The whole New Year was relatively peaceful, and nothing too tricky happened. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

However, just after the first general meeting in February, the General Administration Department handed in a border emergency report, which was presented first to the Cabinet and, according to the Cabinet's opinion, to the Military Aircraft Department.

In principle, there is no need to go through the celebrant between the Military Aircraft Department and the emperor, so it is more expressly delivered to the emperor's study desk than the cabinet.

The song was jointly reported by Wang Zhichen, Bi Zisu, Man Gui, and Chen Renxi, and the content was that the Khalkha Mongolian Fried, Nuantu, and Guiying tribes in Liaozhen and Guangning asked for rewards and mutual markets from the Jizhen Governor's Office.

In the winter of the seventh year of the Apocalypse, the Outer Mongolians experienced a severe cold and snow disaster, not only a large number of livestock froze to death, but also many old and weak women and children also froze and starved to death, some tribes really couldn't survive, so they asked the Ming Dynasty for help and asked for mutual markets.

The Ming Dynasty had always adopted a policy of trade blockade, and would give appropriate money and food rewards to the Mongol tribes that were loyal along the border, while the tribes that were far away and had no contacts were not allowed to trade with each other.

When Wang Huazhen was the governor of Jiliao, in order to encircle the Khalkha Mongol tribes in the north of Guangning in western Liaoning, he would give money and grain rewards every year, and the same was true after Yuan Chonghuan, although it was not allowed by the imperial court, but such a practice was slowly formed.

After Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, the emperor, who had never had a good impression of the foreign tribes outside the Saiwai, at the suggestion of the courtiers, explicitly canceled the rewards and alms for these Mongolian tribes along the border of the Saiwai.

As a result, these tribes had to turn to the Later Jin for help, and a year later, they became vassals of the Later Jin Jianyu, and in the winter of the second year of Chongzhen, they became the leading party of the Later Jin army to detour through the Mongols and invade the Ming Dynasty.

If Emperor Chongzhen at that time could tighten his belt and find a way to come up with a sum of money and food to reward these Cypriot races, he might be able to avoid this situation in history, even if it could not be avoided in the end, at least he could be warned in advance and not be defenseless. But at that time, Emperor Chongzhen had just taken over the Ming Empire, on the one hand, it was indeed an empty treasury, and on the other hand, he was also arrogant, and he didn't look down on these Cypriot tribes at all.

This time, Emperor Chongzhen, who has the knowledge of later history, will not do this again, even if it is only to temporarily win over these tribes, it is worth spending a sum of money and food.

Therefore, after receiving the report from the Military Aircraft Department, Emperor Chongzhen quickly sent people to summon Sun Chengzong and Li Banghua, two military aircraft ministers who were not in Beijing, to discuss matters in Beijing.

On the afternoon of the seventh day of the second month, Emperor Chongzhen met Zhang Weixian, Sun Chengzong and Li Banghua in the military aircraft department of Wuyingdian. The three ministers of military aircraft finished saluting and sat down separately.

Emperor Chongzhen said to everyone: "Yesterday, I have already sent Wang Zhichen and others to Sun Aiqing and Li Aiqing to watch, I don't know what Qing and others think of the invitation of the Saiwai clan, whether the court should accept it or refuse?" ”

Sun Chengzong and Li Banghua were not usually on duty at the Military Aircraft Department, so when the emperor asked, Zhang Weixian was naturally the first to answer.

Zhang Weixian said: "Your Majesty, the Outer Mongolian tribes have always been the enemies of my Ming Dynasty, and in the autumn and winter, they will go south in groups, called to return to the country for relief, which is really a knock on the pass and blackmail. The minister thinks that the foreign tribes are not my Chinese compatriots, and there are still several hungry people in the customs to be relieved, as for the foreign departments, if you take the opportunity to let them fend for themselves. ”

Sun Chengzong saw that the emperor was silent after listening to the words of the British Duke, and he had confidence in his heart, and said: "Your Majesty, there is a certain truth in what the British Duke said, the ambition of the wolf sons of the foreign departments is naturally not my Chinese compatriots, but now Liaodong is on the side, if I sit back and watch the ministries destroy themselves, the ministers are afraid that the ministries will be centrifuged, and the Jianyu will take advantage of the void." If this is the case, the Mongolian tribes outside the Guan, or Cheng Jianyu, will be of great help, and the ministers are afraid that there will be no peace in the north of the Beijing division from now on. ”

Of course, Sun Chengzong's words were also in Emperor Chongzhen's heart, so Emperor Chongzhen continued: "I think what Sun Aiqing said is reasonable. Rewards or mutual markets are not for the relief of the ministries, but for the restraint of the ministries. If all the tribes leave me and defect to Jianyu, then the north of the Great Wall will be enemy territory. This is not the blessing of the people of the Ming Dynasty. However, the foreign aliens have always been cunning, and the disasters of the various ministries are true or false, and Wang Zhichen, Bi Zisu and others are not clear, and they only listen to the words of the various ministries and give them relief, and I am afraid that they will laugh at the world. ”

At this time, Li Banghua said: "Since Your Majesty is so worried, if you order the king's ministers to send people to visit the ministries, if what the ministries say is true, they will reward them with money and food, and if what they say is false, they will refute it on the basis of reason." If the tribes are separated from me, if you take advantage of their weakness and punish them, in this way, you can never suffer from the future troubles of the Khalkha Mongolian tribes. ”

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he nodded, and then said to Zhang Weixian: "What does the British public think?" ”

Zhang Weixian pondered for a while and said: "If Your Majesty is determined to help the Ministries, Taicang is not short of this money and grain, but the ministers are not worried about the Liaozuo Ministries, Your Majesty has rewarded Khalkha and Duoyan, and the Han Dynasty has also come to ask for rewards, whether the court will reward or not?" After rewarding the Han Dynasty, Tumut and Ordos also came to ask for rewards, and the court rewarded or not? The foreign races have always been greedy for money, and as soon as His Majesty's reward was opened, the ministers were afraid that the foreign tribes would gain an inch, and they would ask for rewards and relief, which would cause our country to use the day by day. ”

What Zhang Weixian said was not completely unreasonable, so after hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen groaned again.

At this time, Sun Chengzong said again: "Your Majesty, since the departments are hungry and cold, the ministers think that the reward is better than the mutual market. The imperial court strictly forbade mutual trading before, because it was worried that salt, iron, military resources and other things would flow into the outside of the fortress and invest in the enemy, but now the things that are urgently needed outside the fortress are grain and cloth, and the things that I urgently need are ploughing cattle and horses. ”

As soon as Sun Chengzong's voice fell, Li Banghua also said: "The minister seconded the proposal." Now that spring plowing is imminent around Gyeonggi, it would be extremely beneficial for me to choose a few important places in the nine sides, open a farm, exchange markets with various departments outside the Seychelles, and exchange grain, cloth and other daily materials for the common people for a large number of cattle and horses. It's just that the opening of the border mutual market still needs to be considered in the long run, and the ministers are afraid that they will not be in a hurry, and the Liaozuo departments may not be able to wait for the day of the nine-border mutual market. Your Majesty, please be aware of it. ”

Hearing the words of the three military ministers, Emperor Chongzhen no longer hesitated, and then said: "What Qing and others said is reasonable. Since it is beneficial to open the border market and mutual market, the Military Aircraft Department will come up with a statement as soon as possible. As for the types of materials for the Ming Dynasty traders, they are limited to the daily necessities of the people's homes, swords, bows, arrows, gunpowder, guns and other military items, which are strictly forbidden to be sold outside the Saiwai, and those who sell them privately will all be exterminated. ”

After saying this, Emperor Chongzhen paused slightly, and then said: "Although it is beneficial to open the border market, it is not urgent after all. Now the Khalkha Mongolian fried flowers, warm rabbits, and Guiying departments are very anxious to seek rewards, and I see that Chen Renxi, the imperial history of the Liaodong Town Supervisor, led a battalion of cavalry to visit the outer departments of Guangning, if it is true, you can first move some money and food materials from the Jiliao Governor's Mansion, or reward or exchange markets, all of which are decided by Chen Renxi after visiting.

"As for the 36 departments outside Jizhen, I will see that the Zhili Governor's Mansion will order Jizhen to send people to lead troops out of the fortress, check the truth and reality, and then report it."

As soon as the emperor finished speaking, the three ministers of military aircraft all bowed and saluted, calling His Majesty Shengming.

After a moment of silence, Emperor Chongzhen said what he wanted to say the most: "Although the opening of the border mutual market is not urgent, it is a long-term plan after all, and it should be managed by a yamen, so as to unify the power of affairs and speed up the progress." In the past two days, I have been thinking that although my Celestial Empire is vast and rich, after all, it has a large population, and in recent years, the weather has been abnormal, and the land north of the Great River has limited production, and the horses in the Western Regions of Mongolia and the rice in Annam's occupation are all urgently needed by our Celestial Empire. Today, for the purchase of horses, and the exchange of markets with the outside of the Saiwai, and the purchase of rice by other days, there is no need to exchange markets with Annam.

"Therefore, after thinking about it, it is necessary to set up a yamen under the direct management of the Minister of Military Aircraft above the imperial court to manage the affairs of the vassals in a unified manner, and all the affairs of the foreign ministries of Cyprus, as well as the surrounding vassals such as Korea, Ryukyu, Annam, and Burma, as well as the affairs of the Eastern and Western feudal states, are all handled by this yamen."

Speaking of this, Emperor Chongzhen looked at the three ministers of military aircraft present, and the three ministers of military aircraft hurriedly bowed down and said, "Your Majesty Shengming."

Seeing the expressions of several military ministers, Emperor Chongzhen continued: "As for the name of this yamen, I think it is called the Li Fan Yuan. Today's Honglu Temple, the Pedestrian Division, the Taifu Temple, the Translation Hall, and the relevant functions of the Ministry of Rites can all be classified as the Rifan Temple. ”

After hearing the emperor's words, the three military ministers were a little dazed for a while, the emperor's idea was really a bit wild, from the Jiliao Governor's Mansion, they were able to contact the management of the surrounding vassal states of the Ming Dynasty, which greatly surprised them. But think about it carefully, the emperor's statement seems to be very reasonable, the imperial court did not have such an institution to control the surrounding vassal states, and between the Ming Dynasty and the surrounding vassal states, except for the tributary once every few years, there seems to be no other connection, the so-called vassal system, is indeed a bit flashy.

Thinking of this, Zhang Weixian said: "Your Majesty, I don't know what the function of this Imperial Court is?" ”

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he had a more favorable impression of Zhang Weixian in his heart, and it seemed that the British Duke was still very good at observing words and feelings, so he smiled at him and said: "Under the Li Fan Academy, in addition to the Honglu Temple, the Pedestrian Division, the Taifu Temple, and the Translation Hall, what kind of duties are still needed are naturally determined by the Qing and others. However, I thought that in the future, the establishment of a field in the nine sides and the exchange of markets with the foreign provinces could be carried out by the Imperial Court and the Household Department, and in addition, all the pedestrians and envoys sent by the Imperial Court to the surrounding feudal departments would also be uniformly dispatched and promoted by the Imperial Court in the future. And all the canonization of the subject countries of the Ming Dynasty, the tribute, transportation and trade of foreign races and overseas states are also under the control of the Li Fan Yuan. ”

Rifan Yuan was the predecessor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in later generations. In this era, few Ming officials have enough understanding of the world outside the Ming Dynasty, and they are ignorant of the importance of diplomacy.

After listening to what the emperor said, the three military ministers understood that the emperor wanted to take the opportunity of the various ministries to reorganize the management of the affairs of the vassal states and the surrounding foreign races, and unify the affairs that had been divided into different parts of the imperial court in the past to the newly established Imperial Court, so as to achieve the purpose of centralizing power.

The three ministers of military aircraft were all junjie in the world, so they quickly understood what the emperor meant, and they all agreed with the emperor's thoughts. It's just that now the three ministers of military aircraft are wearing several positions, although the power of the envoy of the Imperial Court is not small on the whole, but at the moment it is only responsible for opening the border and mutual market with the Mongolian ministries, so the discussion came and went, and finally the three ministers of military aircraft agreed with the emperor's proposal, that is, Zhang Weixian is in charge of the relevant affairs of the Imperial Court as the Minister of Military Aircraft, and the specific affairs of the Imperial Court are responsible for the Gongshun Hou Wu Weiying, and the mansion of Wei Zhongxian, which was confiscated by the imperial court, is assigned to the Imperial Court as the yamen.

The emperor proposed Wu Weiying to serve as the envoy of the Imperial Academy, and also reminded the three ministers of military aircraft that the emperor proposed Wu Weiying to serve as the governor of Caojiang.

After this matter was said, as soon as the three military ministers returned to the military aircraft department, they immediately sent an order to the Jiliao Governor's Mansion, ordering Chen Renxi, the imperial historian of the Liaodong Town Supervisor, to take people to visit the various departments outside the Guangning Saiwai as soon as possible in accordance with the emperor's will, and as for the visits and rewards of the 36 gatekeeper tribes outside Jizhen Saiwai, Sun Chengzong, the governor of Zhili, was responsible for it. The British public Zhang Weixian invited Gongshun Hou Wu Weiying to discuss specific preparations.