Emperor Ming Fengyunlu

Volume 1 Liaodong Shock

Chapter III: Plans for Internal and Foreign Difficulties

Section IX resolves to fight back

After Emperor Wanli left, Fang Congzhe, Huang Jiashan, and Li Ruhua looked at each other, but they just glared at each other, and no one was willing to take the lead in discussing the strategy of leveling Liao.

In the end, Fang Congzhe saw that Huang Jiashan and Li Ruhua were silent, so he found a chair and sat down, and said kindly: "According to the old man, let's not discuss anything." This Liaodong matter, in the final analysis, is a military matter, Pingliao, Pingliao, to put it bluntly, it is a war, so it should be presided over by Huang Shangshu. Huang Shangshu rest assured, the old man, as the first assistant of the cabinet, will help him with all aspects, hundreds of officials and yamen, I will personally coordinate, all of which are based on your military department. ”

"Yes, yes, yes, as it should be, as it should be." Li Ruhua, the head of the household, sat on the side, with a posture that had nothing to do with himself, and echoed with some schadenfreude: "What Elder Fang Ge said is reasonable, I also think it is the best." ”

Huang Jiashan glared at Li Ruhua angrily, and the other party Congzhe said: "Fang Ge's old words are serious. How can the six ministries of the Cabinet be dominated by the Ministry of War? Although the affairs of Liaodong are military affairs, they are also state affairs, and it should be presided over by the old leaders of the Cabinet, and our military department should serve itself. ”

"Huang Shangshu's words are also reasonable." Li Ruhua said with the old god there.

Fang Congzhe gave Huang Jiashan a little depressed, but it was not easy to refute, at this time, seeing Li Ruhua's posture of staying out of the matter, he said: "Li Shangshu, dare to ask the expenses of the army to Liaodong, and the household department may be ready?" ”

Li Ruhua said: "Back to the old Fangge, my household department is losing money every year, where is the money?" ”

Although Huang Jiashan and Fang Congzhe have been shirking each other's responsibilities, as soon as they heard Li Ruhua say that the household department had no money, he immediately jumped up and shouted: "Li Shangshu, what do you mean by this?" The army went to Liaodong to fight against Jiannu, this is a national war! Do you understand? This is the largest expedition since the three major expeditions of this dynasty! You actually say you don't have any money? You're going to let the soldiers go hungry and fight the Tartars? Do you want the soldiers to wear single clothes to fight in the ice and snow of Liaodong? What is your intention for Lord Li to fall to the ground! ”

Li Ruhua was yelled at by Huang Jiashan, and immediately stood up, as if a rooster had met an opponent, and said with his head held high: "Huang Shangshu, do you think that my household is the God of Wealth?" Nowadays, natural disasters continue to occur in various provinces, and some of the more severely affected state capitals have even seen civil uprisings! I have to ask my household department for money everywhere, and the officials sent to Beijing to ask for money from the provinces have come to my house to block me, what can I do! Tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of reinforcements traveled thousands of miles to Liaodong, do you know how much silver is needed? How much grain and grass? How many people need to be recruited? Now the household department simply can't afford it! What do you want me to do? Do you want me to rob it? ”

Huang Jiashan retorted: "Could it be that just because you have no money in the household department, the matter of going to Liao is going to be ruined?" The imperial court is going to sit back and watch Liaodong fall into the hands of Jiannu step by step? Can you, Li Shangshu, afford this responsibility? ”

"It seems that Huang Shangshu is the secretary of the military department, right? The responsibility for this military matter should be borne by you, Huang Shangshu, but I can't find my household department. ”

"You!" Huang Jiashan was so angry that he trembled, his face turned from white to blue, and he couldn't say a word when he pointed at Li Ruhua.

Fang Congzhe saw that the two were arguing, and at first he was still sitting on the side watching the play, and when he saw that the two of them were really angry, he came out to be a peacemaker, and said: "Don't be angry, the two adults are all working for the country, why bother?" ”

"Humph!" Huang Jiashan saw Fang Congzhe playing a round field, so he sat aside angrily and stopped talking.

Li Ruhua also sat down, as complacent as a victorious rooster, and after a while, he returned to a posture that he didn't care about himself.

Fang Congzhe looked out the window, and saw that the hour was not early, so he thought for a while and said: "Two, I think it's better to be like this: Huang Shangshu summed up which provinces to transfer troops from if he rushed to help Liaodong?" How many troops and horses should be transferred? Li Shangshu calculated how much food he needed according to the plan proposed by Huang Shangshu. How about the old man integrate the two of them and report them to His Majesty? ”

"Elder Fang Ge, what about the money? Where does the money come from? Li Ruhua immediately asked.

Fang Congzhe smiled and said, "Your Majesty has everything, what Your Majesty says, let's do it." ”

Huang Jiashan and Li Ruhua glanced at each other, and said secretly in their hearts: "Kick around, and finally kick the problem to Your Majesty, you are ruthless enough!" ”

In the middle of the night, after the three of them hastily sorted out a Pingliao strategy, they asked to see Emperor Wanli together.

After being summoned, Fang Congzhe first said: "Your Majesty, after discussion between the minister and the two Shangshu, the overall strategy of "annihilation in the service period to lay the foundation of the frontier", decided to send an important minister from the court to serve as the Liaodong Economic Strategy to preside over the defense of Liaodong, and mobilized elite battalions from various provinces to Liaodong, and after gathering the local soldiers and horses in Liaodong, he took the initiative to attack Jiannu with Hetuala as the goal, and completed his work in one battle, completely eliminating the scourge of Jiannu. ”

After speaking, Fang Congzhe handed over the strategy drafted by the three of them to Emperor Wanli.

Emperor Wanli looked at it carefully, shook the strategy in his hand, and said coldly: "The overall strategy is acceptable, but who will serve as the strategy of Liaodong?" Where to transfer troops? Where does the food come from? It is not written in the strategy, do you want me to solve it? ”

"I don't dare." The three of them hurriedly said.

Fang Congzhe took the first step and said, "Your Majesty, due to the tight time, the ministers don't have time to list in detail. Therefore, Huang Shangshu directly reported the issue of troops to His Majesty, and Li Shangshu directly explained the issue of food and salary to His Majesty. ”

"You're also idle!" Emperor Wanli said angrily.

Fang Congzhe did not speak.

Huang Jiashan and Li Ruhua didn't expect Fang Congzhe to say this, they were cheated in front of them, and they both scolded secretly in their hearts: "Old fox." ”

Huang Jiashan replied relatively well, so he preemptively said: "Your Majesty, Jiannu is different from ordinary bandits and border troubles, its troops are strong, the combat power is not good, and its chieftain ambition is not small, and it is intended to be the whole Liao, so the imperial court must not take it lightly, and should sweep it away with the momentum of a tiger and a rabbit, and gather heavy troops." The minister thought that elite soldiers should be sent from Sichuan, Gansu, Zhejiang, Fujian and other provinces to reinforce Liaodong, and in addition, they could also notify North Korea and Yehe to send troops to respond. Gathering an army of 100,000 in this way will definitely be able to destroy Jiannu and pacify Liaodong. ”

"Well, that's good. Huang Shangshu still has some ideas. Emperor Wanli said: "Li Shangshu, how much food does it take for 100,000 troops to go to Liao?" How long does it take for the household to raise the required wages? ”

"Your Majesty, I think I need at least about two million taels of silver. However, the annual income of the household department has been decreasing, and the expenditure has been increasing, and now it is beyond the means of making ends meet and overwhelmed, and the minister is really 。。。。。。 ”

"Enough!" Emperor Wanli couldn't bear it anymore and roared: "I am asking you how long it will take you to raise food, not if you have it!" Do you understand? ”

"Minister, the fundraising is not complete!" Li Ruhua saw that Emperor Wanli had moved the real fire, so he simply knelt on the ground, looking like a dead pig was not afraid of boiling water.

Emperor Wanli looked at Li Ruhua who was kneeling on the ground, his eyelids jumped with anger, and said, "What do I want you to do with this household!" ”

Seeing this, Fang Congzhe also said: "Your Majesty, Li Shangshu is indeed not easy to raise for these two million taels of silver. The minister thought that since the household department did not have enough financial resources, it could be raised in many ways: at present, Taicang, Taifu, and the Ministry of Industry could raise a total of 500,000 taels of silver, and in addition, he also asked His Majesty to raise 500,000 taels of internal funds, so that a total of one million could be used to replenish the cost of reinforcements. But millions of silver are only enough for reinforcements to drive to Liaodong, and the defense is okay, but the attack is not. If you want to take the initiative to attack Jiannu, you still need to raise another million taels, and you can barely replenish the cost of reinforcements. However, the household department is indeed unable to raise funds, and there is no silver to give to the army overnight. ”

Emperor Wanli shouted angrily: "Then my sons can only go and drink the northwest wind!" ”

Fang Congzhe said: "Your Majesty is angry, this is also a matter of no choice. In Yichen's opinion, is the food and salary required for the 100,000 troops to go to Liao for thousands of miles is a minority? It is understandable that the household department cannot raise funds in a short period of time. ”

"Then what should I do according to the meaning of Elder Fang Ge?" Emperor Wanli held back his anger and said.

"The minister thinks that additional silver can be sent in the provinces to fill the army to go to Liao."

"In recent years, natural disasters have continued in various places, and the people are already miserable. Emperor Wanli asked.

When Li Ruhua heard Fang Congzhe's suggestion to increase the allocation, he immediately came to his senses, knelt directly on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, the remaining one million taels seems to be a huge amount, but all provinces, prefectures, prefectures, and counties have to be apportioned layer by layer, and in the end, the amount of money distributed to the people is actually not much, and the people can accept it." ”

In fact, there is some truth in Li Ruhua's words, but if you think about it carefully, you will think of a problem: After the additional salaries and silver are distributed layer by layer, officials in various places will have a lot of hands, and there will definitely be corruption and perversion of the law. Corrupt officials will add the amount of money they have embezzled to the gapai and collect it from the people together to fill their pockets. Therefore, after the additional distribution is continued, the amount of money distributed to the people will only increase, and the burden will become heavier and heavier.

Huang Jiashan has been in the officialdom for a long time, and obviously thought of this, but he only opened his mouth, and finally did not speak, after all, if he did not send more money to the people, where would the soldiers' food come from? How to defeat Jiannu in Liaodong? I can only suffer the people first.

Emperor Wanli was noncommittal, leaning on the couch and closing his eyes to think about something, and did not speak for a long time.

Fang Congzhe said: "Your Majesty, the matter of the additional assignment is also a last resort, and the matter is urgent, and the people of the world can only suffer first." When Liaodong is pacified, His Majesty can reduce taxes again. ”

Emperor Wanli also knew the means of officials to collect money, so he was also very worried that the additional assignment would increase the burden on the people and cause unpredictable consequences. However, the matter of Liaodong must not be delayed any longer, and the lesser of two evils can only be temporarily wronged by the people.

Thinking of this, Emperor Wanli said: "The matter of the additional faction, quasi-play!" ”

"Next, who will serve as the Liaodong Economic Strategy?"