Outside the gate of Zhang Juzheng's Mansion in Shamao Hutong was lit up again, the firecrackers crackled non-stop, and the drum team tried their best to play a joyful and cheerful melody, which was not much different from Zhang Shunqing's exit from the cabinet not long ago.

Of course, the Zhang family did not marry their daughter again in such a short period of time, but this happy event was not inferior to marriage: Zhang Maoxiu, the third son of the Zhang family, won the high school champion in the eighth year of Wanli.

Even in ordinary people's homes, this is a great joy worthy of extravagance, not to mention that in the court of the prime minister of the current dynasty, it is natural to have a grand congratulations. Compared with ordinary people, the champion of the Zhang family is more extraordinary, the last subject Zhang Sixiu high school list, has entered the Hanlin Academy, this subject Zhang Mao Xiu is the champion of high school, and it is a sure thing to enter the Hanlin Academy. The two princes became prime ministers, and the Chinese military ministers of the dynasty had similar thoughts: Will there really be a cabinet minister among them?

Since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, there have been many things about father and son Jinshi, but the matter of father and son has never happened. In addition, Zhang Juzheng opened the way for foreign officials before, and was ready to leave a place in the cabinet for the governor of Jiangchen, which makes people even more suspicious that the future will be a situation of Uncle Lang's cabinet ministers, one door and three auxiliaries.

With Zhang Juzheng's current authority and the holy family, such a situation is entirely possible, once such a situation happens, the Zhang family is afraid that it will be a precedent for civil officials in the Ming Dynasty, and the two generations of the family control the government, and no one in the world can match it.

Of course, there are anonymous people who posted a post at the door, "The champions are all surnamed Zhang, and they may not be Wenxing according to Chubang." If Xiang Gongjian doesn't go, Liulang will still be a tanhualang!" The spearhead was directed at Zhang Juzheng, and Zhang Maoxiu High School was attributed to the power of Xiangguo; Gu Xiancheng, a genius in the southeast, scolded the ministers for being shameless after Zhang Bang; But in the sound of singing praises and virtues, these murmurs or the grievances of the people who fall to the ground cannot be heard.

Because of the matter of appeasing the Lin family, the Son of Heaven issued an order to add Zhang Juzheng as a young guarantee, increase the number of 200 stones, and ordered the political secretary of Hu Guangbu to allocate 1,000 acres of fertile land to give Zhang Mansion as a sacrificial field. Zhang Juzheng originally had two honorary titles of young master and prince and taifu, and now with the title of young guard, the three orphans are gathered in one, and the honor and favor are incomparable to the saint Youlong, no matter how much dissatisfaction there is in the civil and military forces of the Manchu Dynasty at this time, they can only be buried in their hearts, and they can only laugh on their faces, and they can't be angry or dare not be angry.

As a party, Zhang Juzheng's mood actually did not have many waves, the content of those exposed posts did not make him feel angry, and similarly, his son's achievements did not make him particularly happy. It's not that Zhang Juzheng doesn't care enough about his third son, it's just that in his opinion, his son's talent and learning are taught by himself, and with the operation of the Zhang family before, Yijia is already in the bag. As for the specific position, it depends on the emperor, and the Son of Heaven is willing to let Mao Xiu be the champion, which is to read the relationship between the monarch and the minister, and it is also the emperor's mental technique, which will not make him feel happy or excited.

The reason for Wanli's arrangement, Zhang Juzheng, can naturally understand, it is nothing more than to slander himself, so that the heavenly scholars will first criticize him as the prime minister. After all, the emperor is his own student, how can he not see his calculations?

Seeing that it doesn't mean that you have to be afraid, I never thought of being the Duke of Yi, Huo, and Zhou, otherwise when I wrote the edict for the emperor two years ago, the Empress Dowager Li had angry words about suing the Taimiao to abolish the Son of Heaven. If you push the boat with the current, things may not be unpushable. It's just that he Zhang Juzheng is a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty, and he has only been a member of the Zhu family all his life, since this is the case, people's hearts are not so important to him.

It is normal for someone to scold oneself, and from the day the new law was decided to be implemented, it was destined to embark on a path of slander and condemnation by the world, and if the reputation and popularity of the people were valued, things would not be done. It is enough that those people, no matter how dissatisfied they may be, do not dare to disobey their orders, and cannot hinder the implementation of the new law.

What's more, with Fan Jin's advice, the first batch of academies has already begun to be put into operation, and hundreds of alternate officials and students are trained in them, and when their studies are completed, they can enter the local area to promote the new law. After them, there will be more and more scholars studying in the seowon and going down to carry out their orders. These subordinates are their own precious wealth, those who say strange things behind their backs, or criticize their own opinions, but what harm can they do to themselves?

Today's Zhang Juzheng can be regarded as reaching the peak state in his life and career, and he has never thought of grabbing more authority or higher status, his two sons are Hanlin, and his two sons have Fan Jin's son-in-law. The only thing to do is to make meritorious contributions, continue the Zhu family, ensure the stability of the Ming Dynasty, and by the way, always have the surname Zhu.

If there is no desire, it is rigid. It is precisely because he has no appeal for his own interests now, that he is extremely detached in his mentality, and when he met Zhang Siwei in the study, the latter's heart also moved slightly. I thought that the poor and luxurious life without moderation, coupled with heavy work, would inevitably make Zhang Juzheng tired and weak, and his spirit was sluggish, and at most he relied on medicine to support a false fire. But now it seems that his spirit is a little more vigorous than a few years ago, which is really strange.

After the two sat down, Zhang Siwei exchanged a few words of greeting, and then turned to today's topic.

"Yuan Weng, but when (Zhang Mao Xiuzi) has been settled, the position of the retreat has not yet been decided, since the marriage has not been short until now, how should there be a placement, I don't know what Yuan Weng has in his heart."

Zhang Juzheng smiled, "What? Feng Pan is fighting for his protégé? You are also qualified as a teacher, and you know that you are protecting your students, so I am not in a hurry, but you are in a hurry first. ”

Zhang Siwei also smiled, "It is also the duty of the ministers to be virtuous for the country, and it is indeed a great talent that should be reused, and if it is not settled, in case Your Majesty or the Queen Mother smells it, I am afraid that it will not be very good." What's more, there is a master-apprentice status, how can I, as a teacher, not plan a way out for students, and be worthy of the protégé's post? ”

Feng Pan seemed to be very satisfied with the retreat, and actually took the initiative to come to the door to ask him about the future, presumably there must be a good place to go? Tell us about your plans and where you want him to go. ”

"It's not a secret, in Ding Chou's move, the youngest brother is most optimistic about retreat, and he had the idea of recruiting him as the east bed, but in the end he only became an iceman, and he was really a little aggrieved in his heart. There is great talent in retreat, and the saints are heavy, so it really shouldn't be delayed. The younger brother also knows that if he stays in the Prime Minister's Mansion, he can serve Yuan Weng's worries. But children and grandchildren always have to grow up, and if they don't accumulate some merits now, it will not be easy for them to be promoted in the future. Retreat could have entered the Hanlin Academy for editing, just to escort Zhongliang's bones back to his hometown, ruined his future, if he didn't have a proper placement for him, he was sorry and wronged his niece. So the younger brother has an idea here, to put the retreat in a place where it is easy to get credit and polish it for a few years, and then it will be easy to be promoted, and no one can say anything about him when he is useful. ”

Zhang Juzheng said: "Easy to get credit? The easiest thing for a foreign official to gain credit is the military merit of the Nine Sides, does Feng Pan want to protect his thoughts and go to the Nine Sides? He had never been in the military, and I am afraid that he would not be able to do this errand. ”

"Even if you do it, you can't let the retreat suffer from the saddle horse, and if the niece is annoyed, the younger brother's beard will not suffer." Zhang Siwei snorted, and said: "Yuan Weng knows, some time ago, the Beiyu made a particularly fierce fuss in Shaanxi, and there were three policemen a day in several towns in the northwest, and the trouble was so high that people turned over on their backs. But this also shows that the border has been peaceful for many years, the soldiers are a little lazy, and the officials are not careful, so they are attacked by the captives and cavalry and cannot be cured. The court should arrange a competent man...... Go on a patrol. ”

Zhang Siwei peeked at Zhang Juzheng, and found that the same list was listening carefully, and did not show a dissatisfied demeanor before continuing:

"Retreat in the Shangyuan is the sixth rank of the standard to act from the five grades, it is said that it should be the fourth or fifth grade of the future to be put on the side, but then it can only be placed on the province, but it is Qu Cai. According to the younger brother's opinion, it is better to give the patrol press with the title of imperial history, and inspect the Xuanda to rectify the border army, I don't know what Yuan Weng wants. ”

Although Fan Jin is not actually awarded a position now, his official position is still there, which means that he still enjoys the treatment of five grades, and he still receives a salary every month. From this point of view, it seems that he has been wronged by demoting him to the seventh rank of imperial history. However, the official position of the Ming Dynasty is not such an algorithm, and more than 100 imperial historians of the Metropolitan Procuratorate can be sent to patrol the nine sides, and they must be regarded as the ancestral tomb with green smoke, and breaking the head may not be able to get this opportunity.

Fan Jin, as a pro-people official, if he didn't have the identity of Zhang Juzheng's son-in-law, it would not be impossible to enter the Metropolitan Procuratorate, and if he wanted to rush to patrol the nine sides, he would have to be prepared to be beaten by the officials. As for the reason, it is very simple, it is what Zhang Siwei just said: The current easy achievement of the national dynasty is none other than the military merits of the nine sides, in other words, the current nine sides are the most convenient and fast experience points in the Ming Dynasty, and it is too easy to upgrade the experience there.

Later generations mentioned this stage of the Ming Dynasty, often like to say that the emphasis on literature and light on military force, this statement cannot be said to be wrong, but it is also inaccurate. As a normal highly centralized and unified dynasty, it is inevitable that the status of civil officials is higher than that of military officials. In the final analysis, this is a matter of management methods, the military generals must be controlled by civilian officials to control the military power, especially in the Beijing camp has become a façade army, and the number of troops only exists on paper under the premise that there is no practical significance, the nine sides have gathered the essence of the Ming army, if it is completely commanded by the military attaché, the disaster of the five generations is in sight.

Only by controlling the military ministers can the civil servants ensure that the Ming Dynasty will always be surnamed Zhu, and ensure that even if the emperor is a useless person, he can sit back and relax without worrying about being replaced by ministers with heavy troops. During the Jiajing period, the trilateral general system had 200,000 border troops in his hands, and the two or three brocade clothes could seize power and arrest him with the holy decree, and he would be taken to Beijing and beheaded. This kind of system guarantees the absolute security of the imperial power, so it is an inevitable thing, and it cannot be talked about.

In fact, the Ming Dynasty attached great importance to military merits, and Ma Fang, a famous general of the Jiajing Dynasty, was born in an ordinary peasant family, who was taken to the grassland as a herdsman at the age of eight, and once saved the life of Altan Khan, the great enemy of the Ming Dynasty. After rebelling and returning to the Han Dynasty, he served as a personal soldier under the command of the Datong General Army, and in a few decades, he went from a nobody to a first-class Zuo Governor, which is enough to prove that the imperial court attaches great importance to military merits and military officials. As for saying that the status of a first-class martial artist is not as good as that of the elder of the pavilion, this is a very normal thing, and the reverse is abnormal. After all, there are only a few cabinet ministers, and there are many first-class military ministers, if the first-class military officials are above the cabinet ministers, then why does the emperor dictate the prestige and happiness of himself?

Let go of stubbornness and prejudice, you can find that for the Ming Dynasty, military merit was the easiest way to get credit, and it was the fastest to improve. Not only for military generals, but also for Wenchen. At that time, Hu Zongxian started with the seven-grade patrol press, and he worked all the way to supervise and appease the ministers, which was quickly promoted by virtue of military merits. Although the environment of the nine sides is difficult, it is also promoted quickly, and it is an excellent place for Wenchen who wants to gain status.

Especially at present, the military strength of the Ming Dynasty is above the surrounding tribes and Tusi, and those who do patrol press do not need to be in person to fight, as long as the luck is not too bad, there is no credit to be gained. Moreover, the promotion of military merit is not subject to the restrictions on the promotion and performance appraisal of ordinary officials, don't look at the seven-grade start, as long as you are lucky, you can win a few big battles, and you can immediately be promoted several levels.

Moreover, Zhang Juzheng changed the cabinet rules, and the people below naturally thought that it was a back door for his son-in-law. If you want to be a governor of Xinjiang, you must have the following experience in leading troops, otherwise you can't be appointed. Zhang Siwei's suggestion is also to accumulate experience for Fan Jin, which can be regarded as well-intentioned.

As for the question of victory or defeat, there is no need to worry about this at all. Zhang Siwei arranged for Fan Jin to be in the northwest rather than Liaodong, and he was not facing the Chahar Department but the Tumut Department, and this arrangement was for Fan Jin's safety considerations. Tumen Khan was not allowed to trade with the Ming Dynasty because he did not get the title, and he would raise troops to join the army, until he met Qi Jiguang who was beaten on the head and was beaten violently. Since I answered the tribute, the Tumut Department has maintained long-term trade relations with the Ming Dynasty, and the materials they want can be obtained through commercial transactions, and it is not likely to organize large-scale attacks, that is, some small tribes that are difficult to survive will invade the territory of the Ming Dynasty. No matter how good the border army is, there is still no problem in dealing with such scattered armed forces, and there is no danger.

Moreover, now that I am dead, the people of the Tumut tribe are uneasy, and the Ming Dynasty can be regarded as kind if they do not take the opportunity to attack Tumut, how can they still gather soldiers to attack. Although there was an urgent military report on the Xuanda side, in the eyes of the ministers, this was all a means for the border army to falsely report the situation and ask for merit or to provoke the border, and they didn't take it to heart at all. On the contrary, you can use these reports to make an article and say that the situation is critical, and Fan Jin will truthfully play back after that, and first of all, he will have a great success in fighting the chaos. This kind of merit is equivalent to giving it away for nothing, and if it is not for oneself, it will naturally not be guaranteed.

Zhang Juzheng listened to Zhang Siwei's suggestion and nodded:

"Feng Pan has taken great pains to retreat for the future, don't leave tonight to stay and eat, I will let you retreat and toast you with a few glasses of wine, thank you. I actually didn't think about his future, but now it seems that Feng Pan thinks more about him. When a person arrives in Shanxi, he arrives in your hometown, and you, the teacher, still have to take more care of him and let him stop making jokes. Feng Pan also understands military affairs, and he is tested well at the banquet, if he is not the material in this regard, don't let him be embarrassed. ”

"It definitely won't. Retreat is a great talent, and it is not to go to war but to do patrols, it is expected to be fine. However, when it comes to military affairs, the younger brother is also a layman, but fortunately, the nunnery is in the house, he is a soldier, and he is allowed to take the test at the banquet. But in my opinion, the ability to retreat is enough to do it! In addition to protecting the future of retreat, the younger brother also plans to ask for a royal flag for retreat to be strong, Yuan Weng's son-in-law, can not lose the prestige of the system, and the pomp and circumstance that should be talked about must always be spoken. Xuan and Da are unruly and unruly, and ordinary people can't control them, so they retreat to the place to light up the banner of the king's order, and see which of them dares not to listen to moderation! ”