Regarding the small actions of the cabinet ministers who added a definite sentence before the reform, Chongzhen's expression was as usual, and he didn't seem to notice anything about it. The establishment of a consensus on comprehensive reform in the cabinet is equivalent to another step forward for Chongzhen.

Previously, the reforms promoted by him, Huang Liji and others have never put forward a complete concept of reform, so in the eyes of everyone, it is more like a time-saving strategy for a headache and a foot for a doctor.

This also makes it so that when Huang Liji launched the reform policy, not only was there opposition in the center, but there were also many local officials who ignored the reform policy.

However, after today, a wave of reform will inevitably form in the center, and without the voice of opposition to reform in the court, local officials who support the old forces will inevitably suffer a big blow. Naturally, there will be people who will echo the reform voice of the center by supporting the reform, so as to win the progress in their careers.

When the ministers thought that this topic was about to end, Zhu Youzhen said again: "I have just reached an agreement with all the gentlemen on the necessity of reform, so we should naturally discuss next, what is the fundamental task and goal of reform?" ”

Huang Liji glanced at his colleagues around him, and then said to Chongzhen: "Your Majesty just said that the task and goal of reform is to maintain the Ming Dynasty?" Therefore, the purpose of the reform is to clarify the bureaucracy and discourage annexation. ”

Zhu Youzhen looked at him and nodded, "What Mr. Huang said is not bad, let this country continue and maintain our rule over this country, this is indeed the purpose of reform."

However, I do not believe that clarifying the bureaucracy and curbing mergers are the ultimate goals of reform. I believe that the ultimate goal of reform should be to finally establish the basic functions of the imperial court.

I think that the basic functions of the imperial court are twofold, the first is to promote the development of productive forces, well, that is, to promote the ability of the Ming people to create material wealth.

The common people have clouds: if you don't die for a day, you have to eat; If you don't die for three days, you have to wear it. As long as people live, they must consume material possessions. Food, clothing, shelter and transportation are all created by the people through their own labor.

If the people of the Ming Dynasty tried their best to work and could not meet their needs for food, clothing, shelter and transportation, then why do we think that they would still agree with the rule of the imperial court over them? Therefore, if you want to maintain the existence of the country, the imperial court must promote the development of productive forces and solve the problem of food and clothing for the people of the Ming Dynasty.

However, promoting the development of productive forces alone may not be able to solve the problem of food and clothing for the people. Because the annexation and concentration of land will cause the material wealth created to flow into the hands of a small number of people, rather than to the hands of the common people.

Therefore, the imperial court has a second basic function, which is to use the name of the state to redistribute the material wealth created. I believe that the way to promote a fairer distribution of wealth is through tax regulation.

The imperial court should levy more taxes on the landlords who occupy more land than the standard, and the merchants who have more than the standard wealth, and then use these taxes for public works, so as to create enough jobs and redistribute the material wealth to the people at the bottom..."

Regarding Chongzhen's proposal to promote the two basic functions of the imperial court of productive forces and wealth redistribution, Huang Liji and other cabinet ministers did not fully understand it for a while, but Xu Guangqi, Li Tianjing, and Guo Yunhou immediately reacted, thinking that Chongzhen's statement about the functions of the imperial court was very reasonable.

With the three of them explaining from the side, several cabinet colleagues, including Huang Liji, also accepted Chongzhen's new definition of the functions of the imperial court.

With such a new understanding, it is natural to draw conclusions about whether to break the trade ties with Houjin. Obviously, in order to weaken the strength of Houjin or maintain the prestige of the Ming Dynasty, it is more important to keep the jobs of tens of thousands of workers.

After a long discussion, a new balance was finally reached between Chongzhen and the cabinet, and it was clear that this time the emperor had taken more dominant power.

On the third day of the second month, the Houjin army that went out to conquer the Ming State Pass finally crossed Longshan and came to the endless northeast plain. Later, when the Jin army set out, the soldiers were jubilant, and when they arrived outside the Great Wall of Jizhou through the mountains and forests, it took more than 20 days. When they returned from their original routes, the demoralized Houjin army walked for nearly 45 days in the snow-covered fields and forests.

When I went, the Houjin army numbered more than 30,000 people, and there were 4 or 50,000 horses. At the time of return, the Houjin army also maintained more than 40,000 people, but 15,000 or 6,000 of them were forcibly relocated from the 36 Guanmen Divisions.

The army carried more than 100,000 horses, cattle and sheep, but most of them were the property of the 36 tribes that were relocated. As for the war horses carried by the Houjin soldiers themselves, at least a third of them were killed or wounded during the long journey.

Those Mongol vassal tribes who followed the Later Jin army not only did not gain in this battle, but also lost many of their subordinates. Naturally, there is no interest in continuing to follow Houjin back to Shenyang to be bored. The Mongol chieftain, who had a fairly respectful attitude, ran to Huang Taiji to ask for his resignation after passing Longshan. Some Mongolian tribes who were far away from Shenyang did not carry many men and horses, so they simply took advantage of the night to break away from the team, and they were not even willing to say hello.

Only the men and horses of the Horqin Division, because the leader Oba was left by Huang Tai Jiqiang, it was difficult to leave for a while. Although Huang Taiji and the other two Great Baylors said that the expedition was undefeated, whether it was the men and horses of the Mongolian tribes or the soldiers of the Jurchen Eight Banners, they were all dejected during the march, and they really did not have the slightest momentum to return victorious.

When there were still three days to go from Shenyang, after camping for this day, Huang Taiji took the head of the Horqin tribe, Shetu Khan Oba, and his younger brother Budaqi.

For Huang Taiji's summons, Oba and Budazi were a little uneasy. Their self-protection in the Western Route Army caused the Western Route Army to completely fail before the support arrived, and finally caused one of the reasons why the entire army crossed the Yanshan Mountains and returned to the grassland in winter.

Along the way, because this expedition did not gain much loot, but had to march long distances in such weather, the Jurchen soldiers did not dare to complain about Huang Taiji and the little Baylors who had tried their best to attack the Ming Kingdom, so they could only vent their anger on the Horqin Division.

They believed that the Korqin tribe, as an ally of the Later Jin, was not as good as those vassal tribes on the battlefield, and it was really difficult for them to assume the title of allies. Therefore, on the way back to Liaodong on the march, the Horqin people, who originally enjoyed the same treatment as the Jurchen soldiers, were spontaneously deprived of this treatment by the soldiers of the Eight Banners.

Like other Mongol vassal tribes, they had to take on the obligations of many vassal tribes. In this kind of weather, it is difficult to guarantee the forage along the way, and the Jurchen cavalry, who fought hard in the pass, became the first troops to suffer the loss of horses because their horsepower was almost exhausted.

The horses of the Korqin tribe were still in good condition because they had not been on the battlefield much. As a result, many young soldiers forcibly exchanged their skinny and sick horses with the Horqin people, believing that this was the punishment that the Horqin people deserved.

Although the soldiers of the Horqin tribe were very dissatisfied with this, Huang Taiji, who has always focused on maintaining the relationship between Mongolia and the Jurchens, did not come out to stop it this time, but only sent people to protect Oba and other leaders of the Horqin tribe from such insults. Huang Taiji knew that if he didn't let these Jurchen soldiers vent, eventually the anger of these Jurchen soldiers would turn on himself or Yue Tuo and other little Baylors, which was obviously unacceptable to him.

Relying on the experience of the Jurchens on many winter expeditions and the gains from looting the 36 Guanmen Divisions, when the Later Jin army returned to Liaodong, the losses of the Jurchen soldiers were almost weak. However, the surrendered Ming army and Ming people who were brought back by the Jurchens lost nearly half of their numbers because they had no experience in winter marching and were plundered by the Jurchen and Mongol soldiers on the way.

These surrendered Ming troops and Ming people, because they surrendered too quickly when the Later Jin entered the customs, and were too active in assisting the Later Jin army in collecting grain and grass and capturing strong men, so when the Later Jin army withdrew from the pass, they did not dare to stay and wait for the fate of the imperial court, so they could only follow the road with their families and property.

When they were in Guannai, they served as the eyes and ears of the Later Jin army and the assistants who managed the surrendered Ming people, and naturally won the attention and preferential treatment of Huang Taiji. But after leaving the customs, Huang Taiji couldn't even take care of the Jurchen Eight Banners, so where did he take care of these descendants. He just included the artisan battalion composed of the surrendered Ming people into the establishment of the Two Yellow Banners, which allowed most of these Ming craftsmen to arrive in the Northeast alive, and the others could only see if their lives were too big.

However, after leaving Longshan, when the army arrived on the plains in the northeast, Huang Taiji finally began to rectify military discipline and ruthlessly dealt with a few Jurchen generals who had gone too far, which made the Houjin army slowly return to the way an army should be.

After arriving safely in the northeast, Huang Taiji, who had ignored the Oba brothers along the way, began to consider repairing relations with the Horqin tribe and strengthening his control over this ally.

After Oba and his brother Budazi walked into Huang Taiji's big tent, they finally saw Huang Taiji's long-lost smile and kind treatment, which made the two of them feel a lot more relieved.

After Huang Taiji saw the two, he ordered someone to set up a banquet and talked about his family relationship with the Oba brothers.

Huang Taiji, who married the niece of Zhezhe and Bumu Butai, could naturally talk to the Oba brothers about the conversation between relatives. And the two Oba brothers also let go of their defenses in the three rounds of drinking and Huang Taiji's earnest persuasion.

Seeing that the scene was almost finished, Huang Taiji put down his wine glass and said to Oba with a sincere face: "Zhezhe and Bumu Butai have followed me for many years, and they have always missed the beautiful scenery and family on the Horqin grassland.

Since I started my business with my father Khan, I have been running around all the year round, and I have rarely been able to accompany them, and I am very ashamed to think about it now.

However, I heard that Zhezhe's eldest niece, Bumu Butai's sister Hai Lanzhu, has returned to the Horqin Division. Therefore, I have a reluctant request, hoping to invite her to Shenyang to see her aunt and sister. ”

The Oba brothers' faces froze suddenly, although Huang Taiji invited Hai Lanzhu to visit his relatives, but in fact, he wanted the Horqin Department to send Hai Lanzhu to Huang Taiji's harem.

The current Horqin Department is jointly ruled by their brothers and Zaisang-Buhe family, Buhe has a total of one sister and two daughters, if they all become Huang Taiji's women, Buhe's family will be completely tied to the banner of Houjin.

The split of the Horqin Department is obviously somewhat inevitable. Seeing that the Oba brothers fell silent, Huang Taiji immediately asked again. Oba only then realized that the split of the Horqin tribe was still a matter of the future, but if they didn't agree now, it was a question whether the two brothers could return to Horqin.

Oba suddenly stopped before his brother Budaqi could speak, and said enthusiastically: "It is also human nature to move between relatives, as long as I go back to Horqin, I will let Buhe send Hailanzhu to Shenyang to visit Zhezhe and Bumu Butai..."