Seeing that Fan Wencheng's words seemed to have a sense of regret, Dolgon frowned and asked, "Did we suffer a loss this time?" ”

Fan Wencheng shook his head and said: "We haven't suffered a loss this time, our purpose this time was originally to use Ningyuan Pass as the boundary to make a truce, so that the Jurchen army can go all out to deal with the Mongols." Now not only has we achieved our goal, but it is also possible to find the Ming army as a helper, but we have forgotten one thing, that is, we have not figured out the real purpose of their negotiation this time, and we are afraid that we will suffer losses next time. ”

Dolgon smiled when he heard this: "Mr. Fan is too worried, the officials of the Ming Dynasty are like that, you look at the nest of the King of Rui, what is there to worry about?" ”

Fan Wencheng nodded and said: "That's right, anyway, we have already met the requirements of Tiancong Khan, and you should be crowned Baylor after you go back, congratulations first!" ”

When Apocalypse learned of the outcome of the negotiation, he was overjoyed, and immediately sent someone to send a letter to the Mongol Lin Dan Khan, explaining the process of the negotiation, and asking him to be careful of the upcoming attack of the Jurchens. This negotiation does not seem to have achieved any substantive results, but it has unwittingly removed the threat of the two potential enemies, and after the Chinese New Year, they can find some way to make them fight, and as soon as they catch and fight their own side, they can make every effort to solve the counterinsurgency problem in the south.

Zhang Jing'an and Zhao had already arrived in Jiangxi a month earlier, and the reason why they were on standby in Jiangxi instead of directly entering Guizhou or Sichuan through Huguang was because they were afraid that unclear responsibilities and powers would lead to duplication of command or a blank space in power. A few years ago, the imperial court asked Cai Fuyi to patrol Guizhou with the right attendant of the military department, and the military affairs of Huguang, Yunnan, Guizhou and other places. Due to the duplication of responsibilities between Cai Fuyi and Zhu Xieyuan, which led to the later defeat of Shuixi, Tianqi did not want this kind of thing to happen again.

In the first half of the year, the imperial court was restructured, abolishing the original political envoys and other positions, and the governors, governors and other mobile officials were changed to fixed officials in each province, and it was stipulated that no false titles were allowed. The Apocalypse did not treat them badly, and privately decreed that as long as they obeyed the edicts of the imperial court, each of them would be given a shadow position in the future according to merit. The shadow seal position is to win an iron job bowl for future generations, and the famous Qi Jiguang is the inherited shadow seal position, which everyone is quite satisfied with.

After the governor and governor became fixed official positions, Cai Fuyi was the governor of Yunnan and the governor of Guangxi, taking the lead in the south, and Zhu Xieyuan was the governor of Guizhou and the governor of Sichuan and Huguang, attacking from north to south. The purpose of making these two people work part-time is to facilitate the overall arrangement and avoid the emergence of power gaps or duplication of power and mutual constraints. Now the strategy is changed to both of them to take the defensive position, and Zhang Jing'an and Zhao Shujiao will focus on counterinsurgency, wanting the two to achieve a result once and for all. In order to avoid disobedience between the foreign army and the original army, the apocalypse was ready to send people to sit in the town, and wanted to send a few people to study in the military staff.

On the morning of that day, Tianqi came to the Military Aircraft Department of the Military Affairs Institute to discuss the candidate with Sun Chengzong. It turned out that Sun Chengzong wanted to go to the south to supervise the war and quell the rebellion in person, but Tianqi did not agree, which made Sun Chengzong very disappointed, thinking that although Tianqi respected himself on the surface, he did not agree with his ability in his heart, and he felt a little sad when talking to others. After the apocalypse came to the military aircraft office, he asked everyone around him to wait outside, lifted the teapot and personally mixed a cup of tea for Sun Chengzong, who looked lonely, and then asked with a smile: "Is Mr. still angry?" ”

Sun Chengzong first bowed down and thanked him and took the teacup, then looked at Tianqi and asked, "Does the emperor think that the minister is too old to be competent?" ”

Tianqi shook his head and said: "Mr. is too careful, the reason why I didn't let Mr. go to quell the rebellion in person is because the Military Affairs Yuan can't do without Mr. A few years ago, when Mr. was not in the court, those people quarreled very helplessly, and in the end they made a power to repeat the matter of two governors in one place and two governors, which led to the defeat of Shuixi later. Since Mr. presided over the Military Affairs Yuan, everything has been handled in an orderly manner, which makes me very comfortable, if Mr. goes to the south, who can use it here? Who can reassure me so much? Besides, it is easy to get sick in the south when it is damp, and it is better for my husband to be in Beijing when he is old, and I still have important things for him to decide. ”

Seeing that Tianqi spoke eagerly, Sun Chengzong not only expressed his concern and trust, but also highlighted his own importance and irreplaceability, and asked in a good mood: "Thank you for the emperor's concern, I don't know what important things the emperor will do besides counterinsurgency?" ”

Tianqi saw that Sun Chengzong's mood was improving, so he smiled and said: "Don't say that the two traitors, Hao Chongming and An Bangyan, even the Jurchens and Mongols don't take them seriously, they only know how to fight and kill, and they will not do anything great." It is only a matter of time before the south is pacified, we can reorganize the army and abolish the Tusi system by quelling the rebellion, and the struggle between the Jurchens and the Mongols in the northern steppe may be several more years, and when they are exhausted from fighting, they will not be able to capture them? What I want to do is to consolidate and improve the current military and civilian strength, and when the time is ripe, expand in all directions. ”

Sun Chengzong thought for a while and said: "It seems that the emperor is making the ministers happy, of course it is good to expand the territory, but I don't know when the time is ripe, and I don't know if the ministers can wait until that day." ”

Apocalypse said: "Although the time is not ripe now, we can start the layout now, does Mr. want to stay out of the matter?" ”

Sun Chengzong was surprised and delighted when he heard this, and asked, "Is the emperor going to do it now?" Ready to start with your hands-on approach? Although the minister is old, he does not dare to do his best. ”

Apocalypse said: "I used to think it was too early, but now I have received the news that everything is working without stopping, and if it stops, it will delay many people and many things. ”

Sun Chengzong asked suspiciously: "Where did the emperor start with this?" Is it still like a wheel that is still spinning like a wheel, and it will take a lot of effort to stop? ”

Tianqi nodded and said, "Yes, sir, do you remember the lack of money in the imperial court last year?" In fact, I am not short of money, but many people hide their money at home and do not take it out. Over the past year, I have taken many measures to attract everyone's money, so there is not much shortage of money for the military and civilian sides. Does the sir know what the reason for this is? ”

Sun Chengzong pondered for a while and said: "The minister also feels strange, in the past, the imperial court often owed the border army salaries, and later the military affairs department dignitaries and the military department needed silver taels for equipment, and the imperial court did not hesitate to satisfy all of them, is this because the emperor asked those big merchants to willingly take out the hidden silver money?" ”

Tianqi shook his head and said: "It's not easy to be willing, everything has a price, and there are two costs to attract the silver money in the hands of the big families in the country, one is not to use the imperial power to oppress others, to gain the trust of the people of the world, and in the matter of silver money, I am the same as ordinary people, pay taxes together and cap profits." The second price is that all commercial activities cannot be stopped at will, although I have set a profit cap of 20% for everyone, but 20% per year is not a small number, once the court cannot make the big merchants get satisfactory profits, the reputation of the court and I will be lost, which is the silver money can not be stopped. ”

Sun Chengzong nodded and said: "The minister also heard that the emperor personally presided over the big iron company, and at that time I thought that the emperor was having fun, but now I think about it, I know that the emperor is to stabilize the royal family and big merchants." It's just that once the company's affairs can't be stopped, won't the emperor have to work all the time? These funders are like vampires attached to the emperor, in case they can't continue to give them benefits one day, is the emperor ready to turn around and slaughter them or give them a seal of territory? ”

Apocalypse said: "Killing people is a means that cannot be done, I will not do it easily, and I can't even consider sealing the territory and splitting the land, how can the ancestral inheritance be sold to others?" And not only can't we stop in the affairs of money, but also in terms of human use. In the past, there were too few people available in the court, either pedantic and foolish and loyal, or people who were waiting for death, and people like Mr. who were both wise and brave were rare. ”

Sun Chengzong smiled: "Thank you for the emperor's praise, but there are really not many people who are both loyal and capable, and many people are only enthusiastic and have no talent." ”

Tianqi said: "In the past year, I have also thought of many ways to employ people, first asking Yang Lian and others to train a group of young officials for urgent use, and later using the economic inspection system, the subsidy system for selling titles, and the system of linking age and grade to select talented and virtuous people among the existing officials. For the old officials, I set up the Holy Academy so that they can still use their surplus energy, and for those who failed to pass the imperial examination, I have united them around the central and local governments through the hierarchical auxiliary political system, and now I want everyone in the world, including women, to gradually become literate and reasonable, and it is even more impossible for these people to stop and return to their previous state if they have the ability. ”

Sun Chengzong thought for a while and said: "The minister understands what the emperor means, there is more money, and there are more capable and knowledgeable people, so the current status quo is not suitable for everyone to continue to live, and it is necessary to expand the territory and create more living space?" So in which direction is the emperor ready to start? ”

Tianqi said: "It is only a choice to expand the territory and create more living space, and the establishment of a fair and reasonable system is the long-term solution." It doesn't matter which direction you want to start, but what matters is that you have to have an army that is handy, not only invincible, but also capable of farming, grazing, building roads and bridges. In this situation, apart from the troops guarding the border, only Zhao Shujiao and Zhang Jing'an can do the job, and the main purpose of this southern counterinsurgency is not to counterbalance the rebellion itself, but to train the weak people of the millions scattered all over the country into useful people. ”

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