of Jiajing! The generals of the border army are all hereditary, and after they saw the financial resources of empty salaries, they have been trying to inflate the number of soldiers to the imperial court over the years, and now the annual expenditure is 2.63 million taels, and the monthly food of the officers and soldiers is 2.62 million stone! Yang Futian was already prepared, and immediately explained seriously.

Lin Haoran's brows furrowed, and a solemn look appeared on his face.

He looked at the increasing investment in military salaries over the years, and immediately realized that the problem was not simple, and even a complete gray industrial chain had already been formed.

After all, the armed forces are not an industry, and it is undoubtedly healthy that the total amount of an industry is rising year by year, but the increase in military expenditures year by year undoubtedly contains a big problem.

Lin Haoran knew that Zongfan Lumi and military salaries were the biggest expenses of the imperial court, the former was already a maggot attached to the Ming Dynasty, and the latter was a bottomless pit.

The side salary alone is already 2.36 million taels, which does not include the reward silver, and the monthly food of the officers and soldiers is 2.62 million stones.

It's just that behind this kind of army raising, coupled with the current emperor's enthusiasm for building large-scale projects, it will only make the common people bear the heavy burden, causing more and more people to become displaced or starving.

In terms of the lifespan of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty can survive for several decades, but the price here is too much, at least hundreds of thousands of people will starve to death.

When he saw that the soldiers of Jizhen were as high as 80,000, and as a result, the 5,000 cavalry was like entering a no-man's land and killing the city of Beijing, Lin Haoran couldn't help but ask: "Brother Yang, do you have a solution?" ”

"Senior brother, isn't the transfer of the south to the north the best solution you threw out? Ning Jiang said like this: The Mongolian cavalry is not terrible, what is terrible is that some border army officers and soldiers obviously deliberately raise bandits for self-respect, they are actually fat by eating empty salaries! If we can really implement the strategy of transferring the south to the north, then the north will definitely not dare to eat empty salaries so arrogantly, not only can we save a lot of money in the border salary of the Ming Dynasty, but I am afraid that the problem of the northern captives will also be solved. Yang Futian said seriously.

Lin Haoran put down the notebook, but sighed lightly and said: "The current secretary of the military department is Yang Bo, not me!" He has always disagreed with the strategy of transferring the south to the north, and the interests involved millions of taels of gray income every year, and the generals in the north have great resistance! ”

"Speaking of those generals from the north, it's even more infuriating! I heard that some border troops followed the mercenary Jin merchants and supported them to trade with the Mongols and make huge profits. I've heard that the reason why the Mongol cavalry has been more inclined to silver, silk and jewels over the years, rather than grabbing iron pots like before, is precisely because those Shanxi merchants have been constantly supplying the Mongols! Yang Futian said angrily.

Lin Haoran picked up the cold ginseng tea next to him, but responded with a smile: "You don't have to hear about it, this is true!" Li Wenhu has just sent the evidence, and the latest batch of Foshan iron pots purchased by Jin merchants is flowing outside the customs and going out from Yulin Pass! ”

"Senior brother, ...... you" Yang Futian's eyes lit up slightly, but he caught something.

Lin Haoran took a sip of ginseng tea, and then nodded lightly: "If you want to win Xu Jie's court meeting this time, you can't just talk about ideals, you have to do something!" ”

In the current court, there are two people he hopes to get rid of the most: one is Xu Jie, the head of the current dynasty, and the other is Yang Bo, the secretary of the military department.

Yang Bo is actually not evil, at most he is just a politician like Xu Jie. It's just that he acts as the protective umbrella of the Jin merchants, and he blinks and closes a blind eye to smuggling, which is already treasonous.

Even if he really didn't know about the smuggling, it would be impossible to escape the blame.

"Senior brother, every time you do something, it makes my scalp tingle! It is said that you are wiser than Fengxiao, but I think you are even more than him, born in any of the three countries can help one side achieve the great cause of reunification! Yang Futian's hair was numb for a while, and he looked serious and complimented.

Lin Haoran didn't take this to heart, but it was not that he could really outwit Guo Jia, the strategist of the Three Kingdoms, but that he mainly benefited from the systematic thinking education of future generations, plus his brain was really enough.

Facing Yang Futian's compliment, he shook his head lightly and said: "It's not enough to attack Yang Bo, we have to pull another person into our camp!" ”

"Senior brother, but the left servant of the ministry is high-arched?" Yang Futian's brows furrowed slightly, and he asked with a straight face.

Lin Haoran nodded lightly at the teacup, nodded seriously, and said, "Not bad!" ”

"Senior brother, I remember that Mr. Sun said earlier that Gao Gong would not support Diao Minshu!" Yang Futian's brows furrowed even deeper, and his face showed a look of worry.

Lin Haoran smacked his lips, but nodded lightly and said, "Yes, with my understanding of Gao Gong and Mr. Sun's analysis, Yang Bo will definitely not support us!" ”

"Then ...... you" Yang Futian knew that Lin Haoran was not the kind of person who was brainless, and he was even more puzzled in his heart and stopped talking.

Lin Haoran picked up the booklet he had just put down, but said with a slight smile: "After all, I have to give it a try, and it's not that there is really no possibility of fighting for the high arch!" ”

"Hey...... That person is jealous of you, so if he says something unpleasant, don't take his words seriously! Yang Futian was full of kindness and gave the vaccination.

Lin Haoran also nodded lightly, knowing that Yang Futian was telling the truth.

In essence, it would be difficult for him to keep the high arch neutral, let alone pull him into his camp.

But the truth has come to this point, some people have to fight for it, and the whole thing is afraid that it will fall short.

According to the latest secret information he obtained, Xu Jie and Guo Pu have already met.

Compared with the friendship card played on their side and Guo Pu's promise during the Spring Festival, the conditions given by Xu Jie are too rich, and they are already throwing out the conditions for Guo Pu to enter the cabinet.

With Guo Pu's qualifications and status, adding an emperor to him is favorable, and his entry into the cabinet can be said to be a matter of course. It's just that on the one hand, he has been trapped by the number of ministers who have reached as many as four, and on the other hand, he has become a big obstacle because he is in hiding.

If Xu Jie came forward to recommend him, the Daoyan officials in the court over there would probably selectively forget the latter, and Guo Pu would have a great chance to become the fifth elder.

is exactly like this, even if Guo Pu has already spoken first, there is a high probability that he will choose to defect. Gao Gong's vote may not only be his own vote, but it is related to the number of votes of the Yu faction, and even the vote base of the northern system.

It's not all bad news, but there's a surprise here.

Chen Qixue, the right attendant of the household department, is the person recommended by Yang Bo, and it is said that he will definitely support the Xu Party. It's just that providence makes people, Xu Dang made a small adjustment earlier, transferring Chen Qixue to the governor of Shaanxi.

Although the successor was a member of the Xu Party, he was not selected from the capital, but promoted Wang Ting, the right attendant of the Nanjing household department, from Nanjing.

It would take at least a month to take up his post from Nanjing to Beijing, and the court meeting would be held in a few days, and it would be impossible for the royal court to catch up with the court even if it had grown wings.

is also the case, the vote that originally belonged to the Xu Party was wasted in this "internal personnel" change.

Not long after Yang Futian left, Lin Fu came in from outside, saying that the time for the next office had come.

It gets dark late in May, and a remnant sun falls on the rooftops outside, and the sky is blue and white clouds.

Lin Haoran took a sedan chair back to the house, but after changing his clothes, he went out in a sedan chair and went straight to a relatively remote house in Yongfang.

With his current status, if he sends an invitation to Gao Gong, the other party will definitely not refuse. It's just that Lin Haoran knows that Gao Gong is a face-loving person, and he actually wants to pull people into his camp, so he still has to give some sincerity.

Although he is not Liu Bei, and Gao Gong is not Zhuge Kongming, he still came directly to the gate of Gaofu, intending to win this decisive vote.

As soon as he thought of this, he stepped into the big stride of Gaofu, intending to win the most crucial vote.